THE LEFT LANE
The everlasting lei

Advertiser Staff and News Services

For the lei lover on your list, Bielka has fashioned an "Everlasting Lei" with 2.21 karats of diamonds, 22 karats of pink tourmaline and 18 karat gold. The leaves are French enamel, hand-Florentined and covered with a glass glaze. The price? A paltry $96,000.

Not in your Christmas budget? At least you can gawk at these spectacular pieces and others in his collection at a trunk show from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Sunday.

Dreams of brides

The subject of Hawai'i's "picture brides" made the New York Times last week when it reviewed the Eun-Hee Kim's Sudden Enlightenment Theater Company's new dance and theater work, "Dreams of a Picture Bride."

Reviewer Jennifer Dunning posed these questions: "Would it be possible to evoke — on a small, featureless stage in the heart of New York's East Village in 2002 — the world of the Korean mail-order brides who left their homes and traveled to Hawai'i in the first quarter of the 20th century to marry Korean plantation workers they did not know? The men were older than expected, and the couples faced hard compromises to create new lives and a community. How might one communicate this unmelodramatically?"

Said the Times: They (cast, director and choreographer) "pulled it all off, in part by approaching the layers of emotion, memory and storytelling with unerring simplicity."

Piranha comeback

Promotions manager Emi Tottori advised heading to Ocean Club early to take advantage of a half-price cover charge and, well, to make sure you actually get in. Doors open at 8 p.m., with $5 cover until 10 p.m., and $10 cover thereafter; 23 and over only. Dress code in effect. 531-8444.