Best Bettes

Bette Midler had plenty to say Thursday about Orange County, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre and Laguna Beach, where she owns a house:

* “Orange County at last. It’s only taken me 20 years to get here. Well, time flies when you’re on Prozac.”

* “Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in the middle of (nowhere). It has always been my ambition to play next to a water slide.”

* “I’m an eco-warrior. I’m the queen of ‘Save Laguna Canyon.’ . . . (In Laguna,) the whole city recycles, so I’m very proud to be a part of that city. . . . I have a house down here. I don’t like to tell all my Democratic friends.”

* “I shot (the 1988 film) ‘Beaches’ down at Crystal Cove, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.”