Official Introductions Thread. New Members, Post your introduction here... - General Tiki

STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Tiki Socialite Carson, California Joined: Aug 20, 2002 Posts: 2813	STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Posted posted on Thu, Aug 22, 2002 6:57 PM Hi, My real name is Tim and I've recently attended the Tiki Oasis in Palm Springs and Bamboo Ben's Gathering of the Tribes last weekend. I grew up here in Los Angeles and some of my earliest memories are of going to Disneyland every year in the 1960s and sitting in the Tiki Room with my parents, in complete awe of the singing birds, tikis and flowers. When the fake rainstorm commenced with its thunder and lightning, I'd clutch tightly to my father, my eyes wide with fear and fascination. Back then the whole crowd would sing all the songs at the top of their lungs, not finding anything nerdy or self-conscious about it. It was a more innocent time. There also used to be a restaurant in the park, next-door to the Tiki-Room where you could have a sit-down luau and watch a real hula show with Tahitian fire dancers. Don't remember what ever became of that place. As a child I also remember an apartment building along La Cienega Boulevard, just south of Centinela that would catch my eye as we passed it on the way to church each week. It had a grotto of lava and cycads in the front with a huge palm-wood tiki rising out of it. At night it was flood-lit from below and there were guttering tiki torches. It was utterly mesmerizing. It also seemed completely normal, as there were tikis all over in the city at that time, anywhere you went. The apartment building on La Cienega is still there, but the tiki is of course long gone. Later, I developed an interest in Polynesian culture and even joined an outrigger canoe team out of Redondo Beach for a few years. At some time in the 1990s through the influence of a very hip graphic-designer friend, I began to suddenly view 1950s modernist furniture and decor as beautiful instead of ugly. I began to scour the garage and estate-sales to decorate my home. The pop Tiki-culture items I found as well seem to blend right in with my decorating sensibilities. One day I found a record album called "Bahia" by someone named Arthur Lyman. I put it on my turntable and couldn't believe what I was hearing. Everyone needed to hear this amazing "mood" music, so I made cassette recordings and sent them to all my friends. I thought I was the first person to "rediscover" exotica music. Boy, was I naive! Nowadays I'm still addicted to garage and estate sales, and along with my good friend, fellow Tiki-Centralite, Doctor Z, we scour the South Bay every Saturday morning for junk to keep and junk to sell. I sell on E-bay under the name cycluracycura: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1760708477 And Doctor Z sells under the moniker iamdrz: http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&userid=iamdrz&include=0&since=2&sort=3&rows=0 I must admit that Doctor Z has the higher-developed radar sense for tiki-mugs and I have found myself shut-out for months! I can definitely confirm the rumor that he recently found six black Sneaky Tikis with perfect paint at a garage-sale for a dollar apiece. That's it for now. I'm just happy that a community like this exists, and if I find I have anything valuable to contribute, I'll look forward to posting more soon. Thanks. Sabu

Hi,

My real name is Tim and I've recently attended the Tiki Oasis in Palm Springs and Bamboo Ben's Gathering of the Tribes last weekend.

I grew up here in Los Angeles and some of my earliest memories are of going to Disneyland every year in the 1960s and sitting in the Tiki Room with my parents, in complete awe of the singing birds, tikis and flowers. When the fake rainstorm commenced with its thunder and lightning, I'd clutch tightly to my father, my eyes wide with fear and fascination. Back then the whole crowd would sing all the songs at the top of their lungs, not finding anything nerdy or self-conscious about it. It was a more innocent time.

There also used to be a restaurant in the park, next-door to the Tiki-Room where you could have a sit-down luau and watch a real hula show with Tahitian fire dancers. Don't remember what ever became of that place.

As a child I also remember an apartment building along La Cienega Boulevard, just south of Centinela that would catch my eye as we passed it on the way to church each week. It had a grotto of lava and cycads in the front with a huge palm-wood tiki rising out of it. At night it was flood-lit from below and there were guttering tiki torches. It was utterly mesmerizing. It also seemed completely normal, as there were tikis all over in the city at that time, anywhere you went. The apartment building on La Cienega is still there, but the tiki is of course long gone.

Later, I developed an interest in Polynesian culture and even joined an outrigger canoe team out of Redondo Beach for a few years. At some time in the 1990s through the influence of a very hip graphic-designer friend, I began to suddenly view 1950s modernist furniture and decor as beautiful instead of ugly. I began to scour the garage and estate-sales to decorate my home. The pop Tiki-culture items I found as well seem to blend right in with my decorating sensibilities. One day I found a record album called "Bahia" by someone named Arthur Lyman. I put it on my turntable and couldn't believe what I was hearing. Everyone needed to hear this amazing "mood" music, so I made cassette recordings and sent them to all my friends. I thought I was the first person to "rediscover" exotica music. Boy, was I naive!

Nowadays I'm still addicted to garage and estate sales, and along with my good friend, fellow Tiki-Centralite, Doctor Z, we scour the South Bay every Saturday morning for junk to keep and junk to sell.

I sell on E-bay under the name cycluracycura:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1760708477

And Doctor Z sells under the moniker iamdrz:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&userid=iamdrz&include=0&since=2&sort=3&rows=0

I must admit that Doctor Z has the higher-developed radar sense for tiki-mugs and I have found myself shut-out for months! I can definitely confirm the rumor that he recently found six black Sneaky Tikis with perfect paint at a garage-sale for a dollar apiece.

That's it for now. I'm just happy that a community like this exists, and if I find I have anything valuable to contribute, I'll look forward to posting more soon. Thanks.

Sabu

Post #6557 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Thu, Aug 22, 2002 6:57 PM