Art imitating death?When Mayor Bradley declared a...

Art imitating death?

When Mayor Bradley declared a “Freddy Krueger Day” a few weeks ago, some killjoys questioned whether it was appropriate for L.A. to honor a cinematic mass murderer.

The negative reaction obviously didn’t deter New Line Cinema, maker of the Freddy movies. As a Halloween gag, the film company laid Freddy to rest Thursday, but not on a studio set. Instead--and you have to admit this was an inspiration--New Line went to a real cemetery, where real people are buried: Hollywood Memorial Park. It rented the cemetery’s Cathedral Mausoleum for the ceremony, which featured a closed casket.

Was space actually purchased for interment?

“Do you really have to write about that part?” a spokesman asked.

Prodded, he admitted that the rites were make-believe because “we don’t want people coming here to look for the fictitious grave of Freddy Krueger. We have respect for the privacy of others here.”

Another reason to say hooray for Hollywood.

While the Freddy folks were playing in the cemetery, members of the cast of the “Killer Tomatoes” film comedies squeezed together at the corner of Sunset and Figueroa in a mock demonstration against KCBS-TV news.

They were reacting to some new KCBS billboards that proclaim:

“Killer Storms, Yes; Killer Tomatoes, No.”

(This from the station that brought you the much-talked-about, four-part series, “The Search for Sleaze,” just last year.

Asked what he thought of the “Tomatoes” demonstration, KCBS’ Mike Sweeney said:

“Sour grapes.”

Since we’re on the subject of produce, we should tell you that when a vegetable truck overturned on the Golden State Freeway, KNX radio anchorman Dave Zorn quipped:

“What you have there is an artery-choke.”

We can’t determine whether it’s a good or bad sign for the economy that the Chatsworth Chamber of Commerce held a breakfast meeting entitled, “Bankruptcy: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask,” and charged $10 to $13 for tickets.

Beth and Allan Edwards of Sherman Oaks suspect that someone had indulged in some editorializing in a newspaper ad they saw for a mink jacket described as “over-the- waste style.”

L.A. Assemblyman Mike Roos wonders if anyone else caught the irony of Louisiana gubernatorial candidate David Duke appearing on a TV show called “Crossfire.” Think about it.

Reader Jim Fox called to point out that we misspelled Hinano’s, the charming Venice saloon with the motto on the wall: “Like our music or leave.”

We know how Hinano’s must feel, having received letters addressed to Steve Young, Steve Garvey and Larry Harvey.

And, when we called to pursue one item and identified ourselves by name (Steve Harvey), the woman on the other end said:

“You the guy coming to fix the roof?”

Luckily we had a hammer in our desk.

miscelLAny:

A sergeant on the Pomona police force is named Ronald McDonald.