Win Some, Lose Some. . .

Tom Blair's i On San Diego

POSTMORTEM? Alas, the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player won’t be appearing in this month’s Super Bowl. Once again, the Chargers flamed out in their first playoff game. But LaDainian Tomlinson does have another public appearance on his February calendar. L.T. will be joining the likes of Microsoft president Rick Belluzzo and Rudy Giuliani in a motivational seminar on Valentine’s Day at the ipayOne Center. Also on the bill: Marty Schottenheimer, who, according to promoters, will tell the audience “How To Lead Your Team to Victory.” Just not in the postseason.

SAN DIEGANS’ INK: The experts say Congressman Duncan Hunter has practically no name recognition outside San Diego. And if this Battle Creek, Michigan, blogger’s contribution to the Topix.net Web site is any indication, the experts may be right, for a change: “Duncan Who!?” Duncan Hines!? No thanks. I need to lay off the cake. Getting soggy around the midsection. And who decided that cake can run for president, anyways?” . . . Josh Ellis, who left La Jolla Playhouse three years back after long years as the theater’s publicist, is back in New York, where he started in theater. But it’s a new audience these days. Ellis has graduated from seminary, been ordained as an Interfaith minister and already performed his first wedding—with an opening greeting to the Chinese-American bride in Mandarin Chinese.

REMEMBRANCE: San Diego’s Jack Ford was back in the public eye last month during the funeral for his father, former president Gerald Ford. And that reminded Lee Grissom of one of his favorite Ford stories, as told by Jack himself, on himself. President Ford was hosting a state dinner for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and before dinner, the president hosted the queen for cocktails in the White House living quarters. After the meeting, as the elevator dropped toward the ground floor, it stopped abruptly. The door opened, and in walked young Jack, wearing his tux jacket and pants but with his starched shirt open on one side and his studs poking hopefully toward a polite place on the other side. The president turned to the queen, and said with a sigh, “Please forgive me; he is my son.” To which the queen promptly replied, “I understand. We have one just like him at home.”

IT PAYS TO ASK: With her sister-in-law struggling to conceive a child, San Diego Magazine publisher Maureen Sullivan found the perfect gift at Whole Foods: a Bible-size book titled A Woman’s Guide to Fertility. As she continued to shop, carrying the giant book cover-side out, she got an unexpected bonus. A handsome gentleman came down the aisle toward her, his eyes darting from Sullivan to the book and back again. “Excuse me,” he said. “You just seem like the most amazing woman. Could I have your phone number so I can take you to coffee?” He got it.

ITEMS INFINITUM: La Jolla’s Lodge at Torrey Pines, less than five years old with no major-hotel nameplate, is beating the big boys at their game. In January, Condé Nast Traveler included it on its “Gold List” of the world’s best hotels and resorts; Travel + Leisure ranked it among 500 of “The World’s Best Hotels”; and the 2007 Zagat Survey gave the Lodge’s restaurant, A.R. Valentien, top score among all San Diego restaurants . . . Britney Spears’ name was linked last month with Chargers superstar LaDainian Tomlinson. Sort of. L.T. was named one of the “10 Best-Mannered People of 2006” by the National League of Cotillions. Britney was named the “Most Ill-Mannered Person of 2006” . . . El Camino Memorial Park has added a classic Harley-Davidson Road King motorcycle to its fleet of hearses, “for a truly unique sendoff.” Right. And loud enough to wake the dead.

DRINK TO THIS: “Mixing drinks,” according to Playboy magazine—the bible on such lofty matters—“has become an art form on the level of haute cuisine.” And one of the greatest artists is San Diego’s Ariana Johnson. She’s been picked by Playboy (the Playboy.com A List) as one of America’s Top 10 Bartenders. Johnson, who practices her art behind the bar at uptown’s hot new Modus restaurant (she and husband Scott are co-owners), scores with her signature Ruby Slipper of local organic raspberries, Hendrick’s gin and a lemon wedge. But she probably got Playboy’s attention with her Bitter Bitch (gin, grapefruit and rosemary) and Dirty Girl (vodka, blue-cheese olives and olive juice).

THE LAST WORD: This excerpt may not be from the worst-ever travel story, but it would certainly make it deep into the playoffs. Joel Ellis, writing about San Diego—presumably—for the Daily Chronicle in DeKalb, Illinois: “As you arrive in ‘America’s Finest City,’ there is a plethora of things to do . . . The first and most obvious thing is the ‘World Famous San Diego Zoo.’ I, personally, am not a huge fan of the zoo. For someone 340 pounds, walking 20 miles in a day is horrible . . . For those who like the wild animals, the zoo also has a Wild Animal Park, which I have never attended. I hear it is much better than going to the regular zoo.”

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LISTEN FOR TOM BLAIR’S FRIDAY REPORTS on KOGO News Radio (600 AM) at 7:25 a.m. You can also hear his radio column at sandiegomagazine.com. Items for the magazine or radio may be e-mailed to tblair@sandiegomagazine.com.

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