Official Introductions Thread. New Members, Post your introduction here...

Thanks for the warm welcome guys, really looking forward to participating.

Hi all, Mark from Ottawa Ontario. Just want to say hi and big thanks to all those who have posted travel info, drink info, well all of the info. Recently retired and this site has been a treasure trove of knowledge that we have used to plan our recent amazing desperately seeking tiki road trips over the past 18 months. The name is a play on a local cycle tour however Ontario is most certainly a very rum deprived location, which makes re-creating drinks way more of a challenge than it should be, but a challenge I, my wife and neighbours have been enjoying immensely.

Other hobbies include some photography, all things Batman and also volunteer at local community radio station with a weekly radio program focusing in on avant rock, prog, fusion, jazz etc.

So thanks again to all who participate in these forums, the crafters keeping this alive and well everyone.

mark

Hi Mark,

Do you have any pictures of your tiki road trip?

On 2017-04-21 15:37, MaukaHale wrote:
Hi Mark,

Do you have any pictures of your tiki road trip?

Quite a few actually. Wasn't really sure where "road trips" would go as they are not location specific.

Last Jan went from Charlotte to West Coast of Fla thru the keys up to Ft. Lauderdale and then back north through Atlanta. Next was Vegas and Palm Springs. A trip to Toronto in between when Martin Cate was in town doing the book tour and just finished Fla (we have friends who winter there) to N'awlins and back again.

Aloha Everyone,

I've been lurking around Tiki Central for years admiring everyone's postings from Tiki bars, art work, and music. I didn't know there was so much awesomeness out there for Tiki. My first trip to the Caribbean back in 1990 was my starting point. It opened my eyes to a whole new world but it could had been the Rum talking. What really encourage my Tikiness was Hawaii. 2007 was the year I went coconuts with my first cruse to Hawaii. I hit four Islands Oahu, Maui, Hawaii and Kauai. My wife and I renew our vows with about 75 other couples. I walked away with 5 Aloha shirts, Plumerias, Hula Daddy's Kona Coffee and many many pictures. That trip encourage me to build my outdoor Tiki Bar (which is the reason I'm here). I'll post pictures of my Tiki bar later. I just wanted to say thanks to Tiki Central for all my crazy ideas. You guys are awesome.

Jungle Jeff

Welcome to Tiki Central Jungle Jeff, looking forward to seeing pictures of your outdoor tiki bar.

Greetings fellow tikiphiles!

My name's Jeff and I'm excited to be here and talk tiki with you all. I currently live in the Ozarks, where I am building a tiki themed screened-in addition to our home. I think my fascination with tiki culture is the result two childhood experiences : a stay at Disney's Polynesian Hotel in '83, and a restaurant called the "Mai Tai" that my family frequented when I was young. I am an artist, musician, writer, deejay, and special event producer. That last gig is about as close to my dream job as I've been able to get - building a theme park. Until I can amass many, many millions of dollars, that will have to do. :)

Thanks to the Tiki Central crew for such a wonderful resource! Looking forward to getting to know some of you.

Welcome Jeff! Beware of the Home Bar section--there are so many amazing lounges and creative ideas there than any project you begin is bound to grow much bigger than planned. Inspiration is a dangerous thing!

On 2017-05-11 12:27, Prikli Pear wrote:
Welcome Jeff! Beware of the Home Bar section--there are so many amazing lounges and creative ideas there than any project you begin is bound to grow much bigger than planned. Inspiration is a dangerous thing!

Thanks! Too late...!
:)

Welcome, Jeff! Have fun here!

Hi,

My name is Natasha, and I've been lurking and learning from everyone here for quite a while.

I live in Alberta, Canada (St. Albert), but I'm originally from a small town in Newfoundland (far east coast of Canada). In Newfoundland, we have a lot of rum but the closest we come to tiki is a tropical-Jimmy Buffett inspired chain restaurant.

I grew up surrounded by art from the South Pacific that my father brought back when he travelled for work (he was a deep sea sailor for more than 40 years). But I'm old enough that the internet didn't exist, and while we were fascinated by the art and the places that it was from, there was no knowledge of tiki (we were too far away apparently). The Encyclopedia Britannica from the 80s didn't link the South Pacific with tiki :) . I've tried searching for tiki in Newfoundland and come up empty handed.

Unfortunately, I have very little to contribute, but I'm in awe of the home bars, the collections, the information, and the art that I see here.

Thank you for fueling my imagination!

Greetings Natasha! Sounds like you may have to do what I'm trying to do here in Arkansas... create your own tiki surroundings. :)

Welcome!

Thanks!

I guess my forays into diy will have to include bamboo :)

I guess my forays into diy will have to include bamboo :)

Welcome, Natasha! There's a lot of us here who don't have the luxury of a vibrant, modern tiki culture (West Coast) or the garage sale vestiges of a lost one (U.S. Midwest), but it's still within your reach with a little (or a lot) time and elbow grease. I'm not sure if you were joking or not when you said your DIY would have to include bamboo, but that is a serious option for you and your climate. There are several threads here and posts on YouTube about how to convert simple PVC pipe into a convincing, durable faux-bamboo. I look forward to seeing more of your posts here!

Hi all. I've been lurking here for about a year and finally decided to dive in thanks to a comment on the kitsch thread I wanted to respond to. I'm not sure I'm as true a tiki fan as most of you but I dabble. I'm in the Denver area but travel to Florida regularly to visit family, so Trader Sam's and Jock Lindsey's are where I get most of my tiki time in (though I do get to Adrift here in Denver from time to time).

I used the thread on Trader Vic's London when we went in March to check it out and managed to wrangle some stuff from them like others have recently, so this place has already been helpful to my collection.

I'm not sure if you were joking or not when you said your DIY would have to include bamboo, but that is a serious option for you and your climate. There are several threads here and posts on YouTube about how to convert simple PVC pipe into a convincing, durable faux-bamboo. I look forward to seeing more of your posts here!

Oh I'm not joking about the bamboo, but my room will be inside (because well Canada and I don't have a backyard (condo maybe next year will be the year of the tiki patio)). I can get small diameter bamboo locally, so that will do for lots of things, but I've been thinking about the PVC pipe for other projects. I pretty much stunned enough to try anything! :)

Welcome Jason! Don't feel intimidated-- a year ago I had no idea tiki culture existed outside of the 1950s, and today I'm in the middle of my own bar build. So feel free to jump in with both feet. The folks here are pretty friendly and supportive.

Hi all! My name is Chris, and I've dabbled in tiki for a while, but only seriously gotten the bug in the last couple of years. I recently joined this site and have been enjoying the posts.

I had to smile when I saw tikitube's mentioned of the Polynesian Resort at Disney World in the 80s. I hear ya, man. WDW was my dream place throughout my youth, and the Polynesian? Hold cow, dude ... that was paradise! Unfortunately, Mom and Dad always made us stay at the campground, which didn't have the same cache. I got a real blast from the past when I paid a recent visit to Oceanic Arts and noticed hanging from their ceiling a sign they had done for the Polynesian. If only I could take that baby home!

No plans for a home tiki bar yet. I haven't wrestled the spare room away from my wife, but I'm working on it. That said, the tradeoff has been a reasonable accommodation of space for my tiki mug collection in the living room. Hey, life is a compromise, eh?

Cheers! I look forward to reading more from all of you!
Chris

On 2017-06-08 09:50, c-monkey wrote:
I had to smile when I saw tikitube's mentioned of the Polynesian Resort at Disney World in the 80s. I hear ya, man. WDW was my dream place throughout my youth, and the Polynesian? Hold cow, dude ... that was paradise! Unfortunately, Mom and Dad always made us stay at the campground, which didn't have the same cache. I got a real blast from the past when I paid a recent visit to Oceanic Arts and noticed hanging from their ceiling a sign they had done for the Polynesian. If only I could take that baby home!

Hey Chris! Welcome from one new member to another. :)

Yep, the Polynesian was stellar. They had just opened EPCOT, too. I still remember that new monorail smell. Wish I had the foresight to ask for tiki mugs instead of mouse ear hats. But whats a kid gonna do with a ceramic mug made for alcoholic beverages? (Don't answer that!)

Oh, well. :wink:

... or maybe a mug shaped like mouse ears ... hmmm.

I was at OA again today picking up some decorations for a party, saw the Disney sign, and was reminded of this thread. Dig the old school, baby!

Greetings and Salutations from a long time lurker!

We've spent this year remodeling a 12x16' screenhouse in our backyard into our little Tiki Hut. Much of what we've done has been learned from hanging out here - reed fencing for the walls, making our own trim using a router, torch and wire brush and getting the lights just right.

We're calling our little hut "The Coming Zombie Apocalypse" and have had a number of parties back there this summer already. Being that we're halfway to the north pole up here, the season is coming to a close, but we're going to spend the winter getting things together for more fun next summer.

It is a work in progress and more will be posted as we go along - hopefully!

Thanks for all the help you've given us so far - we hope we can return the favor!

On 2017-09-30 18:57, HodagHut wrote:

We're calling our little hut "The Coming Zombie Apocalypse.

...

It is a work in progress and more will be posted as we go along - hopefully!

Thanks for all the help you've given us so far - we hope we can return the favor!

Welcome, from one zombie aficionado to another. Looking good so far. Keep it up!

Jeff

Great job thus far, HodagHut! You've got a great space to work with, and have the concept down. One of my goals is to find an old surfboard to add to my build, but dang, even the trashed out ones cost serious $$$. Looking forward to watching your build progress.

On 2017-10-01 21:22, Prikli Pear wrote:
One of my goals is to find an old surfboard to add to my build, but dang, even the trashed out ones cost serious $$$

Well, we were in Northern California two summers ago and found a used one at a small surf shop outside of Santa Rosa. It's the first surfboard I've ever owned, so I don't know if we got took at $125, but the story about hauling it back across Idaho, Montana and the upper Midwest was well worth it.

Thanks, for the input and we anticipate that it'll be a work in progress for years to come. As far as I'm concerned, we've got the first layer down, and we're working on the second of four or five layers.

Right now, I'm learning that carving freehand with a router is much harder than it seems.

B

[ Edited by: HodagHut 2017-10-02 20:58 ]

This thread had dropped to the second page, so I want to bump it in case newer members don’t know it exists.

Welcome to everyone who’s recently joined TC. We’re mostly friendly here, and Wendy Cevola makes up for the few who aren’t, so if you haven’t introduced yourself yet, please do. This is a great place for a first post.

Please allow myself to reintroduce myself. I’m Hamo (an internet Hawaiian dictionary told me “hamo” means “anointed,” which is the meaning of my real name). I’m originally from Iowa but now live in Colorado, two places where tropical fantasy environments help make the cold winters bearable. Since joining TC, I’ve visited more tiki places and collected more tiki stuff, although I don’t have a home tiki bar yet. But best of all, I’ve met some great tiki people, and have gotten to share my interest in Polynesian Pop with family and friends.

Greetings all!

Just a quick introduction and a thanks to everyone for all the fantastic info I've been soaking up. (By the way, the home bar area is a DANGEROUS place to visit, great for ideas and very bad for my wallet)

My wife and I have been in Central Florida for longer than I care to disclose in public, and are currently about 20 minutes from the Mouse House. (Disney World for the non-locals) Have been to and really enjoyed Adventureland more times than I can count.

I have had a full wet bar at home (our enclosed back porch) since shortly after we moved in a number of years ago. Recently decided I needed to up my mixologist cred as I normally enjoy my adult beverages straight. Long story short, I landed here. Now I see that my bar is pretty (hmmm... how shall we describe it?) Umm, blah, bland, boring with just a bit of noir thrown in. Yes, I've single handedly been trying to bring the fedora back for a decade or more, with little success I might add. Oh well.

Now have plans for tikifying it a bit (I'm thinking more adventurer/explorer hangout). I doubt I'll go full on tiki bar, but this site gives me such great ideas for projects that it may happen sooner or later.

So thanks in advance for putting up with me.

-Scot

Scot, welcome! You're in the same boat with all of us, just at a different point in time for the development of your home bar. Keep it up - it's great fun both in your home bar and here on Tiki Central.

Your adventure/explorer concept is also interesting and fun for a home bar. Cheers!

Welcome Scot! You may not have had a lot of success promoting the fedora, but for some reason the trilby seems to be all the rage (and usually misidentified as a fedora in the process!). :lol:

Yes, the Home Bar section is indeed dangerous. I'm Exhibit A on that point. I'll be looking forward to seeing your "Tiki Noir" progress in the future...

Greetings everyone, I'm Chelsea.. new member, long time lurker, wife of @Mikehooker. We live in Austin TX with our two dogs. In addition to tiki I am passionate about MCM design, hiking & camping, and have recently discovered a new hobby in sewing (and have already made Mike a great cabana set!).
I've been to Hukilau 2013, Tiki Oasis 2017 and will be attending my first Ohana Luau at the Lake this summer (it's our first time in upstate NY if anyone has any sightseeing advice). I'm originally from Jacksonville Florida but moved to Fort Lauderdale where I met Mike and spent many nights; including my 21st birthday, at the Mai Kai. We also were married there almost three years ago, as I am sure most of you know from the pictures Mike posted.
Over the last few years we have been working to turn our home office into a tiki room, Mike has spent so much time and energy on it I can't believe he hasn't posted pictures in a while, so here's a little (daytime) sample...

I look forward to finally being part of the TC community!

Thanks for the reminder. I just updated the home tiki bars thread with our transformation:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=51017&forum=20&21

Welcome Chelsea, everything looks really nice, keep us posted with all the new changes that you are making.

Welcome to the madhouse, Chelsea! Hope you and Mike can make it to another dive-in movie this summer!

Welcome, Mrs. Hooker!

A warm welcome to all the new posters. Looks like some of you are well on your way to creating great looking home bars.
CHEERS

Welcome to Tiki Central the happiest place on earth for tiki people. I look forward to your posts. Wendy

Hello everyone! It’s good to finally be here.
First I want to give a huge “Thank You!” to all who have shared their expertise here. I’ve learned and borrowed much from you all.
By way of introduction, I’m a Southern California transplant to God’s waiting room (Florida), by way of several other states through an “interesting” career. I left SoCal in ’83 in the service of Uncle Sam, and have lived in Utah, Colorado, Maryland, Texas and Ohio. Oh, yeah, I spent some time in the “other” California – the SF Bay area.
I’ve lurked here for a few years until I realized I needed to support in some small way, so here I am. And it only took 6 months from the time I first tried to sign up until yesterday when Mr. Lemoore fixed things for me. Thank you, sir!! I never claimed to be a computer whiz.
I’m late to the revival – the decline was slow and I didn’t really realize that Tiki was dying out until it was almost gone. So bless me, Reverend Bamboo Ben, for I have sinned.
Growing up going to places like the old Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach (where I had my first encounter with float lights and puffer fish), Don the Beachcomber, the Outrigger, Ports o’ Call, etc., while my Mom bowled at Kona Lanes, lulled me into the feeling that they would always be there. I was fortunate to visit Kahiki a few times when I was in Columbus, and was dismayed when it closed, but I still didn’t put it all together. Then one day I woke up and they were gone. Thanks to all of you who have reversed much of the decline.
-Nelson

On 2018-02-26 15:36, coldwarspacemonkey wrote:
I’ve lurked here for a few years

Welcome! I'm glad you joined. I hope you find this forum to be a warm and welcoming space.

Hello everyone!

Longtime lurker and after a few Jungle Birds I finally decided to participate! Thank you all for the inspiration over the past few years. I first got into Tiki about 12 years ago when I was working at Tower Records and someone put on a Martin Denny record. I loved it and delved deeper into Exotica and soon found a copy of Book of Tiki at a thrift store for $5(!). At that point I was a fan of Tiki and Exotica music but not yet ready to fully dive into the water. I was still a little gothy....you understand. Through the years I visited this site every so often and marveled at all of the home tiki bars.

Cut to about 2 years ago when my wife took me to Trader Sam's at Disneyland. As soon as I got squirted in the face, I was sold! When I got home I tried to recreate the drinks we had, bought all of the Jeff "Beachbum" Berry books and the rest is history! I currently live in Southern California with my wife in a 1 bedroom apartment, dreaming of the day when I can have a house and build my own Tiki bar. In the meantime, I have been stocking up on bar supplies - my job takes me close to Hi Times in Costa Mesa on a weekly basis which can be a blessing and a curse - I am running out of room!

Once again, thank you all for the inspiration and I look forward to joining the community!

Welcome, Berry! Indeed, that is a nicely stocked bar you have there.

Great story, and welcome, Berry. I'm amazed and pleased that you found a copy of Book of Tiki for $5, congrats! Jump in and share your activities with us as you continue to explore and have fun with tiki. Cheers!

Welcome aboard, Berry! Looks like you've been taking your rum stocks seriously! :wink:

Welcome BerryTiki!

I hope you intend on drinking all that delicious rum. If not, I can come over to assist you.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I do a pretty good job not letting the rum go to waste - as soon as I get my own Tiki Bar up, I will invite everyone over for a drink!

On 2018-03-07 20:43, BerryTiki wrote:
[A]s soon as I get my own Tiki Bar up, I will invite everyone over for a drink!

I think my invite got lost in the mail. When is the grand opening and what can I bring as a bar-warming gift?

Hi all!

I just realized after my 10th post that i hadn't found an intro thread. I've been lurking for the last year and a half or so and learning a ton! When some friends of mine started an exotica group i started diving deeper into tiki and consuming everything possible. Unfortunately NC doesn't have any actual tiki bars anymore but I'm headed out west to the more tiki-friendly Arizona in just a few weeks and I can't wait to have a new corner of the country to explore.

Thanks to everyone for being so accommodating so far!

Welcome! Now that you've outed yourself, you are required to submit detailed trip reports for all of your tiki adventures! :wink:

On 2018-06-14 09:58, Prikli Pear wrote:
Welcome! Now that you've outed yourself, you are required to submit detailed trip reports for all of your tiki adventures! :wink:

Ha! Gladly. A huge part of the success of my recent trip to the Big Island was reading through old threads here. If only people knew their trip reports from years ago would be so influential...

Greetings! I am Pelorus and I am new to the world of tiki. I recently started practicing my hand at mixing cocktails. Naturally tiki drinks came up and I was drawn to them immediately. I knew about tiki culture but I didn't think it was still around!

I grew up watching A LOT of movies from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, and lots of film noir. I also grew up going to Disney World, and Adventureland was and is my favorite of the lands. I still retain a love of classic Disney/parks - I'll be there in August and I'm quite excited to visit Trader Sam's Grog Grotto. I unironically enjoy the pop culture of the mid-century.

I live in the New York metro area, where I work as a science professor. Recently, I've visited Dromedary Urban Tiki Bar in Brooklyn, and I've visited the brand new Polynesian. I shook the hand of Captain Brian Miller himself. I plan to visit Otto's Shrunken Head this week.

I'm interested in meeting tiki folks!

[ Edited by: Pelorus 2018-06-17 18:51 ]