Tiki fountains at Walgreens

On 2008-04-24 19:59, tikiskip wrote:
I always say buy what YOU like.
But when the tiki restaurants/bars first started
everything was so organic.
The places had a very artful homemade hands-on feel.
One of the things I liked about the Kahiki was the
hands-on aproach they took.
I don't think you can find a tiki restaurant that had as many
different tiki items as they did.
Lots of it hand made by the owners wife and other people who
put the Kahiki in.
With that being said, thats what I don't like about the "Party Cityfication"
of tiki.
The mass produced crank em out thing.
Starbucks is the "Starbuckfucifaction" of those nasty coffee shops,
or diners we used to love.
I will say this Walgreens and Starbucks target these places because they
already have foot traffic.
It's not just a coincidence that they are there.
What it is is a business plan, one that if it works kills the coffee shop
or tiki restaurant.
So I think what the hard core tiki folk are saying is that, that fountain
and the party city stuff in a small way are part of the death of tiki again.

I do have some of that stuff too. Gifts, newbie tiki buys.
But none from Walgreens.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2008-04-24 20:03 ]

Well put. I hear that. I second everything you said. Word up, my Brotha. Speak on. True ta that. Ah ya.

I personally like the one where the water flows out of the Tiki's mouth and onto the green leaf.

I don't know fellas, I just plain appreciate that somehow, in the usually garish colored world of cheap mass produced chain store tikis, someone managed to get at least 3 separate fountain designs approved, that actually work, are really inexpensive, aren't multi-colored Party City style, and probably could pass for great if they were born 45 years earlier and were sitting on table tops at your favorite old school Tiki Lounge. Lord knows I've seen some old stuff, even respected stuff that doesn't seem to follow the design cues of classic tiki style as much as these do.

Opinions are great on threads like this, pro or con, but it's a shame when they sometimes get insulting, intentionally or not.

I wish the cons on this thread (and it's never too late) would point out design problems with these fountains. Point out why this is not good tiki style, instead of dwelling on the place where they were bought.

A great way to start would be:

"even if this fountain was made 40 years ago, and spent 20 years on a table at the Mai-Kai, here's why I would have hated it..."

Or "here are 10 stylistic reasons why this fountain would never have sat on a table at the Mai-Kai..."

You know what I mean? That'd be a really great discussion that wouldn't be as prone to be sidetracked by people feeling their taste was being insulted, or the red herring issue regarding how Walgreen's business plan destroyed a great Tiki palace.

Anyway, that's my take on it all.

My main complaint about my fountains, I wish they were bigger.

[ Edited by: The Granite Tiki 2008-04-25 00:17 ]

On 2008-04-24 23:14, The Granite Tiki wrote:
I personally like the one where the water flows out of the Tiki's mouth and onto the green leaf.

I don't know fellas, I just plain appreciate that somehow, in the usually garish colored world of cheap mass produced chain store tikis, someone managed to get at least 3 separate fountain designs approved, that actually work, are really inexpensive, aren't multi-colored Party City style, and probably could pass for great if they were born 45 years earlier and were sitting on table tops at your favorite old school Tiki Lounge. Lord knows I've seen some old stuff, even respected stuff that doesn't seem to follow the design cues of classic tiki style as much as these do.

Opinions are great on threads like this, pro or con, but it's a shame when they sometimes get insulting, intentionally or not.

I wish the cons on this thread (and it's never too late) would point out design problems with these fountains. Point out why this is not good tiki style, instead of dwelling on the place where they were bought.

A great way to start would be:

"even if this fountain was made 40 years ago, and spent 20 years on a table at the Mai-Kai, here's why I would have hated it..."

Or "here are 10 stylistic reasons why this fountain would never have sat on a table at the Mai-Kai..."

You know what I mean? That'd be a really great discussion that wouldn't be as prone to be sidetracked by people feeling their taste was being insulted, or the red herring issue regarding how Walgreen's business plan destroyed a great Tiki palace.

Anyway, that's my take on it all.

My main complaint about my fountains, I wish they were bigger.

[ Edited by: The Granite Tiki 2008-04-25 00:17 ]

...now that's more like it. well put......i won't get into a long monolog here about the why's and how's, but i will say this....it takes just along to make something the wrong way as it does to make it the right way...and by that i mean that i can't understand that with all the great tiki references in the world, why these cheapy tiki companies insist on reinventing tiki in these ugly forms when they could have just as easily stolen the maori lookin tikis from kona kai or trader vics to model these after....now THAT would have made a nice lookin cheapy tiki fountain....for me it's aesthetics and the reason i'm so hell bent about it is because i am a creator...i make things and it's important to me that the things i make look right in terms of style and when i see sculpts like this, or have to listen to windbags defend that which they have no business defending (i'm not refering to anyone in particular here)it really chaps my ass!! okay- now i'm done....

I wish we could send some copies of BOT to China or where ever these designs come from. But, the truth is probably far worse. The Party City Tacky Tiki aesthetic is what they have decided is what people really want. Seeing a traditional image would not get them to make anything like that. Or they would make the shape, and then paint it neon.

But, on the other side of the commercial coin, there is a helluva lot of really nice looking "island" and "tropical" stuff out there now and it is on the increase. If you want lawn furniture or other accessories for your tiki bar, you have a lot of good basic stuff to choose from. It's just when they try to actually do something "tiki" that they keep reaching into the wrong bag for inspiration.

I've seem a lot worse than these fountains. It's actually on the edge of worthiness in my mind. Right color pallette at least. Reminds me too much of Tiki Leilani though.

It all reminds me of the current image of Elvis that is popular. It's not Elvis and it's offensive to him and anyone who cares about the man. He was in a bad way at the end and was overweight. That bad image is all we see now. He wore outlandish outfits that were made by designers of the time. But since he died then, no one imagines him any other way. Elvis is just Tacky Elvis now. 20 years of dressing stylishly for the times and being handsome are gone. 6 months of being on drugs and fat in a jumpsuit is all anyone knows anymore. 30 years of Tiki being stylish and the place for the jet set is gone. Now it's just "Tacky Tiki". That's all anyone knows.

On 2008-04-25 08:15, Swanky wrote:
I wish we could send some copies of BOT to China or where ever these designs come from..

well put again swanky.....however, the chinese had no problem finding my elviki image and stealing it to put on their cheap tiki birdhouse, that incidentally were sold by...you guessed it....walgreens!!!!!

we don't need to send them the book of tiki...if they had the thinking capacity to actually use it..they would have stolen images from it already....but since most of that stuff in book of tiki was from items made in china..they would actually just be stealing their own designs back!!! LOL

A wise old cowboy once told me "If you want good clean oats, it comes at a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have been thru the horse, that comes at a cheaper price" Take your pick.

That's Mr. Windbag if you don't mind!

On 2008-04-26 20:40, Big Kahuna wrote:
That's Mr. Windbag if you don't mind!

...i said in my post i wasn't directing that comment at anyone in particular.....thanks for outing yourself !!! LOL

On 2008-04-24 14:33, Kaiwaza wrote:
... It's ... TOO quiet.
I turned it on yesterday and forgot it was still on
until I read this post...LOL.
...

:lol:

On 2008-04-24 23:14, The Granite Tiki wrote:

...
I don't know fellas, I just plain appreciate that somehow, in the usually garish colored world of cheap mass produced chain store tikis, someone managed to get at least 3 separate fountain designs approved, that actually work, are really inexpensive, aren't multi-colored Party City style, and probably could pass for great if they were born 45 years earlier and were sitting on table tops at your favorite old school Tiki Lounge. Lord knows I've seen some old stuff, even respected stuff that doesn't seem to follow the design cues of classic tiki style as much as these do.
....

Pretty much how I plan on using mine... either on some tables or on the bar. Am even considering "rotating"
between the three (one at a time) on the bar and see if anyone notices.

On 2008-04-25 07:51, Tipsy McStagger wrote:

...
it takes just along to make something the wrong way as it does to make it the right way
....

The chairman-of-the-board emeritus (patriarch of the family-owned business) that I work
for has a saying "If you don't have the time to do the job right the first time, how
will you find the time to do the job right the second time?".