HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW AT 7TH AND MONTANA ...!

Eyes were popping across Santa Monica this morning as word spread that Our Favorite Building Manager, known among friends as Ralph or Raphaelo, returned to 7th and Montana after a year-long hiatus.  Known for his Tall Tales -- he was a former Secret Agent and Green Beret who suffered numerous injuries in falls from planes, yachts and ski-lifts the world over -- Raphaelo was a fixture at Our Favorite Starbucks before disappearing mysteriously without a trace last year.  According to Genevieve, who spotted him this morning, he spent the past year in Canada and Spain, presumably managing many a building along the way.  Meanwhile, here in Seoul, it was a hair-raising encounter of another kind last night as a Demented Barber made the scene at the Hotel Intercontinental.  At approximately 9:00 p.m., a group of colleagues called my attention to a man in a hair salon who seemed to be lovingly caressing the disembodied head of a manikin.  An hour later, when we returned to the hotel, he had the strangely lifelike head in an almost passionate embrace.  I was tempted to interrupt him -- to suggest he elope with the head to 7th and Montana where he'd fit right in -- but I doubt he understands English ...!