Sunday, November 16, 2008

IHOP, Please Hold the Kraut Hate!


Why is it that when it comes to ethnic stereotypes, no one every objects when Germans are targets? Whip wielding or goosestepping Nazis or fat beer and streudel consumes, people seem to have no fun making fun of them, even the arbiter of taste Benny Hill with his running gag about "die Schöne Mädchen mit die Grosse Titzen."

Bryce Digdug often makes references to Torrance's Alpine Village which in on one of the flattest spots in southern California. I need to add it to my list of outrageous SOCAL sites the next time I am there. When I visited last month, my heart ached as I whizzed by both the Crystal Cathedral and the TBN fairytale castle TV headquarters and did not have time to stop to take photos and a tour. We'll always have Precious Moments Gardens and Chapel...

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9 Comments:

At 8:20 AM, Blogger ArtSparker said...

It's an interesting statement on longing (on beyond kitsch) , when there is an Alpine Village in a flat part of Southern California.

 
At 8:30 AM, Blogger Squirrel said...

Isn't there some Scandinavian village near Santa Barbara? Solvang or something like that? Stopped there once, it was so -- as bad as "South of the Border/ Pedroland" in the Carolinas!

 
At 8:32 AM, Blogger Squirrel said...

I can't believe Pedroland still exists

http://www.pedroland.com/parkland.html

 
At 8:33 AM, Blogger Squirrel said...

sorry to keep commenting but I just saw this on the pedroland site:

" pedro has sometheeng for every juan, from ferris wheels to miniature golf."

 
At 8:40 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Artsparker - I think the greatest longing I get when in Orange County is to leave is soon as possible.

Squirrel - Thanks (or maybe not) for introducing me to Pedroland. Too bizarre for even Orange County. I wonder if they have "Vote for Pedro" t-shirts.

 
At 10:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, Alpine Village is "fondly known as 'The Little City from the Alps', not in them. Maybe aliens uprooted it from the vicinity of St. Moritz or something and plopped it down within view of the Del Amo mall.

 
At 10:46 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Huntington - KQED Forum is airing a show about art treasures being raided from Egypt, Peru, et. al. by the Met, Louvre and other museums. Perhaps the Germans should demand that the Alpine Village be returned. I've also seen one in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

 
At 11:09 PM, Blogger Joe said...

Squirrel: I'm within spitting distance of Solvang "Danish Village." I ate one of the worst meals of my life there, though I realize that doesn't necessarily mean it did a bad job of replicating Danish cuisine. I remember thinking it was cute (and trés international) when my seventh-grade teacher in New Jersey showed us a slide show from her trip there.

As for South of the Border -- they have (or had) the modern-day equivalent of Burma Shave billboard advertising throughout the Carolinas. Not to be missed.

 
At 9:53 AM, Blogger Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

Joe - I've made it to Solvang a few times when in your area. Surreal. But that site for Pedroland is beyond belief.

 

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