Hawaii
WHEN 17-year-old Punahou senior Yasmeen Sulieman entered the "Brown Bags" competition, she was named "Road to Fame" winner. She's already setting out on that road. Yasmeen leaves this week for L.A. to record an album with Magic Johnson Music, a subsidiary of MCA and In the fast lane to fame
Universal Music. The "Brown Bags" win had nothing to do with her being signed up, however. Instead, it dates back to last year when she was in L.A. to support her brother and the "24-7" dance troupe in its successful bid for a national dance title. While the scores were being tallied, Yasmeen was invited to sing by a choreographer who'd heard her on a trip to Honolulu. A talent agent was in the crowd, and as they say, "the rest is history." Only in Yasmeen's case, it's more history in the making ...
AT the KSSK-sponsored premiere of "Pokemon, The First Movie," the station's morning show personality, Michael W. Perry, led the kids in chanting the Pokemon song. His biggest fan in the audience: Michael W. Perry III, his grandson ... Former local public relations exec Jean Dickinson is back in her new L.A. home after an exhausting junket through Southeast Asia. While there, she rode on the backs of elephants through the jungle, took a rice barge up a Bangkok waterway and, as she puts it, "ate and ate and ate." Fortunately, she also did a lot of walking, and is near her svelte fighting weight once again ...
Home to Baywatch
HAWAII Kai resident Linda Corter was taken aback when a locations manager from "Baywatch Hawaii" appeared at her door asking if film trailers could park in her lot while the show was filming nearby. Before she could respond, it was made clear that a nice fee would be available to her, and she quickly agreed. Corter was enjoying being so close to the action, and as the day went on when her home became the unofficial bathroom stop for most of the cast during the filming. When her family got home, all the excitement had passed and her kids were upset that she'd neglected to take any photos of the cast in their home. Yeah, like in the bathroom? ...SPEAKING OF "Baywatch," I ran into Rick Romer, set designer for the show, at a function at the Paul Mitchell Estate in Lanikai. The former set designer at what is now Diamond Head Theatre, Romer allowed that the estate was almost like home for him, having filmed numerous TV series at the site ... It was my first look inside the estate, and you can get an idea of how large, lavish and well-situated on the beach it is by learning that four young Silicon Valley technological wizards preparing an IPO for their company leased the estate for a month. The fee: $75,000. They'd better pray the stock soars! ...
Ed and the Family Dog
DOGGIE doings: Lt. Gen. Edwin Smith commands all Army forces in the Pacific area outside Korea. He tells the story of how his dad was a postman who was joined each day on part of his route by the family dog. And at night, when Dad was ready to retire, he'd fold up his newspapers and head to the refrigerator for some ice cream. The sound of folding papers signaled the mutt to get his dog bowl in his teeth and head to the refrigerator for some ice cream of his own. And so to bed ... Speaking of which, looks like the Star-Bulletin will continue to go to bed daily. I'm glad I never cleaned off my desk. Many thanks to all who called, wrote and e-mailed support ...
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