Our Picks for the Weekend Star-Bulletin staff

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MUSIC

'Night Nurse' on duty as Isaacs hits Pipeline

The third time is the charm for promoters DIG Lifestyles and Echelon Entertainment, which host reggae star Gregory Isaacs on Saturday at Pipeline Cafe.

Hip-hop artist Nas was originally scheduled to perform this weekend, but contract issues kept the show from taking place. Talib Kweli was then rumored to be the replacement, but was quickly subbed out for Isaacs.

Isaacs, born in Jamaica, saw his star rise in the early '70s and continue its ascension into the next decade, with the album (and resulting single) "Night Nurse" his main claim to fame among Hawaii fans. He'll arrive for his performance with a full band in tow, with a rotating roster of local deejays serving it up at the start of the night.

Doors open at 9:30 p.m. Saturday; 18-and-over welcome. Presale tickets are $30 and are available at DIG Lifestyles and Pipeline; general admission is 35 at the door.

LAST CHANCE

rRed Elephant showcase to benefit UH jazz band

Taking its inspiration from a famous Billy Strayhorn composition, the LushLife Music Festival at Downtown's rRed Elephant this weekend will partially benefit the University of Hawaii Jazz Band.

Saturday's showcase lineup includes the Honolulu Jazz Quartet, longtime pianist Rich Crandall and Quadraphonix. Sunday will feature DeShannon Higa's grOOve.imProV.arTiSts, Tempo Valley, and the Windward Jazz Combo.

Things get jumping around 7 p.m., and wrap up somewhere around 10 p.m. Tickets are $27.50 -- with a $22.50 student rate available in person with a valid student ID -- and available at www.honoluluboxoffice.com.

FILM

Documentary shows ties among native peoples

From ancient times through the present, the native peoples of Alaska, Hawaii and northern Japan are linked by the Pacific Ocean. Hokule'a navigator Nainoa Thompson is well-acquainted with traversing the Pacific, and he, a Japanese photographer of Alaskan wildlife and an astrophysicist-mathematician are all featured in a new documentary.

The Hawaii premiere of "Gaia Symphony No. 3" initially sold out its Saturday screening at the Honolulu Academy of Arts' Doris Duke Theatre, but it will show again 2 p.m. Sunday at the University of Hawaii's Spalding Hall Auditorium.

Part of a film series, the "Gaia Symphony" delivers the message that our planet is a living organism and we humans are given lives as part of that organism.

Admission is $10. For more information, call 457-1740.

BENEFIT

C&K and Kalapana pitch in for autism benefit

Two of Hawaii's legendary groups, Cecilio & Kapono and Kalapana, will perform on stage Sunday night for a kanikapila benefit for the Hawaii Autism Resource Team.

All of the ticket proceeds will benefit the nonprofit HART, which disseminates information to parents and does parent training for those with autistic children.

Also on the concert bill, which runs from 5 to 10 p.m., will be Kapakahi and the Jimmy Hubbard Band.

Presale tickets are $25, which include complimentary pupus and admission. Tickets available at Karen's Kitchen on Cooke Street, through the Pacific Autism Center Web site at www.harthawaii.org, or by calling 548-4321.

FOOD

Heaven on Earth Lifestyle Cafe

Ko'olani / 589-4180

Heaven on Earth started small many years ago, with just a couple of massage rooms on Alakea Street, before the boom in spas. Back then, a massage was a novel treat, not a monthly necessity.

Over the years, I watched as the space expanded, and now with the opening of a grand new facility at the luxury condominium Ko'olani, Heaven on Earth has added a food element to its lifestyle and well-being platform.

The new enterprise is experiencing some growing pains, but hopefully, it'll find its way.

For now, it will take a certain amount of dedication, or a spa appointment, to be here. Ko'olani is staffed with valets and security guards, so that while no one is actually told to keep out, most will assume that is the case.

The menu at Lifestyle Cafe is currently in flux, but for now you will find $9 and $10 sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas and penne tossed with sun-dried tomato pesto, fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

Still in the building stages, service tends to be slow. Depending on time of day, sandwich builder and cashier will be the same person. This space will be worth watching over the next month or two. I'll keep you posted as to when it starts hitting its stride.