Peddling His Views as He Pedals Along

In the Fellini-esque world that is the Venice boardwalk, Isaac Fields has found his calling.

“This is my ministry,” says the 63-year-old Fields, who spreads his message from a giant tricycle he pedals along the boardwalk, airing whispered phrases from a tape recorder. “It’s a New Age way of doing things.”

Fields says he is a minister in the Church of Universal Life, the mail order denomination based in Modesto.

From his tape player, messages of goodwill and moral rectitude--and the occasional off-the-wall scatological reference--waft out on the sea breeze.

“Give love and peace a chance. Welcome to the City of Angels. This tape is an experimental tape to see if we can rid Venice Beach of violence. . . . A quitter never wins. . . . God is watching your ass. Are you constipated? Love your children. We used up all the toilet paper. Make room for your relationship. Where there are angels there is love. Did you just pass gas?”

The response of his flock of tourists and boardwalk habitues is, not surprisingly, mixed.

“He’s one of a kind,” said John Stein, a Venice resident. “It’s an artistic performance piece. It’s so anti-consumer and anti-commercial and part of the diversity of the boardwalk.”

Others respond with looks of amusement, indifference, irritation or confusion.

Jalani, who says he has no surname, spun his head to watch Fields go by. “I suppose we all need positive subliminal messages,” said the West Hollywood man, shrugging.

“He lost me when he said Venice is heaven,” said Frank Diaz of Los Angeles. “Venice is demonic.”

None of this has deterred Fields, who hangs out between the “Meat Is Murder” table and the place where Hare Krishna members peddle incense.

“People come up to me and say thank you, give me the peace sign and throw flowers,” he said. “You have just got to feel it.”

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THE NO-SHOW MUST GO ON: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound?

And if a political candidate holds a news conference and the guest of honor doesn’t show up? Is it still news?

Both candidates in the hard-fought runoff race for the Los Angeles City Council seat once held by Zev Yaroslavsky know the answer.

Two weeks ago, when Mike Feuer held a news conference on the steps of City Hall to announce his endorsement by the union that represents the rank-and-file officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, the union reps failed to show up.

Due to a last-minute change in plans, the union honchos ended up at the wrong site. Still, the endorsement grabbed headlines and air time. Just to make sure, union leaders called reporters to explain the mishap and reaffirm their endorsement.

On Monday, Barbara Yaroslavsky called a news conference to announce that she had won the endorsment of former candidate Roberta Weintraub, who came in third in the primary.

This time, it was Yaroslavsky herself who failed to show up for the event until after most of the reporters had interviewed Weintraub and left.

Rick Taylor, her campaign consultant, was seen pacing and speaking frantically into a cellular phone as the news conference was about to begin. She was simply running late, he explained. Sure enough, the candidate showed up just in time to be interviewed by a television crew that also came late.