Finally got to see Stardust's Aku Aku moai in Vegas!

Two years ago I was in Vegas and visited Sunset Park, where one of the Stardust's Aku Aku restaurant's moai was relocated to years back after the restaurant's closing; unfortunately, that section of the park was fenced off for people to visit at that time. Well, I just spent last week in Sin City and am happy to say I was able to visit this treasure due to the fence's being gone, and boy did this make me happy. I'm uploading here a panorama photo I took of the moai, which is in the middle of the small, man made lake. What a beautiful sight; enjoy!! TikiTommy

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2013-09-09 19:45 ]

TT, I shared your pic with my wife and we're going to make it a point to visit that big guy and then head to frankies and raise a mug to the Aku Aku and all who were fortunate to have visited there.
Mahalo
Btw, one of my favorite as well as one of my first mugs is the "lidded Moai" from the Aku Aku.

Excellent! I was there 2 years ago, too, driving around in circles onlt to find out I couldn't get near it. Nice pic. Thanks for posting. I mighta tried to swim out to it!

Some folks must have rilly big computer screens - I just have a medium MacBook Pro

Sven, Are you baiting Grog? Rilly?

Excellent! I'm going to go check it out again in December during Frankie's Tiki Room 5th anniversary!!!

Here are some pics on page 1 from 05' Good times !!!

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1845&forum=1

C'mon, Sven! I know the Moai's a bit small, but that's a great photo.

Totally - if you wanna play "Where's Moai?" :D

My comment was actually in earnest: As a cinematographer, I have to be very aware of the technological advances of home viewing. I shoot mostly for TV, and the proliferation of large flat screen TVs in the home market has recently translated into me framing my close-ups a little less tight, because the actors face might come across as too large now. Traditionally, TV close-ups used to be a bit closer than feature film close-ups, which are framed wider because they are seen on a huge screen. So now my framing lies somewhere between the old TV size and the movie screen size.

Consequently, I can also do wider wide-shots, because more detail can be seen in them now. Of course, not everybody has home theater-size monitors. I'm just glad I stopped shooting music videos before all the kids started watching them on I-Phones! :)

While on a recent trip to Las Vegas, I managed to drop by Sunset Park.

Eli Hedley's Aku Aku Moai:

Larger images on my Flickr page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/akahaka/sets/

Thanks, Hakalugi, for the surreal photos. As a former Henderson, NV resident, I need to get back to see Sunset Park. No Moai when I was there! And to bigbrotiki, nein merd, man. Used to carry a 4x5 on a tripod and print in big roller drums. Now I can't get a handle on how or where I'm viewing (let alone showing) images any more!!!

On 2013-09-09 18:08, tikitommy wrote:
Two years ago I was in Vegas and visited Sunset Park, where one of the Stardust's Aku Aku restaurant's moai was relocated to years back after the restaurant's closing; unfortunately, that section of the park was fenced off for people to visit at that time. Well, I just spent last week in Sin City and am happy to say I was able to visit this treasure due to the fence's being gone, and boy did this make me happy. I'm uploading here a panorama photo I took of the moai, which is in the middle of the small, man made lake. What a beautiful sight; enjoy!! TikiTommy

While I might have preferred a permanent location on Fremont Street, or along the median on Charleston Street, its current location is a proud reminder of Tiki glory days and easily accessible enroute to and fro the airport.

Had to swing by for myself here a couple a weeks ago when I was in town for Punk Rock Bowling. I was tempted to swim out as well. I think that as well repainting the Tiki Bob in SF have to be new Tiki Bucket list options.

Maybe the distance is to prevent graffiti...only bird droppings can decorate that majestic figure. Gonna add him to my Tiki bucket list.