Tag Archives: Tiki

Hand Pulled: The Complete Shag Print Collection

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Shag and tagged with , , , , ,

I’ve been a fan of the artist Shag (Josh Agle) for a solid decade now, so I was excited to hear that the Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana was hosting Hand Pulled: The Complete Shag Print Collection.

This retrospective features all the prints Shag has released from 1999-2011, including every serigraph, etching, giclée and off-set print—more than 250 in all.

So much Shag, as far as the eye could see! The bright colors really popped against the simple black frames and white walls.

For me it was a bit of a trip down memory lane as I got to see in person some of the images that first turned me on to Shag, like the Paul Frank partnership “Sylvie and Jules” which dates back to 2000.

The space off to the right housed Shag’s collaborations with Disney. In 2003, he was commissioned to do a series for The Enchanted Tiki Room‘s 40th anniversary and it proved so popular that he’s also produced designs for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, Haunted Mansion’s 40th anniversary, the Disney Cruise Line and just recently, Disney World’s 40th anniversary.

Some highlights from the exhibit included this promotional poster for Madame Guignol’s Macabre Theatre on the left. So often there’s something sinister lurking in the tableau, but here it takes center stage (literally).

I also loved seeing the details in the Villain Suite, a series of four etchings from 2001. Here we have “Kitty Q” and her cohorts.

Special for this show’s opening, Shag and Harveys produced two styles of seatbelt bags that apparently sold out instantly.

Be sure to browse through the gift shop, because that’s where you’ll find this special piece. Besides being one of Shag’s earliest paintings (his 6th or 7th), “Ray’s Mistake” from 1996 pays tribute to Ray Buhen and his signature drink from the Tiki-Ti. Shag even touched up the originally gold frame to make it look more like bamboo. (You can even buy it if you have a spare sixteen grand.)

These are the last few weeks to catch the exhibit as it ends on August 14. Shag will be making an appearance and signing merchandise at the closing reception on Saturday, August 6 at 6 p.m. The gallery is located in a lovely courtyard in the Arts District, which has an Old Town feel and merits a visit on its own.

Old Town Orange – Classic Cars, Soda Shops & Tikis

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Whenever I’m in Old Town Orange, I feel like I’ve stepped into the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It has an old-fashioned small-town feel that you would never think you’d find in Southern California. Disneyland and its reproduction of an idealized Main Street are just five miles away, but lovers of vintage Americana will find the real deal right here.

Walking distance from Chapman University, Orange is apparently the only city in the county built around a plaza. The space was turned into a park in 1887, and the fountain was replaced with a “new” one in 1937. The neighborhood is particularly notable for the many pre-1940 buildings and homes that have been preserved. (Therefore even the two Starbucks locations in the plaza actually look kind of neat.)

This sign for Rod’s Plaza Beverages was one of my favorites. The Old Town Orange Historic District is lined with antique malls and vintage shops, restaurants and Watson’s, which is The OC’s oldest operating soda fountain and featured as a film set in “That Thing You Do.”

And right next door to Watson’s is a branch of the World Travel agency, where I happened to spot some tikis and a United Airlines Aunty Menehune figurine in the display window.

Just as tikis help sell jacuzzis at the fair (via the idea of creating an island paradise at your home), we have these tikis tempting you to an exotic getaway. Well, they caught my attention anyway.

Although, I nearly walked right past them because I was too busy checking out this beauty. Classic car owners love to cruise around these streets, especially on Sundays. (There’s also an annual show in April.)

This guy gets bonus points in my book for having a dashboard hula girl!

Tiki Night at the Egyptian Theatre: Bird of Paradise

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Events and tagged with , , , , ,

Even with the dreaded “Carmageddon” happening over the weekend, there was no way I was going to miss the annual Tiki Night at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. We were prepared to take the subway (free that weekend!), but the gridlock warning turned out to be a bust so we did the typical Angeleno thing and drove instead.

Ukulele Dave kicked things off with some lovely Hawaiian melodies and there were tempting things to buy from tiki vendors like Eric October.

King Kukulele and the Friki Tikis even had a special song written for Carmageddon, to the tune of “Viva Las Vegas.” Their little band of hecklers really adds to the show, kind of like Martin and Lewis.

This year’s format was different than previous events. The catered picnic-style dinner was out and guests were encouraged to order from Maui and Sons, a surfwear-inspired restaurant that opened in the courtyard earlier this year.

I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt that they ran out of proper glassware and don’t normally serve non-beer beverages in Dos Equis glasses.

Also new for this year was a “tiki fashion show” featuring the costumes of the Polynesian Paradise Dancers.

Richard Sherman, the composer of The Enchanted Tiki Room theme song, was supposed to be at the event but apparently there was a scheduling conflict. Instead, the show started with a tribute to Wally Boag, who provided the voice for Jose and wrote most of the script for the attraction.

He also performed as Pecos Bill in literally thousands of shows with Betty Taylor at Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe stage, and Steve Martin credits him as an early comedic inspiration. We watched part of this very entertaining clip from a 1962 episode of “The Wonderful World of Disney.”

The main event was a screening of “Bird of Paradise” from 1951, a South Seas drama filmed in Hawaii several years before the islands were even a state. Debra Paget is captivating as the Princess Kalua, although she barely says a word, mostly batting her technicolor blue eyes. (Oh, and there were some tikis in the movie, too.)