Well I've been remiss in my posting it seems. Mr. Buttons and I have been busy. That, ...and I've been lazy to write something. Recently I went to Florida where I was able to visit the great temple of tiki, the Mai Kai. It was my first time there and quite a treat. The decor is top notch, the drinks are awesome, the food is good (but overpriced) and the show was okay. Next time I go, I think I'll just hang out in the Molokaibar. I have a new favorite tiki drink, the Mutiny. Since the recipe is secret, I'll have to try my hand at Jeff Berry's tribute to the Mutiny, the Krakatoa.
All in all, I had a great time there, but I shudder to think how much I spent. At least I came home with a cool tiki mug.
left Yours truly, Tiki Momo (in my human form) in the gardens at the Mai Kai. If you visit, be sure to see the gardens in back.
Last weekend I was in Portland for Tiki Kon 2016. This was my fifth consecutive year and it has been great to see it continue to grow. I even met a couple from here in Missouri. I love to meet and spend time with the tiki crowd, they are good people. My goal is to make it down to Tiki Oasis next year. That is still the biggest Tiki culture gathering that I know of.
So, this got me to thinking; why is there still such a following? As I looked around Tiki Kon there were few if any millennials. The crowd was mostly Gen X or Boomers. Is this because we are still living the "dream of the 90s"? There was the big lounge and exotica music revival in the mid-nineties and that is how most of us became interested in tiki I'm sure. I know that was the case for me. Yet 20 years later here we all still are, when many other fads have fallen by the wayside. Why is that? I think the retro revival really tapped into something in parts of my generation. Something that we are missing today. A simpler life? A more civil society? Pure escapism? Maybe all of that and more- or maybe it's just the self mocking kitsch factor, but I doubt you would still have so many that are still involved in the subculture if that was all it was. Speaking only for myself, the appeal is an idealized mid-century society where people are polite and sincere. A quieter world. A world were there is still romance and mystery. The exact opposite of the times we find ourselves in now, filled with hate, fear and vulgarity.
That may be why we are having another Polynesian pop revival now. I have read about several new 'real' tiki bars opening within just the last year or so. Maybe some of the younger generation are getting fed up with the increasingly loud and violent world of today and are looking for a quiet paradise amid the maelstrom. I say, "Aloha and welcome my young friends." We have cool, dark lounges with soft music and delicious drinks. What's not to love?
Friday, July 1, 2016
To celebrate Canada Day
The Mask (1961)
Oh Canada!
Billed as Canada’s first horror film, ‘The Mask’ (or
‘Eyes of Hell’ as it was called in the US release) is NOT the dumb Jim
Carey vehicle from the 90′s. This is a creepy tale of madness driven by
an ancient, evil mask.
The story is about a psychiatrist,
Dr. Allen Barnes
who receives in the mail an ancient Aztec?(they never really say) mask
from a patient of his that has committed suicide. The former patient
was an archeologist who found the mask and blamed it as the cause of his
madness after he wore it.
The good Dr. Barnes is a sensible man of
science and reason and doesn’t believe in superstition. To prove to
himself that the mask has no powers, he puts it on and immediately
experiences bizarre, psychedelic visions.
The effect is like a drug
and he quickly becomes addicted and wants to wear the mask more and
more. Each time the line between reality and the visions of the mask get
more blurry. They also become increasingly violent and at one point
Barnes states;
“I must experience the greatest act of the human mind, to take another human life”
. His young secretary becomes the object of his fatal desires. Barnes
fiancee, Pam tries to help him and he realizes he needs help and also
asks
a colleague of his, Dr Quincy
to help him as well. Unfortunately, they don’t believe in the power of
the mask and think poor Barnes is just having a breakdown. In the end
he escapes their intervention and is determined to fulfill his blood
lust when Pam decides to help the police stop him and the good doctor is
arrested. The film ends with the mask on display in a museum where a
tour group goes through. However one man remains behind the group,
gazing intently at the mask… The end?
The
film is B&W except for the psychedelic mask sequences which are
3-D. The 3-D fad of the 50′s was over by this point and it was usually
just a cheap gimmick. However, in The Mask I think it works great for a
couple of reasons. First, it’s limited use. There are only three or
maybe four of the 3-D Dream sequences. The rest of the film is normal.
Second, the 3-D sequences aren’t just random jump scares (though there
are a couple of those) they actually are part of the story and draw in
the audience in a personal way.
Once Barnes puts on the mask, the
film begins it’s journey into
the realm of the three dimensional world. During it’s theatrical release
the audience was actually given cardboard copies of the mask with built
in 3-D glasses. When Barnes puts on the mask, there is a strange
echoing voice that says, “Put the mask on. Put the mask on, now!” that
was the audiences cue to put on the 3-D mask as well.
So we as the audience experience the strange visions of the mask along
with Barnes.
The 3-D is actually done well, one of the better examples of
anaglyphic 3-D.
And, these are some of the most bizarre 3-D horror sequences
ever seen. Full of unsettling and grotesque images, and with a nightmarish
stream-of-consciousness technique and eerie as well as grating electronic soundtrack.
These scenes from The Maskare clearly inspired
by hallucinatory drug experiences, and contain such macabre, surrealistic imagery and repressed sexuality
- it’s a wonder it ever got made.
I
fist saw this film on broadcast TV in the mid 80′s where it often
played in concert with a couple of 3-D Three Stooges shorts and was
hosted
by magician Harry Blackstone jr. Who did magic tricks between commercial
breaks. I even recall there was a deal at 7-11 where you could get a
free pair of 3-D glasses if you bought a big gulp or something. This
was a lot of fun and the nostalgia may play into my love of this film,
but I feel it has earned it’s place
within the pantheon of horror films. With it’s gestures towards German
Expressionism,
experimental and avaunt guard film-making techniques, and utilizing some
disturbing studio noises, early electronic music, and
eye-catching special effects The Mask is unlike anything else from it’s
time–and perhaps since.
Most certainly worthy of a look.
It left a deep impression on me as a child and I still consider it of
of my all time favorite B-movies.
Two paws up from Tiki Momo and Mr. Buttons.
Tiki
historian Jeff "Beachbum" Berry has spent five decades obsessively
chronicling Polynesian cocktail culture. Now he's opening his own bar,
and everything is about to change. ...
By Robert Simonson
“The Monster That Challenged the World” (1957)
The US Navy vs. giant sea slugs in the California desert. (makes perfect sense, right?)
This
classic takes place in one of my favorite places
to visit, the Salton Sea in California. The hobo camp/post apocalyptic
“town” of Slab City was once a military base and that is where this
story takes place.
The name of the film is a bit misleading I
think. It really should be, “The Monsters that challenged a few people
in a very underpopulated area of southern California”. But, I suppose
that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. The movie is about an
earthquake that opens up a crack in the bottom of the Salton Sea where
some giant mollusks have been hibernating since prehistoric times. The
warm, slightly radioactive water(from recent atomic bomb tests) revives
these creatures somehow and they began to lay eggs and terrorize the
local community.
This was another in the series of giant monster
films that were popular in the 50′s. Some of them are goofy fun, some
are just bad. This one actually stands out as a fairly decent film
despite the somewhat silly premise. The story is actually quite similar
to “Jaws” in some ways and I have to wonder if Spielberg was at least
partially influenced by The Monster That Challenged the World.
Much like Police Chief Brody in Jaws, both the Sheriff and the base
commander in this film must deal with some backlash with their decision
to close down the
beaches because of the monster. It’s the middle of summer, extremely hot and peak tourist
season. People expect to go to the beach and if they can’t, they’re
going to be upset about it.
Also, the two stories unfold in similar ways. In both cases the monster
is a
massive underwater creature that we don’t see right away. It’s not
until almost halfway through the movie that
we finally see the giant mollusk for the first time. There are multiple
deaths prior, (Including one of a couple out for a night swim and the
woman getting pulled underwater by an unseen creature-all while
screaming. Much like the opening scene of Jaws) but we only gets hints
as to what is responsible for the
havoc. This film does a good job of letting the suspense build by
holding off on the
reveal.
During the last part of the movie
the creature actually gets a lot of screen time. Quite a bit more in
fact than the monsters in other movies from the time and unlike many of
the laughable, rubber suit monsters, the mollusk creature actually
looks pretty good for the time.
There are some interesting
performances in the film. The main protagonist, base commander
Twillinger
played by Tim Holt is an uptight workaholic with a cowboy drawl that
seems to fade in and out. That’s probably because Holt was primarily a
star of westerns. The scientist, Dr. Rogers (there always has to be a
scientist in these monster films) is played by
Hans Conried
best know as the voice of Captain Hook in the original Disney’s ‘Peter
Pan’. There are also some fun performances in a couple of small parts.
My two favorites are; the coroner who offers Twillinger a sandwich
which he keeps cool by storing in one of the body drawers. And the local
museum curator, Mr. Dobbs. Who is super creepy and I suspect is really a
serial killer.
I think my favorite scene is at the end. One of
the creature eggs they collected has hatched out in the lab and is
threatening Twillineger’s pseudo love interest, Gail and her daughter.
Twillinger returns to the lab and finds the monster breaking down a
closet door to get at Gail and her daughter. Since he is unarmed, the
Commander looks about for a
weapon. He turns around and looks right at a BIG FIRE AXE on the
wall. He definitely sees it; we, the audience, see it; a blind man
could see it. The obvious course of events is that the hero will grab
the axe and commence to mollusk hacking mayhem. However, when
Twillinger runs to the back of the room, he instead grabs a fire extinguisher! What? Really?
If you ever encounter a man-eating snail the size of a horse, I recommend choosing an axe over a fire extinguisher.
Just sayin. Anyway he distracts it long enough for men with guns to come in and kill it. The day is saved. The end.
All
in all an entertaining movie for the most part - if you’re into giant
bug movies from the 50′s. (which I am) Although it did get a little
slow at times and at others it stretched suspension of disbelief to new
levels. Yet, this is one I have watched several times and will watch
again. Check it out.
Hi there. I’m Tiki Momo. I am a big hairy monster (technically I’m a
cryptid, but let’s keep it informal) from Missouri. Mo-Mo is actually
short for Missouri Monster. The name took off after one of my relatives
was spotted up around Louisiana, MO in the ‘70s. We, yes there are
several of us, are like Sasquatch but we have bigger heads and only
three fingers and toes. Oh, and we are supposed to hate and kill dogs -
rubbish! We are all actually quite fond of dogs, in fact I have a pet
corgi named Mr. Buttons.
Missouri is a fine place for the most part, but I have developed a love of all things Tiki .
During the Lounge music/Exotica revival of the mid nineties, I
discovered a love of retro cool, mid-century modern and Polynesian pop.
While it was once popular all across the US, it sadly now has only a
last few bastions- mostly in California and the west coast. I love to
travel to the west coast when I can. I have some Sasquatch friends near
Portland, OR. and love the tiki scene up there. I would love to move
out west, but I have family and friends here in MO. Unfortunately it’s
not very tiki friendly around here. What’s a monster to do? In the
mean time I get by making rum drinks in my home bar I call, The Enchanted Cove.
The
other great love of my life is B movies. Ever since I was a cub and
stayed up late to watch spooky movies, I’ve been fascinated by the
genre. Maybe the fact that I’m considered to be a monster myself helps
me identify. An early fan of Elvira and other horror hosts like
Svengoolie, I soon developed a love of camp and “so bad it’s good”
films. Then came MST3K and my fate was sealed. So, when I’m not
sipping on a rum drink listening to Martin Denny Records, I’ll be
watching a good B-movie. I also write a B-Movie review with the help of my corgi, Mr. Buttons. Which you can read here or over at my Tumblr page.
Anyway that’s my story and what Monsters and Mai Tai’s will be about, so stay tuned , and stay weird.
Well I've been remiss in my posting it seems. 
