The "Chic" of Araby: Ali Baba Motel

It is a great feeling to be traveling mindlessly down the streets of suburban Southern California one minute and in a split second be transported to the arid climes of the Mideast.  Standing sentry over Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa, CA, the Ali Baba Motel is the stuff of myth and legend, making every visitor feel like the chicest Sheik (or Sheba) of Araby!

Ali Baba Motel - Costa Mesa, CA
Mr. Tiny, the Sheik of Failure at self-portraiture

The gleaming golden dome and the mini minarets remind drivers that California is still the land of fruits and nuts (dates and pistachios, naturally), famous for it's brilliant, if altogether anachronistic, architecture.

A view of the dome from the interior courtyard.
Don't you love the atmospheric creeping vine and those aluminum sun covers?!!
The funny part about the Ali Baba (and most roadside motels of a similar vintage) is how
 with just a few cosmetic changes the entire theme could so easily change.  Imagine the
 Capitol Dome Motel; do you think there is a sister motel in the DC area?

The magic is really in the details (like this exterior tile) that are probably
 easier to change than to maintain.  Fortunately, the Ali Baba remains
 mostly intact, setting it apart from the many themed motels that have
 been changed over the years from magic Arabian palaces to just boring,
beige Best Westerns.

A view of the oasis pool through the geometric, Islamic-style screen.
Spaces like this help me dream of really awesome 60's soirees
that are equal parts I Dream of Jeannie and The Party.

Like many of its mid-century, themed counterparts, the Ali Baba has definitely seen better days and more prestigious clientele.  Odds are that plenty of pipe smoking occurs on the premises but I think one would be hard pressed to find a proper hookah.  Moreover, I'm pretty convinced that it is the official hideout of the original forty thieves.  Nevertheless, we can dream of the Ali Baba's glory days; if I found a magic lamp it is more than likely that I'd commit one wish to seeing the Sultan's Suite (there certainly has to be a deluxe room called the "Sultan's Suite," doesn't there?) as it was in 1965.

This is how Mr. Tiny sees himself at the Ali Baba Motel.
Just the hookah, the harem, and the Sheik of Araby.

"The Sheik of Araby" - Spike Jones & His City Slickers

Do you have any wacky tacky, themed motels in your area?  What's the funniest motel in which you've stayed?

Ali Baba Motel

2250 Newport Blvd

Costa Mesa, CA

(949)645-7700

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

wacky tacky Tunes: Holiday for Strings

Do you have a song that is "your song?"  I don't mean a song for you and your steady; I mean an anthem just for you, a personal alma mater, the lead song on the soundtrack to your life.  Call me strange, but I feel like my life has been scored by a great composer.  Even when times are tough, when every song is written in a minor key, and when Chopin's "Funeral March" seems the most thematically-appropriate, music is ever present.  

  

Chopin's "Funeral March"

It is during those difficult phases when it is absolutely imperative to remind myself that a single-note soundtrack would never work and I look to the overriding tone of my soundtrack - joy, excitement, and an irrepressible weirdness.  I've always known that wacky tacky had a theme song because it is the very theme song for Mr. Tiny's life.

(Source)

"Holiday for Strings" - David Rose & His Orchestra (1944)

"Holiday for Strings," one of the most famous works by legendary Hollywood composer, David Rose, has always made me happy.  To some it is understandably frantic, odd, and maybe even annoying.  To me, it is euphonious ecstasy.  I am encouraged and inspired by the song's obvious optimism and bolstered by the brightness of its carefree motif.  It is a fact that I have never met a version of "Holiday for Strings" that I did not like.

"Holiday for Strings" - Spike Jones & His City Slickers

"Holiday for Strings" - Living Strings

"Holiday for Strings" - The Lawrence Welk Show (1978)

Perhaps my very favorite arrangement of "Holiday for Strings" is one in which strings ironically play a very incidental role.  

"Holiday for Strings" - The Voices of Walter Schumann

It is no small wonder that my theme song was penned by the same genius who wrote one of my other favorite songs (tracks 3, 5, and 9 on "wacky tacky: The Life & Times of Mr. Tiny" the original cast album) - "The Stripper."

"The Stripper" - David Rose & His Orchestra (1957)

So the questions bears repeating.  Do you have a song that is "your song?"  If you were forced to create a soundtrack for your story, what would the lead song be?  As you ponder these questions, just hit repeat one more time, and imagine your own string-filled holiday.  If you're anything like me, you'll need/enjoy the pick-me-up!


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

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