WHILE I'm not a superstitious sort, my departure for a little vacation in San Francisco, once slated for Thursday, has been put back a day. I realized that it was on Oct. 17, 1989 that I was sitting in the upper deck at Candlestick Park in S.F., just below the press box, when the Nearly Big One hit. That would be the Loma Prieta earthquake of 7.1 and rather than stroll into town on the anniversary of that day, striking fear into the hearts of the natives who know I seem to bring disaster with every visit, I merely pushed back my arrival 24 hours. Incidentally, it was quite by accident on that sunny day of Game 3 of the World Series Battle of the Bay, that I was seated directly in front of former KHVH owner Bob Berger, who is also my neighbor in Honolulu. The threat of earthquakes hasn't seemed to have an effect on him, however. He and his wife are moving shortly to Palm Springs ...SPEAKING of which, Hollywood filmmakers were at Damien High over the summer getting footage of instructor Michael Lee's unique method of predicting earthquakes using his computer. Lee, son of former Willows owner Randy Lee, applies ancient Hawaiian methods in his charting and claims a 40 percent success rate in calculating upcoming quakes worldwide. Perhaps I should check with him before leaving. Lee is forecasting a quake between 4.1 and 5.6 on the Big Isle with its epicenter at Kilauea Volcano for March 24 of next year. His predictions can been see on Sci Fi Channel 25 Friday at 8 p.m. on "Sightings." ...
Philip White
NOTHING superstitious about Honolulu architect Philip "Pip" White and his wife Frances. The two just celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary, again demonstrating that Brown and White are complimentary colors. Frances is the daughter of Kenny Brown and was named for her grand-uncle Francis Ii Brown. Pip is the brother of state Rep. Mike White ... I stopped by Brown Shoe Repair on Hotel Street near Nuuanu to get my shoes fixed, but they turned me away - I was wearing black shoes ...
ALL in the Family: Three understudies filled in for three major parts for the last two weeks at Ala Moana's musical, "Imagination," but they kept it in the family. Yasmeen Sulieman (14) played the main cat, Sterling Sulieman (12) appeared as Kawika and mom Kathy Sulieman essayed the role of Aunty. "Imagination" is shown every Saturday night at Centerstage with shows at 7 and 8:30 p.m. through Nov. 16 ...
STOPPING by the Alana Hotel again to hear old pal Jimmy Borges perform with Betty Loo Taylor on the piano was Pete Newell. Long associated with the L.A. Lakers, he was in town to watch new star Shaquille O'Neal lead the team to a pair of pre-season victories at UH's Special Events Center. I'm still disappointed they didn't sign up Alonzo Mourning, however, so we could pay tribute to another O'Neill (Eugene) and run the headline "Mourning Becomes a Laker" ...
