Monday, January 24, 2011

Mr. Tiki Endures


Written 24 January, 2011

Mr. Tiki Endures

The other iconic larger-than-life structure on Whimsy (Bob the granite drinking bird being the one who gets the most attention in this blog) is Mr. Tiki, a great tiki statue, also made of granite.

In early 2007, when Sweetie and I lived in Dreamland, Sweetie conceived Mr. Tiki and began building, but quit when she reached an impasse. I thought about Mr. Tiki for a day or two and added shear to his outer shell, giving him his signature rakish look. Sweetie added an earring, and voila, he had personality!

An Early Version of Mr. Tiki
We ran Kitto Flora's steam train right down his gullet.

The train emerges from Mr. Tiki. The dive into Mr. Tiki's mouth isn't nearly as dramatic as it once was.
When we moved to Whimsy nearly three years ago, of course we brought Mr. Tiki with us. And of course we once again routed the train through him.


We added a historic marker to explain the route.

Whimsy's Historic Markers Create a Fictitious History of the Sim, In This Case Noting 
The Whimsy Transportation Authority's Outrageous Decision To Route the Rail Line 
Down the Gullet of an Archeological Relic


Mr. Tiki commands good views of the beach...



... and gardens.




A rope bridge connects him to the land...


... and the flat top of his head is a convenient resting place for footsore avatars.



Mr. Tiki isn't as big a drama queen as is Bob (for instance, we didn't have to contrive a kidnapping to keep him happy); he just quietly endures.


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