Joe Phelps and his Group celebrated 25 years in business Friday night, September 15: if they gave a Telly award for best-office-space-designed-for-holding-a-party, he’d be sure to add another to the company’s collection…Santa Monicans Jackson Browne and Tagline Pictures were among the many who contributed to the 75th birthday fete for Archbishop Desmond Tutu produced by Artists for a New South Africa at the Beverly Wilshire on Monday, September 18…Venetian Katerina Tana may go down in local lore as the Ross Perot of Canaltown politics: the write-in candidate to chair the neighborhood council’s Land Use and Planning Committee drew 25 votes in a race that was decided by a ten-vote spread between the principal contenders…
Seen at the Abbot Kinney Festival on a truly magnificent Sunday, September 24: Earl Newman, now of Blodgett, Oregon, and formerly of Venice, California, signing prints of the wonderful poster he did for this year’s Festival. The image was everywhere, and rightly so… Also seen: Marc Pare of Ocean Ave. dispensing information for City at Peace (and it was a pleasure to see the young entertainers performing in the group’s own back yard)…
Heard at the Festival: “Mama Maria” Fabian belting out a terrific “Just in Time” on the karaoke stage in the Youth and Family Court. And she turns 80 next month…Also heard, as a couple was approaching the Main Street end of A.K. Blvd: “Remember, we have to walk back too.”…
It has to be 20 years since I have seen a men’s room attendant (but then, I may have been traveling in the wrong circles). Among the many “complimentary” items offered by George Williams at Monsoon, along with breath mints, chewing gum and such, are book matches printed with the name of Hollywood Bail Bonds and its motto, “Any Jail! Any Court! Any Time!” (Sometimes I really love this town.)…
Euphemism of the Week: Santa Monica Firefighters Union President Brad Lomas, describing the prizes in the raffle at the Firefighters Ball at the Miramar on Saturday night, September 23, “Now, the iPod is not on display on the back table with the other prizes because – well, because the iPod – is – so small.”
Venice is: the storefront signage “Altered Space” right next door to “Double Vision” on Abbot Kinney, or…a ceramic bowl filled with water at the base of a booth support, with a hand-lettered sign duct-taped to the support saying “Dog Water,” or…the ACLU just down the row of booths from the NRA – actually, the ACLU would no doubt defend the NRA folks’ right to speak their mind, and the NRA would likewise defend the civil libertarians’ right to bear arms; and that’s what makes this country great…Who was that fellow on the dance floor at the Firefighters Ball in the muscle t-shirt with the hula hoop?
For what it’s worth: Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam announced, “Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence.” Enough said…
Did you see that Linda Sparks has opened a corset shop on Pico in SM under the name “Farthingales L.A.”? Now that’s a business built on a solid foundation. It’s a cinch to be a whale[bone] of a success if she keeps hour glasses laced with the spirit: “22 Inches or Bustier!”…OK, OK, I’ll quit.
– 30 –
