Hawaii
CONSIDERING all the column inches devoted to last year's Miss Universe Pageant, held at the Stan Sheriff Center in Manoa, it was somewhat shocking to see this year's contest all but ignored by the local media. This may be reaching just a bit, but the winner was from Botswana, the antipode of Hawaii. Personally, I think Miss Botswana should have finished third, with Miss Spain as the runnerup and Miss Philippines, the striking physical therapist Miriam Quiambao, the winner. The non-stop musical "carnivale" atmosphere created by host country Trinidad and Tobago was extraordinarily professional, making the entertainment at the Hawaii-based pageant look amateurish by comparison. But I'll wager that the TV ratings in the mainland U.S. dropped off considerably after the first half hour when the 10 finalists were announced and Miss U.S.A.Kimberly Pressler was not among them. That has to be a first! ... Out of sight, out of mind
IT'S pronounced "newk-lee-er," not "newk-you-ler." It's a common enough mispronunciation, coming even from government spokesmen. Jay Leno has been mispronouncing it for years as have many otherwise bright people. Now we can add Channel 9's anchorman, Russell Shimooka to the "newk-you-ler" camp, unless he reads this and gets it right ...
Lookers with Scruples
WHEN "Pacific Blue" producer Bill Nuss drops by Scruples on Kuhio to see owner Fred Piluso, you can bet there'll be the proverbial bevy of beauties and bad boys there too. Piluso and Nuss have been pals since the latter worked on "Raven." Along with him the other night, was hearthrob Mario Lopez and actress Paula Trickey. The latter reminded Fred that the two first met when she was here for a "Marker" episode, and their photo still hangs on the Keo's celebrity wall. Also in Scruples were "Blue's" Kristanna Loken and Jennifer Lathrop. Piluso ended up taking them all to dinner at Nicholas Nickolas along with his steady, Kamakoa Page, a ballet dancer who keeps him on his toes ...THEY used to talk about "Voodoo Economics" in Washington, and I think some of it appears to have taken hold at City Hall. Mayor Jeremy Harris, we're told, plans to increase real property tax rates to compensate for declining property values. Excuse me, but isn't that rather like reducing the size of a Hershey Bar and then raising the cost of it? I'm not an economist, but it seems to me that if it's worth less, the tax on it ought to be less ...
EX-NFL'er Floyd Little loves Maui and makes two trips a year there, always making it a point to stop by Carelli's on the Beach near Wailea. and this week was no exception ...
Eclectic Likes
IF you can't find something interesting to do this Memorial Day Weekend, you're not really trying. There seems to be something for everyone going on. To begin with, the Gay & Lesbian Film Festival is going on through June 4 at the Academy of Arts. And androgyny and asexuality are addressed by performance artist Catherine Hage tonight and tomorrow at the Contemporary Museum ... If you get off in the ocean, the 10th annual Outrigger Hotels Hawaiian OceanFest takes place in Waikiki for the next 10 days ... And if you're into Hawaiian culture and art, "Treasured Arts of Hawaii" debuts at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the Big Island, with additional weekend art displays and demonstrations running through Labor Day ...
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.