JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Carina Tagupa, left, and KHNL/KFVE News producer Caroline Julian congratulated Zanuck Kapala Lindsey at the CD release party for "Only You," the debut album by Lindsey's new group, Ho'omalie, at the Honolulu Club Dec. 1. Rockford Holmes and Dean Taba backed Ho'omalie when the quartet performed after dinner. The group translates its name as "to soothe or make calm." The album is one of the year's best local releases. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Honolulu Theatre for Youth cast member Cynthia See welcomed Flat Stanley, namesake of the Official Flat Stanley Project, to "Christmas Talk Story" at Tenney Theatre Dec. 2. Students make a Flat Stanley and keep a journal about his experiences, then send Stanley and his journal to kids in another part of the country so they can add to his journal before sending him home. This Flat Stanley is visiting from Abilene, Texas. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
UH-Manoa acting students Kyle Thurmond, left, and Rick Bernard got the lowdown from director Stan Egi after catching his production of "Fish Head Soup" in the UH-Manoa Ernst Lab Theatre Nov. 30. Dann Seki and Chris Doi were the spark plugs in the Hawaii premiere of playwright Philip Kan Gotanda's impressionistic tale of a dysfunctional AJA family trying to come to terms with wartime internment, racial stereotypes and sexual secrets. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Afatia Thompson, left, joined Kimo Opiana as a guest performer at the Tihati Productions Oahu office Christmas party at the Waialae Country Club Dec. 6. This has been a big year for Thompson: He debuted as a solo recording artist with the release of "5:54" in late September and celebrated the birth of his second son, Afatia Jr., on Nov. 22. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Tiana DeBell, left, Kona Carmack and Christa Wittmier partied with Makana before he took the stage for a two-hour multimedia concert at the CD release party for his fourth album, "Different Game," at Next Door on Friday. A wall-to-wall crowd got the full impact of Makana's music and lyric insights as he performed with a five-piece band, computerized backdrops and visual effects. It was one of Honolulu's best club concerts of 2006. CLICK FOR LARGE