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Hawaii
HAWAII is where you find it. For example, did you Bali for
the holidaysnotice that the spokesperson for George W. Bush at his Austin headquarters is Mindy Tucker? But no, it's not the same Mindy Tucker who played the leading lady in Diamond Head Theatre's "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," which by many accounts, wasn't! ... Bali High: Following in the footsteps of promoter Tom Moffatt is public relations exec Eileen Mortenson, who is spending her holidays in Bali. I don't know if she'll cross paths with ex-Honolulu writer/publisher Leonard Lueras, who's been living in Bali for the past 15 years. She did visit the local art museum and see paintings by Hawaii artist Paul Nagano. And the first thing she spotted when she checked into a small hotel in Ubud, the local artists' colony, was a poster for the Honolulu Marathon ...
BACK in the 1980s, three buddies and I bought two season tickets apiece to UH football games, and tailgated in the parking lot before the game. One of the four was architect Don Fowler, who always pooh-poohed those who carried around photos of their kids. But that's before son Nick was born. Suddenly a giant folding array of photos of the baby got shown around the Aloha Stadium parking lot to anyone who'd look. Now, in a way not really meant to make me feel old, though it does, is the Fowler family Christmas card featuring Fowler, wife Gloria and his two kids, Nick, now Punahou senior class president with honors, and younger daughter Noelle, who has her work cut out living up to dad's expectations ...
Radio waves
FEATURED on the Judy Collins holiday special, "Do You Hear What I Hear: A Holiday Folk tour," is Big Isle singer/songwriter Oona McOuat. Yes, that's how she spells it, and it's pronounced "Una Mc-KEW-it." The Celtic harpist is one of 10 artists featured on the special, and she'll be singing an original, "December Song," accompanied by UH-Hilo music prof Richard Lee on woodwinds. It'll be heard locally on KIPO AM and FM on Dec. 24 from 8 to 9 p.m. ...AND a Hawaii Public Radio note with no Christmas connection: Eight years ago, Seth Markow, who hosts a jazz show called "The Real Deal" on KIPO, did a musical legacy of Miles Davis cleverly called "MilesTones." It ran over 78 two-hour weekly installments. Now Markow is turning his attention to the late John Coltrane and will devote as much time to the sax artist as he did to Davis, this one entitled "Trane Tracks." It will start Jan. 4 on Thursdays, airing from 8 to 10 p.m. on KIPO AM and FM ...
While this newspaper is running on its front page a local countdown inspired by "The Twelve Days of Christmas, it's nice to remember the song, "Numbah One Day of Christmas," which was written "in 15 minutes," according to co-author Bob Magoon. He collaborated with Ed Kenney on the tune. Magoon, who recently was in Straub Hospital after suffering a stroke, had written "13 Daughters" for Broadway, and Kenney had also appeared on the Great White Way in "Flower Drum Song." ...
Cheese whiz
JUST call her Sweetie-Claus. That would be Sweetie Pacarro, who dressed in a Santa outfit and with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, presented a check for $6,000 to Polly Kauhi of the Hawaii Food Bank. It was a promotion between KSSK, Kraft Foods Hawaii and Disney on Ice. Sweetie, who works for KSSK, deadpanned that Kraft was the perfect partner for Disney on Ice (starring Minnie and Mickey) because they produce so much cheese ...
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