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Hawaii Dave Donnelly |
Arnold didn’t always
draw media attentionTODAY if I were to walk through the Star-Bulletin newsroom with Arnold Schwarzenegger, all work would halt temporarily and all eyes would be on us. Well, on him at any rate. But back in the 1970s we did just that and not one soul even noticed. Body builder Timmy Leong of Timmy's Gym, where Arnold worked out in Hawaii, brought him by to introduce us and attempt to get a mention in the column of a body-building show at which Arnold was appearing. He turned out to be a delightful guy, telling stories and hardly mentioning Timmy's show. After a nice conversation, I got an idea and asked Arnold if he'd mind stepping into the dispatch office and say hello to the women who gather up copies of the paper and for delivery to advertisers. "Of course," he said and we walked through the newsroom to the dispatch office in the back shop. I opened the door and announced I had someone who'd like to say hello. In walked a smiling Arnold, who was greeted by six women, mouths agape, who could have been wax museum displays. He realized their reticence and said, "Well, keep up the good work," and we left. Those women now have stories to tell their grandchildren about how they met the governor-elect of California. Or "Cauli-fornia," as Arnold repeatedly calls it as though he were talking about cauliflower. He's about to take on his biggest role and I'm sure he'll greet the challenge as he did when he met the open-mouthed women at the S-B ...
Idyllic and Idolic
THOSE lucky folks at the Lewers Lounge in the Halekulani on Friday got an entertainment bonus. Joining regular pianist David Swanson until the wee hours were Delta Dickerson and Lorraine Perry, two vocalists who were in town accompanying James Ingram in his concert here. They must have put in a good word, too, because Ingram and the rest of his ensemble came in and jammed with Swanson the next night. Turns out that Swanson had played for Ingram many years ago, so it was something of a reunion for the musical pair ...AND next door to the Lounge at the House Without A Key, "American Idol" judges Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson were joined by emcee Ryan Seacrest for cocktails. They could have done worse than invite hula dancer extraordinaire Kanoe Kaumehiwa Miller to be a guest on their show. No word on the whereabouts of fellow judge Simon Callow, uh, I mean Cowell, who was nowhere to be seen, and as he is so often on TV, off in a world of his own ...
The more La Mer-rier
THE youthful Seacrest didn't join the judges when they weighed in on La Mer-it of La Mer. Instead he opted to wait and spend his last night in Honolulu a deux in La Mer with his lady friend, Shauna. He ended up carrying on a conversation in fluent French with Chef Yves Garnier. Turns out Seacrest's family spent some time in Monte Carlo, which was Garnier's former home. La Mer staffers found Seacrest very personal, and one proclaimed him the "nicest person." ...
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Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968. The Week That Was runs Sundays and recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns. Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com
