Regional notes plus Web design ideas | Design Orange County | Orange County news and events plus web design

by Boss | May 3, 2012

The Matterhorn rises anew

Disneyland just finished the biggest renovation of the Matterhorn ride since it opened 53 years ago. The official unveiling happens June 15.

The Matterhorn at Disneyland, Anaheim, Orange County

Photo thanks <a href="http://ocresort.ocregister.com/2012/05/03/matterhorn-getting-most-extensive-rehab-ever/111819/">OC Register</a>

We grew up in Orange County not far from Disneyland and the park was a part of our lives. While it was the destination of dreams for kids (and pro athletes), it was our backyard and we relished any opportunity to be blase about it when relatives and friends came to town — smug brats that we were. When we were in high school, Disneyland was a hangout and date spot.

You could always see the Matterhorn from the freeway and it was always a thrill to know you were almost there. As Anaheim has grown up around the park, the mountain is less visible these days, sadly. But since January, you could see the scaffolding as the renovation continued.

The Matterhorn was never the biggest and baddest thrill ride in the area. But it has always had its special charm and a special place in the hearts of those of us who have been fortunate enough to call Disneyland home. Come June, it may be time to climb into those bobsleds one more time.

The Orange County Register has a great article about the history of the ride and its recent rehabilitation with graphics, photos, and video.

And here is a related video:

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by Boss | March 12, 2012

Sheriff’s blotter San Clemente

Orange County's fifth sheriff, Charles E. Ruddock (1911-1915), is third from left, front row, with his staff in 1914. Ruddock, the former Fullerton town marshal, led the charge at the Tomato Springs Shootout of December 16, 1912, which took the life of his undersheriff, Robert Squires. (See elsewhere on this Web page.) Squires was the first Orange County Sheriff's Department lawman to be killed on duty. The woman in the front row left probably was a jail matron, but she has been discounted as being a member of the Lacy family. Several tentative identifications have been made: The man standing, upper left, could be "Merle Dean." The man fourth from left, standing, could be a "Boynton," while the man at far right, standing, might be "R. Hurd."

Thanks to the Orange County Sheriff’s Museum & Education Center

The OC Register shows recent Sheriff’s Department reports from San Clemente from the Sheriff’s Department blotter.

Yesterdays’s reports included:

About five youths threw oranges at passing motorists.

A woman said her sister choked her during an argument about a smoothie.

A woman said she was arguing with her boyfriend, a parolee who was imprisoned for 20 years for manufacturing drugs. She also said he had a “pocket full of drugs.”

A caller said feces was placed on outdoor patio furniture.

A taxi driver said two men and a woman were brawling on the street. 1:22 a.m.

To be honest, I don’t know why I find this interesting. In all seriousness, you have to feel for the sheriffs having to deal with these kinds of things day in and day out.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Museum & Education Center honors them with a great website, full of old photos and history, information about the building of the museum, and more.

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Tagged as crime, OC, San Clemente, sheriffs

by Boss | January 2, 2012

A new year and a great parade

They say that when the world watches the Rose Parade and game on TV, California’s population spikes soon thereafter. Some just can’t resist the lure of the stunningly beautiful weather that graces us every year at about this time. Unable to find any statistics on this spike, I am left to think it may be just some urban myth I’ve always believed. But when the nations’s greatest parade takes place in 80 degree weather, it is certainly a plausible myth.

Today’s parade was not on New Year’s Day because there is a longstanding tradition that the if January 1 falls on a Sunday, the Tournament of Roses Parade takes place on the next day. The tradition originated in the 19th century so as to avoid scaring the many horses tethered outside churches along the parade route. The Rose Bowl game also moves to January 2 when the 1st is on a Sunday but that is to avoid competing with the NFL — not quite as interesting a tradition as the parade’s.

Occupy was at the parade but did not interfere with it. Some griped at them and others cheered their presence. The occupiers were lawful and respectful and there were no incidents reported.

The L.A. Times has a great photo gallery of the parade, two of which are shown above and were shot by the excellent photographer Allen J. Schaben. The rest of the Times gallery is here.

And if you are from somewhere else other than Southern California and the views of beautiful Southern California entice you — please come visit and stay. In spite of what you may hear, there is still plenty of room for you.

Happy 2012.

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Tagged as Pasadena, Rose Parade, Southern California, weather

by Boss | December 4, 2011

We mourn the loss of the Cook Historic Barn

A view of the Cook Historic Barn in San Juan Capistrano before the fire which ravished it Thursday morning.

The big old red Cook Historic Barn has been there forever, part of the San Juan Capistrano landscape. And now it is gone, or nearly so, taken by fire Thursday morning. Some of the structure still remains but it appears that it will have to be torn down. It may be rebuilt but there is no way of replacing this beautiful, graceful old structure built in the 1890s by ~~Russell Cook~~ Rudolphus Ball Cook, father of C. Russel Cook.

Cook and his family moved to the area in 1868, buying the land close to where the barn now stands. (The city of San Juan actually moved the barn 100 yards many years to accommodate the construction of a senior care home nearby.) 30 years later, he built the barn.

Cook has also been credited with founding the San Juan Fire Department — the same department which had to answer the emergency call on Thursday.

The moving of the barn put it closer to Del Obispo Street and thus more visible for those who drove by it every day. Right there by the farmlands, the senior home, the Farm to Market grocery, and the elementary school fields, the barn always elicited a sense of the past that was comforting and familiar. When visitors were in town, I usually made a point of driving by it.

In college, a good friend was working on a project for her photography class and I accompanied her on a day long photo shoot featuring the Cook Barn.

The barn may be rebuilt. The Cook family still owns it and indeed, a few of them had been living in the barn at the time of the fire while the interior of the barn was being converted to a home.(None of them were hurt by the fire and apparently, even the animals escaped harm.) But a rebuilt structure won’t be the same, of course.

Only photos and our memories remain now.

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by Boss | November 14, 2011

Monday afternoon website design inspiration

As much as I like clean and simple, often websites have a lot that needs to be shown on the home page. It can be a tough task to make a page that is packed with content and yet uncluttered. Here are some approaches that inspire me.