By Dave Donnelly
Tuesday, December 10, 1996
Kalani Cockett, Milton Berle
Kalani Cockett, Milton Berle
TIS the season and all that. And what could be more fitting than the ad a trio of attorneys placed in the paper reading: "Evictions. Low Flat Fees." No, it's not the firm of Scrooge, Scrooge and Scrooge, but it might as well be. Nothing like tossing someone out on his keister just before the holidays ... And wouldn't an attorney be the perfect one to send a copy of Star-Bulletin reporter Greg Ambrose's new book, "Shark Bites," as a Christmas gift. It deals with safety in the water and the lack thereof, but the cover cartoon of a toothy shark rising up to take a chunk out of someone or something could be interpreted in more ways than one ... Scrooge special -
cheap evictionsTHOSE who believe that death comes in threes had best be careful if they are in the entertainment industry. Among those who died last week are pianist Len Hironaka and Kalani Cockett, whose showbiz credits stem from dancer to major show producer. Dee Dickson, a longtime friend and associate of Cockett's, says perhaps it's because her own birthday falls early in December, but she recalls that each year a number of entertainers die in the weeks preceding Christmas. Muses Dickson, "It's as if God has scheduled a concert of His own and is booking acts." ...
THE ladies of Na Leo Pilimehana have been taping a Christmas show for "Island Music, Island Hearts" that'll air on KGMB Dec. 18 from 8 to 9 p.m. The theme of the show is "Christmas Is Giving" and one taping segment at Lunalilo Home proved particularly poignant. The children of Punana Leo O Kawaiaha'o School made gifts and presented them to the kupuna at Lunalilo Home. Everyone knew the home would be closing for massive renovations for the next two years and this is the last Christmas many of the folks will have there. There were teary eyes all around as Na Leo Pilimehana performed the hymn, "Nani Kelii Kiekie," with Lunalilo residents singing along, some for the last time there ...
FORMER Star-Bulletin staffer Lee Gomes is now working at the Wall Street Journal bureau in San Francisco covering the very hot Silicon Valley technology beat. He admitted to visiting friend Bob Norton recently that he misses his Hawaii roots, but is trying to do something about it. He's landscaping the backyard at his hip Bernal Heights home into an all-tropical garden of Hawaiian flora. Department of Agriculture laws forbid importing isle plants to the West Coast, so Gomes' parents are helping his greening efforts by sending photos of their Old Pali Drive backyard in Nuuanu. Gomes then sets out scouring the Bay area for identical plants to take root in his own yard ... Incidentally, Gomes is working on a story with an isle theme which he expects to end up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in the near future ... Hawaii roots
CHRISTMAS should never be without laughs. Check out KHET tonight for hourlong specials by Danny Kaye and Victor Borge. And if you're Irish, as everyone either is or wishes to be, "A Celtic Christmas" is tonight and Perry Como's "Irish Christmas" tomorrow .
THOSE pocket dictation devices come in handy for dictating letters, memos or notes to yourself, as adman Gib Black has discovered. But the other day when his notes were transcribed, Black was puzzled to find a note addressed to "Dean Needly, Cool Cort." Then he found the transcription was the work of Susanne Ekholm, a new recruit from Sweden, and that's merely the way she heard Ben Neeley of Kaluakoi Resort ...
WHEN former isle-based public relations exec Tracy Larrua, now in L.A., attended a dinner for the John Wayne Cancer Foundation at the Regent Beverly Wilshire the other night, she found herself at the same table with Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buzz Aldrin and Jerry Vale. Before she could ask, "What am I doing here?" Uncle Miltie asked where she was from. Originally Hawaii, she told him. "I know Don Ho," quipped Berle. "I slept at the Ho house." Laughs all around. The older the joke, the bigger the laugh with Berle ... Ho Ho Ho
