Stars come out
over weekendALL in all, it was a pretty full weekend. Dining with a friend Friday at Alan Wong's -- the manapua quesadilla with chili and spices is a killer -- I nearly didn't recognize Olympian Carl Lewis with an entourage of eight people. Here for an appearance earlier that evening at Niketown, the charismatic runner and jumper now sports casual dreadlocks that point out in all directions. When another tall handsome Afro-American came in and sat at a nearby table, Lewis got up, went over and shook hands with him. My helpful waiter informed me it was Bill Bellamy, an MTV celebrity host. He was in town because MTV was filming the Mariah Carey concert Saturday night at misty Aloha Stadium. The concert itself resembled something that was "Made for MTV," with just about every type of doo-wop, be-bop, R&B street dancing and strutting imaginable, interspersed with some impressive vocals from Carey, who has this thing about changing clothes between her numbers. Promoter Tom Moffatt says the Carey special will be aired on MTV during Spring Break, perfect giving the break-dancing throughout ...
FOLLOWING the concert we closed Havana Cabana on Nuuanu where live, and I do mean live, jazz has become the Saturday night staple. With driving rhythms and foot-stomping verve, Miles Ahead (fronted by Miles Jackson) welcomed numerous sit-in -- more like stomp-in -- artists as Sonny Silva (from the Hawaii Prince) and singers Damon Williams, soulful Lahaina lad, and the jumbo-sized Fiji, who rocked the house until nearly 2 a.m. ...
Did I win?
BACK on Jan. 13, 1977, a fan of Don Ho entered a contest the entertainer featured on his TV show at the time, "Don Ho's Hawaiian Holiday." Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow etc., the Postal Service attests, but nothing was said about "supposedly empty equipment." That's where the fan's postcard was found, according to the stamp on the Postal Services "We Care" envelope containing the lost card last week. An enclosed form letter addressed to "Dear Postal Customer" apologized but ended with the assurance that they look forward to providing better service in the future. The postage was nine cents! The Ho staff is now trying to reach the Lubbock, Texas, fan to share the story and say that while the entry wasn't a winner, all was not lost ...ONCE again I was a judge in the English-Speaking Union's annual Shakespeare competition at the Wo International Center on the Punahou campus. Winning out over representatives from 18 schools was Bryan Black of Mililani, who'll go on to represent Hawaii in national competition in New York. Black performed a scene as Edgar from "King Lear," and coincidentally was the only boy among the finalists ...
Heat like the Dickhens
THE watchword on the Kohala Coast will surely be "Pray for Sun" now that the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows has become the first hotel in Hawaii to be powered by commercial-scale solar electric energy. G.M. Don Dickhens is hot to harness the Kohala sunshine. Some 10,000 square feet of the hotel's roof will be covered by solar electric roof tiles and is projected to save the hotel hundreds of thousands of dollars in utility bills, and perhaps inspire other properties. Dickhens attended the state Legislature Friday where Sen. Malama Solomon introduced a resolution recognizing the Mauna Lani Bay for its contribution to environmental cleanliness. The project is the world's largest hotel solar electric system ...
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.