It was 5 years ago today that the first and second posts were posted on blogging.la. The brainchild of Jason and Sean, it has now evolved into Metblogs as we know it now.
Congrats and thanks Sean and Jason!

Have a safe and happy holiday from all of us here at Orange County Metblogs!

Not only did this arse-hole park in a fire lane, he did so in front of the emergency room ambulance entrance. Way to go slick.

Fill it up!
The ARCO at El Toro Road and Moulton Parkway has regular gas for $1.97.
Anyone else seeing sub $2.00 gas? Where and how much?

Residents of the Box Canyon, Brush Canyon and North Fairmont-San Antonio areas of Yorba Linda that were affected by the fires have been issued a voluntary evacuation order due to possible mudslides from the coming rains. The LA Times is quick to point out that they were callled by the same reverse-911 system that failed to work properly during the actual emergency.

This from the article:

Residents are urged to use Thomas Lasorda Jr. Field House at 4701 Casa Loma Ave. as an evacuation shelter, if needed.

An evacuation hotline, (714) 628-7085, also went into effect this morning.

Stay safe out there, everyone!

You may remember my post from a while back about Newport Beach-based bank Downey Savings being on life support. Well, the plug was officially pulled, and time of death was called late in the afternoon on Friday November 22.

Federal regulators seized them, and according to the LA Times, all branches will still be open under the ownership of Minneapolis-based US Banks.

Like countless others, the real estate bubble is what did Downey Savings in.  The fallout continues, and it ain’t over yet.

While walking around on my lunch today, I happened to witness someone being asked to not take photos of the fountain by the Irvine Spectrum Center Security.

The photographer in question was arguing that they hand no right to enforce the rule and that it was a public place. The security guard countered with “…I can have you removed from the property.” The photographer and security guard exchanged a few more words and the security guard made said a couple things into his radio and the frustrated photographer walked away.
Then the security guard informed another photographer that they “can take pictures of their family, etc in front of the fountains, but not the fountains, fixtures, or storefronts by themselves.”
While I was able to take photos of the fountains previously without incident, all amateur and professional photographers should be aware that the Irvine Spectrum Center is enforcing this rule.

These statues are at the entrance to Foothill Ranch at the intersection of Alton Parkway and Portola Parkway. While they have been there for a while now, they have always kinda creeped me out.

They say to me obey, conform, consume, procreate, rinse, repeat. It is not just the stone faces, expressionless look, but also the postures and spacing of the people. It doesn’t really say family to me. I don’t think that was the intention, but it is the vibe myself and others I know get.
Click each picture for a larger version-What do you think?

Spotted this odd cavalcade outside the Ralph’s on Main and Chapman. Orange PD specialty unit motor home thing, followed by an OPD trailer, 6 motor officers, 3 cars and about a dozen officers (possibly
cadets) on foot. WTF??

The 18th annual Sawdust Festival starts this weekend in Laguna Beach and runs every weekend through December 14th. Saturday is the official kick-off, with a tree lighting ceremony at 5:30 p.m., plus free cookies and apple cider, choir and band performances, a balloon artist and, of course, Santa!

Featuring 175 crafters and one-of-a-kind gifts, the Festival also has low cost art lessons for kids and adults, demonstrations, entertainment, a kid-sized holiday themed fun house, and three cafes to satisfy your hunger during all that exhausting shopping.

There is an ArtisTree Ornament Fundraiser, which features original ornaments created by local artists, with proceeds from the sale going to the Art Education Fund.

And the best thing? Snow! Every day during the festival, snow will fall throughout the day in the Town Square. Time to turn the beach bunnies into snow bunnies, even if only for a day!

Deets:
Information Line (949)494-3030
Hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends only (open rain or shine)
Website