Octopus

Two Australians were recovering in hospitals Monday after being bitten by a small but highly poisonous blue-ringed octopus. One of the two, James Stevenson, 29, was bitten by an octopus hidden in a shell that he had tucked in his bathing suit while diving.

It used to be that the least popular creature in the fishmonger's case was the squid. A recent surge of popularity has removed the stigma attached to the squid so that today the bottom rung is occupied by its close cousin, the octopus. Both are cephalopods, shellfish that through thousands of years of evolution have internalized their hard outer shells. In the case of the octopus, all that remains is its small beak or mouth. The octopus is an extremely intelligent invertebrate.

In the Oct. 16 article "Pool School" I was shocked and sad to see a photo of a person holding a juvenile octopus. I feel it's important to mention that this did not occur on the guided tide pool tour in honor of Coast Month and that this type of interaction should be discouraged. Octopuses, like fish, cannot breathe out of water. They are also protected by law in the intertidal zone of state beaches and parks. The intertidal zone is a nursery to our ocean's great diverse marine life and it is in all of our best interests to let these plants and animals thrive to be enjoyed by future generations.

Resuming a column after a long absence is like trying to have a baby in your 50s. It's possible but not easy. You have to go at the thing slowly. The column thing, I mean. You get off the plane in L.A. after a month in far places, drag your stuff from the luggage carousel, lie your way through customs, catch a cab to the nearest hotel and sign up for a tour. A tour? Let me explain.

One way to get a fix on what's current in California is to fly the shuttle runs between Los Angeles and San Francisco. For a while it seemed almost all the seats were taken by consultants engaged in the business of breaking up Ma Bell. They'd spend the hour in friendly debate over who offered the lowest rates--and who carried the tiniest cell phone.

There is delicious irony in the fact that the Union Pacific Railroad donated $25,000 this spring to the political committee that is promoting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "People's Reform Program." Schwarzenegger, after all, casts himself in the mold of progressive Gov. Hiram Johnson, whose election in 1910 broke the oppressive political grip of the Southern Pacific Railroad -- a predecessor of the present Union Pacific -- on state government.

PURO SABOR -- Spanish for pure, unadulterated flavor -- is the name of a sprightly 7-month-old Peruvian restaurant on Van Nuys Boulevard. The kitchen lives up to the promise of its moniker, sending out plates that are all about puro sabor -- nothing architectural or flamboyant, no foam or bouncy gelee -- just classic Peruvian favorites with powerfully seductive tastes. This becomes clear with your first order of ceviche de pescado. Cubes of pristinely fresh fish firmed up with a gentle kiss of citrus and chile retain a delicate marine essence.

O'Toole, the first giant octopus in captivity to be reared from larval form, has died of old age at the Seattle Aquarium, officials said Tuesday. Aquarium officials said that O'Toole died of natural causes on Dec. 29. The 3-year-old octopus weighed 65 pounds and had tentacles 5 feet long. The aquarium last September received the Edward H. Bean Award, the highest award given by the American Assn.

The Detroit Red Wings announced Tuesday that they would not allow fans to bring octopuses into Joe Louis Arena to throw onto the ice during the playoffs. Why would anyone want to do that in the first place? According to the Detroit Red Wing public-relations department, the ritual began during the 1952 Stanley Cup playoffs. Back then, only four teams made the playoffs, so it took only eight victories to win the Stanley Cup.

I have no idea what went down between the Big Lewinsky and the Big Creep. (Not their real names.) Nor do I know why they got double-crossed by America's rat, Linda Tripp. With an enemy like her, who needs friends? And I am not sure if we will ever know exactly what happened in a Little Rock hotel room between Paula "I-didn't-ask-for-room- service" Corbin Jones and a certain randy Razorback. But I had my suspicions. And then Kathleen E. Willey went on TV.