The Fezzes or No Fezzes poll - immediate results

I see it being discussed again on the board. It never seems to go away. Me, I love them – sort of. But opinions run the gambit. Tell your story to the jury and make your case. Should we love them? Should they be shunned? Do a little cut and paste from old posts if you’ve been down this road before at a time when you were a better writer. Throw in some pictures if they will sway the masses. Make your predictions as to how the numbers will come out and then cast your vote. You'll immediately see the polling results. You may be surprised.

:right: :right: Try first reading some of the postings before casting your vote.:left: :left:

This is just an example. They're not the current results.

Vote Here:
http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=4d8cf95fe24d8ee09c379c5b

Classic Velvets
by Song Shen

[ Edited by: Okolehao 2011-03-25 20:15 ]

[ Edited by: Okolehao 2011-03-25 20:31 ]

[ Edited by: Okolehao 2011-03-27 21:37 ]

There is a simple solution to the perceived question of to Fez or Not to Fez... If you don't like the Fez, don't wear the Fez.

If you are asking do Fez qualify as Tiki? Probably not except by way of the timing of when things got popular or well known.

If you are asking why there are so many people wearing Funny Hats at gatherings of tiki-philes? Because for some the Fez is cool. For others it is a fashion statement/choice. For others it is symbol of something they take pride in (Shriners, FOM, Cult of the Eye, etc).

And not to sound like some modern missionary going all PC and trying to clothe the natives, but.... why should anyone care if someone else is wearing a Fez? I mean really, why do you care? What difference to you does it make in my choice of headware?

Unless, of course, we both happen to be wearing the Same Fez because that can be awkward.

Oh, you also asked for pictures....

How can you not smile looking at this group?

Yes, they do look rather silly in their tiny little cards, but those guys manage to do things like this:

and this:

And that is just the Shriners.

To use another example from a group that is close to my heart because I am part of the group....

This bunch of drunkards:

Call themselves the FOM and we have managed to pull together scholarships for native Rapa Nui to go to school on the mainland including:

Here is the link to see who is who in this shot

Don't know if any of those images or story will sway the judges for or against the Fez, but you asked and I offered.

I think they are silly. And I like silly. I also don't care what others think.

I hope no one gets me wrong. I fell in love with fezzes loooong before anyone under 50 who wasn't a Shriner loved them. 30 years ago I was a Navy man stationed in Great Lakes Illinois and I would go into Chicago on the weekends for some R & R. In '84 a huge Shriner convention was in town and it was classic post war era mayhem. They had a parade that was like mardi gras crossed with a high school home coming. The go-carts, marching bands with snake charmer horns, silk harem outfits with curly toed shoes. Every hotel was booked and (it seemed) a fair amount of alcohol flowed. And tying it all together were the fezzes. Fezzes everywhere. You think Tiki folks can be nerd cool? These guy had it in spades! And I so wanted to be a part of it. I talked to some of the members and realized that this wasn't what they were like all the time. It just was an old style get away from the wives convention. And being young and in the service it wasn't a good match for me at the time. They do GREAT work with their children's hospital. Completely free, I believe. They sponsor speech therapists, like my wife,to help kids in rural areas who otherwise wouldn't get services.
Fez-O-Rama is cool. All the fez clubs are cool. If there were one in my area I'd join them. But I don't get excited with it mixed with tiki. Same way with the hot rods, tattoos, burlesque, go-go, surf music, etc. that have crossed pollinated with tiki. But that's just me. I'm an old fart and have a hard enough time 'keeping up with these damn kids'(read that with an old mans voice as if I were your cranky next door neighbor). I love the pre-war hapa-haole ukulele stuff and a lot of people hate that stuff. If there were just people like me the B.O.T. would have been just another coffee table book and more tiki bars and restaurants would have closed by now, sadly.
The poll is for fun and discussion. The fez seems to be the hardest thing to draw a line to in the tiki family tree. -I'M- surprised at the polling numbers. But lets be careful not to get steamed about it. Just asking the class to raise their hands. "Who's for Nixon?" "Who's for McGovern" etc. :wink:

On 2011-03-26 16:54, Okolehao wrote:
Just asking the class to raise their hands. "Who's for Nixon?" "Who's for McGovern" etc. :wink:

I like pineapple juice in my Mai Tai !! :)

...I hope that's OK. :D

As long as it is fresh juice everything will be OK.

I like rum in mine. But I'm strange that way. :drink: :D

My answer to, Is the fez "tiki"?
No, the fez is meta-tiki.

I have a vintage bark cloth shirt with tikis on it and the tikis are wearing fezzes.........it's vintage (it's a shriners) and from a historical perspective places fezzes on tikis at a particular point in history.....

there's your proof.

it's all the same to me......

If monkeys wear 'em they're good enough for me.

I agree, monkeys with fezzes is fine...

They also look decent on anyone who looks or behaves monkey-like, such as world traveler Karl Pilkington...

Fez-A-Roni...The Tiki Central Treat!

2011: The Fezzes or No Fezzes poll - immediate results

2011: Trader Vic says no to the fez !!

2009: Show us your FEZ

2008: Fez Monkey

2007: Tikis and Fez'zzz...what's the connection ?

2006: Which is the meaning of the fez in lounge culture?

2005: Monkeys and Fezzes

2004: Fabulous Fez Instructions

2004: Fez Monkeys?

2002: Monkeys and Fezzes

Or: If you ad two things together that are not Tiki, what do you get?

Internet polls are fun, I remember a couple of years ago a TC campaign got Shasta to re-instate their "TIKI" brand! :)

OMG. As of noon 03/28/11 there are 7, count them, 7 fez posts at the top of the General Tiki board. It's a fez riot out there people! What is happening here?? What's next?

Oh no.
I seem them on the horizon.
FEZ - WEARING - ZOMBIES! :o
Run!!!! It's, it's 'Night of the Living Fezzes'!!!!

Classic Velvets
by Song Shen

[ Edited by: Okolehao 2011-03-28 14:12 ]

GROG wasn't sure if GROG should post this here, or in one of the "Monkey wearing a fez" threads.

New york's alright! (if you like FEZZES!)

How can you find the results a day after you vote?

Lets not forget Mr. Bali Hai's classic Stalin with a Fez.

DC

Here's yet another tiki/fez (well, tiki/shriner) connection:

On 2009-01-18 14:48, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Presenting Doctor Z's latest three-face mug find. A vanity mug that actually connects Shriner culture with Tiki culture.

Searching online, it appears that Mr. Baird was the Potentate for the Fresno, California shriner lodge.

On 2011-03-28 18:13, telescopes wrote:
How can you find the results a day after you vote?

Simply click again on the vote button and the latest results show up.

Well I've been doing a little research and have found some evidence of fez and tiki, within and ethnomusical context, going way back. There are missing links in the family tree, but I'm sure some of you can find them in your own research.

The Grand Potentate

Ozzfest

Lerner and Loewe

Since this thread seems to have d/evolved into the Random Crap About Fezzes thread it seems the best place to post something I'd completely forgot about: Doctor Who wore a fez in the last episode of this past season.

In a round about story I don't feel like explaining (and you most likely wouldn't care to hear) the Doctor showed up wearing a fez...

When one of his companions inquired about the sudden addition of a hat to his ensemble the Doctor replied "It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool." (The last line was a reference to the Doctor proclaiming "Bow ties are cool." earlier in the season.*****) Later the fez is snatched of the Doctor's head by one companion and tossed in the air where it is hit by a laser blast by another companion. They did no like the fez.

There is Doctor Who fez stuff available out there somewhere...

...Because these days our pop culture has to run anything cool or funny into the ground as quickly as possible.

*****I know you either already knew that or didn't care to know it. I don't care. It's just easier that way.

Whilst many will think Woofmuts post may finally push this thread into beyond or Bilge, because ther is no link between Doctor Who fezzes and Tiki.
The makers of Dr Who contacted us a while back to make a moai replica for the show, nothing has come of it yet but you never know.

*"The makers of Dr Who contacted us a while back to make a moai replica for the show, nothing has come of it yet but you never know."
*

That means the degrees-of-separation between myself and the Doctor are few. I feel light headed.

"Whilst many will think Woofmuts post may finally push this thread into beyond or Bilge..."*

I could also get a bit light headed thinking I might wield such power, but I can't see how my trivial addition could be the deciding factor in a thread that was devoid of Tiki content to begin with (though it is a thread addressing a topic that clearly sits heavily on Tiki Central's collective head).

The only fez I'm opposed to is a fez worn by someone that did not earn it - although i own a few that fall into that category, i would never wear a shiner's fez, as I have no right to do so.

[ Edited by: BigD 2011-03-29 10:56 ]

You're never gonna do it without the Fez on"

Steely Dan ~ The Fez

There is a lot of things we do in Florida that the Tikiphiles in California and the rest of the US do not consider "Tiki". I am fine with this. The culture is strong and well rooted in California. I still don't see the Fez connection to Tiki. It is retro, but I think it is a stretch to consider it "Tiki". Go easy on me. I'm new around here.

On 2011-03-29 10:55, BigD wrote:
The only fez I'm opposed to is a fez worn by someone that did not earn it - although i own a few that fall into that category, i would never wear a shiner's fez, as I have no right to do so.
[ Edited by: BigD 2011-03-29 10:56 ]

You mean, like this?

I honestly love to see them on those that did not earn them. It would be sad if all those fezzes from owners that have 'passed on' were never worn again! It adds colour and jauntiness to a cocktail party! I have a hard time not smiling at a happily worn fez.

Dr. Who is definitely not tiki.

And another thing...

Feztastic by prodigy69

On 2011-03-31 00:45, Tikiwahine wrote:

On 2011-03-29 10:55, BigD wrote:
The only fez I'm opposed to is a fez worn by someone that did not earn it - although i own a few that fall into that category, i would never wear a shiner's fez, as I have no right to do so.

You mean, like this?

I honestly love to see them on those that did not earn them. It would be sad if all those fezzes from owners that have 'passed on' were never worn again! It adds colour and jauntiness to a cocktail party! I have a hard time not smiling at a happily worn fez.

Fezzes are great fun - or not - according to taste. But I think I'm more in agreement with BigD. I see a difference, when it comes to a particular fez (Shriner, FOM, et al.) that has been endowed with significance by the requirements of 'earning' it. I might choose to respectfully display one, but would not feel right, publicly wearing it. If I liked the look, I'd buy or make one that captured the style, but wouldn't be a Shriner's fez.

Likewise, a collector of military memorabilia might buy a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star at an estate sale, for display,... but (I hope!) would never wear them to a party, even if they looked really cool and fun on his jacket. Maybe he'd buy or make up his own non-significant medals, if he "liked the look".

All that said, I'd certainly never "confront" someone at a party for wearing a Shriner fez, or even let it bother me. I'd assume it was in the spirit of "good fun", innocent of any disrespect. My feelings about this are likely influenced by knowing several Shriners... from the Hella Shrine, in fact. (Maybe I'll ask their opinion, FWIW... be funny if I felt qualms over it, but they had no problem, as long as the person wasn't actually "impersonating" a Shriner.)

I wonder how many among us would say, "Hey, that authentic, second-hand Shriner fez looks great on you", but would be incensed to find the same party-goer sporting an unearned, second hand F.O.M. fez? A bit apples and oranges, though - context does matter. We mean no disrespect, when we use Polynesian religious imagery in our bars - we're just having fun. But we might decorate our bar differently, if we actually lived among old Polynesians who still had reverent feelings about such images.

How are we supposed to become enraged, indignant, and generally all fly-off-the-handle like if you politely and logically state your opinions and then also present an argument against your opinions? Jeez! Some people.

On 2011-04-01 09:46, woofmutt wrote:
How are we supposed to become enraged, indignant, and generally all fly-off-the-handle like if you politely and logically state your opinions and then also present an argument against your opinions? Jeez! Some people.

Don't worry, it's all part of my secret passive-aggressive strategy to stir up a mess o' trouble by pretending to be infuriatingly reasonable and frustratingly open-minded.

Hurry and vote! It's neck and neck in the pole results. 'No' is bringing up the rear fast.

On 2011-04-01 15:54, Limbo Lizard wrote:

On 2011-04-01 09:46, woofmutt wrote:
How are we supposed to become enraged, indignant, and generally all fly-off-the-handle like if you politely and logically state your opinions and then also present an argument against your opinions? Jeez! Some people.

Don't worry, it's all part of my secret passive-aggressive strategy to stir up a mess o' trouble by pretending to be infuriatingly reasonable and frustratingly open-minded.

The Fez - endorsed by Doctor Who

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bswr0osbk0Q

Enough said!

'No' brought up the rear and is ahead by a nose. It's percentage is even with 'yes'. Oh, the excitement! :o

This is my Fez that has a Tiki on it on a Tiki that was carved by a Hawaiian in California... can't get much more Tiki than that!!!

now that's a cool fez!

where'd you snag that?

It's was a limited run from Fez O Rama, I picked up at Tiki Oasis a couple years back.
It's my thinking (drinking) cap.