THE LEFT LANE
Collecting Hawai'i; What race was that?; Kwanzaa spotlighted

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Kwanzaa celebrations include the daily lighting of eight candles. Advertiser library photo

Three serious collectors of Hawaiiana will be on hand from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at Na Mea Hawai'i. Watters Martin, Jr., will show his vintage jewelry from the long-gone Ming's and Gump's stores, Richard Ornelles will share his etchings, prints and ceramics and Michael Horikawa will display fine art.

The event honors the book "Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections" recently published by the Honolulu Academy of Arts. Copies of the collectible first edition will be available for purchase. There also will be music and entertainment. Na Mea Hawai'i is on the corner of Fort and Merchant streets. Information: 548-2665.

What race was that?

With Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalist and proud jotter of chemically induced visions, it's always been about his experience, not the experience. So it should surprise no one that his account of the Honolulu Marathon for ESPN.com is a bit (OK, a lot) more impressionistic than realistic.

Of course, it's never quite clear how the author of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" gathers his impressions. In the article, Thompson said he arrived at the staging area around 4 a.m., "two hours before the starting time." Maybe in Mescaline Standard Time, but the actual starting time was at 5 a.m.

Check out what Thompson supposedly had to say to June Jones, a moonshine-toting woman from Ethiopia and two "wild girls from St. Petersburg" at www.espn.go.com/page2/s/thompson.

When you're done, go to the open forum on www.honolulumarathon.com to throw in your two tabs on Thompson's reportage.

Kwanzaa spotlighted

A celebration of Kwanzaa, the African-American holiday, will be held at the Academy Art Center. Activities set for Dec. 27-28 include quilting, hat-making, cooking demonstrations, a book fair, and screenings of the films "Rabi" and "Sia, the Myth of the Python."

Kwanzaa celebrates family, community and culture from Dec. 26 through Jan. 1 and its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa, from which it takes its name. (Kwanzaa comes from the phrase "matunda ya Kwanzaa" which means "first fruits" in Swahili.) During Kwanzaa, eight candles are lit on seven consecutive days to remember the principles of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Call 532-8741. Learn about Kwanzaa at www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org.