Kong-Tiki Model

As you’ve heard here before (and likely will again, ad infinitum), Thor Heyerdahl was one of the folks responsible for sparking the world’s fascination with the South Pacific, by subjecting himself to the dangerous task of proving that people could have floated from Peru to Polynesia on a raft of balsa logs. Now, you can let your own Guinea Pigs relive the adventure on this wee raft. Actually, if the seaworthyness of Heyerdahl’s vessel was questionable, this one is downright objectionable. But hey, it looks cool. This is a model kit from Mantua Model to create an actual “historically accurate” balsawood Kon-Tiki raft in 1/18 scale, nearly two feet long. It’s spendy, but you can’t put a price on good family fun like this. Although my dad couldn’t be trusted with the little model pieces, he was always accidentally breaking them. Don’t do any model building with a burly construction worker — that’s my advice to you. Oh — and Mr. Bali Hai really wants one of these for Christmas.

• Kon-Tiki Model [Model Expo]
• Paint Kit for Kon-Tiki Model [Model Expo]
• Hula-Hulu Kon-Tiki [Eye of the Goof]

Otto von Stroheim and Humuhumu,
photo by Laura Gilmore

For the past month, I’ve been spending time in the San Francisco Bay Area — the South Bay, to be specific. It’s not been a thorough tiki scouring — I’ve more or less done that here before — but I have made a few tiki pitstops while here.

The Tiki Art Two art show and the preceding APE Extravaganza took me into the city. The APE show was a blast as always, though I learned that I do not have a future as a hula hoop champion. Before APE took the stage, we were treated to a series of short bits of film from Domenic Priore and Brian Chidester. These film clips touched on everything from Eden Ahbez & Nat King Cole, old surf music clips, old Los Angeles tiki architecture, even footage of turn of the century tourists in Hawaii. It was the highlight of the night.

The next day we met up with folks at the San Francisco Trader Vic’s before heading over to the Shooting Gallery for the main event. While at Trader Vic’s, we learned the previously mentioned news that Martiki is bartending there now. He introduced us all to an excellent, classic drink that isn’t on the menu, the Hinky Dink’s Fizzy. Our group found it very difficult to leave Vic’s for the gallery. By the time we got to the art show, it was packed. This picture of Tiki Art Two curator Otto von Stroheim & me was taken by Laura Gilmore. We snagged some swell stackable tiki mugs from the Munktiki vending machine, made the rounds to say our hellos and see the artwork, then headed to Original Joe’s to get some much-needed food. Original Joe’s is a great old classic steakhouse. Afterward, we headed right back to Trader Vic’s. I have a feeling we’ll be spending more time there.
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Some details have emerged about the new Las Vegas Trader Vic’s, courtesy of Humu Kon Tiki friend Inky Louise:

The Vegas location is slated to go in the Desert Passage mall, that is adjacent to the alladin. They have a lease on a 2 story 10,000sf space that overlooks the strip and has some outdoor terrace areas, on the north side of the property overlooking bellagio and paris. right now i would think they might be opoen sometime next summer.

Inky also mentions that the Alladin is being turned into the Planet Hollywood Casino, and that Desert Passage will also undergo a revamp. The other confirmed new Trader Vic’s location (in addition to the earlier-reported Bellevue, WA Vic’s) is Scottsdale, scheduled to open in April 2006. AJ, who was a manager at the Chicago Trader Vic’s until he resigned after the crapola management change there, still remains a happy member of the Trader Vic’s organization and will manage the new Scottsdale site. Otto von Stroheim mentions that Denver remains on the short-list for future expansion.

• Trader Vic’s Adding Locations [Humu Kon Tiki]

What began as a bad feeling about the Chicago Trader Vic’s now appears to nearly confirmed. As previously reported, things started to look fishy when the successful Tabu Tiki Nights were stopped by the Palmer House Hilton’s new management. Trader Vic’s employees have passed along the word that Trader Vic’s will be no more (in Chicago, at least) after the first of the new year. The Chicago Trader Vic’s opened in 1957; this closing comes just shy of hitting 50 years.

On the brighter side, Chicago tiki is otherwise on the rise: earlier this year saw the opening of Canoe Club, an upscale tropical restaurant (think Ray’s) in Orland Park, and in the coming weeks an exciting new restaurant called the Tiki Terrace will be opening in Prospect Heights. Tiki Terrace in particular looks promising — it has multiple tikified dining rooms, and will have regular Polynesian floor shows.

• Trader Vic’s Chicago Closing? [Humu Kon Tiki]
• storm clouds loom for trader vics chicago [Tiki Central]
• Trader Vic’s, Chicago [Critiki]
• Canoe Club [Critiki]
• The Tiki Terrace [Critiki]

By Claudia Hek

From November 20 through December 18, 2005, the cafe/restaurant Patronaat in Haarlem, the Netherlands is hosting a tiki art exhibition. Featured artists are Angelique Houtkamp, Claudia Hek (who did the piece pictured to the left), Michiel Hoving and Mappe. The opening event is happening on Sunday, November 20 from 5-11 p.m, with rockabilly performances from Miss Mary Ann & the Ragtime Wranglers, Mischief and Milwaukee Wildmen. Cost for the event is 9 Euros.

• Patronaat
• Angelique Houtkamp
• Claudia Hek
• Michiel Hoving

Tiki Cocktail Lounge in Modesto

I’ve just completed a rather massive photo update on Critiki. I made a few tweaks to the system that are making it much easier for me to handle photos in Critiki, allowing me to tackle a backlog of great images: 330 images were added to the database yesterday. Before adding those, Critiki had about 550 images, to give you a sense of how many more photos are in Critiki now. The majority are photographs from my travels, but there are a good number of contributions from others, too, including the matchbook collections of Cherry Capri and Mimi Payne. I posted a list of the 66 locations that have new images to Tiki Central.

• Critiki
• Critiki linked to Ooga-Mooga AND major picture update (list on page 7) [Tiki Central]
• Cherry Capri

I’ve integrated the mugtastic powers of Ooga-Mooga into Critiki. Now a Critiki entry for a location shows mugs that have been used there, with links direct to those mugs’ pages in Ooga-Mooga. For instance, The Islander in Stockton had a dizzying array of mugs in use over the years it was in operation, and you can see 21 of them on its Critiki page. If you’re interested in mugs from a particular location, it makes for a more accurate search than on Ooga-Mooga — Critiki knows the difference between the Hawaiian Room in Baltimore and the Hawaiian Room in New York City.

• The Islander, Stockton [Critiki]
• Ooga-Mooga
• Critiki