Official Tiki Oasis 11 thread

Good drinks (Bali Hai Mai Tai), good friends, good music...

On our way up had to stop for drinks in San Jose at the blank club and the caravan here is Some pic's here is some drinks we had at our home bar before taking off for the night tiki oasis here we come

All great art requires suffering.

Tonight at 5:45! On the Main Stage.
Margaritas required!

... Jerry Garcia and Lucas Vigor...

LOL! XD

Did you know you there's a digital version of the TIki Oasis 11 Official Program?

download here: http://t.co/XT07SNv

see "Printable Schedule"

Awesome

No live feed this year? Bummer.

I have had the honor working with the most nicest, hardest working volunteers. It has been an absolute pleasure. I would like th thank all the volunteers that made this job so much easier! Thank you to all who volunteered and made this the biggest and best Tiki Oasis ever! Hope to see you again next year!

Until then

Mahalo, mahalo mahalo!

ikabod out.

What whirlwind of a Tiki Oasis for me and for The Hula Girls... I can't believe it's already over. Thanks to everyone who came out to any of the FOUR shows that we played over the weekend. My voice is fried and my guitar fretting hand can barely stretch out straight... I'm thinking that next year we won't book so many appearances.

Thanks again, to all of our friends and fans for the understanding about my voice going out on Sunday's show. I sang for four hours on Saturday and felt it going out on me 3/4 into our Forbidden Island room party set. It was such a bummer to be on a giant stage with great sound and room full of people and not be able to perform at my best.

You are the best group of friends that any band could possible have. I mean that in all sincerity.
...Oh and the standing ovation was just just too much. You really know how to choke a fella up. Thanks again, you are the best. Hope you all dug the amazing Don Tiki!

And a HUGE thanks to Baby Doe and Otto for putting on another fantastic Tiki Oasis! Hope to see The Hula Girls back at Oasis, next year!

Great show ---thanks again Otto and crew.....
Can't wait until next year.....
Pictures coming soon

Does anyone know the name of the surf band with a theremin that played in the courtyard?

Yes, those kids rocked! We were doing our Tiki Hell party and there was an ebb in the room's revelers, So we go out to get some fresh air and then notice that the whole walk way had virtually emptied out. There was almost no one on in the hall ways above or below us either. There was an enormous sound coming up from below. We ran to the elevator hall and looked down. Those kids were ROCKIN! Please tell me it was an impromptu show by that band! Loved it loved it loved it!

Was it Los Sea Finks?

yup it was us! and it was impromptu, we werent allowed to play our second room party so we set up shop down there, hope we didnt step on any toes! thanks for everyone that came out! we are los seafinks, and u can download our album for free on our facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Los-SeaFinks/152794888100042

You did not step on Tiki Hell's shoes! We in hell love that kind of "Punk" spirit. We loved that you went for it.

I just set the wife and kids to bed when we heard the los seafinks go off like a thunder. Yes it woke everyone up. No, we didnt mind!

What about that fire alarm? To whoever pulled it: Thank you for the perfect excuse we needed to gracefully, and finally, send our room party guests into the night and out of our room.

Enjoyed the Friday set, but Saturday in the Atrium was a stroke of genius.

A great big thank you from North Bay Rum Bums. We loved putting on the TIKI HELL party to share with you, our love of all things tiki AND our love of a good drinking dance party. The music sucked and the drinks did too, but you all came anyways. Thanks to Top Notch, Jennifer Hayes, Ace, Abuelo, and all the great people who stopped by and shared it with us!!!

Well i had a great time as well! the FINKNIKS booth went off and i would like to thank everyone for making CREEPXOTICA feel very welcomed!!! we somehow managed to play every floor, all elevators including the service ones, the atrium, poolside, and the artshow! Otto and Baby Doe thanks for having us! if you saw CREEPXOTICA and would like to own it, you can purchase it from Lee at dionysusrecords.com . He released a 45 for us and it comes with free digital dload! see you soon! And if you diodnt know it, we are THE CREEPY CREEPS!!!

On 2011-08-22 14:15, tikithomas08 wrote:
yup it was us! and it was impromptu, we werent allowed to play our second room party so we set up shop down there, hope we didnt step on any toes! thanks for everyone that came out! we are los seafinks, and u can download our album for free on our facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Los-SeaFinks/152794888100042

That racket got me and the misses out of bed. But it was an amazing racket so we stayed til the end! I'll post some vids when i'm back in nj.

sorry about that, glad ya dug it tho! cant wait to see those videos!

Well, I for one didn't "dig" it, sorry to burst your bubble, but I was trying to sleep and that f'ing noise was echoing all through the atrium. Do you realize that vendors had to get up at 7 or so, and there were kids there as well and you basically woke up everyone who was "trying" to sleep? Then once you assholes finally quieted down, there was a dumbass playing drums down by the pool at 2:30. Then the fire alarm went off at 3:20.... Many of us won't be going back to Titty Oasis because, even though we requested a "quiet room" in an area with no room parties, there isn't a single room in that hotel where you can get a night's sleep.

kiki, im sorry about that. i know you guys have paid good money for that room, and deserved to sleep. in retrospect we should have concidered that and the time we played. im not looking for forgiveness because i cant give you your night of sleep back, just wanted to let you know that we are all sorry for the noise, and dont plan on doing any shows at TO without permision again. as far as the drumming by the pool or the fire alarm, that was not us. hope you dont hold any grudges agains TO for this. the noise was our fault not theirs.

[ Edited by: tikithomas08 2011-08-22 17:01 ]

I didn't mind the band so much and they were right outside my door! I wish I had heard the Theremin, though. I would have dressed sooner and appreciated it more. I did NOT appreciate the fire alarm or the drum guy. And why, WHY, would someone bring a caged rooster to the hotel at that hour? If I had brought my computer, I was dying to download strangled rooster sounds or a gunshot followed by bird squawk to appease the angry guests. The effects of a bad burrito didn't help. I was more upset at the thought that the shennanigans might dissuade the hotel from hosting Tiki Oasis 12! I hope they understand that the party never stops. And they did provide earplugs, which work very well. Thanks for a neat event!

Knowing what I know about large events like Tiki Oasis...unless you are the type of person who can sleep through anything, you should do what I did: Check into another hotel within walking distance.

We were at the Handlerly hotel just down the street. Even despite the fact that I was piss-drunk and exhausted after the Hula Girl's room party...I was able to carry my heavy percussion instruments and stumble the half mile back to our hotel where it was completely silent all night long! That long-ass walk was well worth it because I would not have been able to sleep at all if I had stayed at the Crowne.

Eavesdropped conversation, "I asked for a quiet room and the hotel put me next to Hell! What's quiet about Hell?!" Felt for this woman's situation, but giggled at her comment all night.

Thank you once again to the Los Seafinks for playing at the Cult of the Eye party not once but twice on Saturday night. We hope you come play for us next year.

well be there! thanks again for having us! and our compliments to your bartenders! and congrats on winning the room award!

where the heck was Tiki Ray and his Fire Hose when you need him!????

man!?? i finally enjoy the great DJs in the ball room and miss all the excitement....(latin music just about killed me this year...I 'crashed' at 3am every morning- just getting old i guess??)
Good to know the drums of the jungle rain at 3-something AM like back in Palm Springs (However it was not a full kit outside a room, but you have to progress right?)

ANOTHER BLAST! THANKS TIKI-NEWS CREW!
(LONG LIVE EXOTICA!)

On 2011-08-22 17:37, whoseyrtiki wrote:
Eavesdropped conversation, "I asked for a quiet room and the hotel put me next to Hell! What's quiet about Hell?!" Felt for this woman's situation, but giggled at her comment all night.

A lady came over to Tiki Hell room on Friday night and yelled at us. She must have been the same one. I feel bad. Gosh I hope she was not still there for the fire alarm on Saturday.

So many things stand out...

The Cocktail, CSI was extraordinarily entertaining and informing, and I don't even drink! No cocktail party would be complete without a version of that. The whipped cream photo shoot was a hoot! Thank you to Otto and his staff for tracking down my mug "after hours" on Sunday afternoon. It was a shame to have Marina there, but not do a mermaid swim. She also should have been interviewed during the Mai-Kai symposium, but it was a treat to see her, nontheless. As Jeff Chenault pointed out, Marty Lush displayed astounding talent on keyboards with his Latin Livers performance. Shag was kind enough to sign my truckload of shirts and prints without complaint. I did spend a paycheck or two in his store in return. I don't want to pigeonhole him, but King Kukulele is just so great with kids. Thanks again. I'm already planning for next year.

Great job on the Mai Kai seminar Swanky !! I think it should be available as a DVD and sold in the Mai Kai gift shop.

Who knew that Bettie Page was (almost) Tiki.

Oasis = Learning. :)

And Marina is THE Mystery Girl. Did you drink your bowl afterward ??

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-08-22 18:23 ]

What a blast! My wife Carol and I just loved our first Tiki Oasis! Our favorites were CSI Cocktails, Jeff Chenault's exotica seminar, and dancing to Mr Bongo. (and also meeting him and talking about the tune Jack Jack Jack). What an incredibly nice guy too!
Plus my wife captured the "so tired" gag on video during his show - which was hilarious

Oh so many more things were great. Loved the meet and greet and ESP Tiki Joe's Ocean. Superstring was cool. We had a room above the hot tub so it was like our own tub. Vendors and art show cool. Really super friendly people. Just amazing all around. Only thing we thought would improve the event is to add some men to the fashion shows and have some male dancers as band dancers. And maybe add some body builder / muscle head / beefcake things to the burlesque shows or as a poolside thing just to mix it up

but all in all a great event!!!

[ Edited by: I, Zombie 2011-08-22 19:09 ]

MAHALO to everyone who stopped by to check out the BigToe booth!!! what a blast. already making plans for next years event.

on a sadder note:

Help! while i was loading out of the vending area on Sunday night, someone wandered off with my 2 vintage bamboo screens. They are shabby, but have sentimental value.

fairly basic old folding screens.

i have heard rumors that an shady villain from years past was poking around after the event, so San Diego peeps, please be on the look out for someone trying to sell them.

Please let me know if you have any info to help me get them back. MAhalo!!

if its who i think your reffering to, ill be sure to keep my eyes open for ya toeseph.

I'm still processing the weekend but that was my favorite Tiki Oasis yet. Mahalo to everyone involved in making Tiki Oasis happen every year. Hosts, volunteers, hotel staff, vendors, guests...everyone. Another stellar weekender.

In lazy internet bullet point fashion, some personal highlights:

• Converting 8 friends into repeat Tiki Oasis offenders. Maybe they humored me last year, but they willingly planned around this year's event. I couldn't be happier.
• Mai Tais & music at the Bali Hai on Thursday. Surfer Joe and His Boss Combo were an unexpected revelation. Seeing Tiki Joe's Ocean come to life was nifty too.
• Bosko's symposium on San Diego Poly Pop. He has such a wealth of knowledge, an eye for detail, and a passion for the subject.
• The Agave Seminar. I'm not a tequila fan at all, but figured I'd better know the enemy. I was so surprised to hear Jacques felt the same until 8 years ago. Rum is king, but I gained an appreciation for tequila.
• Whatever Forbidden Island was serving during Sip 'n Shop. Thank you! The Barritt's cocktail was pretty tasty too.
• The Flowing Barrel of Rum and punch from Martin Cate and the Smuggler's Cove room crawl. You helped convert my friends into the more "spiced" style of rum cocktails they didn't realize yet they liked.
• The Forbidden Island room was so energetic...we saw Chum and the Insect Surfers on 2 separate visits. Between the drinks and the bands, 1704 was killing it Friday. Bummed that we missed their Saturday Hula Girls party, but we did see them 3 other times.
• Thee Swank Bastards...found their room on Friday around 2 am after others in our party hit the sack. Hot, packed with people, and loud!
• The amazing art in Burros & Black Velvets.
• CSI cocktail. I'm not sure how Martin Cate keeps raising the bar on each year with his symposiums. I can't believe I couldn't figure out a cocktail I've made several times by reading the ingredient list.
• The Saturday night line-up was full of great musicians. I liked each performer more than I expected to.
• Meeting Charles Phoenix Saturday night. Fun, funny, nice, warm, engaging guy. His Sunday slideshow was top-notch as usual.
• Swanky did a hell of a job on the Mai Kai symposium. You could really hear his knowledge and love of the Mai Kai in his descriptions and words of the history dripping from the restaurant's walls.
• The Hula Girls, playing everywhere. We saw them at both car show sets, and opening for Don Tiki. You could tell Spike's voice was shot but damn if they didn't give it everything they had left. Total pros, loved that raw set, and that standing O at the end was 100% well-deserved. Closing the set with some Peter Gunn and then into Surfin' with Von Franco? Bring them back to Tiki Oasis 0012 please.
• Don Tiki is not at all what I expected based on their records. That's a show with some production. Oh and they're pretty good musicians too. :D

Ok that went way long and I touched on maybe 10% of the weekend. Van Tiki live sculpting, Tiki Tony getting a well-deserved "best booth" award (and mahalo for the bird mug), dropping money at the Dionysus booth...

There are so many great Tiki Oasis experiences to be had every year...just grab a cocktail, walk, and talk to someone. You never know what you'll learn and experience.

Happily exhausted. Thanks, Ohana!

kevin

Loved. Every. Minute.
Okay, maybe not the five minutes when the hotel fire alarm went off at 3:15 a.m., but everything else...Loved.
You know, there were many who expressed concern about this year's theme -- that it was not "Tiki enough". But I have to tell you, having observed the sea of sombreros bobbing to Marty Lush and his Latin Livers, really, who cares? People were enjoying this. There was, and will always be, plenty of Tiki at Tiki Oasis. The yearly "theme" Otto comes up with is for people to find new ways to have fun with it all, and keep our imaginations AND TIKI going. If we do the same thing every year, at every event, we will bore ourselves and Tiki will deteriorate faster than a paper umbrella in a spilled Mai Tai.

Thank you, Otto and Baby Doe, for another terrific party. I'm already thinking about my secret-agent theme ideas for next Oasis. "Spy vs Tiki".

On 2011-08-22 17:11, Bill5925 wrote:
And why, WHY, would someone bring a caged rooster to the hotel at that hour? If I had brought my computer, I was dying to download strangled rooster sounds or a gunshot followed by bird squawk to appease the angry guests.

the hotel was mildly upset about the rooster, partially because the guest did not pay the pet (nuisance) fee and partially because they got complaints.
Rest assured, rooster guy will not be invited back to Tiki Oasis 2012

Does anyone here know who Drum Guy is, I'd like to add his name to the list?

and btw, thanks everyone for partying down so dang hard. I was impressed when I was woke up by the fire alarm at 3:20 am and found several folks still partying!!
Also impressed on Sunday night after leaving a party at 2am to find that it went til after 4:30 am!?!

[ Edited by: Otto 2011-08-23 00:06 ]

Had a blast, loved hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones! Not sure how I made it back to the Motel 6 saturday night, but thanks to hubby I did! lol.

My only complaint this year though is that there was far too much burlesque, and it started far too early. The first night, it was before dark, and there were small kids all up in front of the stage. Now I know it's not TO's responsibility to make sure the kids leave really, but I think it was in very poor taste. Maybe I'm a prude, but as a parent it really bothered me to see those little guys and gals standing there 5 ft away from the swinging tassled boobies. The Burlesque really was too frequent for me, and everyone in the rooms I hung out in. We all retreated to the rooms during it's many appearances and came back out when there was good music playin again :) There's SO many good bands at TikiO that could be up there on the stage entertaining at night, why not move the stripping to the ballroom for a special event/show?

[ Edited by: Leanalynn 2011-08-23 01:16 ]

Just to let you know, my kids watch the dancers and have a great time. We keep our kids very informed and try to keep them open-minded and educated in all things. If the parents treat the fun and beauty of Burlesque as what it is and don't act like it's something dirty, which it isn't, then the kids learn to respect it. Just my two cents.

No burlesque isn't dirty but is a form of adult entertainment. I don't feel comfortable with the little kids there and if I were a performer that would be too weird for me. I personally would love to see this as a 21 and over event for the entire weekend.

Thanks Otto for kicking Johnny rooster guy out for next year. Bringing a rooster was so very un cool. As you know I'm all about goofy costumes but a live animal is not an accessory! That poor bird was scared when he was walking around with it in the crowd. Raising chickens was my hobby as a kid (grew up in Petaluma) so this stunt pissed me off.

On 2011-08-23 07:19, TNT wrote:
No burlesque isn't dirty but is a form of adult entertainment. I don't feel comfortable with the little kids there and if I were a performer that would be too weird for me. I personally would love to see this as a 21 and over event for the entire weekend.

I here you and believe me I understand both sides of it. I am friends with some of the dancers and we discussed this very subject. They seemed to be happy with the kids there. I guess the real question is how the parents are handling it. Some of us will just have to agree to disagree.
Peace with every step.

On 2011-08-23 01:15, Leanalynn wrote:
My only complaint this year though is that there was far too much burlesque, and it started far too early. The first night, it was before dark, and there were small kids all up in front of the stage.

Agreed. The scheduling was weird, considering that TO seemed to be trying to be vaguely kid friendly (they had "Kid events" on the schedule). We got tired of having to evac the kids super-early in the evenings because burlesque was up next. That's too bad - cause my kids wanted to hear the bands! The real kicker was the 1st opening act for Don Tiki. Having to sit out in the lobby waiting for her act to be done was a hassle.

What's weird is that it seems like minor scheduling changes could have made all of the above a non-issue for parents. There was plenty of "Kid-OK" entertainment during the weekend. There just seemed to be (at times) a lack of clear demarcation as to when things were going to turn from "PG-13" to "R".

Or, you could just make it a 21-over event. That works too... :)

Is it over already?! I still have not cut off my wristband.

There is so much to do at Tiki Oasis that I missed so much of it! I was telling someone if I had a super power it would either be to slow down time or duplicate myself so I could be in two places at once. What I did see of the symposiums, room parties, car show, entertainment, vendors, etc was amazing and I am always impressed with how everyone goes above and beyond when it comes to Tiki Oasis.

I could write a whole book of thank you and highlights from the weekend! I do want to give big smooches and hugs to all the artists who contributed to the Burros, Black, Velvets and Other Delights art show. Thank you Gene from Falling Coco's for connecting me with WildCoast and hosting all the banks at your home for the last month, Mark Balanky (photosandiego.com) for taking photos of all the banks and for Matt Reese for getting the banks and connecting with the artists as my co-curator. We have not counted the total yet raised for WiLDCOAST but I will post that here when we do!

Someone here asked why didn't Marina perform in the pool... she did! There is so much happening sorry you missed it! Also I wanted to comment on the whole 'burlesque' thing. We love burlesque as it embodies the energy and spirit of a particular time period that Otto and I love plus it is a great excuse to get gorgeous gals on stage. This year moved all the main burlesque acts to one 'show' time after 8:30pm so if folks decided this is not there 'thang' they could go get a drink or cover their kids eyes or go for a dip in the pool. I believe the emcee made announcements letting people know the burlesque was happening. The night time entertainment is geared for adults and we do our best to let people know this but it sounds like we should emphasis this more and more often. Tiki Oasis is about variety of entertainment and I can not imagine that this will ever change.

I wanted everyone on TC to know my friend Vixen is fine after a bunch of stitches due to a flying tiki mug. If you know the couple that helped her pls send me their names/contact. It is such a bummer that this accident happened but thanks to so many people who jumped in to help Vixen and deal with all the chaos surrounding that moment.

I look forward to seeing everyone's photos and hearing about what were highlights for YOU over the weekend!!

Thanks again all!!
XO Baby Doe

PS Thanks JUANITA! for painting my skirt!!

Lost In Paradise: Tiki Oasis 11 Thursday Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWxBlU-H-NU

Mahaloz and Cheers!

I would never bring a kid to a tiki event. Not because of the burlesque or anything like that, but simply because of the amount of drinking and even smoking of various herbs......this is no environment for children at all. it's adult bachanalia, with all the trimmings!

Granted, if they made all these tiki events kid-free events, it would lower attendance.....but maybe that is something that should be considered? Tiki is fun and colorful, but really...it's not quite disneyland, you know? I understand kids like all the colorful stuff, but the tiki as it is in the year 2011 is a far cry from the tiki of yesteryear, when families went out to a fake-polynesian restaurant with the whole family...that was 1965. This is a different time period, and most of us into Tiki are ex-punkers and ex-rockers....so we bring all that party attitude with us into tiki.

I spoke with a burlesque dancer at a recent event, who confessed she also felt a little odd basically stripping in front of an 8 year old boy whose parents somehow allowed him into the event, and right in front of her.

Maybe those with small children might want to reconsider even going to events such as this, or at least, make it a day event and leave in the afternoon before the trouble starts. in case you have not noticed, there is HEAVY drinking going on!

I also brought my family with me, but they stayed at another hotel nearby while I walked back and forth to get to the gigs. At the room party we played saturday night, we had chicks dancing and getting quite frisky with each other, right in front of us. They made our own Hula Dancer go-go girls Judy and Dinah seem very tame in comparison. Several times, I smelled someone burning something. There was gambling going on, cigarettes being smoked...MASSIVE amounts of liquor being consumed by everyone...(including me).....really...this was NO place for kids to be!

So maybe consider that before bringing your children to an event like this and expecting things to be kid-friendly. I hear next year will be a voodoo theme, and a real human sacrifice is planned for the main stage saturday night. You really want your kids there for that? :)