Gray seeks golden
opportunity abroadTHE building boom may not be completely over, but still, one of Hawaii's better known architects up and moved to Korea this weekend. Franklin Gray was hired to work on the design of a major new airport in Seoul and reluctantly put his Ferrari up for sale on consignment and is renting out his showcase home on Kalanianaole Highway. He says he'll make four times as much working on the airport project in Korea than he could make in Hawaii, and therefore signed up to spend at least three years there. You may recall Franklin from an item here in which he was revealed he was once romantically linked with author Danielle Steel, and how disappointed I was that they never had kids so we could see if they had Steel-Gray eyes ...
SPEAKING of architects, Desmond Brooks, who worked at Media Five in Hawaii before heading off to Australia, was back in town for a visit. He's now chairman of Desmond Brooks International and has designed such showcases as the various Mirage Resorts. He was instrumental in the complete remodel of Princeville when Mirage took that over some years ago before Sheraton moved into the picture. He and wife Pauline, a three Rolls Royce family incidentally, spend a good deal of time on luxury cruise ships these days while his staffers mind the store. Over lunch at Palomino's they revealed that they take about five cruises a year. Brooks hasn't changed appreciably since his Hawaii days, save for going a bit gray himself. While Palomino marketing director T.C. Khoe was telling him about the $3.6 million put into the design and construction of the hot new eatery in Harbor Court, it came out that T.C. had finished third in the Mrs. Hawaii contest. Brooks never missed a beat. "You were robbed," he said ...
DID anyone else stop to think during the Michigan State-Notre Dame game Saturday that it was 21 years ago that the first live football game telecast to Hawaii (via Lani Bird!) was the 1966 10-10 tie between the same two teams. Bob Berger, who owned KHVH-TV as Channel 4 was then called, arranged for the satellite broadcast and Mason Altiery, strolling along the beach, was the host ... And speaking of Notre Dame, despite the fact the Irish seem to be having a down year, interest remains high in the game between UH and Notre Dame in November. In the auction at Murphy's Bar & Grill to benefit the UH football program, attorney Paul Cunney paid something like $2,000 for 20 tickets and a bus ride to the game, followed by a feed at Murphy's. One of his guests, he just revealed the other day, is going to be Johnny Lujack, who quarterbacked the Fighting Irish 50 years ago ... Irish connection
THOUGH he was relieved of his duties as leader of the house band at Studio 1 in Aloha Tower Marketplace, Jerry Martini is having the last laugh on club owner Jerry Breeden, who fired him. He's currently on tour playing both coasts with Prince (or whatever he calls himself now) and Sinbad. And when he returns, Martini (formerly with Sly & the Family Stone) will play in the brass section for the 107.5FM "Two Million Dollar Party" ...
LOCAL landscape artist Stephen Haus will appear on the Martha Stewart "Living" TV show Thursday morning on KHON-TV. Featured will be the landscape design he did for Strawberry Hill Gardens, a Jamaican resort ... And folks seemed to be having a gay old time checking out the designs and whatever at Panani, the new club which opened Friday night at the Chinatown Gateway Plaza downtown ... Haus and gardens
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.