JIMMY BORGES will sing anywhere, anytime his musical spirit moves him. This started when he was 6 years old on a Honolulu trolley bus on the way to school at St. Louis and he sang to a little girl. The St. Louis brothers got wind of it and punished him for flirting. Jimmy started chasing girls at an early age.
On a New York visit several years ago, he broke out into song riding on a bus again at 42nd and Broadway. He also sang, before the anesthesia knocked him out, while being wheeled into the operating room last July to have a cancerous tumor removed from his liver.
On Feb. 25, he led a table of dinner guests celebrating Dr. Tom Kosasa‘s birthday in singing "Happy Birthday" at Le Bistro. He followed by singing "This is All I Ask" and "Maria" from "West Side Story," adding funny lyrics involving Tom. Besides the doc and his wife Mi Kosasa, others at the table were Ben and Vicky Cayetano, Ginny Tiu, Charlyn Masini, Tom’s sister Susan Kosasa and Jimmy’s wife Vicki. Jim Nabors was also at a table that night with friends …
ON MARCH 31, Jimmy sings with the Swing City Players big band at the Sheraton Waikiki, 6:30 p.m., when Metropolitan Rotary presents "Swing City — the Revenge 2012." It will have a 1930s gangster theme and includes dinner, dancing, show and a silent auction. Tickets are $200 per couple or $125 for a single, and include a drink. It’s a fundraiser for the Hawaii Meth Project and other Metro Rotary projects. For tickets, contact Nicole Nako at nicole@metrorotary.org or by calling 847-0147 …
MULTI-EMMY WINNER Ed Asner, 82, was impressive in Monday’s "Hawaii Five-0," playing the same smuggler he did in an episode in the original "Five-0" in 1975. But this time, after serving 30 years in prison, he’s out and is called on to help "Five-0." Jason Scott Lee looked good in his guest role as a prison inmate. I was blown away by the show’s ending. Filming for some of the episode took place at the Kahala Beach Apartments. Jack Lord, the original Steve McGarrett, and his wife Marie lived in the apartment complex. While here, Ed and his wife Nancy had dinner at the Halekulani and Hilton’s Bali with Ruth Lin, who also was a guest star on the original "Five-0" …
BOYCE RODRIGUES, who died Saturday at 78, was a beautiful singer, person and friend. Not only did we lose a talented entertainer, we lost someone who had vast knowledge of Hawaii and its people. Condolences to his sister Nina Kealiiwahamana, one of Hawaii’s great voices, and other family members …
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Ben Wood, who sold newspapers on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things. Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.
