Post #190710 by jimbo on Tue, Oct 4, 2005 5:54 PM

I dunno, it seems unfair to attribute the downward spiral of architecture to Mid-Century Modernsim. The McMansions of today are abominations whether faux tudor, faux spanish or faux whatever. And there was certainly a lot of great MCM stuff still being built in the early sixties. IMHO right around the time of the Kennedy assassination(11-22-63, almost the exact moment of the Ilikai opening), there seems to have been a sea change in our culture which has eventually led us to the corporate/mini-mall/fast food/lowest common denomiator cultural wasteland we find ourselves in today. Maybe this is a reason so many people with art in their souls are drawn to tiki culture, MMM, etc. Not out of some sort of nostalgia, but rather as a legitimate reaction to what our society has become. Whatever happened to aesthetics? So many things have changed for the worse. The complete changeover from neon to plastic signage alone is depressing. And how did the great automobiles of the late fifties/early sixties devolve into mundane cars of today? Some folks would even deal with the inconveniences of driving a 1962 classic every day rather than endure a 2005 genericmobile(not to name names). 1963 was the dawn of fast food & restaurant franchising which over the next decades would wipe out the independents and litter the landscape with BurgerkingsMcDonaldsTacoBellsArbysadnauseum. I recently drove thru 7 states, and it sure wasn't what Jack Kerouac & Neal Cassidy experienced. Never saw a diner or a Googie, just hundreds of mind numbing identical plastic fast food outlets. Horrible. Back in the day a dinner out might be at a Tiki Palace or a classy steak joint. Where do most people go now? TGI Fridays? 1959 Les Pauls and '63 Stratocasters are regarded as the best ever. Many musicians consider the blackface Fenders('63 to '67) as the sweetest sounding amps of all time. And whatever happened to independent book and record stores?.......Sorry for the rant. I am going to make a MaiTai now. Here's to all the Tiki People and Modernists. Mahalo

Hawaii International Center 1964 (site of Jimi Hendrix's last US concert)