Happy Birthday, Emi!

Happy Birthday, Emi!




Love,
me, Marmo and Sandokan!

More Happy Birthday from Marmo and Sandokan pics.

Awesome New Guidebook to the Big Island of Hawaii

If you’ve ever had even a passing conversation with me, I probably mentioned Hawaii … or was very likely wearing one of my many vintage made-in-Hawaii aloha shirts. I absolutely love Hawaii, wish I could spend more time there (like, at least half the year) and am borderline obsessive about virtually every aspect of Hawaiian and Polynesian life, culture, history and food.

Much of my love of the islands is the result of hanging out with my friend, Elizabeth Blish Hughes, a writer/editor who used to live in Hawaii. For years, Beth’s been an encyclopedic source of knowledge for any and all questions I’ve had about Hawaii. Her advice and understanding have helped me to make the most of my trips to Hawaii and to seek out and enjoy aspects of island living that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about. In particular, her tips really paid off when Emiana and I visited the Big Island of Hawaii for our honeymoon.

So I was really stoked when Beth informed me that her new guidebook, Hawaii's Big Island: Great Destinations: A Complete Guide (Great Destinations), is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Emi and I have reserved our copy and I’m really hoping we’ll be able to fully use the book soon! Beth’s a fantastic writer, with local – off-the-beaten-path – knowledge of and deep love for Hawaii, its people and its many wonders. Mahalo Beth for sharing your expertise with the world!

Greetings from the Carbohydrate Coast (August 29, 2008)

Greetings from the Carbohydrate Coast

Okay, I'm back from a week on the Jersey Shore which, due to the vast amounts of pizza and bagels lining its sandy beaches, I've renamed the Carbohydrate Coast. Another apt title might be the Costa del Chili Cheese, as NJ's got the goods in that department too.



Back home, I've been trying my darnedest to make the most of time here in London: sampling fine (and innovative) chocolates, enjoying sushi, katsu chicken curry et al with a few other friendly foodies and taking photographs all over London. You know, the usual stuff. Still, I'm already hankering to take off again, especially now that I've pre-order a copy of Hawaii's Big Island: Great Destinations: A Complete Guide (Great Destinations) by good friend and Hawaii expert, Elizabeth Blish Hughes.

And one last thing: I'm in desperate need of mummified mug shots.

London Daily Photo: Lost in Thought by Chris Osburn © 2008

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

I Want My Mummy - HELP!

Call for Mummies


Okay, Halloween's almost here (well not really, but October 31st will come!) and that means it's time for me to geek out with another 31 Days of Halloween Madness. Similar to last year's Halloween Skull Mask Project, this year I hope to get a little reader participation help.

For the month of October, I'd like to post a mummy-a-day, in the way of photos and/or videos of people and animals wrapped up like mummies and, essentially, acting stoopid. Ideally, stuff like a mummy family portrait, mummified pets, mummies in public doing ordinary things, breakdancing mummies etc would be extraordinary content.

If interested in contributing your own pics or video - or you live in London and wouldn't mind a goofy photographer coming round to take photos of you wrapped up in toilet paper like a mummy - please contact tikichris ASAP!

The Week in Review (August 22, 2008)

Photograph by Chris Osburn © 2008

The Week in Review

I rode rollercoasters, checked out some cool art, took a bunch of photographs of London and more.

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

David Bray at StolenSpace (Juxtapoz)

Photos: David Bray's "The 2nd Misc Adventure"
Photography by Chris Osburn, London Correspondent
Juxtapoz
Saturday, 16 August 2008










Featuring originals, limited edition prints, sculptures, and collaborative installations by the artist David Bray, The 2nd Misc Adventure will only be open from August 14th - 18th, for one weekend only.

See the complete David Bray post and see all the photos at the Juxtapoz website.

La Settimana in Review (August 15, 2008)

Photograph by Emiana © 2008

La Settimana in Review

Hey Euro-land, watch out! I got me a bona fide Italian passport. No plans to hit the continent just yet though. I seem to be having plenty of fun right here in good ole Inghilterra (despite the rubbish weather).

When not admiring the latest paintings by tikiracer or engaging in lightsaber battles with the fluffy-wuffiest Jedi ever, I was freakin' out over giant balls of opium and creepy dolls in haute couture, raving about my new favourite London restaurant, sampling cheese, sippin' rum and generally having a good time.

Besides, who needs to visit the continent when those friendly continental-types are kind enough to bring over some of their finest booze to try here in London?

Another nice batch of London Daily Photos managed to get posted this week, included a few by London photography A Glass Darkly. Make sure to check 'em out.

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

Jedi Kitty Cat Lightsaber Battle

Yep, Emiana and I just received a pair of Star Wars lightsabers in the post from a couple of incredibly thoughtful and ridiculously generous friends (whom I sure wish to remain anonymous). Anyway, these toys are a lot of fun (one is modelled after Luke Skywalker's saber, the other after Darth Vader's - awesome). In addition to battling each other for supreme domination of the universe, seeing just how strong the force is in our little kitty cats is an ideal way to waste a bit of time.

Can't see the video? Click here to view it at Flickr.

Un Passaporto Italiano per me? Incredibile!

Crank up the Eros Ramazzotti and get Sophia Loren on the phone because my Italian passport arrived yesterday. I've started to get the hang of the hand gestures already and was actually eating a bowl of pasta when the delivery guy knocked on my door! Next step? Get back to learning the language (my Italian's really rusty)!


You're welcome to read more about my Italian transformation in a post from back in February when I actually was granted citizenship. It took a few months more to get the passport, but finalmente it's here.

Tikiracer Paints!

Good news for fans of tiki art. Tikiracer's been painting! Here are some samples of his recent (and phenomenal) work.

Marq Hook (ink/acrylic on canvas)
Painting of a rare marquesan hook, found in a german print history book
























Ivi Poo (ink/acrylic on canvas)
A tikiracer look at the amazing marquesan bone carvings
























Uu (ink/acrylic on canvas)
Tikiracer warclub with hints of racing goggles, steering wheels and spanners

Wanna see more cool Tikiracer art? Set sail for an expediditon to Tikiracer Island.

Rock Lobster - B-52's

Bizarre, reverb-y with nothing really like it before them, Athens GA's B-52's with their classic Rock Lobster.

This Week I Wrote about ... (August 8, 2008)

Photograph by Chris Osburn © 2008

This Week I Wrote about ...

... going to Paris ... taking photos in Beijing ... taking video of the Olympics stadium and architecture in Beijing ... defending the honour of my neck of the woods ... chowing down on Farringdon Road ... riding on the London Eye ... moseying along in the treetops at Kew Gardens ... trying gourmet Asian ready-meals ... taking our little kitties to the vet ... sampling some fantastic cheese ... and getting kinky with Qype.

While I was doing all that, A Glass Darkly was kind enough to provide a few of this week's London Daily Photos. Look for more pics from AGD in the days to come and check out this one:


London Daily Photo: Fountain Fun by A Glass Darkly Photography © 2008

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents

My Girl - Otis Redding

I just happened upon this incredible video of a live performance by Otis Redding moanin' and pleadin' his way through My Girl. Everything about this clip is perfect. The dancing is particularly mesmerizing. And Otis was just so damn cool ... and from my home state of Georgia (yeehaw!). This video has inspired me to look for more classic songs by brilliant musicians from Georgia - watch out y'all!

Trouble Accessing the Tiki Chris Blogs?

If you've been trying to access any of my blogs (including 5 Good Reasons ... to be Happy) only to see a nasty “Internet Explorer cannot open the internet site,” the problem seems to belong with Sitemeter, which I use track my web stats. I've just removed Sitemeter's tracking code and everything now seems to be fine. Let me know if anyone is still having trouble viewing the blogs.

Here's a link to the One Project Closer post I happened upon that helped me to figure out what the heck was going on with my blogs:

Sitemeter Crashing Web Sites Using Internet Explorer on August 1, 2008; August 2, 2008
Posted by: Fred
One Project Closer
August 1st, 2008

Tens of thousands of publishers use sitemeter to track their content, including thousands of bloggers. The result: sitemeter takes down the internet? not quite.. but its pretty amazing.

Read the complete Sitemeter Crashing post at One Project Closer.

Kitty Witty Week in Review (August 1, 2008)

Photograph by Chris Osburn © 2008

Kitty Witty Week in Review

We got cats. That's the big news this week. Two 10-week old ginger kitties, which we've named Marmo (the Italian word for marble, a reference to his marbled fur) and Sandokan (as in the coolest Malaysian pirate ever written about by an Italian novelist - although our Sandokan is proving to be the definition of a scaredy cat!)

Read more about Marmo and Sandokan - and see a gazillion photos of 'em here.

Anything else? Yeah, a lot of boring non-blog-about work, another weekly installment of London Daily Photos, and some modern gin-based cocktails in a medieval setting.

London Daily Photo: Enough! by Chris Osburn © 2008

Enjoy your weekend,
Chris

ontoLondon - ontoTravel - Tiki Chris Presents