A great post by my friend Tiki Tom-Tom of Polynesiacs!
An hour into our conversation, Andy grinned and said, “I love to tell stories.” Andy is talented at storytelling. He has cultivated the lost art of …
A panda and I talk story.
It’s been an interesting start to the new year. What began as another instance of Owning Tiki has led me down a rabbit hole that includes a bunch of seemingly disparate elements. They all gravitated around me in different phases of my personality. I will try to wrap them together neatly with a bow. Let’s start at the beginning.
Carnelian Stone. Last December, my buddy Tony Deutsch texted me. From New Zealand. As often happens, a friend thought of me when he was in the midst of Tiki things. Tony was in the Māori Village in Rotorua and reached out to me to see if I wanted anything. I told him I would be happy with anything that was created by a native Māori craftsman, and to surprise me. When Tony returned home, we met for breakfast, and he presented me this beautiful pendant made from local Carnelian stone. I love it! I wear it every day, and it led me to research this amazing stone. Mahalo, Tony!
Sacral Chakra. Among other things, like my zodiac sign of Cancer and my Tiki Lounge color combo of brown and orange, Carnelian stone also represents and fortifies three chakras, including the Sacral Chakra. I didn’t know much about Hindu teachings or chakras, so I decided to read up about them. The excerpt above (copied from the full article linked to here) pretty much sums up how this all relates to me personally. My lifelong obsession with the moon. My love of the color orange. My pursuit of creativity, pleasure, sexuality, and joy. It all seems to stem from my Sacral Chakra. Who knew?
The Moon. I’ve written a lot lately about La Luna. You can check out a couple of my blog posts here and here. When I learned that the Sacral Chakra is symbolized by the crescent moon and portrayed as a vibrant orange color, I was inspired to find a picture of an orange crescent moon. Thanks to the internet, this didn’t take long! This picture, matted with the Sanskrit name for the Sacral Chakra along with its meaning, now adorns the wall behind the bar in my Tiki Lounge. I always find room here for more art! Svadhisthana: where your being is established.
The Color Orange. Speaking of my Tiki Lounge, I find it interesting now that when I first created this space, I decided to paint the walls brown (Mocha Java) with accents in orange (La Fonda Copper). Serendipity? Although Tiki is adjacent to the Mid-Century Modern era, these colors are definitely more 1970s. I wanted a warmth more befitting of a tropical paradise, with the brown reminiscent of coffee and chocolate, while the orange represents the sun (and now a crescent moon). And, apparently, the orange was predestined. It has become my favorite color over the past 15 years, and has effected many of my choices lately.
A New Car. Which brings me to my latest purchase. The lease on my 2021 Toyota Camry was about to expire, and I decided to go in a different direction. You see, that car was a boring grey color, as is my wife’s car. Why is it that 90% of the vehicles you see on the road today are black, white, grey, or silver? People are so boring! Anyway, Jess had been pointing out to me the many orange Subaru Crosstreks we saw on the road. I decided to act on my love of the color orange and get a new 2024 Crosstrek. The funny thing is, while the cars we were seeing were a bright orange color, the new ones were more of a burnt orange. Sun Blaze Pearl is the official name. I like this color better. This is my new ride, inspired mostly by color!
Finally, as is my wont, I needed to name my new Crosstrek. My high school friend Ken Erikson, who now lives in Thailand, saw a picture of my car and commented that the color reminded him of a burnt orange crayon. He suggested the name Crayon. I appreciated Ken’s suggestion, but figured I needed a name a bit more human and feminine. I decided to name her Crayola. How’s that for a name! Mahalo, Ken, for your inspiration. In honor of this triumph, and all of the learning that led to it, I created a new sticker that incorporates several of the elements mentioned above. This sticker is the pretty bow I promised for this story, and is now displayed proudly on the side window of my new car. Among other places. Worlds colliding, indeed.
Aloha, Baby!
Two years ago, I published a post about artwork in my Tiki Lounge that reflects the moon. I’ve been listening to a lot of music down here lately, and I realized much of it also channels Luna. With this in mind, and in celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year today, I’m highlighting a few of the albums I own that feature the moon.
Music Out of The Moon, Les Baxter, 1947. This is the granddaddy of all Exotica records. The cheesecake cover may say themes by Harry Revel, but the music inside was mostly the brainchild of Les Baxter. I have this on vinyl, and considering it’s age, it really sounds great. If you close your eyes, you would truly believe you’re listening to this on the moon! Fun fact: Leslie Baxter (Les’s daughter) told me that this album, on cassette tape, accompanied the Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon.
Moondance, Van Morrison, 1970. Here is one of the all-time great rock & roll albums. I just got it in a Dolby Atmos spatial audio mix on Blu-ray disc. With 7.1.2 channels of surround sound, this music has never sounded better! Van Morrison sang about very down-to-earth themes, and with the title track, he waxed poetically about the magic of love and romance under the light of the moon. It’s a beautiful song, and the whole album is a classic.
The Dark Side of The Moon, Pink Floyd, 1973. Speaking of classics, this gem just celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special Dolby Atmos surround mix. I just picked this up also, despite already owning the 5.1 surround mix on SACD and the original stereo CD. When you listen to The Dark Side of The Moon, you are absolutely transported to another world. This new mix makes amazing use of spatial audio technology, breathing new life into an iconic album.
Enya, Shepherd Moons, 1991. Moving into the 1990s, here’s an album by the Irish vocalist Enya. Her brand of New Age music was very popular at the end of the last century. The music is ethereal, blending traditional Irish folk with elements of church, classical, and world music. When I listen to Enya sing, I feel like I’m hearing the voice of an angel.
Midnight Oil, Earth and Sun and Moon, 1993. I’ve always liked this band from Down Under, who enjoyed a lot of air time on the radio in the 1990s. They played straight-ahead rock & roll with a conscience. Many of their songs railed against the injustice foisted upon indigenous Australian people and the disregard for the environment. The title track’s biting lyrics say it all:
“Now there’s oil spills in the water where Columbus once sailed
And there’s history and mystery and it’s rolling away
I wish you could see this great mystery
Earth and sun and moon, human tribe, thin blue line
Earth and sun and moon will survive”
Evangeline, French Quarter Moon, 1993. This fun female quartet from New Orleans was kind of a one-hit wonder. But oh, was that one hit a doozy! Let’s Go Spend Your Money Honey is a rollicking Cajun tune that I dare you not to dance to when you hear it – especially with Mardi Gras happening this week. The rest of the album is also pretty good. The title track is a beautiful ballad with a subtle accordion playing in the background, which puts me in the mind of walking in the French Quarter under a full moon on a quiet night. If that’s possible. Ét toi!
Stolen Idols, Moonlight Offerings, 2014. With this album, I’ve come full circle with a Neo-Exotica band. This quintet from Tampa FL plays authentic Exotica music on acoustic instruments with a Latin-jazz sensibility. With a mix of original tunes and cool covers, Moonlight Offerings harkens back to the original days of Exotica pioneered by Les Baxter, Martin Denny, and Arthur Lyman. It doesn’t hurt that the album cover reminds me of the moonlit Tiki art hanging here in the Tiki Lounge. But that’s another story.
So there you have it: both art and music can reflect the moon. And my basement escape has both in spades. Whether on purpose or subconsciously, I’ve managed to lasso the moon and bring it down into the space-time continuum of A. Panda’s Tiki Lounge. This makes me happy. La Bella Luna!
It’s been a rough year for me with personal loss. It started 1 year ago today when my mother passed away, and continued over the next 12 months. I guess I’m getting to the age where we can expect to lose those near to us. Let’s start at the beginning.
Dr. Daria J. Montero-Paulson. My mother was 79 years old when she died in January 2023. That’s not very old, in the grand scheme of things, and her death was a bit of a shock. Daria lived a very full life! She was born in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II, emigrated to the United States in 1950, earned her PhD in Spanish Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, and was married and divorced 4 times (my father was her 2nd husband). She survived lung cancer and was living comfortably in an assisted living facility in Wilton CT, when she suffered a massive stroke that took her life. This was the same fate her mother suffered almost 40 years earlier. Quite a sudden ending for such a survivor. I love you, mother, and will remember you always. Вічная пам’ять!
Roxy The Pug. We lost our beloved pug Roxy back in May 2023. This wasn’t a surprise, as we had to put her down after 11 eventful years. She was a healthy and happy puppy for most of her days. However, at about 8 years old, Roxy was diagnosed with diabetes, which led to cataracts and blindness. On top of that, she also went deaf. The last 3 years were a challenge, as we had to carry her up and down the stairs, out to the backyard to go to the bathroom, and hoist her up onto the furniture. Through it all, Roxy remained a happy dog. I will always cherish our mornings together sharing coffee and cuddles on the couch. Thank you for your constant companionship, Roxy The Pug.
Robert Crouse. Bob Crouse was a colleague of mine at Constellation Energy. He passed away in September 2023, less than 2 years after he retired. Bob was known for his dry sense of humor and his folksy sayings, many of which we continue to share in his memory. We knew him as the mayor of York PA, as he knew everybody and everything about the town he called home. I would pass through York on my way to company meetings in Baltimore MD, and always called Bob from the road on I-83 to genuflect and share some words of wisdom. In fact, I last spoke with Bob in the Summer of 2023 during one of those trips. Although he was suffering from the early stages of dementia, Bob sounded quite himself during this last call. How sad, then, that he died suddenly from an infection caused by complications from pneumonia. Happy trails, Bob Crouse, until we meet again.
Dennis Tobash. Another colleague of mine, I worked with Dennis at UGI and later Compass Energy. I also played ice hockey with him, and we won 2 league championships together. What a great memory: sharing a beer out of the championship trophy! Dennis’s hockey career was cut short by a degenerative lung disease, which he had been battling since birth. When I last saw Dennis in the Summer of 2023, he was down to about 10% lung capacity, but this didn’t stop him from inviting me up to his aunt’s house in Schuylkill County PA to harvest some wild bamboo. Sadly, he passed away in January 2024. His memory will live on forever, in part in the bamboo I used to decorate A. Panda’s Tiki Lounge. Aloha, Dennis, and mahalo for your kindness.
So who will be next? I hate to think in those terms, but it’s inevitable. I’m 58 years old, and my family and friends aren’t getting any younger.
Memento Mori means “remember you must die.” Symbolically, it’s a reminder to cherish the memory of those who have passed, celebrate death as a natural part of life, and live every day like it’s your last.
Those who know me and have been to my Tiki Lounge know that I love to support Tiki artists. Little did I know that one instance of that support would lead me down a rabbit hole that included Edgar Allan Poe, a couple of business trips, a Tiki drink, and coworker friends. Worlds colliding.
Happy Buddha – Late in 2022, I attended an Executive Energy Forum in Washington DC, as part of my day job with Constellation Energy. I arrived the night before and decided to check out a bar in Adams Morgan, Tiki on 18th. There I bellied up to the bar and chatted up Corey Casado, who served me drinks and tasty Filipino finger foods. One of the drinks he made me was a Happy Buddha, a Tiki drink served in a vintage-style Buddha mug. I noticed right away that this drink featured rye whiskey instead of rum. I asked my bartender which brand of rye they used, as I wanted to try to make this drink at home. He told me they used a special blend that was made specifically for their bar, so that wouldn’t do me any good. Undeterred, I bought one of the Buddha mugs to take home and was on my merry way. I would figure something out. Mahalo, Corey!
When I got home from D.C., I consulted Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app to look for a recipe for Happy Buddha. Sure enough, he had it. The recipe called for a Hawai’ian spirit, okolehao, which is now near impossible to find. In its place, one could substitute bourbon or rye. Since Tiki on 18th chose rye, I decided to do the same, but which one? I reached out to The Bum himself, and he kindly replied with a recommendation: Old Overholt. A Pennsylvania rye now brewed in Kentucky, at a reasonable price of $25 and readily available. I was pleasantly surprised to find it at my local PA state liquor store, and after also buying a bottle of Cointreau, I was in business in the Tiki Lounge!
So, now I had a new Tiki drink at home, but what does this have to do with Edgar Allan Poe? Read on, friends.
Poe Ghastly Vignettes Trading Cards – Fast forward to late winter 2022-23. One of my favorite Tiki artists, Robert Jiménez, launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new series of art trading cards based on the macabre stories of Edgar Allan Poe. I had contributed to Robert’s previous campaign that resulted in some sweet Tiki playing cards, so I decided to support him once again. This time, the Poe Ghastly Vignettes card set campaign came with the opportunity to choose an original art sketch as a bonus gift. I chose the sketch that would become the card based on Poe’s story The Cask of Amontillado.
As I was waiting for these art cards to be released, I decided to brush up on my Poe reading, which I hadn’t done since high school. I bought this nice little book of his essential stories. I didn’t read it cover to cover, but instead focussed on The Cask of Amontillado and the cruel fate of poor Fortunato. How is it that he could be lured to his death so easily? Was Amontillado so tempting a spirit that he couldn’t resist descending into a dark place for a chance at trying some? I’d never tried this sherry, so I didn’t get it. Neither did poor Fortunato!
So here’s where this story comes full circle.
Fortunato’s Fate – Meanwhile, also that winter, another business trip led me to dinner with a consultant at the Italian Affair restaurant in Glassboro NJ. My colleague Brian Ross was checking out their extensive whiskey list, so I decided to take a peak as well. It turns out they also had a nice assortment of rye whiskeys, and one of them caught my eye: Fortunato’s Fate. What was this? I immediately ordered one, but sadly, they were out. No matter, I was now entranced by the thought of going down a rabbit hole. I would find this rye whiskey or die. Like Fortunato with his Amontillado.
It turns out that Fortunato’s Fate was created by the New Liberty Distillery in Philadelphia. After searching for it at my local state liquor stores and several online outlets with no luck, I was prepared to make the road trip into Philly to buy some. I decided to call them first, which was a good thing, as they were completely out of it as well. The head distiller told me they were cooking up a new batch, but it would be at least 6 months before it was ready. Could I wait that long?
A few months passed, and I found an online liquor store that still had two bottles of Fortunato’s Fate available. They weren’t cheap, and neither was shipping, but here was my chance to get some of this coveted rye whiskey now. I called up another coworker, Ed Fortunato, and asked him if he was interested in a bottle. He jumped at the chance, as this booze was his namesake, and he is also a whiskey aficionado. I got the two bottles by mail about a week later and gave one to Ed the next time I saw him. Ah, Ed Fortunato’s fate was to join me in this story!
So there you have it. What started with a Tiki drink recipe and a search for rye whiskey, then wound its way through an Edgar Allan Poe story with some cool art and a tragic ending, and finally ended with another search for rye. Along the way, two business trips and two Constellation colleagues also informed this story.
Epilogue – Since I’d never tried Amontillado sherry, I decided to buy a bottle and give it a go. I’m afraid I don’t much care for it. It did round out my story, however, and will now sit in a cold, dark place for a long time. Like poor Fortunato. It seems fitting somehow.
1969 was a pivotal year in popular music. It saw the end of one reign and the beginning of another. The first group, arguably the greatest rock & roll band ever, only lasted about a decade. The second, one of the most artistic singers of all time, had a career spanning 50 years. Let’s start at the beginning, i.e. The End.
The Beatles. These four lads from Liverpool took the world by storm in the 1960s. Their career mirrored that decade, as they evolved from an early rock & roll cover band, inspired by Elvis and Chuck Berry, through the transition to psychedelic, drug-fueled music, before finally calling it quits in 1970. Though all four of The Beatles went on to have successful solo careers, the music they made as a band was their greatest legacy, to me.
The Beatles released many great albums in the 1960s. My favorites were Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the two records that spanned the pivotal 1966-67 timeframe, when the band’s evolution really took shape. My latest favorite is Abbey Road, the last album the Beatles recorded. Yes, I know, Let It Be was actually released in 1970, but it was recorded before then, and only came out after Phil Spector took over production and made it sound like shit. So for me, Abbey Road is The Beatles’ swan song, aptly ending with this final lyric: “And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.” That is, if you don’t count Her Majesty.
David Bowie. This English singer began his career at the end of the 1960s. He was the rock & roll chameleon, constantly evolving his persona and musical style through the decades of the 70s, 80s, 90s, into the 21st century, recording until the very end of his life. Bowie released his final album, Blackstar, on 08Jan2016, to coincide with his 69th birthday. Two days later, he died. His battle with liver cancer was not revealed until after he passed away. Talk about a swan song! Bowie knew he was dying when he recorded his last album, and you can hear it in the music.
Technically, David Bowie’s first album debuted in 1967. It was a commercial flop. His first successful album, David Bowie, was released in 1969, just two months after The Beatles gave us Abbey Road. Bowie’s first smash hit was the song Space Oddity, which kicked off this record. With the popularity of this song, the album was re-released under that name, but was eventually restored to the original title.
50th Anniversaries. In 2019, both Abbey Road and David Bowie Space Oddity were released as 50th anniversary special editions. Both include new multi-channel mixes in Dolby Atmos surround sound. Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin, lovingly refreshed Abbey Road. Tony Visconti, Bowie’s long-time producer/collaborator, handled the remix of his breakthrough album.
I bought the box set of Abbey Road when it came out in 2019. I didn’t even realize it had a Dolby Atmos mix until I upgraded my audio-video system last year. I just listened to it as if it was a 5.1 surround sound mix, and it sounded great. When I listen to it now, it sounds unbelievable, like I’m hearing it for the first time!
David Bowie’s Space Oddity album re-release in 2019 had a new stereo mix, but the Dolby Atmos surround sound mix didn’t come out until last year. I haven’t been able to find a copy of this mix on disc to purchase, but I finally heard it streaming on amazon music. It sounds great, but I have to give it a few more listens to really appreciate it.
Epilogue. So there you have it. One year. Two great albums. One on the way out, the other coming in. Both sound great in their new surround sound mixes. If you’re ever near Bethlehem PA, please stop by the Tiki Lounge, and we’ll party like it’s 1969. Peace and love. And changes.
The first room you see when you descend the stairs into A. Panda’s Tiki Lounge is the SHAG Tiki Room Theatre. This basement space has evolved since I first created it in 2006, when we built our house. Not just the furniture and decor, but the audio and video as well, which is the heart of the home theatre experience. Here are the mileposts of that A/V system evolution.
Projection TV.
Before we even moved into our house, the idea of a basement home theatre was planted in my head. We were visiting our friends Melissa and Eric one night, and Eric showed me the projection TV they had in their living room. The picture was amazing! I clearly recall watching a college football game, and in a camera shot from behind the one end zone, I could make out the writing on the shirts that the people in the opposite end zone were wearing. Oh yes, I had to have this set-up in our new house under construction.
I remember Eric telling me that he regretted not having a basement in their townhouse. He said he could never get it dark enough in their living room to see the projected image well. This was okay for sports, but for movies, especially with any prolonged dark scenes, it wasn’t good enough.
Fortunately, we were building a house with a basement, so this wouldn’t be a problem for me. My wife and I made a deal before we moved in: she had the final say on all décor above ground, and the basement was all mine. There were three things I wanted in my basement: a tiki bar, a train room, and a home theatre.
With the rough layout of my home theatre room sketched out, I went to work on the components I needed. I already had the right audio system (for now), so I went to work on the projection TV. This required two things: a projector and a screen. Both of these items were still pretty expensive in 2006, but I managed to find a close-out deal on a Sony Cineza LCD 720p projector for $1300 (MSRP was $3500!).
Next I looked at projection screens. These were also ridiculously expensive, but I found a reasonable alternative, thanks to the internet. Somebody had posted plans on how to make your own screen out of firm wood (4”x1”), flat black paint, and black-out liner cloth for drapes. I had to stretch the cloth out using the same technique for stretching an art canvas, only in reverse (behind the wood). Another internet tutorial and about $67 in materials later, I had crafted my own video screen: 8’ wide by 5-1/2’ tall, or 110” on the diagonal. That’s a big TV screen!
The one hitch I encountered was with the wall where I planned to hang my screen. It didn’t show up on the house plans, but this basement wall was where the water meter was located. D’oh! Undeterred, I just built a wall about 2 feet out from the foundation wall. This was the first of many walls I’ve erected over the years in finishing off this unfinished basement. In retrospect, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it was much easier to mount a 110” diagonal screen on a wall made of lumber and drywall than it would have been to drill into concrete! And the area behind this wall makes for nice storage space.
With the screen in place, the last thing I had to do was hang the projector. With the wall being 2 feet farther out than planned, I had to adjust the location of the projector to get the right image size on the screen. Fortunately, the exposed ceiling beams made this an easy fix. The projector hangs right above my dual recliners, about 12 feet away from the screen. At last, we had an operational big-screen TV in the Tiki Lounge!
Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound.
As I mentioned earlier, we were in good shape with the audio sound system when we first moved into our new house. With a Yamaha RX-V793 receiver, we had the capacity for Dolby 5.1 surround sound, which means 5 channels (left-center-right-left rear-right rear) plus a subwoofer. What we hadn’t had previously was the proper space to fit the two rear speakers. No problem now, as I had laid out the basement space to put two speakers on stands behind the main seating area. I even found two Advent Mini II speakers to use as the rear speakers. I just love the look and sound of old Advent speakers! All of our speakers in the Tiki Lounge were Advents at this point, including the center channel and subwoofer.
Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound.
Naturally, it took another visit to a friend’s house to realize that we were missing something in our home theatre system. I was at my friend Dennis’s house one day back in 2010 when I saw the nice system his son Denny had put in for him. It had 7 speakers (plus the subwoofer)! Three in the front, two in the rear, and two on the sides. I did a little research and realized that this was the new surround sound standard: Dolby 7.1. It was time to upgrade our old receiver.
Enter the Yamaha RX-V567. I don’t know why the number went down sequentially, as this was a newer receiver that was equipped to handle Dolby 7.1 surround sound. Now I just needed another pair of speakers to mount on the sides of the room. Breaking from my tradition of using Advent speakers, I found a pair of cool-looking Tiki speakers online. These would work great in the Tiki Lounge, and since the side speakers handle very little sound, I wasn’t worried about their sound quality. Mounted on the wall next to 6” bamboo poles on either side of the room, they look and sound great!
3D Projection TV.
There were two mileposts in the evolution of the SHAG Tiki Room Theatre that were effected by a piece of software. Here was the first. The Disney animated film Moana was released in November 2016. I saw this much-anticipated movie twice in the theatre, both times in 3D. I cried both times! When the home video was released in early 2017, I bought it on Blu-ray disc, including the 3D version. Only I had no way to play it in 3D.
So now came the next major upgrade: 3D home theatre. To accomplish this, I needed three things. First, I needed to upgrade the firmware in my now 7-year old receiver. Fortunately, the Yamaha RX-V567 was “3D Ready,” but upgrading the firmware to make it “3D Capable” was a tricky thing. It wasn’t as easy as upgrading a computer, but after 5 pages of instructions and some trial and error, I figured it out and got it done.
The next thing I needed to do was upgrade the projector. I had been meaning to do this for a while, as the projector I bought back in 2006 was only 720p resolution, and the current standard was 1080p, with 4K on the way. Yes, I had gotten a good deal on the old one, but fortunately, prices had plummeted in the ensuing decade. I managed to find a highly-rated Optoma HD142x 1080p projector for around $500. Talk about a good deal! This new projector was much smaller, lighter, with higher resolution, and could handle 3D.
The third thing I needed was to upgrade my blu-ray player to one that could handle 3D discs. For this purchase, I pulled double duty, as I wanted a player that could also decode SACD, DVD-A and Blu-Ray audio discs. You see, I also started getting into 5.1 surround sound audio mixes at this time, and I wanted a player that could handle all of these. Through a little research, I found the Sony BDP-S6700 that could do all of this. For $99. Who says good home theatre has to be expensive?
Oh yeah, I almost forgot: we needed 3D glasses! I bought 4 pairs of active DLP link shutter glasses that are rechargeable, so I never have to worry about batteries. I just have to keep them charged before watching a 3D title. Now we were ready to watch Moana at home!
Dolby Atmos 7.2 Surround Sound.
The second piece of software which has inspired the newest evolution in the SHAG Tiki Home Theatre is a most unlikely title. A Charlie Brown Christmas from the year of my birth in 1965 is one of my all-time favorite shows, in large part because of the amazing soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Just before Christmas of 2022, that soundtrack was re-released in a special 5-disc set, which includes a Blu-ray disc with the original album remixed in Dolby Atmos surround sound. This led me down a new rabbit hole of spatial audio so I could figure out what Dolby Atmos is and how to make it happen!
So, now I needed to upgrade my home theatre system to handle this new spatial audio format. This would require two things. The first was a new receiver. It had been almost 13 years since the last upgrade, so we were due. I did some research on new Yamaha receivers that handle Dolby Atmos inputs. What can I say, I’m brand loyal, and have good luck with Yamahas! The new ones were pretty expensive ($850 and up), so I found a deal on a discontinued model that was Yamaha factory refurbished. For $450. With a free 3-year warranty.
Besides cost, the other reason I chose the older model was because it still had some of the older A/V inputs I need to hook up things like our old VCR. I don’t often play VHS tapes, but when I need to, it’s nice to know I still can.
The second thing I needed to complete this upgrade was another pair of speakers to mount in the ceiling. Here’s where a funny story with serendipity comes in. My friend Tom, one of two audiophile geeks I know, had a gift for me. The last time we played cards together, he brought me a pair of old Advent Mini speakers he no longer needed. Tom remembered that I was a big Advent fan, and it was very kind of him to think of me. I immediately replaced the Advent Mini IIs I was using as the rear surround speakers with these older models. They were a better match for my system, aesthetically speaking. Which means I now had an extra pair of speakers sitting around, doing nothing.
Two speaker mounting brackets, terminals and wiring later, I now have these Advent Mini II speakers back in action. They are hanging from the ceiling, mounted directly to the exposed rafters. One of these days I’ll get around to finishing the basement ceiling, but for now, I’m glad I haven’t yet. With these “Front Presence” speakers in place, we now have 9 total, plus a subwoofer, providing the soundtrack to the newly upgraded SHAG Tiki Room Theatre.
Epilogue: Star Date 01.07.2023.
I don’t know where this audio/video odyssey will lead me next. Hopefully it will be a few more years before the next upgrade! Today, I can begin enjoying new content in Dolby Atmos spatial audio. Oh, the places you’ll go…
Epilogue Part Deux: June 2023
So, apparently I can be impulsive and rash. It turns out a 7.2 receiver can only power 7 speakers (and 2 subwoofers). I have 9 speakers to feed. Subconsciously I must have known this, but couldn’t justify spending the $1500 for a 9.2 receiver. So I paid $450 for a refurbished receiver that can’t feed all 9 speakers at once.
Fast forward to June. After 5 months of listening to Dolby Atmos movies and music without my rear speakers, I’ve had enough. I started researching used 9.2 receivers on eBay, and found a Yamaha RX-A2040 Aventage receiver for only $450. Ironic price, eh? I pulled the trigger, and now my rear speakers are back in action! As an added bonus, I sold my 7.2 receiver on eBay for $250, so my rash decision only cost me $200 and 5 months. And I’m okay with that.
I love the moon. There’s a feeling I get when I walk out on a clear night and bathe in the rays of a brilliant full moon. Or a cloudy night, when the moonlight peeks through the clouds to say hello. That feeling is one of calm. Energy. Euphoria. Peace.
I’ve noticed a trend in some of the art I’ve collected from Tiki artists over the years. They include images of the moon. Some haunting, some brilliant, some omnipresent. All of these works of art speak to me on another level, besides just Tiki statues and torches.
The first is a print by my favorite artist, SHAG. His art is crisp and colorful, and the use of the primary color blends (purple, orange, green) gives this art a nighttime feel with some bright shots of color as accents. The moon peeking out from behind a neighbouring island isn’t central to the story, but it gives the scene an ominous glow from the background by outlining many of the foreground shapes in blue. Well done, Josh Agle.
The second is a print on a metal sign by Robert Jímenez. I love the orange and green colors playing together, and the moon rising over a lagoon is a common theme in these Tiki art prints. The statue’s face appears to be in awe of the full moon over its shoulder, burning through a cloudy sky. Or maybe in fear. I wonder what the artist intended here? Spill it, Robert!
As an added bonus, I used this art as the album cover for a compilation CD I gave the same title as this post. I began the disc with Robert Morse’s rendition of the classic tune, The Best Things In Life Are Free, as seen in a great episode of Mad Men. You can listen to this music on my 8tracks station here:
The third is a panoramic print by Dawn Frasier from Seattle. This wide work of art features Dawn’s use of the Phthalocyanine blue and green palette, an awesome color combo that creates a deep, dark yet vibrant moonlit scene. I love the wide net that Dawn casts with this seemingly simple scheme. Tikis, torches, trees and mountains are all enthralled by the full moon casting its omnipresent shadow of light over the darkness. You make me feel right at home in your art, Dawn. Thank you.
The fourth and final piece of art is an original painting by the Midwest’s Mark Thompson. I fell in love with this work from the time I saw Mark’s progress posts on Facebook, and I convinced him to make it for me. With a slight personalisation: a fez-wearing panda. This is on brand for me! Unlike the first three prints, this art features a bright yellow full moon that seems to set the lagoon on fire. Or is that the smouldering volcano? The Tiki torches? Either way, this art is vibrant with color lighting up the night. Mahalo, Mark, for making it mine.
So there you have it. The moon belongs to everyone, but I have harnessed it here in the Tiki Lounge, with the help of some amazing artists. Inside or outside, I derive a lot of energy from the moon. This makes me happy.
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespeare
“Don’t forget to stop and smell the roses.” – Walter Hagen
“Oooh that smell, can’t you smell that smell?” – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Smell is a powerful sense. It can trigger a memory that takes you back to a different place and time, often as far back as early childhood. I have several vivid examples of this, and the earliest one has to do with roses. Which is why I picked two of the quotes that start this story.
My Grandfather’s Rose Garden
I grew up in my grandparents’ house in North Philadelphia in my early years. What is now a pretty bad neighborhood was a small enclave of Ukrainian families in the early 1970s, centered around Christ The King Ukrainian Catholic Church. You can still see the iconic gold dome on the left as you drive north on the Roosevelt Expressway approaching the Broad Street underpass.
My Babcha and Djadjo, as we called them (Ukie for Grandma and Grandpa), lived in a small row home at 1535 Blavis Street. They had a tiny back yard where my Djadjo grew grapes on a trellis. He made white wine from those green grapes. I don’t know if his wine was any good, as I was not even 10 years old at the time, but I remember seeing his 5-gallon glass carboys tucked into a corner of the dining room, where the wine would ferment.
Djadjo also grew red roses along the side fence of the backyard . These roses I remember, because of their smell. Djadjo was very proud of his roses, and on a hot summer day, their smell was intoxicating. Fast forward to the present day, where my wife Jess and I planted a single red rose bush in our side yard. One smell of those roses and I’m immediately transported back to Blavis Street. That’s a powerful smell! And a wonderful memory of my Djadjo. For this reason, whenever I walk around our side yard, I don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. I miss you, Djadjo.
Gino’s vs. McDonalds
Back to the early 70s we go. Before Burger King challenged McDonald’s for fast food supremacy, there was another regional chain called Gino’s. Founded by ex-football players Gino Marchetti and Alan Ameche of the Baltimore Colts in 1957, Gino’s Hamburgers was as ubiquitous as McDonald’s on the street corners of Philadelphia where I grew up. The one advantage that Gino’s had was that they also sold Kentucky Fried Chicken at their restaurants. Yes, that Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC co-branded with Gino’s in the Mid-Atlantic region back then. And this was before McDonald’s even offered Chicken McNuggets.
My Babcha and Djadjo, when they didn’t feel like cooking borscht and pierogies, would order out fast food for us kids. They would always ask us whether we wanted McDonalds or Gino’s. More often than not, I recall we would ask for Gino’s. I’m not exactly sure why, but I’m guessing it was because of the option of burgers or chicken. Or both.
Again, we fast forward to today. This time, literally today. I was just driving home with my son from picking up KFC for dinner, and the smell of that Extra Crispy goodness wafted through the car. Suddenly, I wasn’t driving in Bethlehem anymore. Again I was back on Blavis Street, licking my lips as Babcha laid out the chicken and burgers she had just brought home from Gino’s for dinner. Oooh that smell! Gino’s is now long gone, as are my Babcha and Djadjo, but they all live on through my sense of smell. I miss you, Babcha.
Blood Thinners
A lot of these smell memories are related to my early childhood in North Philly. This is a weird one. When my sister and I lived with our Babcha and Djadjo, we attended a Ukrainian Catholic private elementary school, Saint Basil’s. Our neighbor would drive us to and from school every day, along with their kids, Bohdan and Orest Zachariasevych. I’m still friends with Bohdan today.
About two years ago I had a mild heart attack. As part of my recovery regimen, I continue to take a plethora of medications, including Plavix, a blood thinner. I take all of these pills either once or twice a day, so I’ve gotten into a good routine. I take Plavix in the morning. Every time I open that pill bottle, I’m greeted by an overpowering smell. And then a memory. For some reason, the smell of Plavix takes me back to the halls at Saint Basil’s school. Strange, huh? I wonder what that smell is? I want to invite my friend Bohdan over to take a whiff of that pill bottle. I wonder if he’ll have the same recollection? We’ll see.
A Falling Out with Jack
For this next memory, I go back to my high school days. After my Babcha and Djadjo were gone, we moved to Swarthmore PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. It was a pretty idyllic place to grow up. Once I reached the age of 16, I started working at Yom’s Place, the local hoagie shop. Yom’s was owned and operated by John “Yommie” Costello, a little Italian guy with a taste for Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis, and vodka & orange juice. Yom was usually soused by the end of the lunch rush, so we kids had to take over running the place until closing while he went home and slept it off.
I learned a lot working as a short-order cook and doing basically everything to manage a hoagie shop at a young age. Yom had complete confidence in us to run the place, and we never let him down. I learned to appreciate good meats and rolls, and how to place a 3-team parlay bet with the meat delivery man, who also served as the local bookie. My co-workers and I would also throw the occasional party at Yom’s after closing time, just for ourselves and some friends. Oh boy, the booze and 80s rock flowed after dark at Yom’s Place!
It was at one of these parties that I was introduced to Jack Daniels. I believe I drank too much of it, but I can’t really remember. My co-workers later told me that I got pretty drunk, proclaiming that I was David Lee Roth as I sang and danced on the tables, puking my guts out, and eventually passing out. Good times! To this day, just the thought of Jack Daniels makes me nauseous. If I catch a whiff of the stuff, I am transported back to Yom’s Place, and then immediately start to gag. God forbid I actually drink some – I would probably start singing Van Halen’s Everybody Wants Some and promptly pass out!
Needless to say, I am not a fan of Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey. I’m also not a fan of most American whiskeys, probably because I associate them all with Jack Daniels, and my memory of that is not positive. I enjoy Irish Whiskey and an occasional Scotch, but spare me the rest. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
The Spice of Life in Bethlehem
Now that I’m all grown up, my family and I live in Bethlehem PA. Hanover Township to be precise. About 3 miles from our house, in one of the many industrial parks near us, is a company called Newly Weds Foods. They run a factory that blends flavourings and spices for the commercial foods industry. When the wind is blowing south, we can smell what they’re brewing up as clearly as if we were standing on the factory floor.
The smells from Newly Weds Foods are pretty pungent. And most of them smell pretty good, if not overpowering. Cumin. Maple Syrup. Vanilla. It can get a little annoying at times, if only because it makes me hungry!
My final smell memory just happened recently, when I smelled a new smell from the factory for the first time: coconut. Now, I’m a huge fan of coconut, in many forms. Mounds and Almond Joy bars. Piña Coladas, which I’ve been drinking more of recently, thanks to the recently discovered original recipe. Macaroons and coconut chocolate chip cookies. And German Chocolate cake, which is my favorite cake that I ask for every year for my birthday.
When I smelled the overpowering aroma of coconut in our backyard yesterday, my mind went in a bunch of different directions. The first was my basement Tiki bar, where I had just mixed up a fresh Piña Colada last week. The second was my birthday, which we just celebrated a month ago with my favorite cake. The third and most powerful memory was at the beach in Wildwood NJ, where my Babcha and Djadjo used to take us every summer when we were very young. Why the beach? Because of the suntan lotion! Back in those days, before SPF 50 sunscreen, Coppertone and other tropical suntan lotions were nothing more than cooking oil. And they smelled like coconut. To me, anyway. Leave it to a simple, powerful smell to take me back to my childhood. Again.
So there you have it. A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but a smell can trigger one powerful memory. Or several. Like our dogs know: the sense of smell is one of our strongest senses, and should not be taken for granted. Smell ya later!
In the arts, maximalism, a reaction against minimalism, is an aesthetic of excess. The philosophy can be summarized as “more is more”, contrasting with the minimalist motto “less is more”. – Wikipedia
The concept of maximalism is new to me in name, but not in practice. I was introduced to the word by a friend, Rebecca Marchand, who was visiting A. Panda’s Tiki Lounge for the first time. After the initial sensory overload of absorbing her surroundings, she proclaimed that I was a maximalist, like her. When I asked her what that meant, she said it was the opposite of a minimalist. The more stuff, the better.
This definitely applies to my basement escape! When I first started building out this space in 2006, it was unfinished. Slowly but surely, I erected walls and painted them brown and orange, decorating with art, pandas, and Tiki ephemera along the way. You can read that full story here. Here are some examples of how maximalism informs my work.
Home Theatre. The funny thing is, my main motivation to build and finish walls in the basement has been the desire to display new art. The entire front section, my SHAG Tiki Room Theatre, was born out of my need to have a place to hang all of my Josh Agle art prints. And, obviously, a place to house my audio/video equipment so I can enjoy listening to music and watching video on a big screen. It was the first “room” I completed, though it’s never truly complete. I’m always finding places to squeeze in more stuff. Here’s a panoramic video view:
Dividing Wall. As I worked on finishing off the main Tiki bar and game room area, I realized two things. 1. I was running out of room to display my growing collection of Tiki mugs. 2. I had a SHAG Pink Panther 40th Anniversary poster I wanted to hang but had no place to put it. The solution? Build another wall! Only this time, I wasn’t simply framing up and drywalling against the outer foundation; this new wall was a kick-out partial wall, perpendicular to the outer wall. This served several purposes. Not only would I solve problems 1 and 2 above, but this new wall would also serve as a dividing line between two “rooms,” which were previously only separated by a sectional recliner facing the home theatre, a side Tiki bar facing the game room, and a heating duct. A functional place to hold more stuff – more is more! This was a brilliant solution, if I do say so myself. Here’s what it looks like, from both sides:
Polynesian Powder Room. A bonus canvas in my basement is the powder room, which is the only actual “room” down here. You can actually close the door and be apart from the rest of the space. Early on, I decided to make this place a tribute to Walt Disney World’s Polynesian Village Resort, my happy place. It started with a mirror and light sconces from the actual resort, then a repurposed bamboo shoe rack as a shelf to hold some collectibles, and of course lots of art and pictures. One of the last things I did was cover the heating duct with some tapa cloth to give it a Polynesian feel. This all makes for a pretty busy space, though it still gives you the feeling of an escape while you do your bathroom business. Whaddaya think?
Travelogue Wall. One of the last walls in the main Tiki bar area, as it transitions to my train room, is a space right next to my home office. I have a credenza from my old office against this wall, and I have some pictures from our Disney trips on it, so I decided to make this my travelogue wall. It includes memories of our wedding trip to Jamaica, photos and the show print from The Hukilau, a poster from a Wild Wildwood Tiki Weekend, and special framed family photos from trips to WDW’s Polynesian Village and Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room. There’s lots of other stuff that ended up here for lack of a better place, including two inflatable tubes from the Cabana Bay Resort at Universal Orlando, which we were forced to buy to ride their lazy river. I refused to leave them there, so I deflated them, brought them home, blew them back up and have them hanging from the ceiling. A little splash of color. More is more!
I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of how much stuff I’ve collected and display in A. Panda’s Tiki Lounge. There’s a lot down here, and all of it comes with a story, as my guests have found out! There’s no substitute for seeing it in person, so come on over, grab a Mai-Tai, and let me show and tell you what maximalism means to me.
A. Panda's Tiki Lounge 