NEIGHBORS / SHORT TAKES : Naked City : Ventura College lecturer William Hendricks took some unique photographs of riot-torn Los Angeles.

There certainly wasn’t a shortage of photos coming out of Los Angeles during and after the riots. But it’s safe to assume that those taken by Ventura College lecturer William Hendricks were like no others.

Hendricks has built a reputation on photographing nude women, in various settings, as symbols of birth, rebirth and life. And when the rioting began, he saw the opportunity for more symbolism.

He and a model went to Los Angeles the day after the curfew was lifted, found a fire-ravaged structure in Koreatown and began the photo session. “The building was still steaming,” Hendricks said.

“Everybody around me was saying, ‘You’re an idiot, a jerk,’ ” he said. The model told him: “You’re crazy.”

“We were right there on the corner,” he said. “Luckily we didn’t have the National Guard right there. They were two blocks away.”

Hendricks said he needed to capture the moment. “I think it’s important to show the turmoil going on in Los Angeles,” he said, “and to show the rebirth of Los Angeles.”

Now that the ever-evolving Mayfair Theater has merged with the ever-transient Insomniac Coffeehouse, the phrase “make yourself at home” has taken on a literal meaning.

When the coffeehouse folks moved into the theater, the first 10 rows of seats exited--and about a dozen couches were put in their place. Now, in a theater rarity, moviegoers can watch movies in couch comfort.

“They sit there and I think they feel like they are at home,” theater manager Hector Reynoso said.

A Mayfair note: If all goes well, the theater will soon start showing the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” But it’s not an easy task. “We’re going to have to start with the paperwork, from there we get on the waiting list,” Reynoso said. “It might take about a month--I don’t know.”

Reynoso said the Los Angeles distributor with whom he is dealing has no copies of the movie available at the moment.

Congratulations to Westlake High School graduate Amy Fuller. Earlier this month she was named to the Olympic rowing team. She’s with her teammates in Europe now, training for the summer competition in Barcelona. Avid Westlake boosters may remember the multitalented athlete from her days on the girls’ basketball team at the school.

Hey Venturans, did you ever imagine that your city would rank right up there with Beaufort, S.C.; Traverse City, Mich.; Asheville, N.C., and Cornwell, N.Y.?

An article in the July issue of Outside magazine, a publication for people with an active lifestyle, ranked Ventura No. 6 on its top 10 “best places to live” list. The magazine hit the newsstands Tuesday.

These honored cities, says the article, all have “good schools, respectable employment opportunities, a little culture and proximity to wild places.” (A wild place is a good thing, we guess.)

The article states that Ventura “is one of the last holdouts of beach funk and easy, affordable Pacific Coast living.” Among other criteria on which the ranking was based: karma, neighbors, cuisine and whether the New York Times is sold in the city.

Karma, food and friends are, we agree, of utmost importance. It’s that last category we’re not so sure about.