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What the Heck?
John Heckathorn
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lydia Mahelona Akamine, left, with all of her KITV supporters: Pamela Young, second from left, Wanda Wehr, John Wray, Gary Sprinkle, Sid Milburn, Tracy Keliihoomalu and Brent Suyama.
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KITV staff join in cover-up
Lydia Akamine has been the receptionist at KITV for 18 years. Last fall, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and has been undergoing chemo, finally deciding to shave off all her hair. "I owned a lot of scarves, she says. "I used to wear them round my neck, now it's on my head."
Led by Pamela Young and assignment editor Wanda Wehr, the KITV news staff decided they'd all wear scarves on Friday, as well. Even the guys. "They are so proud," says Akamine. "They come out and show me how they look like ninjas or pirates."
UPSTAGED BY CREATION
Last weekend, I attended a fundraiser for Calvary by the Sea Church, its preschool and its various good works.
The church sits along Kalanianaole amid multimillion-dollar real estate. Once inside, it's easy to see why. No dark sanctuary surrounded by stained glass. The church is built like an amphitheater, looking out through pane glass doors to the ocean.
During services, pastor Tim Mason is the only one with his back to the Pacific. The other Sunday, some of his congregation apologized after the service. They couldn't pay attention to his sermon, they said, because out in the blue, there were whales breaching.
"It's a good thing I didn't see them," Mason says. "That would have been it. I would have gone right to the benediction and coffee."
WINE, WOMEN AND SONG IN EAST OAHU
Calvary's fundraiser was called Taste of East Oahu — wine and food booths, VIP tables and silent auction, but all with a relaxed suburban charm.
The district's state Rep. Lyla Berg danced hula. There was music from parishioners Jon Osorio and Steve Brown, who are good enough to hold down a regular Tuesday night gig at Aku Bone Lounge.
Former church member Rosanna Perch sang jazz standards, accompanied by none other than the Honolulu Jazz Quartet's keyboardist, Dan Del Negro. The event was something of an anniversary for the two.
For last year's event, Perch needed a piano player. She found Del Negro, and, as he puts it, "got more than she bargained for." The two are now a couple.
SEE YOUR BOSS SWEAT
There's a press conference about this tomorrow, with our fitness-oriented lieutenant governor, but here's the scoop:
Hawaii Business Magazine's "Fittest CEO" competition has morphed into the "Fittest Executive" contest. If you're a senior exec at a Hawaii firm and feeling buff, you can enter at hawaiibusiness.com.
Ah, but what if your own boss would be too shy to enter? Or perhaps you feel he or she could pay more attention to fitness.
"Here's the fun part," says Hawaii Business publisher David Tumilowicz. "Or maybe not so fun, depending on your boss." Tumilowicz has set up a kind of reverse bribery.
You and your coworkers can pledge money to the Heart Association. But the charity gets the cash only if your boss shows up at the Honolulu Club for a 15-minute fitness evaluation.
"Think of the pressure," says Tumilowicz. "Especially if the pledges add up to serious money."
THE ROMANCE OF MOVIEMAKING?
The lobby of the Turtle Bay Hotel is sporting some stylish dividers these days. They look like panels of oxidized copper — but they are really made of painted fiberboard. It's movie magic, left over from the filming of Universal Studios' "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."
Many of the scenes were shot in Ola, chef Fred DeAngelo's beachfront restaurant.
"They bought us out for five nights. They shot from 8 p.m. to 6 in the morning, lighting it up like it was day," says DeAngelo.
Was it exciting to have a major motion picture shot in your restaurant? "No," says the chef. "It was boring."
DeAngelo watched as the same actors retraced the same steps and said the same lines over and over again. "I thought it was all lights, camera, action!" he says. "I didn't realize how hard people who made movies have to work."
DUC'S FINDS ITS ROOTS
Heard with alarm that Duc Nguyen was closing his classy Chinatown eatery, Duc's Bistro. Yes and no.
Yes, Duc's is closing this week. But only for renovations.
Duc's upscale presence in Chinatown predates, by years, the area's renaissance. Before that, Duc was one of the pioneers of Vietnamese cuisine in this town, with a caf called A Little Bit of Saigon, also on Maunakea Street.
So when Duc's Bistro reopens, it will be an upscale Vietnamese restaurant, a la San Francisco's Slanted Door. "I'm going to turn 60 this year," Duc says. "I wanted someplace to eat the food I grew up eating."
LUNCHEON AT TIFFANY'S
The Tiffany Circle of the Red Cross has little to do directly with the jewelry firm Tiffany & Co.
It's named after the stained-glass windows at the organization's Washington, D.C., headquarters. These were commissioned in 1917 from artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, to honor the heroic women of the Civil War, at a cost of $10,000.
Membership in the circle is now an honor presented to women who've donated $10,000 to their local Red Cross Chapter.
For the first time, Hawaii women are being inducted in the Tiffany Circle, eight of them: Kitty Lagareta, Jean Rolles, Carolyn Berry, Joey Harris, Camille McCormack, Madison Shimada, Barbara Wong and Kimi Matar.
The festivities take place at a luncheon next Sunday at the Halekulani. Call 739-8151 for tickets.
Here's a reason you may wish to go. "The event's not named for us, but it's a natural tie-in," says local Tiffany & Co. honcho John Geppert. "We've been generous."
At the event, there will be a drawing for not one, not two, but three Tiffany necklaces.