Home Tiki Bar Book

Anyone ever thought of doing a coffee table picture book of home tiki bars? I for one have been blown away by some of the pics I have seen on TC & would love to see more & better quality photos. I would absolutely buy 2 copies, one to save & one to pour over & dog-ear. Did I just make dog-ear a verb? Anyway, I'm sure the TC Ohana would support such an endeavor & it would light a fire under my sorry butt to finish mine in time for inclusion, ( if it's worthy)! Duke, are you listening? Anyone else?

[ Edited by: Big Kahuna 2008-04-03 08:06 ]

That idea was in the works as a calendar when we started Tiki Daze. Problems are just emmense. You gotta really know how to take good pictures and you have to travel all over to do it. It's a good idea though.

I know somebody out there can pull it off. What if you used a few regional photographers? I know there are a few people on here that do their own magazines & many others that are talented photographers. It wouldn't hurt to test the bar owner's mixology skills after the photo shoot either!

I alos think using regional photographers would be a good soulution. and a nice post card set would be cool too.

I think this would be an amazing project. Sven? Tikibars? Boutiki?

:) Look how long my books take to make. I am not even getting a CD BOOKLET done fast! And then the shirt book is next for me...and the one on Spanish Tiki culture. Sorry, I think this should be a communal, fast but good effort. I'll be glad to contribute, but am too busy otherwise.

cool idea... I would definitely buy it.

but like ideas for movies, everyones got one... (idea for a cool book that is - not assholes).

It took me about two years after I had the idea "Someone should do a book on Tiki culture!" to realize that I had to do it myself...how long will it take YOU !? :D

Maybe Tiki Magazine could do an annual hardback or something. I'd love to help with this sort of thing.

Excellent idea indeed. The home bar posts are my favorites on TC. I would buy several books (they would make great gifts).

I would even settle for having all the home bars in one section of TC.

(And I know I'm not the only one who has asked for this before...)

They could all be together in a third sub-section of Creating Tiki.

Ditto on that Slacks...I have suggested a Home Bar section on TC before. I learn so much from those posts and sometimes have a hard time finding ones I have referenced in the past. If somebody does venture into setting up a book, I would gladly cover the Home Bars in the Sacramento area (owner interviews & pics). :)

I could cover the home bars in Paris (meaning : mine)

Several people have mentioned this idea to me over the years.

It seems that there is a lot of enthusiasm for it, and this is a book that I would personally pick up!

Since my (user)name came up above, let me state that personally, I wouldn't want to tackle the writing of it myself.
I have had a dickens of a time getting my Easter Island book, Big Stone Head, published.
Whether that ever comes out or not, either way, I think I have said my piece about tiki, and my current writing projects and future books are moving away from tiki subjects right now. There are other things I want to explore.

But like Sven said above - D I Y !!!

I can contribute photographs from our outdoor tiki bar once it's finished. Both me and my brother are into photography, so the pics should be of some decent quality.

Also, I think I have a great idea. We can make our own 'Tiki Central's Personal Tiki Bars and Digs' book using our home bar pics...it's actually possible. This can be a profit or non-profit book and sold at a 'cost price' from blurb dot com (an online 'create-your-own-book' store with full editing and creativity over it's content..basically, you can write your own book using professional grade hard back binding and printing for cheaps, software is downloaded for free from the site...$12-$22 bux average per book, no minimum purchase necessary).

So here's how I imagine it should work..of course I'm sure there's a better way, but this is on the fly for now :P

1. Contributes home bar pics along with any tid-bits of interesting info from their trophy pieces of tiki to the forum...we'll make a special thread for it.
2. Organizers/volunteers will take the images and descriptions and clean them up, spell check, post edit etc(I can volunteer...I have some design and art skills at davidzamora dot com :)
3. The images and descriptions will be uploaded into blurb dot com's software for final design editing.
4. Once finished, we can post pre-publishing images of the book on the forums to get everyones thoughts and opinions.
5. Once any changes have been made, we publish it.

Here's an example price from their website:

An 8x10 inch book (soft cover) runs 21.95 with a page count of 41-80 pages, hardcover is $34.95
I selected 41-80 pages because I'm not sure if we'll have over that many pages of bar pics, but I could be wrong. They also have 10x8 landscape sizes, 7x7 sizes and a couple more I think...lots of pricing variations depending on needs.

To be honest, this is something I would be serious about doing and would definitely pay for...opinions?

Here's an example of a blurb book I took from flickr

Pretty nice, huh?

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^^^^^^...^^^.^^^

[ Edited by: Deckhand_Davy 2008-04-04 15:06 ]

A friend of mine just did a book of pics of his kids on blurb.com and the quality is very good. I'm a print production manager by trade, so I should know. :wink:
I was going to throw my hat in to help get estimates for printing it, but I would have to take orders and collect money which just gets complicated. I think the blurb idea is an excellent one, Davey! Then everyone can go on the site and order their own. PM me if I can help, I have over 20 years experience in print management.

I designed many blurb books when i was working for a wedding photographer. They're really easy to do and look great. I think this would be an excellent option for this project because no one would have to front any seed money.

Well, if anyone is interested, I'll take care of the images (post processing and such) and maybe some artwork. Anyone else interested?

Sounds like an interesting option.

I'd be interested in helping this along wether it be artwork, pics or whatever.

Hey! Nice to see my idea resurface. Anyone think this is feasible?

I was talking about doing something like this one evening in the Hapa Haole Hideaway. I think it's quite feasible, but it would take a couple of years and a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get it done.

Shoot with all the vintage rattan and bamboo tiki bars I have bought, restored,sold, traded
or passed on...one could produce a book of pictures just of vintage tiki bars that were produced.

Without getting into too many details,
let's just say that the time, effort, blood,
sweat, travel and tears have already
been poured into a book of this nature
for several years now and is very close
to completion.
More information will be posted in due time.

woot!!

Excellent
Can't wait to see it
Trader Bob

On 2010-05-27 21:52, 1961surf wrote:
Shoot with all the vintage rattan and bamboo tiki bars I have bought, restored,sold, traded
or passed on...one could produce a book of pictures just of vintage tiki bars that were produced.

Sooooo, you're talking about something completely different from what we're talking about?

This could still be a very fun project using the Blurb concept. Perhaps creating a "general" Tiki Central tiki book....

Not just tiki bars, but a book of cool images taken by members of TC. I've seen some good looking images here throughout the years that would fit perfectly. Members could upload their coolest photos with a short caption.
The possibilities are endless: home bars, public bars, mug collections, album covers, tiki finds, live band pics, event pics, etc...
Again, using the Blurb concept, anyone could buy it at cost, and no one is stuck trying to market the product and taking a hit on up front costs.
Something to think about!
I know I'd be happy to help with design or layout.
There is enough talent on this board to make it happen.

Luke

YUP, Sounds cool,
There are some great imaginations on this big tiki boat !

On 2010-05-27 22:49, JONPAUL wrote:
Without getting into too many details,
let's just say that the time, effort, blood,
sweat, travel and tears have already
been poured into a book of this nature
for several years now and is very close
to completion.
More information will be posted in due time.

Pardon me if this sounds a bit ignorant but if the people on here are talking about a book specifically being about a collaboration of Home Bars and your saying a book is already almost complete, wouldn't it be nice to know some of the details?? Especially one that has been worked on for "years"? Maybe I've missed a thread somewhere?

There are ALOT of people on here very much interested in these Home Bars. Look at some of the crazy numbers on that thread alone! It would be good to know some of the details of the book, or how it is being focused, who's writing it, who has been featured, locations, etc., and I can't be the only one.

Your saying more info. in "due time" but if there is so much interest and people are interested in doing something now, then I say whoever is Captaining this ship, let's get here sailing!! If it has been in the works for years, some of these 'other' great Home Bars we see today may not have been started, finished, re-done or even dreamed up when it started.

Some details would be nice since TC is supposed to be a community where we are all here to share with one another. Even some of the tough nuts on here are cracking and sharing info. now! Great!!
Just thinking out loud here.

TabooDan

JP takes photos for Tiki Mag... He goes to a lot of events, East Coast, West Coast Up town, Down town... he takes lots of photos of peoples home bars when he travels.... Its probably safe to guess that JP might have something to do with this! Just a guess though!

I heard it through the grapevine that this was happening from a local awesome home bar, but I still am unsure of the mystery author.... dun dun dunnnn, until now! I think....

I was hoping to tackle this idea through the company that has published two of my other books on US Militaria. I've talked to my publisher about a Tiki swag book, and he thought it would be a good idea. Schiffer Pub. LTD. has done tons of books on backyard patios and items as well as catalina tiles. If anyone else is doing this theres always room for more lol. contact me if youd be interested in using your bar, tiki masks, mugs and such, I think it would be a great coffee table book,

you can check out my other two titles if you google my name......"paul w. miraldi"

thanks
paul

I know of the fact that JonPaul Balak, house photographer for TIKI MAGAZINE, has been working on a Tiki Home Bar book for quite some time now. His decade-long connection to the Tiki Revival scene and his trips to American and European Tiki hot spots, coupled with his profession as a photographer make him the ideal author for such a tome. He is friends with many of the owners of the great backyard and basement Polynesias around the country. Plus JP's knowledge of classic Tiki history would ensure that the home hideaways would be presented in the proper context of the design sources that inspired them, down to the very detail.

I am very hesitant to believe that Schiffer would do a good job with such a book. They are a "Collectibles" publisher, and many of their books are poorly edited and badly art directed. Two examples for that are their "Hawaiiana" and "Hula Girls and Tiki Gods" books. I feel that ultimately those type of books do not fulfill the promise of Tiki culture, relegating it to collectible nerd territory. A simple showing off of how many toys you have does not inspire creativity. But a book on Home Tiki Bars should do exactly that.

Sven Kirsten, author of the "Book of Tiki" and "Tiki Modern"

On 2011-06-27 13:00, bigbrotiki wrote:
I know of the fact that JonPaul Balak, house photographer for TIKI MAGAZINE, has been working on a Tiki Home Bar book for quite some time now. His decade-long connection to the Tiki Revival scene and his trips to American and European Tiki hot spots, coupled with his profession as a photographer make him the ideal author for such a tome. He is friends with many of the owners of the great backyard and basement Polynesias around the country. Plus JP's knowledge of classic Tiki history would ensure that the home hideaways would be presented in the proper context of the design sources that inspired them, down to the very detail.

I am very hesitant to believe that Schiffer would do a good job with such a book. They are a "Collectibles" publisher, and many of their books are poorly edited and badly art directed. Two examples for that are their "Hawaiiana" and "Hula Girls and Tiki Gods" books. I feel that ultimately those type of books do not fulfill the promise of Tiki culture, relegating it to collectible nerd territory. A simple showing off of how many toys you have does not inspire creativity. But a book on Home Tiki Bars should do exactly that.

Sven Kirsten, author of the "Book of Tiki" and "Tiki Modern"

I have to agree wholeheartedly. I know I'm biased (after all, he is in the band with me) but JP has the photographic eye, skills and catalogue of amazing photos of home bars to make an amazing book...I personally have been bugging him about it since he's been in the band (3 plus years now) . If you need any evidence as to his photo skills...just look at the classic Beachbum Berry "Zombie" photo....Slam Dunk.
As far as publishers, I don't know enough about that to comment, so I will defer to BigBro, who does.

So JP, get off your tukus and do this thing !

This is JP we're talking about. By the time the book comes out, most of those home bars will be gone. :wink:

ALot of them are already.....even more reason to put out a book like this.

I am looking forward to whatever JP publishes, think it will be great. Even if a place is in the book but no longer exists, history is better than not. There are so many passionate collectors and wonderful home/patio bars that this book will indeed be an eyeful to all. Shout out to JP...thanks for taking on this project.

I agree with Sven's comments completely, both in regard to the quality of JP's work and his suitability for a project like this, and also in regards to the nature and quality of Schiffer's books.

Also, I did post in this thread (three years ago!) that tackling this book wasn't something that I'd be up for. But if someone eventually does take this project on, I would definitely be happy to contribute a foreword, afterword, mid-word, whatever.

On 2010-01-12 14:02, JONPAUL wrote:
Aloha Everyone!

After many years of having Tiki Central as an extremely important part of almost every aspect of my life,
I’ve finally decided to make it official.
And, I can think of no better occasion on which to do it than today, the historic 10th anniversary of Tiki Central!

It’s a bit strange to write an introduction for so many that I already consider some of my best friends, co-workers
and colleagues, but it’s also recently become crystal clear how many other Tiki brothers and sisters are out there
that don’t necessarily attend events, are far away, or just plain prefer to exist within the realms of an online forum.
Also, after years of taking (reading and digesting others’ valuable, informative posts), I feel that it’s important to
give something back. So, in the near future, it is my intention to share many of the things we’ve collected over the
years, including many of the photographs I’ve made that have never seen the light of day. I’d like to do my part to
help bring the pieces of the Tiki puzzle together as a contributing member of Hanford’s invaluable creation.

Here’s a huge congratulations to Hanford for 10 amazing years and a toast to many, many more!!!

Looking forward to finally being an official, contributing Tiki Central member!

Warmly,

Jonpaul

P.S. For those that I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, here’s some brief background information...
I’m a photographer, photo editor, musician, writer and collector from Los Angeles that has been with
Tiki Magazine since issue number one. My work can be seen in Sippin’ Safari, Tiki Mugs:
Cult Artifacts of Polynesian Pop, the upcoming Beachbum Berry Remixed, the revised edition of
Tiki Road Trip, and I am currently working on a couple of Tiki Book projects of my own. I can be
heard playing bass with The Tikiyaki Orchestra, The Boardwalkers and The Insect Surfers and have had
the pleasure of filling in with The Disasternauts, 3 Balls of Fire, The Ghastly Ones, and others. Aloha!

Lets hope the book does not take as long as JP's first post on Tiki Central!

I would be happy to lend any Tiki artifacts and historical items as reference pieces for the book if so desired.

Looking forward to the publication.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2011-06-28 18:24 ]

I know that when JP sees this he'll appreciate all the kind words but he'll also think "Aw man, I guess I better get moving on this." or at I least I hope so. :lol:

Will this just be bars that jp has been to?

Nice to see my thread generating interest, again. Unfortunately, I don't have the skills or the resources to get the job done. If anybody does, I'll help in any way I can. JP, I know you've got the skills.

[ Edited by: Big Kahuna 2011-06-30 05:13 ]