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What the Heck?
John Heckathorn
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Brickwood is off the early shift
Fresh Fields and Pastures New: After a remarkable 27-year run on the radio, Brickwood Galuteria is signing off. The disk jockey/singer/TV host/former Democratic Party chairman will be leaving his popular "Aloha Morning Show" on KINE, where he's held sway since '94.
What's next? Not a run for lieutenant governor, as half the town expected. "But I'm not ruling that out in the future," says Brickwood. "I'm comfortable in my political skin."
Instead, the last two years have opened up some consulting and investment opportunities for him. It's too early to give details, he says. "But if they don't work out, I can always dust off my guitar."
His successor has not been named, but the smart money is on William Van Osdol, Billy V, who currently does mornings on KCCN FM 100.
Hanging with the posse: The line stretched 400 or 500 people long. Duane "Dog" Chapman and his posse were back in the Islands for the first time since Dog and Beth's May wedding. They'd set up a booth at the Pearl Harbor Fourth of July celebration selling T-shirts, and they were signing autographs for anyone willing to stand in line for three or four hours in the hot sun. Far too many people were.
"We've got to speed this up," insisted Dog. "Oh, sure," complained Beth to the posse. "He's the one slowing it down." For everyone who made it through the line, Dog would strike up a conversation, hold their baby, pose with the wife while the husband snapped a photo, pose with the husband while the wife did the same, sign anything they put in front of him, plus one more for their mother who watched every week but couldn't make it.
In addition to the line, a thick crowd surrounded the open booth. "Dog!" they'd yell. When he'd look up and throw a shaka, a dozen cameras would go off. "We love you, Dog," people yelled. "God bless you."
Having the best time was Dog's son Leland. Young women would dart out of the crowd, elude the military police and kiss him while their friends snapped photos. "Look at all that lipstick on your face," teased Beth.
The session was scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Past 8 p.m., the posse was still giving autographs, now only one per person to move things along.
Finally, about 8:30 p.m. Beth pulled the plug. Hundreds of people were still in line, despite being warned they might never reach the front.
The military police formed a cordon to Dog's gleaming black Chevy Tahoe and the posse poured in and drove away. Only when the taillights disappeared around the corner did the line start to disperse.
Balls of What? Talked to actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who ducked into town this weekend to give a workshop on "cold readings," that often brutal process for auditioning actors. "You can't get work if you can't do it," he says.
His new film is called "Balls of Fury." What's that? It's a spoof of Bruce Lee's "Fists of Fury," explained Tagawa. But it's not what you're thinking. It's about Ping-Pong.
Jeff Says What? Next Saturday's Blues Brews And BBQ Street Festival will feature a live recording session for KIPO's "Blues Stage," including the band Jeff Says No. Leader Jeff Ilardi (who is the Jeff who said no, mainly to a dozen even worse band names) points out that his group has a theatrical bent, including a good deal of tongue-in-cheek.
For instance, the band's Web site claims its founding bass player, Spike Bradford, is in prison and the group is raising money to help him get out. "That story was a ploy to fill the tip bucket," says Ilardi. The truth is even weirder. Bradford has joined a punk band. In Nairobi.
Eddie Would Play: The musical Chillingworth clan held its once-a-decade reunion recently on the Big Island. Some 90 family members showed up for a kanakapila at the Waimea home of Robert and Pamela Hons, including some far-flung cousins from England and TV news reporter Carter Evans of KCBS Los Angeles and his stunning bride, Courtney Friel, who you can catch hosting TV's "World Poker Tour."
The most distinguished guest, however, was Eddie Kamae, who stopped by just for a moment and ended up playing for four hours in the garage with anyone who felt like getting up and playing, singing or dancing. "It was like old times," said Eddie. "You get a chance like that, you just take it and go."
Not a Drag: Finally caught "Pageant" this week at Manoa Valley Theatre. Tickets are hard to get, but the good news is that the show is extended yet again, this time to Aug. 6. Don't go if you hate laughing.
John Heckathorn's radio show,
Heckathorn's Hot Plate, broadcasts 12-1 p.m. Mon.-Thurs. and 1-2 p.m. Fri on SportsRadio 1420 and repeats on 1080AM 6-7 p.m. He can be reached at
heck@sportsradio1420.com.