That’s Some Paint Job

How would you like to have a $27,000 mural painted on the side of your building--for free? There are just a few requirements:

You need a highly visible wall facing a well-trafficked street. The wall must be a minimum of 10 by 20 feet, and be free of leakage and major cracks. It can be made of stucco or cinder blocks. Buildings in Pacoima or North Hollywood are preferred. And you have to sign a contract saying you’ll leave the mural up for at least 10 years.

So what’s the deal?

The nonprofit, Venice-based Social and Public Art Resource Center has been funded by the city to produce 15 murals this year.

“We have six artists that don’t have sites yet,” explains Mia Kuwada, community coordinator for SPARC’s Neighborhood Pride Program. “The focus of our program is to hire youths from the area--disadvantaged youths, hopefully--to work with the artists on the murals.”

One of SPARC’s most famous projects is “The Great Wall of Los Angeles” mural--also called the Tujunga Wash Mural--on Coldwater Canyon Avenue between Oxnard Street and Burbank Boulevard.

“It’s a half-mile long, was begun in 1976, and was painted during five summers in a nine-year period, with research and fund raising going on in between,” explains Judith Baca, SPARC’s artistic director.

Office in a High-Rise

“For so long there’s been a misconception about corporate jets--that they’re ostentatious retreats, golden barges, a perk for executives. But the majority of corporate jets nowadays are refined business offices--with fax machines, computers, shredders, collapsible conference tables, satellite phone systems,” says Lon Holtz, district manager of Los Angeles operations for Mercury Air Centers, which leases hangar space at the Burbank Airport.

His company then subleases that space to corporations or individuals with private jets.

“Even if you’re in first class on a commercial airline, you can’t open a spreadsheet and discuss it without having other people overhear you. A corporate jet offers privacy and the ability to work while traveling--as productively as if you were back in your office,” Holtz says.

The firm’s corporate clients are in the entertainment industry or from downtown Los Angeles businesses.

Picky, Picky, Picky

No matter how sensible they may ordinarily be, consumers sometimes ask the same dumb questions or make the same strange requests.

“You’d be surprised at how many people ask for a Caesar salad without anchovies,” says Lisa Brucker, a waitress at Manhattan Coolers in Sherman Oaks. “When I tell them that anchovies are part of the dressing, they’ll say, ‘Well, give me a Caesar’s salad with a vinaigrette dressing.’ But it’s the Caesar dressing that makes it a Caesar salad.”

People who buy mattresses can be just as particular.

“A lot of time, when people are looking at a certain mattress to buy, they’ll ask, ‘What other colors does this come in?’--like it’s a couch,” says decorator consultant Jim McDevvit, who works in the furniture department at Serasa in Northridge Fashion Square.

“When I say, ‘None,’ and then point out that no one will see the mattress because it will be covered by a sheet, they’ll say, ‘You’re right, but in my heart I’ll always know what the color is, and I don’t like it.’ ”

Richard Penna, manager of Burger King in Agoura, reports that after some drive-through customers shout their orders into the microphone, they’ll add, “And that’s to go!”

The Skin Skinny

“There is a cream for everything these days,” says Jody Burton, skin-care consultant at Robinson’s in the Sherman Oaks Galleria. “Skin-care treatments are becoming very specialized.”

A walk through any department store’s cosmetic department proves Burton’s point. There are creams for specific parts of the body (eyes, neck, hands, nails, above the lip, thighs and buttocks) and creams for specific problems (such as cellulite, wrinkles, puffiness, redness and sun exposure).

Clarins, a Paris-based company, even offers several products to keep a woman’s bust toned.

Today’s creams rely on the “r” words: They promise to restore, rejuvenate, revitalize, repair, rehydrate, retain, replenish or remove.

“It’s conceivable that a woman could put on five different creams before she even gets to her foundation,” says Julie Erickson, skin-care consultant for the Clarins line at Bullocks in Sherman Oaks Fashion Square.

Customers aren’t concerned only about their own welfare when checking out the vast array of choices. Adds Farzi Rowshan, who works at Bullocks Intelligent Skin Care counter, “Almost everyone asks if the products have been tested on animals.”

Overheard

“From the parking lot, when I got out of my car, I could smell the money they were making there. I’m telling you, it was in the air .”

--Man walking down Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, talking about his recent visit to Sea World