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

Hi TofuJoe! I too am a Tiki-veggie (well, semi-veggie) and I have posted a few vegetarian Polynesian recipes here and there in the forums... search for Rumaki usiing our handy dandy search engine and you will find one!

Thanks tikifish! I'll be sure to check out those recipes (and learn a bit about searching :wink: ).

Welcome to TC scispy, (say that fast 5 times), and welcome to you too TofuJoe. Oakland eh? Kona Club is opening soon there. Come out to Minnie's and visit us sometime. Just let us know when and we'll try to get together.

Hello, My name is john. I have been lurking around tiki central for years. I live in Columbus Ohio, And went to the Kahiki often. My user name is a tribute to skip the famous Kahiki bartender. I had only 7 no answers on mauitikis tiki quiz (I think that makes me a tiki freak)thats the best I've ever done on a test! But I have been studying for ten years or more.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2005-11-26 20:50 ]

Oh yeah a little belated but oh well- better late than never.

I found this site a couple months ago google searching for info on the death of Vandals lead singer Steve-o Jensen. Anyhow- hey- very nice site- I like what you've done with the place.

I'm from Pacific Beach California but left in '89. I live in Hawaii and play music and surf and hang out with my kids and dogs. I don't hang out with the cat as I believe she is quietly condescending and certainly plotting my demise.

I shoot photography of questionable artistic value and write rambling tomes that gather dust in boxes under my desk in my office. I also play guitar and ukulele and (although some have asked me not to) harmonica. I sometimes race paddleboards and outrigger canoes, surf and generally frolic (men shouldn't frolic. Nor mince. Nor should they chat. I've got it on the best of authority. I frolic in a masculine fashion.)

Anyhow- cheers! :)

Hello from Dallas! I can't believe it's taken me this long to find this place. I have long loved tiki culture, but just recently dived in. I hope I make some friends around here... I want to learn and have fun.

Have one on me :drink: :)

[ Edited by: Limehouse 2005-11-29 16:54 ]

Hello from Dallas! I can't believe it's taken me this long to find this place. I have long loved tiki culture, but just recently dived in. I hope I make some friends around here... I want to learn and have fun.

Welcome! Now when can we have that mai tai??

On 2005-11-29 18:11, Kenike wrote:
Welcome! Now when can we have that mai tai??

Hopefully when Trader Vic's opens! I can't wait! I don't have any kind of tiki setup myself, but I'm working on it....

Well I am fairly new to TC - I have been lurking and gleaning from this forum for a couple of months now. First time I found this thread so I guess I should introduce.

My wife and I fell in love with the tiki lifestyle over trips to Hawaii and Fiji (okay me more than her) resulting in my collecting and plotting in the dark for several years. The folks at Oceanic Arts steered me to this forum and my eyes have opened wide.

Many thanks to all of you who open up your ideas for the newbies to learn from! The home bar is nearly completed thanks in great part to what I learn here. The Kingtiki Lounge opens behind my garage in San Diego shortly – Rum Barrels for everyone!

Hi everybody, I just want to introduce myself. I'm from Graz, Austria, which is really not a good place when you're interested in Tiki-culture, but I'll do the best to find the little roots of it here in Middle-Europe. I do a little carving by myself and I'm glad that I found this place. Aloha!

welcome everyone!

Thank you very much...

Hi everyone my name is Brad and I'm the creator of Daddyomatic's a new online tiki store. We are specializing in handmade ceramic and resin cast tiki's with many new products to be available soon. We also have modern atomic art.

http://www.daddyomatic.com

Hey everyone! TikiMike here in Tucson, AZ... just signed up to Tiki Central today after checking in off and on for the last year. Hope to meet some more tiki lovers in this area. I would be great to have some group get togethers from time to time!

Aloha everyone.New to the site/group just wanted to say hello.I will try to get some pics in soon.Until then be well.

TikiMike wrote:
Hey everyone! TikiMike here in Tucson, AZ... just signed up to Tiki Central today after checking in off and on for the last year. Hope to meet some more tiki lovers in this area. I would be great to have some group get togethers from time to time!

I thought the same thing...so I organized the Minnesota Tikiphile Gathering. We will soon be having our third get together. I encourage you to post an announcement to Tiki Events.

hello everyone, i'm from galveston and have been into tiki for quite a few years now. So after years in the nautical salvage business http://www.piecesofship.com , i decided to venture into what i really wanted to do..... http://www.tikibarn.com . We primarily are a tiki totem, bar and thatch roof business but may expand in the future. I look forward to meeting you all.

I'll be the first to say "Welcome to the group". I'm not sure if you know the 'Rule' about new members having to buy a limited edition MunkTiki for all of the Grand Members? I'm not picky about which one you get me.

Just Kidding. Have a great Holiday Season Sniki Tiki.

Hey there TikiMike! Aloha! I live in Phoenix, but try to make it down to Tucson to go to the Kon Tiki. I heard that there is going to be a big party there sometime next, it is actually an anniversary party for the Kon Tiki. Have you heard of when this is supposed to happen?

On 2005-12-08 17:26, lovevw181 wrote:
Hey there TikiMike! Aloha! I live in Phoenix, but try to make it down to Tucson to go to the Kon Tiki. I heard that there is going to be a big party there sometime next, it is actually an anniversary party for the Kon Tiki. Have you heard of when this is supposed to happen?

Hey lovevw181! Hmm, I haven't heard of Kon Tiki having an anniversary party any time soon, but I could be wrong. I know it was built in 1963. I actually just called them and they said they didn't have one planned, but maybe it's just not open to the public.

If you hear different, let me know! It would be a blast!

Greetings! I can't believe that there is a whole community devoted to Tiki! I thought I was the only one who liked it and the whole retro thing that goes with it.

I am from the city (New York for those of you who aren't) and I remember the Polynesian and (Cantonese) Chinese restaurants of the sixties and seventies. I remember a trip to Trader Vic's for a drink and Crab Rangoon during the seventies.

I have also lived in Boston and went to the Polynesian restaurant there, forgot the name, must have had more than two drinks there!

Of course I remember my two and a half weeks active duty as a reservist in Hawaii. This was February in 1990 so it was more Tokyo than Tiki, but I got the feel for it.

Of course I remember Hawaii Five-O when it was on in its original time slot of Wednesday night. All the rest seasons were on Thursday nights.

While living in Western Mass. during my married years, we went to the Hukilau in Holyoke.

I loved playing the game Big Kahuna Reef.

I have been a fan of the Ultra-Lounge series for years, and have many of those CDs.

What finally brought me to this board though, is this: I live in Fort Lauderdale, home of The Mai-Kai. That is my gf's favorite restaurant. We went there in May for her birthday. Even though I had three Jet Fuels during the whole evening, I did write down the website for the Hukilau celebration. So here I am now.

So maybe I am pining for my lost youth, or the country's lost youth, but I am glad to find so many kindred spirits.

Evan

Welcome EJKorvette and that was a very enjoyable intro. post. I especially like this:

Greetings! I can't believe that there is a whole community devoted to Tiki! I thought I was the only one who liked it and the whole retro thing that goes with it.

I think a great many people can relate. I know a while back when I was scouring record bins at thrift stores looking for anything "exotic,""tropical," "polynesian pop," or just plain weird, I thought I had a special, one-of-a-kind obsession. The day I searched the net a while and found this particular oasis ... it was the end of innocence.

Aloha to all!!

TC name- lovevw181
32 (March 13,1973)
Lived in Phoenix all my life.
Working at General Dynamics and going to school.
Into volkswagens originally (I own a 74 VW Thing - Type 181)
Thanks to an ex-boyfriend got hooked on Tikis.
We are still friends to this day, the ex and I.
Never attended any tiki shows, did go to Viva Las Vegas last year. I highly recommend it! Do want to attend the Hukilau or a tiki crawl sometime in my lifetime.
Love hanging out at the Bikini Lounge with friends.

TikiMike, Doug Horne had mentioned it at the Tempe Art Festival. If I hear anything more about it I will definiely let you know.

I'm from vegas, and very interested in all things tiki (of course) and I'm sure it's all my pleasure to be here.

Welcome vegasguy, come on in and have some fun.
How long you been in Vegas? Do you know what happened to all the Tropicana Hotel tikis in the late 90's?
Glad to have you on board.

On 2005-12-20 05:52, Benzart wrote:
Welcome vegasguy, come on in and have some fun.
How long you been in Vegas? Do you know what happened to all the Tropicana Hotel tikis in the late 90's?
Glad to have you on board.

It seems that everyone wanted to capitalize from the greatness that tiki has always been. Although it seems nobody wants to go to next level of greatness that Donn Beach had envisioned. I and a partner have acquired the Don the Beachcomber name rights (Not an easy thing done! Believe me) and will be opening a DTBC restaurant in Las Vegas 2006. The following year we are in talks to open in North Carolina. We are going to do our very best to preserve Donn Beach’s vision of greatness, although with the artistic vision we are also involving a great business plan (which is something that Donn Beach lacked and was taken advantage for it.)

Hi! I'm a tiki neophyte, introduced to Tiki Central by my dear friend Sweet Daddy Tiki. I like tacky, kitschy gewgaws, surf music, loud fabrics and sweet, fruity/creamy drinks that come in novelty containers (so, really, this seems like the perfect place for me!)

Welcome LavaCakes. Sounds like you will fit in here Perfectly. Come on in and let your hair down, have fun and stay awhile.

Welcome aboard to the 4000th member and a fellow Canuck.
The fact that your friends with SDT we will over look for now...hee hee...

Welcome aboard LavaCakes. Just ignore everything rodeotiki says. I'd just like to point out that LavaCakes' name is in reference to the fabulous birthday cake she made me this year:

Not only was it incredibly detailed, but she gave all the teddy graham islanders their own backstories!

-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.

[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2005-12-31 17:17 ]

Welcome LavaCakes!

Indeed, that was a really fantastic cake you made SDT for his birthday. Sooo creative!

I hope to see you on Shout soon,

Hi all,

I'm a game designer that's been into Tiki for years, and I'm looking forward to talking with other people here on the forums into the whole Tiki scene.

Lavacakes, that cake looks fantastic! Hopefully it was enjoyed by all...though for some reason it looks like a cake that's just begging to be eaten with your fingers and not a fork! But that's just me...

Evan, I'm glad you liked Big Kahuna Reef! I was a level designer for it, and I made all the sound effects for it too. My favorite sounds to make for BKR were the Tiki Totem getting to the top and the Tiki chant sounds when you finished a level. If you liked that one, we made another called Big Kahuna Words with the same theme, but a word game...

Anyway, cheers!

Ion

Casual games with a Tiki flair!
http://www.TikiArcade.com

[ Edited by: Tiki Arcade 2006-01-03 11:40 ]

MMMMMmmmmmm.... Lava cake!!! I'm soooooo jealous!

Hi everybody. I finally dove into the poly-pop cyberpool. Woo-hoo! No more lurking. Special Aloha to any San Diego based Tiki Freaks.

[ Edited by: hodadhank 2006-01-04 09:09 ]

Welcome aboard hodadhank! Glad to see another San Diegan join the ranks.

Hey all.. yet another new person joins the list. I'm from outside Philadelphia (yeah, not exactly the tiki capitol of the world) and am relatively new to tiki collecting (just started about 6 months ago). I'll be adding/updating my collection on OogaMooga soon, and look forward to learning more from you regulars.

Mahalo.

Welcome Zrrbrrt, you'll like it here. Outside Philly? PA or NJ?

On 2006-01-04 09:46, MachTiki wrote:
Welcome aboard hodadhank!

Mahalo MachTiki!

Keep me in mind if you hear about any future SD tiki pub crawls...Did you go on the Thanksgiving double decker bus tiki tour? I was out of town.

......

Hey Zrrbrrt, I went to my first over-the-top-poly-pop palace at the Philly Marriott's old Kona Kai when I was just a wide eyed kid!

[ Edited by: hodadhank 2006-01-05 10:19 ]

Hello all. Another newbie here. I hope I'm posting this correctly as I don't have a clue what I'm doing, wasn't sure if I should hit "new topic" or "reply", but did want to try to introduce myself. First off, I talk too much.

Second, I live in Kansas, talk about tiki deprived! People look at me like I have rocks for brains when I tell them I have a tiki bar in my basement.

I'm a semi-writer that writes humor columns for a teensy weensy local, bi-monthly neighborhood paper. I also work for a refrigeration company because they pay me.

I started my tiki bar because back in 1966 my parents took me to Trader Vic's at the St. Louis Bellaire East Hotel for my 16th birthday and I was hooked on the mood and eye candy of tiki stuff......and the floating gardenia. That information should tell you that I'm a senior citizen (and I get discounts!).

I started my tiki bar about six years ago and most of my tiki bar is silly stuff because authentic tiki is a tough find around here. What I couldn't find, I'd make. Even stole a Trader Vic's coconut mug from my mom and made my own slip-cast mold out of it so I could make a set of ceramic coconut mugs (I do ceramics for a hobby) because when I started my bar getting mugs was impossible and I didn't know about all the internet connections and hadn't heard of eBay....yet.

This tiki stuff has gotten so out of hand that we threw a tiki bar/luau for my son's wedding rehersal dinner and we decorated a hotel conference room that was way over the top to the point where the GM came to see it. Whoohoo! We even built a little wedding hut out of bamboo tomato stakes and grass mats. It was a lot of work, but an awful lot of fun.

I also enjoy piddling with my camera and have made my own tiki drink calendars because the ones I've bought the past few years have been pretty lame. I haven't had time to create a 2006 calendar though because we've spent the past year building a new house. Rats.

On a tender note: Awhile back I was disheartened when we showed our tiki bar at the old house to a guy that is into tiki and he said my bar wasn't tiki at all, it was only "tropical". So my feelings were crushed for awhile after all the work I did in it and I sort of lost my enjoyment of it.

Well, we just moved to the new house and baloney with the "tiki expert" guy, I'm resurrecting my tiki bar in all it's tackiness, junky as it might be, and I'm doing what I like. I'm working in my bar today even though I should be unpacking other stuff. My current project is on making a "lava lounge" in a tornado shelter/closet off the main tiki bar area and am trying to figure out how to build a wall that looks like a molten lava flow. I'll let you know if it turns out decent or if it'll be another tear-out. (two tear-outs already)

I thought I was alone in my obsessive tiki bar thoughts so I was glad to find you guys. Whew.

I've enjoyed lurking the past few weeks and have learned a lot of fun stuff and you guys make me laugh a lot. And as I mentioned, I talk too much so if my posts go on too long, hit the delete key.

LavaLounger
Cindy D (yeah, a girl, and old one)

Cindy, don't put yourself down, there's plenty of people out here on the Interweb that'll do it for you. :P You're a couple years younger than my wife, and everyone starts out with some cheezy tropical-style stuff (except Bamboo Ben, but he's special).

There's several threads on creating fake Lava Rock, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, and Here

On 2006-01-05 11:07, LavaLounger wrote:

...People look at me like I have rocks for brains when I tell them...

... brains on the rocks ... ain't that a drink of some sort...

Thanks FreddieFreelance! I checked out the pages you sent and got some ideas.

I made a small demo of my molten lava flow with the styrofoam and spray foam insulation goo idea. I've added a "sandwich" of red acrylic sheeting, and behind that, flickering low voltage lighting, and it's pretty cool in the dark closet. I now have a unit that looks like glowing, burning molten lava, it's tacky, but "alive"....so now gonna try to make the whole friki-ing wall the same way.....as soon as I scrape this insulation stuff off my arms. Rough work because I have to walk by the tiki bar about 50 times and I gotta stop for little tiki breaks.

Is "tihi" how a tiki laughs?
LavaLounger
Cindy D toiling away in the tornado closet

Aloha everyone, we are a small Hawaiian shirt manufacture in the USA and we just joined your group so we thought we would drop in and say aloha. Our site is http://www.waveshoppe.com and hopefully we can all be one big happy ohana.

Charles & Peggy

Hawaiianshirts, Welcome to TC, we're Glad to have you aboard. Your website shows some Beautiful Shirts!
Come on in and relax and stay awhile. We're All having FUN.

Hi everyone -- I too am a Tiki fanatic, and am trying to learn more. I live in Upstate SC, which too isn't exactly the Tiki capital of the world. But I do have to attempt to bring a little broader viewpoint to my teensy hometown! :)

Not sure what else you want to know, but feel free to ask!

Aloha. I am a first time writer, yet long time reader, who has decided it is time to join the dialogue. You can find out more about me and my tiki interests at tikiblog.com.

Welcome to TC tikiblog, we are happy to have you here. And what is your best recipe for mai tai anyways let us know.

On 2006-01-05 09:41, foamy wrote:
Welcome Zrrbrrt, you'll like it here. Outside Philly? PA or NJ?

That would be the PA side. Sorry for the delayed response.. just got back from a quick trip to Jamaica. Unfortunately didn't get a chance to go shopping for anything cool for the bar. Here's a pic from a few months ago.. need to get an updated one to show off the newer mugs.

http://home.comcast.net/~zrrbrrt/Bar1.JPG

Where on the Eastern Shore Foamy? I'm on Kent Island a lot.