Lastories/16″/mike1st/mark2nd
Hustlerworld
Larry Flynt will soon bring more strip to the Sunset Strip.
The controversial publisher of Hustler Magazine plans to open Hustler Hollywood Video, which will purvey videos, books magazines, juice and coffee in a building that used to house a Blockbuster Video and Boston Market.
A portion of the store will be adult in nature, but not all, said Ray Reynolds, West Hollywood’s community development director. Mayor Steve Martin said it seems to be a vanity store for Flynt.
“A tourist on the Strip can pick up a shirt with Flynt’s picture on it,” Martin quipped.
Flynt obtained a creative sign permit last month, since his sign doesn’t fit the usual standards. That’s not to say it’s racy just a three-dimensional, revolving globe with the words “For the rest of the world” on a 40-foot-high pylon. Neon rings on the column will pulse on and off.
It sailed through the planning commission without controversy, Reynolds said. Adult uses are permitted under the zoning code, and the request didn’t incite droves of angry neighbors.
Crushing Remarks
There’s little love lost between L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and L.A. City Councilman Nate Holden. At a luncheon with local engineering firms, Antonovich took a shot at Holden for participating in a protest against Proposition A, the countywide initiative that would halt future subway construction.
During the Oct. 20 protest, Holden laid down across a set of tracks on an abandoned rail spur. Antonovich, who supports Prop. A, said: “Some were probably asking, ‘Where’s the train?’ ”
Holden said Antonovich has long been pushing for grade-level transportation systems. “People don’t want that in their neighborhood, and that is why I laid down on the tracks,” Holden said. “They want a subway, just like the one going through Hollywood.”
Chewing on Nostalgia
The price of those multi-colored gumballs and assorted comfits in vending machines is about to get higher. So says Jim Hinton, president of Oak Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Vernon, which makes and distributes the dispensers found in shopping malls, video stores and supermarkets.
“Our machines now charge 25 to 50 cents and soon they’ll hit one dollar whenever there will be a dollar coin,” he said. “It’s projected to come in the year 2000 or 2001.”
The looming $1 gumball will represent a 100-fold price increase from when the company first opened in 1948 and sold penny coin-slot Acorn Machines until the early 1960s.
Serious masticators can stock up before the price jump happens.
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Hinton’s company is selling a bag of 1,000 gumballs for $10, which works out to a penny apiece. But before getting too excited, note that the offer is only extended to those who also buy a reproduction of the original Acorn Machine, for $79 each.
Obscure Museum
One of downtown’s hot new cultural venues is an accounting office.
Artworks hanging on the walls of the downtown office of Deloitte & Touche LLP are causing such a stir that a group of art connoisseurs from the Museum of Contemporary Art has asked to view them. The firm has one of the largest collections of contemporary multicultural artists in the country, according to Deloitte spokeswoman Suzanne Thompson.
“Just because we are accountants, doesn’t mean we are not involved in the art community,” said Thompson. “It is very exciting, we have some very interesting art. This just confirms what we have always known.”
The MOCA group is slated to view the works on Nov. 21. There will be 75 paintings on display during the tour.
