A few images from our house:

I picked up this new card of the Sharp’s Motel at the Clinton Antiques Fair today. For the complete story on this Motel, click here. A big postcard dealer. She will be at the postcard show with her complete collection. It was great to see a stack of just Knoxville cards. Other than my own stack, I’d never seen that before. I’ve had this circled on my calendar for months. I can’t wait to flip through all the cards and see what gems I can find!

OCTOBER 19-20, 2007- East Tennessee Postcard Show, Days Inn Convention Center, Central Ave. Pike at Merchants Dr. Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Milt Hinshilwood, 865-247-5767

Tim Hollis has created several great books of vintage Americana, concentrating on the South. His latest offering is about the good old Smokie Mountains and the many vacation destinations in the time of automobile travel on highways. It should jog many memories.

He will be here in town at Carpe Librum book store on Wednesday, June 27th. I have added his books to my store here on Swank Pad.

Also appearing at:

MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 25 - Joseph Beth book store, Charlotte, NC
THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 28 - Joseph Beth store, Lexington, KY
SATURDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 30 - Joseph Beth store, Cincinnati, OH

As I gear up for the annual trek to Fort Liquordale and Hukilau, I start thinking about old friends I will see. One of them is Cybertiki. Dave and his wife are great folks and incredibly generous. His wife makes the lucious costumes the bar gals wear in the Molokai Lounge. She’ll make one for you too if you want. Look for them in the vendor area. He has a great collection of Mai Kai ephemera. He had started sharing some things a long time ago and I know most people who have not been around as lone as I have don’t know about it. So, I searched his site out and wanted to shine a spotlight on it. Especailly this 1966 Mai Kai calendar. Here is an image from it:

They had the remaining fabric that was used to make the aloha shirt Elvis wore in Blue Hawaii. Some lucky soul is wearing the last dress made of that fabric…

A few people have asked for it, so I am going to try to make it happen. I like the Google calendar and use it for my personal planning. It prints out real nice. I have started a public calendar of Tiki Events. Please email me if your event is not there or if you want more info to be added. This is just a short bit to get started so far:

This was a spectacular moment at Tiki Eyeball as Tiki Culture meets Kustom Car Culture. Torching a tiki after it is carved is normal. Adds a patina and burns off some splinters. No one ever did it like Kevin Moore before…

And here is video of Kevin showing his skills at torching his tires…

To rev up to Hukilau coming in less than two weeks, I am sharing some Mai Kai schwag…

Mrs. Thornton, the choreographer for the Mai Kai dinner show and owner of the Mai Kai. She is the spirit of the place and an incredible lady.

Day-am! LOVE THE HAIR! and the other stuff is nice. Like a little dish laid out on the leaves. Is this her on this postcard?

What a drum! And the hair is rockin too!
Can’t wait to see the sites in the Molokai again…

It’s just a couple of weeks away. Last year was a crazy weekend. I hardly slept! It was the first year I have actually gotten to enjoy the weekend and talk to so many people. I think I talked more in a few days than the entire year. The hot tub made for memories we’ll all keep forever. Once again, thanks to Crazy Al. He has a way of inventing fun.

This year I am endeavoring to spend more time at the Mai Kai. It is my favorite place on Earth. I want to be there for Happy Hour a couple of times.

Beachbum Berry’s talk last year and then sipping with him at the Mai Kai was fantastic, and getting an all new book will be a huge plus. This book has more history rather than being just a recipe book. Lots of new recipes in it too though. Pre-Order it now and have it for him to sign at the event.

After years of anticipation, we are getting a little peak at The DVD of Tiki and a showing of footage from the Hukilau Hurricane of 2004. Many I talk to say that year was the best in many ways. For a lot of Floridians, it was the worst. Very much the worst for me. I never recovered really. But it is a powerful memory and I love to hear Pablus sing “Hukilau Hurricane.”

 I look forward to seeing the Crazed Mugs perform at the Mai Kai again. When they took the stage last year, it all just stopped and we were transfixed. Otto was standing next to me and he whispered, “he’s our Bruddah Iz.” So right.

The Hukilau mug has some of my favorite imagery in Polynesian Pop this year, the cannibal trio. I have discussed them with Sven and Bob at Oceanic Arts. I think the concensus is that it started with Donn Beach, which is precisely why those tikis are so special.

The new version of Tiki Road Trip will be making its debut at Hukilau and we get to see all the places we never knew existed.

Robert Drasnin will perform his new work which was recorded earlier this year for a new release. Basement Kahuna says his record “Voodoo” is near perfection for the tiki bar soundtrack and now we’ll have a great follow up.

It’s always great to see my many friends I see only this one weekend a year in person. It’s great to be around so many people who are passionate about the same things I am. And this year my lovely fiance will join me, although she plans to spend more time tanning and exploring the area than doing the tiki-nerd stuff.

This event is central for us non-Californians. California may have an abundance of tiki locales, but we still have the best one of all by a mile down in Fort Lauderdale. We all come together to worship in a rum dazed fog for the weekend. We get to visit the Mother Ship of Tiki and be transported to that special place. That place that is slowly slipping away more and more. No other place holds that mystery better than the Mai Kai. And we right coasters are darned proud. Inside the Mai Kai, it is like stepping back in time. As close as any of us will get anyway…

Two weeks and I’ll be there, at the bar, soaking it all in for my yearly ration… It’s never enough…

This year was the first annual Tiki Eyeball. It was an event by Wizzard Road Shows, which does a number of car events over the summer. I was contacted to put together a tiki carving demonstration and then helped get ideas together and promote the event.

For Basement Kahuna, it meant driving 4 hours up to Knoxville from Athens. We then set out on another 9+ hour drive to central Illinois. With a late start and lots of stopping to search antique malls, plus an hour where we put it in park and stood in the interstate, it turned into about a 14 hour drive.

Basement Kahuna and I are always on the prowl for rare liquors and this old sign we thought pointed the way. Screw gin and vodka! We sell Whiskey! Well, on opening the door, a few haggard locals swung around on their stools at 2PM on a Thursday. We were not finding anything there.

So we were a little loopy come Friday. Noa Noa’s in our room before the trip to the Aku Tiki Room. Lake Surfer and his wife, Tipsy McStagger, Kevin and Hadley Moore, and others came by. And then we found out the bus had broken down. In the middle of an intersection…

The sunken bar at the Aku Tiki Room. The design of the bar was fantastic. I wish there was a bar this cool around here, tiki or no tiki.

This painting once had no lei. It still has some nipple. Cool.

Great shell lamps. These are over 3 feet across.

Tipsy and others at dinner.

The Tiki Twins! These gals started serving there, along with their Mom, when they were 13. They continued to work there for decades. I spent most of the night talking to them and hearing their story. In fact, I spent so much time taking pictures and talking I forgot to eat dinner! Luckily I it also kept me drinking slowly.

Great Oceanic Arts rail posts and mask with shell sconces.

Next day was kar time with Kay Ohara signing prints.

Tonga Trader and his wife drove their 1961 Chyrsler 300 to the event. This is one of my favorite cars. You gotta love a cross ram V8 luxury car.

Kevin Moore shows a novel way to torch a tiki carving, using a 1959 Cadillac… Video is on its way…

BK and I went back to the Aku Tiki Room that night and stopped by the Kewaunee Moose Lodge.

This is the Church of the Future! On the road to the ATR.

BK enjoys a lobster tail dinner. The drinks here are fantastic. Demerara Dry Float, Beachcomber Punch and Rum Barrels I recommend. El Dorado 12 Year. The bartender Tom works hard to keep the ingredients in stock.

On the return trip, we stopped at our Papua New Guinea collector’s house to see the new shipment. Here are a few shields.

Left side…

Right side.

We’ll have a few pieces for sale at Hukilau.

The event was poorly attended for reasons we don’t know, but we’ll correct some problems and do it again next year. I already have a verbal agreement from Pablus to perform in the round in the ATR. Basement Kahuna puts the ATR right behind the Atlanta Trader Vic’s. He now has one of his carvings there and is designing their signature mug we hope will be available when we return next year.

Basement Kahuna arrives here today and we depart for Tiki Eyeball in the morning.

I am in my office today, listening to my Exotica and islands music playlist and I am excited. It’s like when I was a kid and we were going to Disneyworld in the morning. I hear the music and I’m there, at the Aku Tiki Room, Navy Grog in hand. Dim lights, fish floats, Orchids of Hawaii and Witco decor… I just can’t wait! Giddy. Even though its a 9 hour drive for me. I am excited to get to go to that magic place again.

My attitude is a little different these days. I go there as a fan, but also as a researcher and a documenter too. I take my photography equipment to get the best pictures possible and plan to talk to anyone I can about the history and write it down. I want to share it as well as experience it.

I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting some new people. I am really looking forward to the rare treat of having someone else mix my tropical concoction, and it be really good. I’ll savor it.

This is the lot of most of us tikiphiles. The only tiki bar near us is our own. We get to visit the real deal just a few times a year, if at all. I ache for it.

I may not be able to sleep tonight!

We have set the date for the next Coon Tiki carving class here in the mountains of East Tennessee. Last time, everyone had a fantastic time. It was great to get away to a secluded, peaceful cabin (minus Basement Kahuna’s heavy metal acoustic jam sessions, and the occasional Crazy Al bobsledding incident), and spend time with like minded people. We all got to know each other better and really share aloha in a way you don’t get very often. The one on one teaching from Benzart is unparalleled.

This is an incredible opportunity in many ways and we hope to see you here in July.

Make your reservations at the Coon Tiki site. Class is limited to 12 people.

Spring is in the air here at the Swank Pad. I saw the first robin two weeks ago. I may be getting old when this season brings on a certain dread as I think of all the yard work… But, I look forward to the work as well…

Ms Swanky and I take off next weekend to visit Nashville and drop down to Smyrna to see Polly at the Omni Hut. I have asked her many times about the possibility of putting together a little tiki gathering there, and she has balked. I think I may have the answer this time that will get her to say yes. We’ll see.

In May I’ll be heading to the first annual Tiki Eyeball in central Illinois where I’ll help Basement Kahuna and Lakesurfer vending and demonstrating their carving skills. Looking forward to seeing the Aku Tiki.

The week after that I make my first trip further west than Iowa to visit LA. I’ll be doing photography for the Tiki Calendar there and will squeeze in a trip to the legendary Oceanic Arts.

With a little breather after that, we’re off to Hukilau for a long weekend, and more photography at the Mai Kai. We’ll have some preliminary images for the calendar then and may be vending for the first time. We came into possession of a large collection of Hawaiian shirts we need to sell.

In July, the Haole Kats will be around and I am working on some shows for them here and maybe Coon Tiki’s second seminar with Benzart and the annual luau here at our house.

August means Tiki Oasis. I don’t know if I can make that event, but I am helping the Haole Kats and Pablus put together a west coast tour from Seattle to Tiki Oasis that week and I hope to be right there with them. Then there is the Hot Rod Hula Hop in Columbus with all my Fraternal Order of Moai sisters and brothers.

In September, the calendar should be ready and then we work hard at sending it throughout the land as another embassador of Tiki…

I have some hopes of HGTV doing a show on renovating part of our new house into the new Hapa Haole Hideaway this year too.

I’m tired just thinking about all that, but it should be invigorating!

Kick off the summer right with Kustom Kars and Tiki Bars!

This is the first event of the season for  Wizzard Road Shows and the first Tiki Eyeball event. It promises to be a great weekender in the heartland of America. Great bands, vendors, rods and fun. I am bringing a motley crew of carvers together to show their skilz and spread the gospel of tiki to the masses. Expect a great room party with me and Basement Kahuna mixing up the cocktails. Lake Surfer is haulin his big and lovely sculptures in and throwin it down artic north style.
More details to come. I can’t wait to explore this very out of the way, vintage tiki establishment, AND the Tiki Truck Stop!

Ms Swanky and I went out for an absolutely fantastic evening of entertainment last night. Costumed comedy, and just great live performance. It was at Club XYZ and the show was their drag show with RAZ and Angel Collins taking the lead roles. It was so campy and fun. It just had me looking at the drag show completely differently. Maybe it was the smaller stage that made it more intimate and allowed more interaction with the crowd. It certainly had to do withour entertainers. It was really a great show and I am ready to go back. You just don’t see that kind of entertainment anymore and I mean that in a good way.

Thank you dear for the drinks! Our lovely server who danced in the dinner show later.

This Hukilau was very different to me. I took a friend with me, and what that meant was that I had no obligations and was able to spend lots of time talking to and getting to know the many wonderful people that come to Hukilau. It is these very people that made the event worth doing year after year though I lost money (sometimes lots of it!) on what was essentially a year long job. The stress and work was worth having these great people come together and have such a wonderful time. I met more people by Thursday afternoon than I think I had in the previous 4 years.

It is always a great day when you can spend time in the Mai Kai, but exploring it with Otto Von Stroheim and playing around with Bamboo Ben and Holden Westland and King Kukulele in the Mai Kai is way better. Sharing it with people who love it the way I do is fantastic.

Bre-Elle as the Mermaid was a treasure.

Pablus on stage at the Mai Kai stopping everything with the power of his song and his sweet voice was amazing. I am lucky to have him come around and sing in my Hapa Haole Hideaway regularly, so I know his magic. Everybody tasted it then.

Tiki Diablo and Basement Kahuna carving

Basement Kahuna and I already have plans to make next year even better!

I have been sharing a few of the images from my slide collection here on the Blather for a bit. I am going to take the set of the best slides with me to Hukilau and have a showing of them over the weekend. It will probably occur late at night, in the room in which everyone is congregating. So just look for Pablus or the giant batch of rum cocktail mixed by Basement Kahuna after the main event somewhere in the Bahia Cabana. I’ll be there with the vacation slides of a few dozen trips to the islands taken 40 years ago…

Hot Rod Hula Hop 2 - Men in Fezes

Second year for this event was funner and more hectic than last year. We Honui brothers of the Fraternal Order of Moai recieved our fezes. Something about that is like being in gang colors, but without the danger. Belonging. All weekend I saw people in their fezes and I didn’t know them really, but I knew they were brothers. Nice.

The Friday night “Feast of the Tiki Gods” was a real treat. The moment I walked in I was transported to that special tiki place I have visited many times. Great food, great friends and great drinks made by Kahiki barmaster Jim, seen here. Plus live music that was great. It’s a special thing to walk up to the musician and drop a buck in the tip jar and ask for “Henehene Kou Aka” and he tears right into it. That’s rare.

The feast was a sell out and the food really was good. As good a buffet as I have had.

Always good to see Hoffa. He drove up from Fort Lauderdale. The man has a passion. He used to live near the Kahiki and moved to Lauderdale under condition that he be in walking distance to the Mai Kai.

 This was a stand out for the car show to me. Great details and a great theme on this car.
 

Largo’s had a nice decor for the show. Fishermen and the Barnyard Burlesque were standouts for me. When are these guys coming to Hukilau?

This is perhaps the third time I have checked out the World’s Longest Yardsale, also known as the Highway 127 yardsale. I am about 45 minutes form highway 127 as it goes through Crossville, TN. The last few times I tried, it was rainy. This weekend, they got plenty of rain, but it was okay today. We checked out a few stops along the way and there was quite a bit there. But, after a bunch of tents, we found very little of interest and the thought of driving far into the hinterland in the heat and humidity was unappealing. So, we hit some antique stores instead. I found a nice Juice-O-Mat for $6 at 75% off and two postcards for $1 each.

I have seen a lot of Tiki Gardens postcards. I think they must have made more than anybody. But I have never seen this one. Maybe for good reason as it is pretty boring, featuring the plain backside of a large tiki and a fully covered old lady.

The second is for”South Sea Island Pacific Ocean Park” in Santa Monica, CA. The card is a bit interesting with a couple of “tiki” poles and such, but the description on the back was worth the whole long drive today: “Cross a beautiful waterfall, then board a gay banana train run by a carefree beachcomber…” Hmmm.

I recorded very little video at Hukilau 2002. I was way too busy working my ass off and sweating! But, I put this little slice together and posted it on a site a long time ago that I had forgotten about. I have uploaded it to a new location that I hope will be more permanent.

Download here.

Can you spot Sven Kirsten? Love the 14 foot tall tikis by Mai Tiki!

In 2003, 2004 and 2005, we rented about 35 rooms at the Bahia Cabana to Hukilau guests. This year it’s filled with Hukilau guests for the first time. That should make for a very great weekend.

The Bahia Caban sits on the spot of the hanging of a pirate in Fort Lauderdale.

The Mai Kai is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year, and is still run and owned by the same family. It remains the number one “must see in my lifetime” destination for many. This is the best time to see it too. Filled with several hundred people who all walk in the place and never want to leave. People who relish the mood that takes them so very far away from normal life, to an oasis.

Knowing that nearly every person you pass at the Bahia Cabana is a Hukilau attendee should insure meeting lots of new and old friends and a great time. Someone once said you could hold Tiki Oasis at a Motel 6 and it would still be an incredible time because of the people. This will be one of the best times, with some of the best people.

Dr. Cocktail exorts those who make their own versions of cocktail elixirs this month. In October, Hukilau will have a mixology seminar headed by Beachbum Berry. At his side will be a few friends of mine whose drinks I have imbibed with pleasure: Pablus, Kuku Ahu and Basement Kahuna. Thes guys have the drive for perfection that has caused them to make their own liqueurs when the original stock has dried up.

Basement Kahuna is a drink detective. Months after being at the Mai Kai last, he hands me a drink at Coon Tiki and asks how it compared to their “Black Magic.” He had been deducing the formula in his lab and thought he found the correct concoction. I think he is right. He’s reproduced a few of their recipes and made some great ones of his own.

Pablus tends to make his drinks in gallons. Crates of fresh fruit from the groves and it all comes together. He is a great soldier in the quest for perfect Falernum, and has indeed made his own! It was he who put together the great Falernum tasting of Hukilau 2004. He even sings songs he has written about Falernum and cocktails with his band The Crazed Mugs.

In my bar I have a bottle of Pimento Liqueur made by JTD and have sampled that made by Ahu. He has made his own Passionfruit Syrup, Grenadine, Pimento Liqueur, and tried his hand at Falernum and any number of mixers. Ahu has a background as a chef and brings that huge knowledge to bare on the drink making.

These guys have a great wealth of mixing knowledge, talent and taste. There are only a handfull of us who spend the hours and dollars to make our way through all the recipes in Berry’s books. These guys are some of the best.

And besides the seminar, you can check out their work in my room at Hukilau on Thursday night as the Fraternal Order of Moai host their bar there. Look for the guys in the blue Fezes.

In the mean time you can catch me and Ahu enjoying the Kahiki’s head bartender’s drinks at the Hot Rod Hula Hop 2 this August in Columbus. If you live near me in Tennessee, you can maybe get invited to my luau this month where I and Basement Kahuna will make a lot of classic and new tiki cocktails for my guests. And as always, visit your local tiki bar and encourage the classics!

 No, not the Quinten Tarantino movie, the all nighter at the Drive-In movie! A real treat from the past that is much as I recall it from my own childhood. We in East Tennessee are fortunate to have a few active Drive Ins.

The Parkway is where we are headed this weekend for chilli dogs and watching on lawn chairs under blankets and maybe sneaking in a little rum to mix with the coke to knock off any chill in the air. More about this after the fact.

Update: This was not as fun as it was before. It seems that a number of people decided that the times between flicks were when you crank up your own tunes for everyone to enjoy. Loud metal and hip-hop are A) not what I want to hear and 2) not fun played loudly simultaneously.

The highlight of the adventure was the guys in the car to our left. They had fired up a little wacky weed at some point and they cranked up some Metalica too. It’s funny how the loud music makes you talk really loud to hear each other, but those nearby hear every word you say very clearly. So, we’re in the middle of the movie and the guy says “that’s straight out of the book!” And, “if they show the part where he gets arrested, that’s from the book.” “That’s in the book!” Not an uncommon thing to hear in movies based on books. But, this was “Curious George.” 

And I was really looking forward to the chilli dogs, but what I got was a big fat hot dog with meaty chilli that had beans in it. I wanted the little skinny dog and the chilli “sauce” I had come to expect from a concession stand. I didn’t want quality!

My tiki carving seminar this year was a bigger success than I hoped, judging by the response from the participants. “Tiki Lee’s” posted his finished project recently. It turned out great.

So did Aaron’s version.

This summer has been a busy one for me, so I have not planned on doing another class this year, though that may change. But I did start planning for next year. I asked Bob and Leroy at Oceanic Arts to teach a class. I was very excited when they didn’t say ‘no’ right away. But, today they said they just felt it wasn’t something they would be able to make the time for.

I’ll start looking around for another carver or two to head up the future Coon Tiki classes. Benzart is always a first choice.