TIKI OASIS IV - How was the Event? How was the Resort? How was The REEF?

Well done Otto and everybody involved in throwin' that amazing "Tiki Bash"! My family and I had a blast. The Reef looks really nice...good job B.B.& Crazy. The bands were fantastic and soooo entertaining! My kids usually can't sit still for 5 min. but were mesmerized by all the "Exotica"...King Kook, you are a TIKI GOD! And thanks alot vendors,you all depleted my bank account...but my Tiki room is lookin' SWANKY (will post pics soon). The Purple Orchid Mixologist Babes did an outstanding job in keeping us nice and "juiced" too, (from what I remember!?) thank you so much. Also, if you didn't get a chance to go to the art show at the M Gallery...you blew it! It was Awsome, and the perfect way to cap off one heck of a great weekend on our way out of town and back to reality. Aloha!

Hey swingers - sorry I missed the after party in 135, I was hosting the poolside dive-in and trying to stay alert for any MORE technical snafus. Unlike in years past, we used a video projector which would've been okay if we'd had a bigger screen. I brought a 5x5 portable which I was told would be large enough (I couldn't recall the dimensions of the pool, it's a pretty big sucker!), but then the tech folks suggested hanging up a sheet anyway (not that anyone noticed probably, but the sprinkler system kicked in about 12:30 right behind it - at first I thought it was a drunken movie critic relieving themself....). We could've thrown the image on a 35mm movie screen if we'd had one (or jut a big wall). Anyway, the print of "From Hell It Came" was pretty murky at times but the sound was cranked up pretty loud, not that the story made any sense anyway. Many or you were already drunk or in the hot tub or crashing a room party by showtime (we got started around the time it was supposed to END), so maybe I'm apologizing for nothing. It was the only "tiki" monster movie I could think of (thought there are plenty of South Sea Island B flicks for the future) - if only you could've see it better. It is also in the public domain so we didn't have to pay any royalties to some greedy movie studio (everyone associated with this film is either dead or too ashamed to come forward.) If anyone has any suggestions for how we could rig a bigger screen next time, fire at Thrill.

Anyway, great time, our second trip to Oasis (we stayed at the Orbit In again), mucho mahalo to Otto and Baby Doe and King and Project Pimento and Fishermen and APE and Casey and all the performers and all the merchants who helped deplete my wallet (which got soaked again when Gorilla X tossed me in the pool!), and of course my parents. Well, maybe not my parents.

"And to the CD snatcher--you are our hero! We will NEVER NEVER--even under torture or threat of torture give up your identity!"

Wow, Talk about Ohana! It's nice to know one has that many people behind you. But let it be stated here and now:

I AM THE CD SNATCHER!

And I'm damn proud of it! The story has already been told several times before in this thread. Let me just add that Ms. French rudely barreled into room 135, moved right up to the player and attempted to waylay our fun. After the cry of horror from those nearby I knew something needed to be done fast! My first impulse was to simply snatch the CD and toss it out the open door. I decided though, that it would be more fun to run amok in the parking lot pretending to throw it while bellowing "Whoop, whoop whoop" a la 3 Stooges.

I have to admit it still took all my will power to resist from tossing it - not from fear of breaking the CD but rather of implanting it in some Innocent's head or slicing through some cherished feature of the Tropics. The CD was soon returned to her unharmed. Luckily, the incident had the desired effect of MAKING HER LEAVE.

The fact that Ms. French did not know "of the special cachet that 135 has" is immaterial. Her mission that night was simply to commandeer other peoples fun and make herself the center of attention. If that's her desire next year she should invest thousands of dollars in booze, get a room at the Tropics and host a party herself. I'm sure she wouldn't want someone to force their way in and play a rousing rendition of "Okole Maluna" by expelling gas through their sphincter.

So let her know who I am and let her know I'll do it again. And if she is still upset I derailed her plans well, SHE CAN KISS MY A$$ IN MACY'S WINDOW!

On 2004-05-10 13:48, Cousin Dave wrote:
to the only Arizonan who made the trip(as far as I know.)
Hi-Mr. Arizona. I am Mrs. Arizona. You are not alone. I live in Scottsdale too. I was in the savage contest-long brown hair, leopard outfit. I wish we would have met. I am brand new to TC as of last night.

Now to get this thread back on the original topic:

Many Thanks go out to Casey and the staff at the Tropics for letting us run amok at their place. The Reef bar looks great! Mahalo to C'AL And Boo for the decor, Dave and Rebbecca for the drinks (Viva la "PURPLE ORCHID!). Of course, BIG thanks to Otto and Bay Doe for setting the who dang thing up (nice boots BD!) And let us not forget Holden for his organization of the vendors.

Once again AL and Shelly proved to be the consummate hosts of 135. It seemed I always had a glass in one hand and a sandwich in the other.

I'm sorry I missed the Zombie tasting but I needed a nap!

Special thanks goes to Lady Velor for letting me use her phone (Love ya, mean it!)

PS: BigBro we missed you Boo Hoo!

[ Edited by: Atomic Cocktail on 2004-05-11 11:42 ]

It was great meeting everyone at Tiki Oasis IV! Thanks to Otto and Baby Doe for a great event. The music was great the drinks were strong and none of my newly aquired tiki mugs broke on the drive back home. Thanks to Holden for all of your hard work in working with all of the vendors and bending over backwards to acomodate my needs as a vendor. It was great meeting all of the Tiki central users. Monkeyman, Tikidude, Smokin Tikis, Tiki Tony, SugarCaddyDaddy, Crazy Al, SuburbanPeagan, Bamboo Ben, trashsistas, Munktiki family the list goes on.

Looking forward to next year!
Swamp Fire Lounge

p.s. Mrs. Arizona, I'm from Arizona and I met one other person from AZ. Sorry we missed you.

[ Edited by: Mr. Crafty on 2004-05-11 11:55 ]

[ Edited by: Mr. Crafty on 2004-05-11 11:58 ]

Mr. Crafty - you never came by for your painkiller! We love our menu, it's going over our new bar, next to our new ALOHA pineapple sign, near the new mugs, and we'll sit and enjoy it all wearing our new PJ jewelry...

The Oasis IV was great, Mr. Pineapple and I didn't quite know what to do with ourselves, last year was such a whirlwind, of nuptuals and such, this year we actually got to relax! I LOVE the new look of the Reef Bar, great job Ben and Al, and Casey for encouraging them. The entertainment and vendors were stellar, thanks Otto and Doe, Holden "vendor king" and AlnShely & Dr. Z for the drinks and fun, (Humu2 - no photos of our 'girl fight' :wink:
I had a great time in the pool with all the kids, the little ones AND Baxdog & C'Al. I had lovely, slurry conversations with so many new friends! Thanks to all who made it so much fun!

mrs. pineapple

What an incredible weekend! We had a great time and met so many wonderful people. I must thank Grogg for the Ukulele Fantasy Camp it was a personal highlight. Special thanks to Holden for all taking care of the vendors needs. We couldn't have asked for a better person looking out for us... and damn is that trophy cool!

...of course I gotta thank Otto, Baby Doe and everyone else thet made this weekend possible. The Cult of the Eye salutes you!

On 2004-05-11 12:17, mrs. pineapple wrote:
Humu2 - no photos of our 'girl fight' :wink:

God, I forgot all about that! Yep, Dr. Z's room saw plenty of hot girl-on-girl sticker-smoothin' action well before nutty bone girl showed up. :wink:

So much to say, but I have a miserable head-cold today, probably due to the cultures growing in the CT pool. I think it broke a few biological warfare treaties.

Big thanks to Casey and the CT staff for making it such a great weekend; to Otto & Baby Doe (and Vander!) for putting on such a great event; to DrZ for the fantastic drinks Thursday night; to all the vendors who sweated it out all day in the heat to bring us your wonderful goods; to Johnny Velour and his amazing ceramics; to Tiki Bird for the excellent mango beer; to all the great bands, especially The Fisherman, who simply brought it; to AlnShely for all their aloha and 135 (and to Bone Girl for leaving 135) and to so many great people that made The Pineapple's 1 year anniversay celebration so much fun.

Special shout-out to Mrs Pineapple for putting up with me for a whole year :wink:

Without further ado, here's a little taste of 135:

http://www.tikibot.com/misc/135_convert.mov

(shot on Canon S400 digital camera in movie mode). More movies coming soon....

Aloha,
Casey the Reef is absolutely awesome, first rate, thanks for everything. Otto, FANTASTIC EVENT. I want to thank Suicide Sam for this KICKASS ARTWORK!!!!!!.

Thanks to ChikiTiki for this KICKASS ARTWORK!!!!!!.

Ape was great!!!!


Tiki Frog

Thanks Derek for squeezing lemons and limes, we appreciate it. Monkeyman and OnaTiki

Maikai Gents Rule the Lanai. Iuka Grog!!!!!

Tiki Bong!!!!! The Smokin' Menehunes sounded fabulous

Kiegs, Mrs. Pineapple, Huma, and Cheeky Girl

ShipwreckJoey!!!!!

Vintage Girl, Drives me Banannas

Gretchen, 2QueerTikis, Pearly Shell

Sabu and the King!!!!!!!!

Martin and Rebecca

Nelva!!!!!!

Z-girl and Tiki Hula

TikiBob!!!!!!






Shelley and want to thank all of you for a fantastic weekend. Special thanks to all who helped stock the bar. See you next year.
Mahalo,
Al

And as the sun sets in the west, Sabu reminds us to have a pleasent Tiki.

[ Edited by: Alnshely on 2004-05-11 13:13 ]

On 2004-05-11 08:40, tiki mick wrote:

...but the ambience of the reef bar and the crowd (and the great hawaiian dancer and crazy Al helping to pump things up a bit) made me feel great as I was playing!

FYI -
That GREAT HAWAIIAN DANCER was none other than MS. HAWAII 1971! I think that's pretty cool!

Somebody help me out here - Was I in Palm Springs this weekend?

I've got a few clues that lead me to believe so. For instance, I find that I now have this Munktiki mug in my display case that's shaped kind of like a magnetically suspended pulsed plasma reaction control thruster, minus the weather-stripping, (you know the type), and an inexplicable tattoo of VintageGirl in a banana skirt on my back. The doctor also says that this liquid I have been passing for the past two days is actually pure Martinique Rum.

I also cannot seem to sleep at night for the insane strains of Quiet Village played on a Theremin that keep echoing in my head along with the images of a giant, dancing, shaft-rod-thrusting robot.

My wife is no help at all and will only smile enigmatically at me with a raised eyebrow when I ask her what I did last weekend. She has taken to serving me my dinner dressed in a bikini-top and a sarong and folds my napkins like little origami aloha shirts. I don't know what I did to deserve all this, and I'm not complaining... I'm just curious.

If I really was in Palm Springs this weekend for Tiki Oasis IV then I need to thank the following people:

Doctor Z, Big Al, and the bartenders at the Reef for injecting happy, mood-altering drugs into my body as part of their new Tahitian Noni-Noni Anti-Depression Therapy that I frankly, don't remember paying for.

The Fishermen for playing Thelonius Monk as Exotica and thus triggering the final meltdown of my mind and memory, which my doctor says will return someday. I fired that doctor and got a more favorable diagnosis from my new doctor - Doctor Z. He says I need something called a Sazerac.

Humuhumu for all the great photos of the 1964 Republican Convention that she just posted.

ZuluMagoo for bringing his postcard albums and trading me a bunch of fantastic postcards that will probably save me a hundred dollars in E-bay purchases. All I had to do was trade him a hundred dollars in postcards. What a deal!

Whoever left these great Beachbum Burt's glasses in my suitcase.

My Wife for the recent electrolysis work.

Monkeyman for the stellar effort on the Tiki Central photo board and for bringing enough fresh-squeezed lemon and lime juice for two parties - which limes, by the way, he squeezed individually between his rock-hard biceps.

Someone named Tiki Diablo for this cursed idol around my neck that I last saw safely returned to the sacred burial ground in an old Brady Bunch episode. I like it though - and thus have been willing to put up with the tarantulas that crawl across my pillow all night.

And everybody else who made this event memorable, in the sincerest, hard-to-remember sort of way.

Here are some photos I found in my camera.

Smogbreather

Otto

Monkeyman

Laney

Crazy Al & LuckyDesigns

Tikibelle in a quiet Coffee House in town.

Don't know why she's wearing a tag that says "Shake Me. I Chirp", but it's true. You should try it next time you see her.

ChikiTiki and Poly Pop closing up shop Sunday afternoon.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2004-05-11 15:54 ]

What a great weekend! The Reef: Gorgeous! Martiki's, Al's and Kick The Reverb's drinks: Gorgeous! The Purple Orchid bartenders: Gorgeous! The stage and all it's performers: Gorgeous! Otto and his family: Gorgeous! The complete spirit of aloha: Gorgous! King Kukulele: well...

Thanks for all the compliments on the stylin' shirts that The Gents wore on stage. They were created by the charming and talented Atomic Cocktail especially for The Maikai Gents!

Big MAHALO to all of you who came out to Iuka Grogg's Ukulele Fantasy Camp. We had some fabulously enthusiastic strummers, a super sing-along audience (Milton!), The Fisherman using swizzle sticks to play his solo on plastic cups, and Miss Hawaii dancing hula! WOW! I can't wait for next year's session. More ukes, I say!
Aloha to all the wonderful participants in Tiki Oasis 4.

-Iuka Grogg (EE-YOU-KAH)

[ Edited by: Iuka Grogg on 2004-05-11 14:14 ]

[ Edited by: Iuka Grogg on 2004-05-11 14:19 ]

Actually, I should have started with this. Kudos to all that were involved in making this a really swell event. I know those involved worked your tails off in making this a memorable event. This was mine and Cheekygirls 1st Oasis, and certainly won't be our last. Many thanks to Al N Shelly for their hospitality. King!!! You're a Kuk!! The best entertainer this side of Echo Park Lake. Otto and babydoe are to be congratulated for such a fine event. Crazy Al and Bamboo Ben are the schiznitz for their creativity. Plus Ben makes a pretty cool "Brutha". All the acts were fantastic and gave us that were too anebriated a reason to hurt ourselves while pogo dancing (Atomic??....... Dude the Pogo was out in the 80's man!!)(but a killer CD snatcher you are!!). What a great venue and a great bunch of people to hang and have good times with. Oh.... before I forget, thanks Florentina for letting me drum away on your new drum. It was very cool. Oh yeah!!! and before I forget (again). Mucho Mahalos to the TikiFrogs that came all the way from near Paris, France to hang with all of us. How did Kuk say it?, "C'est bonne les grande brasseries!!" I think that means, "thanks for the mammories" (had to throw in the Bob Hope twist).

On 2004-05-11 00:04, KING KUKULELE wrote:

PS I hereby officially accept the challenge to mud wrestle the bassplayer of the Fisherman Trio...to the death.

Ok folks!!! You heard it here 1st on TikiCentral. We've got our 1st contestants for the 1st annual Tiki Mudfish Wrestling Mania!! Who's next?? Think we could get Don King to promote it!!?? This'll work out perfect too. Anybody with an additude (or just too much alcohol in their bloodstream) can "work out" their frustrations in the Mudfish pit. (hee-hee!!). Did I hear Cherry Capri and the "Bonegirl" wanna "GET IT ON" too!!

Here the pics that we snapped off for the weekend. Hope you all enjoy them!!!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/welcome?i=EeANmbJm3bsmzjo&notag=1&sm=1&sl=1

So that is who the Hawaiian dancer was!

For those who missed her, she was great. Casey, how did she come about being at Oasis? Tell us more about her.

I was mesmerized by her beautiful facial structure and enchanting eyes. High cheek bones and almond shaped eyes. She was full of smiles as if she had not performed in awhile and had found an appreciative audience.

I told her that her dancing was beautiful. What a bonus moment.

TB

See everybody, there IS a picture of me. I must have been drunk because I didn't remember taking that pic. I started to sweat Jack in our little booth. The next pic board should have that sign in everyones photo. Thanks for a memory flashback Sabu!

[ Edited by: laney on 2004-05-11 15:17 ]

Had a great time! Great venue, music, wares, location, & most of all the people!

Tbird

p.s. got to remember next year to take a 15 minute nap before going to Dr. Z's & Room 135.

On 2004-05-11 12:17, mrs. pineapple wrote:
Mr. Crafty - you never came by for your painkiller! We love our menu, it's going over our new bar, next to our new ALOHA pineapple sign, near the new mugs,

Mr. & Mrs. Pineapple, my girlfriend and I were so bummed that we could not stop by for a drink because we were so exhausted from the sun and being on the go all day Saturday. We hope the invitation will stand for next year! Looking forward to the ultimate painkiller! Glad you like the drink menu. Thanks!

Well, I won't say what's already been said a few times over other than it was, of course, a spectacular weekend once again in Palm Springs. Although, I'm curious to know from a Palm Springs local if the weather was more typical this year or last year at the same time. I remember being cold last year by 10pm, but this year, the nights were great. Didn't even have to worry about being cold in my Jungle Josie costume (although I WAS prepared with a custom-made monkey fur sweater to go with it.) And while I'm on the subject, thanks to all who whooped and hollered for me especially on Saturday night when I was bestowed the Best Savage costume award. There were quite a lot of other creative folks up there with me. But just getting to dress up is still the best part. Of course, a HUGE big fat wet kiss goes to my sweetie Atomic Cocktail (Mr.Monkeypants) for making/designing both costumes for me. (I thought of the banana skirt and he thought of the monkey-fur bra.) Did I also mention that he made Tiki Diablo's shirt for Saturday night as well as all of the Mai Kai Gents shirts for their set.....oh and my shorts and skirts I wore during the weekend? Well, you get the idea. In other words, he's damn talented. (Even the new clothing tag I designed for him made the local news!)

Also, thanks to Humu for sending some of her wild release home with me. (The clothes, guys, the clothes!) To the very patient Mr. DawnTiki for bringing me my food from the Mexican restaurant since I missed half of Ape's show waiting for it. To Mateo (volunteer coordinator extraordinaire) for keeping tight control of rulebreakers on Saturday night. And of course to our most gracious of hosts Al & Shelly. (Maybe they should consider opening their own hotel and make money at what they naturally do so well.)

Hey, speaking of food, that was a great idea to have people going aorund with sandwiches and such for sale. Sometimes there's just so much going on that it's hard to get time to go get a bite to eat. I wonder if they could make a little extra cash by having something like a chinese food stand in the corner of the lanai from sundown on.

Oh, and it all ended with a great ukulele jam during which I got a quick hula lesson from Miss Hawaii herself. Turns out she works at Sam's Seafood dancing in the shows. Her name is Aurora. I hope I can look half that good in my 50s(!) Wish we could get someone like her to perform next year. Here's her website:
http://www.ahawaiianexperience.com/

Anyway, thanks to all who put their time and sweat into putting it together for us to enjoy. It was great to see all (or most) of my Tiki family in one place once again.

On 2004-05-11 14:54, tikibob wrote:
So that is who the Hawaiian dancer was!

For those who missed her, she was great. Casey, how did she come about being at Oasis? Tell us more about her.

---

Mahalo tikibob! Our public relations guru, Judy Weigle, books and coordinates (high-end) events and talent all over the country. She has worked with Aurora (Miss Hawaii 1971) for quite some time and we recently became acquainted when discussing the potential for a weekly or monthly luau, with her troup performing--see the link provided by vintagegirl. We are also working on a line of Caliente tropics Resort necklaces with her (similar to what she was selling), to be sold by TikiFarm. She stuck around until Monday, to do the voiceover for a 30 second and a sixty second CTR radio spot, the first of which will air in the Chicago market very soon. She's a sweetheart and a knockout--a very cool lady!

[ Edited by: [email protected] on 2004-05-11 22:24 ]

Whew! Just crawled off the greyhound in Vancouver, Canada but it was worth it for my first Tiki Oasis.

Just have a few words of thanks for Casey & others, especially those who provided shade, water, friendly smiles & advice about sunscreen when I decided to risk spontaneous human combustion to man my vending booth on Saturday & Sunday. You'll all be happy to know that other than a mildly pink nose, there was not a touch of sunburn on my entire body. My skin has retained its bluish undertone and no one will ever guess I spent the weekend in a South Seas Paradise.

Thanks also to the organizers, entertainers (King Kuke, I nearly died from laughing too hard at some of your on-stage antics), vendors, customers, friendly faces, hotel staff, and everyone else who made the weekend what it was. (Also, many thanks to my trusty chauffeur for getting me and my stuff to and from Palm Springs in one piece! I couldn't have done it without you.)

Casey, I loved The Reef (I took many pictures which will no doubt inspire future artwork) and thanks again so much for displaying my framed prints there for the weekend. Hopefully next year I'll be able to stay at the Tropics and get the full experience!

Guess that's it. Had a blast and will be back next year. Hope to see some of you at the Northwest Tiki Crawl!

Howdy,

Just wanted to thank all of you. We had a great time playing this weekend. It was truly the perfect end to our SoCal tour, and awfully relaxing.

Thanks Suicide Sam for those clips. I still think that the East Coast won that battle; but either way, we'll be back!

King Kukulele, thanks for letting me and the Fisherman crash at you're place on Friday night. We were almost homeless! And I'm sure that our bass player Kyle would mud wrestle you to the death. I think it would be really funny to watch two lenky white dudes go at it in a pile of mud!

And Crazy Al, thanks again for letting the band crash at your pad for a few days. It was truly appreciated.

Anyway, we had a great time, and it was really nice to have met all of you. I'm sure we'll be back out on the West Coast causing mass hysteria again soon. If any of you ever come out to New York, be sure to stop in and say hi. We play every Monday night at:
Otto's Shrunken Head
538 E. 14th St. & Ave. B, Manhattan
(9pm - 1 am / FREE)

Anyway, what else is there to say after making an unsolicited plug for your band...

...see ya'll soon!!

--tikidrummer
Fisherman's Vibraphonic Trio
http://www.fishermansburlesque.com

p.s.-- if anyone has any video footage or photos of The Fisherman Trio performing at Oasis, or earlier in the week, please let me know... we'd like to stick it up on our website. We we're having so much fun that we forgot to document it!

[email protected]

Mrs.Pug and myself hanging in Dr. Z's room on Thursday.

Mrs. Pineapple and Humuhumu gettin' freaky

Bamboo Ben will advertise anywhere

DawnTiki and her new Tiki Backpack

Mrs. TikiPug and Iuka and the TC Meet-N-Greet

I bet that hurt when TikiBot pulled of his name tag

VintageGirl and CheekyGilr @ the TC Meet-N-Greet

Kilikopela, Sugar Caddy Daddy & Mig

Crazy Al

KukuiNut aka Mrs. Baxdog

TikiBird and Utopian Dream behind a giggling Mrs. TikiPug and Z Girl

All the mixologists preparing for the Zombie taste-off

The crowd at the Zombie taste-off

VintageGirl and SuicideSam

Shelly & CheekyGirl getting friendly

Atomic Cocktail taking a siesta on the oh-so-comfortable sidewalk

Johnnie Velour and Lady V enjoying dinner??

Crazy Al Longstocking

The King has the devil in him

Me & Otto

ChikiTiki showing off his mugs

Johnnie Velour showing off his bowls as Lady V looks on

Wes (House Of Tiki) & Mrs. TikiPug

"Head Honcho" Holden

Miss Hawaii 1971 dancing to the sounds of the Smokin Menehunes

Cherry Capri poses in front of a Bamboo Ben bar

Fisherman and the King

The MaiKai Gents & The Mysterious Miss Mauna Loa

Bamboo Ben gettin' down during Ape's set

Mrs. TikiPug and BaxDog

An impromtu version of Pearly Shells

The good Doctor making drinks for everyone

Floratina getting some shut-eye

The infamous beachball makes an encore performance

Saturday night at Room 135

Lady V, Mrs TikiPug and Johhnie V

[ Edited by: TikiPug on 2004-05-12 00:20 ]

Thanks for reading my rant --

**Poly-Pop ***

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

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop 2010-04-27 22:36 ]

I would L O V E to see Aurora Napua Kaawa, the former Miss Hawaii 1971 back again. I find myself day dreaming about her a couple of times per day.

What a class act and I bet she would love to perform with any of the bands (can you imagine her with APE??? She would probably shake her hips off).

Oh, we will have to invite her to 135 too. God, I can't wait till next year!

TB

Pop,

Why must you always criticize so much? (just kidding).

I agree with all of Poly Pop's items of discussion, except for the pet one because I belive Baxdog should be allowed anywhere.

Hey Eric!!

I tried to send an email to your email address, [email protected] and the e-mail demon sent it back. I've got some video and still pics for youz guyz. I got a really good one of the East Coast Vs. West Coast rap that Kuk and Kyle were "battling" in. If you can send me a good e-mail address to send the stuff too?? You can email me at [email protected] If you're interested, I've got some really cool Vinnie Colauita clinics too!! One of them is of Vinne soloing for over an hour straight!!!

Thanks for the cool tunes bro!!!

Hey folks, this was too fun. I had a blast and it was great seeing y'all after locking myself in my workshop for a week to make all my stuff. For me there is no place like this little Oasis in the desert. Thanks for all the support folks.

Some of us vendors ( I only call myself that because I was peddling my tikis on this one day a year) were concerned about the "swap meet" quality of some of the vendors. This one guy, at the end of Sunday, realizing he had nothing of value to this group of people, was trying to trade me some of his swap meet crap a la "these are very tiki" cheap sunglasses and "Paris Hilton made these popular" baseball caps! WHAT? What does that have to do with tiki? Some of us believe that the vendors should be selling what they personally create not what they resell at flea markets. Personally, I don't care if it's resale stuff as long as the people who are selling it are there because of the love of the event and not just looking to cash in!
I'm not in it for the money! God knows I gave away as much stuff as I sold because I am just interested in spreading the cause and paying for my room in the process! I would just like to see that the vending area is not watered down or cheapened by "non-believers"!
All in all, my countdown clock is set to 362 days and counting till Tiki Oasis 5!

Thanks Otto, Tiki Central members, Tiki Godz and Tropics for a Great Time!
The Reef looking good! The only thing missing was an ocean breeze.
Maybe a rattan fan on the ceiling or some windows which could be opened would cool things off.
Aloha!

Paris Hilton made boring sex tapes popular, it doesn't mean I want to buy one at the Oasis. (making my own at the oasis, if it involves Humuhumu and bumperstickers, well, that's a whole 'nother story.)
I think the guy selling the parrot/palm tree was kind of funny, I didn't want to be the one to tell him how uncool his product was, I voted with my wallet. I think the vendors who had cool stuff, sold it. Vote with your wallet, there's something for everyone!
I would LOVE to see more traditional dancers, I vote yes for that. I vote no on Japanese fetish porn and electronica, ehhh, not so tiki. Otherwise, I agree with Pop on a slightly bad vibe, on occasion. Particularly the drunk frat boys in Dr. Z's room, mocking mr. pineapple, scrimshaw, weird uncle tiki and 2 others, drunken jam. I'M the ONLY one allowed to mock mr. pineapple's bongo's :)
In general, though, the bigger the event gets the harder it is to keep out the negative, spring break types. All we can do is set a positive example, and remind people, (gently, there's rum involved) of the spirit of aloha. I try to focus on all the really cool people I met who aren't yet members of my tiki family, and hopefully the good will outweigh the bad!
mrs. p

[ Edited by: mrs. pineapple on 2004-05-12 11:13 ]

[ Edited by: mrs. pineapple on 2004-05-12 11:21 ]

[ Edited by: mrs. pineapple on 2004-05-12 11:22 ]

I agree about the dogs(not baxdog-he can go where ever he wants), ice,and parking. I spent an enjoyable friday afternoon and evening sampling Reef Bar drinks, Al's mai tais, and Bong's Lapu Lapus'...meeting and greeting our Tiki family, only to be suddenly shocked out of my beach chair with the "way out" sounds of Suksu Roba and their metallic disco ball nuncheck demo. That sound machine (not sure what its called) was cool when used in the movie "The Day the Earth stood Still", however I didnt find it very Tiki.
Aloha!

""way out" sounds of Suksu Roba and their metallic disco ball nuncheck demo"

hilarious! that shocked me out of my pants and not in a good way! It was fun to hear him looking for the right notes though! haha!

Either Oasis is a family event or it's not, Seksu Roba (video) was not something I would have wanted my son seeing. I kept him at home becuse I didn't know what to expect. I can hear it now..."Mom? What was that hairy monster thing that outer space lady was rubbing?" When I relized I was seeing what I thought I was seeing, I looked around and saw quite a few kids still up and watching the same show I was watching. Yikes!

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2004-05-12 12:14 ]

Damn! I'm glad my four year old girl didn't see that!

I've never been to the Oasis, but I can relate to what you're talking about. I attend a lot of "rockabilly" events where they attach a lot of crap and vendors that are completely unrelated. It does sound a bit puritanical to demand only tiki related stuff, but wtf it is a TIKI event right? There is a time and a place for everything...blah, blah, blah...maybe I'll be able to go next year.

Several of my kids pool toys were stolen. There was no innocent mixup because the toys were CLEARLY marked with their names. They were a little upset to say the least and I was surprised.

Going to the Oasis is sort of like camping. You feel that you can trust your fellow campers enough to leave your stove and chairs outside for the evening and not worry about other people taking them.

We had a great time but I grew tired of people who consistently mooched free alcohol from others with no type of reciprocity.

The moochers were waiting to pounce during the Zombie taste off. We had to keep shooing them away. The point of the contest was to "evaluate" and RATE the different entries not just help yourself to whatever you wanted.

Definitely address the Ice and parking. How about some windows in the Side of the Reef that open to the outside. The Air Conditioning in the Reef did not seem that effective.

I disagree about the burlesque acts. Although it's not strictly Tiki (in the Aloha context) it has been adopted by the Tiki movement as a form of Exotica. It also provided a nice break to the musical acts. Project Pimento isn't Tiki, but man, was I glad to see them perform. In my opinion "Tiki" stands for a lot more than a celebration of Polynesian culture.

My one single criticism : There was an "older" gentelman at the Reef (at around 4pm Friday) who was pouring the worst tasting Mai Tais I've had. They contained an ounce of Rum and the rest was Sweet and Sour, I think. Several people I encountered had the same experience and stopped ordering drinks from the Reef. (I spotted several of them getting Margaritas to go from the Mexican Restaurant) This is a shame, because Dave and the crew from Purple Orchid were pouring fabulous drinks all weekend long.
This is a very discerning Mai Tai crowd and you cannot pass off "rum with a dash of who knows what" and expect to get away with it. Perhaps next year, the bartenders could be trained to shake up the perfect Mai Tai, Zombie etc for service to the Oasis attendees. With the correct premixed quantities on hand, this could be attainable.

We all had a fabulous time. A big thanks to Otto and to all the organizers for making this an unforgettable weekend. King Kuke and Crazy Al were amazing. The weekend would not have been the same without them !! The performers were top notch and the diversity in acts kept the entertainment interesting. Well done Otto !!
Lets also lift up our tiki mugs to Dave and the Purple Orchid bartenders (especially Kelly) for doing a fabulous job !!
Lastly, I'd like to thank Casey, for providing this Tiki wonderland for our enjoyment. The Tropics is undoubtedly the best motor lodge resort I have ever had the pleasure of attending. From the Reef to the lobby to the detailed bannister carvings, the property is truly a sight to behold.
Thank you ! Thank you !

On 2004-05-12 12:37, Conga Mike wrote:
I disagree about the burlesque acts. Although it's not strictly Tiki (in the Aloha context) it has been adopted by the Tiki movement as a form of Exotica.

It has??

Not in So Cal from what I understand and I've been to a lot of So Cal tiki events. So far, the only tiki event where I've seen burlesque is Tiki Oasis.

Consider this -- there were more burlesque dancers hired to perform than there were hula dancers. Doesn't that seem odd to you?

I would like to have seen an outside roasted pig , lei's @the door etc..but it was a good show.I did'nt partake in any of the parties[little shy came by myself]but pretty comfy by the time I was packing my art up on Sunday.Oh well next year..

On 2004-05-12 12:37, Conga Mike wrote:
I disagree about the burlesque acts. Although it's not strictly Tiki (in the Aloha context) it has been adopted by the Tiki movement as a form of Exotica.

I wonder which adoption agency the "party mix" CD girl is from?

It is when the fringes of Exotica start detracting from the original (i.e. Tiki/Polynesian) Exotica that problems start.

I do think that the public area events should not be PG-13. At at a vactaion event like this, 9 - 10 o'clock it not real late for the kids. It would be nice if they could attend the events without being exposed to acts that are unappropriate.

Just my two cents and not meaning to flame anyone or topic.

TB

Ahh hell!

At least Jimmy Buffett did not appear on the main stage!!!!! That's the point where I would have gotten up and driven home!!

In my heart of hearts, I really do believe that Tiki Oasis (for me) couldn't have been much better. However, I didn't have anything stolen, I didn't have kids, and I live in an area that gives me as much tiki as I want, pretty much. I can understand some of the feedback, though.

I think the parking passes for those staying in the hotel is a great idea. I don't know what the turnout was for the M Modern event was like, but I know one reason I didn't head over there was that I didn't want to lose my parking spot. Is there a nearby parking lot that could be rented for non-hotel guests?

Ice is probably trickier -- I doubt those ice machines are capable of keeping up with us. Mig & I bought a cheap cooler & a copule bags of ice at the grocery store, and that worked really well.

I'm torn on the vendors -- overall I really liked the larger vendor area this year, and people did a great job making their booths visually interesting. But I REALLY didn't that couple strolling around pushing (heavily) their craptacular glittery Buffet-esque parrot sunglasses. And the folks with the fez-shaped booth may have had some neat stuff, but I stayed away because of their aggressive barking. If I'm interested in your product, I'll come to you, don't hassle me. And there was a truck/booth just outside the Reef bar/Outrigger building that didn't seem to be selling anything special -- same crap I could find in a bad mall. Those three things made Oasis feel a bit more commercial than it probably was, and detracted from the folks who were selling quality items.

My biggest feedback would have to be on the "futuristic tiki" theme. I understand the desire to shake it up after years of throwing the same event, so I tried to withhold my judgement until the event to see how it would play out, but the only theme I feel is necessary is Tiki -- straight Polynesian Pop. I agree that it strayed too far (for my personal taste) away from Polynesian Pop. However, it's up to Otto how he wants to theme the event, and maybe it turned out exactly as he wanted. No matter what, when our group gets together, we bring the tiki, so I didn't feel like it was a huge issue, but too much of it could really shift the tone of the weekend for future. The major difference I see between Oasis & Hukilau is that Oasis is much more of a party atmosphere (and it attracts more of my So Cal 'ohana), and Hukilau feels like a bit more of a pure Polynesian Pop experience, due largely to the Mai Kai. I don't necessarily expect that to change.

On the burlesque front: the celebration of the female form is a huge part of Polynesian Pop to me, from the semi-nude figures found on ephemera to the Mystery Girls and the Mai Kai calendar, and the smoothing of Bamboo Ben stickers over lovely bouncing busoms. I LOVE the idea of hiring some more traditional dancing troupes, but if the burlesque performers could keep in the theme of Tiki (via music or costumes), that would do the trick for me.

On 2004-05-12 14:12, Humuhumu wrote:
On the burlesque front: the celebration of the female form is a huge part of Polynesian Pop to me, from the semi-nude figures found on ephemera to the Mystery Girls and the Mai Kai calendar, and the smoothing of Bamboo Ben stickers over lovely bouncing busoms.

I agree that the female form is a part of Polynesian Pop but I would call it a stretch to call the Mai Kai Mystery Girl a burlesque dancer. Please note, that the burlesque dancers that performed at TO-IV did not even closely resemble any form of Polynesian Pop.

I guess what bothered my so much is that I heard through the grapevine that the Friki Tikis couldn't be fit into the budget so that the burlesque dancers could be accomodated. That didn't make sense to me as the Friki Tikis seemed more fitting to the Tiki Oasis theme/crowd than a pair of burlesque dancers.

Personally, at a venue like Tiki Oasis I would have rather seen King Kuku play with the Friki Tikis for an hour than watch 2 burlesque dancers perform at 3 minutes each.

I too would like to see Hula and Firedancers!

But, I especially agree with the parking! One pass per room! I had to unload stuff after being stuck in hours of construction traffic and we couldn't find a spot anywhere near our room.

Saturday and Sunday, I was joking that I would have made more money with a couple of snack vending machines in my booth.
CASEY, maybe a snack and an ice cream bar vending machine in the room you ususally have the breakfast would bring in a fortune! I know if I'm at a booth all day or even lounging in the pool I dread getting out to go get something to eat. Everyone gets the munchies while swimming-especially kids! $$$$$$

[ Edited by: laney on 2004-05-12 15:00 ]

On the burlesque front: the celebration of the female form is a huge part of Polynesian Pop
(qoute)

Well said !! Where would Tiki culture be without the Mai Kai mystery girl or the jungle princesses of Exotica albums. I thought the exotica burlesque acts provided a well timed break between the musical sets.
With regard to the PG -fication of this otherwise adult alcohol-based event, the calendar was available ahead of time and those parents who would feel uncomfortable about the burlesque acts could decide for themselves to leave at the appropriate time (or take their kids to the pool during that set) Come on guys !! I'm not trying to be insenstitive to those parents with kids, but we cannot plan our fun/lives etc according to what's appropriate for children!