Trader Dazz’s tale reads like a drugstore romance but offers your soul a taste of respite and a wager for redemption. Welcome weary traveler. Your journey must have been long and emotionally exhausting. You see, for you to arrive here, there must be some dark stormy story that you’re trying to escape. That’s the only …
Polynesiacs keep tiki history alive. Ron and Mickee’s Rincon Room is a perfect example. When Ron designed and built the Rincon Room, named after the close-by and quite famous surf break mentioned in The Beach Boys’ Surfing USA, he turned to local tiki history for inspiration. Oxnard’s 1964 Trade Winds restaurant was classic tiki. The …
“I don’t know what it is, but I feel really connected to tiki. Maybe it’s where I’m from. Maybe it’s from my early experiences. Maybe it’s in my genes.” For Adrian, I suspect the answer is (d) all of the above. Now a major influencer in the tiki revival movement known as Polynesian Pop, Adrian …
When Robert brought home a vintage black-velvet nude painting and rare United Airlines Tiki in the trunk, Shanna said aloha to only one item. The UA Tiki was welcomed aboard. The black velvet painting with the woman wearing a hibiscus flower and nothing else? She would need to catch a connecting flight. Robert was carefully …
The Tapu Tiki was designed for the creation of cocktails. Josh had a clear vision for his home Tiki bar. A long, eight seat high-top bar would establish his space as more bar than lounge. An array of shakers, jiggers, glassware, mugs, and other essential beverage tools would await a moment’s call to action. An …
“I could not take my eyes off that image.” The drawing of a young boy and his dog staring up at a taboo tiki on a remote island in the South Pacific was one of many beautiful illustrations from Armstrong Sperry’s 1940 book, Call it Courage. Michael was around the same age as that young …
Mike is a gardener who loves Bosko’s carvings. Bosko is an artist who loves Mike’s tropical palms. Over the past years, the two men have formed a lasting friendship, one that a biologist might fondly classify as symbiotic mutualism. In biology, symbiotic mutualism refers to the beneficial relationship between two different organisms in a given …
Todd is a nomad and one of Lady Luck’s favorites. Todd hit the jackpot during a Tiki crawl raffle a few years back. He’d bought several tickets in hopes of upping his odds for some top-notch Tiki loot. The organizers pulled the first ticket, and Todd was a winner. Huzzah! The second prize was also …
Crazy Al asked, “Will you dance with me on the main stage?” The Fisherman were churning out their vibraphonic jungle exotica when Crazy Al scanned the crowd for someone brave enough to join him on stage. It would take someone uninhibited to match his renowned level of energy. Roxanne was the obvious choice, and she …
Ms. Foster asked Jennifer and Kenn, “Would you like to come over for sushi?” With a lunch invitation, what had been hoped for would come true. Jennifer and Kenn would meet Laurie Foster at her beautiful home in O’ahu, straight up the mountain above Diamondhead. Over sushi, they would soak up as much information as …
