Again the stars and planets lined up and I found myself bombin' down the coast towards Southern California. After a quick stop in Ventura it was off to Orange County to meet up with my buddy Ken "Little Lost Tiki" Ruzic for a tour of his studio and some quality hangin' out time. It was a real honor to see his mesmerizing art all up close and personal and get a handful of art technique tips. I also got to meet a few of his very cool friends, do some art tradin', talk some story, drink a few snorts of irish coffee and have quite a few laughs as we watched the bizarre film Santo Sangre.
The next day after waking up, from a night filled with dreams of Ken's paintings filling my head with ancient wonder and knowledge, we headed over to Tiki Farm. That is where our good buddy Holden a.k.a makedamug was opening the farm's hidden jewel, the bar known as Magoomba, to a small gathering of folks for some pre new years celebratin'. Mr and Mrs Boo showed up some ono grinds and Holden had a watercooler filled with tasty Mai-tai's to help wash it all down. We were also given the privledge to see the new mugs designed by Ken Ruzic and a few of the other new mugs that the farm will be rolling out in 2007. Holden's bar Magoomba was amazing and contained within one of the most awe-inspiring mug collections I have ever seen. (what else would you expect from the man who has turned mug manufacturing into an art form and has been the sponsor of some of the biggest names in the Tiki Art scene.) The bar was also outfitted with three salt water fish tanks built directly into the sides of the bar, a sittting booth and plenty of the decor and eye poppin' art that makes a classic tiki bar complete. As the night went on and the drinks did their intended job, the infamous Bamboo Ben and Makedamug began the ceremonial breaking of the mugs, which included more than a couple very rare and collectible ones, that just about sent a few of us into cardiac arrest. All were broken in good fun as the mugs busted were later revealed to be seconds that were headin' for the trash anyways. Shortly before I was getting ready to head up to Encinitas I recieved a call from my friends, whom I was suppose to meet up with that later that same night, and found out that they were unable to meet me so I was in need of a place to crash until morning. Holden being the gregarious dude and great guy that he be offered me some floor space in Magoomba, where again I was lulled to sleep and looked over by the creative gods of tiki.
The next mornin' I shook the tiki dreams from my head, put the truck in gear and jammed down the coast a few more miles to Encinitas to meet up with my good freinds Sean, Erica and Forrest and drop off a painting that they had picked up from me. The next few days were spent catching some sweet waves at Cardiff which is a few short blocks from their new home. Eri was takin' it easy on the beach because she is carryin' lil dogg in her belly. We all spent new years eve hangin' out with a few friends at their Tiki pad, however we were all so faded from the past days of surfin' that we split early and were all a sleep before the clock hit midnight. New year's day was spent surfin' and enjoying the warm San Diego weather. The next day I wished my freinds well and headed back up north. I stopped at Ventura for a few days to help my Mom out with some stuff and will put the rest of the miles to Santa Cruz behind me in the morning after one more stop in Santa Barbara to visit my ol buddy Scrams and glean some knowledgies from our freind Ellen who is visting from Kauai. So far I had an awesome trip and it was super cool to hang out with so many good freinds before and after the passing of 2006.
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