Post #141011 by tikidug on Sun, Feb 13, 2005 6:43 PM

A Question Came Up About My TIKI STORY so here it goes.......

I was introduced to "THE TIKI" in my first few years of life in the 1950s on a Beach in CASABLANCA MOROCCO where as Part of the FRENCH COLONIAL EMPIRE there was a Tourist Beach that was Themed in the various FRENCH COLONIES of the South Pacicic, like TAHITI & SAMOA & NEW CALEDONIA. So right away I associated THE TIKI with a Good Time At the Beach !!!
Years later I would move to LOS ANGELES and went to School at VALENCIA CAL ARTS where I worked 3 days a week at the RODIUM SWAP MEET and any Money I made would be spent before I got home & before the TIKI MOVEMENT caught on I had collected a few TIKI MUGS & BOTTLES. Along the way I aquired the TIKI ROOM POSTERS from DISNEYLAND and some of the TIKI ROOM STATUES.
After SCHOOL, I got a job Creating Attractions for WORLD'S FAIRS and EXPOS and was able to travel for business to WORLD'S FAIRS & EXPOS in JAPAN and AUSTRALIA where the Various South Seas Islands were well represented.I brought home TIKIS each time
One fine afternoon I came home to find at my front door a bunch of XEROXES in an Envelope titled THE BOOK OF TIKI by SVEN KIRSTEN.....well that was like GASOLINE poored over the FIRE...and my TIKI QUEST was off and running. (I still have those pages today)

Way before TIKI was ever at WACKO , I had the inside scoop on just what this OVER TECHNICAL WORLD NEEDED to Balance out all Those Endless BUILDINGS & STREETS & MIND GAMES that had become my Los Angeles Reality.

Sven would become a Good Friend and I did all I could to help his BOOK OF TIKI, finding Graphics and discovering Rare MUGS. OTTO would then enter the Picture when I attended his First TIKI MUG party at some California Beach City. Then BOSKO invites me to his ESCODIDO TIKI Party of which I attended every year it was celebrated. I was lucky enough to be part of the URBAN ARCHEOLOGIST EXPEDITION to the Defunct Amusment Park THE TIKIS in Elsinore California, where many of My Favorite TIKIS Originated. My head can be seen popping out of Otto's Head on Page 13 in THE BOOK OF TIKI Photo from that day.

I Took my first TRIP TO HAWAII with Sven Kirsten where SVEN was giving a SYMPOSIUM on TIKI CULTURE at a POLYNESIAN CULTURAL HAPPENING in WAIKIKI. On this TRIP we met DE SOTO BROWN, Archivist for HONOLULU BISHOP MUSEUM & Author of Many HAWAIIAN CULTURE BOOKS like HAWAII RECALLS and we met LLOYD KANDELL of the Exotic Band DON TIKI, and we met LINNY MORRIS CUNNINGHAM photographer of UNDER THE HULA MOON. IT WAS A GOOD TIKI TRIP !!!! I wrote a STORY about this TRIP in an EARLY ISSUE of TIKI NEWS.

My last 10 Years in CALIFORNIA were spent working at WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING producing FILMS & ATTRACTIONS for the DISNEYLAND EMPIRES around the World. This gave me unlimited access to rescuing TIKI ITEMS from the TIKI ROOM as Disney lost interest in them. I Even rescued to TIKI SCULPTURE from the ROOF OF THE TIKI ROOM when it fell down and was about to be thrown away. (You can see it in THE MUSEUM OF TIKI) I contributed to THE ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM when I produced the TIKI DOLE PINAPPLE COMMERCIAL that plays in the ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM GARDENS before the SHOW. My other SHOWS at DISNEYLAND PARKS include the SPACE MOUNTAIN CHANEL SURFING THE UNIVERSE Pre Show that you watch in line, The AUTOPIA talking Cars and Animated Sign Board, The IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BUG 3-D Show in CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE & Florida's DISNEY ANIMAL KINGDOM, the ROCKET RODS Pre Show that played for a few minutes in the CIRCLEVISION Theatre in DISNEYLAND, my Final SHOW with DISNEY was THE 100 YEARS of WALT Show ONE MAN's DREAM , The LIFE STORY of WALT DISNEY starring the Dark One MICHAEL EISNER as host. But alas durring my 10 Years with Disney IMAGINEERING, the EVIL ONES with NO IDEAS (other than to make themselves rich & boost their inflated egos at any cost ) took Complete Control of the Company and anyone with TALENT & INTEGRITY was seen as a Threat...so I had TO GO. I gave my BOSSES a 2 Year Notice and started telling them just how WORTHLESS they all were which lasted for about a Year... but VAMPIRES HATE MIRRORS !!!

About 2 Years Ago, Upon a return from a TRIP TO HAWAII, I found myself being escorted by SECURITY out of the IMAGINEERING Building. UNPRESIDENTED IN DISNEY HISTORY, They ACTUALLY SENT HOME AN ENTIRE DEPARTMENT of about 50 IMAGINEERS early that day so there would be no WITNESSES....but as it turns out the day before I got Fired....I HAD BOUGH A HOME IN KAILUA-KONA on THE BIG ISLAND OF HAWAII and within 12 weeks I had CLOSED FOREVER MY LIFE IN CALIFORNIA and found myself on the side of a VOLCANO in the Middle of the PACIFIC looking out over the OCEAN...my EXOTIC FANTASIES from a Far-Away Beach in CASABLANCA MOROCCO had become a LIFESTYLE.

I WAS FINALLY HOME ! And as it turns out a TIKI HOME........

My GLENDALE CALIFORNIA CONDO was featured in an AWSOME INTERIORS TIKI EPISODE as well as MATT MARANIAN's Book "PAD, THE GUIDE TO ULTRA LIVING" where I "managed to make a cheesy 1970's Condo Look COOL" (see pages 119 & 130 & 131)

MY DISNEY ART can be seen in Craig Yoe's THE ART OF MICKEY MOUSE, opposite a KEITH HARING Mickey Mouse on Page ...well there are no page numbers in this book???

I contributed to CHARLES PHOENIX's LEIS, LUAUS, and ALOHAS Book.

My THRIFT STORE PAINTAINGS are featured in MARTIN McINTOSH's Book BEATSVILLE pages 79 - 83.

And as I left L.A. , DIANE KEATON came over my house and borrowed some Art for her book CLOWN PAINTINGS, she was "MORE THAN KUGAT SHE WAS KEANE"

So NOW I Live in HAWAII with ALL MY WEIRD STUFF I COLLECTED IN A QUARTER CENTURY IN LA. And YOU can COME AND STAY in My Current Art Project TIKI ISLAND HAWAII and see the BIG ISLAND through YOUR OWN EYES......YOU MAY NEVER WANT TO RETURN TO THE MAINLAND TOO..........

to be continued................

PS: I sell on e-Bay as KONACAT2003

[ Edited by: tikidug on 2005-02-13 19:06 ]

[ Edited by: tikidug on 2005-02-13 19:16 ]