Congratulation to Ray Wyland aka Tiki with Ray for getting a shrunken head at The Golden Tiki in Las Vegas.
The positive attitude Ray brings to his blog and YouTube channel demonstrates he loves our subculture and the people who make it special. His features of home tiki bars on his blog is particularly noteworthy, highlighting the unsung fans of the genre who do the hard work to create their own stories and spaces without venture capital or an investment group.
Ray has also written extensively in Exotica Moderne magazine, discussing various topics but mostly writing about experiences at tiki bars across the country. I find Ray’s focus on the lesser known destinations as an example of his effort to write about the up and comers or under appreciated. Just in the last month, Ray wrote about Kahala Koa in Arlington Heights, IL in the latest Exotica Moderne issue and I saw that they’ve framed Ray’s article and put it on the wall in the bar. This is just the latest example of how Ray spreads the gospel of tiki.
I don’t know who is making the shrunken heads for Golden Tiki but Ray’s might be the most accurate of the heads they’ve done to date; it’s really the spitting image. We absolutely dig how Golden Tiki salutes so many people who they consider influential to the heritage of their venue and also how they salute the people currently making a contribution to the community. In this respect Ray for sure is a most deserving recipient.
So, here’s a straight-edge cheers to our friend Ray. Congratulations on your shrunken head!