Say “Aloha” to the Chicago-based band Tiki Cowboys

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

Tiki Cowboys
Until recently, the only connection I knew of between “tiki” and “cowboys” was a famous little tune called “Hawaiian Cowboy.” (I remember it from “The Muppet Show,” but according to legend it was composed off the cuff by Solomon K. Bright in 1936.) In further researching these seemingly unrelated subjects, I also discovered that Hawaii’s history of cattle wrangling actually goes back before the heyday of the Wild West in America. Anyway, this is all a roundabout way of introducing Eric “Baron” Behrenfeld’s band: the Tiki Cowboys.

He sent me a copy of his 2009 debut EP “A Taste of Tiki,” on which Baron was a one-man band, supplying vocals, ukulele and percussion. Of the four original songs, the first track “Tiki Lady” is my favorite. It’s upbeat and fun and has some suggestive lyrics (ooh la la!). “My Little Song” takes on the country music trope that goes something like “my dog died, my wife left and she took my truck.” “Slap, Clap & Tickle” is a syncopated instrumental while “Feel So Good” brings in some elements of surf music.

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Their logo tiki, a cowboy hat-wearing carving with its tongue hanging out, appears on swag like stickers and even a coconut-scented car air freshener. (Available on the Tiki Cowboys web site if you’re so inclined.)

Sharp eyes might recognize the setting in that first photo as the Tiki Terrace in Des Plaines, which is where Baron and the other musicians that make up the Tiki Cowboys perform live every third Thursday from 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Later this year we should also be able to look for a full-length album with more of their “Beach Blues and Tiki-Twang” sound.

For more information, check out the Tiki Cowboys Facebook page.

Oregano’s Pizza Bistro Menu – Tiki Deja Vu

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

IMG_6693On our last visit to Mesa, Arizona, we caught a geographically convenient lunch at Oregano’s Pizza Bistro. (Tiki types in the Valley of the Sun should check out Hula’s Modern Tiki in Phoenix or pay their respects to Trader Vic’s Scottsdale, which closed in July 2011. The decor is being sold off piece by piece but the space is pretty much intact and being used for private events hosted by the Hotel Valley Ho.)

IMG_6703Anyway, Oregano’s serves up decent pizza and a heaping helping of nostalgia. Mark Russell founded the restaurant a decade ago to pay tribute to his father Lawrence Gibbilini, whose flair for cooking Italian food earned him the nickname “Lawrence of Oregano.”

IMG_6704Each of the dozen Arizona locations tries to evoke the feeling of a neighborhood Italian restaurant in Chicago from decades past. The dining rooms are filled with random kitsch like neon clocks, old wooden skis and surf boards covered with Christmas lights.

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I was a bit surprised to see a mug shot for a young Frank Sinatra framed up on the wall. His crime? Seduction.

IMG_6672But the most interesting thing about Oregano’s is the menus, which graphic artist Jon Arvizu designed to look like retro album covers. There are several different styles but “Polynesian Paradise” features a hula girl pin-up and a tiki that looked rather familiar…

DB383075Design Toscano turns out resin tables with a similar tiki that they’ve dubbed The Lono (Tongue). (I ought to recognize it as we have one in the tiki room.)

IMG_7568But then I remembered how that catalog has been “inspired” by photos in “The Book of Tiki,” and there it was when I flipped through my copy. The image illustrated author Sven Kirsten’s discovery that tikis from the original Luau in Beverly Hills somehow ended up at the Hanalei Hotel (now a Crowne Plaza) in San Diego. Double déjà vu!

Tiki in The Pirates! Band of Misfits Movie

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki on TV and tagged with , , , ,

The Pirates!

Aardman Animations, the studio behind “Wallace and Gromet” and “Chicken Run,” released a new film over the weekend called “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” (or “The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists” if you’re one of my daily handful of UK visitors).

The Pirates!

As a fan of stop motion animation and quick British wit, I’d been looking forward to this movie for months — even more so when I spotted a Moai in the trailer.

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In a sequence of shenanigans at Charles Darwin’s house, the pirates knock into an Easter Island head that comes crashing after them down the stairs. (Watch the trailer for that scene.) Aside from the relative proximity of the Galapagos Islands and Rapa Nui, I didn’t really see the connection, but anyway…I found the movie quite enjoyable, with lots of visual jokes in the background. (There’s also more Moai to be seen towards the beginning.) What more could you want in a film than pirates, tikis and a monkey butler?