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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Amtrak riders given annual thrill |
| 2006-07-12 |
| Hundreds of people bare their behinds to them in the 27th mooning of trains. LAGUNA NIGUEL - Dismiss them if you like, but these people baring their behinds to passing trains are your neighbors, your children's teachers, your attorneys, your policemen, your World War II veterans and yes, even your mothers! My brother lives in Laguna Niguel. I wonder if he's down there? Once they were a bunch – a small bunch – of crazies. Now they are a nation. You had ladies from the Red Hat Society standing next to members of the Hessians motorcycle gang, standing next to a group of nudists, standing next to a 70-year-old (normally sedate) mom standing next to an avowed libertarian. All laughing, chatting and waving. With their pants down. And their behinds up against a chain-link fence every time an Amtrak train passed. "It's the greatest feeling in the world," said Robin Felton, 52, of Anaheim, a manager for ICC in Cerritos. "I pay my taxes. I follow the laws. I pay the high gas prices. This is my one day to say, 'I live with it, but you know what guys? Here. Have a little of it back. Here's to everything I don't like.' " Legend has it that this all began as a dare 27 years ago in the Mugs Away Saloon on Camino Capistrano. Patron K.T. Smith vowed to buy a drink for anyone who'd join him mooning the train across the street. A handful did. A tradition was born. On Saturday, that handful had grown to an estimated 5,000 people. Kids sold lemonade. Motor homes raised American flags, tiki torches flared and smoke issued from barbecue pits. Rock bands drove in from Vegas,. Vendors hawked jewelry and T-shirts from booths. Nobody organizes this thing. Nobody promotes it. "It's an amazing group of people," said Christine Anderson, manager of Mugs Away Saloon. "From World War II vets to Korean and Vietnam vets to currently enlisted men, to policemen, firemen and U.S. Customs. There are generations of families here." Not to mention women like Wanda Brace, 66, of Anaheim, a queen mother of the Red Hat Society – known more for tea parties than moon parties. "It's just pure fun – and losing one's inhibitions," said Brace, who wondered aloud if her Anaheim chapter might get expelled for its actions. No matter. After the third train mooning, she turned and mooned the crowd. "You wouldn't believe how many people have stopped and asked to take our picture," she said. "We're just older ladies out having fun like them. There's not that much difference between us." By noon Camino Capistrano was packed with pedestrians. Each distant whistle would evoke the shout of "Train!" Followed by another. Followed by cheers and a swelling of the crowd toward the hurricane fence: Those propped up against it, waiting. And those watching, cameras held high. Many trains slowed as they passed. Passengers waved and snapped pictures. A few mooned back, according to those at the fence. For some, this was a first-time experience. "It's something you have to do before you die," said Ronni Armstrong, 70, a retired loan broker who drove from Sun City without telling her kids. For others, it was long tradition. Attorney Charlene Dryer, 59, of Newport Beach attended the very first Amtrak mooning 27 years ago and returned Saturday for "good, clean fun." Mooning is not condoned in public, yet not really harmful, many said, making it just rebellious enough to unite them. A backward nation maybe, but a nation nonetheless. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #2 http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_1207104.php |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-07-12 11:11 |
| #1 Link is bad :(( Where's the pictures? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-07-12 11:06 |