As promised, here’s my follow up to my earlier post lamenting my missing out on Tiki Oasis this year. I’m afraid I didn’t hear about much going on out there, which makes sense because EVERYONE IS IN SAN DIEGO. But these ideas may help you out:

Watch Tiki Central’s Live Video Feed from Tiki Oasis
Hanford Lemoore and Tiki Central present this live video feed of Tiki Oasis. Hanford says, “Sometimes it will be balcony shots, sometimes it will be of the main stage, and sometimes the infamous roaming party cam.” I heard some sound checks from the main stage happening a few minutes ago, and the sound quality is actually pretty good… we may be able to hear some great performances.

Hang out with Elvis at the Mai-Kai
If you live within driving distance of the Mai-Kai, you don’t need me to tell you where to drown your No Oasis sorrows. But tonight’s a special treat: a special Elvis tribute during happy hour in the Molokai Bar (that’s now!).

Support your Local Tiki Bar
You have to keep the home tiki torches burning! It would be terrible if all those tiki bars went out of business with all their regulars out of town. Think of the hero you’ll be when everyone returns!

• Tiki Central’s Live Video Feed of Tiki Oasis [Ustream]
• Dan Cunningham as Elvis! Aloha from the Molokai Bar! [Facebook]
• Stuck at Home for Tiki Oasis? [Humu Kon Tiki]

If you’re like me, you’re feeling blue right now—missing out on THE west coast tiki gathering of the year, Tiki Oasis in San Diego. This year’s a biggie, too… the ten year anniversary, and Otto’s pulling out all the stops. Here in San Francisco it’s starting to feel like some kind of tiki rapture, and I’m the sad sack left behind. It’s a shame to be missing it, but sometimes you just can’t have it all.

So! What will you be doing while everyone else is having the time of their lives next week at Tiki Oasis? Hosting a Tiki N’Oasis for a few scraps of friends? Is your local tiki bar having a Tiki Fauxasis? Are you just going to sit at home with a Mai Tai in your hand and look at your lauhala matted walls, wondering what could have been?

Misery loves company, so if you know of a gathering happening near you, let me know. I’ll do a follow-up post to get the word out. Maybe we can each find our own oasis in the desert of No Tiki Oasis.

If you’re trying to get yourself into the rather sold-out Tiki Oasis and you’re late to the planning game, I have a friend with Tiki Oasis tickets and a room at the main hotel, and she can’t use them. Shoot me an email at hello@humuhumu.com and I’ll get you in touch with her. There still may be hope for you!

• Tiki Oasis

Marie King, much-beloved bar manager at Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach, and a very dear friend to many in the tiki community, was injured badly in an automobile accident recently. She’s likely to make a complete recovery, but it’s not going to be easy–she’s a bit more battered and broken than we like to see our friends, and she’s dealing with incredible pain.

In the hopes of easing the financial pains, her friends are rallying behind her in the form of two benefits, in both Southern and Northern California:

Northern California Benefit for Marie King
Thursday, May 13, 7 p.m.
Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge, Alameda
Meshugga Beach Party, the TomorrowMen, raffle, silent auction and a special Marie Cocktail.
More details

Southern California Benefit for Marie King
Sunday, May 30, 2 p.m.
Don the Beachcomber, Huntington Beach
$25 donation gets you a wristband for discounted food & drinks. The Tikiyaki Orchestra, The Eliminators, The Smokin’ Menehunes, The Glasgow Tiki Shakers, OuterWave, The Boardwalkers, Exotiki, The Slacktones, raffle and a silent auction.
More details

We’ve done this time & again… an initial rush at the news that a major publication has written up an article about this nutty tiki craze thing… followed by an immediate let-down that the article was sloppily researched, full of inaccuracies, misses the point, and doesn’t really understand that this isn’t just a tacky, ironic thing to us, that there’s real quality and history here.

But over the past year or two (going back perhaps not-so-coincidentally to about the time that Forbidden Island opened) these articles have been improving, both in the quality of their research, and in the authors’ ability to find a bit of true appreciation; they’ve been coming closer & closer to seeing what we see.

Today, finally, comes the zenith of Polynesian Pop journalism. You can tell right from the title, “Tiki Doesn’t Have to Be Tacky,” that this article isn’t going to be the same old quickie, filler, throwaway article that confuses or even damages the public perception of Tiki.

The impetus for the article is the upcoming annual San Francisco Tiki Crawl, but the article touches on much more than that — aside from giving mention to several Bay Area tiki hotspots, it also explores the very essence of Polynesian Pop. It points out the difference between good tiki and bad tiki (yes! yes! oh, thank you, yes!). The author, Eric Felten, even mentions something I’ve long held to be true — that while yesterday’s PolyPop escapism was about eschewing formality, today’s escapism is more about eschewing informality.

So, thank you Eric Felten, thank you Wall Street Journal, and thank you to anyone and everyone who helped him write this beauty. You’ve done us all a great service, and I’d like to buy you a drink.

• Tiki Doesn’t Have to Be Tacky [The Wall Street Journal]
• Forbidden Island, Alameda [Critiki]
• San Francisco: Tiki Central’s Tiki Crawl 8 [Humu Kon Tiki]

http://twitter.com/humuhumu

Also, I’ve been busybusybusy adding more features to Critiki, take a look!

http://www.critiki.com

Save the date! The eighth annual San Francisco Tiki Crawl is happening October 9-12, 2008. Full details haven’t been announced, but the website has been launched with a basic outline (South Bay on Thursday, San Francisco on Friday, East Bay on Saturday, Forbidden Island revisit on Sunday).

San Francisco is unique in its density of great tiki locations, and this annual event is also unique in that it’s the only official event for Tiki Central. If you haven’t seen all the great tiki San Francisco has to offer (or if you have, but you’re due for a refresher), this is a very fun way to pack it all in.

The official event hotel is the Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco — it’s a very fun hotel, and I encourage you to get reservations sooner rather than later.

• Tiki Central’s Tiki Crawl 8
• The Eighth Annual Tiki Central Tiki Crawl — October 9-12, 2008 [Tiki Central]

It’s time once again for tiki movies at the Egyptian! This has been an annual event for the past few years, and I’m always sad to miss it (this year I’ll be in Portland). But here’s why you shouldn’t miss it:

After the success of our Tiki events the past three summers, we’re back again with more exotic ephemera: more fun feature films, diverting oddball shorts, vendors, food, music and more! We’ll be showing old-school island adventure pics FAIR WIND TO JAVA, ALOMA OF THE SOUTH SEAS and HER JUNGLE LOVE (all in gorgeously saturated color) will screen along with artist Kevin Kidney’s collection of rare, island-themed TV surprises. Join us in the Egyptian’s Courtyard for a Royal Southern California-style Luau with exotic musical entertainment from King Kukelele and his Friki Tikis and the Polynesian Paradise Dancers. There will also be Tiki vendors and other special surprises in the courtyard on Saturday from 1:00 PM until we shut it down.

This year it’s happening over two nights, July 25-26, 2008. It all starts Saturday at 1pm at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. Tickets will be sold at the door, but if you want to guarantee you’ll get to enjoy the luau dinner, it’s best to get tickets in advance.

• Tiki Luau Nights [American Cinematheque]

Robert Drasnin! Waitiki! I’m there!

Taking place once again at the former Hanalei Hotel (now the snoozetastically-named Crowne Plaza), with a special Thursday night meet-and-greet at the Bali Hai. There’s also burlesque & musicians & vendors & all the usual trappings, but of course it’s really all about the room parties. Though I am hoping I can manage to not be too hungover for the seminars…

August 14-17, San Diego… way too many details to go into here… just go over to the Tiki Oasis website & buy your tickets already!

• Tiki Oasis
• Crowne Plaza, San Diego [Critiki]
• Bali Hai Restaurant, San Diego [Critiki]
• TIKI OASIS 2008 Aug 14-17 Voodoo Zombie Island [Tiki Central]
• Tiki Oasis Room Crawl… It’s on!… UPDATED List Pg. 1 [Tiki Central]

King Kukulele’s monthly Floating Luau is drifting into the San Fernando Valley this Friday, to the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood. The Tonga Hut recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, making it a natural choice for the King to weigh anchor in her port.

The Friki Tikis will be performing, and the King has brought back a special gift from his recent trip to England: the brand-new, currently-unavailable-stateside Mahiki Rum.

Also on hand will be the Polynesian Paradise Dancers and Ali Lexa, host of KPFK’s Ukulele Spotlight. A special highlight this month is a presentation of Johnny Halifax’s “Tiki Tiki Tiki,” which was filmed at the much beloved and sadly defunct Kahiki Supper Club in Columbus, Ohio:

If you’ve heard King Kukulele’s song “Otto’s Odyssey”, then you’ve heard the line: “Halifax is filming for the BBC”. This is what Johnny Halifax was filming, and now you have the ultra rare opportunity to see “Tiki Tiki Tiki”.

Wish I could be there to see it myself — I’ve always wondered what became of the BBC filming mentioned in “Otto’s Odyssey.” The show is happening this Friday, June 27 at 8 p.m., and there’s a $5 cover.

Tonga Hut
12808 Victory Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91606
(818) 769-0708

• king kukulele presents the floating luau at the tonga hut [Tiki Central]
• Mahiki Rum
• Tonga Hut, North Hollywood [Critiki]
• Kahiki Supper Club, Columbus [Critiki]

I’ve never been to Boston — and that’s all changing, thanks to Waitiki and Beachbum Berry. That’s the one-two punch that’s got me hopping on the next red-eye to Beantown:

WAITIKI presents An Exotic Beantown Sippin Safari featuring beach Bum Berry! Pho Republique will host this exciting event, a tiki-filled evening which includes four amazing tropical concoctions available (and mixed by the Bum!), dim sum apps ala Pho, and a special photographic slideshow by the Bum about the history of these drinks. Brother Cleve to keep the beat going between sets and other surprises may follow! There will also be tiki raffle prizes given out! View the press release for more info.

For all you tikiphiles: drinks will be sourced from the original recipes of some classic cocktails found in legendary Boston tiki establishments of the past (Trader Vics, Kon Tiki Ports, etc.) Check out Beach Bum’s 2007 Salon mag interview; a hoot!

RSVP today at sippinsafari@waitiki.com as there is limited seating for this free event. Or call (617) 262-0005. Okonkuluku!

More later after my fab trip!

• Waitiki
• Beachbum Berry