my dinners with gecko: mainland kine 10/06/08 page 2

i just returned from 10 days in hawaii with my wife and daughter. i had the great fortune to have dinners with mike (gecko), his beautiful fiancee ailie and their good friend freddie at la mariana sailing club last monday and at mike and ailie's house last wednesday. their aloha spirit at these fabulous dinners were two of the biggest highlights of our trip. we got to honolulu on july 3. i called mike to let him know we were there. he immediately invited us to meet them at la mariana that night. i was thrilled! it's an amazing old school tiki restaurant and bar. annette was sitting at a table having dinner while the piano player played. we had a nice dinner and great conversation. we walked out onto the pier where a guy on a boat told us it was the last marina open to the public in honolulu. we could see yellow tangs swimming and the people on the boats were very friendly. on wednesday we were invited to mike and ailie's house. mike and ailie prepared a fantastic dinner of bbq'ed steaks with mike's mom's hot sauce, rice and gravy, corn, bbq'ed onion, green beans and cookies. freddie brought sashimi, spicy tuna, poki and a pastami like beef (i can't remember what it was called, but da buggah was ono!). a wonderful feast that really broke da mouf! i got to tour mike's studio where he does his magic. mike was very informative about how his mugs and bowls are made. i also marvelled at mike's extensive tiki collections. i had no idea he was such a serious collector. his items were beatifully displayed throughout their house. later we sang karaoke and had great conversation. freddie told us about antique shops, a swap meet and a thrift store we never would have known about. we almost bought out savers thrift store! he also had gifts of a coco joe's pipe holder and an unmarked lava menehune for me. i got to see "da bull" bowl mike made for me and acquire a few more one of a kind pieces. i also got the "pele in the volcano" bowl and mailed it home. it was here when i arrived yesterday. the amazing aloha spirit these three locals showed my haole ohana made this an unforgettable trip. mahalo mike, ailie and freddie!!

la mariana sailing club

mike and ailie sitting at the table where they became engaged.

my wife sandy, daughter bekie, mike, ailie and freddie enjoy an ono dinner.

me, showing off "da bull" (mike's nickname for me) with its creator in his living room.

freddie enjoying a cold one in mike's new marquesan mug.

here i am brutalizing radiohead's "creep".

ailie, freddie and bekie look on as sandy croons.

mike's don the beachcomber collection in one of his two rattan aquariums turned display cases.

mike with a new bowl he's working on in his studio.

where mike works his magic.

in mike's studio.

mike and me in his studio with his new maori canoe. shaka brah!

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2006-07-13 13:54 ]

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-08 12:22 ]

my dinners with gecko

Read it fast, thought it was a "Fear Fatcor" episode.

Always nice to see Gecko's work, and the shots of his studio. He does put out some fine art. Looks like a great time was had by all.

midnite

Hey Gecko,
We miss you postin here.
Great photos Tiedye!

WOW Tiedye,

Looks like you had an incredible time over at Gecko's place. He is truly a great artist and super cool guy!! I hope to visit him again next year on our anniversary!! Thanks for posting the pics!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Thanks for sharing kingstiedye. It's great to have the opportunity to look into Gecko's world. We do miss him posting here.

That's cool, i like seeing where artist's work and what their environment is like.
Gecko makes some amazing new Tiki's with a real understanding of the traditional Polynesian style.

Not only does Kingstiedye have a sick collection of tiki mugs but he gets to meet one of the finest makers of tiki mugs and bowls.
Truly blessed, maybe it's true, the more Tiki's you have in your house, the better luck you have.
Thanks for sharing.......
Peace and respect.

Looks like a great time! Thanks for sharing the pics.

I'm another one who misses Gecko posting here.

Howzit braddah Bull, SsweeetT Gecko workz and ono grind...great ohana pic's!!! Bend an ear, talk story later.

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Very interesting story mate. Thanks

I too love seeing into the lives of other people but the lives of some of the best collectors and artists in tiki is even better.

You see the mugs taking from a cold front shot all the time, but to see them in there different stages of completion ( like the wahine handles straddling each other) and then seeing them on the dinner table.

Its almost all the dreams that we have of the tiki of old still alive and well at Gecko's house.

Man I Sure did Love seeing these pictures, Gecko, My Brother, I Miss your posts here too. I Know you been busy, but take out a minit or t every other week and say Hello TC says "HELLOOOOOOO" Are you married you? If not you better hurry up before some young stud steals her from you. I can see in her eyes, She IS The Mrs Gecko, make it official and make her happy and then it will MAKE You happy...
HappyHappyHappy see,,it's eazy!

Yep, what Benzart said.
Aloha,
:tiki:

looks like you had a great time bullet... when you gonna come visit me...

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing with us. Really good stuff. It made my morning nice.(simple things make me happy).

Cool! Don't know why I pictured something more like this...

Gecko is RAD! I miss the Buggah's post too. Gecko's house looks better than I imagined. I am stoked to hear he is doing well and still busy with his awe inspiring creations. Thanks for sharing your pics Kingtiedye.

Chongolio

Lost-Isle
Coconut Wired Podcast
Barefoot bloggin'

Aloha Bullet, could you post any of the Aloha wear you found in Hawaii? The pastrami like creation was called pipi kaula poke and you guys are the best... come back soon! Freddie :tiki:

You all miss Gecko? Heck we live here and hardly ever see him. That guy is always busy trying to keep up with his orders! I'm also happy to hear he and Ailie are engaged. She used to be a corrections officer, so I bet she can keep him in line!

Your OOga-Mooga is very impressive. Hey, love that Frankenstein tattoo on your leg. Festive.

Awwwww man!

Kingstiedye, I wish I know you were on the island so I could have given you a personal "mahalo!" for being my first customer! Sad to have missed you - perhaps next visit.

Gecko - your house is like a museum! Wow! I am now very ashamed of my humble abode and studio... :)

Thanks for posting the great photos -

VanTiki

What? Gecko is alive? Man. I thought he died and that's why his mugs were like insane high on Ebay. Good to know he's still kickin'... :wink:

Wow those are the first photos i've seen of gecko without "Da Big Puka" around his neck.

Hey Bullet, how come you didn't come vist me on Maui? I'll have to come visit you in Sac the the next time I head to CA.

Great Photos Thanks, for sharing!

On 2006-07-20 03:31, HOUSE OF KU wrote:
Aloha Bullet, could you post any of the Aloha wear you found in Hawaii? The pastrami like creation was called pipi kaula poke and you guys are the best... come back soon! Freddie :tiki:

aloha freddie! i finally got around to taking pics of the shirts. mahalo for telling us a great place to shop.

Awesome shirts King!!...happy happy joy joy :tiki:

on monday, sandy and i had the pleasure of hosting mike (gecko), his wife ailie, and dan and wendy (danlovestikis) for dinner. mike got to see a lot of his work at d & w's and our house. he took a bunch of pics and was interested in other modern mug makers work. he also fleeced me for several vintage mugs in exchange for a coupla custom geckos. freddie, you would have been proud of mike's haggling abilities. :) wendy was so excited when she got here. her head was on a swivel and she was bouncing off the walls! after awhile she said she felt carsick from trying to look at everything at once. slow down girl! :) ailie is from texas and must really miss mexican food, cuz she raved about my simple enchilada pie. it was a very fun evening. here are a few pics that dan and wendy took.





everybody lean!

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-08 12:46 ]

Damn, you da man Bull. What an impressive collection.

Gecko is one of my favorite artists. I just wish I could afford more of his work.

I absolutely love those Augie mugs!!!

Lucccckkkky!!!! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Bullet tells the truth. Walking into his home there was so much to see I made myself sick. I was looking right left up down spinning around to the next wall before I knew it I had to lie down on the floor for awhile. I was very lucky that I felt ok by the time dinner was ready and it was yummy.

It was so much fun to have Gecko and his wife at our home for the night. We went over future projects and did some fun tourist stops. Alie said the best part of the tiki world is how rich in friends you become. I so agree. We had a blast visiting with Bullet and Sandy.

Here are a few more photos of the time they spent with Dan and I. Cheers, Wendy
Alie and Gecko in Old Sacramento on the river

Swanberg's

In my project room, showing some of my clay sculptures on the wall.

Gecko and I in Dan's jungle room.

Gecko and Dan in the jungle room.

It was a totally tiki visit and so much fun, Wendy

Gee Whiz Guys...

Thanks for the invite! Would have been nice to meet up with a another legend for the second time in two weeks.

Wow, that sure was a well kept secret, one week after Swantiki!

Sniff n The Tears.

The Sacto Ohana is surely jealous.

Psycho Tiki D (I know I am and I didn't get to meet Gecko when he was less than 15 miles from my house)!

Hey Sorry guys, they were here less than 24 hours. The good news is that they plan to come back in the future and to stay more days. They left us for Napa and San Francisco. Last night they were with Notch to see Forbidden Island. We barely had any time. I'm sure he'll be flattered that you wanted to see him. Next time for sure. Wendy

Yowza, Yowza, YOWZAAAA!!! Waaay coool you guys were able to hook up with G and A! I know he was on a tight schedule and only a few hours to spare. :)

Wendy, no worries sistah... I know what you mean about being light headed at Hale Bull. It stretches da mind in directions that leads to oxygen deprivation when combined with head swivel and knee bend aerobics it will certainly induce vertigo!! :lol:

Great pics and always fun to see ohana on tour...