Batmobile in Pomona!

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As seen in Wednesday’s column, or on TV for that matter: the Batmobile from the 1960s TV series, now in a limited engagement in Pomona. FYI, the trim that looks yellow is just a trick of the light or the camera: It’s all bright orange. Below are photos of the interior.

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“No, Batman’s not here, Commissioner. He took his cape to Frantz Cleaners. May I take a message?”

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La Verne connection to the Quaid case

The Bulletin’s celebrity news section on Page A2 has twice featured the arrest of Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, this past week. Well, there’s a local angle: Last summer the Quaids hired Becky Altringer, the La Verne private eye featured in a recent column of mine due to her role in the documentary “This Film is Not Yet Rated.” The Quaids even stayed in a La Verne mobile home (!) for a short period. The mind reels.

Altringer later dropped them as clients and is seeking a restraining order against Evi Quaid. You can read a fairly extensive piece from the Daily Beast here that quotes Altringer, if you’re inclined.

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Blog upgrades now in effect

In some long-needed tweaks to this blog, we now have 1) an explanation of this blog, 2) a few lines about and a photo of the blogger, i.e., me, 3) my e-mail address, 4) a link to my Facebook page, 5) a shorter, more useful list of relevant Daily Bulletin blogs, 6) a blogroll with selected outside blogs, 7) removal of various non-working or non-useful features along the left and right, and 8) change of colors for links from gray to blue (on most browsers), making them more visible.

All in all, the blog looks better to me. I’m especially pleased to link to a few of the better, and active, blogs out there, some of which have kindly linked here for a couple of years. I can’t link to every local blog — Pomona alone has a dozen — but you can find links to most of the rest on the blogs to which I do link.

LA Observed is the premier LA blog, linking to many other LA blogs and to the day’s news. Only in L.A. is former Timesman Steve Harvey’s blog. And the dining sites are fun, with the New Diner and Dinerwood getting props for including the Inland Valley as they range over the L.A. basin rather than dismissing us as the boonies.

One element you may never have noticed is that you can click on my name, as the author of each post, and be directed to my columnist page on the Bulletin website. But we’ve now added a more obvious link to the page in the “About This Blogger” section.

Any feedback on the changes, or ideas for other changes?

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Whither the Insider?

The Claremont Insider, a city-centric blog that debuted way back in 2005, featured almost-daily posts, some of great length, making it perhaps the most active Inland Valley blog.

Thus, the span of time since its most recent post, Aug. 6, is raising eyebrows.

Reader Tom Lamb says:

“Being the great investigative reporter that you are, I am turning to you for information as to what has happened to the Claremont Insider. As you probably know, the last posted blog was dated August 6th. It would certainly diminish the fun if it has gone away.”

And reader Tom Meader asks simply:

“Any ideas as to what is, or, is not, happening?”

Afraid not. I e-mailed Claremont Buzz, the blog’s contact, a couple of weeks back and got no response, which also doesn’t bode well for the blog’s status.

Perhaps ironically, the Aug. 6 post, about the defunct Claremont trolley, is headlined “Out of Sight but not Out of Mind.”

From the Insider’s inaugural post of May 8, 2005:

“We’ll report on the stories behind the stories. We’ll take you behind the scenes and show you the side of Claremont that doesn’t seem to make it into the papers. We’ll bring you the REAL Claremont, warts and all, rather than the sanitized, air-brushed official version.”

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Restaurant of the Week: Three Anas

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Three Anas, 8980 Benson Ave. (at Arrow Highway), Montclair

Located in a small, nondescript industrial park, Three Anas doesn’t promise much. But then you step inside, notice the two colorful murals and learn you order at your table, not the counter. There are other homey touches: a Wall of Fame by the door in which regular customers’ photos are posted and a stack of magazines for solo customers’ reading pleasure.

Our server cheerfully explained the origin of the Three Anas name: That’s what their father called Ana, Julianna and Joanna, the three sisters who own the restaurant. It will mark five years in business on Oct. 1.

Our table ordered steak picado ($7.50), which was pleasingly dry, not soupy; the special burrito ($4.50) with potatoes, carne asada, onions and peppers; and the chile relleno and chicken enchilada plate ($7), served wet with green sauce, plus rice and beans. They were all solid, satisfying versions. Three Anas “rivals Mi Pueblita,” one of our group said admiringly, referring to the popular Upland restaurant.

You have to like a restaurant run by three sisters, especially when the experience delivers so much more than the location promised. A hidden gem.

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On the trail of elk

On my vacation, I took a hike in Marin County at Point Reyes National Seashore to Tomales Point, passing through an elk reserve. It was my Petaluma friend Scott’s idea. He also asked if he could make a video for a class assignment. Since he was nice enough to let me sleep on his family’s sofa for two nights, how could I say no?

All I did was take direction, but you might get a kick out of it, and it’s only two minutes long.

The cameras I’m holding are his. And you might be interested to know that actually, we saw the elk first, before we’d even parked the car. Only after that did we take the hike.

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Snow in Pomona, 1932

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It’s supposed to be 105 or so today — at a certain point, does it really matter? — making this the perfect time to post this cool, refreshing photo of an (ahhhh) snowfall.

It’s from 1932 Pomona, looking west on East Holt. Note the Crystal Cafeteria sign, not to mention all the little snowmen. Concentrate on the photo and try to lower your body temperature.

Thanks to Betty Peters for the photo. I hope she’s chillin’.

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P-town East

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My colleague Wendy Leung returned recently from a trip to Boston and supplies this photo of a gift shop window in Provincetown, Mass. Pomona, as you probably know, also lives with the P-town nickname, although here there usually aren’t cutesy hearts involved.

“Provincetown is the tip of Cape Cod, a colorful, gay-friendly spot where natural beauty and kitsch collide,” she reports. “They call it P-town, the fist at the end of the flexed arm” — referring to the shape of Massachusetts’ border.

“It’s very different from Pomona. I couldn’t find menudo or carne asada here; instead, I had fried clams and a cup of chowdah.”

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