By Dave Donnelly
Monday, March 17, 1997
Tia Carrere, Lois-Ann Yamanaka
Tia Carrere, Lois-Ann Yamanaka
BY now most Irishmen are well into celebrating Paddy's Day as lugubriously as possible. According to author Frank McCourt, whose first book, "Angela's Ashes," all about growing up abysmally poor in Limerick, Ireland, remains well up the best seller lists, the Irish in America make far more out of it than back home. But it's always been a day of celebration in Hawaii, as well as a top money-maker for bars, Irish ones in particular, and tonight's block party on Merchant Street promises to be a ring-dinger ... Rain can’t dampen
pluck of the IrishWHILE more sedentary types are watching the two Irish dance programs featured this evening on KHET, Cheryl Niggle expected a festive crowd to see the tape of one of them, "Riverdance," her lunchtime presentation at Chaminade ... Even Hawaii hotels featured some goodies from those other isles, the Emerald ones, with Seamus McManus (of Donegal) hosting a treat of Irish gourmet fare (if there is such a thing) at the Kahala Mandarin where he's G.M., and his counterpart at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Noel Trainor (of Belfast) brought out a batch of his mother's Irish Soda Bread ...
BUT while most Irishmen are happy seeking sunshine and the wearing of the green in Hawaii, at least one, Michael Feeney, is off to the mainland to participate in the World Airline Luge Competition, but perhaps in a green Spandex suit. Feeney, who owns the Internet C@fe on Kapahulu and is also a pilot for Aloha Airlines, is a world-class luge athlete, something a bit odd for a kid who grew up going to Punahou. But you may recall he was in the world competition when it was held in Lake Placid, N.Y., just over a year ago and while it was no surprise that Austrian Airlines took the gold, it was a bit humiliating to Swissair and Lufthansa when second place went to Aloha Airlines, thanks to Feeney's prowess ...
IF Tia Carrere keeps her promise, she'll stop by the Sheraton Waikiki's Esprit nightclub and sing with the group Soul'd Out when she's here for Saturday's Ala Moana Center spring fashion show. She told the group she'd drop by and sing when they gave her copies of their new CD, "Even Now," to pass along to D.J. friends of hers in L.A. (Tia also stopped by the Wedding Ring Shop and tried on $350,000 worth of diamonds, pearls and platinum to wear in Saturday's show.) Soul'd Out members, incidentally, plan to drop by Columbia Inn today and bug the restaurant's traditional St. Patrick's Day-only pianist, Kimo "Knuckles" McVay, who also helps promote the group. He advised them to bring something green, like legal tender, for his tip jar ... Carrere move
FINALLY made the trek to Ft. Shafter and saw the Army Community Theater production of "Guys and Dolls." It was a lot of fun and I realized Frank Loesser wrote a textbook on American musicals, with love songs, funny songs, hip dance numbers, Latin dance routines, duets and a fugue -- something for everyone, all tied together with a moral and a happy ending. The voices were uniformly fine, particularly the wonderfully named Mary Chestnut as Sarah Brown. They even had a real Salvation Army Band playing outside before the show on some nights, a nice touch ...
YOU'D have to say if Howard Stern or Dennis Rodman could write a best-seller, there's hope for all of us. I finished "Comfort Woman" (Viking Press), the novel by former Star-Bulletin staffer Nora Okja Keller, and was quite moved. She's demonstrated a talent for bringing a story to life, and doubtless much of the book was drawn from her own life. (It's not released officially, but the book is on display at Barnes & Noble, and the author will be there April 7 when it is available to autograph copies.) ... Meanwhile, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, who enjoyed success with a "coming of age in Hilo" book called "Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers," is trying to make it two in a row with a new novel called "Blu's Hanging," also set in the author's hometown ... Author, author!
