Down and Out With the Lakers

On the morning after the local team failed to clinch the Western Conference title, Frank Farrar of South Pasadena was approached by a panhandler in downtown L.A.

“Hey, mister,” the guy said, “can you give me some money? I bet $40 on the Lakers last night.”

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SOMEONE WHO DESERVES AN EARFUL. . . . Gary Myers of Downey sent along a prescription that made unusual physical demands on the patient (see accompanying).

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THE WORLD CAN BE A COLD PLACE: In the new book “Outtakes,” a collection of interviews by ESPN’s Dan Patrick, Newport Beach’s Dennis Rodman is asked about his marriage to actress Carmen Electra. Specifically, what wedding gifts the couple received from Rodman’s former Chicago Bulls teammates, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

“Nobody gave me anything,” Rodman lamented. “It’s amazing how all these athletes and famous people . . . people give these guys parties, celebrations, roasts and all that stuff. When it comes to me I get none of that.”

Next time, maybe, Rodman will sign up for the bridal registry at the 99 Cents Only stores (see accompanying).

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SPEAKING OF TAKING THE BIG STEP: In honor of June’s arrival, this column presents a few oft-told stories about nuptials that have been investigated by the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society (snopes.com):

* On the trip down the aisle, a bridesmaid catches her spiked heel in a floor grate. An usher quickly tries to pick up the shoe but takes the grate with it, whereupon the bride tumbles into the open hole (unsubstantiated).

* A bride’s father is carrying a big wad of cash to pay off the band, bartender, etc. He takes off his jacket to dance and, when he returns, he finds the money is missing. Weeks later, the entire family is watching a video of the wedding when the groom’s father is spotted taking the money from the coat (unsubstantiated).

* A bride and groom are arrested at their wedding after a fight that broke out because, during the cake ritual, the husband had allegedly stuffed a piece into her mouth too roughly (true).

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HIS TWO SIDES: Fans of the late actor Fred MacMurray, who starred in numerous films as well as TV’s “My Three Sons,” were used to seeing him in good-guy roles. But one exception was “The Apartment” (1960), in which MacMurray played a philandering boss who uses Jack Lemmon’s digs for his trysts and has one jilted girlfriend (Shirley MacLaine) attempt suicide.

MacMurray was visiting Disneyland shortly after the opening of “The Apartment” when he “found himself accosted by a former fan,” writes Ed Sikov, the biographer of Billy Wilder, the film’s director.

The fan told MacMurray that she’d loved him in “The Shaggy Dog,” but, as for “The Apartment” . . . “How could you?” she said. “You spoiled the Disney image!”

And then she hit him over the head with her purse.

miscelLAny:

Dads get enough ribbing in the movies and TV (not to mention urban folk tales). So, did one bookstore in Long Beach really have to invite customers to “pick out” a good book for Father’s Day--and place the outdoor sign by a trash container?

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.