Not hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk

John Rabe of KPCC enticed me out to Northridge on Wednesday to talk about my old neighborhood adopting the name Sherwood Forest. Our conversation will air on Saturday's Off-Ramp at noon. Since it was midday in the West Valley, in the middle of a heat wave, and Rabe's an intrepid reporter slash radio host, he brought along the makings of a classic journalism experiment. The temperature was a few notches over 100, but was it hot enough to cook an egg?

There are no sidewalks in most of Sherwood Forest, so he set up shop on a driveway — as it turns out, the back driveway of the ranchette where character actor Jim Davis lived for many years. Ripe oranges and pomegranates hung overhead.

I'm not sure the timeless news gimmick calls for an actual frying pan, but KPCC has the big bucks these days, so the first attempt was made en pan, as the French might say.

My role was pretty much limited to urging that the frying pan be discarded in favor of a true egg-on-pavement experiment. But even after 10 minutes, that KPCC egg just wouldn't fry.

All was not lost. I introduced Rabe to the pleasure of a Cupid's hot dog, and he got a nice little story for his show.

Also:
Hot and humid: NWS calls 'excessive heat watch' for Southern California
Current temperatures

Photos: LA Observed