Thousands in Laguna Niguel Line Up to Give a Special Salute to Amtrak

I remembered too late that last Saturday was the date of the annual mooning of Amtrak in Laguna Niguel. I have a wife and kids -- I can’t just drop everything for an event these days, you know what I mean?

But several thousand other folks did line up along the chain-link fence for the salute throughout the day.

“There was a definite feeling of patriotism,” said John Kunik, owner of the adjacent Mugs Away Saloon (“Where the Tail Meets the Rail”).

And some of that patriotism was reflected in the artwork on the visitors’ posteriors. “The Stars and Stripes were out,” Kunik said.

The pants-dropping tradition dates back to 1979, when a regular at Mugs Away offered to buy drinks for all who mooned the next passing train. The number has risen every year (though the patron no longer buys drinks for all).

There’s even a PG-rated Web site (moonamtrak.org), which contains frequently asked questions. (Sample: “Must I moon or can I just watch?” Answer: “You can watch.”)

Already preparations are being made for July 10, 2004, the silver mooning anniversary.

Law enforcement and Amtrak haven’t bothered the mostly peaceful gatherers. And the city? “Laguna Niguel turns the other cheek,” Kunik said.

*

Unclear on the concept: Marita Horns of Santa Monica doubts if anyone would really consider “unsightly veins” attractive (see accompanying).

*

Unreal estate: I can’t keep track of all the new names of break-away communities in the San Fernando Valley -- especially the one mentioned on a Web site by one newcomer to the area (see accompanying).

I guess he might have meant Valley Village....

By the way, as Lisa Stone of Lakewood notes, it’s unlikely that one community in Yorba Linda will be known as Value Village at those prices (see accompanying).

Of course, its homes are in the low $100 millions.

*

Striking a blow against littering: Raymond Kissack of Santa Monica was in London when he noticed a none-too-subtle warning (see photo). I always wondered what the cricket-loving English did with American baseball bats.

*

Are folks in affluent Laguna Beach just a bit touchy? The Laguna News-Post said police received a complaint from a resident who “observed someone on the beach with a dog that was making the resident’s dog bark. She told police the dog on the beach was hidden by a blue umbrella.

“Police responded, but found nothing.”

We’ll keep you apprised of further developments.

*

miscelLAny: After I wrote about how I couldn’t part with my ’62 Ford Fairlane until the door started coming unhinged, Marlene Galloway of Cayucos wrote: “My husband, Jim, also ‘marries’ his cars.” In fact, she added, he held on to one model so long that someone left money under the windshield, apparently believing that poor Jim must be down on his luck to be driving such a heap.

*

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LA-TIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.