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6/21/10 - I've
Returned From An
Adventure!
I've finally
returned from my voyage to Fort
Lauderdale and the 9th annual
HUKILAU event. This event, which
equates to the East Coast Mecca
for those into Tiki Culture and
Polynesian Pop, was a well-run,
highly entertaining, and
inspiring experience.
From the moment you stepped past
the two oversized tikis and into
the Tiki Treasures Bazaar, you
were enveloped in all that is
vintage and tiki. You saw artwork
by local and international
artists, you saw hand-made
fashion and accessories along
with the fantastic artisans who
created them, and you were able
to wade through the mountains of
antiques, furniture, and
collectables (all with a Tiki
theme, of course) until you found
just the right thing for your
home Tiki Bar or Lounge.
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A
fantastic sign
welcomed us at
check-in.
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Day one ended
with a kickoff party at Bahia
Cabana, one of the two host
hotels for this year's event.
Both had immediate access to the
marina and Fort Lauderdale Beach
and enough convention space to
handle the amazing presentations
and entertainment offerings
during the weekend.
My favorite part of the kickoff
event was the "room crawl".
Imagine trick-or-treating for
cocktails and you will have a
rough idea of what that was all
about. People registered their
rooms as part of the event and
created a special cocktail to be
served there. They even went as
far as decorating their rooms and
wearing costumes to match the
theme of their drink! You'd wait
in line to get into the room, and
when you got in, you'd drop a few
dollars into their bucket (to
help offset the cost of the
liquor), and they'd fill your
tiki mug with their grog. If you
didn't bring a mug, no worries!
They had little plastic cups for
you.
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Robbie
the Robot made
an appearance
in the "Tikis
in Space" room,
where the main
ingredient in
the cocktail
was TANG! I
didn't even
know they still
made TANG!
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Day two was
filled with more shopping, a
visit to the art gallery (which
featured artwork from several
artists...many of whom were at
the event), an amazing
presentation on the history of
Weeki Wachee Springs (including a
visit by two original mermaids),
a special signing session with
the artist SHAG, a presentation
by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry, the
premier of "The DVD of Tiki", and
the Hukilau Main Event.
The pace of the event was
perfect, with just enough
downtime between seminars to
relax, shop, eat, or meet new
people. It really couldn't have
been planned any better!
At the SHAG signing, I sat down
with the artist and asked him to
sign two items for me which
featured his art...my Disneyland
50th Anniversary map tray and my
40th Anniversary Enchanted Tiki
Room puzzle (which belonged to my
friend Anne...may she rest in
peace).
That evening was the main event,
which featured more shopping and
some amazing performances by live
musical groups like The Stolen
Idols, The Neanderthals, The
Sweet Hollywaiians (from Osaka,
Japan), and Walk the
Plank.
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It
was an amazing
experience...meeting
someone who is
one of my
favorite
artists of all
time as well as
one of the
people who
inspire my
art.
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Day three was
basically the finale for the
event, filled with more colorful
activities. First, there was the
Sarong-O-Rama, a fashion show of
vintage and reproduction vintage
clothing from private collections
and for sale in the Tiki
Treasures Bazaar. The outfits
displayed at this event were just
breathtaking with their vibrant
colors, simple lines, and amazing
accessories. My friend Sherill
was one of the volunteer models
for this...and she looked
AMAZING!
After the Sarong-O-Rama came the
debut of the full-length
documentary, "Tikimentary", which
told the story of Tiki Culture as
it exists today (a stark contrast
to the DVD of Tiki, which
presented the history of Tiki
Culture dating back to its roots
in ancient Polynesia). Later that
afternoon was happy hour and the
Mai Kai dinner show.
If you have never been to a show
at the Mai Kai, you are missing
out on the most amazingly
preserved piece of Polynesian Pop
Culture in the United States.
This supper club, which opened in
the late 50's, has survived urban
growth, crime, and even the fall
of the Tiki Culture to remain the
embodiment of all that is vintage
Polynesian Pop at its finest.
From when you step through the
wooden ship's doors into this
tropical oasis on A1A, you are
transported away from this world
and into a world of escapism and
exotica. I plan to
return...anyone want to come
along?
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The
finale shot at
Sarong-O-Rama...Don't
you just LOVE
the colors?
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Sadly, all good
things must come to an end and
the event ended the next morning.
Sue and I stayed around the area
for an extra day to enjoy the
beach and visit the Art Deco
District of South Beach. We
enjoyed brunch at News Cafe
before hopping back into the "Kon
Tiki T" for the journey back to
Orlando.
Special thanks to all who were
involved in this year's Hukilau
event. The planning and execution
must not have been easy, but you
made it seem so easy. Thank you
for arranging such amazing
presentations and entertainment,
for planning ahead to have the
host hotels near one another, and
for keeping the Tiki Culture
alive and kicking. I'm sure I was
not the only person who walked
away from the event inspired to
go home and work on my own little
tropical hideaway...and I know
that some people there, who
weren't into Tiki Culture at
first, walked away as new
"members of the club".
Thank you, Tiki Kiliki, and the
rest of the Hukilau team! I hope
to see you again next year for
the 10th annual
event!
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Aloha
Oe, Hukilau! We
will DEFINITELY
be back next
year for
more!
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6/14/10 - Thank
You!
Okay...so a
complete Newsletter entry will be
coming soon about what happened
this week at Hukilau, but I
HAD to make sure I
said thank you to the following
people for making this weekend's
event so much fun!
- Sherill
- Mustache
- "J"
- Robert
- Nicole (and
Mom)
- David
- Matthew
- Sue (My
"Wicked Wahine")
- Tiki Kiliki
& The Hukilau Team
- Scott who used
to work at Epcot (We met at
the Mai Kai...please e-mail me
if you get the chance or add
me on Facebook. I'd love to
talk with you some more. I'm
sorry we didn't get to spend
more time chatting. I was
having a discussion with
someone and you had to get
back to your family.)
I'm looking
forward to next year's
event...and hope to hear from all
of you soon!
6/9/10 - Are YOU
At The Hukilau?
If you happen to
see me around the Hukilau, please
say hello and share any words of
encouragement you may have. It
would be super nice to meet someone
that is actually visiting the
site...and a great way to inspire
me to get to work on the rest of
it!
I'll be there this weekend with
my "wicked wahine", Sue. We'd
both love to meet some new people
to hang out with during the
event!
(It would also give me a chance
to say "thank you" in person for
dealing with my severe lack of content
at Tiki Tackett World!)
4/18/10 - Oh
We're Goin'...To A
Hukilau...
Well...It's
official! I will be attending
this year's "Hukilau" event in
Fort Lauderdale from June 10-13.
I'm not any sort of "official"
part of the event, but I will
definitely be attending. Hopefuly
by then I will be able to share
some of the upcoming personal and
professional projects I am
working on with everyone.
(^_^)
If you are going to this year's
event and would like to say
hello, please shoot me an e-mail.
As of right now, I will be
attending alone, so it would be
nice to have someone to hang out
with while I am there. It's
always nice to meet new
Polynesian Pop Culture
lovers!
I plan on getting quite a few of
the drinks off of the menu at the
Molokai Bar...so if you see me at
the Mai Kai, please be sure to
say hey!
For more information about the
9th Annual Hukilau, presented by
Tiki Kiliki, visit www.thehukilau.com.
11/21/09 - Take
Another Spin on the
Dancefloor...
In the "Pleasure
Island Drive" area of my online
world sits a large warehouse with
an old theater marquee that reads
"Mannequins Dance Palace". To
anyone not familiar with this
place, it's a confusing clash of
imagery and unusual wording. To
those who knew Mannequins Dance
Palace, this building brings back
memories of laughter, good music,
and the most amazing lighting and
prop show in the world.
Complete with the "worlds largest
rotating dancefloor", Mannequins
Dance Palace delighted guests at
Walt Disney World's Pleasure
Island for almost twenty years
before closing in 2008. Being on
that dancefloor was like being in
a movie scene. The floor's motion
combined with the amazing
lighting and props that raised
and lowered from hidden places in
the ceiling gave you a sense of
energy that I have not been able
to find anywhere else. In fact,
after Mannequins closed, I tried
a couple places and stopped going
to clubs altogether when nothing
lived up to the experience.
As Tiki Tackett World is a place
populated by my favorite people,
places, and things, it's fitting
that Mannequins is here. Doing
the artwork allowed me to re-live
so many great memories of the
club and now the artwork and
interactive pieces will allow you
to do the same.
Mannequins is in "Soft Opening"
mode while I work out some bugs
with the animation and
interactivities...this means you
might go in and the animation
might be turned off or access to
the interactivities is turned
off. This is because I am fixing
errors in the coding or artwork
in realtime. I expect "Soft
Opening" to last about a
month.
In the meantime, enjoy the
artwork I have created to
commemorate what I consider to be
the number one dance club in the
United States...
I'm still spinnin' even though my
dancefloor has stopped.
7/15/09 - Bricks,
Bricks, Everywhere!
I've decided to
let people sign up for some FREE
Tiki Tackett WorldWalk Bricks
through the months of July and
August. Those who choose to take
advantage of this offer will not
get the "real world gift" that is
offered when you pay to sponsor a
virtual brick, but you will still
have the opportunity to make your
mark in my virtual world.
Here's how you can get your own
virtual brick for free:
1. Enter Tiki Tackett World.
2. Click the Brick Kiosk in the
Entry Plaza.
3. Select "I would like to
purchase a brick"
4. Click "Continue".
5. Click "I have my confirmation
number".
6. Continue through the
procedure, using "PROMO" in the
field where it asks for your
confirmation number.
7. Submit your order!
Depending on how many people take
advantage of this offer, it may
take a little bit longer for me
to code all the bricks into the
site.
You'll be able to get your brick
identification number after the
brick is coded and installed at
Tiki Tackett World by using the
"search by brick owner's last
name" feature. Once you have
located your brick, you can write
down the number that appears on
your brick for future
reference.
Bricks that are part of my
virtual world (paid sponsorship
or not) will be available for
viewing for the life of the
website. If for any reason I
decide to change the way Tiki
Tackett World is designed, I will
continue to make the bricks
available for viewing.
While you are all enjoying that,
I'm continuing to work on new
screens for Tiki Tackett World.
Right now, I am working on
screens for an area that pays
homage to Mannequins Dance
Palace...a place that was a
Thursday hotspot for me since I
turned 21. For those of you who
do not know, Mannequins was a
nightclub at Disney's Pleasure
Island. Among its many cool
features was the world's largest
rotating dancefloor. The club
closed in September 2008 to make
way for a "bold, new" Pleasure
Island. As of yet, nothing has
happened.
Anyhow...Look for that to start
coming your way soon. Until then,
see you later!
4/11/09 - I've
Moved!
First, let me
apologize to everyone for not
providing any sort of news or
updates since January. I have
since bought a house and am in
the process of setting up my home
office, where TikiTackett.com and
my website and graphics design
studio will be housed.
For those of you who have never
purchased your own home, it's a
very stressful and busy time. I
have been making all sorts of
adjustments to the house and in
my life in order to get used to
the new digs. I hope to have
photos up online soon.
TikiTackett.com hasn't been
placed on the back burner, and I
am constantly thinking up new
content...I just haven't had the
opportunity to produce any of it
yet. I know that you are all
checking back...and that some of
you are checking back less
frequently now because there just
hasn't been any activity on the
site...I'm hoping to change that
very soon.
Anyhow, now that I have a
functional computer and access to
all my website files, I can start
working on the next screen at
Tiki Tackett World!
Talk to you all very soon!
1/18/09 - My
Final Newsletter Post About
VMK.
Okay, I've been
getting lots of e-mails lately
about Disney's Virtual Magic
Kingdom. This is going to be the
last time I talk about it in my
Newsletter. Please pay very close
attention to what I am about to
say...
VMK is not returning. I
have not been in any other
Virtual Worlds. Anyone logged
into places like VFK, Small
Worlds, or any other similar MMOG
is not me, and is not doing
anything but starting rumors.
Now, TikiTackett.com is my
personal website with my personal
graphics projects on it and is
not any sort of official source
of information for any Disney
product, but please trust me when
I say that Yavn, Caffdawg,
myself, and all of the other
amazing people who worked on VMK
are still very thankful for your
support of VMK while it was
online. We hope you enjoy all the
other new online worlds Disney is
offering...like Fairies and
POTCO.
From this point forward, I will
no longer answer any e-mails
related to VMK. Please do not
send any questions or comments
regarding VMK to my e-mail. You
have to remember, this is my
personal website and Tiki Tackett
World is a personal development
project (designing and building
it is teaching me first-hand
about graphics layout and website
design). It is not a new VMK, it
is not a community-based
experience, and it is not a game.
Sending your comments,
complaints, or questions to my
personal e-mail about VMK is just
not the correct way of doing
things. Should you have questions
about VMK, please send them to
Disney using the Contact Us link
at the bottom of VMK.com. That
way, they are read by the right
people.
If you were a VMK gamer, you are
more than welcome at Tiki Tackett
World, but please don't enter
with expectations I cannot meet.
Don't expect Avatars, Mini-Games,
Quests, and such. Just expect a
nice place to explore every
couple of months to learn about
me and what I think is cool.
Okay...now that I have said
that...work can continue at Tiki
Tackett World.
1/8/09 - Tiki
Tackett WorldWalk Brick Kiosk
Back Online!
Even though Tiki
Tackett World isn't officially
open, you can still enter the
Tiki Tackett WorldWalk &
Entrance Plaza. There, you can
access the Brick Kiosk and view
people's bricks or purchase your
own.
Be sure to check out my brick,
number 62631828!
1/3/09 - Happy
New Year!
Goodbye to 2008
and hello 2009! I'm back with an
update on the construction at
Tiki Tackett World and some
answers to the questions you have
been sending in via
Tik-E-Mail!
First, let me just tell you that
designing, building, coding, and
testing a virtual
world...regardless of how simple
it may seem...is no easy task.
The new Tiki Tackett World is
much less ambitious than the
previous versions with only a
small handful of interactive
areas and even fewer screens, but
for one person to take it all on
as only a side project takes a
lot out of you. Delays are bound
to happen. Life gets in the way.
Right now, I am in the process of
buying my first home, and that
has kept me from working on the
site.
"But you said you were gonna open
in Winter?!?!?" you are saying to
the screen right now, right? Hey,
Tiki Tackett World is a personal
development project. I am using
it to continue my creative
growth. It's not a game,
community, or anything like that.
When it opens, it is going to
exist only to tell the story of
my life and give you a glimpse
into the things I find inspiring.
If you keep checking the site
waiting for opening day,
expecting a game with avatars and
mini-games and quests, you are
going to be disappointed. Please
don't make it into something it
isn't.
With that said, I thank you for
your patience...and hope you will
continue to check back to see
what's going on. I appreciate
that you are interested in the
site. I hope you enjoy the work I
have put into it. If not, I'm
sorry that your expectations were
so high and that I wasn't able to
deliver.
1/3/09 -
Answering Your
Questions!
Okay, so many of
you keep sending in the same
questions I feel it's time to
revisit the answers I have
already given out regarding my
virtual world. So...without any
more fanfare, here are the
Q&As...
Q: Will Tiki Tackett World be
like VMK?
A: No. VMK is an
MMOG. Tiki Tackett World is just
a graphics-based personal
website. When I say personal, I
mean it is all about me, my life,
my art, my interests. If you
visit Tiki Tackett World
expecting anything else, you will
probably be disappointed.
Q: Will I be able
to create an Avatar in the
game?
A: It's not a
game, and no. Tiki Tackett World
is a "click through" virtual
world. You will navigate by
running your pointer over areas
to explore the screen and when
you find something you would like
to experience, you click it and
the site will take you there.
There will be lots of interactive
image galleries, a few
interactive fun spots, a
discussion center, and my
personal tribute to Walt Disney's
Enchanted Tiki Room. Later, other
areas will be added for your
enjoyment, but the core purpose
of this project is to tell you
about me. It's not designed to
develop a sense of
community.
Q: What's up with
the "Brick" thing?
A: The Tiki
Tackett WorldWalk is a VIRTUAL
brick walkway in the Entry Plaza.
There, you can purchase a
real-world souvie of your visit
to my virtual world and get a
virtual brick on the walkway that
you and your friends or family
can see online by visiting my
site. The profits from the sale
of the real-world souvies/bricks
goes towards the upgrade of
services and bandwidth for my
site.
Q: Can I start a
message board for your site like
the ones that were created for
other MMOGs like VMK and
VFK?
A: I would prefer
that you didn't. As I said, Tiki
Tackett World is NOT a game. It's
NOT a community-based online
experience. It's just there to
talk about my life and help me
develop my artistic abilities. I
wouldn't feel comfortable if you
created a message board about my
project...but there's nothing I
can do to stop you. Don't expect
many people to join your
board...I mean, who wants to sit
around and talk about one person
for months on end?
Q: When is Tiki
Tackett World going to finally
open? You keep changing the
date.
A: Tiki Tackett
World is a personal project. It's
not supposed to be anything major
as far as online worlds are
concerned. I am working on it as
hard as I can...when I can get
time to work on it. So many
things have come up in my life
that have kept me from working on
it that the site fell way behind
my original deadlines. All I can
say is keep checking back. As I
get certain areas completed, I
may just start opening them up
rather than wait for the whole
thing to be finished. Consider it
a "phased" opening.
Well, I hope your question was
answered. If it wasn't and you
would like to ask it, click
"Contact Me" at the top of the
screen and fill out the contact
form. Once I get your question, I
will reply via e-mail. If it's a
question I am getting frequently,
I will add it to this Q&A
area.
Thanks for reading and
writing...see you all really
soon!
TiKi
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