Southern California Model Railroad Group

"Paul Johnson" wrote

Southern Californians tend to be blind to their own stupidity from my experience living among them.

Don't look now, but your people seem to have their problems too.

fl@liner

"Paul Johnson" wrote

Right. And Mexicans are greasy, Muslims are religious fanatics, and blacks were happier as slaves, dancin' an' eatin' watermelon on de ol' plantation.

Good thinking.

On 10/28/2007 3:49 AM Paul Johnson spake thus:

Speaking as a "Northern" Californian[1], who should therefore be genetically predisposed to consider anyone down in SoCal to be a pop-culture-obsessed idiot, an overpaid movie star or a paparazzo, I must say your statement comes off as exceedingly ignorant. Even though I'd never want to live south, say, of Point Conception, it's stupid to generalize about a region with millions of people as you have.

"fl@liner" wrote

As Herb Caen, the late great San Francisco newspaper columnist once noted:

"The long-standing and bitter rivalry between San Francisco and Los Angeles would be so much more satisfying if only there were someone in Los Angeles who knew about it. Or cared."

As someone who grew up and went to college in the Bay Area and then migrated south in search of work, I can state that Caen hit it absolutely on the head.

That "rivalry" is all in the heads of Bay Area residents.

On 10/28/2007 6:11 PM P. Roehling spake thus:

Well, they *are* a rather provincial bunch, aren't they?

So how do SoCal hobby shops (let's say ones with train stuff) compare to Beige Area ones? Lots have closed around here, of course: to my mind, one of the best still is Franciscan Hobbies on Ocean near City College.

Unh hunh. Wait till we cut the water pipe.

On 10/28/2007 6:40 PM Steve Caple spake thus:

What're you talking about? Their (SoCal's) main pipe goes to the Owens Valley.

But we did kick their asses when they tried to ram through the Peripheral Canal ...

"Steve Caple" wrote

Ah. Then you won't cry when we come and take what we need afterwards.

Meanwhile, look up "dog in the manger".

Pete

"David Nebenzahl" wrote

Caen thought it was because San Franciscans have always had an inferiority complex in regard to the much larger -and still growing- entity to the south, whereas San Francisco cannot expand an inch -except vertically- without dredging up more of the bay to build on. (Turns out that wasn't such a good idea anyway.) He felt that since San Franciscans couldn't claim to be

(This explains why L.A. folks are nearly always fond of San Francisco, in much the same way a big sister is fond of her bohemian if slightly odd little brother, while San Franciscans continue to act snotty towards Angelinos.)

It's difficult for me to compare: I haven't been back to The City now for almost twenty years. But the retreat of hobby shops -train-oriented hobby shops in particular- is evident down here too. There are several really good ones still remaining in the area, with the Whistle Stop, Milepost 38, and Allied Trains probably being as good as anything in the Bay Area. But from the Inland Empire (nee the San Bernardino-Riverside area) it's a 40 minute drive -at best- to the closest one. There are simply none left to serve the millions of residents east of metropolitan Los Angeles.

Drat.

Pete

Riiiight. With a brigade of lowriders and special Venice Beach roller blade shock troops?

On 10/28/2007 10:14 PM Steve Caple spake thus:

So what're we[1] going to respond with: bunches of dykes on bikes, insolent punk bike messengers, and latte-drinking filthy-rich

Even though I think SF and LA are equally retarded for thinking that either is any less clueless than the other, I think you take some kind of moron prize for arguing that endless sprawl is a good idea.

On 10/29/2007 6:00 AM Paul Johnson spake thus:

I assume you're referring to SoCal (primarily Los Angeles County), correct?

It's equally moronic to blame the sprawl that we all know exists down there on the people who live there, at least as individuals. It's not as if they all decided to move there to add to urban sprawl by moving there, each and every one as a conscious decision.

"Paul Johnson" wrote

Let me introduce you to a new phrase for your vocabulary: "Straw Man". It means the act of lying about what someone just said -or posted- and then drawing a conclusion based on your own lie. It's an act generally committed by either the witless or the Trollish, but in neither case does it commend the good judgment of the guilty party, because it's so painfully obvious.

To wit: nowhere did I say *anything* about the desirability of urban sprawl. Nor would I.

But at least your using the above tactic demonstrates why you dislike Californians so: they're nearly all a *lot* smarter than you.

Pity, that.