Badmojo from Tiki Central has made the faux-float lamps as seen in Matt Maranian’s book PAD. He’s posted step-by-step explanations and photos for how he recreated the look, with a few variations.

• PAD Inspired Swag/Float Lamps [Tiki Central]
• PAD: The Guide to Ultra Living by Matt Maranian [Amazon.com]

Tiki-Tim makes music from his extensive Exotica, Hawaiiana, and other midcentury tropical music collection available for download at his blog, Tiki-Tim’s Exotica Lounge. Current selections include Hal Aloma’s Lure of the Islands and Nani Wolfgramm’s Polynesian Love Song… coming August 29th is Chaino’s Jungle Echoes.

• Tiki-Tim’s Exotica Lounge
• Polynesian & Calypso Lp at Tiki Tim’s [Tiki Central]

Tiki artist Kirby has updated his website with an online tiki adventure — if you manage to make your way through the jungle alive, you can get a real-world reward.

• Kirby’s Island
• Kirbys Art [Tiki Central]

Two items:

First off, a dear friend of mine, pablus, has written a lovely little ditty in tribute to tiki mugs and tiki drinks (keep your ears perked for the Tiki Bob anti-tribute). My Mug Collection is an infectious tune, it’s on heavy rotation in the Humuhumu household.

Secondly, I’d like to take a moment to show off my own mug collection, which naturally is on display at Ooga-Mooga.

I’ve currently got 33 mugs in my personal collection on Ooga-Mooga (I’ve got a couple more here & there around the house that I have to add still), 28 of them are unique (I’ve got some duplicates, mostly coconut mugs). The most common mug in my collection, by Ooga-Mooga terms, is the Disneyland Pele Mug, which is in 16 other Ooga-Mooga collections. The total capacity of my collection is at least 2.3 gallons, the largest being my Trader Dick’s Hula Bowl (26 fl. oz.), and the smallest being a Dinky Tiki Shot (2 fl. oz.). The best bargain in my collection, according to Ooga-Mooga? My Trader Vic’s Coconut Mug, which I got for .50, 9% of the going rate of $5.50.

Hmmm… it’s 5 o’clock, maybe it’s time to fix myself a Fog Cutter, which at 7.5 fl. oz. Ooga-Mooga tells me will fit perfectly in my new mug from the Lucky Tiki!

• My Mug Collection [MP3]
• Collection of Humuhumu [Ooga-Mooga]

Tiki Farm has created an ongoing contest, The Great Tiki Treasure Hunt. The first contest was completed yesterday, and involved a scavenger hunt that started with clues found on the back of the latest issue of Tiki Magazine, which led to various virtual and real-life hint hunts, including some destinations in Southern California. Some of the 20 winners were from outside the Southern California area, and had partnered with those who were able to complete the search locally. Winners have claimed unspecified “booty” from the Great Tiki Treasure Hunt’s mysterious protagonist, Dagmar.

There is a bit of mystery surrounding the Great Tiki Treasure Hunt, which is fitting for such a piratey endeavor, and those who have found the booty have proclaimed it to be very fun.

This is reportedly just one in a series of Great Tiki Treasure Hunts coming from Tiki Farm, and future contests will likely use a variety of formats to allow people from all over to compete for the prizes (some of which are rumored to be very grand, indeed).

• The Great Tiki Treasure Hunt
• Tiki Farm
• The Great Tiki Treasure Hunt [Tiki Central]

I’ve just finished a new feature for my tiki mug collecting website, Ooga-Mooga. Collectors have been able to privately track the mugs they wanted by using Favorites, Wish List is a separate Favorites list that is public, to let people know what you’re looking for. You can now see what mugs a collector is looking for (useful when they’ve offered up a mug for trade), and you can also see which collectors may be interested in a mug in your collection. Also fun: you can see which mugs are most wished-for in the Statistics pages.

Also — anyone who signs up for Ooga-Mooga before August 31, 2005 will not be subject to rate increases for two years!

• Ooga-Mooga
• Ooga-Mooga! — offer ending August 31 ! [Tiki Central]

Daniel Balsz, who was responsible for creating the fabled “The Tikis” in Monterey Park and Lake Elsinore, passed away on August 5, 2005 at age 79. Balsz had been living in Las Vegas, and died in his home. At its zenith, The Tikis was an unrivalled spectacle of nighttime entertainment, with active volcanoes and a massive dance troupe entertaining hundreds nightly. Balsz lost his first Tikis location due to a divorce brought on by a dalliance with one of his hula maidens, and a second location never really quite materialized, being used in recent years as a paint ball course.

• Daniel Balsz [Los Angeles Times Obituaries]
• I didn’t know Daniel Balsz passed away!? [Tiki Central]
• The Tikis, Monterey Park [Critiki]
• The Tikis, Lake Elsinore [Critiki]

In October of 2000, the famous Kahiki Supper Club, a building on the National Historic Register, was dismantled to make way for a Walgreen’s pharmacy. At the time, it was said that pieces of the Kahiki would be saved for a reopening of the restaurant in a new location. Some of these pieces are currently on display at the Kahiki frozen foods processing plant.

It is unclear how the recent death of the Kahiki’s last owner, Michael Tsao, might impact the idea of an eventual Kahiki reopening, but as the years have gone by, hope for the idea has frustratingly faded. Over the years, there has been increasing grousing about Tsao’s apparent duplicity in asserting the restaurant would be reopened. While it is certainly a disappointment, it was Tsao’s restaurant to do with what he pleased, and unless these folks were there supporting the venture with your dollars, dining there on a regular basis, the complaint is somewhat legless. Take this as a lesson: support your local Polynesian Pop!

TheMuggler has recently posted his picture gallery of the dismantling of the Kahiki on Tiki Central.

• Kahiki Salvage Operation
• Kahiki collecting for the family [Tiki Central]
• Kahiki Supper Club [Critiki]

An interesting discussion is taking place on Tiki Central. Christiki295 posed the question, “which city is the most tiki?”, prompting various folks to weigh in on the strengths of various Polynesian Pop hotspots, past & present. Generally, Los Angeles seems to be getting the most attention.

• Which City is the Most Tiki? [Tiki Central]

My own assessment…
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Aloha Tiki Aquarium

Johnnie Velour found this swell (though spendy) tiki aquarium. It’s $739.99 worth of watery fish prison, available in “native” (gray) or “palm” (brown). It’s actually pretty nice.

• Aloha Tiki Aquarium [AquaticHouse]
• Tiki Aquarium [Tiki Central]