LABJ’s LA Stories
How’s That?
Company officials deny it, but there’s little avoiding the message that had been plastered atop Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc.’s headquarters for the last two months.
“That high colonic really changed our outlook,” proclaimed the billboard above 6922 Hollywood Blvd.
Ostensibly part of a $5 million ad campaign accompanying the September facelift of its flagship TV Guide magazine, the message was the only one in the campaign that could be read as a message to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has charged Henry Yuen, Gemstar’s former chief executive, and Elsie Leung, its former chief financial officer, with inflating the company’s revenues by more than $200 million.
More benign messages, such as, “Like everyone else, we’re having a little work done” and “New look, new style, new attitude. Soon we’ll be dating models half our age,” appeared in magazine ads, billboards and on buses. The “colonic” billboard only appeared over its headquarters building.
TV Guide Publishing Group President John Loughlin emphatically denied that the ads referred to the SEC investigations, pointing out that management has been cleaned out since the alleged infractions.
“We did and do take the investigations extremely seriously,” he said. “There’s no agenda. This campaign was really targeted and about the brand rejuvenation.”
Matt Myerhoff
Cell Fish
As the lights dimmed for a recent concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a loud cell phone ring could be heard.
All around the hall, people could be seen reaching into their pockets and purses, muttering “Is that my phone? I thought I turned it off.”
It turns out the sound was coming from the venue itself, part of an ingenious warning system. After the third ring, a soft voice came over the loudspeakers reminding people to turn off their cell phones:
“This is one instrument no one wants to hear at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Please turn off all cell phones, pagers and watch alarms. Thank you, and enjoy the living music.”
Though a rarity here, Los Angeles Philharmonic spokeswoman Elizabeth Hinckley said using cell phone rings in warnings has become common in European concert halls.
Howard Fine
Color-Full
At last month’s meeting of the Westside Urban Forum, transit advocate Faith Mitchell was trying to find a new color for the proposed rail line to the Westside along Exposition Boulevard. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has placed the proposed “Expo Line” on hold because of funding difficulties.
“Let’s see, we have the Red Line, the Green Line, the Blue Line and the Gold Line,” Mitchell said. “But we want the Westside line to go to the ocean, so how about the Aqua Line?”
Then, as an aside, Mitchell said, “You know, the job I would most like is color consultant to the MTA.”
Howard Fine
Fish Tales
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach wants you to sleep with the fishes literally.
For the second year in a row, the Aquarium is inviting families to a special New Year’s Eve sleepover, with a chance to ring in the New Year alongside tropical fish and sea otters.
Participants bring their sleeping bags and pajamas, and the aquarium provides dinner, snacks, breakfast and special hands-on activities, including the opportunity to feed the sharks.
“The nice thing is that you’re in this enormous facility and you have it all to yourself and you can explore it in ways you normally couldn’t,” said John McCord, Aquarium education manager. “And how many times do you get the chance to feed sharks?”
McCord said the event can have a maximum of 50 participants. The Sopranos, however, are not invited.
Janna Braun
The Roving Eye
Broad Canvas
Who says “serious” art can’t be mixed with marketing?
Pacific Palisades painter John Robertson has been doing it for years at bookstores like Dutton’s and Village Books.
In the days leading up to book-signing appearances, his portraits of authors have been on display in storefront windows as a way to draw people.
The 4 1/2-by-6 foot acrylic paintings on loose canvas take two to five days to complete and remain on display for a week afterward. That gives patrons and passers by plenty of time to view his works.
The displays are free to the stores Robertson says he gets better exposure than from galleries and sell for $600 to $3,000 each. The subjects get a discount and several have purchased their own likeness.
Robertson took up painting as a hobby 18 years ago when he was a 42-year-old merchandise manager for Santa Monica retailer McMahan’s Furniture Inc. He began with landscapes and transitioned to portraits as a change of artistic scenery.
When Robertson was handed his pink slip in 1990, he had a choice: accept the same position with a department store or paint full time. When a Laguna Beach gallery offered to show his work, he knew which path to take.
Robertson has completed 350 portraits in the last five years. Subjects include authors Martin Amis, Simon Winchester and Frank Schaeffer, and musician Pancho Sanchez.
He recently completed six paintings of hands on basketballs in various stages of being slammed dunked, commissioned for an NBA television commercial.
David Greenberg
