Post #59040 by Rattiki on Sat, Nov 8, 2003 12:46 AM

To get back to the topic, those tikis are butt-ugly!

I think they're a laugh, very cartoonish as Tiki was meant to be and was even defined in Sven's book.

It's more than a trend with us so we care about the decor, the atmosphere, and the drinks. Maybe we could lighten up but I guess we're pretty passionate about it. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

It reminds me of guys who get upset because they don't like the newer style of old classic car restoration (pro street etc.) because they feel it degrades the classic look or 'aura' of the vehicle blah blah blah.... :roll: Why get uptight about something so whimsical as Tiki?

And it wasn't Buffet or Marley or Belafonte, it was Hemingway way back in the 1930s, and Desi Arnaz in the 1940s, with Tito Puente and others right behind him, that really spurned the public's interest in Caribbean culture and travel.

THIS IS SO TRUE! If you want to get the feel for the golden era of Cuba and the Caribbean, listen to the Cuban/Latin/Carib music of the 40's & 50's. Especially the Cuban big band jazz of Tito Puente and more importantly Dezi Arnez (yes he was quite a successful musician before he met Lucy). Those guys cooked, I mean screaming! We have a local AM Spanish station called Radio Tropical and almost all they play is this stuff.

Also to go along with my collection of pre-Castro goodies in my 'tiki hut' I am looking for an old wooden earily 60's style console hi-fi to play my Cuban jazz records on. :D

BTW Don the Beachcomber had a map of the Caribbean on one side of his menu and one of the Pacific on the other. This is NOT a new concept, Tiki was a bastard child from the beginning.

[ Edited by: Rattiki on 2003-11-08 00:52 ]