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This LAND is whose land? That was the legal question when artist John Marshall proposed re-creating the last four letters of the original “Hollywoodland” sign as a separate tourist site elsewhere in the city.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns the licensing rights to the “Hollywood” sign, said it had no objection. But, added chamber Executive Director Leron Gubler, “We told him we wouldn’t endorse it.” So now Marshall is looking for a sponsor for the historic syllable. He envisions it in a commercial setting--with, say, a hot dog stand under the crossbar of the 45-foot-tall A.

The “Hollywoodland” sign was shortened during rehabilitation in 1948 (though in the 1991 movie “Rocketeer,” it was a plane that knocked off the superfluous letters).

Sudden thought: If worse came to worse, Marshall could always limit his project to ND and hope for support from Notre Dame alumni.

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COMMANDER, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? The “Land” scheme is not the first imaginative idea by sculptor/painter Marshall. His local artworks have included:

* “Monument of the Unknown Government Employee,” which drew criticism when it appeared in City Hall because it depicted a coffee pot sitting on a pedestal next to a generic, briefcase-carrying worker.

* “Space Station Homeless,” a 21st century fantasy in which astronauts stationed in space become homeless because of budget cutbacks. One painting showed floating astronauts holding signs that said, “Will Work for Food or Air” while pushing shopping carts filled with their belongings. (NASA did not fund the work, by the way.)

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ANOTHER VALENTINE’S DAY SUGGESTION: Earier in the week this column printed a menu item listed as “Fried Lover Tempura.” Today’s special is a salad that could be accompanied by some undressing (see accompanying).

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WHOOPS! (4,000 TIMES): Responding to our request for tales of e-mail disasters, Berni Grasha recalled becoming editor of an online bulletin board for a major utility in the mid-1990s.

“On my first day, I was told to send an e-mail message from the department’s vice president to all customer service employees throughout the territory,” Grasha said. “I meant to hit the PF6 key to review the message and catch mistakes but instead hit the PF7 key, which sent the message into cyberspace.”

To 4,000 employees.

“I was experienced enough with PROFS (the e-mail system) to know that I could retrieve messages as long as the recipient hadn’t opened his or her e-mail,” Grasha continued. “What I didn’t know was that the system could not handle 4,000 returns at once. I crashed everybody’s mailbox, including the executives’.

“It took the information technology folks six to eight hours to repair the damage I did in six seconds.”

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ANGELENOS ON THE ROAD: Michael Leviton of Encino noticed that a Miami airport seemed to boast of one untaxed facility (see photo).

miscelLAny:

As for the flea treatment ad that appeared in Friday’s Only in L.A.--the one that said “10% off for senior citizens”--Henry Hespenheide writes: “I’m outraged that the treatment shortchanges senior citizens! I’d want 100% of my fleas off, not just 10%--even though I threw away my AARP membership invitation yesterday [I’m in denial].”

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Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.