Sunday, October 25, 2009

The little old lady from Pasadena

When that song came on the radio this morning, it occurred to me that not that long ago, I didn't know where Pasadena was. I mean, I knew it was somewhere in California (after all, Canadians are pretty steeped in American cultural references), but now, not only do I know it's one of the oldest and nicest suburbs of L.A., I've actually been there. Further, when the song advises us "she's the terror of Colorado Boulevard", hey, I know where that is too! My understanding of American culture is thus measurably enriched, only five weeks into the adventure.

On the cross-continent drive here, at least a couple of times a day I'd see a turnoff for some town or another that I recognized the name of from pop culture... Lodi, Youngstown, Omaha and Boulder spring to mind.

The Los Angeles and Hollywood references are everywhere, of course. Next week, I'm planning to go visit MacArthur Park, to see what all that that sweet green icing melting down is all about. It's just down the street, and I heard it's a nice park, with a beautiful pond that supposedly was full of guns and knives when they temporarily drained it a while back.

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