Post #4383 by bigbrotiki on Thu, Jul 25, 2002 6:28 PM

...I just wanted to add this: If ever I had the feeling that Tiki was going places it was at this event. The sheer amount of creative output of Wayne Coombs, the Creepy Tiki guys, and Saint Thomas blew me away. I mean Wayne lifted his art to a whole nother level by creating these giants! And the Creepy's Tikis were a wild exercise in ALL KIND of styles, from the cartoony and garish to the dark and classic. And Saint Thomas: All mugs were handmade, but he had HUNDREDS of them! I mean these guys were POSESSED by the spirit of Tiki! And seemingly hundreds of people (not quite, but a lot) thanked me for making the book. It was MOST rewarding.

I have come to expect a certain level of Tiki hipness in Tiki history heavy California, but in the deep South? This event showed that Tiki is a common unifier for all kinds of subcultures: Rockabilly, Lounge, Swing, Surf, Modernism, Burlesque and even Tatoo (lots of girls with Tiki Tatoos) scenes converged at the various venues and mixed with regular suburban folks in Aloha gear. Everybody carried that rum happy smile of being touched by the creative power of Tiki. A-W-E-S-O-M-E

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2002-07-26 00:38 ]