INSIDE SCOOP

Bob Dylan would have cringed.

A low-light of the Daily Pilot’s luncheon for the top 103 most

influential people included a tongue-in-cheek sing-along to the tune of

“Blowing in the Wind.”

Some of the lyrics:

“How many boats must Duffy sell, before he’s a routine 103?

Yes ‘n how many tourists can Rosalind lure, before she becomes an

Untouchable?

The answer you can file it, it’s published in the Pilot

The answer is published in the Pilot.”

It’s not very often you have Henry Segerstrom, Marian Bergeson and

Robert Barbot all signing together. Which may be a good thing.

And, as Newport Beach Planning Commission Mike Kranzley -- who played

guitar along with Pilot Editor Tony Dodero -- said, “Leave it to Bill

Lobdell to turn a powerful antiwar song into a crass advertisement for

the Daily Pilot.”

A not-so-friendly competition

Before the Harbor Heritage run even started, the worst of the

competition was over.

It seems many teachers at Newport Harbor High School, determined to

win the prizes parents hand out for those who register the most racers,

engaged in a weeks-long race for the most student bodies.

For most of the year, Martha Topic is known as a demanding and

inspiring advanced placement English teacher. But come Harbor Heritage

run time, she turns into a fiend not for grammar but for registration

forms.

“She hasn’t lost in eight years,” said Nicole Dore, of her teachers’

passion for signing up the most students.

Many students, Nicole included, don’t even run in the race. But they

register anyway, and then bring proof of registration into their teachers

for extra credit points.

In Nicole’s math class, students today will take an extra credit test

on Harbor Heritage trivia.

Another teacher promised her students five extra-credit points for

entering the race, and 10 if they get a better time than she does.