Melveen Leed taking on new role as grandmother
By Wayne Harada
What's in a name? For Da Tita, it now could be Da Nana or Da Puna or Da Tutu. Singer Melveen Leed's daughter Kaaikaula "Kaula" Naluai gave birth to a girl (6 pounds, 15 ounces) earlier this month, and Kahiana now is living with Mom on the second floor of grandmother's Kane'ohe water tank house. Dad is Kaula's fiancé, Damian Sempio, an occupational therapist. Congrats to all. ...
PERSONALITIES: Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac took in "Wines From the South of France," a Wine Club event held recently at I'o Restaurant on Maui. Fleetwood doesn't eat garlic, so Chef James McDonald whipped up a special menu of lamb chops and filet mignon, sans garlic, for Fleetwood and his pal. ...
RANDOM NOTES: Jake Shimabukuro has been on tour in New England — including a Boston stop for a solo gig at Newburyport and another show with Jimmy Buffett, along with a solo performance in Portland, Maine. "It's been so much fun out here, but I do get homesick about once a week," Shimabukuro said. "Hawai'i is just too beautiful." For the rest of the summer, Shimabukuro will be touring Brazil and Europe for the first time, still breaking barriers for the 'ukulele, introducing the modest four-stringed instrument to fertile new audiences worldwide. His next home gig is at DFS Galleria July 28 and "The Wildest Show in Town" July 29 at Honolulu Zoo. ...
After performing this past Wednesday at "Wildest Show," Manoa DNA left for Japan to represent Hawai'i in a promotional tour. The father-and-sons group will do 20 performances over nine days. ...
TIDBITS: Rolando Sanchez has recorded a song he wrote, accompanied by Dan Del Negro on piano. It's called "Amanecer," which means a new beginning or the dawn of the day. "I took the track to Nicaragua to play it for my dad, and he loved it," said the Latin music whiz. He also previewed the tune for his hometown fans on the radio, "and the phones would not stop ringing." But sharing it with his dad was the biggest thrill. Alas, his father, Enrique Alfonso Sanchez Velasquez, died peacefully July 8 in Masaya, Nicaragua. Sanchez and his new bride, Wanda, have left for the funeral. ...
My fellow chowhounds Fran Kirk and Millie Fujinaga dined at Wolfgang's Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zwiener at the Royal Hawaiian Center where we saw $10,000 worth of prime beef in the air-drying freezer on the premises. The filet is so tender, you can cut it with a fork. ...
HITHER 'N' YON: Sometimes-resident Joy Abbott, the Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, had back surgery recently at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami to correct her cervical spinal stenosis; the procedure involved placing spacers to eliminate pain and numbness in her arms and hands, certainly a detriment to her golf game. So the Honolulan will spend recovery time in Florida. ...
Talent booking agent Kika Matsumoto of Kika Inc. is savoring the memory of her recent "39 again" trek to Europe with fellow Year of the Ox pals Joan Namkoong and Bev Gannon. "It's safe to say you're an American again," she said of her experience. In Paris, when catching a cab, the tariff was six euros, and the cabbie told her five would be fine — and to light the sixth at church to pray for President Obama. At kiosks near one church, Obama fever was big — trinkets of his likeness are among the collectibles, along with more traditional religious fare. ...
A reggae concert, part of the KWXX Summer Fest at Waikoloa, features Katchafire, Natural Vibrations and Rebel Souljaz, at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Hilton Waikoloa Village's Palace Lawn. Call Ticketmaster at 877 750-4400 or go to www.waikoloanights.com or www.ticketmaster.com. ...
And that's Show Biz. ...
Reach Wayne Harada at 266-0926. Read his blog Fridays in TGIF and at http://showandtellhawaii.honadvblogs.com.
