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Hawaii
HAWAII is certainly getting its bit of worldwide publicity. First the Bishop Estate was featured on CBS' "60 Minutes," which is about how long the staff of the Star-Bulletin might have stayed in the building if Lokelani Lindsay had strolled in and Good press for
Aloha Statestated the estate had bought the paper and she was going to be running it ... Then Matt Lauer did his first of five "Where in the World ... " telecasts for NBC's "Today" show yesterday, and it originated from Kilauea Volcano. Besides a lengthy introduction to volcanoes, there were additional nonvolcano segments featuring hula dancing, lei-making, local cooking from the Four Seasons -- hardly roughing it -- and a photographer who specializes in filming volcanoes ... Now we find a cover shot by Hawaii photog John De Mello on the May issue of Travel Holiday magazine. It features beachboys (and girl) Brian Kennedy, Kulani Lavea and Mele McPherson careening through the surf. It was shot by De Mello seated in the front of the canoe and not seeing where they were heading, but trusting the steersman. The magazine is distributed to 650,000 around the globe ... And Noah Idechong was one of eight "Heroes for the Planet" selected by Time magazine for Earth Day 2000 and featured in the magazine's first global special edition, "How to Save the Earth." Idechong was graduated from Hawaii Pacific College (now HPU) in l976, and is the founder of the Palau Conservation Society ...
Model behavior
EVERYONE who saw Brazilian beauty Giselle Bundschen poolside at the Halekulani had to know that song is oh, so correct: "Tall and tan and young and lovely ... " I'm not sure she's from Ipanema, but Giselle was this year's Model of the Year for Vogue/VH1 and is a familiar sight wearing fashions by Ralph Lauren, Versace and Celine ... Then there's local girl Kona Carmack, who's coming home soon for some R&R. She was known for wearing her God-given birthday suit in Playboy during a centerfold shoot a few years back. Kona, daughter of Easter Seals' Billie Gabriel-Zito, has been modeling in Israel in recent years and has become fluent in Hebrew as a result. Kona openly scoffs at the idea of getting a "boob job," a decision Mom is behind totally ... And Britney Spears showed she looked sexy in just about anything she wears at her recent free beach concert at the Hilton Hawaiian Village ... The four singers calling themselves the Divas -- Melveen Leed, Loyal Garner, Carole Kai and Nohelani Cypriano -- will be doing a free "Sunday Jam" of their own May 7 at Liberty House Ala Moana ...
Language barrier
FORMER Isle broadcaster Terry O'Connell, now retired and living in Florida, was in 'Vegas recently looking at the "Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts," a wonderful collection of masters. CEO Steve Wynn not only chose (and bought) the artwork, he also does the narration on an audio accompanying each photo. O'Connell was chagrined when he came to a Gauguin painting and heard Wynn's voice intone, "The man at the center of the painting is an island priest called a mahu." He emailed some friends about how Wynn should have said "kahuna," leaving the priest's sexual proclivities alone. One person sent the Bellagio a copy of his email and O'Connell got a return within two hours from the Bellagio's fine arts director, Charlotte Carrier, thanking him for his observation, and assuring him in the future the audio tour would be corrected ...
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