it’s “illegal?” Are they being “sarcastic?” Why must quotation marks be used “erroneously?!”

That sign is an editor’s nightmare. I feel ill just looking at it.

Of course everyone knows when you ban something you make it officially cooler than cool to do it. Prohibition never works, just fans the flames to do more.

Idiots.

Rumor has it there is also a bill in the works banning laughter and smiles.

In other news.. Christmas has been canceled.

Have a nice day.

Fraz: I’d have agreed with you, but I’ve spoken with people who regularly hit up Hollywood Blvd. for Halloween who claim that the silly string was a MAJOR problem – strangers spraying strangers, causing fights, plus the cost of clean up I guess was pretty high (I think silly string can dissolve paint on cars).

The ban has actually lessened its use.

Besides, what wrong with eggs, shaving cream, and toilet paper? pffft… kids these days.

I’ve been on Hollywood Blvd during the silly string wars. They were fun, never broke into riot but understand in later years it did. Damn hoodlums always ruin a good free for all. Next thing you know they’ll ban pillow fights. Oops…they did, or tried at least.

I made my Costco run for the week. Knowing full well I’m a JD at heart I bought an extra case of TP. Heee heee heee aren’t you glad you don’t live closer?

What I love is the 12:00 AM – 12:00 NOON duration of the ban. It’s so wonderfully ambiguous.

What if the string is more foolish than silly? There’s no room to maneuver with these guys. Guess my Raggedy Andy costume is staying put away.

Looking further into this “Municipal Code”
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=amlegal:losangeles_ca_mc

It turns out that 56.13 says we can’t exchange merchandise through traps or openings in the sidewalk. What a crock.

MapNerd: people have defeated tickets from laws arguing over if 12:00 midnight is am or pm, because there’s no technical definition anywhere. So ambiguous indeed!

Here’s the law:

SEC. 56.02.  SILLY STRING – HOLLYWOOD DIVISION DURING HALLOWEEN.
     (Added by Ord. No. 176,176, Eff. 10/6/04.)
     (a)     For purposes of this section:
     1.     ”Silly String” shall mean any putty-like substance that is shot or expelled in the form of string from an aerosol can or other pressurized device, regardless of whether it is sold under the name “Silly String” or any other name.
     2.     ”Hollywood Division” shall mean the area defined by the Los Angeles Police Department as the Hollywood Division, the geographical boundaries of which include all of that portion of Los Angeles City bounded and described as follows:  Beginning at the point of intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Normandie Avenue, and proceeding northerly along Normandie Avenue to Franklin Avenue, and proceeding westerly along Franklin Avenue to Western Avenue, and proceeding northerly along Western Avenue to Fern Dell Drive, and continuing northerly along Fern Dell Drive to its terminus, and proceeding due north through Griffith Park to Forest Lawn Drive at its intersection with Zoo Drive, and proceeding westerly and southwesterly along Forest Lawn Drive to Barham Boulevard, and proceeding southerly along Barham Boulevard to United States Highway 101, and proceeding southeasterly along U.S. Highway 101 to Mulholland Drive, and proceeding westerly along the various curves and courses of Mulholland Drive to the Crest of Ridge, and proceeding southerly following the Los Angeles city line along the eastern border of the Trousdale Estates area of the City of Beverly Hills to the northeast corner of the City of West Hollywood, and proceeding easterly following the Los Angeles city line bordering along its various curves and courses of the northern border of the City of West Hollywood to the eastern border of the City of West Hollywood that is to the east of La Brea Avenue, and proceeding southerly along the Los Angeles city line to Romaine Street, and proceeding westerly following the Los Angeles city line along its various curves and courses to the intersection of Romaine Street and La Cienega Boulevard, and proceeding southerly following the Los Angeles city line along its various curves and courses to Beverly Boulevard, and proceeding easterly along Beverly Boulevard to La Brea Avenue, and proceeding northerly along La Brea Avenue to Willoughby Avenue, and proceeding easterly along Willoughby Avenue to Hudson Avenue, and proceeding southerly along Hudson Avenue to Melrose Avenue, and proceeding easterly along Melrose Avenue to Gower Street, and proceeding southerly along Gower Street to Beverly Boulevard, and proceeding easterly along Beverly Boulevard to Normandie Avenue.
     3.     ”Halloween” shall mean the 36-hour period from 12:00 a.m. on October 31st of each year, through 12:00 p.m. on November 1st of each year.
     (b)     No Person, as defined in Municipal Code Section 11.01(a), shall possess, use, sell or distribute Silly String at, within or upon any public or private property that is either within public view or accessible to the public, including, but not limited to, public or private streets, sidewalks, parking lots, commercial or residential buildings, places of business, or parks within the Hollywood Division during Halloween.
     (c)     Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor subject to the provisions of Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 11.00(m).

Shit’s bad for the environment.

They need all that stuff for the war effort anyway:

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1015sillystring.html

I agree with SteveJust though … that stuff is nasty. It dissolves vinyl and has gobs of phthalates in it … probably shrinks gonads.

DavidM: Of course, the actual law specifies “the 36-hour period from 12:00 a.m. on October 31st of each year, through 12:00 p.m. on November 1st”, so I suppose that makes their intent pretty clear. Amusing, though, that the sign swaps NOON for PM.

(Personally, I counted it a victory when CalTrans was persuaded to change “THIS OFF-RAMP TO BE CLOSED TEMPORARILY FROM [date] TO [date]” to “THIS OFFRAMP TO BE CLOSED INTERMITTENTLY…”, which is what they really meant.)

Bad for the environment… As if the ban has spared 12 billion gallons of the shit from our storm drains.

Isn’t it at least nice to know that the rest of the city’s problems have been solved?

Damn the silly string! Long live Los Angeles!

Funny. I took a similar photo last year (with appropriately stationed police officers on bikes behind the sign). They weren’t guarding the sign, the photo was taken at the time of an anti-war protest that ended right near amoeba music. So bizarre. Looks like they’re reusing the signs, they look more worn this year (fresh off the press last year).

Lucinda is correct, as is a subsequent post: Anyone armed with a rudimentary styles book can claim that the inverted quotes imply sarcasm and that the “AM” to “Noon” is technically a sixty-second span, at best.
I plan to test it.

Lucinda is correct, as is a subsequent post: Anyone armed with a rudimentary styles book can claim that the inverted quotes imply sarcasm and that the “AM” to “Noon” is technically a sixty-second span, at best.
I plan to test it, if they try it this year. Is got nuttin better ta do!

Silly string fight at 12:01 p.m. on November 1st. Hollywood and Vine, be there or be square.

Allison, I think some people (not me personally) use quotes not to be sarcastic, but because they want to show they’re taking it from somewhere.
They’re not saying, “so called, illegal” but “and I quote, illegal”.
It’s still inappropriate, but I think thats whats going through peoples minds when they use quotes in wacky places.
Not to say I’m an expert on grammar, I don’t think I even used quotes right here. :)

…and why just open-quotes? Does the typeface not come with close-quotes?

Good approach, Bustard. Refute them with logic.

Let us know how that works out, huh?. :-)

Well, LA MapNerd, I wish my logic were as street-smart as your handle implies.

Unfortunately, it is America, and so I find myself too often sitting alone.

If anything, the “sex” is cheaper, if not better. . .