THE next time someone lectures Kona Carmack about how being a "Playmate" in Playboy magazine is a deadend, she might tell them what one of her predecessors, Barbi Benton, is up to. Barbi, who once shared the Playboy Mansion with Hugh Hefner, is now married to mobile park developer George Gradow, and is doing just fine, thank you. The two maintain a primary residence in Aspen which has 26,000 square feet under roof, and is a showplace among resort showplaces. But they recently bought a 6,000 square foot house in Koko Kai for $2.1 million, only to gut it, and are in the midst of a complete re-do. (The $2.1 million was a bargain, since the seller had paid $6 million for the place.) Barbi and George (and why couldn't he be named Ken?) only visit the place two or three times a year with their two kids, but they've now purchased a two-bedroom penthouse in nearby Hawaii Kai for their chef and a nanny. That pad cost a mere $300,000 ... FORMER Playmate Benton was familiar with the Koko Kai area, having accompanied me to a New Year's Eve party at Alfred Goldman's Portlock estate some years ago. The circumstances were strange - Hefner wanted my date to attend a former Playmates' bash at the Mansion, and since Barbi was going to be in Hawaii anyway, a switch was arranged. It was all quite innocent. After all, I also escorted Clare Boothe Luce to a dinner at the Goldman estate when Alfred's parents wanted to meet her. I should start my own escort service! ...
IN this era of political correctness, Anita Liptak of Hagadone Printing Co. found herself listening to a charming ditty on an old Fred Allen radio show tape that would rattle feminist rafters today. Sung by a group called Hi Lo Jack and the Dame, it was entitled "Would You Rather Be a Colonel with an Eagle on Your Shoulder or a Private with a Chicken on Your Knee?" No. 1 on the Male Chauvinist Hit Parade! ...
THE oldest Rotary Club of Honolulu, which meets at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, has just inducted its youngest member, computer whiz Paul Klink. He figured it was "just to lower the average age" until he found himself drafted to create their Internet system and help with the data bases. In addition, Klink, who's the guy who came up with the "Live Aloha" bumper sticker theme, now has the go ahead to work with Apple Corp.'s staff (including musician Todd Rundgren) on a "Live Aloha Non-Linear Interactive Hybrid Multi-Media Music/ Video CD." It'll work on a Mac, on any Windows computer with music and video, and in a regular CD player, a first. Tireless Klink says, "God didn't make me with an 'off' switch.'" ... OUTDOOR Circle honcho Mary Steiner had to pull her car over recently to keep from hitting a cat sitting in the middle of the street. She watched as another car approached and stopped. Out stepped Larry Rodriguez of the Hawaiian Humane Society, and though he's a confirmed dog lover and not a real "cat person," he picked up the feline and carried it to the side of the road. He got into his car, only to see the cat return to her spot in the middle of the street. Rodriguez then used intuitive knowledge concerning cats, and took the animal to the other side of the road and sat her down. This time the animal stayed, apparently content with where she now sat, and as Steiner watched, Rodriguez, his goodwill mission complete, moved on ...
