For musicians and music lovers, it’s the pops

There are lots of cities that maintain a pops orchestra separate from their symphony. If Matt Catingub has his way, Honolulu will be one of them.

Catingub was the conductor of many memorable pops concerts for the old Honolulu Symphony — jazz great Diana Krall described him as "the coolest," remember? — and now he is coming back with his Hawaii Pops. He’s promising an inaugural season to start Sept. 14 at the Hawaii Convention Center, which will be the orchestra’s home.

Catingub said he’s not trying to scotch the efforts by the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra to provide the more philharmonic experience and believes it simply will give musicians what they want — more paid gigs. Given that the organizations will vie for the same philanthropic board members, however, it will be interesting to see how well they play together.

Keep an eye on Council Chairman Ernie Martin

From his perch at the podium, City Council Chairman Ernie Martin is all-seeing. More precisely, "I watch all," is what Martin said after describing some behavior by unspecified Cabinet members that he found "condescending" at a Council meeting. The actual behaviors were also unspecified, although he cited the "body language" and "facial expression."

"OK, so that’s just a warning," he concluded, after making a veiled reference to future budget reviews. One wonders: A warning of what? Stink eye?

Anyway, people, better make sure to watch your p’s and q’s, because you’re being watched. So are you, Chairman Martin.