Post #388435 by bongofury on Fri, Jun 20, 2008 6:37 PM

TikiTony is in his twenties and even though I am 54 we get along very well and I consider him a good friend. We both have our own age group that we hang with most times. I think most of you know how much Tony is into it through his art.

I started with Pacific Ocean Park and Disneyland plus as I got older (20s-30s) I was going to Trader Vic's, Don The Beachcomber, Bahooka, etc. growing up here in the L.A. area and took most of these places for granted until I saw Sven's book and realized that many of these places in other areas had closed. None of my friends and co-workers that are my age are into the Tiki/Beachcomber lifestyle at all. Most of their 1990s-2000s stucco tract homes are of a similar country-chic decor and are more into wines than rum.

While I may be trying to bring back a more care-free simpler time, we tend to forget some of the not so simple things we or our parents were facing.....WWII, Korea, the cold war with the threat of the atom bomb......Viet Nam......Hippies.....While the current generation is bombarded with video, computers, entertainment news, fasions, commercials, Iraq, shakey-cam quick edit movies, etc. we probably seem a bit boring compared to their fast-paced world.

I remember my grandparents seemed soooo old listening to Lawrence Welk, Polka Parade and music from the 30s and 40s, but I am sure most of us old folks grew up with Rock n Roll, Rockabilly, Surf, Punk, and Heavy Metal. In the 60s I thought my cousin was the coolest cat ever riding his Harley in a black leather jacket and watching him practice pedal steel guitar for the country band that he gigged with at a biker bar in Tujunga......good times....don't miss out! I think if you got to know us we wouldn't be as boring as we look......