…and for most of that time l have been dying to share it with the world, but l knew l needed to be a fair way down the road before l did. At least at the manufacturing stage.
It all started about two years ago when l came up with the idea for the “UNHOLY RABBLE TIKI PUNKSTERS” which is basically a collective of artists, bar people, collectors, you know… the true believers. The whole concept as far as l was concerned was a reaction to the watering down of Poly-Pop and the loss of connection to what l consider the golden era.

So l wanted to do something proactive and admittedly it was a sleeper until about a year ago when l got some encouragement from several people (including Campbell from Watango Productions and Melbourne artist Lluis Fuzzhound) to get it going. There now is a FACEBOOK page so if you feel you are one of us…join up and get updates.

One of the things l encourage members to do is to create stuff under the UNHOLY RABBLE banner…all l ask is that you run the idea past us first.
So to start the ball rolling l got Lluis Fuzzhound to come up with the logo…then once that was done l felt the time was right for me to get the “UNHOLY RABBLE” tiki mug happening. So the original idea was to get it made in Asia and after much research and help from my friend, David Boyle it was decided that maybe that was not the way to go for this first mug. I decided to stop worrying about cost and get back to the original integrity of the project.

I wanted a contemporary version of a classic Mid-Century tiki mug (with a touch of Rock’n'Roll)

A  mug that you could imagine drinking an exotic cocktail out of at one of the great Tiki temples of the past or for that matter the present. Simple but classic design.

Which brings me to what’s in these photos… After Lluis (here in Melbourne) had done the original logo, l then got him to do a visualization of roughly what the mug should look like,

l got the legendary SQUID (in Seattle, Washington) to do the sculpt…lets face, it is there anyone better on the planet to do this job?

Then the sculpt was sent to my good buddy Max at TABOO ISLAND in San Diego for manufacture.

The molds have been made and mugs are just about to be poured. I haven’t made decision about glaze colors as yet. There will be more than one color available and each mug will be numbered.

So that’s basically where l am at with the mugs so far. On top of all this, l have to say the great thing about this project has been working with some of my favorite Tiki people from across the planet that l have got to know over the past 12 or so years.

Cheers CN
ps
I am also trying to work out a system so if you are in Australia or the USA postage will be about the same… we all know postage is the big killer.

It comes from my good pal, David at Oshi.

A bamboo Tiki door curtain, designed by Dave himself. They are hand painted and made in Vietnam…140 strings,  90cm wide and 200cm high (standard door frame)

The image is on both sides, with a wooden header and metal rings so it’s easy to install yourself on a couple of nails.

You can score one off Dave for AU$99.00 plus postage by emailing him at sales@oshi.com.au Overseas enquiries are also welcome.

Here is the Facebook page.

Cheers CN

PS…look out for a Careless Navigator/Oshi collaboration during 2012.

One of our favorites here at the Careless Navigator is Kahuna Kevin. Maverick Tiki cocktail creator with, (like l always say)  the passion of a mad scientist. Due to printing issues, the release  of Kevin’s second book “Kahuna Kevin’s Why is all the Rum Gone? Vol. 2″ was delayed and you may have missed it in the Christmas/ New Year frenzy. I know the first print run of Vol. 1 sold out super quick, so now is the time to grab a copy of Vol.2.

…52 more Rum Cocktails in a behind the bar spiral bound, easy to clean, full color format. Kevin has tried to address some of the issues from the first book namely the accessibility of certain Rums to us outside the USA. In Kevin’s words ” … l’m switching from originally listing ingredients…by brand names to listing by country of origin, color…and/or generic flavors”. This has really helped we who do not live in a Rum Disneyland to make substitutions and for that matter be creative.

I should also mention Kev’s book is filled with his trade mark humor and in particular the drink names…Bitter Enemy, Drunkenstien, Siren’s Melons to name a few.

Which brings me to Swizzle, long time contributor to the Careless Navigator who originally turned me on to Kahuna Kevin’s work. Swizzle also goes under the name of Robbie “Rat” Toth when he is making Tiki Mugs. So if you go to page 36 what do you find? The “Rat Basher”, Kevin’s heads up to Robbie for his support served up in one of his mugs.

Now all the Holiday madness is over it’s now a great time to get out and grab a copy of Kevin’s essential bar reference book. Available now on Amazon. Here for Vol.2 and if you haven’t got it already Here for Vol.1.

Also you can contact and buy books directly from Kevin at www.kahunakevin.com

Cheers CN

I thought it would be cool to finish this off with a contribution from Swizzle himself…

Not long after my copy of Kahuna Kevin’s ‘Where Has All The Rum Gone? Volume 2’ arrived I went out to one of my favourite bars and delivered another copy of the book to one of the bartenders that works there. Having access to a full bar we made as many drinks as we could using what ingredients were on hand, subbing where we had to.

There are still several ingredients used in the book that are just not available here in this country and the majority of the rums were substituted. Having access to a bar we were still only able to make four drinks, and in one case creme de menthe was used in place of peppermint schnapps, but what great drinks those four were. Not only did I love them but all the bartenders tried each drink and were extremely impressed. (I had only had a couple of sips of one when one of the bartenders took it upstairs to two of the other guys and came back down with an empty glass.) This bar is one of the best in the country, has won several awards and the current bartender of the year works there, so they know how to make a good cocktail, and like I said, they were all very impressed themselves.

I’ll never get to try all of the drinks in this book due to the limited availability here of some of the ingredients although there are several more I can make, I just need to purchase a few different spirits/liqueurs that the bar didn’t carry.

The cocktails we made that night were awesome and that was using substituted ingredients. If they tasted great like that I can’t even imagine how much better they would be using the ones specified by Kevin. Congratulations Kevin on a great book. I need to revisit Volume 1 now and look forward to a Volume 3.

Cheers Swizzle

About six years ago we were enjoying a Mai Tai at Chucks Cellar in Waikiki. Unknown to us we had walked into a private party where there was a really cool guy singing at the piano. This was my first introduction to the incredible talent of Jimmy Borges…since then l am always on the lookout for Jimmy’s work past and present.

One of Jimmy many fans has put this great page together with all of his appearances on Hawaii Five-0.

So enjoy this lesson in Hawaiian Cool…

Check it out

Cheers CN

l guess everyone has just about seen pics of these mugs but they have now arrived in Australia. It’s the Appleton Estate Seamus Morgan Tiki mug. Made by Tiki Farm and designed by Big Toe, this mug comes in two Colors… Black and the limited Brown. All l can say is if you run or work in a bar get in touch with your Brown Forman Rep. and get some Appleton Estate promotions happening. Because like l always say “an event with rum and tiki mugs just can’t fail”.

Thanks Linus and the gang at Brown Forman for dropping round the mugs. Also cheers to Appleton Estate in Australia for their commitment to tiki…

Great Rum in a great Mug…

Cheers CN

We have had several trips to Waikiki and on a heap of occasions have had breakfast at the Wailana Coffee House. It’s an institution. But did you know it has a Cocktail Lounge?

Like most people you are in and out of the Wailana Coffee House well before midday and on your way . Well, on this last visit it was recommended to me to check the Cocktail Lounge just inside the the door after midday. So l did.

lt is more of a locals bar but l wouldn’t call it a dive bar by any means. At some stage it must have been a Tiki Bar of sorts and though small, close to every square inch is bamboo. The Barman told me that when the no smoking laws were introduced a few years back they employed someone to come in and clean all the bamboo lining by hand. Pretty amazing if you consider it probably would have been easier to pull it all out and give the joint a coat of paint.

…and there is more good news about the Wailana Cocktail Lounge and that’s $3.75 Mai Tai all day. Yes it’s a tourist Mai Tai but as far as that goes it is decent. Most of the ingredients had Trader Vic’s logo’s on the bottles…so if you can handle a juicy sweet Mai Tai, l think you will find this is great value. l’d put it in the same category as one from La Mariana.

Below is a quick walk through infushed with some happy snaps l took inside the Wailana Cocktail Lounge.

The Wailana Cocktail Lounge is inside the Wailana Coffee House (1860 Ala Moana Blvd., at Ena Rd., Honolulu)

Cheers CN

This just in from the man himself…

‘ Hi There! l will be spinning Lounge and Exotica on Wednesday nights at Blue Beat in Double Bay. Swing by for a Martini and a chat. Also the super talented Jimmy Vargas will be crooning and various guests will be stopping by. It easy to park near the venue and Double Bay has such a cool vibe.”

Cheers Koop

So if you are in Sydney check out the poster for all the details…

…l have been in Hawaii for the past month, hangin’ out with our Tiki buddies.

l will put together some stories over the next few weeks (as l sort my photo’s, films and my brain for that matter), but to start with here’s a rough promo that l made with Phillip S. Roberts author of Waikiki Tiki Art, History and Photograph’s. He is doing Tiki Tours of Waikiki and boy does Phillip know his stuff.

It was filmed in the Harbour Pub under the Chart House on the Ala Wai Harbor in Waikiki with my little Sony minidv camera. Phillip loves Waikiki and Tiki so contact him if you are headin’ his way. His two hour Tiki tours are super cheap and you can score an autographed copy of the book.

Cheers CN

…or you own a Tiki Bar and you’ve had it with your temperamental Ukulele player … well here maybe the answer to all your problems.

The Huki Lau Automated Ukulele Juke Box created by Ken Caulkins and his company Ragtime West.

You could own this magical piece of technology for around US$13,000.00.

You have to admit it’s pretty cool.

Cheers CN

…l was into them. In particular music posters and more specifically band gig posters. From an early age l was peeling posters off walls, notice boards etc… my own personal philosophy has always been ‘ a gig poster is only truly successful if someone wants to steal it ‘. l remember years ago being at a party and finding one of the posters we designed stuck on the back of the toilet door…proud moment.

What’s this all leading to?
Well… l’ve wanted to do something on the CN site regarding the work of my good buddy Lluis Fuzzhound for a while and he is the master of the classic gig poster amongst other things. Make no mistake his work is varied. He is also a painter, an animator, describes himself as a cartoonist and is a musician.

He has had a heap of shows in Spain and Australia over the years. He is a Spanish/Australian who returned to OZ three years ago after working in Spain for 10 years.

The majority of his work these days seems to be connected to music in some way or another. Not only posters but CD/ record covers for clients in OZ and overseas.

If l had to bunch him in a class re his work ethic and creative integrity, l would include him with the great American Rock poster artists of the late 60′s like Rick Griffin and Stanley Mouse, and in Australia, Ian McCausland. (Ian recently rang me after checking out Lluis’ web site to tell how blown away he was with the work).

On a Tiki note, Lluis has just done the new logo for our Tiki collective the ‘UNHOLY RABBLE TIKI PUNKSTERS’. More like a gang of artists, collectors, barstaff. etc… Tiki fanatics committed to stopping the watering down of Tiki in OZ. More on that next year, when we have worked out membership and meetings….so far there is a Facebook page you can join. It’s not just for Aussies, but for true believers where ever you are.

You can check out some of Lluis Fuzzhounds work below and on his web site www.lluisfuzzhound.com

Also here’s a great bit of Midnight Woolf (Lluis’ band) in action….l dig this.

Cheers CN