Here's the license plate on a friend's jeep, made of thick, sturdy steel, the word "California" stamped into the metal, the letters plain and proud, none of that loopy and lopsided frou frou handwriting we have on our plates today. Nice.

PS

Speaking of frou frou, our newest shopping mall, located in the late, lamented Malibu Lumber Yard, opens today; locals are really, really mad at U2's Dave Evans, aka The Edge, for the ENORMOUS development he plans to put on a pristine ridge; and I have a book review in the Chicago Trib.