Hukilau 2009

The one and only Hukilau. Great artwork as usual for this famous east-coast Tiki event.

Hukilau 2009 Poster

Quoting Otto von Stroheim’s Tiki Events e-mail:

Ok all you beachcombers, beatniks, bongo-beaters, tiki-carvers, mixologists, and exotica disciples from around the globe – grab your conch shell, grass skirt, aloha wear and that favorite bottle of rum and begin to prepare yourself for the 8th annual pilgrimage to most intimate Tiki festival in the world.

Experience Polynesia in America’s Vacationland

June 11 – 14, 2009
It’s time to make those plans to attend what promises to be a most memorable Polynesian Pop weekend as Tikiphiles unite!! We’re pleased to announce the entertainers that will bring you intoxicating tunes, the dazzlers that will provide mesmerizing performances, the seminars and presentations that will leave you spellbound and of course an incredible night at the historic Mai-Kai Restaurant! The full weekend’s schedule goes live in January.

Don’t Forget To Make Your Mai-Kai Reservations Now – For Those First Timers, The Mai-Kai Dinner Is June 13 – You’Ll Have 2 Shows To Choose From And Can Call 954.563.3272 To Make Your Reservations Today
We are responding to the strain on the economy, as we know it’s on everyone’s mind. Check out our ticket and hotel room prices for some big discounts this coming year – our weekend passes are considerably less and a great value!! Don’t delay and get your tickets now!!

We are so pleased to announce this year’s Headliner
Los Straitjackets!

Harold Golen Gallery of Miami presents the Hukilau Tiki Art Show
We have many first time guests to Hukilau as well as many return presenters and performers:

Please welcome these First Time Entertainers to our Island:

      *From Beyond: Los Straitjackets
      *From Tampa: The Stolen Idols
      *From Boca Raton: Gypsy Blue Acoustic Revue
      *From Miami: The Van Orsdels
      *From Tampa: DJ Lounge Laura Taylor w/Hukilau Go Go Dance Opening Party!
      *From Miami: DJ Laura of Miami throughout the weekend
      *The Titillating Tidbits of Dancers Candy Del Rio and Sable Sin Cyr

and of course the first ever Hukilau Room Crawl!!
Those returning to Hukilau:

      *King Kukulele returns as Master of Ceremonies
      *Jeff “Beachbum Berry with “Who’s Your Daddy? a Mai-Tai Paternity Test
      *Jeff Chenault with “More Sounds from Sophisticated Savages” Exotica Music Seminar
      *Marina the Mermaid and her school of tail flapping beauties
      *Surf Sounds of The Intoxicators

This year’s activities will be centered around the tropical Bahia Cabana Resort. Lots of activities will be in the summer sun so please plan accordingly. Check out our Tips From the Natives on the site so that you can be prepared for South Florida weather. All events will continue rain or shine.
Look for upcoming sculpts of the 2009 Munktiki Mug and we are also thrilled to announce that Tiki Tony will lend us a hand by designing the official Tiki pendant for Hukilau 2009! Hukilau Glassware, T-shirts and other keepsakes will be available at the event only – Hukilau merchandise will not be sent out this year (before or after the event) but can be reserved and picked up at the event only.
Thanks to the lovely wahine Heelgrinder for the amazing website and to all of our entertainers that have shared their music to be played as you browse the site.

See you in June 2009 – we’ll be waiting for you!
Let the countdown begin!
Yee-Haw & Aloha,
Tiki Kiliki
The Hukilau

Enchanted Tiki Luau
at Egyptian Theatre

July 25 – 26, 2008

Enchanted Tiki Luau Blow-Out
An Egyptian Theatre exclusive!

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.

read more at Tiki_Weekend_ET

New Exotica CD

I don’t have it, but judging by the blurb alone it’s a sure shot.


Various Artists-Paradise Lost & Sound

Here’s what they say at Fleamarket Music:

Flea Market Music recently discovered a treasure trove of Island-inspired songs written in the 1950s and early ’60s by well-known LA studio musicians Ken Darby, Perry Botkin Sr., Mel Henke and others. Many of these tunes (“Legend Of The Rain,” “Hana Maui,” “Leis Of Jazz,” “China Clipper”) were originally recorded by Hawaiian exotica king, Arthur Lyman. Paradise Lost & Found features new recordings of these songs by WAITIKI, a group of extraordinary musicians who have a passion for this kind of jazzy exotic music. Other guest artists include uke sensation Abe Lagrimas, Jr. playing Perry Botkin’s 1950 instrumental “Ukey-Ukulele” and Chris Kamaka (of Kamaka Ukulele and Ho’okena fame) singing the Ken Darby classic “Legend Of The Rain.” Other standout tracks include “Duke Of The Uke” with Four Preps lead singer Bruce Belland. Rounding out the project are a few Jim Beloff songs including “Sunrise At Haleakala,” “The Hawaiian Turnaround” (with music by uke master, Herb Ohta) and “I’m Carrying A Tiki Torch For You” performed by King Kukulele and the Friki Tikis. Ukulele is featured on about half the tracks but it’s all fun. 14 tropical tracks!

Thanks to Tiki King at Tiki Central

Enchanted Tiki and Luau This Weekend at Egyptian (repost)

tiki shag

Friday, July 6 – 7:30 PM
Hawaii, 1966, MGM Repertory, 161 min.
Director George Roy Hill’s (Throughly Modern Millie) adaptation of James Michener’s sprawling South Seas epic was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography (Russell Harlan) and Best Music Score (Elmer Bernstein). Max Von Sydow is the puritanical missionary who marries disappointed-in-love Julie Andrews just before they set sail to do the Lord’s work in the early 19th century island paradise. But they get more than they bargained for, squeezed between an onslaught of natural disasters and strange native customs. Their Calvinist devotion to a fire-and-brimstone worldview clashes head-on with the uninhibited, Dionysian headiness of the tropical lifestyle. With Richard Harris as Andrews’ former flame, Gene Hackman, Carroll O’Conner, Jocelyne LaGarde (who received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress).

Saturday, July 7 – 4:00 PM
Rare Tiki Island-Themed TV
Approx. 60 min. Artist Kevin Kidney hosts an entertaining hour of vintage tiki-themed television from the early 1960s – including some special surprises! *Tickets available to this program at the door only UNLESS purchased with the Luau Dinner ($20).

Saturday, July 7 – 5:00 PM
Luau Dinner
Following the 4 PM program, join us in the Egyptian Courtyard at 5 PM for a Royal Southern California-style Luau with live music from King Kukelele and his Friki Tikis, the Polynesian Paradise Dancers, vendors and a bountiful island-themed dinner.

On Saturday, July 7th, you have three special ticket price options:
Movies Only (valid for all movies on Saturday only):
General: $12; Senior/Student: $10; Cinematheque Member: $9

Luau Dinner Only: $20 (includes film admission for 4 PM show and dinner.)

All Movies (4 PM and 7:30 PM Movies), plus the Luau Dinner:
General: $27; Senior/Student: $25; Cinematheque Member: $24

*A limited number of dinners will be sold at the door. To guarantee a dinner ticket please purchase in advance.

Vendors in the Courtyard may include: Tiki Tony, Adrift Clothing, Crazy Al’s Bone Productions, “Dumb Angel” Magazine authors Dominic Priore and Brian Chidister, Tiki Diablo, Falling Cocos, Coconut Kids Clothing, Tiki Farm, the American Cinematheque selling poster and others…

Saturday, July 7 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
The Sophisticated Misfit, 2007, Smee Entertainment, 65 min.
Mark Chervinsky directed this four-year exploration of the world of Shag, the unlikeliest of Los Angeles artistic icons. Shag’s work doesn’t reflect the multicultural urban milieu of contemporary Los Angeles but rather an entirely different era. Think post-WWII boom years, suburban tracts sprawling across the landscape, Disneyland opening its doors and designers embracing the space-age motifs of Sputnik and the mission to the moon. Shag’s world is one of early 1960’s furniture, cocktail hours, sprawling ranch houses, built-in wet bars, and jet-set style. He embraces a simpler time. But his artwork is filled with subtle, humorous winks of the eye acknowledging that this period wasn’t quite so simple. The smiling women in their mod dresses hold secrets. The festive party scene in the go-go ’60’s home isn’t really what it seems. With Whoopi Goldberg, Patton Oswalt, Paul Frank and Shag. Winner of the Maverick Filmmaker Award at the 2007 Newport Beach Film Festival.

His Majesty O’Keefe, 1954, Warner Bros., 91 min.
Director Byron Haskin (THE NAKED JUNGLE; the original WAR OF THE WORLDS) brings a bracing exuberance to this tall tale of stranded-in-Micronesia sea captain Burt Lancaster’s quest to manipulate his native hosts into helping him build a trading empire. Joan Rice is the enchanting island girl who ends up being queen to his king. The spectacular Fiji Islands locations were stunningly photographed by the great cinematographer Otto Heller (THE CRIMSON PIRATE). Co-starring Andre Morell, Abraham Sofaer, Benson Fong. “…This swashbuckling South Seas adventure feature is ideally suited to Burt Lancaster’s muscular heroics. The Fiji Islands location lensing is a plus…” — Variety Discussion in between films with Shag and director Mark Chervinsky.

Sunday, July 8 – 7:30 PM
Miss Sadie Thompson, 1953, Sony Repertory, 91 min. Dir. Curtis Bernhardt (Possessed).
After having to leave Hawaii when her Honolulu singing job goes kaput, hard-luck dame Sadie Thompson (Rita Hayworth) is stranded on the isle of Samoa which is home to a U.S. Army base. She’s befriended by well-meaning, lovable GI hunk Aldo Ray as well as his soldier pals (including a young Charles Bronson). But dirty-minded lay minister and self-righteous gadabout Jose Ferrer, laying over with his wife on a trip, believes she is nothing more than a common prostitute and is offended by her presence. He takes it upon himself to make Sadie’s life a living hell until he can get her deported back to the States. Although Rita’s singing voice was dubbed by Jo Ann Greer, you would never know it during the musical numbers – she is positively dynamite performing “Hear No Evil,” “The Heat Is On,” and “Blue Pacific Blues.” Originally shot in 3-D, this is a terrific color remake of W. Somerset Maugham’s classic tale Miss Thompson, first filmed in 1932 as RAIN by director Lewis Milestone with Joan Crawford.

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