Tiki and Caribbean. Can they be mixed? - General Tiki

S Son-of-Kelbo Member NOHO, CA Joined: Aug 03, 2004 Posts: 590	S Son-of-Kelbo Posted posted on Fri, Mar 30, 2007 1:19 PM "NON-TIKI" - An Humble Opinion I'm beginning to visualize a "lost Twilight Zone" episode, where Fritz Weaver looms imperiously over a scruffy Burgess Meredith, pointing an accusing finger and booming the arch pronouncement, "You are NOT Tiki...!" Yikes. Did the Tiki Police find his hidden recordings of 'Amazon Falls' or 'Mombasa After Midnight'? Little Burgess trembles under his zebra-skin Fez, defiantly clutching his last bottle of Myers, as the drums build and he is enshrouded in fishnet, "You Will Be 'De-Carved'...!" Or, the Outer Limits might make a good spin: "There is nothing wrong with your Tiki Bar -- WE will control your non-Polynesian decor percentages..." Yikes. Oh please. If you're not a credentialed Anthropologist, the "percentage ratio" of Polynesian-to-Caribbean in one's decor is indisputably up to the individual participating in what's come to be generally called "tiki culture". Unless of course you want to turn your back on Robert Drasnin's "VOODOO" (1 & 2), or start segregating Les Baxter's catalogue into separate camps (ditto Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny), removing Latin, Arabian, and African influences. Get that leopard jacket out of the wardrobe, and turn off those blowfish. (No blowfish with an electric lightbulb in it is in any way a "Polynesian" artifact.) Oh yeah, no more rum either -- but we'll be spitting around a shared KavaKava bowl later. Yum. How strict should the "rules" be? Is the definition to be carved in ancient stone, or living wood? Is this question based on a serious regard for strictly authentic Polynesian aesthetics, or an arbitrary interpretation of the libation-related "theme warfare" between Don Beach and Vic Bergeron, that morphed into the mash-up subsequently called "Polynesian Pop"? Let's have a good look at your mug collection, pal. A good many tiki mugs are based not on Polynesian, but on African (and Central American) designs. Are they "tiki" enough? Are they "tiki" at all? No Caribbean-influenced mug postings, please. Zombies? No way! And it may be best to cull the steel-drum stuff out of the record collection, just in case, lest one be pronounced "Non-Tiki". BTW Tiki-Disney-Fans, Is Captain Nemo more "tiki" than Captain Sparrow? (Nemo's secret island base was in the South Pacific and he was familiar with the cannibal cultures there, yet Sparrow knows quite a bit about rum, and the value of personal freedom...) And just how the heck did those parrots get into the Enchanted Tiki Room, anyway? The "percentage" is amorphous! And should be, no offense to those who would keenly define their own purity of "Polynesian" to "Pop" in their pad. And unless someone wants to coin a new term for the "island madness" many of us are in the grip of (e.g., "Tropical Exotica" -- "Tropixotica"? Oooo.), then for many, "tiki", by default and "pop" tradition, covers a broad, happy spectrum. This is not meant to show any disrespect toward those who do indeed pursue a near-anthropological zeal for authenticity with their craft, collections, etc. But let's face it, what's "tiki" and what isn't has been up for liberal interpretation since Voodoo and Moais first met, in a bar serving rum drinks beneath the glow of electrified sea life. Tiki Culture, Polynesian Pop, Voodoo Dreams, Island Madness, Jungle Fever, they're all interwoven to some extent, and like fishnet, they snare a wonderfully diverse catch. It's the romance, freedom, and adventure (and possibly the climate) that many of us "Tropixotics" are attracted to. Possibly the rum, also. As for the Demented Menehunes, we're all happy here on YoYo Island, down in the steamy, tropical "Micronebbean Sea", where our tikis (are moai's technically "tikis"?) share the turf with the odd wayward pirate or lost adventurer, and everybody's welcome to wash up and have a little fun. Isn't having fun really what all this is about? (For those not working toward their Anthropology degree, that is.) Cheers and Fabloha Nui! SOK (ps, I'm not givin' up the zebra-skin Fez, either...) "Don't let it be forgot, That once there was a Spot, Where Blowfish all wore sunglasses, and Tiki-times were hot..." [ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-03-30 13:22 ] [ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-03-30 20:02 ]

"NON-TIKI" - An Humble Opinion

I'm beginning to visualize a "lost Twilight Zone" episode, where Fritz Weaver looms imperiously over a scruffy Burgess Meredith, pointing an accusing finger and booming the arch pronouncement, "You are NOT Tiki...!" Yikes. Did the Tiki Police find his hidden recordings of 'Amazon Falls' or 'Mombasa After Midnight'? Little Burgess trembles under his zebra-skin Fez, defiantly clutching his last bottle of Myers, as the drums build and he is enshrouded in fishnet, "You Will Be 'De-Carved'...!"

Or, the Outer Limits might make a good spin: "There is nothing wrong with your Tiki Bar -- WE will control your non-Polynesian decor percentages..." Yikes.

Oh please. If you're not a credentialed Anthropologist, the "percentage ratio" of Polynesian-to-Caribbean in one's decor is indisputably up to the individual participating in what's come to be generally called "tiki culture". Unless of course you want to turn your back on Robert Drasnin's "VOODOO" (1 & 2), or start segregating Les Baxter's catalogue into separate camps (ditto Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny), removing Latin, Arabian, and African influences. Get that leopard jacket out of the wardrobe, and turn off those blowfish. (No blowfish with an electric lightbulb in it is in any way a "Polynesian" artifact.) Oh yeah, no more rum either -- but we'll be spitting around a shared KavaKava bowl later. Yum.

How strict should the "rules" be? Is the definition to be carved in ancient stone, or living wood? Is this question based on a serious regard for strictly authentic Polynesian aesthetics, or an arbitrary interpretation of the libation-related "theme warfare" between Don Beach and Vic Bergeron, that morphed into the mash-up subsequently called "Polynesian Pop"?

Let's have a good look at your mug collection, pal. A good many tiki mugs are based not on Polynesian, but on African (and Central American) designs. Are they "tiki" enough? Are they "tiki" at all? No Caribbean-influenced mug postings, please. Zombies? No way! And it may be best to cull the steel-drum stuff out of the record collection, just in case, lest one be pronounced "Non-Tiki".

BTW Tiki-Disney-Fans, Is Captain Nemo more "tiki" than Captain Sparrow? (Nemo's secret island base was in the South Pacific and he was familiar with the cannibal cultures there, yet Sparrow knows quite a bit about rum, and the value of personal freedom...) And just how the heck did those parrots get into the Enchanted Tiki Room, anyway?

The "percentage" is amorphous! And should be, no offense to those who would keenly define their own purity of "Polynesian" to "Pop" in their pad. And unless someone wants to coin a new term for the "island madness" many of us are in the grip of (e.g., "Tropical Exotica" -- "Tropixotica"? Oooo.), then for many, "tiki", by default and "pop" tradition, covers a broad, happy spectrum.

This is not meant to show any disrespect toward those who do indeed pursue a near-anthropological zeal for authenticity with their craft, collections, etc. But let's face it, what's "tiki" and what isn't has been up for liberal interpretation since Voodoo and Moais first met, in a bar serving rum drinks beneath the glow of electrified sea life.

Tiki Culture, Polynesian Pop, Voodoo Dreams, Island Madness, Jungle Fever, they're all interwoven to some extent, and like fishnet, they snare a wonderfully diverse catch. It's the romance, freedom, and adventure (and possibly the climate) that many of us "Tropixotics" are attracted to. Possibly the rum, also.

As for the Demented Menehunes, we're all happy here on YoYo Island, down in the steamy, tropical "Micronebbean Sea", where our tikis (are moai's technically "tikis"?) share the turf with the odd wayward pirate or lost adventurer, and everybody's welcome to wash up and have a little fun.

Isn't having fun really what all this is about? (For those not working toward their Anthropology degree, that is.)

Cheers and Fabloha Nui!
SOK

(ps, I'm not givin' up the zebra-skin Fez, either...)

"Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a Spot,
Where Blowfish all wore sunglasses,
and Tiki-times were hot..."

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-03-30 13:22 ]

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-03-30 20:02 ]

Post #295747 by Son-of-Kelbo on Fri, Mar 30, 2007 1:19 PM