Hollywood Boulevard is known for the offbeat,...

Hollywood Boulevard is known for the offbeat, even the strange. So perhaps a discovery by Hollywood resident Jeremiah Stevenson should come as no surprise.

Inspecting a display of portraits of movie stars in a courtyard off the Walk of Fame, Stevenson noticed Stan Laurel’s image next to that of a man identified as Oliver Hardy (see photos). But the latter sure didn’t look like Ollie, unless Hardy worked for a while as an Elvis impersonator.

The display is adjacent to the boulevard’s Tourist Information Center. A spokeswoman there said that the errant caption wasn’t the work of her agency. She explained that the courtyard is owned by an immigrant “who isn’t really acquainted with Americans.”

So, there you have it, Hollywood’s newest team: Laurel and Presley.

After the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the recent Australia Day ceremonies, Australian Consul-General John Kelso announced: “And, now, here is our national anthem.” But, for some reason, the music didn’t begin. Instead, there was silence, followed by the loud popping of a champagne cork, which prompted much laughter.

Australia-born broadcaster Gordon Currie, who attended, pointed out that the irony is that his countrymen “are really more famous for beer-drinking.”

Time bandits:

Sorry we bring this to you too late to use as an excuse for missing work. But Elliot Zwiebach of the Mid-Wilshire District points out that the 1991 Tower Records/Video calendar shows Sunday, Jan. 6, followed by Monday, Jan. 6.

There may still be time, however, to grab one of the 12,000 1991 calendars published by Palm Springs’ neighbor, Cathedral City. Those guides mistakenly skip from Dec. 11 to Dec. 13, presumably leaving you Thursday, Dec. 12, all to yourself.

The Super Bowl’s behind us, but that doesn’t mean that we have to wait until the City of Industry’s Great Snail Festival (April 26) for the next sports extravaganza. There’s the Tour de Sewer bicycle race on March 9.

Pedalers don’t actually have to worry about rodents darting into their lanes or nibbling on their tires. The race, which is sponsored by the Bell Gardens Lions Club, proceeds along an outdoor bicycling path. The T-d-S derives its colorful name from the nearby Rio Hondo storm drain, whose beauty has often been compared to that of the L.A. River.

List of the Day:

All hail L.A.’s Royal Family, which includes:

1. Al Greenwood, The Bedspread King (Long Beach).

2. Paul’s TV--The King of Big Screen (“I am the King”) (La Habra).

3. The Falafel King (Westwood).

4. The Bathtub King of California (Gardena).

5. King O’Lawn (South Gate).

6. King Kong Foto (Long Beach).

miscelLAny:

The cult film “Blade Runner,” which gives a nightmarish vision of congested streets and perpetually overcast skies in L.A. in the year 2019, was actually adapted from a science-fiction novel set in San Francisco.