DAYS OF THUNDER: When Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder" was filming on Kaua'i, many of the stars made the Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort & Spa their home away from home. Folks like Robert Downey Jr., Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black and Nick Nolte took advantage of the locale and the amenities. McConaughey, whose bod is regularly shown in People magazine, liked the beachfront environment and took regular strolls to the shore for his daily exercise. Black and his family indulged in the heated soft-water pool that meanders over two acres with flumed water slides and three sand-bottom whirlpool spas. Sounds like Hollywood West. ...

McConaughey, of course, replaced Owen Wilson in the "Thunder" cast. The buzz that Tom Cruise was supposedly involved in a hush-hush cameo as a movie studio head never was confirmed — or denied. Which means Cruise still might be in the film (but not in locally completed scenes). Or not. ...

Musician Ken Emerson performed for the wrap party for "Tropic Thunder" before breezing off to San Francisco to promote his "Slack & Steel, Kaua'i Style" CD. ...

HEAD TRIP: Now it can be told: When singer-actress Loretta Ables Sayre scooted to New York to audition for the Bloody Mary role in Lincoln Center Theater's revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific," she brought along a good-luck souvenir in the form of a shrunken head, which, of course, is one of the items the character hawks in the musical. The head was made by prop designer Douglas Scheer, expressly for Ables Sayre, and "it came with good juju that helped me (get the part)," said the actress. "I named the head Harry." ...

Ables Sayre also said prayers helped. With head in hand, she remembered her family, the late Ray Bumatai and her colleagues from Diamond Head Theatre's "You Somebody" as she said her private prayers while spotting a Beverly Sills poster at Lincoln Center. "I felt her say, 'She is OK, she is where she's supposed to be,' and I was so at peace, carried in by my angels when I went to the auditions." ...

GARAGE SAIL: Tio's Garage & Taco Station, which used to be Dixie Grill on Ward Avenue, opened recently with a New Mex menu created by Ed Wary, who reinvented the space complete with garage door and the storefront marquee still in operation, with the name change. A chile roaster will replace the sandbox favored by kids during the Dixie Grill days. The launch was a benefit for Hanahau'oli School, where Ed and Tina Wary's 7-year-old daughter, Maddy, is in second grade. Dr. Robert Peters, Hanahau'oli head, attended with Pat Ho, the school's director of development, and other guests included KSSK's Jamie Hartnett, KHCM's Dita Holifield (still in an arm cast, because of a recent car accident near Aloha Stadium), attorney Nancy Grekin, Happy Shirts' Vik Watumull and wife Tanya, freelance writer Lynn Cook and hubby Richard Hardy, and O'Toole's owner Bob Comerford. ...

HITHER 'N' YON: Local girl Kaitlin Kiyan is one the characters in the short film "Aquarium," filmed in Massachusetts, showing at the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival at Dole Cannery, at 6 p.m. today and 3:30 p.m. Sunday. It has grabbed positive reviews and awards at other film festivals this year. ...

L.A. Lakers owner Jerry Buss long has favored Longhi's as his favorite Hawai'i restaurant. Ditto, Golden State Warriors coach Don Nelson, who brought his entire team to Longhi's at Ala Moana Center for a feast — the night before their recent 119-106 win over the Lakers. Restaurateur Bob Longhi sat on the bench that night with Nelson — they have history together, since Longhi hired Nelson to coach the San Francisco franchise team in 1987. For a decade, Nelson also coached the Dallas Mavericks and took over the Warriors in 2006. ...

The aforementioned Buss, plus Lakers Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odum and Andrew Bynum, had some great meals at Morton's The Steak House at Ala Moana, too, during their recent training camp. Who, really, would normally munch on jumbo lump crab cakes, filet mignon, hot chocolate cakes ... while in training? ...

Rolando Sanchez is back from his native Nicaragua, where he performed at the hot dancespot Latino with Macolla, the No. 1 tropical salsa band, in Managua. He reconnected with three generations of family members he had not seen since his 1966 relocation to Hawai'i. He's now charged up to include in his next CD a song his father Enrique Sanchez wrote to his mother before her death. ...

Expect Las Vegas-based Society of Seven to be "covered" when the November issue of Live It Up is released shortly in the gambling capital. Tony Ruivivar and his cohorts got word that they're making the cover of the Vegas publication. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com or fax 525-8055.