South of the Border

Everyone knows that if you travel south of the border in California, you are headed to Mexico, commonly just referred to as "South of the Border". What most people do not know is that if you travel south of the border in North Carolina on I-95, you end up at "South of the Border" in Dillon, South Carolina. We used to live just over 2 hours North of the Mexican border, so this "attraction" about 2 hours South of our new home takes on a special poignancy.

Don't think you can miss the place. Indescribably tacky billboards announce its approach for over 60 miles in either direction (picture a giant 3-D wiener with the phrase "You never sausage a place" and you will get the idea), and the skyline is indelibly blighted by the Sombrero Tower, dubbed by some as the "Eiffel Tower of the South".

"Pedro", the mascot of "S. O. B.", would have you believe you have arrived in little Mexico (Tijuana comes to mind, sort of, in a very bizarre Dixie kind of way). In fact, it's a wonderland of fun if you like pseudo-Mexican kitsch, terrible puns, carnival rides at Pedroland, giant fiberglass animals and shop after shop of cheap molded plastic garbage masquerading as toys, clothing and dinnerware. Let's just say that we wondered quietly why human rights groups haven't lobbied to shut the place down, and we weren't terrifically surprised that we didn't see a single person that looked remotely Mexican for miles in any direction. Perhaps they prefer not to shop at "El Drug Store".

Still, we were looking to stretch our legs, use the restroom and get a bite to eat, and South of the Border turned out to be a great place for the former, an adequate place for the second, and a regrettable place for the latter, despite our decidedly low standards at that point in our journey.

This most interesting locale proved to be a rather accurate caricature of what many Americans think of when they think border-town Mexico. That is a fact I find mildly embarrassing, having spent about 3 months of my life in Mexico over the years. To quote a caricature of American culture, "Aye Caramba!" Rather than attempting further description, I think I will let my camera do the talking.

White and Nerdy

In case there was any doubt, I am white and nerdy. What may not have been so clear is that "Weird Al" is my Homeboy. No really, my shirt says so.

The world is full of strangeness, and Weird Al Yankovic accounts for plenty of it himself. He was born in Downey, CA, (where I appeared in "Oklahoma" at the civic center) and grew up in Lynwood, which is a whole 15 miles from Whittier, where I grew up. The first music video I ever saw was "I'm Fat", his parody of then-cool Michael Jackson's "I'm Bad." The year was approximately 1988. I must say, I have never been much of an MTV aficionado, but that video remains among my favorites.

While I loved "I'm Fat" from the first viewing, and became aware of Al's existence back in the late 80's, and really enjoyed pretty much everything Al was written since, and lived in Southern California... I never managed to see Al until I moved to the Raleigh area and caught him on his current tour. Dan similarly has known of Al for years -- he recalls a classmate singing "Another one Rides the Bus" ages ago -- and never managed to see him perform.

The crowd, on the whole, was, well... white and nerdy. As Dan put it, there seemed to be a sub-set of the audience for whom Al was salvation and a justification for being. Al is quite a showman, and somehow even his old material still works. With the exception, perhaps, of "All about the Pentiums," which was still fun to watch, his parodies are timeless even where the originals are dated. "My new computer's got the clocks, it rocks
But it was obsolete before I opened the box
You say you've had your desktop for over a week?
Throw that junk away, man, it's an antique."

Dan appreciated different things about the concert itself than I did. He remarked on the number of strings on the Banjo Jim West played, and he identified all of the basses Steve Jay played. I just giggled over the lyrics and the way Al wooed the crown. Both of us admired the musicianship of the band -- playing every genre from polka to grunge to rap convincingly -- and the amazing way that Al manages to enthrall a crowd ranging in age from 6 to 60. Far from being a has-been, he has attracted a whole new generation of white and nerdy followers. Al and Steve Jay, the band bassist, were both gracious enough to meet and greet several of us after the show, and they signed my T-shirt.

I had a lot of fun. Dan remarked after the show that I was a "such a good wife" for buying him tickets. So, I think it was a winner!

For the record, we also ate dinner at Abyssinia, the Ethiopian restaurant in Raleigh. It's a bit of a hole in the wall, but the food was excellent, and the minimalistic decor featured several lovely Ethiopian Orthodox icons. We'll definitely be back there again... even if we are rather white and nerdy.