They'd Like Someone to Face Down the 'Terminator'
Pundits and partisans have tried to bring down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- with no success. Now you can add Los Angeles building inspectors to the list.
The governor's face, glaring from a three-story-tall mural promoting his last "Terminator" movie, still adorns the side of a building in the Cahuenga Pass seven months after inspectors sought the removal of the gigantic advertisement.
City prosecutors say the mural is illegal and filed criminal charges in October against Robert Lusk Davis, the building's owner, to force him to remove the artwork, which advertises the release of the DVD for Schwarzenegger's film "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."
Davis is fighting the charges.
The criminal complaint does not name Schwarzenegger, nor does it go after Warner Bros., which paid for the ad.
Still, with the court case dragging, the president of the Cahuenga Pass Neighborhood Assn. wants the governor to step in.
"He is not directly responsible," said Joan Luchs. "But I would love to see the governor have it removed because it is not compatible with the neighborhood and it is illegal."
The governor isn't going to step in because it's a matter between the city and the film's production company, said Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger. "He has no control over that," she said.
While his face stays up, the governor's ego was taken down a notch last week.
Mexican President Vicente Fox was quoted as saying he looked forward to meeting Schwarzenegger someday.
"I am somewhat upset by that. I actually sat next to him at a party," Schwarzenegger joked with reporters.
Apparently Fox had forgotten the two were table mates at a soiree hosted by movie producer Mike Medavoy a few years ago.
Sheen Joins PETA in Support of Foie Gras Bill
The brouhaha over foie gras in California has caught the attention of the president. Or at least someone who plays one.
Actor Martin Sheen, President Bartlet on the television show "The West Wing," sent a letter to the state Assembly last week saying he was fed up with the way ducks and geese are force-fed to produce the delicacy known as foie gras (French for "fatty liver").
Joining with the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Sheen called on the Assembly to support a bill, up for a vote this week, that would ban the sale and production of foie gras in California.
