The Left Lane
Dollies speak up

Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The phrases in Japanese, Chinese, Italian, French and Spanish are said with correct inflection and in a child's voice. The next dolls to hit shelves soon will speak German, Hebrew and Russian. The company is even looking at releasing a Hawaiian-speaking doll. Language Littles are available at Ala Moana Gift Lode and Iida's in Ala Moana Center, Bambini in Kaimuki, Child's Play in Ward Centre, Education Works in Mapunapuna, Teacher's Plus in Mililani, Thinker Toys at Kahala Mall and Ala Moana Center, and Toyrrific on Beretania Street. Prices range from $40 to $43.

BASS: Plays a mousy guy

'N Sync member Lance Bass gets to take front and center for once when he plays the lead in "On the Line," a film anxiously awaited by fans of the hugely popular boy band and opening today. Bass, who co-produced the film, plays a mousy guy who meets Miss Right, Abbey (Emmanuelle Chriqui ) on a Chicago train. They chat, connect and ... he doesn't get her name or her number. He spends the rest of the movie trying to find her.

Spotlight on Hawai'i

New figures from the Census Bureau show that Hawai'i has the highest number (8.2 percent) of multi-generational households in the country.

Nationwide, there were about 3.9 million multi-generational families living together, nearly 4 percent of all households. Another 78,000 households nationwide and 1,253 in Hawai'i were made of four generations. California (5.6 percent), and Mississippi (5.2 percent) followed Hawai'i with the next largest percentage of multi-generational households in the nation. North Dakota was last, with 1.1 percent.

HOUSTON: Patriotic diva climbs charts

Whitney Houston's "The Star Spangled Banner," originally recorded during the Persian Gulf War, continues its ascent on America's pop music charts, pegged at No. 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 this week.

It was re-released shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, and the national anthem is coupled with Houston's version of "America the Beautiful." Houston is donating all royalties and proceeds from the sales of the recording to the New York Firefighters Sept. 11 Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Fraternal Order of Police.