Post #558264 by Mai Tai on Thu, Oct 7, 2010 4:25 AM

On 2010-10-06 02:26, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
OK Mai Tai,let me first say don't worry to all reading, I am not going to go bat-shit, I know I have come across strongly
about this subject.

Mai Tai,I respect that you have a different point of view,then I do,I could say some outrageous "pop-culture" remark like I often do,but I will engage you in verbal intercourse for a moment if I may (Oh My!)

You are right that this thread is a general one & does not only concentrate on so called "Tiki" dishes
So I pose this question to you,why is this not a "Tiki" category? what is your criteria for what is "Tiki" and what is not?

My argument rests on the mainstay of the Modern Tiki lifestyle i.e. from the (1940s to 1960s) Tiki-bar & the Polynesian Restaurant
what did you need to enjoy the "Tiki Lifestyle" Food,Drink & Decor

If you where sitting in any number of Tiki-bars or restaurants 50 years ago,you could be eating a steak,chicken,a curry dish,Sushi,
any type of Asian dish,egg rolls and what not

The original Tiki-ware was for men,a suit & tie & for the ladies an evening dress,do you say a suit & tie is not Tiki?

also you say this thread should be in bilge instead of the "Tiki Drinks & Food" category where it now resides,how so?

You have stated your disagreement,but you have not posed any valid argument.
what do the rest of you think?

Hey, I think that the first dish you posted was an awesome tiki dish. And most of the old tiki establishments pretty much served Asian food that they re-branded as tiki food, including the Stockton Islander, including the Bali Hai's "Chicken Of The Gods", including the Oyster Beef at Minnie's, etc. That's not what my argument on this thread is about.

My argument is that most of the food items here appear to not be even close to being tiki. On the first page alone on this thread, some of the dishes include Huevos Rancheros, turkey bacon and potatoes, holiday cookies, and brisket. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't eat any of those things - I'd glady eat them all - it's just that I don't see how they are tiki. And when someone asked you Does it need to be Semi-Tiki/Chinese/Polynesian/PseudoPolynesian/MidCentury-Exotic?, your response was No, I say go for any kind of meal, just as long as you make it yourself. The way I look at it, if it is made by a TCer, its a Tiki meal!, and I wholeheartedly disagree with that statement.

Look, I'm not a tiki historian, but it doesn't take a tiki Rhodes Scholar to realize that huevos rancheros ain't a tiki dish. I appreciate the exuberance and ohana that has banded around this thread, and glad that some people could actually feel that they could bond over a certain subject. And I certainly don't want to squash those feelings, or rain on anyone's parade. But just because someone cooked up a philly cheesesteak at home doesn't mean it belongs in Tiki Drinks and Food.

I responded to someone's hate mail earlier tonight, and I've reposted some of my response below, to give you an idea of where I'm coming from on this thread, and with Tiki Central in general:

*You know, tons of people feel the way I do, but they just lurk, and don't post anymore. They aren't elitists or snobs, either, they are actually very nice people. I see and hear from them through various functions and other ways, and basically they just don't want to go through the hassle of posting, and getting various hate mail, like the one I received from you. It's not that they're afraid to post their feelings or disdain, it's just that it's no longer worth the hassle for them. I guess it's still worth the hassle for me.

And as much as I think a lot of these postings are fun, (and I constantly seek out fun!), it bothers me that the state of all the postings on this formerly great website have really slid downhill. Did you know that there are a ton of people that used to post heavily on this forum, and shared amazing information, and there was a real sense of community and Ohana, probably much like you feel with a lot of people on this particular food thread. But now those people don't post anymore, and take all of their activities offline, due to various factors. It's not because they're tiki snobs or anything, it's more an experience of bad dealings with people, over tiki mug and merchandise transactions gone awry, arguments, disagreements, break-ups, divorce, and many other factors of things that get in the way of relationships and life. There are even a bunch of people that permanently left Tiki Central a few years ago, when a policy was instated that everyone HAD to be nice to each other - some people so wholeheartedly disagreed with that philosophy that they HAD to be nice to people that they felt had wronged them or had serious disagreements with, that they left for good. (I mention these things not to lecture, but just to try to give you a little back story to the history of Tiki Central).

And to some extent, I see those people's point of view - I can understand where they're coming from. But I decided that I like the site too much, and didn't take this stuff seriously enough that I would quit and never come back, and hold grudges against people for the rest of my life. After all, my personal opinion is that Tiki should be fun, and about escapism. I'll let the academics like Sven study it in severe depth and write books about it. Me, I'll read those books, or at least parts of them, and glean what I can out of them. Then I can think about it while I'm chillin' at Forbidden Island, or at Tiki Oasis, or on a home bar crawl, or even the big four day Tiki Crawl.

So, my own opinion is that there's some great stuff on that thread, but if it's philly cheesesteaks, huevos rancheros, brisket, or turkey bacon, then that stuff probably belongs in Beyond Tiki. Again, it's not about trying to stifle or squash any fun or being uptight, it's just my opinion on how to keep this formerly amazing forum on track, when it seems to be going off the rails.*

On 2010-10-06 06:36, MadDogMike wrote:
That is what leads to the devolution of TikiCentral. No midcentury modern man would think of using profanity in the presence of a lady. :)

MaiTai, apparently you feel strongly about this. If you think this thread belongs in Bilge or Other, use your power to "U-Moderate", find other like-minded people to do the same. I would much rather post my dinner in Bilge that to have all this bickering (which, I believe, also adds to the devolution of TikiCentral)

My apologies if anyone was truly offended by my language. I feel that I had to include strong language, otherwise it would have just fallen on deaf ears. And yes, bickering and nay-saying gets us nowhere.

Also, isn't the U-Moderate function broken? It's been my understanding that it's been broken for some time. Has it been fixed recently, and I have been unaware?

Again, I appreciate the amount of exuberance and ohana that has gathered on this thread. My own personal opinion is that most of the stuff on this thread isn't tiki, and doesn't belong in tiki food and drinks, but instead belongs in Beyond Tiki. And if the moderators decide that there's enough tiki dishes in this thread, and decide not to move it, then no big deal, I've stated my opinion and said my peace. And at the end of the day, who really cares about any of this??? It's a tiki website, not the solution to all of the world's woes - although maybe it is a solution to some of mine! :wink:

But it now appears that this tiki food thread has now jumped the tiki shark!