Samuel Wong, Sen. Whitney Anderson
HOPE you enjoyed the long holiday weekend as much as I did. From my lanai I had a first-class seat for the $250,000 fireworks display at Magic Island on the Fourth of July. It paled, however, to some of the massive displays put on in previous years, since dispensed with for reasons of safety. (Come to think of it, a lot of fun things have been eliminated over the years for safety reasons.) The Aloha Tower Marketplace had its big fireworks and entertainment celebration on the Third of July, for reasons best known to them. And Cutter had its "Ford of July" sales. A good thing they didn't have a pidgin-esque sale a day earlier as well ... Fireworks wattage
reflects the timesALL the politicians gathered in Kailua for its Fourth of July parade, with Gov. Ben Cayetano and bride Vicky riding in a convertible while Mayor Jeremy Harris and wife Ramona choose to go on foot. (Unspoken message: We're of hardier stock?) And "Uncle" Jack Sullivan made his umpteenth appearance as an Irish leprechaun left over from St. Patrick's Day adding some ethnic spice to the concoction. His usual "helper leprechauns" have outgrown their roles, and are now too tall for the job. So Sullivan hit on old friend Frank Conkey to fill in. Conkey, who's pretty spry despite being in his 80s, was happy to oblige -- one time when shrinkage paid off. Conkey even allowed his tongue to be painted green ...
AT least three Irishmen with isle connections spent the fourth at Stinson Beach Bar & Grill, owned by former Honolulu columnist Tom Horton. Stopping by for lunch that day was ex-Carol & Mary spokeswoman Carmen Hedlund (now living in San Francisco) and her fiance, Tom Doyle. They fell in love last year at a party which my buddy Bob Mulcrevy and I threw in S.F. Also dropping in was isle public relations man Ray Sweeney to test the restaurant's new liquor license. Waitresses were bidding top dollar for Sweeney's cap, which said "Grumpy" on it, which they intended to give to the "personable owner" of the place neighbors call the Ty Cobb Bar & Grill ...
LOCAL arts publicist Lisa Josephsohn spent last week in New York, seeing all the shows she could sandwich into her schedule. She was elated that during her stay Honolulu Symphony maestro Sam Wong and his violinist-wife, Hae-Young Wong, gave birth to a 6-pound, 14-ounce girl, Arianna. They'll all be in Honolulu next month for the big pre-Hollywood Bowl concert with Keali'i Reichel in the Waikiki Shell. Josephsohn reports that there was a big ad for Reichel's CD's in the Village Voice promoting his July 12 Carnegie Hall concert. Josephsohn is staying with former isle resident Yvonna Balfour in the Big Apple and was arranging to lunch with piano artist and frequent isle visitor Lorin Hollander before returning ... Big Apple polisher
DRIVING around the island with a visiting niece, we stopped at Waialua's Sugar Bar where owner Peter Birnbaum excitedly played Amy Gilliom's new CD, which he loves. How come? One of the songs mentions the Sugar Bar by name. The jovial German has live local music there on Sundays ... I happened to see the opening credits for "Baywatch" Saturday -- the first time I'd ever seen the show, I promise -- and who was listed as the director but L. Louis Stout. Could that be the same L. Louis Stout who used to direct plays in Hawaii. If so, he's come up in the world -- part of the TV show dealt with nudity on the beach and some actors seemed to be naked throughout ...
IF you've seen one Whitney, you've seen 'em all, right? Not necessarily. Rob Volker of GST Telecom Hawaii was holding an open house and six-island video conference to launch GST's new fiber-optic network. When introducing VIPS, he got to Sen. Whitney Anderson and the GOP senator heard his name come out "Sen. Whitney Houston." Volker caught his faux pas, but a bit too late, and now pals are asking Anderson if he's going to forego politics and test the singing waters ... Cotton Gin inventor too?
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.