Great Article! Shag, Bamboo Ben, Tiki Ray, Beachbum Berry

This link has been posted elsewhere, but I thought it should have it's own thread!!!
Check it out! http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-tiki26-2008oct26,0,288708.story

Lot's of interesting history in the article too!

Very nice - seems like the L.A. Times has been paying a lot of attention to Tiki over the last few months.

On 2008-10-27 22:20, SoccerTiki wrote:
Lot's of interesting history in the article too!

Wow, fascinating history lesson! ...now how about the real history behind the Luau:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27025&forum=1&vpost=415933

Adam Tschorn from L.A. Times wrote:
Tiki's new presence at the high end reflects the same co-opting of subculture that turned the swing-dance underground at Los Feliz's Derby into a worldwide craze for $22 martinis and transformed Kustom Kar culture into a launch pad for $50 Von Dutch trucker caps.

I said it earlier in the other post, but I'll restate my question....What does the new Luau review in the L.A. Times have to do with $15,000 Shag Originals and $5,000 Witco bars?
The author is seemingly adding fuel to a unwanted fire of trendyness.

Are they trying to justify the Beverly Hills location? Could it be the potential "Paris Hilton-esque" clientel they are trying to lure into the tiki scene? Or could it be justification for the inflated food prices on the Luau's menu?
Let me also point out, I do not make any criticism towards any of the builders/artists involved in the installation of the Neo-Luau, as I figure they only did what the owner wished by his own concepts and visions for the place. I do however, criticize the article which was written. Now, everyone not already into Witco is going to go in search mode to find witco bars to buy under 5k and automatically and artificially inflate the real market value????

On 2008-10-28 16:33, Tom Slick wrote:

Adam Tschorn from L.A. Times wrote:
Tiki's new presence at the high end reflects the same co-opting of subculture that turned the swing-dance underground at Los Feliz's Derby into a worldwide craze for $22 martinis and transformed Kustom Kar culture into a launch pad for $50 Von Dutch trucker caps.

I said it earlier in the other post, but I'll restate my question....What does the new Luau review in the L.A. Times have to do with $15,000 Shag Originals and $5,000 Witco bars?
The author is seemingly adding fuel to a unwanted fire of trendyness.

Are they trying to justify the Beverly Hills location? Could it be the potential "Paris Hilton-esque" clientel they are trying to lure into the tiki scene? Or could it be justification for the inflated food prices on the Luau's menu?
Let me also point out, I do not make any criticism towards any of the builders/artists involved in the installation of the Neo-Luau, as I figure they only did what the owner wished by his own concepts and visions for the place. I do however, criticize the article which was written. Now, everyone not already into Witco is going to go in search mode to find witco bars to buy under 5k and automatically and artificially inflate the real market value????

I don't think anyone's trying to win anyone over on the Tiki scene...Us few thousand Tiki Geeks on TC are an island unto ourselves. Total tiki lifestyle junkies.
I think they're trying to predict Tiki as the next "big thing" for the celebutards and trend following hipsters. Honestly, I hope that doesn't happen, cos that's what usually ruins cool stuff like this. Hopefully, it will quietly work itself back into the vernacular that is the LA restaurant and bar scene and it lights a fire but doesn't make a big BANG. A slow build would be nice.

Either way, some press is a good thing, so when trader Vics Downtown opens, people will go and the place will survive. After All, we want more cool tiki places to go, don't we ?

As for the Witco stuff.....It will no doubt go the way of Heywood Wakefield, Danish Modern and Eames/Herman Miller and get pricey...anything that old that had a very big heyday always resurfaces as collectible and the big money folks will no doubt start collecting some of this stuff.

Sorry for the bad news, but Witco's resurgence is here....AND...Not for nothin' but an entire beautifully packaged Hardcover book dedicated to Witco sure doesn't help keep it a "best kept secret"...Thanx Sven ! :)

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2008-10-28 19:21 ]

I hear a bandwagon in the not soo far off distance....Kinda sounds like thunder..... :lol: :roll:

On 2008-10-29 09:09, Tom Slick wrote:
I hear a bandwagon in the not soo far off distance....Kinda sounds like thunder..... :lol: :roll:

YEa, just get out of the way so it don't run you over :)

Patrons of tiki bars do not instantly get that it’s a subculture and lifestyle. They can show up enjoy the ambiance and cocktails then return to their home filled with buddha hands, paisley shirts, refrigerator full of Zimas and carry on with their lives. The transition from buddha hands to Bosko masks is an evolutionary process that requires an appreciation of Poly Pop and observing those that know the history and are plugged into the pulse of all things that are truly tiki. Knowing the art, music, mixology, carvers and characters of the scene are something that requires a passion and not a casual annual pilgrimage to the local tiki bar in a Tommy Bahama shirt will allow you that window to look in. But if they take home that mug they kept from the local tiki joint, that may eventually turn into 2 or 3 then they find out about a guy named Squid that designed it and become interested in his freakish abilities, and from that they find out he’s in this group called the Tikiyaki Orchestra, then discovers exotica and realizes this is something that has always been embedded in him and is awakened. He will soon ditch the Tommy Bahama and bust out the barkcloth, take down his Ikea print of a ladybug and put up a Shag or a Ken Ruzik. It will all begin to click and eventually he/she may end up on Tiki Central starting his own thread enlightening me on some arctichetutal tiki discovery. The tiki culture/lifestyle is a commitment and although people on the outside looking in have an inclination sometimes they just don’t necessarily “get it”. Even though the translation is a pretty simple universal desire. Tiki is all about fun and transporting yourself into a unpenatrateable bubble of paradise. Everything is cyclical and we are by no means the forefathers of this movement, but through our appreciation and perpetuation it will continue to flourish. I hope that tiki becomes all the rage again and there is a tiki bar on every corner, because you and I will still appreciate them when the hype and fad fades. Tiki will never become extinct as long as I can help it, but it will poke its head in and out of the mainstream on a regular basis. Enjoy the ride!