Hey, I'm a Montreal-based writer/translator... I've written and self-published a few chapbooks that got some notice both locally and abroad. These include Dollar Days (a somewhat surreal account of my days as a retail ad copywriter), Mental Notes (a sometimes poignant, sometimes funny collection of anecdotes and memories), and the Montreal underground classic The Official St. Leonard Dictionary (a satirical dictionary and phrasebook of Italian-Canadian slang spoken in the Montreal borough of St. Leonard). First published in 1994, the Dictionary continues to be a cult item and was nominated for an Expozine (small press) Award in 2005.
I've also had a life-long fascination with mid-20th century Polynesian Pop/Tiki culture (a recently unearthed Super 8mm film that shows me goofin' around at a luau at the Miami Beach Hawaiian Isle Hotel in the mid-60s proves it!). In 1998, I finally decided to do something to express my interest in Polynesian Pop: I founded The Montreal Tiki Appreciation Society and its official newsletter, Mai Tai, which I published and distributed in Tiki hot spots worldwide from 1998 to 2005 (Mai Tai continues to exist in cyberspace at www.maitaionline.com). Since no one else was really covering the subject in Canada at the time, my fellow Tiki Society members and I became the authorities on Tiki in the Great White North, contributing information about Montreal-area Tiki culture (as well as our extensive research on such lesser-known subjects as New Jersey’s mid-century Tiki heritage) to publications including James Teitelbaum’s essential guidebook Tiki Road Trip.
These activities eventually led to a few guest appearances spinning vintage exotica on a Montreal radio show that also happened to be carried by LuxuriaMusic.com. I was first offered a weekly 15-minute “filler†show on LuxuriaMusic in early 2006, and this was eventually expanded to a one-hour program showcasing my tastes in vintage exotica and other musical obsessions… as well as my taste for exotic cocktails.
My other radio work includes scripts, features, and segments for CBC Radio (La Suite Royale, Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, etc.) and Sound Source Networks (The World of Nat King Cole, The Lounge King Show, etc.).
I've also created CD artwork and shot photos for Stan Ridgway’s live recordings The Ancient Town of Frankfurt and Call of the Northwest.
Contact info:
www.maitaionline.com
www.chapter-eleven.net
Thrifting for Tunes
Sundays, 6 p.m. pacific / 9 p.m. eastern
Playlists, cocktail recipes, and links can be found on-line at:
www.maunaloalounge.blogspot.com
