Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 2

Friday, August 10, 2018

After the Crummy Scoundrel I ordered the Hawaiian Surf pizza and for my second tiki cocktail I went with the Evil Headhunter which the drink menu describes as follows, "Lured into the jungle by wafts of dark rum, pineapple, fresh line, almonds, and mysterious drums, you trip head first into a hole. You know what happens next.  Circa 1959." 

Birthday Weekend - Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge Part 1

Friday, August 10, 2018

As part of my birthday weekend I took myself to lunch at Psycho Suzi's. I started out with one of my favorite drinks there, the Crummy Scoundrel. The drink menu describes it as follows, "An absurd blend of amusing flavors and pirate-like fun... but with no pirates. Blackberry, hibiscus, banana, fresh lime. Circa 1972." The drink also has something carbonated in it which makes it especially refreshing.

I heard some cool surf music playing and when I Shazamed it it turned out to be an awesome surf medley titled, what else, Surf Medley by Junior Brown. Of course I downloaded it and added it to my surf playlist on iTunes. 

Birthday Weekend - Pagan Festival by Dominic Frontiere and His Orchestra

My birthday weekend has begun. The first present to myself is the album Pagan Festival by Dominic Frontiere and His Orchestra. Over the last few years my interest in Exotica and other music associated with tiki culture has grown.

Hawaii

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Dale and I stopped by a Colorado Barnes & Noble today where I picked up an Insights Guide to Hawaii. The cashier asked if I am planning a trip to Hawaii soon. I told her no, not soon but that it is on my list for the near future. Actually Dale and I were in Hawaii back in 2001 for my brother Pete's wedding to my sister-in-law, Stephanie. I've always wanted to go back.

Photo Op

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Still in Colorado. Dale is such a good sport. When we stopped by a local grocery store for some vittles, I found a photo op promotion for Hawaiian foods. Dale combined a smile with an eye roll when I asked him to take my picture but he agreed. What a guy!

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Friday, August 3, 2018

Dale, Brenda, and I went to Tropix Hawaiian BBQ for lunch. We all started with the egg drop soup and spring rolls.

Brenda had a small plate of the crispy shrimp. Dale had the white fish, and I had shrimp pad thai.

All of it was quite tasty. After we ate I ordered a pineapple coconut smoothie to go. Yum.

I'm not sure what exactly constitutes Hawaiian cuisine although I found a bit of information on Wikipedia. My understanding is that in the pre-contact period of ancient Hawaii (300 AD - 1778 AD) the inhabitants of the islands ate plants and animals brought by the Polynesian voyagers. "After first contact in 1778 European and American cuisine arrived."

Immigrant groups from China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico arrived on the Islands between 1850 and 1930 to work the sugarcane and pineapple plantations. They introduced their own cuisines which influenced the area. 

Spam has been popular on the Islands for decades and today I learned why. It seems fishing was prohibited around the Islands during WWII and Spam became popular to natives as a source of protein. It was brought to the Islands by American servicemen as part of their rations. 

Spam musubi is a slice of fried Spam on rice and wrapped in a strip of nori (edible seaweed). It was on the menu at Tropix. I may have to try it next time. But maybe not. I'm not sure how I feel about Spam.

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Tropix Hawaiian BBQ

Searching for Tiki-ness In Colorado

Friday, August 3, 2018

Dale and I are visiting his parents in Colorado. We took a walk down by the Colorado River which has a very nice biking and walking path alongside it. After walking for about 20 minutes we came upon an small amphitheater. There is a sculpture near it that loos to be of a mask made out of car parts. It looks like it could be a Polynesian or African mask. I rather like it and remember it from last year.

My attempt at drawing the mask.