Postscript of the week:Irwin Spector, who was...

Postscript of the week:

Irwin Spector, who was in the news recently when he was dismissed as a Studio City Cub Scout den leader for alleged atheistic views, was once the president of a sex video company. Spector, who is 57, confirmed the disclosure. But he says he left the business in 1988 before he became involved in Scouting.

He and the North Hollywood firm Mail Mart Inc. were charged with several federal obscenity offenses. The charges against him were dropped after a plea agreement under which the company pleaded guilty to one felony count and went out of business.

Spector says the dispute over his religious beliefs was Scouting’s retaliation because he sent a letter of support to a set of 10-year-old Orange County twins who had refused to say “God” in their Scout oaths. The Scouts don’t agree.

“We stand behind our values,” said Boy Scout spokesman Eugene R. Richey, “and this is inappropriate to the type of program we are involved in.”

Jim Mouth, who can smoke more cigarettes simultaneously than most anyone in the world, is like any champion. He’s always trying to improve his performance. But that’s not so easy now that he’s surpassed 150.

“I can do 153 but I don’t know how much higher I can go,” said Mouth, a Buena Park comic who’ll demonstrate his specialty at John’s Pipe Shop in Hollywood on Thursday, as he does every year on the day of the Great American Smokeout. Mouth, which is his nom de guerre , says his purpose is to emphasize how unsightly smoking is.

“When I first started, I could only do about 95,” he said. “Then, one time, I pushed real hard and heard something pop. What I’d done is dislocate my jaw. And I was able to stuff about 30 or 35 more in. So I dislocate it each time now. But my dentist tells me: ‘One of these days, you’re not going to be able to snap it back into the socket. You’re gonna call me from the hospital.’ ”

Nevertheless, Mouth finds it difficult to break his 7 1/2-pack-a-Smokeout habit.

List of the Day:

Street clarinetist Ahmed Abdullah, 74, picks his favorite corners for receiving tips from passersby:

1--3rd and Grand, downtown--”The financial district.”

2--Rodeo and Wilshire--”Anywhere on Wilshire’s good.”

3--Outside the Avco Theaters, Westwood--”Assuming some good movies are playing.”

4--Sherman Oaks Galleria--”Had so many $20 tippers one night I thought they must be counterfeit.”

5--Santa Monica Mall--”Guy gave me $10 and I heard his son say: ‘Dad, I thought we weren’t supposed to give to beggars.’ And his Dad said: “That man’s not begging, son. He’s working.’ ”

Worst spot: “Long Beach.”

You’ve heard of power ties and power lunches. The 42-story AT&T; Center boasts, in an ad in the Downtown News, that its L.A. offices have a . . . “Power View.”

AT&T;, of course, is also famous for its occasional power outages .

With no end in sight for the drought, state water official Maurice Roos said: “For now I suggest we pray for a moderate wet winter.”

Luckily, the manager of the state’s Drought Center is named Doug Priest.

miscelLAny:

Pershing Square’s underground parking garage houses a computerized roadway map that indicates areas of traffic congestion with flashing signals. It puts on quite a light show around 5:30 p.m.