| The Reliable Source
At a red-carpet premiere on Wednesday night in Largo for the WKYS-FM personality's directorial debut, singer Mya (in a dazzling backless evening gown) rubbed elbows with the sharp-dressed likes of Adrian Fenty and Clinton Portis (dudded out like a high-fashion skater boy), while Parr himself made the scene in . . . jeans, T-shirt and ball cap? Exactly: just like Spielberg or Spike. The total auteur uniform. .
Mama loves Nandinibabsmamba; sister loves connection
IF I QUOTED relevant song lyrics in this column, I'd be a hack, and you'd judge my musical taste and find it wanting. Also, various royalty seekers would want to charge this newspaper more than I get paid in a year. So just imagine the 14-year-old "River of Dreams" Billy Joel album playing inside the dented blue-green 9-year-old Toyota Corolla, on its way to the Washington, D.C., bus station. I visited my sister the weekend of her graduations. She got two master's degrees in addition to her two bachelor's degrees. Now she's not just Nandini, but Nandini, B.A., B.S., M.A., M.B.A. Nandinibabsmamba. It's fun to say. I visited again a week later, and Nandinibabsmamba had the old Billy Joel tape playing in her car as she drove me downtown. Rain spattered the windows as we passed buildings grand and standard.
The downside of paradise
Actually, I don't believe that any place is heaven on earth -- though I've been to my fair share of purgatories, or worse -- but some readers are disappointed that I don't always highlight the lowlights of Hawaii. What about the sluggish traffic on Kauai's Coconut Coast or in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island, they ask. What about the helicopters that crash during sightseeing tours? And, did I know that many Hawaii residents oppose the coming interisland ferry service? Two answers: Either I already addressed these concerns in other venues in The Chronicle, or the complaints weren't germane to the issue at hand. But, for the record, I heartily approve of visitors being aware that they're going to a real place, with real people in real situations, and not a manufactured Disneyland safely engineered for your pleasure.
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