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Hawaii
FOR as long as I can remember, the bar adjacent to the Surf Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel has Two Mai Tai maximum
been called the Mai Tai Bar. So when an ad appeared in the paper the other day seeking entertainers for the Mai Tai Bar, many people assumed it was at the Royal. That includes Keith Haugen, who with wife
Carmen, has been singing there for 14 years as of next week. People were calling Haugen to see if they were leaving. He investigated and found out that somehow, another establishment is now calling itself the Mai Tai Bar and it's that place, in Ala Moana Center, which is looking for entertainers. Maybe Mai Tai Sing can now start calling Ciao Mein, which she manages, Mai Tai's Bar. Or is there a two Mai Tai maximum? Confusion? You bet. By the way, Haugen is celebrating Birthday No. 60 tonight at the Mai Tai Bar -- the one in the Royal Hawaiian ...
ONLY in Hawaii: Hawaiian rights activists in the past sometimes emotionally resorted to name-calling and swearing to make their desires and demands known. But this latest group of strategists who met Sunday seem more mellow in the extreme, calling for a sleep-in at the UH Campus Center. That could be followed with eat-ins and drink-ins. You can see where all this is heading, and it sure beats all the breast-beating and swearing at fate ...
Hitching post
FILMING "Wild on Waikiki" for the E! Network must have had a special effect on host Todd Newton. He proposed to producer Silver Parker, and the two decided to tie the knot right here in Hawaii. It's the old story -- they've known each other, been friends and worked together for years, though dating other people. Suddenly, the light bulb went off over their heads and now beachside nuptials are being planned ...HAWAII Pacific University celebrated its 35th anniversary with a gala dinner at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Coral Ballroom, and even flew in one of its most famous alums, former Miss Hawaii and Miss America Carolyn Sapp, for the occasion ... While Chef Mavro is considered to be something of an artist with the cuisine at his elegant restaurant at McCully and King, his clientele often reflect an artistry of their own. Painter R.C. Gorman, known as the Native American Picasso, loved the bouillabaisse, and trumpeter Herb Alpert, who has 35 albums to his credit, polished off his meal with my favorite, lilikoi-filled malassadas ...
BLUES guitarist Bob Spector will be sitting in at O'Toole's Friday night, and it's a rare opportunity to hear him with no cover charge ... Saw both "Wonder Boys" and "American Beauty" over the weekend and enjoyed both. But the latter film, nominated for eight Oscars, begged several questions. For example, why would the young daughter, who's built like a young Sophia Loren, even consider breast implants? Talk about coals to Newcastle ...
Italian Perry & Price
JUST call them Piluso and Paolo. Scruples owner Fred Piluso and pal Paolo Migotti, who's as Italian as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, did a live broadcast with D.J. Ruggito Del Leone of Radio Roma, Nazionale. He regularly signs off his show, heard by 6 million people throughout Europe, with "Aloha," and he talked about Hawaii (and Scruples) with Piluso while Paolo waved the air and interpreted. The next day, Migotti got two dozen calls and faxes from Italy as a result of the program ...
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