New book smells a little fishy

"The Stench of Honolulu" is a new book by Jack Handey, the writer known to devotees of "Saturday Night Live" as the author of those spoof "Deep Thoughts" affirmations the show used to run back in the 1980s.

In a radio interview, Handey said he set his new adventure story in an alternate-universe, evil version of Honolulu. You can’t get too much content via the preview available on Amazon.com, but the last line on the acknowledgements page is disconcerting: "Apologies to the people of Honolulu." So perhaps we have to buy the thing to find out what Handey made up about us.

Judd Apatow, who produced the filmed-in-Hawaii comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," gave Amazon this celebrity reviewer comment: "I don’t remember Honolulu being remotely this disgusting." Yikes.

Ala Moana Center won’t be the same

Ooh, Ah, Oh Wow! Ala Moana!

Another new generation, another major growth spurt for Hawaii’s venerable and biggest shopping center.

With the recent closure of longtime tenant Sears, redevelopment work has begun on the center’s prime Ewa side, which will become home to a Bloomingdale’s store and other shops.

Old-timers will surely wax nostalgic when the old Sears building, a fixture at the center since its 1959 opening, gets demolished by year’s end.

For now, shoppers will need to navigate temporary ramp closures and some 2,000 fewer parking stalls. Construction is expected to continue, but ease somewhat, throughout the holiday season — good news, indeed, during a perennially congested time for the shopping hub.