SATURDAY SCOOPS
Wanna hula?

Advertiser Staff and News Services

The Merrie Monarch festival ends tonight — KITV airs it live from 6 p.m. — with the group 'auana competition and awards (expect even more screaming and many tears of joy), but there are other ways to sample the Hawaiian dance form.

These are free, continuing events around town:

• "Na La O Ke Awa," hula show celebrating the history of Honolulu Harbor with chants and dance, noon-12:45 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, Aloha Tower Marketplace. 566-2337.
• Kuhio Beach Torch-lighting and Hula Show, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays, Kuhio Beach stage, near Duke Kahanamoku statue. 843-8002.
• Hawaiian Music and Hula Show, 6-9 nightly, Waikiki Shopping Plaza. 923-1191.
• The International Market Place in Waikiki and Ala Moana CenterStage also host occasional hula performances.

Then there's the Bishop Museum's comprehensive exhibit, "Hula: Dance of Poetry," where you can learn the history and the basics and can view live hula performances. It continues 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through June 1. 847-3511.

Mark your calendars: The museum will host its third annual music and dance festival, titled "Ku'u One Hanau, Sands of My Birth," 9 a.m.-4 p.m. June 1. It's your last chance to view the exhibit and the price is right: $3 general or $10 for a family of four (two adults, two kids).

And if you're thinking about making the leap from observer to participant, any number of hula halau — check the Yellow Pages of the phone book, for example — can offer their services.

There are online resources, too: www.mele.com/halau.shtml and allthingshawaiian.com/hula-halau.html have remarkable state-by-state lists of halau with e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

The state Department of Education offers adult-education classes that include hula. The current session ends in a couple of weeks; the next begins in June and lasts six weeks. Check the Advertiser next month for a list of classes and locations.

Upcountry festival on Maui this weekend will celebrate Hawai'i-produced foods

About 100 vendors — growers, manufacturers and businesses — are expected to take part. Other attractions include entertainment by Uluwehi Guerrero, Stephanie Anderson, Pekelo, Raiatea Helm, Cindy Combs, Richard Ho'opi'i Sr. and comics Lanai and Augie; an "Iron Chef"-style contest; and an amateur floral competition.

Hours are noon-5 p.m. today for the general public, 10 a.m.-noon for industry folks, buyers and chefs.

It all takes place at the 'Ulupalakua Ranch and Tedeschi Vineyards in Maui's Upcountry.

Admission is $10; free for kids under 12. www.ulupalakuathing.com, (808) 878-2839).

Superheroes out for truth, justice and the DVD way

April has been dubbed Superhero Month by the folks at DC Comics. DC and Warner Home Video have released three DVDs starring some of Earth's mightiest heroes.

• "Batman: The Animated Series, Tales of the Dark Knight" features four more episodes from the early-'90s series.
• "Justice League: Justice on Trial" is the second release from the Cartoon Network favorite. It features two double episodes from season one.
• The jewel of the releases is "Challenge of the Super Friends: Attack of the Legion of Doom," featuring four episodes from the classic 1978 series. This is the first time "Super Friends" is available on DVD.

And if you need another hero fix, Warner will release another wave of DVDs from these series July 22.

Check out bunches of new products

If it's spring, it must be time for the 28th annual Spring New Products Show at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Here you'll find boats, cars, home-improvement products, surfing supplies, fashion shows, food and craft displays and other things.

Hours are 10 a.m.-10 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow. Admission is $4 general, free for kids 12 and younger and for seniors 65 and older. 945-3594.

Maui, O'ahu shows celebrate fascination with power tools

Contests take place on two islands:

• Maui: 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. today at the Slim's store, 864 Alua St., Wailuku Industrial Park.
• O'ahu: 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. tomorrow at the store, 1626 Republican St., off Nimitz Highway.

Preliminary rounds begin at 10:30 a.m., a half-time show (the DeWalt "Pit Stop" contest to remove tires from a car) begins at noon and the final round starts at 12:30 p.m. at each location. 841-0902.

Flowers, jazz and film hang out at Academy of Arts

The Honolulu Academy of Arts looks to be buzzing with activity this weekend.

First there's the Garden Club of Honolulu's flower and horticulture showcase: "The Academy in Bloom" continues 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. today and 1-5 p.m. tomorrow. It's free for kama'aina; for nonresidents, admission is $7 general, $4 seniors, students 13 and older and military, free for kids 12 and younger. 532-8700.

Jazz is on the menu in a "Hawaii Jazz Festival All Stars" concert featuring Abe Weinstein, Dan Del Negro, vocalist Keahi Conjugacion and others. It begins at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Doris Duke theater. Admission is $15 general, $12 for Academy of Arts members.

On the film front, "Ten" (below), from noted writer-director Abbas Kiarostami, looks at the life of a modern Iranian woman. It screens at 4 p.m. tomorrow and at 7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at the Doris Duke theater. Admission is $5 general, $3 for members.

Children's theater takes to the park and 'Playground' takes to the theater

Bring the kids to McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Beach Park for two productions by the Honolulu Theatre for Youth:

• Tales of friendship written by Kimo Armitage come to life in "Hawaii Tales for Young People," aimed at keiki 3 and older. Show times are 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. today and May 3 and 10, with a sign-interpreted performance at 1:30 p.m. May 10.
• A play based on Rudyard Kipling's characters is titled "The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi." Show times are 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. today and May 3, 10 and 17; for kids 5 and older.

Tickets for either production are $12 general, $6 for ages 18 and younger and over 60. Call 839-9885.

Students perform this and that in showcase revue

Out Leeward Community College way, the Nanakuli Performing Arts Club is presenting "This and That," which includes a musical revue "Once Upon a Playground" with songs of the past, present and Broadway. There's also a dance choreographed by Peter Rockford Espiritu of Tau Dance Theater.

Cheer on the students of Nanakuli High and Intermediate, Kapolei Middle and Wai'anae High schools. The show at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the LCC theater is free.

UH design students display their skills in 'Fashionation'

Every so often, a class of students comes along that stirs up excitement and raises the question: "Wonder what they'll be doing in 10 years?" You want to hold on to their yearbooks for future reference.

The UH-Manoa Apparel, Product, Design and Merchandising class of 2003 is just such a group. Both the designers and the merchandisers are talented, ambitious and entrepreneurial.

On Sunday, eight graduating seniors and 10 juniors will strut their stuff in "Fashionation!" a showcase of 83 student designs.

The students, many of whom took a UH-sponsored trip to London and Paris last summer, chose an international theme because their garments are a fusion of East and West, urban and country, edgy and delicate, and classic and trendy.

"Fashionation!" is slated at noon tomorrow at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel's Molokai Ballroom. Tickets are $28 (includes luncheon), or $10 (show only). 956-2244.