Category Archives: Other Tiki Topics

Tiki at the LA County Fair: Part Four

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Other Tiki Topics and tagged with , , , ,

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In this requisite annual post I present to you more of the myriad reasons why I love the LA County Fair. Among them are taking photographs of the ferris wheel at sunset, eating strange fried food and finding random tiki sightings.

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Chicken Charlie is famous for serving up deep-fried delights, but this year he introduced a new stand called The Pineapple Express that offered some island-inspired options that were promoted as healthier than your typical fare fair.

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One of these was the “Naked Shrimp” ($11.95) with white rice and pineapple chunks, served in half a pineapple shell. If you’re concerned this dish sounds too healthy, don’t worry, they also give you a side of melted butter! The shrimp looked like they might have some spice, but were pretty bland. I appreciated the novelty presentation, but we’ll skip this next year.

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On the other hand, the deep-fried lobster on a stick ($12.87) was juicy inside and the crisp coating had great seasoning.

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Of course, Chicken Charlie couldn’t stray too far from his roots so there was also deep-fried Spam and deep-fried pineapple rings with chocolate sauce (both $6.44) to continue the Hawaiian theme. Not surprisingly, the latter wasn’t very good. I guess the deep-fried Klondike Bar shall remain my all-time favorite.

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Even though we went at the end of September, the weather was still hotter than it had any business being. We paused to cool off with some shave ice at The Big “Kone” Huna, which I think might have been a new food vendor at the LA County Fair this year.

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Their stand had a thatch roof, some tiki masks and bamboo poles, but also hot rod flames, disco lights and dance music, so that was a bit odd. As was their logo with a surfin’ dude in a scary-looking tiki mask. Yikes.

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We couldn’t decide what flavors to get so we went with their suggestion of strawberry and pina colada “Hawaiian style” with sweetened condensed milk on top ($5.06). It was pretty good, though I kept stealing spoonfuls from our friends’ order of lime and margarita.

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Every year we make sure to visit the arts and crafts building. We speculate on the fierce rivalry among the jam and preserves makers, and examine the prize-winning baked goods slowly decaying in the glass displays. There was no tiki cake this year, but there was this impressive cake for “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

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We’re also slightly obsessed with the tablescaping contest where people decorate tables according to themes, complete with elaborate centerpieces and menus for an imaginary meal. (Part of our fascination has to do with the nitpicky critiques from the judges, like “Teaspoon near knife is a questionable decision.”)

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Of course this table caught my eye! It was inspired by James Michener’s book Hawaii, and featured a thatch roof over the table, woven palm frond placemats, monkey pod wood dishes, mini tiki torches, fake tropical flowers and tiki salt and pepper shakers. The Hairpin has some great pictures of some of the other tablescaping entries (including one for Game of Thrones!).

Related posts:

LA County Fair 2011 – Lumberjacks & Tiki Cakes
LA County Fair 2010 – Chocolate Covered Oreos Wrapped in Bacon!
LA County Fair 2009 – A Horse Named Tiki

Enchanted Tiki Drawings – Disneyland Park Icons Sketches

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Other Tiki Topics and tagged with , , ,

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I’ve mentioned a few times before how much I like the Disney Gallery on Disneyland’s Main Street. There’s always something neat there, from special merchandise by Shag or Kevin Kidney & Jody Daily to artist showcases from Mary Blair. (Rumor has it the next exhibition will feature The Enchanted Tiki Room!)

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Sometimes there are artists working on-site in a little studio as part of the Artist Sketch Program. Guests can peek over their shoulders as they draw at the drafting desk, which is located on the right once you pass through the gift shop.

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I was told that they had recently started offering a new set of designs featuring “Park Icons,” including this colorful one of Jose from The Enchanted Tiki Room. On the ledge there is a sketch program catalog where you can see examples of the other dozens of images the artists can draw for you. The Jose cartoon is listed at $35, and the prices go up from there depending on the design.

Giveaway – Win a 1961 Hawaiian Islanders XL T-shirt!

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Other Tiki Topics and tagged with , , ,

Hello, loyal Tiki Chick readers! It is the famed(?) Mr. Baseball here. I’m excited to be guest blogging for the lovely Tiki Chick. Why would she turn over a blog to someone who doesn’t even know the ingredients of a simple Mai Tai — there’s rum in there, right? Simple: I have a gift for you! No, it’s not a limited edition Tiki Farm mug or even a Bamboo Ben shelf (look at me, talkin’ the talk!). You see, I enjoy classic baseball history — and not just because my team hasn’t won anything since 1908. I wear old-school stirrups when I play ball and wear vintage logos and designs when out in public. Catch me at the next tiki event that my lady drags — uh, I mean “brings” me to and you’ll probably see me checking box scores on my phone while wearing my 1914 Cubs hat.

Long story short, I ordered a 1961 Hawaiian Islanders t-shirt to go along with my collection.

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It’s not only an awesome logo for a forgotten minor league affiliate, but also somewhat tiki related! (The Tiki Chick says it’s Hawaiiana.) Unfortunately for me, I ordered the wrong size. It’s an XL, which due to my oddly small framed, yet 6’2 body, t-shirt Large and XL sizes sometimes run too big or too small. This one runs big. After a shipping/returns mixup, they told me to keep the shirt. Freakin’ sweet! I then offered it to The Tiki Chick as a prize for one of her readers.

So here’s the contest: Come up with a clever name for a new Hawaiian baseball team.

Or, if creativity isn’t your thing, tell The Tiki Chick that you are big and tall and that you would like the XL Hawaiian Islanders shirt. If you’re lucky, I’ll even throw in a baseball card of me, Mr. Baseball, in action! It captures what I do best: Struggling through a Cubs fantasy camp while trying to relive my glorious athletic youth with a bad shoulder and poor eating habits. Collect all…one!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment and we will choose the winner randomly after Tuesday, September 4. (Readers that submit Hawaiian baseball team names will be assigned an extra entry in the giveaway for incentive.)

Good Luck and Mahalo!

NOTE: If you love baseball too, check out other vintage shirts, uniforms and various other throwbacks at http://www.ebbets.com. Those people are amazing at what they do, and they have a ton of cool stuff.