Post #3368 by bigbrotiki on Sat, Jul 6, 2002 6:00 PM

Tiki Tommy, this is a genuinely moving tale. It was like the collective Tiki Central was sitting by the couch that you were lying on, while you were gesticulating and sharing your traumatic experience:

"Yes, my son, that must have been very painful," Dr. Tiki Central would say, nodding sympathetically,"Yes, it is a crime, we know..."
TT:"...and the dissappointed faces of my parents will haunt me forever!"
Dr.TC, mildly reprimanding:"We understand your pain, son...Now: Why did you not come to us earlier, you could have saved yourself from this shock..?:
TT: "..???!"
Dr. TC: "You should have gone to SEARCH under subject VEGAS and TABOO COVE, and it would have left you a little better prepared for this encounter.."

But, kidding aside, this does point to one of the weak points of this lovely board: All the wisdom of just a few weeks ago and anything before that is (seemingly) "gone", nobody goes there, and we have to learn anew...
PLUS the rupture from YAHOO Tiki Central is an even more unbridgeable gap:

I remember a fascinating series of posts on Yahoo about the Taboo Cove AT EXACTLY THE POINT where the money people where firing the regular Lounge band and handing it over to a Techno promoter. I even passed some on to Bosko, who voiced his regret at being powerless. He simply was burnt out from the continous struggle and compromise it took to get the thing done at all!
The whole downslide began when the big opening bash was cancelled due to 9/11. It has been the Venetian's stepchild ever since, totally underpromoted and forgotten.

So, for Douglas to come along and say "..but Taboo Cove is billed as an AUTHENTIC Tiki Bar!" is a consumerist attitude (just like complainig about the food and service at the Royal Hawaiian) I have to warn about. Be grateful for what is out there, and tolerant of what is not.

Hear this then: The Book of Tiki is a totally idealized view of Tiki Heaven, manipulated by my choice of the 'best only' images and some romantic prose. For example: Not ALL Tiki Bars played Exotica, and the white trash that frequented some of them was perhaps the equivalent of those Venus teenies...

The Urban Archeologist regards the layers of social and economic change that obscure his object of research still as fascinating cultural context, even if what he sees hints at the decline of civilization.

This is NOT to say "give up", and not to discourage voicing your feelings to the management. Way to go, Tommy.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2002-07-06 19:24 ]