L.A STORIES/15inches/1STJC/mark2nd
Hot Bug
What’s the hottest rental at Budget Rent A Car of Beverly Hills? The Corvette convertible? A Porsche Boxster? A Jaguar?
Nope, it’s the VW Beetle.
Budget has 10 of the recently reintroduced bugs, and customers wanting to rent one will have to wait several weeks. By comparison, customers looking for a Mercedes-Benz ML-320 sport utility vehicle Budget’s next most popular rental will be on a waiting list for less than a week.
Budget’s first Beetle was rented to singer-actor Lyle Lovett, who as of last week had been tooling around town in his for more than two weeks, said Budget of Beverly Hills President Ken Kerzner.
The Beetle originally was renting for $75 a day, but the price was upped to $99 when the agency saw the huge demand for the car. Still, the car is a bargain when compared to the ML-320, which rents for $135 a day, and the Boxster, at $300 a day.
“It’s the low end of our exotic cars,” Kerzner said. “I never thought I would say a VW Beetle is an exotic car.”
Hungry Judges?
The Getty Center, the California Science Center and In-N-Out Burger were among the projects honored with architectural awards last week by the Los Angeles Business Council.
Wait . In-N-Out Burger? A Kanner Architect design for the fast-food vendor took home an award in the commercial category.
Dori Pye, president of the Business Council, admitted that the selection left her flummoxed.
“In this case, I have to defer to the jury,” she said, noting that top architects from such firms as Johnson Fain Partners and Rachlin & Rachlin Inc. picked the winners. “You’ve got some real heavyweights on that panel, and sometimes I don’t know what goes on in their minds.”
Editor Seinfeld
Normally, journalists don’t allow their subjects to edit their stories. But a Vanity Fair magazine reporter extended that privilege to Jerry Seinfeld, the New York Post reported last week.
According to the Post, the Seinfeld-edited copy of Lynn Hirschberg’s cover story was faxed to Vanity Fair’s offices, “tipping off editors to the breach of proper procedures.” The Post further claimed that Seinfeld publicist Lori Jonas was fired as a result of the episode.
Hirschberg, Vanity Fair and Seinfeld reportedly all denied the incident took place. But a press release issued by Seinfeld didn’t do much to show his distance from the story, calling Hirschberg “easily one of the finest writers I’ve worked with I couldn’t be happier with her article.”
Port o’ High Pay
If a low salary has you considering a career change, you may want to head to the harbor area and apply to become a longshoreman (or woman).
It may not be a glamorous job, but the average full-time longshoreman made $96,865 last year, according to the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents West Coast shipping companies in negotiations with waterfront unions. At the top of the scale, the average International Longshore and Warehouse Union foreman made $148,477; marine clerks averaged $113,808.
The high salary, according to the PMA, largely was the result of an increase in overtime due to the holiday cargo crush.
