Aloha Hut

The Aloha Hut. Soon the Hawaiian Baby Woodrose vines will scramble over the sun screen mesh of the "A" shaped roof and strangle out the the sunlight so the interior can remain dark and mysterious.

The tiki cat keeps vigil at the entrance.

Inside features a salvaged tv. A looped DVD can play "Tiki Time TV"-- a mix of Don Ho and YouTube videos. Lots of mosquito repellent makes it tolerable to enjoy a beverage in the refreshment room.

Its always Tiki Time.

Someone threw this treasure out in the trash! Not exactly tiki, but it covers up the uncompleted bar front that may some day be festooned with a tapa cloth pattern.

A lava rock water feature provides a background bubbling ambiance to evening get-togethers. A looped soundtrack of Disney "Sunshine Pavilion" music and low key exotica, among other selections, is piped in via speakers mounted behind the wall of styrofoam rocks.

Near the pool is the obligatory signpost and hammock hook up. The signs help hide the plumbing to an array of water misters and one water jet that sprays poolward.

The misters in action. Ahhh, cooling relief after a hard day in the hammock.

Not a great picture. Proprietary brand of Rock Candy Syrup for Mai Tais. (2 cups sugar, one cup water, boil, stir, and optional, add a dash of vanilla extract, bottle, enjoy).

Signs showing that Jungle John is passable at painting far more than carving.

Except for the Mai Tais, this is a menu from a weekend luau for a new generation of teenaged tiki-Poly-pop aficionados. Only the grown ups enjoyed the "real" refreshments. The virgin Mai Tais turned out to be sweet limeade with a dash of OJ-- yum!

carpe tiki

[ Edited by: Jungle John 2015-03-18 20:40 ]

The whole tiki experience is about escaping to a place that helps you relax and escape for awhile. Welcome back.

very very cool!!!! love your signs and menu too!!! wish I had the tropical climate to grow bananas here in so cal but once in a while we get a cold snap and kills em! cant wait to see more pix

Lookin good

The Abandoned Tiki Hut

The haunting beauty of decaying abandoned places has always fascinated me. Now I can enjoy the wonderment of a moldering abandoned place right in my own backyard! That's right, the once illustrious Aloha Hut, home to the Refreshment Room's own Death-to-Captain-Cook Mai Tai, is now a bygone relic, slowly succumbing to the wilds of subtropical Florida.

Here's a snapshot of it this afternoon.

Nature slowly intrudes on the bridge.

Frozen in time, now home to only spiders and mosquitoes.

A lone sentinel to an abandoned outpost of racist-filled overtones.

Sorry guys, I still contend there is more than a hint of racism in this appropriated tiki culture. Celebrating the lack of sensitivity to the poor treatment of indigenous people hardly sets a party atmosphere. I regret being involved with it, and I am glad to watch it fade away.

The quaint charm of tiki/Polynesian/nautical fantasy style seems harmless and alluring when it is based on the fakey ephemera of the mid-20th century plastic tiki fad, but beneath that cheap souvenir veneer is a history of exploitation and abuse. The pre-fab tiki trinkets help sanitize and whitewash the ugly truths and harsh realities.

Check out a link about tiki racism:
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=lux
Check out Jim Crow caricatures of yore. Same racism, different subject.
http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/picaninny/

I was bullied here on Tiki Central; initially, when I posted my early realization of the unsavory aspects of racist overtones in appropriated American tiki culture. Those right-wing sounding blowhards are still here. I don't care what they say any more. I have a feeling time will heal all wounds, and more than likely a big hurricane is going to come along and scrub my yard clean. Karma's gonna get everybody sooner or later.

Interesting, to me racism is more about intent but maybe I'm wrong. The Aloha Hut looks cool in decay too. Sorry to see you go John

Jungle John -- I'm rather confused by your most recent post. If you're concerned that using tiki images is racist, then why don't you take them down? And once you remove the tikis, masks, etc., can't you simply enjoy a tropical themed bar? Why leave it to decay? Seems like a waste of a nice space.

Tiki isn't the American appropriation of Polynesian culture. It is the colonization of the American psyche by Polynesia. It is not an unsubtle difference.

I've actually got an article about this subject that I've written fro my Disney blog... I was going to post it in November when Moana comes out because I'm sure there will be cries of cultural appropriation, but I might push it forward now, or give a preview here on the forum.

I have to agree with Mike. If you no longer believe in the tiki culture why don't you take down the tikis and enjoy a lush, beautiful backyard and a non-descript bar?

On 2016-02-24 12:46, Jungle John wrote:
The Abandoned Tiki Hut

The haunting beauty of decaying abandoned places has always fascinated me. Now I can enjoy the wonderment of a moldering abandoned place right in my own backyard! That's right, the once illustrious Aloha Hut, home to the Refreshment Room's own Death-to-Captain-Cook Mai Tai, is now a bygone relic, slowly succumbing to the wilds of subtropical Florida.

Here's a snapshot of it this afternoon.

Nature slowly intrudes on the bridge.

Frozen in time, now home to only spiders and mosquitoes.

A lone sentinel to an abandoned outpost of racist-filled overtones.

Sorry guys, I still contend there is more than a hint of racism in this appropriated tiki culture. Celebrating the lack of sensitivity to the poor treatment of indigenous people hardly sets a party atmosphere. I regret being involved with it, and I am glad to watch it fade away.

The quaint charm of tiki/Polynesian/nautical fantasy style seems harmless and alluring when it is based on the fakey ephemera of the mid-20th century plastic tiki fad, but beneath that cheap souvenir veneer is a history of exploitation and abuse. The pre-fab tiki trinkets help sanitize and whitewash the ugly truths and harsh realities.

Check out a link about tiki racism:
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=lux
Check out Jim Crow caricatures of yore. Same racism, different subject.
http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/picaninny/

I was bullied here on Tiki Central; initially, when I posted my early realization of the unsavory aspects of racist overtones in appropriated American tiki culture. Those right-wing sounding blowhards are still here. I don't care what they say any more. I have a feeling time will heal all wounds, and more than likely a big hurricane is going to come along and scrub my yard clean. Karma's gonna get everybody sooner or later.

Forgot to even add my post to above.

Isn’t letting your backyard turn into a jungle counterproductive to the mosquito
problem you say you have?

Not to worry they are going to blast us with so much bug spray this year because of the
Zika Virus that nothing gets out alive.

careful, dude... it's a jungle out there.

Actually, we have Maori friends - ALL love our Tiki Space, and... "get it" - NONE have taken offence.

...just don't get 'em started on the Bledisloe Cup, sheeeesh!...

Has someone chipped you, or is it just the voices?

Reopened. Tiki is cool.

"Has someone chipped you, or is it just the voices?"

Ok so I love this statement.
I'm going to use it.

I though I'd stimulate debate, not stir up hate. Sorry.

Welcome back!

The pendulum has swung back.

On 2016-04-05 15:10, Jungle John wrote:
I though I'd stimulate debate, not stir up hate. Sorry.

Just to be clear my post was not hateful.
I did think that was a cool aussie saying though.

And komohana did add to the debate.

Dam your hut is cool as well.

I also think your hut is way cool, the roof over the entry in particular is beautifully proportioned.

Further, I was not being hateful - believe me, if I was there would be no doubt - I was simply saying that
none of our Maori friends have ever taken offence at our Tiki rooms, in fact they do seem to like what I
have done and even gone as far as to say they will add to my collection if they happen to find any more
Polynesian artefacts.

If you're not familiar with the expression - chipped - If someone chips you, they are taking a swipe or taking
a shot at you - figuratively speaking.

Has someone confronted you about the cultural appropriation issue? or has it to do with your own inner struggle?

Would be interested to hear if anyone else has taken flak over these issues.

p.s. What ever you do - don't get the kiwis started on the Bledisloe Cup, sheeeesh!...

On 2016-04-05 15:10, Jungle John wrote:
I though I'd stimulate debate, not stir up hate. Sorry.

Kind of like you calling us all "racist white trash" on your blog and Google+?

Ha! Now we got a debate.

This may turn out to be a love, hate, kinda ok with it relationship.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2016-04-06 03:17 ]

You know I went and looked at your blog and have to say what really stood out to me is you like to drop some you guys on TC and tiki sucks bomb and then when the s%^t hits the fan take YOUR hateful post away.
This leaves you the innocent victim being trash talked by the “white Trash” on TC.
Good thing you picked whites for your racial slur as they are one of the few people you can do that to these days and not get some kind of outrage.

In fact it looks like you got WAY more good comments and people trying to encourage you on TC.

Seeing the way your past goes is this now the time that you bash TC, then love tiki, and in the end don a poor helpless lamb suit and cry foul.

You need to look at yourself and see that you are the hater that is pushing buttons.

“White trash” tiki lover,
Tikiskip

I don't know if it's happening more often now, or if I'm just noticing it more often now because I'm older and less tolerant of it, but I dislike this inability of a seemingly increasing number of people to carry on a civil disagreement. It never seems like it's just disagreeing about something, having a respectful and rational discussion, and then politely agreeing to disagree. It's always like...

"I think Tiki is cultural appropriation."
"I disagree, because X, Y, and Z."
"YOUR A RACIST WHITE TRASH!!1!"

It could be a discussion about morals, culture, politics, religion, science, whatever... And it doesn't matter which side the person is on... It just goes from 0 to 60 in a snap.

The Google Plus posts are gone. I had forgotten all about those. Thanks for reminding me and sorry that I put them up.

Here goes: I promise to only extol the positive side of tiki culture from now on here at Tiki Central. I'm sorry if comments I made here or on other sites offended anyone. In this hypersensitive politically correct climate I understand people are touchy about topics like racism. I'll never mention it again. I am sorry.

I'm still interested in current race relations in the islands as much as I am interested in the history of tiki culture, not to mention the sociological and culture anthropology aspects of it too.

In the meantime, I began work on a new tiki fountain by carving, sanding and gluing this styrofoam head/mask this very evening. Water will squirt out of its mouth. I'll paint it brown, etc. Its about 18 inches wide by 24 in. long.

On 2016-04-06 21:47, Jungle John wrote:
The Google Plus posts are gone. I had forgotten all about those. Thanks for reminding me and sorry that I put them up.

Here goes: I promise to only extol the positive side of tiki culture from now on here at Tiki Central. I'm sorry if comments I made here or on other sites offended anyone. In this hypersensitive politically correct climate I understand people are touchy about topics like racism. I'll never mention it again. I am sorry.

I'm still interested in current race relations in the islands as much as I am interested in the history of tiki culture, not to mention the sociological and culture anthropology aspects of it too.

In the meantime, I began work on a new tiki fountain by carving, sanding and gluing this styrofoam head/mask this very evening. Water will squirt out of its mouth. I'll paint it brown, etc. Its about 18 inches wide by 24 in. long.

Without having been involved in the previous debate, I must say I never considered Tiki to be racist.

Here's my 2 cents as a former art history major.
During the mid 20th century the dominant trend in the fine arts was modernism, which took its roots in primitivism, or being inspired by the artworks of so called "primitive" cultures. To be inspired by another artist is not derogatory, but is probably the highest compliment one artist can give another. Picasso's cubist phase created some of the most influential works of the 20th century, and If you look at them, the primitive influence is obvious. Last year, I saw a beautiful exhibit of Matisse's work, some of which was inspired by his travels in Tahiti. And if you go to any art museum large enough to have international collections (Egyptian, Roman, Japanese, etc.) you will probably find an Oceanic section full of beautiful artwork, I know the MFA in Boston has one. Also, with air travel only recently being commercialized, there was a fascination with all things foreign and exotic.

Personally, I see Tiki as the high culture trends at the time getting filtered down to pop culture. High fashion influences street fashion, which in turn influences high fashion.

Additionally, Tiki doesn't portray, or even attempt to accurately duplicate a real culture or historic time period. It's pure fantasy. Certainly racist (and sexist) undertones were prevalent in pop culture during the mid century period (just watch the first episode of Mad Men), but I don't think the tiki fad can be blamed for intentionally perpetrating them, and that any racist elements were merely an unintentional reflection of the society they were created by.

Tiki central
"Celebrating classic and modern Polynesian Pop"

It's right there, at the top.
"Learn it. Know it. Live it"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8E7_u2qgjE

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2016-04-09 21:46 ]

Tiki is, fundamentally, an expression of the American cultural experience. Specifically, America's encounter with the South Pacific. It does not represent Polynesian culture and was never intended to. The first Tiki bar - Don's Beachcomber Cafe - was simply filled with the bric-a-brac collected by Ernest Gantt during his own travels around the tropics.

That cultural experience necessarily overlaps with the cultural experiences of Polynesians themselves, which is where it can get ambiguous. Cultural objects and images from Polynesia become the backdrop of this encounter. The framework of "cultural appropriation," however, is fraught with its own problems... It's not an effective concept for understanding how actual people in actual cultures act and interact. There certainly may be some instances of (largely unintended) disrespect, plagiarism, etc., but not nearly enough to indict the Tiki subculture.

Finished stryofoam tiki fountain. I haven't had much luck with fountains. The last one had an open water pool and got filled with tadpoles and leaves despite adding some chlorine tabs. This one has an enclosed tank.

Added the little tiki to get that water-trickling sound.

Accent lighting at night.