Monday, January 20, 2014

doodle-oodle-ooo!

    So, let me start by telling you, I am not a particularly superstitious person.
However,  I have found that superstitions, luck, religion, karma, and all things otherworldly or unexplainable do not seen to care whether you believe in them or not.
 I have seen the impossible happen without a care for my believing, and I have seen a sure thing suddenly and inexplicably evaporate, as though it were the impossible all along.
  So, I have come to believe that it is a good idea to respect the idea that sometimes things happen whether you believe they will or not.
Because the truth is, you just never know.
    Case in point: The Brady Bunch Tiki.
When I still owned my tiki and Ukulele store, almost everyday a person would come into my shop and, regarding the Tiki necklaces, say:
"These are exactly like that Brady Bunch episode! where Greg finds the Tiki! Did you ever see that one?"
    I used to explain that yes, I have seen it, but no, none of my necklaces are "exactly like" that particular Tiki.
    I used to tell them that I do not make that design, but they would usually cut me off, calling to their friend, "Hey look, they have those Tiki's like on the Brady Bunch!"
    Now I smile and laugh, as thought it is the first time I have hear that one, and neither confirm nor deny, because although what follows actually happened to me, I really can't offer a rational explanation as to why, other than to repeat my previous statement.
    Sometimes things happen whether you believe they will or not.
  
   In the very early 90's I was watching a recording of a tongue-in-cheek, Ken Burns style "documentary" about the Brady Bunch. Part of this documentary was a segment titled "Taboo" in which they talked about the afore mentioned Tiki. They even showed a short still  close up of the Tiki hanging around Peter Bradys neck.
I was stoked.
Ever since I started my business Tiki King, I was always being asked if I made that Tiki, I always chuckled, "No way man! It's TABOO! Doodle-oodle-O!" But this documentary was like a sign. It was time to make that Tiki.
So, which Tiki was it?
I really don't know for sure, but it's true origin was most likely a Hawaiian souvenir shop. It looks much like the many mass produced Tikis of the mid seventies, made by Coco Joe, or maybe H.I.P. It is vaguely Ku shaped,  and more than likely cast resin, or permastone. It is said to be currently in the possession of Barry Williams, (who played Greg Brady on the show) He claims to have "rescued" it from a prop room a couple years ago, while producing "Growing Up Brady" at Paramount, and says that he wears it while on tour.
      So the big question, is it really taboo?
The logical person would say of course not. It was a hunk of resin, or a chunk of plaster. It was a TV show prop. It was not sacred, it had no manna. There was no reason that it should, or could, cause anything to happen, and it certainly was not really Taboo.
     But, Sometimes things happen whether you believe they will or not.
    So on my day off, I began sketching out the design, using the video as a guide.
That night I was riding my Vespa, and got a Flat tire. Not too big of a deal, the Vespa has a spare tire with it. But it was odd. I had actually never had a flat before. But as luck would have it, it happened in a parking lot and it only took a few minutes to swap the tire over.  It was a minor inconvenience, and being a scooter mechanic, I was able to get the tire patched up the next day, and all was right again.
As I said, It was a minor inconvenience
    So a week later, on my next day off, I finished the sketch and transferred the design to a piece of wood.
That night as I was taking a short cut through the tenderloin, one of the worst parts of town, the engine coughed and sputtered, and then cut out.
    Much to my surprise, I was out of gas. This was a surprise, because one, I had  never run out of gas before. And two, the Vespa has a reserve tank to keep this sort of thing from happening. Somehow, the switch was on reserve already and so I was forced to push it to the nearest gas station, which was about three blocks away, UP HILL! and we were late getting somewhere already. So as I am pushing the Vespa along, trying to ignore the prostitutes, pushers, addicts and other denizens of the back alleys,  I say to my wife, "Man, I must have angered the gods, or carved the wrong Tiki or something..."
"It's that Brady Tiki" she laughed, "It's Tabooooo! doodle-oodle-oooo!"
      So I stopped working on the Tiki for a couple weeks, and mulled it over.
     But, eventually logic won over. I decided that surely, the flat tire and running out of gas were simply co-incidences, and the Tiki certainly could not really be "Taboo"
So one fine day at work, there was a lull in the action, so I got out the piece of wood, the sketch, and picked up my knife.
      No sooner had I shaved off a few chips of wood when I heard a scream. My boss was yelling frantically for me to come up to the front, and as I got to the door that separated the showroom from the repair shop, I was met by a wall of muddy water. I stood there trying to make sense of the fact that a river was now in our show room, and soon I was standing in a swirling mess of murky water about two feet deep.
   Apparently,  directly in front of our shop, a water main from 1906 had decided it was time to burst, and was now sending up a ten foot geyser of water, sand, mud and cobble stones.
   We ran to and fro, trying to move things to the tops of counters and tables, and did all we could to get
things to higher ground.
Oddly enough the flood hardly touched the two stores next to us, but filled ours with about two feet of water. The result was about several weeks of lost business, thousands of dollars in damaged merchandise, and gruesome cleanup ( the place had to be gutted, all the drywall removed. It was a mess)
      I told my boss about the Tiki, and although we were in agreement that it was most likely simple co-incidence, we also were in agreement that sometimes things happen whether you believe they will or not, and that the Tiki had to go.
    So we ceremoniously burned the drawing, asking the gods for forgivness, and tossed the unfinished Tiki into the storm drain. As we stood in a moment of silence, a man walked up.
     "So how much did you loose?" he asked.
We didn't really know. $10,000, $20,000, it would be weeks before we added it up.
     He then introduced himself as a representative of the city, and told us that we would be reimbursed for ALL of our losses. We simply needed to fill out some forms and send them in once we had totaled it up, and he assured us that everything would be made right.
 Here is the thing. Like I said, I am not particularly superstitious.
But,  1st , a flat tire.
Then, being late and running out of gas in a bad area,
Then the flood.
 Each incident progressively much worse than the previous.
Then, after destroying it, all is promised to be made whole.
     So is that Tiki Taboo? Would I ever consider giving it another try?
No.
Because I have come to believe that it is a good idea to respect that sometimes things happen whether you believe they will or not, and I  do not intend on finding out what would happen next
Because the truth is, you just never know.