B and I were walking thru the spectrum when we started to notice the amount of people walking around in blankets… sleeping bags along the parking structure…. people camping out. How could I have forgotten about New Moon opening?

New Moon has already broken records for presale tickets.  What always surprises me is the mixed audience.

According to these ladies (who kindly let me lurk around them) the people at the front of the line got there at 8:30 am!

They had been in line since 6:30 pm and they had quite the layout.  Do you see the luminaries?

See more of the New Moon mania after the jump…

Lets take a closer look at those handmade luminaries….

They were set out in a circle around their group.  Prepared with chairs, blankets, coffee, snacks and magazines these ladies were waiting the 5 1/2 hours until opening in as much comfort as possible.

I apologize now for the craptastic pictures… its either blown out with flash or blurry without.

In line I saw men, women and lots of teenage girls.  Mother and daughter cuddled up together watching something on a laptop sitting next to a circle of girls stretched out on blankets reading books and playing games.

I almost forgot the candies!  Provided by the same lovely ladies with swanky set up…

Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?  Ummmm…. Team Edward.  The question took me by surprise and I stuttered my answer.  But it seems to have been a good one because I got the reward of these candies.

Each has a picture on the front and a saying from the book on the sides.  As I was taking a picture of them someone brushed by me and called me a freak.    It made me laugh.

Do I have a point?  Not really.  This much anticipated movie has a huge fan base and there definitely was excitement in the air outside the theatre.  I can only imagine the cheering when the curtain rolls up.

That blur in the middle is a man trying to dodge my camera.  Excuse me sir, I’m here to retrieve your man card.  I believe he was just dropping off provisions but I’m not quite sure.

I’m really curious to find out the numbers New Moon pulls in this weekend.  Tell me, have you seen the movie?   Have you read the book?

Its that time of year when the air is cold enough for an outdoor ice skating rink in Irvine Spectrum!

Well, maybe its not cold out but that isn’t stopping Irvine Spectrum from starting in on the holiday cheer.

Located in front of the ferris wheel is the annual ice skating rink.  Check here for schedules and pricing.  I’m happy to annouce they are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas and will be open every other day from now until January 17th.

This is the only outdoor skating rink in Orange County so be sure to stop by!

There is no doubt that now is the time to support local independent businesses.

Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival happens twice yearly and its happening this Sunday.

You’ll find handmade goods from local vendors including: clothing, accessories, home goods, affordable art and more.  What festival would be complete with out good food and drink… and music!

So support your local vendors and give unique gifts this holiday season!

The festival will be held in Santa Anas Museum District near Bowers Museum.
2022 North Main Street
Santa Ana 92706
Sunday November 15 from 11-5 pm

For those of you that haven’t already been out there.. the Hurley Warehouse sale is going on now!

Items are running from 50%-75% off!

Also, rumor has it that the sale will be running next Wed-Sat and perhaps the following weekend.

November 13th: 12 pm- 8 pm

November 14th:  9 am- 3 pm

2323 Main Street, Irvine 92614

Cash, Visa, Mastercard and American Express Accepted.

Get some of that holiday shopping done!

Camaro and a Transformer from the movie.

Love them cars and auto shows.  The OC Auto Show is one of my favs as it is small enough you can see it in one afternoon and still have seen it all.  The other nice thing about it is that it isn’t all concept cars so you have plenty of opps to kick tires, slam doors and sit in your favorite cars.  Well, mostly you can do that.  The exotics are still behind bars where you can only ogle them and lust deeply in your heart for a chance to place your rump in them and imagine the pure enjoyment of running one through the gears.

Probably the most popular showcase was the Transformer Camaro.  At that little spot people are qued up 20-30 deep waiting for their turn for a quick pick in front of the group.  On the sidelines were people equally deep trying to sneak in their own pic without the line.  What ever if you don’t mind other people in the pic with your loved one if it works for you it works for me.

Acura ZDX Production Premier car.

This years show had a few surprises.  The debut of the new Toyota 4Runner was a packed around stage, so bad you couldn’t really get to it.  Ditto the production premiere of the new Acura ZDX which was set aside in its own protective shell with a lounge to discuss purchase with the ever present sales reps.

Several manufacturers had “you drive ‘em” cars available.  Yes, you got to drive them, with a factory rep after you handed over your DL as proof of age and signed enough waivers.  Ford had its 2011 Fiesta Prototypes you got to drive around the block.  Mazda had a much bigger route around the convention center where you got to see how well a variety of their cars handled real world driving conditions.  Toyota did similar only they had a test track set up with cones, obstacles and rough road simulations where you got to see how well their cars handled.  Too bad the real world isn’t the same as the simulated one.  Regardless all three are worth the 20 minute ques for a test drive or two, or three.

Brabaus Smart Car with Smart Madness.com mods.

Obligatory Bugatti Veyron to legitimize the show.

Snark alert: not enough seating in the food courts had too many of us having impromptu picnics on the carpet.

Today is the last day of the OC Auto Show over at the Anaheim Convention Center.  The show runs until 7PM tonight and well worth the cost of admission in my not so humble opinion.

All pics by me and to get bigger with a click.  More in my flicker set.

We visited on October 2, and luckily, it wasn’t too crowded and the weather was just right.  My son, dressed in his “most intimidating knight costume we were able to find on the internet” was of course, extremely excited to be there.

When we entered the park, we were handed some trick-or-treat bags and right away, Disney gets you into the ahem, spirit of things.  The giant sun wheel above the fountain had cool light projections on it, and it presided over a fun, DJ’d dance party.  Also entertaining were the whirling projections being cast on the ground, which all the kids were either sort of freaked out by, or jumping on.  There wasn’t really a whole lot of in-between. 

Treat stations were set up all over the park, and the lines for some were quite long, but the staff tried their best to keep the times down.  And to be sure, the candy and treats were first-rate.  Normally my son would sort of scoff at raisins as a Halloween treat, but they were packaged in some very cool Cars-themed boxes, so that made up for it.

It was great to see all the families dressed up in their costumes, many of them going as a theme.  There was a family of Incredibles, a father and son who were Woody and Buzz respectively, and even some caveparents with their kids as dinosaurs.  I really enjoyed seeing everyone being so happy and enthusiastic, seeing as how Halloween is pretty much my favorite holiday.

Even though the fireworks show is held in Disneyland, it’s still possible to see quite a bit of it from California Adventure if you’re in the right place.  Just as a heads up, some of the rides in the park are still being renovated.  But, the best one is of course operational, and that would be Toy Story Mania.

So, I recommend getting some advance tickets (save yourself some money!) and have a great time!

For the 6th year OCC will be hosting the Children’s Book Festival. I will totally be going to this festival. It doesn’t matter that I’m 30 years old and don’t have any kids of my own.

There will be authors, illustrators, exhibitors and entertainers. There will also be face painting, a petting zoo and train rides for those not so into books. This will be a book lovers dream… OK a kids book lovers dream.

Sunday, October 4th, 2009
9:30 AM- 4:30 PM

This is Disney at its best people. If you haven’t gotten out to the park to see it, then you’re really missing out!

Tonight is the start of the 31st Annual Taste of Greece Festival at St. Pauls Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine.

There will be food, food and more food along with cooking demonstrations, carnival rides, games, music, boutiques, greek dancing lessons and a raffle. You could win 7 days in Athens or you could munch on a gyro and enjoy the entertainment.

Admission in $3, children under 10 for free
Located on 4949 Alton Parkway, Irvine
Friday: 5-10 pm
Saturday: 12-10 pm
Sunday: 12-9 pm

PA’ME NA’ FA’ME!

Actually, I’m waaay late with this, as the actual Oktoberfest began on Sept. 6, and will run through November 1.  But, there’s still plenty of time to get your beer on.

Head on down to Old World in Huntington Beach for some traditional Oktoberfest fun, including Beer Pong.  Wait, did I say traditional?

Forget traditional, go with whatever works, says I.  No worries, there are plenty of old skool Oktoberfest shenanigans, including the Chicken Dance.  Who can resist the Chicken Dance?  Or even if somehow you can possibly resist actually doing it, watching drunken people attempt the Chicken Dance is usually worth the price of admission, for which, by the way, there is a coupon on the site for five bucks off.  There is also a Kinderfest for the little ones held on Sundays, go to the site to print out a coupon for free admission to that.

So, go help out financially struggling Old World, a classic slice of Orange County schmaltz, and toss down a beer today!