Hulilau 2002 Roundup !

Aloha and mahalo to all involved in the Hukilau 2002 Southern Luau !.

This Tiki Centralite had an absolutely beautiful time. The East Coast is now on the map for a premiere tiki event.

The bands and the venues were great. The Tiki "Fair" on Saturday afternoon provided a great leisurely time for all the attendants to gather and discuss things d'tiki.

Saturday night was my personal highlight. Trader Vic's was an excellent setting for the main event. My experience was heightened by having dinner before the event with some of the greatest tiki friends ever. And I mean that sincerely.

Thanks again for all who attended and coordinated this great event. Everybody is to be commended on making this event come off so nicely.

I can't wait to read the upcoming posts on the event.

Balmy regards,

Tiki Bob

OK, here are (hopefully) some pictures from the Hukilau.

The first photo of the album should come up. In the lower left corner is a "View All" button that should pull up the thumbnails of all pictures.

Pictures

[Edited by Hanford to make it smaller]

[ Edited by: hanford_lemoore on 2002-07-25 00:57 ]

Great pix Bob.

Wish I'd been there.

-martin

here are some more pics from friday night... my pics from sunday at the drive-in may not turn out because my compact flash card is "unformatted" according to my pc - but you can see the pics in the camera... if anyone knows of a workaround to get the compact flash reader to read it - maybe using a mac? please tell me...

http://www.Hukilau.info

Wow. I can't believe people were enjoying themselves at Trader Vic's. Usually, Vic's is great, when the staff is not overwhelmed by over 10 or 20 people in the place. On this occasion, however, they totally dropped the ball: long lines to get drinks (?!); no music; extremely rude staff. I did not see 1 person there with a smile on his or her face. Maybe next year they should have this event someplace that gives a crap about the whole aesthetic. The drive in was fun though.

We have experienced the manager's crabby manner on just about each occasion we have visited Vic's in Atlanta (about twice a year).

The long lines for drinks were a pain. An extra bartender or two would have helped. Then again, everybody seemed to arrive with in about 30 minutes of each other and, being the good Tiki-types we are, everybody wanted a drink.

Still, the atmosphere of Vic's greatly added to the Hukilaus success. I know the service was lacking but, overall, things worked out OK in the end.

King Kukulele, Sven and I approached the manager at the end of the evening and thanked him for accomodating us. We figured that being cordial would probably enhance his attitude should we decide to have the Hukilau 2003 at Vic's.

And maybe we will get some extra bartenders!

TB

The service at Vic's was a big complaint. I have to say that I doubt the long lines at the bar could have been easily avoided. A third bar would have helped. But a Volcano Bowl takes a lot more time than a rum and coke. It's just going to be a slow process when you are making those drinks.

But the people eating got slow and even rude service.

The manager was great right up until the last week before the event. I don't think he was happy. But he did equip the back bar with the nice mugs, after he told us over and over he would not because he feared theft. He said he would if we paid $6 for each one that went missing.

Even so, everyone at the drink line was remarkably happy.

And the staff will know what to expect next time. The manger was behind the bar for a while.

We also have the Trader Vic's Corporate looking at that location. They may make some changes.

I have been compiling photos. I still have some of ours to scan tonight. But all I have to date are up HERE. Keep 'em comin'!

...I just wanted to add this: If ever I had the feeling that Tiki was going places it was at this event. The sheer amount of creative output of Wayne Coombs, the Creepy Tiki guys, and Saint Thomas blew me away. I mean Wayne lifted his art to a whole nother level by creating these giants! And the Creepy's Tikis were a wild exercise in ALL KIND of styles, from the cartoony and garish to the dark and classic. And Saint Thomas: All mugs were handmade, but he had HUNDREDS of them! I mean these guys were POSESSED by the spirit of Tiki! And seemingly hundreds of people (not quite, but a lot) thanked me for making the book. It was MOST rewarding.

I have come to expect a certain level of Tiki hipness in Tiki history heavy California, but in the deep South? This event showed that Tiki is a common unifier for all kinds of subcultures: Rockabilly, Lounge, Swing, Surf, Modernism, Burlesque and even Tatoo (lots of girls with Tiki Tatoos) scenes converged at the various venues and mixed with regular suburban folks in Aloha gear. Everybody carried that rum happy smile of being touched by the creative power of Tiki. A-W-E-S-O-M-E

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki on 2002-07-26 00:38 ]

I just wanted to say...FINALLY a tiki event here in the south! I heard about Hukilau and couldn't believe it! I had a great time,I was selling the BOT and on Saturday at the bazaar we were selling Tikifarm mugs as well as some newer and the classic mugs through Junkmans Daughter. Hey if any of ya'll come through Atlanta stop at Junkmans, we always stock tiki stuff! I cant wait til next year,it should be bigger and if possible better! It was great meeting friki tiki heads from all over..luv the pics tiki Bob!

Hukilau! Who knew? Obviously everyone on this site. Thanks for allowing UberEasy to experience the fun. I've sent all my LA friends to The Continental Room to see King Kukulele this Sunday 28th. Wish I could be there. Anyone got a private jet?
Re: Trader Vic's...I prefer to think that the management is Atlanta's own terrorist cell ... sorta adds to the romance/mystic of the place.
Oh, check out http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/vibes_live.html Also, Hukilau got mentioned under Creative Loafing's Talk of the Town...big photo...oh, that's moi!

Dejie, that article's great! Save me a copy of Creative Loafing will you? I can pick it up next time I'm in town...

Here's that Talk of the Town review (second photo and second review), also great! I have to agree that even a Coyote Ugly style bartender would be an improvement over Manzoor behind the bar :)

-Ford Vox

http://www.atlanta.creativeloafing.com/scene.html

Where can I see what I am supposedly like (= Ben Stein as science teacher in The Wonder Years)? Who is that?
I was hoping that taking something as funny as Tiki culture as serious as I am would be funny in itself.
You can judge for yourself in my videos. Urban archeologists ARE science teachers!

Close your eyes during a Sven lecture and you'll swear you're listening to Henry Kissinger.

oops, somehow posted twice...

[ Edited by: floratina on 2002-07-26 18:12 ]

first off, I like to say "aloha" to all Tiki centralites!! (I'm new here). Being part of this years Hukilau was an amazing experience for us, we are certainly glad to have made the trip from Miami to Atlanta.and shown our Kreepy styled Tikis ,the new friends we made ,the bands ,artists ,the whole thing .Atlanta showed the Kreepytiki lotsa Love.thanks to: Christie,D.J.Swanky,Sven,Ford.for making it all possible cant wait till next year!!!

Sven, I think the Ben Stein reference is to The Wonder Years, which was a nice tv show about a family growing up in the early 60's. It's sometimes seen on TV Land or ither places. Maybe TNN. But Ben Stein has (had) a running game show on Comedy Channel called Win Ben Stein's money. He is rather mono-tone, but very funny.

Thanks to KailuaGeoff and Vern, I have new pictures up on The Hukilau Site

I also added a page where you can order the Squid mug, and there will be Saint Thomas mugs up there very soon.

The site is very plain right now. We have not had a lot of time to work on it. So, be patient. There will be a big revamp in the next few weeks and months.

Here's our KreepyTiki in it's new home, Shangri-La

Thanks tikijaksin!

[ Edited by: Swanky on 2002-07-29 11:19 ]

Sorry I'm so late with the "chime-in", but Hukilau 2002 was heaven. I worked the crowd talking to everyone, finding out who the "tikicentralites" were in the crowd. I saw... Tikibob, .
I met.... Kailuageoff and the beautiful maid Marian, Ford Vox and his lil' wahine Lisa, Swanky (fave net-radio station) and TikiKiliki, King Kukulele (a Living God of Tiki!), spent time the with Uber-alles, Major-domo of Tiki, Sven, bought and received various concoctions with Wayne Coombs, fell for the captivating charms of Deije and company, was nearly comatized by Tron and (of Mai Tiki(Wayne)), the Muggler & his very sporty wahine (it takes a lotta guts and fortitude to come to this event while bearing the next tikiphile).

New Tiki-philes made at the event were MissFormicaDinette (funny story about her name), Elizabeth and Isabella, Forrest of the Drive-Invaders (with an awesome '53 Caddy),

I also think I had some "Sven Channeling" that weekend as I picked up what I think is a Witco rip-off for $20. (I guess it's the channeling he was worried about where the real goods aren't delivered.)

Some ugly/scary moments... King Kukulele telling a sleepy audience member that that kind of "Tiki worship" is not fit for family entertainment, seeing Wayne dance (look out! look out! Get away! Run!), Eating Tiki Jello (I coulda done it if there were more Rum!), Listening to Forrest (of the Drive-Invaders) talk for 45 minutes about.. Um, I can't remember, it was boring,

As a final note, I'd like to say "Mahalo" to Sven for coming out here and hangin' with us. I loved your presentation on Sat night and your continual, and guiding, influence on us grommets.

PS - Swanky, I'll get my photos to you after I get back from the Bahamas in a week or so...

Alooooohaaaaaaa,
K

Just got a big batch of picturesfrom Christopher in Florida posted. Plenty from Sunday at the Drive-In Invasion. Also some from Friday and Saturday night at Trader Vic's.

Thanks Christopher!

It's not too late. Anyone with pics, send them to us

The Swank Pad Broadcast - If it's Swank...

[ Edited by: Swanky on 2002-08-15 08:25 ]