bullet and jonesEy's tiki central/tiki oasis road trip 2007

i wasn't quite sure where to post this. tiki events didn't quite cover it. my trip was much more than just tiki oasis. i decided it belongs in collecting because this trip was about collecting tiki mugs, bowls and art. but it was even more about collecting great memories and amazing friends.
i'd never met travelingjones in person before i arrived at his hotel on tue. i had been planning to crash at little lost tiki's studio for 2 nights, but jonesey offered to share his hotel tue in diamond bar and wed in redondo beach. jonesey is the ideal tiki road trip traveling companion. tue afternoon we went to oceanic arts.


then we headed over to the bahooka to have dinner. i was surprised how many tcers showed up. that was awesome! thanks everybody for the great welcome.

l to r: trader tom, me, dibroc (john), tiki-tonga ( nels), jonesey, hiphipahula (kelly), kirby, polly, paula and ilene. sorry if i mis-spelled any names. john had a big ol tiki bash mug for me and kirby gave me a resin pendant and a carved wood pendant. mahalo guys!

rufus eating a carrot.
kirby called grog (ernie) and left a message that we wanted to meet him. the next morning, to my surprise, ernie invited us to the simpson's animation studio. he gave us a fantastic tour for about an hour. he showed us all the steps they take to make one of my favorite shows. several of ernie's co-workers also took time to explain their jobs. everybody was really cool and there was simpsons stuff everywhere. we'd never met ernie in person before that day, but he treated us like old friends. ernie, you are the best! mahalo, braddah!




afterwards, ernie took us to a local diner for some ono grinds. well finally ernie had to do some actual work so we left for redondo beach. after checking in, we went to kohalacharm's (frank) house. frank has an incredible vintage mug and bowl collection. the closet of bowls is the highlight. frank also has awesome collections of menus, matchbooks, coasters, swizzle sticks, etc. up the hill behind his house is his tiki room. knowing we were coming, frank had recently hung all his lamps. every one had a great history. stockton islander, don the beachcombers, trader vic's, kahiki. every one had hung in a legendary tiki bar or restaurant. frank also has a nice collection of modern mugs. i noticed he had 2 identical augie colon mugs with a glaze i hadn't seen gecko use. he explained they were gecko's attempt to do a spurlin style glaze. well, i talked frank into trading one of these test glazes to me for something to be named later. mahalo frank!
the next morning we headed off for the much anticipated meeting with kinny ruzic at his studio. llt's studio is mind blowing! there are 4 rooms chock full of incredible art. he's painted many religious themed pieces and also erotic pieces. all were beautiful. in kinny's lounge room there is nuttin' but tiki art. dozens and dozens of great pieces. tikitastic (mark) and his friends megan and kim showed up after a while and mark bought this beauty.

it would take about 20 pics to show all of kinny's art, but here's a small sample.



kinny took us to a mexican restaurant he likes. it was a very colorful place which inexplicably had several huge wooden colorful nutcrackers scattered around the booths. very strange! but the food was excellent. then we all went to bamboo ben's shop. here's my bamben impression: "arrgh, here's where we keep the other crapola! arrgh!". ben showed us photo albums with his work at restaurants, bars and really rich people's houses. we were the first to see the finished tiki oasis bar. it was cool seeing ben in work mode and a few days later seeing him in ultimate party mode. bamboo ben is a maniac! i love him!


next stop, tiki farm! kinny led us down pch to visit holden at tiki farm. it was kinny's first look at his finished mugs. holden is another one i got to see in work mode and full blown party mode.

when kinny called, holden told him he had given george a much deserved expenses paid vacation to s.f. last week, so he was very busy filling orders. he asked that we only stay about half an hour. well, holden was busy, but in between working managed to entertain us for about 2 hours. he also hooked me up with kinny's new kakaka mug and the test glaze drink bot in this photo.

there was cool tiki art everywhere, especially in mugoomba. holden is one cool dude, even when he's sweating. mahalo holden.

kinny told us we had to stop at clysdalle's (david) house on our way to s.d. i was hesitant cuz it was starting to get late and i had never even had a p.m. conversation with david. well david greeted us before we even got up to his house. he graciously showed us around the outside where many of his tikis reside and in his house which is filled with his art, tikis and sports memoribilia (mostly boston. he's a good guy in spite of that! :D ) we split after about half an hour, very impressed with david's hospitality and talent. i really like his headhunter and el bandito characters.


i cruised into the hanalei about 10 pm and decided i was too tired to hit bali hai. it had been an awesome 3 days and oasis hadn't even begun yet!
i didn't take a lot of pics at oasis. i didn't like lugging my camera around and figured there would be dozens if not hundreds of pics on tc. here are a few of my favorites.

me and jonesey with ernie menehune. ernie was hanging out early fri near notch's bar. he remembered jonesey from an interview at his home. he is a fascinating guy. it was great hearing his stories about wwII and the rat pack.

the view from my room on sat.

the always lovely tiki-kate.

what a great surprise! gecko made it to oasis. mike said he only decided thurs to come over. he told me he had a successul day vending, so hopefully it won't be so long til he's back in cali. this is maybe my favorite pic from the week. tikitastic had just scored the bursting lava bowl from gecko. mark and i had talked at forbidden island a couple of times before, but at oasis we became fast friends. i really enjoyed hanging with him and his friends megan and kim.
now a few more namedropper pics.

mr and mrs shagmeister, otto and me just before the best dressed contest. i think i came in second to "sean connery".

i just love tiki tony and alene. so cool, relaxed, talented and green.

no offense to otto, but if there's a mr tiki oasis, it's our friend crazy al. al is like a rock star, so much energy and passion for everything he does. his dancing and mugs are out of this world. i scored a custom kona club mug from al and it's definitely one of the finest pieces i own.

man, you couldn't have wiped that smile off squid's face with a bulldozer! talk about the beautiful peopo! dave just oozes coolness and friendliness, and bai is so beautiful it takes your breath away. it was really touching when bai had tears as they left oasis. i think she was going back to france on mon.
this was the first big tiki event i've attended, so i have nothing to compare it to, but it was an awesome week for me. couldn't have possibly been more fun. i expect to head south for more events, now that i know how much fun i've been missing. i'd like to give a special shout out to some really cool peopo i talked to at oasis: heather watts, terrill, mrs bamboo ben, finkniks matt reese and mike stobbe, sven, bosko, truus, mason, danny and stephanie, paul and deba-deba of munktiki, tiki ray, cammo, billybobaloo, dan and wendy, cass and kay of ocea otica, soccer and woohoo, mai tai and coco, the alohacurrents brad and melanie, maggie and mark of velvet glass, matt and mark of bartiki, the cult of the eye guys for great room decor, hospitality and gecko mugs, aloha john, buzzy, thor, max, trav, sawbones tiki mojo and eva, detroit nate, caren and fabio, bongofury, derek y, monkeyman derek, bodhi, thayer, tofu joe, notch, danno (everybody will be seeing his huge tiki mugs soon), and i'm forgetting a bunch! and an extra special mahalo to my buddy jonesEy. jonesey made most of the plans and contacts. it wouldn't have been possible or as fun without you, braddah!
you can see what i brought home in my (mostly) tiki centralite art thread in this forum.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-10-04 23:43 ]

That is one awesome post Bullet! Way to represent Nor Cal. You are one lucky dude bro!

Nice pics and story...best I've seen yet!

PTD

Great post Bullet. I think this has convinced me I'll have to get over for Oasis...maybe TO9? Looks like I already have a trip elsewhere lined up next winter...

mahalo ptd and paipo. silly paipo, tiki oasis is in the summer! :D you guys down under are all mixxed up. if you do make it over, rhys, you gotta do a road trip like mine, starting in sacramento!

K-I-L-L-E-R post, bullet! This is what it is all about- You love the art, and the art loves you back!
It was nice to meet you, though I could not make out your face clearly, I was blinded so much by the shirt! :)

On 2007-08-22 18:08, kingstiedye wrote:
diamond bar

Diamond Bar? :o

The trip could have only gotten better from there. A lot better. :lol:

nice pics bullet. thanks.

this one is especially beautiful.

What a story!

What colorful photos!

What a GREAT TRIP!!!! Green with envy.... KTD you are one lucky guy. You've inspired me to one day try to make it over to states for a tiki road trip.

PS what bright shirts!! :D :D

I was looking through old posts and saw a pic of you at the basket ball game front row. You certainly have a new look about yourself every time I see a pic. I see that you got a cover-up tattoo over your Bullets logo. Only you could have pulled off an outfit like that and look so comfortable. Great pics, some of my favorites.

Rockin Bullet!
Thanks to you and Jonesy for making the trek down the coast!
Anytime you guys are in town again,we'll alert the Ohana and get the roadtrip underway!
Thanks for all the great pics,story,and for being so friggin NICE! :D
Hope to see ya at the TikiMagazine art show in November!
If not-next Oasis!

sven, i'm very flattered by your kind words. your seminar was stellar. i wanted to talk afterwards but had been trying to hook up with cass. thanks for the sneak peak at tiki modern. jonesey and i looked at it for about 20 minutes when we realized we were only about 10 percent of the way through! it's a very detailed and fascinating book.
perry, you can't avoid me forever, braddah! :D i hope to meet you soon. thanks so much for the wood and bone hook.
harro, start planning a tiki oasis 9 trip now for all our great tcers down under. it would be incredible if a few of you mates could make it.
teakey, yeah the hair and the beard come and go. i used to shave my head all the time, hence, the nickname bullethead! now i'm too lazy and just do it whenever. i never liked the way the word bullet looked on my tattoo. so, i went for a huge, dark outer space scene with 3 bullets flying, a comet, saturn and galaxies. it's still shocking for ME to look at. i only imagine what other peopo think. :D
kinny, i love you, dude! thanks for making our trek so fun. that was a very memorable day cruising around with you. i'm really glad you and terrill made it to oasis too. fun, crazy times indeed!

Nice pic's Bullet, wish i could make it out that way but...............well, maybe next year.

Traveling wit Da Bull...yowza what a treat my braddah from Annadahmuddah! But DANG dude, ya leaked out the secret tiki tomes of Diamond Bar...crap now we'll never get room availability at "Tiki SsweeetT's Polynesian Islands & Oceanic Resorts" again!?? Oh well... :lol:

Some pics to add:

1. Bahooka Bullet in carrot munch-off with Rufus!
   

2. A glimpse of Kohalacharmsland
   

3. Bullet admires Ruzotica, Kinny admires BenZart, Paipo, Basement Kahuna, Gman and others...
   

4. Benboo's Lucky 7 a Go Go!!
   

5)LLTs diabolical plan to colonize the Tiki Farm...PuPule, Oli-Oli and Kakaka...OH MY!!!

6)Holden's Tiki Sanctuary and Wild Mug Preserve

More pic's to follow, but had to share in my chokest mahaloz to braddah Bull, OA's Bob & Leroy, all the TC tribe ohana peapos that hit the Bahooka, our tour guide Kinny, Mugoomba, BudbooBen and many, many, many more!!! :D

Shoootz,
Jonesey

You're welcome down here anytime! It was great getting to meet you in person. Fantastic post.
Cheers.
Matt

Great meeting you two guys. Glad you had fun.

Great posts and pics Bullet and Jones...looks like you two really had a fabulous tiki road trip!!!

grog, now you're not as funny on line as you are in person! :D kirby will like that one. thanks again, ernie. thanks for adding some cool pics jonesEy.

WOOOOHOOOO! Mucho Mahalo for posting your pics. Next time you're in town you'll have to stop by The SoccerTiki Grotto for a Mai Tai.

Work hard!

Play hard!

It was awesome having you guys for a visit at the sweat shop.

But it was Da Kine playing with you's at Oasis!!!

See you tomorrow!

Da Boo's.

1. Bahooka Bullet in carrot munch-off with Rufus!
   

Oh my gosh! What kind of fish is that?

Incredible photos. Great trip. But especially - nice shirt!

You know, this gets me thinkin' you could rent a convertible and start at Seattle, and just try to hit every single Tiki artist on the West Coast in one crazed run. It would take equal parts planning and insanity. Start at the beginning of August, and end up at the next Oasis in San Diego, with a Crazy AL mug as your final goal....

Jeez, you could do it as a contest with teams starting at the Space Needle and ending at the Mr. Bali Hai head!

tim, i hope to meet my other east coast braddah soon. please try to make oasis next year.
matt, the finkniks rock. great art and cool guys. thanks for introducing yourself on friday.
marlene, i guess you were there, but i never ran into you. i'm looking forward to vamptiki 3. i swear i'll make this one! :D
woohoo, thanks for the offer. if i make it by, have some hawaiian punch ready for me. no mai tais for this tee-totaler.
revben, you are so much fun to hang around with. i really thought you were gonna throw that bottle at the third floor! thanks again cuz!
ratz, i don't know what kinda fish rufus is, but you can hear the crunching when he's munching a carrot.
cammo, that sounds like an awesome idea. i don't know if this broken down old mailman is up to it though. i was worn out by sat night. my ankles and feet were swollen from standing and walking for about 15 hours a day on fri and sat. that's why kinny's wife is massaging my ankles in that other thread. not too many mai tais like the caption read!
once again, i'd wanna thank all the amazing peopo i met last week. it was a trip i'll never forget.

So any trips to the midwest...would love to meet the great Kollector in person. Great pics...
helps us center-centralites know who people are on the outer edges of our great land. Did I
really spit that one out? Anyway...fun post.

Some of you know how sad I am that I couldn't make Oasis but, I had a chance to hook up with Bullet & JonesEy on their way down to TO7. I was just blown away a few weeks ago when Jonesey dropped me a line & said they wanted to hook up, an opportunity I couldn't pass up. Great Company & Good times at the Bahooka. Bullet surprised me with this fantastic F.I. yellow Fugu! Jonesey Gifted me with a fantastic Pseudopots "Poison Bowl" by Saint-Thomas; a VERY LTD. hand made bowl! Kirby & Polly brought us some exquisite Kirby necklaces & Jonesey picked up a NICE, NICE, Kirby necklace he had commissioned, I wish you could all see it. Jonesey was also kind enough to hook me up with a blue TO7 mug. A million Mahalo's Bullet, Jonesey & Kirby. Thanks also everyone for posting all the great photos, I would love to see more of Frank's place! I love all the colorful orange outfits from Bullet's eccentric orange Dickie's & Hibiscus Van's to seeing Kate, Bai & all the Wahine's in those fab dresses! Hope to make the trip next in'08 !

Hey thanks for stopping in guys!!! Great times!

long live the King-s tie dye

On 2007-08-26 00:33, Ratzaroony wrote:

1. Bahooka Bullet in carrot munch-off with Rufus!
   

Oh my gosh! What kind of fish is that?

You need to ask H.S.T. ( r.i.p.) or J.Depp that question!

....and as for the shirt..........Don't eat the Brown Carrot!!

That's one bad ass fish and shirt.

Can anyone tell me anything about the blue and maroon mug next to the robot mug sitting on the shelves @ Tiki Farm in Bullet's pic?

If its the one that I think your talking about its the Tiki Bar TV logo mug done up in a proto-type color

On 2007-09-05 12:48, tiki-lee wrote:
Can anyone tell me anything about the blue and maroon mug next to the robot mug sitting on the shelves @ Tiki Farm in Bullet's pic?

On 2007-09-05 13:31, teaKEY wrote:
If its the one that I think your talking about its the Tiki Bar TV logo mug done up in a proto-type color

you are correct, teakey. holden gave it to jonesEy as a parting gift.

i thought i'd bump this up for anybody on the fence about attending tiki oasis. you need to be there!