Give us this day our daily Tiki
So, my daily blogging here is done, but I guess I may as well post from time to time as the need arises. Today is such a day. I just found a new Tiki drink recipe called Bamboo Barrel, created by Justin Oliver. I was excited to try it, as I actually had all of the ingredients! It’s a complex cocktail, with a nice balance of sweet, sour, bitter…and strong. Yes, this definitely joins the rotation of regular drinks here in the Tiki Lounge. Okole maluna!
Another business trip, another visit to a Tiki temple. This time I went to Austin TX and made the trek to a fairly new place, Tiki Tatsu-Ya. It’s a nondescript space on the outside, off of a back alley and right behind its sister ramen joint in front. Inside, it was a most immersive Tiki bar, with dense décor, amazing drinks, and tasty food. I was happy to meet my friend Jupiter Jones there, who lives in Austin, and my work colleague Brian Ross. A good time was had by all. Okole maluna!
Today I finish up this series of daily blog posts I started one year ago. With a Tiki drink. At the bar I showed you yesterday, Tiki Tatsu-Ya, we ordered a communal drink, the S.O.S. This overgrown version of the Saturn came with the pomp and circumstance of a cosmic cocktail, delivered by our waitress like a UFO landing at our table, complete with dry ice smoke. Three of us polished off this beauty with the reverence deserved by a special drink in a Tiki temple. Okole maluna and mahalo for reading this blog for the past 365 days!
Back in 2011, Josh Agle was commissioned by Disney to create a series of artwork for Walt Disney World’s 40th Anniversary. This included a lot of cool merchandise. Among other items, I got a tin of 5”x7”postcards of this art (which SHAG personalized for me!). One of the five cards was of the Polynesian Village Resort. I had this card blown up, framed, and hung it in my Polynesian Powder Room. Just one more piece of SHAG art displayed here in the Tiki Lounge. This makes me happy.
The last Tiki mug I have to show you is another one a friend found for me at a yard sale. It’s marked Tiki Leilani on the bottom and I believe it’s pretty generic. I have it on my office desk in the Tiki Lounge, where it holds some cool Tiki pens and a panda pencil sharpener that were also gifts, this time from work colleagues. Another great example of Owning Tiki, indeed! Mahalo, my friends, for thinking of me.
I have a lot of art hanging here in my Tiki Lounge. Most of it is Tiki related, and some of it is more 20th Century classic. Friends who have visited tell me my curated art collection makes it feel like a museum. I love that! Besides art, I’ve also been into music for a very long time. How better to show off my diverse music tastes than to accent it with artistic tributes by some of my favorite artists? This wall, above my A/V system, features these fun works by SHAG, Kymm! Bang, Calvin Coleman, and a favorite saying: “Art is how we decorate space. Music is how we decorate time.” Truth.
A lot of folks were introduced to MCM Lounge and Exotica music by the Ultra Lounge series of compilation albums. I am guilty as charged. Mondo Exotica is a great example of this and was the first volume of the series. This disc has a lot of Les Baxter and Martin Denny classics (but strangely no Arthur Lyman) and is a great primer for the world of Exotica.
Here’s another bowling shirt of mine. It’s a simple black design featuring one of my favorite Surf bands, Red Elvises. I love the simple red logo on the front and the racy design on the back. “Better than sex,” she says. Probably not, but it is a cool shirt.
Here’s another Tiki temple on my bucket list. Hala Kahiki in River Grove IL, just outside of Chicago, opened in 1964. This makes it one of the oldest continuously operating Tiki bars in the country. They supposedly have an incredible collection of original Witco furnishings, which I must see. I’m planning to make the pilgrimage there during my next trip to Chicago, which should be this coming Spring. Stay tuned.
Last week I showed you a sweet bowling shirt I scored at a Tiki event. Today I present the cool poster from that event. That Wild Wildwood Tiki Weekend was organized by Mod Betty of Retro Roadmap back in 2015. The poster was the brainchild of Todd Kimmel, who commissioned artist Fred Lammers to create it. I made many new friends that weekend, and this poster helps me remember it all. Mahalo, our Tiki ohana!
Panda’s Tiki Today