‘Titanic’ director
afloat in islesHE may have won an Oscar or two for his work on "Titanic," including the titanic task of directing the marathon film, but while James Cameron could step forth at the Academy Awards and proclaim, "I'm King of the World!" he has to take a back seat in Hawaii. Cameron is spending a quiet vacation in the islands and when he went sailing with John Browning on the latter's boat Lady Consuela, it was clear that Browning was king -- the captain of the ship, at any rate. While Browning is an offshoot, so to speak, of the firearms manufacturer whose name he bears, he's not one to antagonize. Cameron's little sail was Browning's second in as many days. He'd just taken out a big Warner Brothers exec and his party the day before, and a passel of kids used to getting what they want somewhat tested his considerable patience. Fortunately, as they say on the street, he wasn't packing at the time ...
WELL, another infestation of "Cats" is headed this way, and the caterwauling you hear may be coming from Vermont and New Hampshire, for some reason the only two states where the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical hasn't been performed. If you'd like to refresh your "Memory" of the show, the Broadway cast will be appearing on NBC's "Weekend Today" show between 5 and 7 a.m. tomorrow on KHNL-TV. Every litter bit of flufficity helps ...
Dee Lite-ful
YOU don't have to guess what kind of anniversary cake will be cut when Sue & Herbert Matsuba celebrate their 50th anniversary Aug. 23. That's because they're the originators of Dee Lite Bakery. It was 30 years ago that Herbert heard Bob Hope on the radio saying he didn't bring his band with him to Hawaii because he had to have Hawaiian music while here. That set Matsuba to thinking the same could be true of Hawaiian flavors, and he created guava, lilikoi, lime and coconut chiffon cakes for his bakery and they've been selling like, well, chiffon cakes ever since. Do you suppose that makes him a pioneer creator of Hawaiian regional cuisine, at least where desserts are concerned? ...BRITAIN'S prestigious business paper, The Economist, had a large story about Hawaii's economy recently. One issue centered on the difficulties encountered between public sector unions and government. The Economist reported that, "Public managers can spend years trying to accomplish something as trivial as changing the route of a rubbish lorry." What they didn't say -- it would also take years for anyone involved to figure out just what a "rubbish lorry" is ...
THE Hawaii Newspaper Agency may have created a new form of dating service without realizing it. When Fred Dizadji, assistant manager of Capricciosa Italian Restaurant appeared on the cover of HNA's Dining Out section Sunday, he began getting calls from women asking if he were available ...
Surfing the Channel
THE folks at Network Media did a video on the Hawai'i Convention Center that soon will be a part of a brand new "Convention Channel" in-room station at all hotels. The 22-minute video was produced by Randy Munro and directed by Daniel Ziegler, using footage they shot at the grand opening. The two also had the vision to have a tour of the site hosted by the girl with the million dollar smile, Alice Inoue, of Network Video's "Japan TV News," the in-room show that's made her a superstar among Japanese tourists in Waikiki. The HVCB's Sandra Butler-Moreno was so impressed with a preview peek of the video that she ordered 1,600 copies ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.