Another interesting Honolulu Advertiser article

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Jun/28/ln/ln24a.html

Interesting is how they are tiptoeing around the issue of being politically incorrect and end up contradicting themselves:

A volcano yes, but not a GARISH eruption, but a "subtle dance of illuminescence";"Don The Beachcomber umbrella drinks" at the "Tiki Grill and Bar", but with "humility, and not a tiki-tiki (schlocky) attitude" [it does seem that in the islands, at least in the hotel business, "tiki tiki" equates with "schlocky". Can anybody verify that?];
A "hip Hawaiian' renovation, but a "Wolfgang Puck Express Cafe"?

Seems like a two steps forward, one step back approach. Here is where I preach patience and understanding to the purists: It shows the stirrings of a new consciousness, let's just hope they don't fuck it up completely.

Interesting developments in Waikiki... Thanks for sharing. After seeing the very disappointing Universal Royal Pacific Resort last week in Orlando, I started thinking one of the problems with modern hotel architecture is it's enivitably huge scale. There is just no way a hotel with 1,000 rooms (yes, that is 3 zeros) can create the same feeling as the way cool hotels and motels of the 50's and 60's that had a fraction of the rooms and spaces to decorate. This volcano hotel thing sounds interesting, but I wonder if it will just be hideously over-sized and grotesque.

In reference to my question about "tiki-tiki" being equated with schlocky, I got this response from my friend De Soto Brown at the Bishop Museum:

..I think this is someone's misstatement of "ticky-tacky" and doesn't actually refer to anything tiki. As I say, I continue to wonder just what this bar will be like and I fear that no one really has a clue as to how to
do it..<
Now it makes sense. I know it, but the writer is probably to young to ever have heard that term. Reminds me of last night, when me and my pal Pete Moruzzi finally made it downtown to the ultra hip Standard Hotel, to hear the Millionaire dj.
Generation Gap dialog follows:

Pete: "I'd like an Old Fashioned"
Young pretty waitress: "WHAT is oldfashioned???"

Big bro writes "I feel that no one really has a clue as how to do it"

Aloha everyone,
Well I have not only a clue but plans already drawn out. One day I went in threw a opening at the construction site.... OK I Ripped threw a piece of plywood and squeezed threw a whole the size of a coconut. Anyways, I drew out the floor plan. I have been contacting "Pankow" the people in charge of the project to let me build there bamboo bar and fill it with exotic carvings, Tapa, thatch, Martin Denny records in bamboo frames, blow fish lamps etc.. etc..the everyday ingredients of a tiki bar. BUUUUT, yes this is a guy who dosen't know what the word Tiki represents. It sounds like another Vegas joint to me. I have emailed Wade the guy who wrote the article to see if he can help me make this a success. I haven't herd from him yet. Looks like La Marianas will be the only true Tiki Bar left on this beautiful island.
I had a blast last Friday. Like I said, If anyone from Tiki Central comes to da islands. Drop me an email and I would love to meet at La Marianas. Friday nights are a must. Big Bro I don't want to say what you should or should not have in your book but I have only 2 words...La Marianas. Is that 2 dam words or 1. Sorry, I don't speak spanish.
Mahalo
Gecko

Hey Gecko,
Great that you made the effort to clue these people into the secret ingredients of tikiness. Maybe you should encourage the project managers to meet you at Las Marianas for drinks and a discussion of the project. Or maybe tell them to just go visit your favorite hangout and make up there own minds. You could even offer to buy them a drink or two (like they can't afford it). One of the problem with these huge hotels is they hire marketing people to tell them how the average tourist wants the hotel designed and decorated. That's why our urban landscpaes are turning into miles of look-a-like crap. Artists or designers having full charge of multi-million dollar projects are pretty much unheard of. Mostly, they have to work under the direction of some VP of marketing who has some quasi-research justifying the decorating and architectural tastes of the CEO. I'm not certain, but I bet a lot of the old tiki bars and hotels were mom and pop businesses where the owners simply took a fancy to the theme and had complete control over the project.

Aloh Gecko, yeah, La Mariana's is great, but did you know that it's decor is a conglomeration from the classic Waikiki Tiki temples, Don's, Trader Vic's, and Steve Cranes Kon Tiki?
After each closure the owner got some more lamps, Tiki posts, e.t.c. So it is full of authentic Tiki mana!

Actually yes I'm aware of that its decor is chop suey as we say here in da islands (Mixture of bars). Miss La Mariana filled me in on the history. The tiki post up front are actually from the old "TL" Tahitian Lanai, the glass floats were from TV, and the tables from Don's. etc.. Have you talked with her? she's a sweet old lady. Also, yes I have tried to get Pankow (contractors for the new Tiki bar in Waikiki) to La Mariana for a few drinks and to fill them in what a real tiki bar looks like. No calls yet! They have there money/mind set on something else. You have to have ALOHA in your heart not in your wallet.
Gecko

You have to have ALOHA in your heart not in your wallet.
Gecko

Amen, brudda.

Gecko, I just found out WHO they have their mind set on: Oceanic Arts! This just in from Bob and Leroy:
"We are currently carving hardwood moldings and 9 Tiki's for the TIKI GRILL & BAR at the Aston Beach Hotel in Honolulu,a Banana Joes Island Restaurant in Allenttown, PA, another unnamed restaurant in Ormond Beach, FL and many other smaller jobs."
This spells good news for the place, because O.A. does good work.

another unnamed restaurant in Ormond Beach, FL and many other smaller jobs."
This spells good news for the place, because O.A. does good work.

Tell us more about the Ormond Beach project and we'll gladly check it out.