Hawaii
GRAPHIC artist Clarence Lee and his associates have been turning out some of the finest work in Honolulu for over 30 years now, and he can't even think about retirement for another seven years, at the earliest. That's because he's just come out with the Year of the Ox first-class stamp for the U.S. Postal Service, his fifth in a series of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. That tiny stamp is probably the smallest project, size-wise, created in Honolulu this year, and Lee also lays claim to the largest. He's come up with the over 6,000 yards of fabric for new uniforms at Outrigger Hotels ...I'M destined not to be a Wall Street maven, I guess. The government announces even more new jobs have been created than they'd anticipated, and more people will be going to work and making money. Great news? Not on Wall Street. Prices plummeted on hearing the jobs report and all the brokers nod in unison, "Of course." Huh? ... The Brunei royal family was busier than usual shopping for goodies here last week. Planet Hollywood is still spinning from the whirlwind stopover the Visa-tors made there, plunking down over $10,000 for PH Honolulu logowear. I can just see the sultan now, looking like an even richer Sylvester Stallone in his Planet Hollywood jacket. And now that the company's going public, maybe he'll even buy some shares. Or the whole thing, for that matter. According to all reports, the sultan is the richest man in the world ...
THINGS have been buzzing at the State Capitol in reporting all amended bills out of their respective houses for a vote. Several legislators took their lunch in Sen. Randall Iwase's office, including Sens. Donna Ikeda and Milton Holt. The menu was "gourmet hamburgers," prompting Holt to remark, "I hope the beef wasn't imported." To which Campbell Estate's Mike Kido opined he didn't think that ingredient was needed in the Senate. That left up in the air whether he meant there was enough beefing going on, or the senators were acting like Mad Cows ...
THERE were two maestros enjoying the music of Sunway, the new band holding forth at Nick's Fishmarket over the weekend. One was the Honolulu Symphony's new music director Sam Wong and the other was rink maestro Sugar Ray Leonard ... National TV critics have been giving thumbs up to nice guy Richard Burgi's new action drama, "The Sentinel." It may wind up as UPN's first full-fledged hit. Burgi was the co-star here with Cheryl Ladd in "One West Waikiki" (still airing on Channel 2) and even chose Hawaii as the site of his marriage at a Nuuanu estate ...
BACK this week for a visit is longtime Kahala Hilton G.M. Bob Burns, who went on to become president of Regent International before selling out for Big Bucks. He'll have the opportunity to catch up with a lot of isle pals at Saturday's gala grand opening of the newly refurbished and renamed Kahala Mandarin Oriental, Hawaii, a black-tie benefit for Child & Family Service ...
