Official Introductions Thread. New Members, Post your introduction here...

i am Kokomotikibar&grill. I am from the community of Kokomo, Mississippi. I live surrounded by pine trees. My backyard reminds me of a tropical paradise i would like to call home! As far as I am concerned, i am still not far enough south. I am know as nedyahr on ebay, watch out i might sneak in and steal a item in those last seconds when you think you are a winner! HA HA HA HA. Not really, i am really a nice guy. [email protected]

This site is great! Happy to be a part of the tiki lifestyle!

MC

Ack! I am new to this board and trying to get the feel of things! Please bear with me!!

Aloha fellow tikiphiles. Mike from Dallas here. A fairly recent convert to tikidom, got into exotica music a few years ago on a web-based radio station called luxuriamusic.com. Sadly, it is gone now, but the Martin Denny, Les Baxter, & Arthur Lyman tunes took me to tikiland, from which I can never return!

I look forward to hanging out & learning more from the masters!

[ Edited by: DaneTiki 2009-08-30 19:37 ]

Aloha,
I have been into all things Tiki ever since I bought my first string of Tiki God party lights about 13 years ago. It is a real pleasure to have a forum to share the obsession with. New Jersey seems to be a bit of a Tiki wasteland with the exception of Tiki Murph, who has a stand where he sells his chain saw tikis off of route 72 near Long Beach Island. Any one else know of any other worthy tiki spots in the Garden state?

Hi, I'm Manic Cat from Lower East Side, NYC. I can't ever live anywhere else but the North-East Coast ever again, but I incredibly miss the tiki scene in San Francisco from when I lived out there during grad. art school. There really isn't as much tiki going on here in town from what I know of. Any information as to how I can get a nice Zombie in NYC would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the tiki web forum!

Hi, I am Chris. I live in Baltimore. I got intersted in Tiki by way of Coop's artwork which sent me to the master Shag. Thats how it all started. I blame Shag for starting my Tiki addiction. Just been stumbling around on the www a happliy finding places through links and searches. Fave places have to be here, Munktiki and Switched on Gallery. I have a bar in my basement, and I am contantly working on it. I'll post pictures when it worthy. I live in a townhouse so it's kinda hard to cram it all in the basement. Hopefully by August it will be in full swing.

Hi All. You can probably tell by now that I'm another of those Tiki obsessed people from a country (Canada) that's covered in snow for half the year for Pete's sake and whose citizen's idea of culture is a hockey puck. Love this crazy site.

Just thebaxdog I'm so new to Tiki central I still smell like a new car. I live in Tustin, CA. Orange County I tea total but my wife does partake so please keep me up on Tiki crawls. Always nice to have a driver?

Aloha all, I've been a lurker for a while, but I'm feeling a desire to help promote the life. I've been spoiled in that I've been to the Mai Kai many times and to various Trader Vic's' (is that how you pluralize it?) but am temporarily in Houston, which is devoid of Tiki.

My Mom grew up in St Petersburg, FL and used to go to the Tiki Gardens and my Granny lived in Samoa for 6 years and I like alcohol and fruit. What does that make? Another Tiki-phile (you can tell I've enjoyed a few this evening!).

Mahalo!
K

Howdy! I've been lurking here for a few weeks now, but haven't posted. Just got back from the Caliente Tropics. Had an excellent time! It was great meeting Otto, Sven and the whole gang.
My name's Lee, I live up in Northern California, and have been into Tiki and Hawaiiana for years. We don't have a tiki bar at home, but my wife finally agreed to let me do our entire bedroom/bathroom suite up in a tiki theme, which I'm just getting started on. I'd like to solicit any opinions/tips. I got some great ideas this weekend in Palm Springs! I'm also learning the Ukulele, so if there are any other players here, I'd love to hear from you! Mahalo!

Tiki Kiliki here! From Atlanta and now live in Tennessee. My tiki roots still thrive on and I surprisingly find more tiki here in Rocky Top than down in the land of Georgia!

Yee-Haw & Aloha,
Tiki Kiliki

Aloha! Tiki-bot here. I'm new to the list but have had an active interest in all things tiki on and off for years. Hanford and I were once shipmates on a scurvy-laden vessel known as the Death Star and he helped me see the error of my tiki-less ways. I was trying to ease into my tiki-dom slowly, but think I may have to go full steam ahead after the Oasis weekend.

My girlfriend Gretchen and I had an unbelievably good time at the Tiki Oasis weekend. Looking forward to more events like this (though I find it hard to believe this weekend could be topped).

Aloha,
Tiki-bot

Hi, this is Cherry Capri here and my good friend, the bonga playing, C.B. Howlie (aka Cary) of the Thurston Howlies.
We had fabulous time at the Palm Springs 2002 Tiki Oasis and want to thank Otto and everyone who made it possible.

On 2002-06-23 22:07, Tiki Lee wrote:
Howdy! I've been lurking here for a few weeks now, but haven't posted. Just got back from the Caliente Tropics. Had an excellent time! It was great meeting Otto, Sven and the whole gang.
My name's Lee, I live up in Northern California, and have been into Tiki and Hawaiiana for years. We don't have a tiki bar at home, but my wife finally agreed to let me do our entire bedroom/bathroom suite up in a tiki theme, which I'm just getting started on. I'd like to solicit any opinions/tips. I got some great ideas this weekend in Palm Springs! I'm also learning the Ukulele, so if there are any other players here, I'd love to hear from you! Mahalo!

Hi Tiki Lee,
Went to the Oasis show too and had lots of fun.I'm also new to this forum and it's been fun chatting already.I'm also learning the uke.Check out this link:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0111042/playingtheukulele.html
It's a great site that you can play along with.Aloooo-Ha!

Hey tiki peeps, I am new to this so this is me in a nutshell. My wife and I live in Laguna Niguel, I'm obsessed with carving tikis and am starting a new business. Chiki Tiki.com. All i have to say is the Tiki community that we met at the Oasis 2002 was the best. Thanks and i look foward to chatting with you all.

Aloha! I am a semi-profession ukulele performer in the Twin Cities area and a longtime fan of tiki culture, and agree with DaneTiki that it is criminal the lack of tiki bars in the Twin Cities.

Greetings all! Just signed in today, so I'm new to the group. Have lived near beaches all my impressionable years, and took them for granted til I ended up in the hills of PA (bout halfway between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh). Have been collecting mugs, S&P shakers, what not. My beloved has been collecting african carved wood statues and masks. Looking forward to being here. Have found a wealth of knowledge already. Just what I was looking for!

I am Tiki King, from the lush tropical hills of Santa Cruz, Ca. if you want to know more: http://www.tikiking.com
Cheers!
Tiki King

aloha!

uncle arty here! i've been fascinated by tiki ever since i can remember and started collecting tikis in the 80's. i've had the good fortune of working in hawaii, and my wife trixie and i recently took a trip to the south pacific. found the tiki news last year and this led me to otto's madonna inn party and the wild, wacky fun of the tiki oasis! everyone i met was supercool! i'm looking forward to seeing some of you at the oc pubcrawl and other tiki events!

cheers,

uncle arty

Aloha to all. this is my first visit to this web site. sadly i didn't get to participate in the Yahoo Group. All I can say is Thank the Tiki Gods that such a web site exists and I am not as alone in my love for tiki as I thought i was.

when i was a little girl and it was my birthday, i was always allowed to pick where i wanted to have my special birthday dinner.....

my parents would shutter with disgust as the day would approach, knowing i would select the restaurant with the worst chinese food for 50 miles, "but, Dad, It has a color-changing waterfall and they give you those funky skull glasses, the food has fire on it!"

F#@*, Chucky Cheeze!

need i say any more?

inkylouise

ps. i had a great time at Palm Springs!

Aloha,
What got me into this. I was at the mall yesterday shopping a Neiman Marcus and saw shirt with tikis on it. That's what happend. I swear! (actually, it's been in my family since the 40's. Someday you's will know the entire history if I can get some help on writting a book and slow down building custom tropical decor!) :)

Mahalo,
Bamboo Ben
Bamboo Ben (custom tropical decor)
712 Yorktown Ave. #20
Huntington Beach, Ca. 92648
Store Hours- Sat. 10-5ish
Sun. 11-4ish (summer only)
Other Hours by appointment 714 960-1860

[ Edited by: bamboo ben on 2002-07-07 08:45 ]

Although I don't post much these days, I've been reading Tiki Central since we were all stranded together back on the island of Yahoo.

Once I shared a cabin on the same creaky tub sailing through San Rafael with Hanford and Tiki-Bot. Oh, I remember well that fateful night when Hanford registered tikicentral.com and put as all in the history books. Times have changed since then, with me all the way across the country in so-far-tiki-less South Carolina... nearer the Mai Kai but much farther (in body) from the meccas of tikidom.

Was Jon Tiki and still am, with an alter-ego in process. Drop a line if you turn up a tiki bar within spitting distance of Charleston, SC.

-Jon

Hi, I'm isaca and i am just enjoying this whole site. My husband has been collecting tiki's for a while and I just started to follow his footsteps. Hanford wow that is near where I live. Why the name Hanford Lemoore??

Hello Tiki-world. Just registered and getting
my feet wet in the warm tropical waters of tiki central. My wife and I attended Tiki Oasis 2 and enjoyed it even though we were about half a generation older than the average tikiphile. Fun group. Thanks to C'Al
for helping the technically challenged. He knew how to operate them new fangled card keys and got us into our room safely.

Hi Tiki - Philes
I'm a new member, so a quick introduction:
My name is Ran, I'm from Israel (you know - the Middle East). My wife Dale ( a So-Cal native) , and I really like Tiki culture. Our honeymoon last year was more of a Tiki quest, and on our last visit to the states we managed to visit Bali Hai at Shelter Island. Our (rented) place has the most Tiki's per square foot in Israel (that's not hard to top...) including my homemade 8 foot Moai style head.
We play in a band - mostly aggresive surf and instrumental music.
That's all
Glad to be here

Ran

[ Edited by: kick_the-reverb on 2002-07-17 08:49 ]

Greetings fellow Tiki Centralites. I can't believe it took me so long to join this list, but I'm here now. I have been writing for "Cool and Strange Music" magazine for about 5 years now and the latest issue #25 has a really nice tribute article that I wrote on Arthur Lyman. I occasionally write for "Tiki News" as well, and am currently working on an update on the Howard Johnson's Tiki Resort that I just returned from in Lake George N.Y.
The Tiki Oasis 2002 was simply incredible and I can't wait to return next year. I have also started a website at http://www.exoteque.com It is still "barebones" but at least its a start.
I am also a HUGE collector of vintage Polynesian menus. See you guys in the posts!
Jeff Chenault

Aloha Tiki Centralites!!!! Just wanna say this is a kool thing you guys got going here.I'm Tiki centrals newest member from Miami Fl.,and am stoked to be a part of this tiki worshipers hangout. KreepytikiJaksin

Welcome lovers of tiki ...

Having recently returned from Atlanta's Hukilau event, I felt it was about time I joined your group and introduce myself. I live in the DC area, where I am a regular visitor of the Honolulu restauarant. Some of you may have read my review in Tiki News #16. I also wrote, for Scram magazine, an article about the final closing night party at the Kahiki restaurant in Columbus. If you do a google search on 'Scram' and 'Kahiki' it will pop up.

From 1995 until 2000 I did a zine called 'Cannot Become Obsolete', where I wrote about my appreciation for old vinyl. The sounds of Lyman, Denny, and many others are well represented in my collection.

I've visited Bali, but not Hawaii.

A friend of mine, after seeing my own Tiki / Polynesian room once asked me ... 'If you love this style so much, why don't you move to Hawaii or some other island setting' I had to explain that it is the late 50's/ early 60's fake presentation and recreation of Polynesia that I adore, and not necessarily the islands themselves ... and it seems very appropriate for me to recreate that early 60's spirit here in my DC suburban home.

On my journey to and from Hukilau, I also took many photos of old miniature golf courses, motel neon signs, and Santa Claus theme parks.

Some of my favorite moments have been at the various tiki themed events around the country .... would you believe that I have seen King Kukulele perform in 4 different states? I've made some very good friends at these events, and hope to meet more friends here.

Vern

Aloha!!! :)
I'm Lady Velour, for those of you who know him, I'm Johnnie Velour's other half.
Thanks to all of the tiki centralites for the Rockin' night @ the Continental Room last night!!! It was swingin'!!! Also, thanks to all of you for giving my friend from Texas a hellofa great time!!!....he can't wait until he comes back in Sept. to see you all!!!
Take care~
Rockin Robin aka. Lady Velour :)

Aloha folks!--
I'm Jeff (Doctor Z) from Redondo Beach! I've been collecting mugs and other tiki stuff for about a year now, and most of it has gone into furninshing my former den, now the newly christened "Castaway Lounge". I'm suprised it took me so long to find this forum, as I have few friends with which I can really "talk tiki". (With the exception of TimTiki, who went to the "Oasis" without me...)I'm glad to be here and hope to chat with/meet some of you soon!

hulllllooooo...... i am soo happy to be here :D :D :D :drink: :drink: :drink:

the great TiKi god :tiki: does truly shine upon us :) :sheckymug: :sheckymug: :sheckymug:

i testered too and it was sooo easy :)

Hi all my name is Carroll I live in Baltimore
My parents had what I would call a somewhat Tiki bar in the basement. They had Shag style prints on the knotty pine walls and some other Tiki style decoration’s spread around. That was back in the 60's. I'm now working on a tiki bar of my own. not in the basement but a outside deck with a tiki bar and pool. Hope to have it finshed by the summer of 2003

Hello all,

I've been an active reader of tiki central since the switch from yahoo, and don't know why it has taken me this long to
make it official and introduce myself ! Its so good to know there are so many individuals out there who are into similar things tiki. I missed the Tiki Oasis this year, but look forward to attending next year's festivities....sounds like it was a blast !

Mimi

Aloha, fellow Tiki-philes!

I've been quietly lurking along with you since before the demise of the yahoo Tiki-central- but Johntiki (and other MD/DC/VA area Tiki-philes) have finally pulled me out of lurk mode via his suggestion of a mid-Atlantic Tiki gathering, as I'm yet another Maryland Tiki addict! I don't keep up with reading TC as much as I'd like to, but here I've found a real community of people who have already taught me much! And I'm deeply grateful!

I grew up in Central Ohio- spending many a birthday or other special event at our beloved Kahiki. Even as a kid, they'd serve virgin drinks in coconut or skull or even headhunter mugs to take home, and the staff always treated us as island royalty.

In the Book of Tiki, you'll find a picture of the Kahiki in winter- which most closely matches my memories- driving through January cold and wind to pass through the fire capped Moai guarded doors, through the wonderful darkened cave passage with dripping glowing water, and then passing through the interior doors into paradise- a world unto itself where time, and the outside world seemed to fade. After an evening well spent with music drink, feasting and rainy thunderstorms, we would return back out into the cold landscape of Ohio only to find a fresh blanket of several inches of snow covering everything- (including the car)! Somehow, there's just nothing quite like island "artifacts" with fluffy white snow all around.

From those childhood memories- and interests in things like stage design, architectural preservation and good old fashioned Pagan debaucheries of various sorts :wink: came my adulthood love of all things Tiki- and my horror as the Kahiki was destroyed.
Unfortunately, I was only able to visit the Kahiki a few times as an adult (drinking age), but I do count it my good fortune, that I was able to take both my partner and close friend for a final Hoorah before the Kahiki closed. So I guess you can say I moved from being Tiki-positive to being actively Tiki participatory and preservationist around the time of the destruction of the Kahiki.

Naturally, the loss of such a temple, and my new home here in MD- (the land where the Tikis are almost forgot), led to a desire to create my only little corner of something Kahiki-esque or more generally Tiki preservationist, here at home, at least, to share in the wonder that was, and is, Tiki, and to pass along the knowledge to those few who seek it. The web being what it is, it was naturally, only a matter of time until I ran across Tiki central, the Tiki bar review page, the Tiki news, the book of Tiki, and thrift, garage sale, and e-bay treasures, and today's modern Tiki artisans.

By now I'm sure some of this is sounding pretty familiar, many people here probably could have written similar. In any case, I'm very glad to be among you, and hope to be a bit more active now that I'm no longer a TC lurker :)

-Sabina

That was a very nice introduction. The Kahiki part almost made me want to cry! Welcome to the beyond-lurking, participatory phase. May your future words come as freely as that intro.

My name is Angelo "TheTikiGuy" and my fiance is Alison. The Tiki Oasis2 was my first opportunity to meet and greet all the Tiki elite. What a blast. I first became interested in Tiki about 4 years ago. I started with one mug and a few Hawaiian albums to quite a collection of over 120 somewhat rare mugs. Even got a Martin Denny demo album still marked up by a radio station that used to play it on the air. Hoping to attend as many events as possible. Almost forgot........when I lived in Huntingotn Beach, Ca, I used to see one of my neighbors out in his garage fiddling with palms, etc. Well what do ya know it was Crazy AL !!. I became good friends with Al and learned alot about carving and hope to carve soon. -TheTIKIGUY

New to the board and new to tiki. I got hooked when in Hawaii recently on my honeymoon -- the place we stayed had sneaky tiki mugs from Harveys. As soon as we got back I was on the hunt for the same mugs to remind us of our honeymoon. In the search I unleashed the hidden tiki hunter in myself. So far my husband hasn't minded scouring thrift stores with me, but he has no idea of the tiki bar I'm dreaming of...
Thanks for all the great info here. Seems like a friendly and interesting group!

Hi! I recently moved to the Bay Area from Austin, Texas and stumbled onto this site while looking for ways to curb the craving for tiki I had back home. OH MY GOD !!! I had NO idea there were so many tikiphiles out there !!!!! I knew I would love it here !! I got hooked on tiki at a bar in Austin. ("Oceans 11" in the warehouse district is a Tiki-meets-old-Vegas bar. Complete with bamboo covered walls, volcanoes, large carved wooden tikis, red velour-and-leopard print covered seats, and the Rat Pack Happy Hour from 5-8pm)

I cannot wait for the next Bay Area tiki crawl !!!

~m

Aloha ,I am tikiluvgirl,my first post was tikiluv cuz I spaced and forgot I ..well whatever too many mai tais.But I will now and forever be tikiluvgirl.I met some people at Hukilau 02 in the ATL. I was selling mugs up in the Fountainhead, Tikifarm and misc mugs etc,etc,.I am a buyer for a funky dept store,so I will keep everyone posted on new TiKi stuff comin out. I am happy to have a place to talk TiKi,cuz not everyone I know cares about it like I do!! Mahalo....

Aloha, everyone.

First time posting here, though I've poked around plenty before.

I'm trying to bring the message of the Tiki Nation to the uneducated. Along with an artist from Down Under, I'm busily crafting a graphic masterpiece called HAWAIIAN DICK...yes, a comic book. Hitting the mass market at the end of the year. Hopefully it will bring folks who don't normally read comics into the fold, and introduce current readers to the wonderful world of tropical exotica!

Aloha everybody!

Had such a great time at Bamboo Ben's. My fingers are still sore from bongoing the day away! It was great to see all my old & new Tiki Centralite friends. C'Al, we must Wipeout together again soon. Thanks again to everyone for all the help.

[ Edited by: C.B. Howlie on 2002-08-21 02:10 ]

so it's so nice to see that there are other tikiphiles out there. i am not sure what established my love for tikis. just that my friends think i'm a little batty for it. (they are slowly learning to live with my flair for the wonderfully bizarre.)

i am looking to find any sort of tiki bar(s) or event(s) in the ny/nj area, so if any of you lovely people could help me out, i'd appreciate it. :wink:

the newly christened "Castaway Lounge".

Hey, we must be kindred spirits! My bar here in Portland is called Castaway Cove Lounge and Gardens! Welcome to the list!

Y'know, I've been thinking (uh oh) - I'd love to put together a "Tiki Central Map of the World", using little tikis to show member concentration and tiki meccas all over the world. Maybe done in an old fashioned style suitable for framing and hanging in home bars everywhere. Kinda like the tiki map on the end pages of TBOT. Anybody wanna collaborate on this?

Dudes! Bitchen site man. I surf all day and sleep all night at my security guard job. I found a book called the Tiki Book and life is good. It's like the bible but with lots of pictures of cool tikis. Do any of you have this book? It really shreds man. I have to go because my boss ( dude is a bummer) is making his rounds now. thank you tiki dudes
Surf tiki

'Bout time I got official and registered! Can't claim to have been a tiki-lover forever, but it sucked me in, and now you can't keep me away from the amazing events all over the US (Kahiki closing, Tiki Oasis, Hukilau, and if they count, Tease-A-Rama and Madonna Inn). I adore all the Tiki Central folks I've met at them. I'm a born-again Texan; just returned home after 15 years in Athens, Georgia...maybe the smalltown Georgia thing is a clue to my desire to get aWAY from there so often! But oh, how I'll miss the Atlanta Trader Vic's (crabby service and all)!

Alice, aka Miss Formica Dinette