The events started out at the Bali Hai for the opener and meet and mingle. Not pictured is the fantastic band that kicked off the night Ixtahuele (I believe it's pronounced Zi-ta-who-lee).
The theme that year was "Beat Tiki". Dig that crazy scene!
This year Dave and I attending two symposiums as well as the Charles Phoenix Slideshow presentation on Sunday. Below is one of my favorite San Diego bands "Creepxotica" providing the backgound music for the Yma Sumac symposium hosted by the charming and hilarious El Vez. He even used me as a prop (displaying I was a strong woman by sitting on my lap) at one point which truly tickled me especially since he was describing Yma Sumac at that very moment. Rachel DeShon sang along with Creepxotica between El Vez's remarks and historical notations about the songbird diva. She did an amazing job! If I remember correctly the songs she sang were "Bo Mambo", "Goomba Bomba" and "Gopher Mambo". My memory is a bit fuzzy because I was enjoying my complimentary cocktail, a sneaky tiki, which was provided by Tiki Amy of Bar Pink.
We hung out poolside to watch the fashion show by Pin Up Girl Clothing. I ran in to my very beautiful friend Patricia. We did our best to visit with all of our friends that attended as this was sort of like our big goodbye before we moved. We are so excited to be back in San Diego in a few weeks for this year's gathering.
Me and my gal Vanessa relaxing poolside waiting for the Friday night show to begin.
The view of down below from our friend's room.
Ixtahuele once again amazed the crowd with their exotic melodies. I overheard someone say "this is the closest to you can get to live exotica music sounding just as it did back in the day".
Marina Medusirena the Fire Eating Mermaid joined them for a mesmerizing fire dance. I love seeing her perform!
Love me some go-go dancing from the lovely Devilettes! Seeing them perform on stage reminds me of the thrill I had when I was younger and performed with my dance class. I wish I lived closer to San Francisco, which is where the dance troop hails from, as I would have most definitely tried out for them when they had open auditions a few months back. Congratulations to the newest Devilettes!!
Saturday we started the day with some shopping. I was quick to spot my friend Chris' fantastic hats from his store "Put a Lid on It" which where sold at the My Baby Jo booth.
Next we met up with friends Angie, Natalie, and Daren in the car show area.
Dave and I were so excited to have our 1962 Cadillac DeVille be a part of the car show.
Dave wore the cabana set I surprised him with as a gift on our wedding day. I came across it on eBay for a very good price just a week before the wedding in my usual vintage purchasing luck.
Up next, we attended the "American Disney Animator with Roland "Rolly" Fargo Crump" symposium. I was especially excited to attend this symposium as Mr. Rolly Crump is most famous as being one of the very first imagineers with the Disney Company and was the man behind many of the concepts and visuals that you see at the Enchanted Tiki Room, It's a Small World and has a few pieces from his "Museum of the Weird" are in the Haunted Mansion.
His conversation about his artwork also included a slideshow which featured his "Beatnik" artwork which he created in the 1950s and 1960s. It was an incredible symposium and I'm glad I got to hear the history of his work from the Rolly himself. I had actually sat at a table next to Rolly and his co-host Jeff Heimbuch earlier that day for breakfast and they were delighted to see I was wearing my Enchanted Tiki Room print dress. I just wish I hadn't been too shy to ask for a photo with him.
My favorite quote of his from the symposium was when he said "I went from painting nudes to working on It's a Small World"!
I hope to do a more in-depth blog about Rolly Crump and Jeff Heimbuch's collaborations such as their book "It's Kind of a Cute Story" which is a tribute to the life and story of Rolly Crump's successes with Disney. Once I get my hands on this book and have read it I will have more to share.
After the symposium we hung out with our friends Daren and Ken in their room which had a fantastic view of the pool and the outside tiki markeplace. By this point of the day the pool was packed!
After spending an hour relaxing we went back downstairs to eat some dinner at the Hunter Steakhouse with Ken and Daren. Unfortunately we found out that while we were gone we missed seeing Charles Phoenix doing his interviews near the car show which included him wanting to speak to us about our car. Woops! After dinner we headed back to the Hanalei. We have made it a tradition to sit poolside during the night shows. We still get somewhat of a view and can hear everything that is going on stage. Here I am with my dear friend Angie. For many of my friends this would be our last time seeing them before we moved to Oregon.
From left to right, Natalie, Vanessa, me, and Alisha chillin' pooslide.
Daren, Dave and Jonny clowning around.
After catching up with friends and catching up on some more drinks we headed to the room parties! We actually only ended up going into Tiki Hell as the rest of the rooms were very packed by this point. We learned recently that Tiki Hell will not be hosting a room party this year. We are bummed as this has become a favorite in our past Tiki Oasis'.
Sunday morning we got up and got to the Hanalei early to check out the sales at the tiki marketplace as well as check out the Tiki Oasis art show. I am in love with this piece done by AtomicKitty aka Susannah Mosher which has inspirations from Margaret Keane crossed with the film "Bell, Book, Candle" staring Kim Novak and Jimmy Stewart. Simply fantastic! The Doug Horne "Beat Chick" painting below it was another favorite. There were so many fantastic pieces on display last year. I can't wait to see what the artists present for this year's theme "Yesterday's Future, Today".
After the art show we waited in line to watch the Charles Phoenix Slideshow which was amazing! This was now my third time seeing him live and he puts on a show that is not to be missed. You can get a list of his future shows from his website here.
We spent the last part of the day hanging poolside with old and new friends listening to one of my favorite bands Jason Lee and the R.I.P. Tides. I also met the very lovely Kiley of the blog Running with a Chance of Costumes.
Just two more weeks and counting until Tiki Oasis 2015!! Will you be attending as well? Please, if you see me don't be too shy to say hello!
Till' Next Time,
Suz
For more information about Tiki Oasis check out their website here.
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