Beary Tales, Fun Zone, Laguna Beach, etc.

Remember the Knott's Beary Tales dark ride in the Roaring '20s area of Knott's Berry Farm? Well, a few of the critters from that attraction are making a comeback. Read more about it on the Register's Around Disney blog. (The photo above shows "walk-around" versions of the bears in 1976.)
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I did my longest speaking engagement (so far) today at CSUF. I spoke for two hours on the history of Orange County, from pre-historic times to the end of WWII. Given more time, I could have brought it up through the current day. It seemed to be well recieved. If you have a historical group that would like to hear part or all of that talk, let me know. I'd hate for all that prep-time to only be good for one program. I also have a popular hour-long talk on Googie architecture, and a half-hour talk about the Orange County Archives. I prefer not to just be free luncheon entertainment for general interest groups, but if you have a group with an interest in local history, let me know.
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Ken at Outside The Berm has posted some swell old photos of Balboa's Fun Zone.
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While looking for photos of Laguna Beach "greeter" Eiler Larsen, I stumbed across a blog called Dumb Angel, featuring lots of great old images of Laguna Beach, Balboa and the Rendezvous Ballroom. (Semi-NSFW Warning: There is at least one photo of a nude girl among those Laguna photos.)