Soledad O'Brien, Michael McCourt
IN the past we've noted that San Francisco is a drinking person's town, only now they're drinking Starbucks and other caffeindish brews. It also can be said to be a dead town, now that such S.F. friends as Herb Caen, Scott Beach, Glen Dorenbush, Brendan O'Donnell and many others too numerous to mention who once brightened the scene there have passed on. It's always been a wild town and a gay old time is had by many, and now the City is a Wilde town as well. Ken Ruta has a wonderful one-man show in which he impersonates Oscar Wilde in a program called "Diversions and Delights," and just up the street is a production of Wilde's classic "The Importance of Being Earnest." And while the venerable "Beach Blanket Babylon" continues to glitter and be gay, I found it a tiresome bore, striving to be both topical and funny and failing at both. When costume changes and hats are the highlight of a show that's been running for 24 years, it doesn't say much for the material ... Passages change
the S.F. sceneIF you watch TV in the Bay area you'll note that the newspeople aren't any better than our local talent (with one notable exception) but at least the programs start when they're scheduled to start. No "Hawaii time" there. Here the David Letterman and Jay Leno shows invariably are aired 10 to 15 minutes late -- Hawaii time or more commercials inserted? ...
THE exception noted above is Soledad O'Brien. Technically she's not a part of local news but an anchor on MSNBC's "The Site," which originates in S.F. Being the anchor on the "Internetwork" show has made the attractive, multi-racial O'Brien something of a goddess on the Internet. While she's far too bright (Harvard) to buy into that cliche, she's inundated with e-mail daily from webbies suggesting all manner of things, including marriage. (Sorry guys, she's already happily wed.) I dined with Soledad at Washington Square Bar & Grill and she asked if I knew reporter Patricia Lee of KHNL-TV. I do indeed, I replied, and she asked me to send on her regards ...
THE visit to my second favorite city began, as usual these days, with Mayor Willie Brown hogging the headlines. First, he threw his considerable weight in favor of Eddie Debartolo and his new stadium and shopping mall at Candlestick Point -- it passed by the slimmest of margins. He ended with the Mayor's Conference, where "His Willieness" squired around mayors of a great many U.S. cities. In the process, he virtually shut down traffic for many locals in order to show off "The Best Place to Live in America," as the chauvinistic Bay Areans like to call it. Honolulu's Mayor Jeremy Harris took in the first couple of days at the conference before jetting off to Washington for some serious schmoozing with Pentagon officials to revitalize Hawaii's economy ... Getting the Willies
LOVERS of James Joyce traditionally celebrate June 16 as "Bloomsday," and so it was at O'Reilly's Pub in North Beach. And who should I run into there but Bono Quinn, longtime bartender at O'Toole's Irish Pub in downtown Honolulu. He wasn't there just for the reading of Joyce's works (ex-Mayor Joe Alioto was one of the readers of "Ulysses") but to celebrate a pal's birthday ... I also took in the Union Street Fair for about the 16th year in a row along with ex-Star-Bulletin clerk Leann Akaji, who now works for Microsoft in the City ... The guy in the "I Hate Mayo" tent remembered me buying a T-shirt last year for Charlie Memminger, founder of the "I Hate Mayo" club. He tried to sell me a new one but I demurred that while I liked Charlie, I didn't love him." ...
MY favorite Irish barkeep, Michael McCourt, is still holding forth at Seals' Cove at Pier 33 on the Embarcadero. He continues to shake his head over the success of brother Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Angela's Ashes," about their growing up in Irish poverty. He says Frank already has a sequel finished, but it won't be released as long as the original is on the best-seller list ... Tomorrow: Expatriates and Lake Shasta. McCourt's in session
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.