January 4, 2009

Astro Aku Aku

GEDC1200.jpg From Beachbum Berry's Grog Log:

"The height of the Polynesian restaurant craze dovetailed with the advent of the Space Age, and almost every tiki bar named at least one drink in honor of the Final Frontier...This is our humble addition to the Astro-Aku convergence..."

1 1/2 oz. Fresh lime juice
1 oz. Papaya nectar
1/2 oz. Apricot nectar
3/4 oz. Sugar syrup
1/2 oz. Falernum (Fee Bros.)
Dash of Angostura bitters
1 oz. Lemon Hart 151 Demerara rum
1 1/2 oz. Gold Puerto Rican rum (I used Appleton's Gold)

Blend with 1/2 cup of crushed ice. Pour into Easter Island mug or large snifter filled with ice cubes.

Mini-Golf Moai On the Move

9116x4958f544.jpg A couple of readers might remember this ancient post I made about Tuscon's Magic Carpet miniature-golf course, with it's animated pooping monkey and 25-ton concrete Easter Island head with an observation deck on top. The course closed a year ago, and to their everlasting credit, the fine citizens of Tuscon chipped in to rescue the Moai rather than let it succumb to the developers' bulldozers. Roadside America and Tiki Central were there to document the Moai's move to its new habitat outside a nightclub called The Hut, where hopefully, it will be rediscovered someday in the far-flung future by archaeologists who will wonder how the natives managed to move it from it's original location, using only their primitive technology.

[Link: New Home for Tuscon Tiki Head]
[Link: Giant Tiki in Tuscon Moving Next Week]

January 1, 2009

Psychotronic Title Cards

Happy New Year, Goof readers!

For my first post of 2009, I decided to unveil a gallery of screencaps featuring the title cards from incredibly strange films like the 3 shown below. I started saving them a while back, and I'm up to 100 or so. I'll be adding more as time goes on, so be sure to come back and visit occasionally to see what's new. Enjoy!

Monster_Campus.jpg vlcsnap-78949.jpg vlcsnap-275195.jpg [Link: Psychotronic Titles Gallery]

December 27, 2008

His Hair Was Perfect

TV_Werewolf.jpg [Link: The Illustrations of Chet Phillips]

December 23, 2008

I Want a Hot-buttered Zombie For Christmas

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Popocatépetl's Hot-buttered Coffee Grog
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Hot Zombie
Baby, it's cold outside, and nothing says "Wintertime" to me quite like a hot-rum toddy or coffee grog served up in a ceramic skull. Here are two fine examples for your dipsomaniacal delectation.

I whipped up the coffee grog using the basic recipe for the Volcano House Hot-buttered Rum drink in Beachbum Berry's Grog Log, but I subbed Cruzan Blackstrap rum for the Myer's Dark called for in the recipe, and added 3/4 oz. of Patrón XO Café (a surprisingly delicious coffee-flavored tequila). I dubbed the resulting beverage the "Popocatépetl", after a 17,000-foot volcano in Mexico.

The Hot Zombie recipe is from Sippin' Safari. It contains lime and pineapple juice, passionfruit syrup, gold Jamaican rum, brown sugar, hot water, a pat of butter, and a cinnamon stick. Delicious, easy to make, and even though it's served hot, it still tastes much like the Speviak Zombie, which is also in Sippin' Safari.

December 22, 2008

Shakespeare "Howls"

SH_Cover.jpg I've found some mighty odd cocktail ephemera in my many years of puttering around antique stores and thrift sales, but this box of 50 cocktail napkins, juxtaposing quotations from Shakespeare with mildly-risqué cartoons of dames and drunkards, really takes the martini olive. Seldom have the words of the immortal Bard been used to less salubrious effect.

I've scanned the best ones, and uploaded them to a gallery for your viewing pleasure.

Bottoms up!

[Link: Shakespeare Howls Cocktail Napkins]

December 21, 2008

Polynesian Dancers at the 1964 Worlds Fair

One of my readers sent me this wonderful 8mm movie of dancers at the 1964 New York Worlds Fair Polynesian Pavilion. Many Mahalos, Joyce!

[Link: Polynesian Dancers at the 1964 Worlds Fair]

December 20, 2008

Old Ku, New Menu

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Click images to embiggen

While poking around in a local antique store this morning, I found a fantastic Hawaiian Ku carving. It stands about 18-inches tall, and is carved from Monkeypod wood. There's no artist signature, and the hole in the bottom suggests that it was turned on a lathe, but that's all I know about it. Like most Hawaiian art, it probably was made for the tourist trade. Still, a nice find.

In other news, I received a most pleasant surprise in the mail the other day. Kevin, the head bartender at the Tiki Bar and Lounge in Melbourne, Australia, sent me a copy of their new menu, beautifully illustrated in classic mid-century Polynesian Pop style by local artist, Fiona Palmer. The drinks sound great. I'm particularly intrigued by the "Get Smart"-inspired Cone of Silence, which features a shaved-ice cone.

As they were closed for remodeling, I unfortunately missed out on the Tiki Bar when I was in Melbourne last January. However, I'm (very tentatively) scheduled to go there again this March, and Kevin assures me they'll be open for all of my tropical refreshment needs this time. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

December 14, 2008

Cocktails of the Great Recession

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Chief Lapu-Lapu

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Dr. Wong with Homemade Grenadine

It's been a cold, wet, and miserable weekend 'round these parts, an appropriate ending for a really crappy week at work that ushered in our umpteenth layoff, and a promise of future pay-cuts for those of us who remain. I feel lucky to still be employed, but my job just keeps getting less and less enjoyable. On the bright side, I just consolidated all of our mortgage debt, and refinanced at a ridiculously low rate, so any potential salary reductions hopefully won't have much of a deleterious effect on our financial status.

Needless to say, I've been too busy digesting these delicious sh*t sandwiches to blog much, but I have managed to escape downstairs to the Hai'deaway for a couple of exotic libations recently, so I'll tell you about them.

The Chief Lapu-Lapu is named after the Filipino Chieftain who whacked the famous world-circumnavigating Portuguese sailor, Ferdinand Magellan, during a battle in 1521. I drank my first one at the Royal Hawaiian Restaurant in Laguna Beach a couple of years back. The restaurant is still around, and they continue to serve this fine potable, although a change of ownership and a poorly-conceived remodel have stripped it of much of its vintage charm.

Like its namesake, this drink packs quite a wallop, and thanks to my use of homemade sweet and sour mix, along with some good-quality Passionfruit-pulp syrup, it was far tastier than the one I had in Laguna.

3 oz. Sweet and sour mix (homemade: 1 part lime juice, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part sugar syrup)
3 oz. Fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 oz. Passionfruit syrup (Finest Call)
1 1/2 oz. Dark Rum (Cruzan Blackstrap)
1 1/2 oz. Light Rum (Appleton Gold)

Shake with ice cubes and pour into large snifter filled with more ice cubes.

I made some Grenadine syrup from fresh pomegranates a while back, and I've been itching to try it out, so I whipped up a Dr. Wong last night, it's a variation on the Dr. Funk cocktail I blogged about a while back. Wong and Funk clearly graduated from the same med school, but Dr. Wong advises his patients to cut back on the rum, and take a healthy dose of Passionfruit juice before bedtime. This drink was served at the old Luau of Beverly Hills. A new 90210 Luau just opened up in the past month or so, and although they've "updated" the decor with the typical pan-Asian crap you find all over LA these days, they've kept much of the old Luau's original drink menu intact. However, I'm not sure if Dr. Wong has been resurrected along with them.

1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Tonga Mix (4 parts grenadine, 1 part Passionfruit juice)
1 Tsp. Pernod or Absinthe
1 oz. White Rum (I used Rhum Agricole Blanc)

Blend at high speed for 5 seconds with 3 oz. of crushed ice. Pour into a pilsner glass.

December 6, 2008

So Long, Uncle Forry

ACKERMONSTER.JPG fmof018.jpg Sad news. Horror and Science Fiction's number one fan, Forrest J. Ackerman, died last night at the age of 92. His tireless energy and enthusiasm for all things Psychotronic will be sorely missed.

The Ackermonster, as he was fond of being called, was probably best known as the editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, a magazine that made a big impression on many a squishy young brain back in the day (including mine). The cover illustrations were particularly noteworthy. You can view them all here.

Rot In Peace. Mr. Ackerman.

December 2, 2008

Trader Vic's Eastern Sour

GEDC0980.jpg From Trader Vic's Tiki Party:

Juice of 1/2 Lemon
Juice of 1/2 Orange
1/4 oz. Orgeat Syrup
1/4 oz. Demerara Cane Sugar Syrup
2 oz. Bourbon or Rye Whisky (I used 1 oz. Sazerac Rye and 1 oz. of Knob Creek Bourbon to cut down on the sweetness of the bourbon a bit).

Shake with 1 1/2 cups of crushed ice and pour into a double old-fashioned glass. Garnish with mint and a fruit spear.

I used a specialty mug from a Thai restaurant, and garnished with a skewered orange, lime, and lemon shell. A crouton soaked with lemon extract provided the flame.

November 29, 2008

Ancient Mariner in a Don Ho Glass

GEDC0966.jpg I got an early Christmas present today: this excellent Don Ho double old-fashioned glass from the Polynesian Palace nightclub on Waikiki in Hawaii. Actually, it wasn't exactly a present, I traded one of my duplicate mugs to a member of the Exotic Cocktails and Tiki Mugs Flickr pool for it.

The cocktail is the Ancient Mariner, from Beachbum Berry's Grog Log. This was the first time I've made it, and I think it's destined to become one of my faves. The hint of Allspice gives it an almost seasonal flair, perfect for these cold, late-Fall evenings.

3/4 oz. Fresh-squeezed Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Grapefruit Juice
1/4 oz. Allspice Liqueur (Berry Hill)
1 oz. Dark Jamaican Rum (Myer's)
1 oz. Demerara Rum (El Dorado 5-year)

Shake with crushed ice and pour into double old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with lime wedge and mint.

November 26, 2008

Tiki Time at Hot Sam's

While the rest of the male population of Wisconsin is out stalking the forests for venison this week, I decided to forgo the ritual slaughter and make a pilgrimage to Hot Sam's Antiques in Lakeville, Minnesota. Hot Sam's is a 5-acre roadside paradise of strange and useless items, or according to 80-year old owner, Gladys Hood, "Everything from the tasteless to the priceless." I'm still kicking myself for forgetting my camera, but you can get a taste of the wonders I gazed upon there by checking out Max Sparber's Flickr set. Sam's is truly a wonderland of abandoned clown vehicles, circus wagons, railroad cars, and other weird folk-art objects. Well worth the 200-mile round trip from my home.

I chatted with Gladys for a while, and found her a most gracious and funny host. Afterwards, I went foraging through the piles of cultural detritus that littered every nook and cranny of her establishment. When I finally surfaced for air, I hauled away 3 fine Exotica LPs and a nicely carved wooden Tiki, inscribed faintly with the name, "Lorne G." on the bottom. I'm having fun imagining that it was carved by legendary actor, Lorne Greene, who perhaps whittled it in his trailer during breaks on the set of "Bonanza" or "Battlestar Galactica".

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Wooden Tiki carved by "Lorne G."

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From those purveyors of fine Exotica music, Montgomery Ward

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Great photo from the inner-sleeve of the "Ports of Paradise" LP
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Alfred Apaka, Hawaiian Village Nights LP

November 22, 2008

For Mr. Kane

A screencap from the delightful British sci-fi/horror film, X the Unknown, showing Will Kane's favorite legendary British actor/entertainer, Anthony Newley, about to be eaten by a radioactive Scottish mud monster.

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Previous 10 entries...

Le Junque Exotic Nov 22, 2008
...In A Rich West Country Sauce Nov 21, 2008
The Life Exotic Nov 20, 2008
Random Psychotronica Nov 19, 2008
Jim's Special Nov 18, 2008
The Natives Are Restless Nov 14, 2008
Floatin' Nov 10, 2008
I'll Have a Pad Thai Dog to Go Nov 6, 2008
The Dictionary of Hammer Horror Nov 6, 2008
RIP: Yma Sumac Nov 2, 2008
Hula Girls and Tiki Gods: Part Deux Oct 30, 2008
All the News That's Fit to Screencap Oct 27, 2008
MST3K: Manhattan Oct 15, 2008
Doom, Despair, and Agony on Me Oct 14, 2008