Waning Moons

Apparently this weekend was the annual "Mooning the Amtrak" event at a local bar located along the tracks in Laguna Niguel. Last year's festivities drew 9,000+ participants and caused so much trouble the Sheriff's Department decided to clamp down hard this year. While heading to the mall yesterday we saw a big police presence in the area and it was clear they weren't interested in messing with a bunch of drunks:

Outgoing grandmas and beefed-up Harley-Davidson riders were among a few hundred people today who waved their bare derrieres to the trains roaring by the Mugs Away Saloon for the annual Mooning of Amtrak and Metrolink.

Somewhere between 8,000 to 10,000 people participated last year, when officers witnessed sex acts, urination, and defecation in public – prompting the shutdown of the event for the first time in its history.

More law enforcement this year meant fewer mooners.

Dozens of officers on foot, three-wheeled battery-powered vehicles, horseback, motorcycles, bikes, and patrol vehicles were watching nearby aiming to curb illegal behavior.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department towed away three vehicles but made no arrests as of 3 p.m., said spokesman Jim Amormino. By 5 p.m., OCSD officers had left the area without making any arrests, said Lt. Jim England.

“The crowds have been very mellow. I didn’t see any major violations – public drunkenness or anything,” Amormino said. “It’s nothing like last year.”

Mark Doyle, 55, of Laguna Niguel held up a sign protesting the extra presence of officers as he waited under the shade of a tree to moon the trains. He wrote in orange marker, “This is not Iran. Civil Liberties.”

“It’s getting to be that you can’t have fun anymore,” said Doyle. “I think the problem is that the county is mad no one is making any money.”

Last year he brought a cooler full of Miller Light and New Castle beer. This year he had a cooler full of San Pellegrino juice.

Janice Sparks, of Lake Forest, 75, has never missed the opportunity to witness the event. She remembers when there was no chain link fence or hillside homes on the other side of the tracks.

“Conductors used to vie for this run,” Sparks said. “Passengers and employees on the train would moon the mooners.”

She said the presence of officers is “absolutely too many.”

Last night to escape the heat we decided to take a little outing to the Fullerton Spaghetti Factory via Metrolink. We got on in Laguna Niguel, a mile or so below the aforementioned bar. There was a Sheriff's command post set up in the parking lot at the train station, and parking was restricted to only three rows. I guess they were trying to keep the riff-raff from parking there and walking down to the bar.

There were parking restrictions all along the road that leads to the bar, and many patrol officers keeping an eye on things. When the train passed the official mooning zone there were maybe 20 people there displaying their shortcomings. Some of the people on the train were actually disappointed.

I can think of a lot of better things to do than show my butt to passing trains.

I'd rather look at stuff like this, which I took at sunset after dinner at the Fullerton station:

While waiting for our train back to Laguna Niguel we were treated to the "Battle of the Bands With No Perceivable Talent". Several garage bands were playing at the little cafe next to the pedestrian bridge. The first one I heard featured a female "singer" who didn't even have a passing acquaintence with the musical tool known as a "key signature". The second featured various guitar and vocal mutilation, including a form of yelling that Democrats would probably associate with waterboarding. The third was just hopelessly loud, apparently hoping to numb the crowd to their obvious musical incompetence.

If the Sheriff's were looking for something to stop, they should have gone to the Fullerton train station.