LABJ’s LA Stories
Big Bucks
Money may not be able to buy happiness, but it sure can buy more money.
Goldline International Inc., a unit of Santa Monica-based A-Mark Financial Corp., recently sold a trove of more than 1,000 pieces of mint condition paper money dating from the 1880s and early 1890s.
“Not a lot of people knew about it,” said Mark Albarian, Goldline’s president and chief executive. “There were no records of them in the paper money-dealing community.”
He declined to name the previous owner of the collection, which included the “Jackass” note featuring a picture of an eagle that, when turned upside down, looks like a donkey.
Since few notes from the 1800s have survived, the collection was valued in excess of $10 million.
Albarian said it took about 18 months to sell all the notes, which brought from $2,075 to $50,000 each. “It’s like finding an old automobile that was never used, but was preserved, and the owner sells it.”
Janna Braun
Sales Pitch
Sex sells, but the city thinks it offers an unfair advantage.
In seeking to shut down the Big Apple Bookstore, a North Hollywood adult bookstore and video arcade, the City Attorney’s office said 116 arrests of people committing and soliciting sexual acts alone and in pairs provided evidence of a public nuisance.
It also claimed Big Apple was in violation of section 17200 of the state’s Business and Professions Code, barring unfair competition.
The city argued that by providing a venue for illicit sexual activity the bookstore unfairly brought in more revenue and gained an unfair advantage over its competitors, said Eric Moses, a spokesman for the City Attorney.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Willhite Jr. agreed, and ordered the store’s owner, Whitey Inc., to shut down its adult video booths for a year, liquidate its video equipment and pay a $25,000 fine.
Clyde DeWitt, the lawyer for Whitey Inc., declined comment.
Matt Myerhoff
Whine and Cheese
Picketing grocery workers at a Hollywood area Ralphs got a boost last Wednesday when a half dozen strippers showed up with soft drinks and snacks.
“The grocery chains are locking out clerks and the city of Los Angeles is trying to lock out dancers,” said Steven Afriat, lobbyist for the dancers’ effort to turn back the city’s effort to ban lap dancing.
Unlike their counterparts on the picket lines, the dancers are trying to take their plight straight to the voters, circulating a petition to repeal the ordinance or put a referendum on the ballot. Close to 100,000 signatures have been gathered, according to Afriat, which is well above the 57,000 needed to put it to a vote and stay the ordinance.
“These are all people wondering how to support their families,” said Afriat. “They’re not wealthy; they live paycheck to paycheck. It’s heartwarming to see the solidarity.”
Nicole Taylor
Sailing Away
Ah, Long Beach. Scrambling to boost its place as a tourist destination, the city did itself no good when City Manager Gerald Miller canceled a major public festival scheduled for Oct. 3-5
ShoreFest, a free event, was supposed to include six separate festivals throughout the city, including an air show featuring the U.S. Navy Blue Angels at the Long Beach Airport, sailing demonstrations at the Queen Mary, musicians and other activities. ShoreSales LLC, a partnership that included Queensway Bay’s Developers Diversified Realty Corp., organized the $3 million event.
In comments to the city council on Sept. 23, Miller said event organizers had not prepared enough for public safety, transportation, parking and logistical issues.
David Jacobson, media relations director of ShoreFest, called the cancellation inexplicable. He said city officials dumped their own commitments last minute onto event organizers.
“Why did they pass the parking and traffic issues onto us when they manage their own city?” he said.
Amanda Bronstad
The Roving Eye
Quick Takes
Philipp Barnett, aspiring producer and Los Angeles Film School student, had it all together: actors, writers, a director, and an assortment of set workers and camera operators. All he needed was a story.
“We received a sealed envelope,” Barnett recalled through the fog of 48 sleepless hours. “Inside it said, ‘Steve makes a life-changing decision using his Magic 8 Ball.'”
In the video, the protagonist, Steve, decides to rebel against a culture in which people make all their decisions in consultation with Magic 8 Balls, the toy that offers pat answers to life’s murky questions.
The exercise was part of a contest sponsored by Long Beach-based Pioneer Electronics USA to promote the company’s DVD recording drive.
Over the next few weeks, students from more than a dozen other schools will make their own short films. The winner will be announced in January at a trade show in Las Vegas, with the top school getting $10,000 and two runners-up receiving $5,000 each.
“It’s the idea of extreme filmmaking,” said Andy Parsons, a senior vice president at Pioneer. ”
Barnett said his 30-member team completed its project without major snags, although there were some challenges to overcome, such as finding Magic 8 Balls.
“The good thing about having a film school in the middle of Hollywood is that you can get anything you need, even in the middle of the night,” he said.
Darrell Satzman
