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A Moment of Tiki

Kahikina said:
That matting is a bear to work with. I used the same techniques you mentioned in your video. I was surprised you did that solo. It was helpful to have an extra set of hands to hold the matting in place when securing to the wall. Nice job! And BTW.... a second space? You are living the dream my friend.

Keep up the great work!
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I keep my powder dry on calling in extra hands for when I really, really need it. The eye rolling involved can be darn near lethal!
The Lagoon of Mystery is an outdoor tiki space, occupying a 65' covered patio adjacent to a pool and surrounded by palm trees. On summer nights it is spectacular. Trouble is, even our mild winters make it a not-great place to hang out in from December through February. I was looking to get some heaters and clear vinyl roll-down tarps you see sometimes in restaurants with patio seating but my cost calculations just kept getting higher and higher. Then The Wife suggested we convert the loft area. We'd been using it as a media room with a sectional and big screen TV, but as the kids got older they stopped using it. Spilled popcorn and pizza over the years left the carpet nasty and in desperate need of replacement. For what I would spend to make the Lagoon all-weather I could put a big dent in converting that loft into tiki.

An embarrassment of riches? I'm not going to argue that. But it has been fun to try things inside that I couldn't in the outdoor space!
 
From almost the very first episode of A Moment of Tiki, which premiered three years ago, folks have asked me to do an episode on music. I put it off, not because I didn't have opinions (Oh boy! Do I have opinions!) but because I knew how much work it would be. Well, in episode 53 I finally tackle that beast and hold forth on what I think constitutes good "Music for a Dark Tiki Bar."
 
Awesome stuff! Thanks for putting so much effort into such an entertaining and informative couple of episodes. I'm a lover of music, but also a lover of music history, and you have done an excellent job. Looking forward to part three!

Also, I completely agree with you that Caribbean music belongs in a Tiki bar. Heck, the sine qua non of Tiki is, after all, rum, and where does most rum come from? That's right!

Also, as a bit of trivia that I'm sure you know but didn't mention, Xavier Cugat was married to perennial Tonight Show guest, Charo! Cuchi-cuchi
 
Chicago Jake said:
Awesome stuff! Thanks for putting so much effort into such an entertaining and informative couple of episodes. I'm a lover of music, but also a lover of music history, and you have done an excellent job. Looking forward to part three!

Also, I completely agree with you that Caribbean music belongs in a Tiki bar. Heck, the sine qua non of Tiki is, after all, rum, and where does most rum come from? That's right!

Also, as a bit of trivia that I'm sure you know but didn't mention, Xavier Cugat was married to perennial Tonight Show guest, Charo! Cuchi-cuchi
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Thanks, Jake! Whenever someone gets all "Caribbean has no place in tiki" with me I offer to give a loving home to their rum. They never think that's as funny as I do!

And yes, Charo and Cugat were a thing! There was just SO MUCH information about all of these different genres and artists that I had to leave most of it out, otherwise this would grow into a 300 part series! :ROFLMAO:
 
Simply amazing! Congrats on finding those. They turned out extremely well. There are going to be some jealous Tikiphiles out there.

I had to chuckle when I saw you working on the first one on the kitchen counter. :sneaky: But then I saw your wife was fully invested in the project with the sewing... <whew>

I appreciate the time you spent educating us. If I am ever lucky enough to score a Witco I'll be watching this again. One question I did have, what did you end up doing for the feet? Metal pads again, or the plastic kind you just hammer in?

Great job! Thanks again!
 
Excellent information. I always assumed people were re-staining these and then putting a coat of shellac on them. I would be interested on the history of these pieces. Did the previous owners share anything? Tiki Dude
 
Kahikina said:
Simply amazing! Congrats on finding those. They turned out extremely well. There are going to be some jealous Tikiphiles out there.

I had to chuckle when I saw you working on the first one on the kitchen counter. :sneaky: But then I saw your wife was fully invested in the project with the sewing... <whew>

I appreciate the time you spent educating us. If I am ever lucky enough to score a Witco I'll be watching this again. One question I did have, what did you end up doing for the feet? Metal pads again, or the plastic kind you just hammer in?

Great job! Thanks again!
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Thanks for the kind words! I used the plastic type that are nailed in, but I also added adhesive felt pads to those as the stools are intended for interior use and the felt works better on the laminate flooring we have. I probably could've been clearer on that in the video!
 
Tiki Dude said:
Excellent information. I always assumed people were re-staining these and then putting a coat of shellac on them. I would be interested on the history of these pieces. Did the previous owners share anything? Tiki Dude
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I thought the same, but when I found my Witco hanging planter a couple of years ago, Heather Pleasant told me to use Howard's Feed n Wax on it. I was skeptical. The wood was grey from exposure and dry and cracking. Feed n Wax, Heather insisted. I rolled my eyes, thinking I'd end up restaining and applying some sort of poly finish, boiled linseed oil at minimum. NOPE! That simple mixture of bees wax and orange oil (and whatever else they mix in there) worked wonders. I swear by it now. Any unfinished wood surface gets Howard's, and really, if the wood existed this long without any kind of topcoat, introducing one at this stage is only going to complicate matters. It's just amazing how Howard's brings back rich, dark color to dry, grey wood. The best thing about it is that you can keep reapplying as long as the thirsty wood continues to soak it up. If they start looking a little dull a few years down the road, hit 'em with another coat. Sure, it's not going to offer much in the way of UV protection or waterproofing, but if you're storing your Witcos outside in the elements you've got bigger issues to deal with!

The previous owners got them from a relative more than a decade ago. They didn't know anything else about them, and weren't aware of a matching bar. I wasn't going to press too hard lest they figure out they had something considerably more valuable than they thought.
 
Kahikina said:
I had to chuckle when I saw you working on the first one on the kitchen counter. :sneaky: But then I saw your wife was fully invested in the project with the sewing... <whew>
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The Wife was initially, "Witco! Yes, go get them!" when I forwarded her the CL ad. When I got them home and unloaded, she was like, "Uh..." They were far grungier than comes across in the video. She doubted they could be rescued. She has since come around!
 
Kahikina said:
Wow! Looks like a great time! Are you streaming those movies, or dvd them?

🍸
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Everything we show we acquire on DVD/Blu-Ray. Streaming services have gotten downright awful about removing content without notice, and many, many of the older films we like to screen aren't available to stream unless you have a subscription to a specific service PLUS agree to an additional rental fee... at which point buying the DVD is almost always cheaper. I've had too many negative experiences with the cloud and streaming to ever get rid of my DVD collection (hundreds) and CDs (thousands). And that doesn't even begin to scratch all the vintage vinyl albums that've never seen a CD or digital release, but I'm getting into "old man shakes fist at cloud" territory, so I'll shut up now. ;)
 
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