Hawaii
Shag-gy Myers
has a winnerTHE hottest movie in the U.S. this week is Mike Myers' saucily irreverent "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." A certain amount of James Bondage is left over from the first Austin Powers film ("Man of Mystery"), and while the humor in this Shag-gy dog of a film was as puerile at times as the execrable "Something About Mary," it was infinitely more enjoyable to watch. Myers is quite funny and Heather Graham will be forever known as the ultimate shagadelicacy. My American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language contains many definitions of "shag," such as a "tangle of mass, a coarse long nap, coarse shredded tobacco, to make shaggy, roughen, to chase and catch fly balls in batting practice, a dance step of the 1930's, a bird, the cormorant." Nowhere to be found is the British slang for, well, getting the mojo working. You have to see the film to fully understand, and perhaps even that won't help. Still, it's rated PG-13, so how bad can it be? ...
HAWAII recording artist Scott Allan has been living in New York for the past decade, and his "Supernatural" CD is in the No. 1 slot in England and on the Global Internet Chart. He'll be flying in to give a special performance as part of the Hawaii International Dance Festival June 25 at the Sheraton Waikiki Ballroom. Hundreds of dancers from around the U.S. will be competing for prizes with a number of isle beauty queens acting as presenters: Former Miss Hawaii Luana Alapa; current Miss Hawaii Jenny Souza; Miss Hawaii USA Angel Teves, who went on to become Miss USA; and newly crowned Miss Teen Hawaii USA Liana Green ...
It pays to read ads
THE parents of 10-year-old piano prodigy Alyssa Fong-Kwan have been flying her to San Francisco every eight weeks or so to take lessons with the director of the S.F. Conservatory of Music. While they were building up frequent flier mileage like crazy, the pace was killing. When young Alyssa played at the Atherton Performing Arts Studio a few weeks back, mom Jill Fong noticed an ad for a future Atherton debut by Glenn Jacobson, co-founder of the New York Camerata and a recording artist of note who now lives on the Big Island. Jill brought Alyssa to the studio to hear Jacobson in performance and was so taken by his musicianship she approached him to ask if he takes on students. He said "Yes." Now the Iolani fourth grader and her mom are back from their first lesson with Jacobson in Hilo and everyone concerned seems overjoyed ...MY friend Frank McCourt's first novel, "Angela's Ashes," is finally out in paperback after three years of being a best-seller in hard cover. In its first week out, it shot straight to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. And this despite the fact it's one of those "Quality Paperbacks" that are listed at $14.95, not much less than the hard cover price. But maybe now Scribner's will be able to release his long-completed sequel to "Angela" called "'Tis." ...
Acting ability not required
MORE and more isle folks are being cast in film and especially TV projects in Hawaii. Aside from the three local people named regulars on "Baywatch Hawaii," others are also getting jobs on the show, as well as in "Pacific Blue." Gemini Burke and hot tandem surfers Tina Martin and Bobby Friedman have done "Pacific Blue" roles, and Byron Ono was cast in "Days of Our Lives" when it filmed here. Many more are sure to follow ...
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.