Post #430280 by Mr. Pupu Pants on Fri, Jan 23, 2009 4:00 PM

On 2009-01-23 14:42, bigbrotiki wrote:
Hmmm....but you brought it into a discussion about Hawaiiana and Tiki style --which made it appear like you were using it as an argument for Hawaiiana being akin to Tiki style. So I just wanted to put it into its historic perspective.

Funny thing is that whenever this expert offers his expertise, it is taken as a personal put down. On one hand you state you are humble and not an expert, but when that is shown to be true, you feel hurt?

-------Bigbro, I'm not sure which part of this sounds like I'm equating Hawaiiana with Tiki?

Me: "Hawaii and Hawaiiana was kind of the gateway drug that led me into the world of Tiki and Tiki Central (and seems a natural lead-in/extension for many of us). Having taken a family trip to Hawaii for the first time about 10 years ago is what led me to discover the real escapism mindset of this whole pop culture re-creation.

Without getting too deep and discussing all of the various 'real' and pop-culture created contributions, isn't that a huge part of the original driving force for much of this ---- that the GI's returning from Hawaii and the Pacific following WWII brought back those artifacts and memories of Hawaii and the South Pacific?"

-------I was merely expressing an opinion that Hawaiiana seemed to have a place in the hierarchy to me because Hawaii and Hawaiiana LED me to extend my interest to tiki -- and I was questioning/wondering aloud if returning GIs may have followed the same course in contributing to that path of interest on a larger scale.
Again--posited in the form of a question not a statement of fact.

Your comments on this site are always of interest to me. I didn't feel 'hurt' by you (as you put it). I was merely put off by the dismissive response to a comment relating the path I took to developing an interest in Tiki and wondering aloud if that was a common thread (experiences in Hawaiian culture leading to an interest in the tiki 'movement') via returning GIs (clarifying in my second post that family members who lived it have expressed that similar path of interest to me). I was speaking from personal (and personally related) experience and wondering aloud if that was a common thread. You seemed to be bluntly answering a question that I didn't ask.

I'm not saying you need to tiptoe -- just saying some of your rebuttals to inquiring minds can occasionally come off a bit heavy-handed.
All that said, I think we probably just mis-interpreted one another.

Happy, happy, joy, joy :)

[ Edited by: Mr. Pupu Pants 2009-01-23 16:09 ]