Official Introductions Thread. New Members, Post your introduction here...

Hey Formikahini!
I remember you from the Kahiki. There is a pic of you on my site. http://www.tikiking.com/kahiki_Pic_Frame_Set.html Welcome to the board!
Cheers!
Tiki King

Aloha, Formica--Mr. Smiley says hi!!

Hello to Vern, too. I saw you joined a little while ago---bruce

Hi,

My real name is Tim and I've recently attended the Tiki Oasis in Palm Springs and Bamboo Ben's Gathering of the Tribes last weekend.

I grew up here in Los Angeles and some of my earliest memories are of going to Disneyland every year in the 1960s and sitting in the Tiki Room with my parents, in complete awe of the singing birds, tikis and flowers. When the fake rainstorm commenced with its thunder and lightning, I'd clutch tightly to my father, my eyes wide with fear and fascination. Back then the whole crowd would sing all the songs at the top of their lungs, not finding anything nerdy or self-conscious about it. It was a more innocent time.

There also used to be a restaurant in the park, next-door to the Tiki-Room where you could have a sit-down luau and watch a real hula show with Tahitian fire dancers. Don't remember what ever became of that place.

As a child I also remember an apartment building along La Cienega Boulevard, just south of Centinela that would catch my eye as we passed it on the way to church each week. It had a grotto of lava and cycads in the front with a huge palm-wood tiki rising out of it. At night it was flood-lit from below and there were guttering tiki torches. It was utterly mesmerizing. It also seemed completely normal, as there were tikis all over in the city at that time, anywhere you went. The apartment building on La Cienega is still there, but the tiki is of course long gone.

Later, I developed an interest in Polynesian culture and even joined an outrigger canoe team out of Redondo Beach for a few years. At some time in the 1990s through the influence of a very hip graphic-designer friend, I began to suddenly view 1950s modernist furniture and decor as beautiful instead of ugly. I began to scour the garage and estate-sales to decorate my home. The pop Tiki-culture items I found as well seem to blend right in with my decorating sensibilities. One day I found a record album called "Bahia" by someone named Arthur Lyman. I put it on my turntable and couldn't believe what I was hearing. Everyone needed to hear this amazing "mood" music, so I made cassette recordings and sent them to all my friends. I thought I was the first person to "rediscover" exotica music. Boy, was I naive!

Nowadays I'm still addicted to garage and estate sales, and along with my good friend, fellow Tiki-Centralite, Doctor Z, we scour the South Bay every Saturday morning for junk to keep and junk to sell.

I sell on E-bay under the name cycluracycura:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1760708477

And Doctor Z sells under the moniker iamdrz:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&userid=iamdrz&include=0&since=2&sort=3&rows=0

I must admit that Doctor Z has the higher-developed radar sense for tiki-mugs and I have found myself shut-out for months! I can definitely confirm the rumor that he recently found six black Sneaky Tikis with perfect paint at a garage-sale for a dollar apiece.

That's it for now. I'm just happy that a community like this exists, and if I find I have anything valuable to contribute, I'll look forward to posting more soon. Thanks.

Sabu

Aloha! Good god, there are a lot of us. I had no idea.

Does anyone know of a good tiki bar in the Seattle area? Ohana is okay, but not quite tacky enough.

Here's my home tiki bar -- hope it's not too lame to post a link:

http://www.flipnik.com/humuhumu/

Hello,
24 hour tiki news. I like it!

used to be suicide_sam on Yahoo am now suicide_sam here. I took the name from an old cartoon character no one seems to remember. He was a little guy that ran around with a misslle head tied to his head trying to ram into people.

Aloha everybody!

As "naughtytikivixen," I too was one of those shadowy, lurking figures back in the Yahoo days. But now, feeling rather overworked, impecunious and generally weary of spirit, (and therefore slightly less naughty, unfortunately) I've decided it's time to join in the refreshing Tiki fun here at Tiki Central!

I've loved old things all my life, particularly vintage clothing. I am now a full-time online clothing seller and spend much of my spare time traveling about, searching for my latest collection of treasures. There's nothing like the call of the open road, particularly when you know there's thrift stores and estate sales just waiting to be pillaged!

My cats and I live in part of a big old Victorian by the waterfront in old Vallejo, CA. My big, drafty kitchen is a bizarre but (I think) charming blend of deco kitchen furniture and dishes, film noir posters, and a well-stocked vintage tiki bar.

I already know some Tiki Centralites from other social scenes (hi to thejab and mrsmiley!) and am looking forward to meeting the rest of you. The Palm Springs Tiki Oasis was a fabulous weekend of pure escapism--can't wait for the next one. And er, I did have one naughty moment, as I dimly recall being among the tipsy miscreants thrown out of the pool area at 2 am.

By the way, I like this site far better than Yahoo already. Thanks and congratulations!

And--one question--am I the only one who dreams wistfully of getting some backers together and one day opening the ultimate, ULTIMATE tiki bar? Surely not...

Lisa, aka tikivixen

Miss Formica! I'm so glad you've joined the party too. I remember you from Tiki Oasis and Mr. Smiley's last New Year's Eve--hope to see you again soon!

Lisa aka tikivixen

Welcome, Lisa aka tikivixen! A bit ago there was a discussion on what the Ultimate tiki bar might be like:

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=192&forum=1

There was also a thread about desirable locations for the Ultimate tiki bar, but that's a moot point because everyone knows it should be within walking distance from my apartment!

hi! in completely new. my names colleen. feel free to talk to me :) !

[ Edited by: colly on 2002-09-01 08:06 ]

I just joined today and am looking forward to learning more about collecting tiki mugs.

I'm TikiGuy,long time listener, first time caller.

I am like Pablo, the penguin who hated the cold. Yet I am addicted to universal health care and satisfying my wife's desire to stay near relatives and current friends. So I have found a way to indulge the tropical guy in me...tiki.

In another post I postulated on the foundations of my newly-fostered tiki obsession. I think they were all valid seeds in the insidious awakening of the tiki in me. But I forgot a place that comes as close to 'my-first-tiki-bar' as possible. Club Cedars near Belleville, Ontario. It was a bit of south seas, a bit of a fire-trap and a lot of a teen-dance-club where the smell of testosterone and Polo mixed headily. More often than not I just stared at the dedfunct waterfalls and marveled at the half-working opening ceiling thinking, "I wish I owned this. It's like Gilligan's Island in Canada."

Well, this past Sunday my first step towards "Guy's Tiki Garden" (a basement tiki bar) began. I bought my first tiki mug at a yard sale for 50 cents. Let the games begin!!!!

BTW, I am TikiGuy because my name is Guy and, well, shucks, I like the tiki.

Welcome, Colleen - where are you joining us from? Tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in our little obsession!

On 2002-09-01 08:05, colly wrote:
hi! in completely new. my names colleen. feel free to talk to me :) !

[ Edited by: colly on 2002-09-01 08:06 ]

Aloha, Tikimaxton! Check out Colly's website...she's a cutie! Grey

Aloha Tiki Aficionados

I just happened to bump into this sight and am over joyed. Looking forward to sharing thoughts and input. Till then, keep the ice cold, and the blender warm.

[ Edited by: tikilee on 2002-09-17 21:20 ]

this place is so great and i am excited to enhance my weak knowledge but huge love for tiki stylee.
jason

Well, I finally made it!

After everyone kept confusing me with my identical cousin, Cherry Capri, at the Fabulous Tiki Bash this weekend, I decided I better officially join Tiki Central :wink:
(You can tell Cherry and I apart, because she has bright red hair and a mole on her left cheek) I am very sorry she didn't make the Bash... The last I heard she met up with a millionaire in Marina del Rey Friday night and decided to go for a 3 hour cruise and we haven't heard from her since.

My name is Mary-Margaret and I run the Modern Committee Site and the Lotta Living Message Board. Please drop by if you ever have off tiki topic discussions.
Anyway... this is the best place in the world to be. As Sven said on Saturday night at Tiki Bash, you guys are "like family."

I just want to know how to get some of those great Tiki Central stickers so that I can spread the word, too!

[ Edited by: Futura Girl on 2002-10-01 00:58 ]

I'm new to this site, but have tiki art that is based on my earliest childhood memories growing up in so. Cal (60's-70's Disneyland once or twice a year.)
Can I post pictures ?

[ Edited by: horizon mombo on 2002-10-01 09:03 ]

Hello, all. I've been lurking for a while and thought it was time to join.
Name is Saint-Thomas. I am a potter in Knoxville, TN and got sucked into this by Kiliki and Swanky. They asked me to make some tiki cups for the Hukilau, and now I'm hooked.
If you want to see some of my pottery, view my website: Pseudopots.com

This is a new group my company has started. Which I think its one of the best things going for a company doing a DPO and the price is great and the future is tremendous check it out and join today.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/utinetwork/ and also all members get great discounts from the UTI companies some of the things you will see our swim wear,leather wear,great cocktail mixes,computers at discount prices, even telecom products and more to come. This is not a e-commerce store where we get a commission if you order of the site. We have it in stock and ready to ship. You can even give us a call and talk to a real person. HOPE YOU JOIN
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/utinetwork/

Smells like someone's cooking some Spam.

On 2002-10-02 10:00, PolynesianPop wrote:
Smells like someone's cooking some Spam.

I actually studied tallblonde's "introduction" for a minute and kind of got the same feeling as when I answer my phone and the person on the other line says "Hello! May I speak to the person in charge of your long distance service?..."

Does "mentioning" of cocktail mixes in his/her "introduction" make this a BS intro?
(BS = Borderline Spamming)

SugarCaddyDaddy

It sounds as though 'Tallblonde' is modest too!

How many times do you see a company that is 'prosperous' in all things from exotic leatherwear to bio-technology.

Reminds me of some new television show where a 24 year old model with a great @$$ and big boinkers is actually a nuclear scientist (right!).

A thing of tiki is a joy forever

[ Edited by: Tiki_Bong on 2002-10-02 14:38 ]

Today cocktail mixes, tomorrow the world!!!
Aaahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!
(Strokes white cat on leggy blonde lap)

Trader Woody

Just Joined.....diggin it the MOST! I went to the tiki farm party and got some good picts....somebody tell me how to post em.

adios,
surfmonkey

Just joined in, hope to be here awhile.

Aloha,
Rock-A-Tiki

Check out the San Onofre tiki post. Shelly put up great pic posting instructions

Hi-Just got tiki-zed afew months back. Can't recall how the gods got thru to me. But I woke up. Talk about hard to find tiki themed anything in Bradenton, Florida or anyone who knows what the hell I'm talking about(when I first mention tiki). Which have found out is a good thing. Now my house is being transformed...Glad to have found the site!!!

Aloha,and Greetings...from a new guy to Tiki Central one and all.
I attended the Big OL Tiki Bash with wide eyed amazement...It was an awesome event for this Tiki Bash "virgin". Thank you to Tiki Farm for making this event possible. After viewing the posted photos and postings, I can now put some names to the people I met and faces I saw...later for now. I'm ghost!

Tikifish reffered me to this site. My brother-in-law sent me a link to an ebay auction of a mug from Chin Tiki (in Detroit). Thought I'd be interested since I worked there, met my husband there...one thing led to another to this site. I never realized there was such an interest in all things tiki. Tikifish wanted to hear some anecdotes about Chin Tiki. So, thank you Tikifish, for that article on Chin's in Livonia and bringing back memories of a simpler time.
Anecdotes? Chin Tiki was billed as a Polynesian restaurant that had 4 people who were really Polynesian (my husband, his mom and brother plus one of the bartenders). The rest of us were from all over. Fun place to work and I stayed there even after I got my "real" job as a drafter. The floor shows were great and were pretty authentic (my mother-in-law and the bartender-who was one of the dancers) helped, the manager of the group made sure to supply the girls with the coolest costumes (I stayed out of the way when my mom-in-law was making them!), the latest shirts from Hawaii and anything Tahitian that my mother-in-law could bring back from visits home. Chin Tiki had all the requisite tiki bar decor but the most stunning thing was the mural behind the bar of undersea life. Done in neon colors that glowed with the blacklites, it was painted by a regular at the restaurant, Blaine Perrigo (and I may have his name and/or spelling totally wrong-this was a while ago!). I hope the Chin's were able to save some of that mural.
As employees, we were able to eat there for free. This was great since I was so poor! Lunch was from the buffet, sitting at the tables in the bar after the lunch rush hour. Dinner was made for us by the cooks but we also had access to the appetizer drawers! A few of the other hostesses and I would order pizza from one of the best pizza places on Cass ,close to Wayne State. We'd tell the person taking the order to stop by Chung's on the way and have Phil pay for the pizza and then bring it to us at Chin Tiki. (Phil was Marvin Chin's cousin and often stopped by to visit). We'd have the pizza sitting behind the hostess desk on one of the bus stands, got lots of comments from customers about smelling pizza, for gawd's sake!
Ronnie Linn (sp?) and his wife, Chris ran a tight ship. The place was classy and they kept it that way, in spite of a couple of us hostesses who were barely out of our teen years!
Don't know if any of you are interested in any of this. These are memories from a long-ago youth of a restaurant that was supposed to evoke a polynesian atmosphere. It was about as real as any tiki bar and in the ensuing years, I've come to know that culture a little better. Somebody on this site had recommended going to the Pacific Islander festival here in San Diego. That and any other heivas around the west will get you closer to the polynesian spirit. Tiki bars are fun, though!

Thank you so much for posting that! I think it deserves it's own topic, I almost missed it in the ;new members' thread!

Thanks Hama!

So, when the Chin Tiki re-opens, will you \go back to work there again? : )

Hama,
Interesting info on the Chin Tiki. Would definitely love to hear more!

Tikifish, is the Chin Tiki really going to re-open? I thought that was just speculation. Would be cool if it did!

Aloha TC,
I am a new member to this forum and wanted to introduce myself. I have been friki about the tiki and everything exotic since I was wee little monkey. My other passions include: surfing, reverb, guitars and art. I look forward to meeting some of the T.C locals and talking some story.
Mahalo,
Chongolio

hey there NY area Tiki fans
I'm opening a Tiki bar on 538 14th st. between Ave. A & B in Manhattan in the space that was Barmacy for those who are familiar with that area/bar. It's going to be called Otto's Shrunken Head. We're open right now while we're transforming from old bar to new bar and you guys are invited to come take a look at the process. We're having a grand opening party on the 19th of October and hope to have evrtything done by then. It'll be a kind of rock-n-roll Tiki Bar w/ live music and DJs. Hope to see you guys at the grand opening if not beforehand. if you come down ask for me I'll give you the 3 cent tour
steve
Otto's Shrunken Head

**Poly-Pop ***

Bartender, make mine a glass of WATAHHH!!!!!

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop 2013-02-04 20:54 ]

"Posted by PolynesianPop on 2002-10-07 15:00
Rock-n-Roll is NOT tiki
Live Music is NOT tiki
DJ's are NOT tiki"
Live music not Tiki?Listening to Arthur Lyman or Martin Denny in Hawaii in the late Fities and early sixties must be pretty darn close. And Otto spinning Exotica tunes these days must also be...pretty darn close.

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2002-10-07 15:45 ]

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2002-10-07 15:55 ]

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop 2013-02-04 20:55 ]

"Posted by PolynesianPop on 2002-10-07 15:43
------------------------------------------------------------------------mrsmiley,
I was just trying to be humorous, ala bigbro's comment"
Sorry Mr. Pop, I didn't catch the joke-you may call me Mr. Frowny (but only until midnight)

Hi everyone, my name is Scott, and I'm new to tiki central. I live here in San Diego, CA. Im 19, and have been into tiki for about a year now but only recently have I started to collect stuff. Ive even started to carve. See ya around.

mrsmiley,
No worries! Hey, are we still gonna meet at Tonga Room on the 9th? Check your email for my contact info.

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: polynesianpop on 2002-10-08 09:07 ]

I'm Deb and he's Gogo...together we've become the original "DEBaGOGO". We have a home here in Huntington Harbor which is decked to the nines like a tiki lounge. We're right down the street from Sam's Seafood and Hidden Village...where the scorpian bowls are absolutely the bomb. Make sure Jeff is the bartender, because he's got this "love potion" he slips them which makes people fall in love and get married just days later. We know this first hand of course. =) Having met alot of new friends at the Shag show and the Big Badd Bash...we look forward to partying with everyone at the next shindig.
OKOLE MALUNA! (which means "bottoms uhp")

[ Edited by: DEBAGOGO on 2002-10-08 09:57 ]

See you all at the Tonga Room. I'll be there late-about6:40 pm--bruce

Hello, I've been a member for a while, but have never posted, just been hiding in the shadows. I was at the Big ol' Bash and it was fun to put faces to names. I live in Newport Beach and bought my first mug at a swap meet in Hawaii about 12 years ago where my family would go every summer. It's been downhill ever since. I'm an artist and have been working on a series of tikis from around the world, which I will unleash onthe world very soon. I have two small kids, so I don't get out to as many events as I would like to, but I hope to meet as many of you as I can. It's good to know I'm not alone in my obsession? hobby? lifestyle?

Hello all,
I'm new to your groovy forum here,
Hope i'm accepted here, as it seems there's a fuss lately, reading a few posts
well, I like, tikis of course, don't think I'm enlightened or anything, I'm just down with the chill vibe, and sometimes when I look at any print from SHAG, I wish I could be inside that scene, sipping a martini, and roasting weiners over an inferno...
have fun,

Hey everyone, I just found this forum and look forward to hanging around - it's great with a lot of great info. I also do a little tiki art of my own.

Hey all, me new here too. I originally hail from Seattle, but since have lived in NYC, Reseda, Thousand Oaks, Coalinga, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, San Francisco, New Zealand, Portland OR, The Bronx, and now Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Anyone know of anything worthwhile in New England, please let me know...

Hello all! New poster, giving a warm aloha to all from here in Florida.

If you have a moment, surf on over to http://www.vodkanauts.com.

Hey Tiki Lovers!! Just found this site and signed up!! Thanks for all the hard work that has been put into this site!! It is great!!

~ Steve