SEMA & SoCal & The Golden Steer

Tuesday, November 1:
   Woke up early & headed for SEMA at the convention center. Stopped in to see my suppliers & got a couple leads on some chrome stuff & a cool line of Rat Fink-abilia. Not a whole lot of traditional Rod & Kustom stuff happening. I think I'll limit SEMA to one day from now on. I did take a few pictures, though.

This is my kinda grocery getter!

   Left the show early enough to go visit my buddy, Lenny, over at the SoCal Speed Shop here in Vegas. Lenny & his dad are true traditional Rod & Kustom guys & it's always cool to visit with them & see what they've been up to. A couple roadster bodies arrived when we were there & Dave & I helped the guys unload them. As a thanks, for our help, Lenny gave us a coupla SoCal t-shirts. Whatta guy! SoCal is another must-see for any Hot Rod/Kustom/Rockabilly/Vintage guy or gal visiting Sin City.

   Next, it was back to The Orleans to snazz myself up a bit for dinner at The Golden Steer. The Golden Steer is a Rat Pack era steakhouse that has remained virtually untouched since the days when Frank, Dino, Sammy, et al, hung out there. The prices aren't cheap, but the food is excellent & the place just drips classic Vegas cool. There aren't many of these places left, so I encourage you to enjoy & support them each & every time you visit Vegas.

Tiki In Vegas!

Monday, October 31:
   Slept in a bit then gorged ourselves on the breakfast buffet, in The Orleans. After breakfast, it was off for some Tiki hunting at the Charleston Antique mall. I passed on a bunch of small stuff in favor of this amazing, 3-Tiki, Scorpion bowl from the Aku Aku at the long, lost Stardust Hotel. The bowl is in mint condition with the OMC label perfect & intact, on the bottom.

After all that Tiki hunting, I needed a nap, so it was back to the hotel for a little shut-eye. Refreshed from my little respite, it was off to Frankie's Tiki Room for some video poker & exotic cocktails. I had a Lava Letch & took the new mug home with me. If you've never been to Frankie's, it's a must see when visiting Sin City. They have many exotic cocktails that come in their own signature Tiki mugs & the decor is killer, having been put together by Bamboo Ben with carvings & art from everyone who's anyone, in the Tiki community.

After Frankie's, we headed over to Bambino's Pizza for some chow. Bambino's is a Boston-style pizzeria, operated by a couple of East Coast transplants. I walked in the door & immediately zeroed in on a large picture of the 1969-1970 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup winning team. The owner, being from Boston, was quite impressed that I could name all but 2 of the players, in the photo. Definitely the best pizza I've had in Vegas. After dinner, we ventured over to the Red Rock Casino for a look around. While not vintage, much of the decor & architecture had a mid-century vibe about it. This place is pretty swanky & definitely one of Vegas' best kept secrets. After that, it was back to The Orleans to crash, for the night.

SoCal & Vegas Flashback

Are you freakin' kidding me!?!? 8" of effing snow on October 30!?!? The night before the last Amherst Flea Market of the year, October 29,  we were greeted with 8" of heavy, wet crap, downed branches & tress, & massive power outages. To say this felt like Deja Vu is an understatement. Needless to say, Amherst was cancelled, which cost me a lot of money & now I had to worry about leaving my family with no power, as I was scheduled to fly to Vegas at 7:00. Fortunately, we're on the same grid as the police station, so we got our power back quickly. I finished packing & headed out to meet my buddy, Dave, at Logan Airport. Boston didn't get the snow, so our flight was on time. We had dinner at Johnny Rocket's & boarded the plane for Vegas. We arrived in Vegas, just after 11:00 & grabbed a midnight snack at Del Taco, (Bad idea!), headed for the Orleans & hit the sack. If you've never stayed at The Orleans, you're missing one of Vegas' best kept secrets. It's off the strip, but a great hotel at a great value. The Orleans has many restaurants & bars, a movie theater, live entertainment, a bowling alley & an arena that is home to the Las Vegas Wranglers minor league hockey team. It also, now host to the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly weekend. I always rent a car, so being off the strip is no big deal to me.

Car Club Christmas Party

I know, I know, this blog is a chronological mess. Well, it's going to continue to be 'til I get caught up. I promise to be on real time by the end of the summer. Now, about this post.

 Me & Karan

 Bernie & Paula

 Pete & Francine

 Mauna Kai Lounge

 Galaxy Diner

On Saturday night, December 17, I hosted our car club's First Annual Christmas party. Usually, when we get together, it's strictly us guys, (the dames just get in the way), but seeing as I was in a holiday mood, I included them in this gala event. I decorated the Galaxy Diner & Mauna Kai Lounge in vintage festiveness, re-stocked the bar & planned the food for the evening. When the night arrived we chowed on calzones from DiPetrillo's Bakery, as well as, a smorgasbord of dips, cheeses, etc. You know, the usual holiday party fare. When it came to beverages, it wasn't the usual spiked punch. No, no, not for us Tiki-Loving guys. We partook of flaming volcano Scorpion Bowls. We had a great time & I was sorry when it was time for everyone to go. this really was the highlight of my holiday season & I'm looking forward to a bigger & better 2nd Annual bash.

Thee Swank Bastards

Wednesday, June 27 2012 Headed to The Spot, in Providence, RI, to see Las Vegas Surf Band, Thee Swank Bastards. I've been hearing about these guys on Tiki Central for years & was stoked to finally get the chance to see them live. The show itself was great. The Wednesday night crowd was small, but the boys were in good form, mixing killer surf riffs with their repertoire of "blue" jokes. haha! The Spot is a very cool, "Bohemian" atmosphere bar that I would readily go back to.

Thrifting In Worcester

My buddy, in Connecticut, has had great luck finding Tiki in the Thrift Stores, down there. I however, get skunked everytime I go thrifting in Worcester. Well, the past month, I decided to look for more than just Tiki on my thrifting expeditions. I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out. First, I scored 2 great vintage shirts. This dead-stock, late 50's/early 60's Arrow & an amazing Italian Gabardine for $2.99 & $5.99.

I decided to check out the CDs, too & scored these two great additions to my music library, for two bucks each. "Peggy The Pin-Up Girl" is a great tune, I'd never heard before.

On the same day I scored the CDs, I also found these 6 Hawaiian albums for $.99 each.

And....this killer hat, that's going to be made into a lamp, for The Mauna Kai Lounge. For now, it'll keep Mr. Tiki's head warm!

Recent Tiki Finds

Here's a few of my recent Tiki scores. sorry, I haven't posted this stuff in awhile. first up is the latest Bahooka mug, featuring Rufus the carrot-eating fish. I wasn't able to attend the event as I was wallowing 3000 miles away, but my buddy, Luke, went & scored a mug for me. Designed by The Pizz & produced by Tiki Farm, this mug is a nice departure from the usual Tiki mug.



Did a swap with my buddy, Pete, at the Idol Mixtures Christmas Party for these two killer hurricane glasses. One is from Black Tahiti in Washington, D.C. & the other is from the Hukilau Lounge in Key West, Florida. I have seen very little from either of these places & I have never seen any tiki mugs, so these hurricane glasse are welcome additions to my collection.

Coconut mug from Ming Garden's Polynesian Room in Providence, Rhode Island. This is another place I have seen very little from & this mug is in perfect condition.

Hurricane glass from Kowloon in Saugus, Mass & a HIP Originals Hula Girl

A gaggle of the "Usual Suspects"!