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Hawaii
HOW times have changed. Back when K-POI went on the air in 1959 and was the hottest thing on radio through the '60s, every on-air personality was a haole male. This came to mind when former Poi Boy Tom Moffatt rummaged through his vast tape-recorded history, found the "K-POI Old boys’ club
gone on radioChristmas Story," and had it pressed as a CD. It was especially meaningful to me as I wrote and directed the radio show as well as acted in it. All the on-air people had parts as well as two wives, now both ex's ... A visitor to the islands helped bring to mind the haole male control of radio back in those days. Dick Spengler, who now has his own communications company in Northern California, has been visiting with friends he hasn't seen for 40 years or so, people like retired University of Hawai'i prof (and political pollster) Dan Tuttle. Spengler teamed with Don Berrigan on the "Dick and Don" show on KORL, whose program director was the late Ted Sax, male haoles all ... There are a lot of women and local lads manning the airwaves now. Jeff Kino, for example, launched his "Q Morning Zoo" this morning on KQMQ, where he worked seven years ago. He's partnered with Lois Miyashiro, who was on 98.5 with Lanai and Augie T ... Meanwhile, Hudson, a haole female, and her on-air partner Scotty B., are making plans to emcee "2001: A Space Odyssey New Year's Eve Party." It'll be held at the Ocean Club in Restaurant Row ...
Boys from Brazil
I RAN into City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura after he returned from a trip to Brazil, ostensibly to look over the bus transit situation there to see if a similar system would work in Hawaii. To say Yoshimura was smitten by Brazil would be an understatement. He was going on about the beauty of the scenery, the friendliness of the people -- you'd almost think he was describing Hawaii. Then he added that Brazil is also an incredibly inexpensive place to live, saying he wouldn't rule out perhaps going there to retire one day. That may be the euphoria of the moment which hadn't rubbed off as yet, but you never know ...TELEVISION commercials for Universal Theme Park have been airing with the theme being, "It's Merry Grinchmas Time." And we have another promotion running locally called "The 12 Days of Grinchmas." Aren't people overlooking something obvious? ... Two live NFL games aired on TV Saturday and another four on Sunday. When a wag suggested the league ought to do this all season long, a wiser observer suggested that the divorce rate in this country is high enough already ... Don Murphy of Murphy's Bar & Grill has two suitcases packed. He's off today for two days in San Francisco, his old stamping grounds where I first met him before he moved to Hawaii. It'll be his first trip there in two years. Then he and wife Marian will be spending New Year's in her native land, Canada, where it's super freezing. "Doesn't matter," quips Murph, "Anything below 40 feels the same to me." ...
Message from Moscow
WANT another example of Hawaii as a melting pot? Witness Tatiana Anderson. She came to Hawaii a year and a half ago from Moscow and decided to meld the two cultures. Anderson has designed sets of nesting wooden Russian matryoshka dolls, hand-painted as hula dancers. Each doll is an original, designed in Hawaii and painted in Russia. Check them out on the Internet: http://www.ePacificTrader.com ...
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