Will Catsup Bottle Summerfest return? July 10, 2007
Posted by Ron in Attractions, Events.1 comment so far
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Amanda St. Amand wandered over to the informal gathering this past weekend near the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle (it’s actually a water tower) in Collinsville, Ill., after the namesake’s annual festival was canceled several weeks ago.
In essence, the festival got the ax during a dispute between the nonprofit Downtown Collinsville group and the Catsup Bottle Fan Club.
Based on what I’ve heard from various sources, it sounds like both sides share at least a little blame for the festival’s cancellation. Egos trumped the common good to keep the festival going.
Paul Mann, Collinsville’s director of community development, said this to St. Amand about whether the festival will be revived in 2008:
“Who knows? It’s going to be up to the various entities. [...] It’s going to be based upon everyone managing to play nice.”
City of Rialto may tear down Orange Bowl July 10, 2007
Posted by Ron in Businesses.1 comment so far
The residents of Rialto, Calif., are tired of long-abandoned properties that attract vagrants, vandalism and weeds. Among the targeted “eyesores” are the Orange Bowl and an old Shell station along Foothill Boulevard, aka Route 66, reports the San Bernardino County Sun.
The current owner of the Orange Bowl says he has gained two retail tenants for the property and that it will be refurbished. However, the city prosecutor says the Orange Bowl will probably have to be demolished anyway just to bring it up to code.
On the outside, things look bad enough. New graffiti constantly appears no matter how many times walls are repainted and trash is all over the parking lot, which has weeds growing through the pavement.
Someone broke a hole in the side of the building barely big enough to crawl through. But that someone got inside.
“We’ll secure it. The next day they’ll just come back,” Hernandez said.
Inside, though, is much worse. It’s dark, smelly and full of waste. All the wood that made up the bowling lanes and metal in the building has been stripped. Part of the roof is burned out from a fire a few years ago. Pornography, drug paraphernalia, clothes and fast-food containers are piled up. There is even a tumbleweed inside that could be used for kindling.
In one of the tiny dark rooms is a painting. “Bless this home with happiness,” it says.
The Orange Bowl was closed “about two decades ago,” the story says.
“Route 66″ remix July 10, 2007
Posted by Ron in Music.2 comments
Here’s a video for a remix of Depeche Mode’s version of “Route 66.” The footage is all over the place, but it’s well-produced. There also is a clip near the end of the song’s original composer, Bobby Troup, performing.


