Peter Ustinov, Rocky Brown
THE truest axiom in the English language is, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." It was brought home to the contest winner who won 107 tickets to the oldies rock concert Saturday night, only to learn he'd have to pay taxes on his winnings. He accepted a smaller number of duckets instead, hoping to avoid a usurious tax surprise. So you wonder with all the cars being given away, if the recipients are aware they're responsible for taxes. KSSK held an "Ultimate Altima Giveaway" Saturday at Ala Moana. Earlier, King Auto had a "Hands on a Neon" freebie and golfers in today's Royal Garden Cup Charity tournament have a chance to win a 1997 Buick Regal. Two more cars, a Buick LeSabre and a Subaru Forester from Schuman Carriage, will be up for bid Thursday at Murphy's second annual "Rainbow Pigskin Pigout" to raise money for Na Koa, the UH football booster organization, but these are hardly giveways. Lots of items will be auctioned off and they're hoping to raise $50,000 for Na Koa. ... Uncle Sam gets
cut of winningsREAL estate appraiser Bob Hastings illustrates just how bad Hawaii's economy is where the real estate market is concerned. Says Hastings, "Even those who don't intend to make their mortgage payments aren't buying." ... Tell that to Bill Chee of Prudential Locations, whose fine homes division did over $50 million in business in its first five weeks of operation. ... One of the most talented men of the theater and his wife enjoyed dinner at Matteo's during their Royal Hawaiian stay. Hard to miss Sir Peter Ustinov and his Lady...
GIRL Scouting in Hawaii is marking its 80th anniversary in Hawaii and some pretty impressive scouts have been emerged into the community -- people like Joan Bickson, Andi Simpson, Jane Tatibouet, Irmgard Aluli and Indru Watumull. As part of their anniversary celebration Saturday, they're holding an antique, art and treasures auction called "Somewhere in Time." Among items to be auctioned are an antique wooden horse, an original "lemon peeler" bicycle valued at $1,800 and a 1913 crank telephone. Phone 595-8400 for more info...
WHILE some people are celebrating Bastille Day today in honor of the French, folks at Kaneohe Marine Corps Airbase are looking ahead to next weekend when they hold BayFest, a huge celebration of music, fun and games. For starters, America, the group which mystified the country with "A Horse With No Name," will perform Friday and Saturday nights on the main stage. Check a program, but others performing during the weekend will be Bodhisattva and the striking Rocky Brown on Friday, comics Jaz Kaner and Bo Irvine on Saturday along with the teen group Forte and the rock band Beat Poets. On Sunday there'll be Mojo Hand, Joy, the Ka'au Crater Boys and Island Rhythms. In addition, there'll be boxing and boat racing competition and a Mr. and Ms. BayFest BodySearch Competition -- that's what they're calling it.Sounds like a great weekend ... Not "Baywatch" -- BayFest!
WHO else would the U.S. government get to design a $40 million lab at a South Pole base, but a firm from sunny Hawaii! That's right: Farraro Choi & Associates won the contract in competitive bidding for the National Science Foundation. The 150,000-square-foot structure will be raised above the ice and be shaped like an airplane wing to deflect Antarctic winds. We know about such things here ...
TAKING a bite of the Big Apple: That's what the young playwrights getting the opportunity to show their talent at the Honolulu Theater for Youth are doing. For the second year in a row, a young playwright from HTY is a finalist in the New York Young Playwrights national competition. Sherry Ouyang was selected from a field of more than 1,000 in a workshop reading of her play "Life, Interrupted." Last year Debrah Ocon of Waipahu was one of the winners and will be given a full production of her play, "Lolo Ti Leaves," off-Broadway later this year ... Not that far from Broadway
Contact Dave by e-mail: donnelly@kestrok.com.