Hawaii
WHAT with more aftershocks in Taiwan, we're happy to report that Hawaii baseball players Matt Apana and Mike Hickey are doing OK, under the circumstances. Matt e-mailed his mom (who thanked me for reporting where he was when the quake hit -- she hadn't known at that point) that the two are staying at their team's baseball stadium. The team has been traveling by bus closer to the quake's epicenter to deliver food and drinks to the homeless, but the two Hawaii boys are hoping the season will be canceled so they can get home. Matt says water is turned on only once every four days and "life will just be more of a nightmare for the time being." ... Baseball boys
shaken but OK
SUGAR Bar owner Peter Birnbaum was one of those tuned in to see the opening segment of "Baywatch Hawaii" Saturday and kept yelling, "Attaway." He wasn't cheering on the actors, but was merely pointing out one of the bikini-clad extras on the show, Chaney Attaway, who's his star mixologist at the Sugar Bar. The show was predictable and there won't be a lot of Emmy nominations, but Stacy Kamano did create a kind of cheeky (and gorgeous) character plus Jason Momoa showed promise as a Texan? Typecast as a fisherman was Ben Wong, who hosts a TV fishing show, and Janel Parrish was adorable as his daughter, who was saved from the surf by David Hasselhoff. The latter's character seemed on the brink of fleeing from Hawaii, so word that he's cutting back on segment appearances isn't a shock ...
Kids' stuff
SPEAKING of kids, Wong's real daughter, Nikki Wong, is one of the swing dancers in "The 1940s Radio Hour," extended from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at Manoa Valley Theatre. The dancing must be popular, too, because those parked near the theater the other night found fliers under their windshields advertising "Swing Dance Lessons" that are unconnected to the show ... And congrats to Iolani 7th grader Christian Kitamura, who plays a fairy in Diamond Head Theatre's "Cinderella." She's been selected as one of 10 national winners of the "Be A L'Oreal Kid" talent search contest, and her picture will appear in many magazines and on billboards, except in Honolulu where they're illegal ...ALSO in a dancing mode are Ben & Faith Agbayani, who led a group of more than 400 members of the Hawaii Ballroom Dance Association to a Las Vegas dance extravaganza at the Stardust Hotel over the weekend. And if their names sound familiar, yes, they're the parents of New York Mets' slugger Benny Agbayani ...
WHILE UH Rainbow Warrior fans exult in the team's third straight victory, Denver Bronco fans are bemoaning their third straight loss. Former Hanalei resident Glen Frey helped former Broncos quarterback John Elway retire, but don't hold that against him when he returns to the Sheraton Waikiki Oct. 7 for a meeting of Lexus representatives ...
Northwest ohana
THE Seattle Post-Intelligencer has reviewed a new Belltown restaurant called Ohana, which a critic with the unlikely name Providence Cicero says has a "laid-back Hawaiian ambience." ... And localite Mona Wood is just back from Portland where she felt right at home. She visited a scenic picnic ground run by her sister, Patti Hessler, and her husband for companies and groups, and wouldn't you know, there was a Hawaiian theme party going on for a group, with food, music and leis ...
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: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com