Where’s the Art?
Art is in the eye of the beholder, they say. And for the 200 or so facility managers who toured the Getty Center last week, “art” was defined as the Getty’s chill room, boiler rooms, loading docks, central security station, generators and other elements of the physical plant.
“It’s a side (of the Getty) people take for granted. People don’t really have an appreciation for the infrastructure,” said Loren Williams, corporate director of facilities at Northrop Grumman Corp.
Loyd Randolph, manager of custodial services at the Getty, led one group through the center, and supplied a few fun facts:
The Getty Center’s tram-cable system is like an elevator on its side, and floats on a cushion of air. Its generators are the same kind used by the U.S. military to build power plants during Operation Desert Storm. There are 3,000 smoke detectors throughout the Getty. The staff has already collected two five-gallon pails full of coins from the pool. (They have to be removed lest they throw off the water’s pH balance).
Beverly Hills Bargains
Everyone loves a deal, right? That’s certainly the case at the Beverly Hills location of 99 Cents Only Stores, which has discovered that even the rich and famous can’t resist a chance to save a few pennies.
Actor Richard Gere, on his way home from LAX, recently stopped in to pick up a couple of cases of San Pellegrino water. Rapper and television actress Queen Latifah is a frequent customer. And Vannah White once popped in (with her bodyguard) and bought a dozen tubes of Close-Up toothpaste “one for each tooth, I guess,” chortled company spokesman Eric Schiffer.
But perhaps the store’s most interesting brush with fame occurred when the company began selling O.J. Simpson’s book, “I Want to Tell You,” for 99 cents. According to Schiffer, the former athlete’s sister, a frequent shopper at the store, apparently took offense at the fact that her brother’s book was selling for such a measly sum. So she purchased every copy on the shelf well over 100 copies.
“They just put some more books out as soon as she left,” Schiffer says.
Size Does Matter
After speaking at last week’s Town Hall Los Angeles meeting, Carol B. Hallett, president and chief executive of the Air Transport Association, fielded a question from Los Angeles-based campaign law attorney Dana Reed, who is at least 6 feet, 6 inches tall and 250 pounds:
“As one of the larger people in this room, I’m wondering if anything is being done to establish standards on leg room on planes?” Reed asked.
Hallett responded that there are no minimum standards on leg room.
“I think that Dana and (L.A. City Council President) John (Ferraro) were built too big,” she said. “At least they are a little bit too big for our economy-class seats. And that’s one of the reasons why we’d love to sell you first-class seats.”
Divorce, L.A.-Style
With L.A.’s reputation as the divorce capital of America, it is fitting that Divorce magazine, headquartered in Toronto, has now launched a Southern California edition.
The glossy quarterly is designed to provide useful tips on subjects ranging from child custody to how to get back into the singles scene.
Among the features in the summer issue, currently on newsstands: a look at the legal rights and obligations of those involved in “common law” marriages; a primer on how to save a relationship that seems headed for divorce; and profiles of local divorce lawyers.
(Here’s what Santa Monica attorney Connolly Oyler has to say to those who have decided to divorce: “Go for it I’m interested in representing clients who want to get their case resolved and get on with the rest of their lives.”)
