Hawaii
50-cent fee to inflate
a raft gives visiting
lawyer an ideaVISITING Santa Barbara attorney Brian Flynn and wife Barbara were sightseeing in Waikiki last week, and while browsing for something at an ABC store, came across an item that set him thinking. It was a beach raft that sold for 99 cents or $1.49 inflated. As for who was supplying the air, it would be a perfect job for an out-of-work lawyer, they thought ... Karen Horton, wife of former three-dot columnist Tom Horton, said her biggest thrill during her recent vacation here was discovering a Leonard's Jr. in Kailua, which also sells espresso. Quipped Karen, "Helps keep the grease in check." ... Out of order: In the item here about four former Advertiser daily columnists being in town simultaneously last week, I listed them out of sequence: The four, in order, were Eddie Sherman, Tom Horton, George Daacon and Don Chapman. Thank Chapman for setting us straight ...
WHILE I rarely attend movies, I did see "A Beautiful Mind" and wasn't surprised by the Golden Globe awards it won Sunday, including best actor (Russell Crowe) as Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash, who battled and finally overcame his schizophrenia; and best supporting actress (Jennifer Connelly) who played his wife. Director Ron Howard was snubbed in his category in favor of venerable director Robert Altman, who brought us "Gosford Park." In his acceptance speech, Altman underplayed the role of director, saying he gets the best actors, "they do all the work and I get to watch." ... And while I'm not a member of the fashion police, somebody should tell Jon Voight to lose the white scarf he always wears with his tux. He's been draping it around his neck at least since "Midnight Cowboy." ...
A commercial message
WATCHING the Golden Globes, I thought of a few national commercials that should win some award. To wit: Dr. Diet Pepper, funniest spot, for its "Holland Globetrotters" all-white basketball team, complete with wooden clog-wearing cheerleaders; best visual and best song to (surprise!) the U.S. Postal Service; best use of rock music and visuals, Mitsubishi; most moving, Morgan Stanley, investing in your kids ...WALLACE Theaters in Restaurant Row will open "Happenstance" on Friday. It's a French film ("Le Battement d'aile du Papillon") starring Audrey Tautou, a Golden Globe presenter whose earlier film, "Amelié," lost out in the best foreign film category to "No Man's Land," from Bosnia ...
PLANNING a trip? Local anagrammarian Mike Morton was looking at United's Web site and found, "Each checked bag must have the name of the person traveling on the outside of the bag." His question: "What if I'm traveling on the inside of the bag?" Sounds a bit like he's in the bag already ...
Bright promise
THE man who founded the Castle Performing Arts Center, Ron Bright, is easily the best director of kids in Hawaii. His high-school productions at Castle High are always of high quality. Now he's reaching further down the age ranks and will feature 58 kids from the Windward District in grades 5-8. They'll perform in a patriotic musical revue called "All American!" running March 1 to 3 at his namesake theater ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com