Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Hawaii
EVEN the most rabid film fan should have Ishida gains
fame elsewherehis cinematic fill after the Hawaii International Film Festival concludes. It runs from Nov. 3 to 12 on Oahu and Nov. 14 to 19 on the neighbor islands. The new film guide poster was designed by photog John DeMello and the descriptions inside of the mostly off-beat, independently made films promise a plethora of emotions. One film not included in this year's fest is "My Lazy White Friends" by Iolani grad Dean Ishida, Class of '89. The "Friends" referred to in the title are a handful of fellow Boston University students he ran around with. The film has played in several U.S. cities and picked up awards as "Best Documentary" in the Hermosa Beach, Atlantic City and Newport Beach festivals. Ishida is employed by the Nestle company, where he produces videos for company presentations. Maybe one day his work will be on view in Honolulu ...
SUNDAE crunch: Producer Greg Bonann admits to being an ice cream maniac, so it struck him as a great idea to celebrate the final day of shooting for "Baywatch Hawaii" with a Häagen Dazs Sundae Party for cast and crew at the Haleiwa set. Heartily agreeing to transport the ice cream personally to the "Baywatch" girls and guys was Jason Kim, son of local Häagen Dazs boss Donald Kim. He claims it had nothing to do with watching the actresses in bathing suits sampling his confections. And with shooting over, they weren't concerned about putting on a pound here or there ...
Getting older and better
IT'S nice to see old friends aging and not reluctant to talk about it, especially if life is good. Take Carole Kai, for example. Long missing from the Waikiki entertainment scene after getting married, she's resurfaced as one of the Divas, and with her singing sisterhood, Melveen Leed, Loyal Garner and Nohelani Cypriano, celebrated her birthday this week at Don Ho's Island Grill ... Meanwhile, Emme Tomimbang turns 50 tomorrow. Is it possible? I remember her when she was a 20-year-old neophyte DJ on the Filipino station, KISA. Now she's married to Judge James Burns, son of the late governor, and her TV show, "Island Moments," continues to be a hit on local airwaves ...CHEF Russell Siu of 3660 on the Rise and wife Malia are hosting the grand opening of their Kakaako Kitchen at Ward Centre tomorrow night, a benefit for St. Francis Hospice ... Got $450,000 you'd like to blow on a bauble? That's the asking price on the Millennium Opal on view at the Rainbow Collection. Honcho Karla Brom received the rare opal accompanied by two burly security guards and featured it in her Ala Moana shop's annual gem show but, alas, had to say goodbye to the stone yesterday. But while it wasn't purchased, people dropping in to see it did purchase other gems ...
Favorite son also rises
HAWAII'S favorite son, Benny Agbayani, knocked in the winning run in the first World Series game in Shea Stadium Tuesday, prompting a reaction from announcer Tim McCarver. He stated that because of the six-hour time difference, that while it was midnight in New York, the sun was just setting in Hawaii, but the state's favorite son is still rising. It would have been a telling comment, except the Powers That Be at KHON, perhaps thinking "Back to the '60s," chose to telecast the game on a delayed basis, so our sunset had long gone. So, too, will the ratings, I'd wager, with folks knowing the final score before the first pitch ...
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