Tiki Makes The Local Paper

Alright.........who did it?

They didn't look on the back. It's carved by Von Tiki. He sells his stuff at an antique shop downtown.

Hey Bongfury
What does that mean? "...despite efforts to re-define her, Ventura has never been more sure of who she is." Who is trying to re-define Ventura? Is a TiKi on the sidewalk an apt definition? I'm confused.

[ Edited by: bananabobs on 2005-05-21 09:30 ]

Cool, it will provide a great leaning post for a homeless guy. With homes on the AVE. going for over $500,000 Ventura is the next Santa Barbara where the ultra-rich get out of their luxury cars by stepping over the homeless in the gutter. Redefine this.

I was just noting the Tiki. Ventura to me is not High Brow.....just a funky beach town, and not even in a cool way. I think the city fathers made a huge mistake of allowing the 101 freeway to cut off the town from the beach. I believe the prices reflect all of California. Now that Santa Barbara's median price is over a million, Carpenteria and Ventura are close enough in geography to get some pricing overflow.

I don't care for the style of the Tiki or the town. I DO like Tiki and Ventura. I lived there in the 80s, have friends and family there, and surf and shop there. No better place to be homeless than a beach town with mild weather and lots of tourists. Too bad Wellman Jue's Paradise is no longer there. Would have liked to have had a cocktail before it was turned into a market.

Aloha

Ron, do you ever go to Tony's (steakhouse)! Its real charming and has live entertainment, and the drinks aren't too bad either.

I have not been there in years, but it is/was very good. When I first moved to Ventura 20 years ago, the company I worked for had their Christmas lunch there. Everyone was ordering sandwiches but I noticed the the dinner special was Abalone for $32.00. I asked the waiter if they were serving it at lunch (yes) and asked our boss if I could order anything (yes). No one else changed their order. The Abalone was just O.K. but somehow tasted better than it actually was.

Ahhhhhhh good ol Von Tiki.........ummmmmm....nevermind!

On another Ventura County note, I spotted this house in Simi Valley down the street from a friend who set me up with a massive pile of palm trunks! Great to see you and Mrs. Fury at the Oasis, by the way! If you guys are around on July 3rd, you should come by and watch the fireworks show from my backyard! (Yeah, that's right! July 3rd! We do things differently here in Moorpark! haha!)

[ Edited by: suburbanpagan on 2005-05-23 23:04 ]

On 2005-05-23 20:48, bongofury wrote:
The Abalone was just O.K. but somehow tasted better than it actually was.

Free food always tastes better.

WHoa, Jue's Market was once that? Too bad, so saaad! Bongo, neighbor, I've been slaving away on this Tiki installation for Otto's next Tiki art show in Sept. for days now, you need to come over to check it out.

This just in.............this poor Tiki was cut down last night and stolen......right before the city was to auction it off for charity.....go figure....

Dr. Shocker wrote:

This just in.............this poor Tiki was cut down last night and stolen......right before the city was to auction it off for charity.....go figure....

Was it the Tiki Liberator? He only uses his super powers for the ulimate good of tikikind.

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2005-06-24 09:06 ]

Where's the love? Granted, I'm still an amatuer tiki carver. I carved it as a tribute to tiki enthusiasts, just trying to spread the tiki spirit. My next one will be even better.

check this out.....more tiki in the paper

http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/ve/article/0,1375,VCS_251_3896723,00.html

Vini has been Found!!!!
Here is the story as it appears in the paper.....

Missing tiki found in La Conchita

Carpinteria woman returns carved stump

"Vini" the tiki is back, the curse has been lifted, and apparently nobody got hexed.

The carved wooden tiki, missing since June 21, was turned in to a radio station Friday by a Carpinteria woman who refused an on-air interview but said she found the sculpture while walking on a dirt road in La Conchita.

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Referring to herself only as Holly, the woman told radio station KKZZ-AM 1590 that she found the 225-pound tiki Wednesday. She placed it in her front yard until a friend saw an article in Friday's Star and persuaded her to hand it over, said Lisa Osborn of the KKZZ Morning Show.

"She didn't realize anyone was looking for it," Osborn said. "She said she was walking on a dirt road in La Conchita thinking about her friends that were killed in the landslide when she found him."

In January, a landslide crashed down on to the coastal community, killing 10 people.

Police have not decided whether to question the woman but plan to follow up with the radio station, Ventura Lt. Tom Taylor said Friday.

"We don't have a victim of a crime," he said. "... It's kind of a bizarre situation."

The tiki, carved over two days from what was left of a felled palm tree on California Street, was sawed off at the stump during the night of June 20 or before dawn June 21. The radio station started doing daily "tiki updates," and a $300 reward was offered.

Upon learning of its possible return, tiki artists Dustin Darrough and Adam Kuller rushed to the station.

"Now that Vini has been returned, I think the curse has been lifted," said Darrough, who along with Kuller owns the Von Tiki Trading Co., a tiki-carving business in Ventura. "I don't know if she was the tiki bandit or not. I am just glad Vini is safe."

Tiki lore in the Polynesian culture says the carved totems can possess magical powers.

The woman likely was telling the truth, Darrough said, because people who steal tikis are hexed, and the woman "didn't appear cursed in any way."

The woman walked away with $50 cash. The remaining $250 in reward money was not available at the time and will be sent in the mail, Osborn said. While at the station on Victoria Avenue, the woman was reluctant to answer questions and declined to be recorded on tape.

"She said, 'I thought it was no questions asked,' " Osborn said.

Along with Vini, the woman took her children, 4 and 2. The woman told Osborn she planned to use the money to pay her propane bill.

"She was really sketchy, but in a sincere sketchy way," Osborn said. "I don't think she stole it, she just seemed nervous."

Ventura Parks Supervisor Daryl Wagar said the tiki will go up for adoption as part of the city's annual United Way auction in November.

"I am amazed at the power of the press," Wagar said. "We had been looking all over, even putting fliers out. Then it hits the front page and -- boom -- within hours he is returned."

Yes, there was a story on KCLU this morning as well. I made a separate post about thinking no one had mentioned it. I did a search and apparently nothing came up because I spelled the tiki's name as "Vinnie" instead of "Vini." Oh well.

My son, who is the promotions director at KKZZ in Ventura, thought I would be interested in this story (ya think?)
http://www.1590kkzz.com/misc13749.asp
That's my boy leaning on Veni in the bottom photo. Next time I talk to him I'll find out if the auction ever happened, where he is today.
-KK