THE LEFT LANE
Fireworks on Friday

Here's another reason to look up on Fridays: The weekly fireworks are back at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

In case you haven't noticed, the 7:30 p.m. aerial display has been lighting up the Waikiki sky since last month.

It had been discontinued out of respect for hotel employees furloughed because of the downturn in tourism since Sept. 11. The Aloha Friday feature, popular with visitors and residents, has followed the Hilton's King Jubilee Celebration (from 6:15 p.m.) for 15 years. On March 29, however, a modified jubilee celebration will curtail fireworks for that week only, out of respect for the Good Friday holiday. Also, timetables change with the season; from April through September, the jubilee will begin at 6:45, fireworks at 8 p.m.

Shamrock data

In honor of St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, the Census Bureau has released this tally:

• 33.1 million: The number of U.S. residents in 2000 who said they were of Irish ancestry. That's almost nine times the population of Ireland.
• Four: The number of places in the United States named Shamrock, the botanical emblem of Ireland. There's one in Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia.
• 32: Gallons of beer consumed per capita by American adults in 1999. There's no count on how much of that was green-dyed beer consumed on St. Patrick's Day.

(See today's TGIF for a rundown on St. Patrick's Day events.)

Three thumbs down

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. has agreed to pay Connecticut $325,000 for using fake reviews, attributed to a Connecticut newspaper, in promoting its films.

Sony also has agreed to stop fabricating movie reviews, and to stop using ads in which employees pose as moviegoers praising films.

"These deceptive ads deserve two thumbs down — and now are getting a third from Sony itself," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

"We're pleased to have the matter resolved," said Sony spokeswoman Susan Tick.

They've been called "chopsticks for dummies." But inventor Don Sothman just calls the weird contraption the Popcorn Fork, and explains that it's designed to be held like a pencil and used to entrap buttery popcorn without getting your fingers greasy. (There's a salt shaker built into the handle, too.)

In a phone interview from his home in Menomonee Falls, Wis., the inventor, who holds a number of industrial patents, said he has sold about 300,000 Popcorn Forks worldwide.

It is by far his least serious invention, he said, but an unexpected side benefit has been hearing from people with serious motor control problems that prevent them from closing their hands or fingers. Some teachers use the Popcorn Fork in physical therapy class with motor-impaired children, who get such a kick out of it that they don't realize they're doing therapy, he said.