Lucky you no
live HelsinkiSO you think things are expensive in Honolulu? Ask Michael Delaney, new diplomat in residence at the East-West Center about that. Delaney is aghast at how reasonable things are here compared to his last posting, in Helsinki, Finland. There, gasoline is $4 a gallon, a bus ride costs $3, food prices are double ours and the tax on the purchase of a car is 104 percent. Now, the sales tax on most items is much lower -- only 22 percent. The overall taxation rate on wages is about 80 percent, so you take home 20 cents of every dollar you earn and the state pockets the remainder... Or maybe you'd prefer Hong Kong? Former isle resident Shirley Mae Wong sends a story from Asiaweek calling Hong Kong the most expensive city in the Far East, if not the world. If New York's cost of living index is 100, Hong Kong's is 157.4, even ahead of Tokyo. For instance, if you want to rent a three-bedroom flat, be prepared to pay $12,000 per month. An economy car? You're looking at $22,434 with a mid-range sedan going for $64,455. So stop your complaining!...
WASN'T that full moon fabulous during the Labor Day Weekend? It was truly a lunar Labor Day at the Hilton Hawaiian Village as the hotel celebrated its first "Full Moon Festival." Astronaut Buzz Aldrin talked of his moonwalk during a moonlight cruise along Waikiki. And in honor of the Apollo program, a white chocolate rocket orbiting a chocolate Diamond Head was served to guests at the hotel's elegant Bali-by-the-Sea restaurant, complete with dry ice providing a smoke effect ...
Cowboys and Paniolos
SINCE Neiman Marcus is headquartered in Texas, it seems appropriate that part of tonight's gala grand opening celebration of the retailer's new store at Ala Moana Center is called "Texas Cowboys Meet Hawaiian Paniolos." That's the theme on the first floor, with "World Fashion Capitals" one flight up and "A Salute to the Pacific Rim" on the third floor. Plenty of music to go with the preview of merchandise, including Grammy-winning Asleep at the Wheel, slack-key guitarist George Kuo, Ron Tish, Jimmy Borges with Gabe Baltazar and Clyde Pound, Puamana (with Kanoe Miller), pianists Ginny Tiu & Noly Paa, Rolando Sanchez & Salsa Hawaii plus big band and swing music. Ticket price for the gala opening is $175, but $75 of that is tax-deductible, going to benefit the Contemporary Museum, the Hawaii Theater Center, the Academy of Arts and the Honolulu Symphony...ADMAN Marty Schiller read with interest the story in the Sept. 7 issue of Sports Illustrated on tennis star Alex Olmedo. The two were teammates on the USC tennis squad in 1957 & '58. Schiller saw him recently at the Beverly Hills Hotel were he's the resident pro and says "The Chief" now loves golf almost as much as tennis ...
Family man
IT would take a book rather than just a few lines to do justice to the full life of Earle Spangler, who died Sept. 2 at the age of 94. He was many things, a World War II Navy pilot and aviation pioneer, a successful businessman in real estate and property management, founder of Locations Hawaii to help movie and TV companies find places to film, an author, a ranked polo player and sportsman, etc. Spangler and wife Joan were married for 60 years and he's survived by her, sons Randy and Kiki, daughters Stephanie and Sherry, as close a family as I've ever known. Services are today at 4 p.m. at Central Union Church with inurnment tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Punchbowl with full military honors...
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.