Of Paddy’s Day
talkers and taxisBY the time you read this, St. Patrick's Day will be well underway, or perhaps it's even the morning after. If so, my condolences. When KCCN D.J. Ron Jacobs, who's about as Irish as Grouch O'Marx, asked for help in finding an eloquent Irishman with whom to talk on his Paddy's Day radio show, I recommended that he talk with my friend Michael McCourt in San Francisco. At least he's the brother of an eloquent Irishman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Angela's Ashes," Frank McCourt. Sorry there was no time to tip readers off to this, but Jacobs just made the connection yesterday ... Let's just hope that if there's any question of tipsiness after this traditional day of partying, people are smart enough to leave their cars and take a taxi home ...
THIS was a great weekend for watching PBS, despite KHET's continuing insistence on such long pledge breaks that people are tempted to tape the shows, rather than put up with the interruptions. The making of "Riverdance," speaking of the Irish, and the production of the show as seen at Radio City Music Hall in New York, was one highlight of the weekend. It reinforces my original feeling that "Riverdance" is vastly superior to "Lord of the Dance," both in music (by Bill Whelan), storyline and dance. And that's with or without Michael Flatley, dancer-turned-"star" who wasn't with the "Lord of the Dance" company that played Honolulu. Now if promoter Tom Moffatt, who did well with the Flatley creation, could just bring in "Riverdance," complete with live orchestra instead of irritating recorded music, he'd have a gold mine on his hands ...
Not 'Titanic,' but...
THE figures have been added up for KHET's pledge weekend and while "Riverdance" fared well with a total of $15,000, it was doubled by the Rolling Stones and its "Bridges to Babylon" show taped in St. Louis. The latter tape wasn't nearly as satisfying as the Stones' concert in Aloha Stadium, but drew a huge viewership anyway. It brought in just over $30,000 to KHET, something of a surprise given that you don't associate the Stones with a PBS audience. That figure of $30,000, while impressive, still pales in comparison to KHET's all-time box office champion. That honor goes to "Les Miserables," the second showing on which Jim Becker and I appeared with station G.M. Don Robbs. We made a conscious effort to keep the break times to a minimum and raised $40,706. The station has three more pledge days coming up Friday through Sunday. Keep those breaks short, you guys. It'll pay off ...
Move over, Godot
IT'S nice to see your opinion validated, so it is with pleasure that I report the funniest film of 1997 -- and chances are you've neither seen it nor even heard of it -- is one of five films nominated as "Best Feature" in the "Un-Oscars," the Independent Spirit Awards. The film is called "Waiting for Guffman" and it joins "Chasing Amy," "The Apostle," "Loved" and "Ulee's Gold" as nominees for the award, which goes to independent films working outside the big budget, big studio system. The awards show will air Saturday on the Independent Film Channel, not seen in Hawaii but it can be accessed live Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on Internet (http://www.ifctv.com). "Guffman," written by and starring Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, features a host of comic character actors you've seen on TV. The film is available at Blockbusters. It had me in stitches throughout and I urge people who love a good laugh to rent it ...
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.