Better late than never. SeaWorld is the last of the major theme park companies in the California and Florida markets to announce it will close in response to concerns about Coronavirus / COVID-19. All SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment locations will close effective end of business… Read More »SeaWorld announces it will close all parks in response to Coronavirus concerns
Papers have been filed in Orange County, CA to start work on a new 700-room luxury hotel at the Disneyland Resort. The Orange County Register was the first to report that the hotel will be situated on 10 acres where the Downtown Disney short term… Read More »Disneyland to build new luxury hotel
Just a few days ago, I was recounting the wonderful walking tour of Disneyland’s Dark Water system that Disney fan BBS owner John Clark used to offer (back when Disneyland security didn’t mind if you took a small group on a personal tour through the… Read More »How the California drought is affecting Disneyland
All it took was one non-vaccinated guest exposed to measles who visited Disneyland while they were infectious, but before symptoms developed, to create an outbreak that infected 131 people in California and dozens of others in at least seven other states, plus Canada and Mexico.… Read More »California declares Measles Outbreak that originated at Disneyland over
It’s like the B-movie villain that just won’t die, Disneyland just can’t escape the clutches of the Measles outbreak. It started in late December when a guest who carried the disease visited the park. Since then, dozens of cases have popped up tied to that… Read More »Disneyland Measles Outbreak Spreads to Cast Members
The Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn’t the only Disney movie to have a new trailer drop during the College Football National Championship, Disney’s 2015 sports feel-good movie McFarland, USA also had a new trailer.
I’ll admit that looks much better than I thought it would be. Kevin Costner can always be counted to put in a solid performance in movies like this and, while the formula may look familiar, the story isn’t.
What did you think?
Full plot Synopsis below the jump:
Read More »McFarland USA Trailer, a promising feel-good sports film from Disney
Disneyland’s Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage official reopened from a long refurbishment on September 27th. To accomplish the updates to the attraction’s scenes, rockwork and coral over 5 million gallons of water were drained from the lagoon. If you’re thinking that seems like a giant waste… Read More »Disneyland’s Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Lagoon an example of good water management
A Note on Sources
The following article is based primarily on documents on file with the Superior Court of California, County of Orange in the case of The People of The State of California vs. Larry James Allred and Robert Edward Smyrak, 11NF1191.
My research in these was supplemented by telephone interviews with the defense attorneys involved (I thank them for taking the time to speak with me); law enforcement press releases; public record searches; and, in a few instances, previous media reports from reputable news-gathering organizations such as the Los Angeles Times.—Mike Bastoli
S
eptember 29, 2011 was not a good day for Robert Edward Smyrak. At 8:00 AM in Courtroom N3 of the North Justice Center in Fullerton, California, the 52-year-old Anaheim man appeared before Judge Nicholas Thompson of the Superior Court of California, Orange County to receive his sentence.
Smyrak, who goes by Bob, was pleading guilty to one count of felony trademark infringement. The penalty, at least as paper, would be one year in jail, three years probation, plus restitution. In truth, because of overcrowding in California’s prisons, he would serve out his sentence entirely at home, through supervised house arrest. But it was still, to be sure, an unfortunate turn of events for the IT operations manager whose most serious prior conviction was for using a cell phone behind the wheel.
Smyrak’s journey into California’s madhouse corrections system had begun, at least in earnest, in the early days of 2010, with a little help from a friend, Larry James Allred, then aged 56 and a resident of nearby Walnut.
Read More »Junk Metal: Inside the California Disney Pin Counterfeiting Bust