TIKI CULTURE

Waikiki Tiki: Art, History & Photographs by Phillip S. Roberts

A few years ago you were lucky to find one or two decent books about Tiki or Hawaiian culture, but the resurgence in the popularity of our favorite bamboo-laden way of life has made it possible for some fine people to publish some fine works.

Waikiki Tiki: Art, History & Photographs by Phillip S. Roberts is a perfect example of a great Tiki coffee table book. Filled with great photos of everything from Tikis to Tiki Lounge menus, this tome gives another fun look into Hawaii’s and Tiki’s past.

Here’s a snippet from the Bess Press website: “Honolulu, HI (November 2010) - Bess Press introduces a stylish history of Waikiki tiki. Featuring a collection of archived tiki ephemera, carvings, and photographs, author Phil Roberts gives an evocative pictorial documentation of the past and present Waikiki tiki and the newfound popularity of its culture. As a well-known tiki enthusiast and researcher, freelance journalist, and former local radio personality, Roberts has had a unique and diversified exposure to the changing façade of Waikiki. The collection presented throughout the pages of this book detail over three decades of research.”

The description of the book reads, “Waikiki Tiki: Art, History and Photographs is a contemporary, landscape-styled book that offers a pictorial documentation of the past and present of tiki (and related art forms) throughout Waikiki as well as Hawaii’s island of Oahu. This book displays original photographs that document the tiki art culture scene that blossomed after WWII through its modern forms today. A great many of the images captured in these pages no longer exist in real life. Much of the ephemera and archival material pictured reside only in the author’s private collection.”

Inside Waikiki Tiki

Another kool book to add to your Tiki collection, Waikiki Tiki will make a groovy addition to your Tiki Bar or swingin’ pad.

Waikiki Tiki can be purchased through Bess Press online, or through Amazon.com.

-Tiki Chris P. reporting from the library at (the fictional) Tiki Island Resort, Florida

MAD MEN Season Five…where are you?

It’s Sunday, and as happens every Sunday my Martini alert goes off in my head and I start thinking about Mad Men. So I looked up the schedule for season five on the AMC website…and it’s blank.

Yeah, blank. A big ole’ gray block of nothing where the schedule should be. That means one of two things: Either my computer is on the fritz and not showing the page right, or AMC hasn’t decided on when they’ll be airing the show. Now, according to the AMC Mad Men blog, Breaking Bad has been pushed off from a Spring, 2011 to a summer premier. That has people speculating that Mad Men won’t be shown until the fall.

The fall? Aw, man, what a drag that would be, ya dig? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what transpires.

On that note, I must say I’m a little let down that the series has progressed so quickly in its time frame. Not to say I’m not still digging it, but the mid to late 60s is not nearly as kool an era (to me personally) than the 50s-early 60s. To me, personally, the late 60s is when the whole era of kool really disappeared in favor of acid rock, wide ties and social destruction. Oh, certainly a lot of good came out of the chaos; the true beginning of civil rights for all Americans, the eventual end of the Vietnam war, and the Mod movement…but to me, and probably many of you, that era just doesn’t hold the true swank of the Rat Pack/Cocktail set days. But I’ll still watch the show.

If any of you kats & kittens hear anything through the pipeline on when Mad Men is going to air, please drop me a line.

-Tiki Chris P, reporting from the cocktail lounge

Your Weekend Tiki Bar Cocktail: Pumpkin Martini

Pumpkin Martini

I know Thanksgiving is over, but I gotta tell ya I’m still in the mood for it. We’ve got enough leftovers to last us through next weekend, so I thought it would be nice this weekend to try a little

Pumpkin Martini

Ingredients:
•    1/2 oz cream liqueur
•    2 oz vanilla vodka
•    1/2 oz pumpkin liqueur or pumpkin spice syrup
•    1 tsp whipped cream
•    cinnamon stick for garnish

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Happy Thanksgiving from Pirate’s Cove Tiki Bar!

Cheers to you kids! It’s Thanksgiving Day, and with things the way they are today in the world, we have to remember we still have plenty to be thankful for.

Funny, that last statement. It’s been laid down by every generation of Americans since the Pilgrims landed their tub on Plymouth Rock. Our country is great because we’ve had to fight for every damn thing we have, from the Re-Vo war to fighting moron bank investors today, it’s been an uphill battle (I love that cliché) but we always seem to come out tops. So this holiday, be thankful you have a computer to read this on. We take these little machines for granted, but a lot of kats and kittens don’t have the beans to trade in for a MacBook. Be thankful that we haven’t been bombed by some goofy-assed terrorists. Be thankful that even though times may be tough, and we may not be living as high as we were a few ticks ago, that we’ve still got the things we’ve got and the people we dig…and we’ll always have Tiki…no one can take that away from us. Read the rest of this entry »

Mod Movie Monday: The Wizard of Oz, 1939

I think we’d be hard-pressed to find anyone over the age of 12 who hasn’t seen (and loved) The Wizard of Oz. So this week’s Mod Movie Monday isn’t really a recommendation for something you’ve probably already seen, it’s a celebration of one of our favorite movies of all time. Dig some trivia, a story or two, and some groovy pix and video here at Tiki Lounge Talk. From 1939, here’s one of our top favorites,

The Wizard of Oz

Back in the old days, ya know, the 70’s, when there were only three networks and a few UHF stations on the tube, TV stations would show old movies just once a year, and they’d make a big deal about it (remember?). Every Thanksgiving my parents would drive us up to Philly to have a giant Italian Thanksgiving dinner with our giant Italian family. Football would be on the TV in living room until eight o’clock, when my uncles would be shooed away to the upstairs bedroom so the rest of us could watch that spectacular of spectaculars, The Wizard of Oz.

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