Vlog 43: Tiki Diablo: A Tribute from Where It All Began. From Grossman’s Lumber to Tiki Legend! скачать в хорошем качестве

Vlog 43: Tiki Diablo: A Tribute from Where It All Began. From Grossman’s Lumber to Tiki Legend!

Vlog #43 – February 7, 2026 Today’s vlog comes to you entirely from Contractors Warehouse on Johnson Drive in Ventura, California—but this location carries far more meaning than just another hardware store. Long before it was Contractors Warehouse, this was Grossman’s Lumber. And back then, the garden department was run by a Santa Barbara native named Daniel Gallardo—a man who would later become known throughout the world as Tiki Diablo. Sadly, Tiki Diablo passed away on February 5, 2026, and this video is a small tribute filmed from the very place where his journey began—before he took the leap into carving tiki full-time. Danny was a gifted tiki carver, tiki mug designer, and tiki bar builder, known across the global Tiki community for his eye for the exotic and his rare ability to bring it vividly to life. From hand-carved tiki statues and mugs to a full tiki bar design and a line that was produced and distributed nationwide by Home Depot, his work reached far and wide. Today, his carvings live in tiki bars across the country, and his mugs sit in some of the most exclusive collections around the world. Some viewers may also recognize Dani from the Discovery Channel TV series Blue Collar Backers, where he designed and built the Undertow Tiki Bar in Phoenix, Arizona. The bar was constructed on the lower level of a coffee shop housed inside a converted former Jiffy Lube, using the very pit where mechanics once stood while working beneath cars. Dani transformed that industrial, grease-stained space into a fully immersive tiki environment—another perfect example of his ability to see possibility where others saw limitations, and to turn the unexpected into something truly transportive. I knew Danny both online and in person. Like many creative people, we once had a brief public disagreement, but we spoke directly—man to man—and left it behind with a good, honest conversation and no hard feelings. I’m grateful for that. I’ve included a photo of myself and Danny alongside renowned urban archaeologist and author Sven Kirsten, taken by my friend and photographer Jochen Hirschfeld (also known as Van Hagen). The photo was captured during one of those legendary nights at Tiki-Ti in Silver Lake, a place where serious tiki devotees gather—especially when Sven or Van Hagen are in town. Danny’s passing has sent shockwaves through the tiki community, and his loss is deeply felt across the entire Tiki culture. And in true daily-vlog fashion, there’s a small moment of serendipity woven in as well: while I was here to pay tribute, I also needed to pick up a pruning saw. The blade I grabbed—completely by chance—was branded “Diablo.” A random, unexpected, and oddly perfect nod to my friend and a tiki carving legend who once worked right here! Sometimes places remember people, even when we’re not expecting them to.