The Left Lane
'Team Maui' closer to becoming a movie
Advertiser library photo
California filmmaker Bill Brown and screenwriter Shelley Bingham have completed a script about famed Hawai'i swimming coach Soichi Sakamoto, who may be the only person ever inducted into the International Swimmers Hall of Fame who didn't know how to swim.
Swim coach Soichi Sakamoto led Island kids to Olympic gold.
What Sakamoto did know how to do was transform a ragtag bunch of underdog Maui kids into world-class athletes, teaching them to swim in Maui's sugar cane irrigation ditches in the 1940s and '50s. At first, folks laughed, but they stopped when Sakamoto's kids took the national championships, and then went on to win Olympic gold in 1952.
Brown, himself a former competitive swimmer, is moving forward on a $15 million film titled "Team Maui" which he compares to the spirit and theme of "Chariots of Fire."
— Will Hoover, Advertiser staff writer
Kikaida really is back and in prime time
With this past weekend's "Kikaida Experience," part of the 11th Annual Hawai'i All-Collectors Show at the Neal Blaisdell Center, behind them, fans of the '70s Japanese superhero have something else to look forward to — the return of the television series.
Yup, you read right.
KIKU-TV, Hawaii's multilingual television station, has announced that the original "Kikaida" series will be returning to prime time.
"It's time to bring it back," said Gregg Mueller, general manager of KIKU. "There's incredible fan support in Hawai'i, like nowhere else in the world — we get requests (to bring back shows) all the time, and this is the biggest one."
The show will air 7 p.m. Sundays on Oceanic Cable 9, UHF channel 20 and Americast 10, starting this fall. We'll let you know the start date when it's determined.
— Jean Chow, Advertiser staff writer
Specialty foods store reopens in a new spot
After an absence much felt by Islanders in search of specialty foods, Strawberry Connection reopens today at the Dole Cannery shopping complex in Iwilei, on the first floor next to Signature Theatres.
Formerly off Nimitz Highway in Kalihi, Strawberry Connection has a new, larger store featuring all the items found in the former store, including imported olive oils and other bottled goods, a variety of cheeses and meats, and Valrhona and other imported chocolates. New services include a variety of classes. A deli features gourmet salads and sandwiches.
Strawberry Connection has also teamed up with "Once Upon a Table," an event coordination company that provides consultation for planning parties and other functions.
Doors open at 8 a.m. today with food samples and in-store specials. Hours are 8 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays. Phone: 521-9777.
— Jean Chow
