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20-year-old’s moves
win him shot at
skateboard fame

The skateboards were flying at "The Lords of Dogtown Skatepark Jam" competition held Saturday at Aala Skatepark. Dyson Ramones, 20, of Mililani, took the top spot, joining 33 skaters (who won contests from around the United States and Canada) to win a chance to appear on MTV's show "TRL." If picked, Ramones will compete on "TRL" for a 50-inch Sony Wega Plasma HiDef TV. Ramones, who skates for Blue Hawaii, must be very thankful to his youth pastor Clint Chinen, who was also a skater and guided Ramones toward that light. Jay Adams and Shugo Kubo -- two of the original Z-Boys -- were judges at Saturday's event. Organizers of the event also got permits from the city to construct an area for graffiti artists to spray their stuff. And one skateboarder lucked out when he got to take the colorful plywood home to make a skateboard ramp. Also on hand was pro skater Jef Hartsel, who did a great job on the turntables. The contest was in preparation for the upcoming movie "Lords of Dogtown," scheduled for release on June 3. The movie tells the story of the Z-Boys, a group of teenage surfers who pioneered a new style of skateboarding in the 1970s. It stars Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch as Adams, Victor Rasuk and John Robinson. ...

We know Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai was at Kapiolani Community College for the Hawaii State Culinary Expo. What else did Chef Sakai do while he was in town? Cook, of course! I was told that Chef Sakai prepared an impressive work of art with smoked maguro, Kona lobster and Waialua asparagus at a special dinner held at Neptune's Garden in the Pacific Beach Hotel on May 1. The world-renowned chef was "tickled pink" when the diver in the restaurant's aquarium held up a sign saying "Welcome Chef Sakai." ... Chef Sakai also made his way to the DFS Galleria in Waikiki to introduce two of his signature coffee blends -- Chef Sakai's Vanilla Macadamia Nut and Chocolate Macadamia Nut -- which will only be offered at the DFS Galleria in Waikiki. ...

Some of the performers from "Lord of the Dance" shared their time with our community while they were in town. Adam McSherry, Anthony Holden, Keara Sullivan and Kaitlin Goslee gave an Irish dance master class. More than 70 dancers attended, from 6-year-old Tiger Tam to teen Roxanne Cassidy (she performed in "Nutcracker") to Lina Doo, who recently completed directing a show at Kapiolani Community College. ...