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Tiki VIP #6 Rod Moore (The Shameful Tiki Room Canada)

Posted by Ray on in Tiki VIP 2 Comments
Rod Moore with Tiki mugs
Rod Moore with Tiki mugs

The Shameful Tiki Room will always have a special place in my heart. It’s where I came up with the idea of starting this blog!

I heard there was a Tiki bar up in Vancouver, BC and I decided to take a little road trip up to check it out. When I finally made it through the border patrol into Vancouver, I arrived at the Shameful Tiki Room. As I walked up to the place, I noticed all the windows were covered up. My first thought was that the bar was closed or under construction. I figured I came this far, so I might as well try the door. It opened and I stepped inside to a very dark room. Once my eyes adjusted to lack of light, I realized I was in a really cool Tiki bar! I got a seat at the bar and started ordering drinks. They were good, like Tiki Ti good! The windows out front were covered on purpose to block out the realities of outside. Great idea!  I thought whoever owns this bar is in the know when it comes to Tiki. I was right! That guy is Rod Moore and I had a chance to ask him a couple questions.

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Munktiki – Behind The Scenes And A Brief History

Posted by Ray on in Tiki Art 3 Comments
Munktiki TIki mug collection
Munktiki TIki mug collection

There is nothing cooler than a family business and it’s even cooler when that family business makes Tiki mugs! Munktiki is Debba Debba, Paul, their son Miles, and Mile’s wife Annie. If you have been to Hale Pele, the Shameful Tiki Room, 3 Dots And A Dash, or Smuggler’s Cove, you have probably sipped out of a Tiki mug made from Munktiki. The operations of Munktiki are based in Portland (Paul and Deb)  and Astoria (Miles and Annie). I asked Paul how long his “commute” to work is. He replied, “Three minutes, five if he needs some coffee!” Miles has been working with ceramics all his life and has about the same commute time! I asked Miles about his interest in ceramics…

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Smuggler’s Cove Book Signing At Rumba Seattle 8/4/16

Posted by Ray on in Tiki Books
Smuggler's Cove Book Signing at Rumba Seattle
Smuggler’s Cove Book Signing at Rumba Seattle

There is a new wave of Tiki coming our way and Martin and Rebecca Cate have written the manual. That book is called Smuggler’s Cove which is named after Martin’s Tiki Bar in San Francisco. This book covers every aspect of Tiki and is a must for every Tikiphile out there! I did a full review of Smuggler’s Cove. Click here to check it out.

Smuggler's Cove Book
Smuggler’s Cove Book

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #8 The Lowbrow Lanai Portland, OR

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars
The Lowbrow Lanai bar
The Lowbrow Lanai bar

Sometimes the hardest part about creating your own Tiki bar is finding the things you want to add to it. There is always eBay or Craigslist, but most of us find our Tiki treasures going to antique stores and thrift shops. I’ve done my share of traveling from one antique shop after another looking for that perfect Tiki mug. It took me over a year to find my Mid-Century Modern couch! Marci Holcomb and Austin Jordan don’t have to search very far for cool stuff. They own their own vintage store: Sputnik Housewares! Marci and Austin’s store and home are in Portland, OR. This is their story…

Marci and Austin
Marci and Austin

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #7 The Exotica Glendale, AZ

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars 3 Comments
The Exotica dining room
The Exotica dining room

Jim Hyte lives in Glendale, AZ, which means he lives in the desert. I remember on TV when someone was lost in the desert and dying of thirst, they would start to hallucinate. The image the person would see was always a large pool with palm trees. Jim decided to make that hallucination into a reality. He has turned his home and backyard into the Exotica!

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Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #6 The Monkey Hut Portland, OR

Posted by Ray on in Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment
Penelope at the bar
Penelope at the bar

Every home Tiki bar is built the same way: one piece at a time. It may start with the bar itself, a piece of furniture, a Tiki, a wall hanging, or even a Tiki mug itself that creates the spark for someone to start to build a home Tiki bar. Everything you see in a home Tiki bar has a story behind it and adds to the history of the bar. The Monkey Hut, Heather Gregg and Craig Hermann’s home Tiki bar in Portland, OR, has its own history that starts back in the ’90s in Petaluma, CA.

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Tiki Kon 2016 Day 1

Posted by Ray on in Tiki Lifestyle, Tiki Music
Tiki Kon 2016 display
Tiki Kon 2016 display

It has been a rainy year so far up in the Pacific Northwest. It’s no joke: it rains a lot, but usually things start to get nicer by May and the weather is perfect until October. Not this year. It’s already well into July and I’m driving through one rainstorm after another on my three-hour trek down from Seattle to Portland for Tiki Kon 2016. The Tiki lifestyle is all about escapism. I’m looking forward to a weekend of Tiki drinks and entertainment, room parties, and getting to see some home Tiki bars along the way. I’ll spoil the ending: Tiki Kon 2016 was a blast and for three days I forgot that it was the middle of July and I’m still wearing a raincoat!

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