um hi

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Text mostly from the Los Angeles Times:

“The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum field is the place where two Summer Olympics were staged, and John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic presidential nomination [–convention at the sports arena I believe.]
It was also a location for “The Gangbang Girl #32,

” a hard-core pornographic movie that featured 40 minutes of group sex on the gridiron turf, The Times has learned.

The filming at the taxpayer-owned stadium was done at night, with the Coliseum’s towering lights blazing and its rows of distinctive red and white seats framing many of the scenes. The video also shows the stadium’s signature tunnel, which the team charges through at the start of games, as well as a sliver of the iconic peristyle, the arched entrance to the Coliseum.

“I was just in awe that we were at the Coliseum,” said a star of the film, who goes by the name Mr. Marcus.

“I’ve made movies for about 20 years and I’ve done a lot of things, but that one really stands out.… I mean, who gets to have sex on the Coliseum floor?”

Marcus said the football-themed footage was shot on a single night, including some non-explicit scenes filmed in a Coliseum locker room that did not make the final cut. The Coliseum is not identified by name in the video, which was made in 2001 and released in 2002. About half of the 90-minute movie was filmed elsewhere.

How the crew got permission to use the national historic landmark — which was built as a memorial to World War I veterans — is unclear. Attempts to reach a representative of the production company, Anabolic Video, were unsuccessful.

The Coliseum is jointly run by the city, county and state, which owns the land. A spokesman for the California attorney general’s office said Tuesday that he did not know if it is illegal to film pornography on state property. Agencies such as the California Department of Parks and Recreation prohibit porn shoots on properties they control.

Gaining access to the locked stadium and firing up the field lights typically requires the approval of a high-ranking manager, according to people familiar with Coliseum operations, who requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak publicly on the matter.

An attorney for the top Coliseum executive at the time the video was made said his client knew nothing about the production.

Some current commissioners, including county Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Mark Ridley-Thomas, were on the panel when the film was shot.

Yaroslavsky and Ridley-Thomas declined requests for an interview late Tuesday.

The plot of the movie, to the extent that it has one, revolves around a football team and a cheerleader.

The Anabolic logo is emblazoned on the jerseys the dozen or so performers wear — Marcus kept his as a souvenir — and on banners draped like bunting along the stands.

Marcus is a repeat winner of the annual Adult Video News Award, has been inducted into the X-Rated Critics Organization’s Adult Movie Hall of Fame and wrote the 2010 book “The Porn Star Guide to Great Sex” (St. Martin’s Press), which earns a three-star review on the Barnes & Noble website.

Before he joins in the film’s raunchier scenes, Marcus is depicted as a quarterback tossing warmup passes near the western end zone. He told The Times he remembered the movie was shot on a cool night starting about 7.

“We were probably there until 11 p.m.,” he said.

The movie’s credits say it was produced on Sept. 16, 2001, a Sunday, during football season.

Sitting in the warehouse-like office of his Van Nuys-based apparel company, Daddy Inc., Marcus recalled that a clearly marked Sheriff’s Department helicopter startled the cast when it appeared overhead in mid-shoot. The whop-whop of a chopper’s blades is heard in the movie.

Marcus said he remembered looking up and thinking: “There’s going to be, like, this intercom saying, ‘Hey, this is the … Sheriff’s Department, you guys must cease.’

“But none of that came. They just circled, like they were trying to see what was going on.”

Spokesmen for the Sheriff’s Department and Los Angeles Police Department, which has jurisdiction over the Coliseum, said they had no information about any 2001 pornography shoot there.

Marcus said the fact that the filming continued after the helicopter left convinced him that Anabolic must have had an official go-ahead to use the stadium.

“Honestly, when I started to shoot there, I thought, ‘How the hell did we pull this off? And does everyone know about it?'”

The performer had no apologies for people who might be angry that the movie may have tarnished the Coliseum.

“You can be mad all you want, but it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime types of opportunities,” he said.

[This happened about 10 years ago, but why now all the hubbub?!]

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Mostly from Wikipedia:

Pacific Ocean Park

was a twenty-eight acre, nautical-themed amusement park built on a pier at

Pier Avenue in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica, California, which was intended to compete with Disneyland.

“POP,” as it was soon nicknamed and pronounced,  was a joint venture between CBS and Santa Anita Park. It opened on Saturday, July 28, 1958 with an attendance figure of 20,000. The next day, the park drew 37,262 which handily outperformed Disneyland’s attendance figure that same day.

Like Disneyland, Pacific Ocean Park found corporate sponsors to share the expenses of some of the exhibits. Six of the pier’s original attractions were incorporated into the new park: The

Sea Serpent roller coaster, the antique carousel, the Toonerville Fun House, the Glass House, twin diving bells and much more.

Among a standard complement of carnival-style attractions and rides were the following:

Enchanted Forest/USS Nautilus Submarine Exhibit featured a 150-foot (46 m)-long model of the atomic reactor section of a submarine.

House of Tomorrow was themed like similar “looks at the future” featured at Disneyland and the World’s Fair. Elektro, the talking and smoking robot from the 1939 World’s Fair, was a prominent display.

Sea Circus was included in the basic attraction price. Performing dolphins and sea lions played to audiences of 2000 at a time. After the show, visitors could feed seals in the Seal Pool.

Diving Bells in which passengers were submerged into the ocean via hydraulic pistons. A vast underwater vista was clearly visible through the portholes.  Another such ride also existed in single fashion at the Long Beach Nupike and also Coney Island Astroland.

Ocean Skyway  were bubble-shaped gondolas suspended 75 feet  above the surface of the ocean.

Passengers were treated to a one-half mile  trip out to sea and back.

Union 76 Ocean Highway was similar to Disneyland’s Autopia attraction. Visitors could drive miniature, gasoline-powered automobiles on a simulated highway.

Flight to Mars was an audio-visual presentation that simulated a trip to Mars.

Flying Carpet was a ride themed around Tales of the Arabian Nights. “Flying carpets” suspended on an overhead track took visitors over an Arabian-themed diorama.

Mirror Maze was a standard funhouse attraction.

Davy Jones’ Locker was another funhouse with a nautical theme.

Flying Dutchman was a dark ride similar to what Disneyland would present in 1967 with the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Deepest Deep simulated a voyage via submarine. Unlike Disneyland’s Submarine Voyage attraction, “Deepest Deep” took place above water.

Round the World in 80 Turns was an unusual combination of travelogue and thrill ride. Tub-like ride vehicles whipped sharply to the right and left to show travel scenes from around the world.

The attraction was closed in the middle of the park’s second season due to complaints of nausea and neck and back pain.

Safari Dark Ride was an interactive children’s ride in which riders in miniature Jeeps used an electronic rifle to “hunt” animals in the African jungle.

Mystery Island Banana Train Ride Considered by many to Pacific Ocean Park’s best ride, passengers were treated to a trip aboard a tropical banana plantation train complete with a

simulated volcano and simulated earthquakes.

Sea Serpent Roller Coaster was a wooden, 1926 Hi-Boy roller coaster from the original pier.

Mahi Mahi was a massive tower with long arms that were turning around and people sat in something resembling a jet It sat 8 passengers.

Whirl Pool was a centrifuge that pinned riders to the walls as the floor slowly lowered beneath them.

Mr. Dolphin was another original pier attraction.

Flying Fish was a miniature roller coaster.  It was the first steel mouse coaster design in the USA.

Carousel was the 1926-vintage  carousel from the original pier.

Fisherman’s Cove and the International Promenade were shopping, dining and souvenir areas which featured a number of good, international restaurants.

King Neptunes Courtyard A beautiful walk under the ocean to view King Neptunes’ lair.

Mrs.Squid also known as “The Ahuna Thrill Ride” was a Dual Tub Octopus ride with a squid decor in the center. The ride had a total of 16 tubs each able to carry 2 adult passengers.

Brie interjects:

[I don’t remember P.O.P. being that nice! I remember it as being rather shabby and run-down, but still enjoyable!]

No mention of the Sea Tub ride!? James and I riding the sea tub in the dark.

I needed to urinate. So, I stood up during the dark ride, and unzpped. This inspired James to do the same,while the ride was bouncing around. We were laughing and I even got some of James urine in my face, but most of it went into the sea tub. When the ride ended, we took off running. From then on we

referred to the ride as “the pee tub.” At school James pointed out this rather plain looking tall girl,

saying he did it with her. He just had to obtain a condom from a gas station vending machine, and she would let him do it. He said she was sexy. I could see that.

The end [of P.O.P.]

Wikipedia again:

Santa Monica began its Ocean Park urban renewal project. Buildings in the surrounding area were demolished and streets leading to the park were closed. As a result, visitors simply

couldn’t reach the park and attendance plummeted.

The park’s creditors and the City of Santa Monica filed suit to take control of the property because of back taxes and back rent owed by the park’s new owner. Pacific Ocean Park closed.

The park’s dilapidated buildings and pier structure remained until several suspicious fires occurred and it was finally demolished in the winter of 1974-75.

Other than a few underwater pilings and signs warning of them, nothing remains of Pacific Ocean Park today. However, a few miles north, the original Santa Monica Pier does feature a newer amusement park, similarly called Pacific Park. Today, the rides and attractions of the Santa Monica Pier include the old Carousel that is featured prominently in the 1973 Academy Award -winning film, The Sting.

The final episode of the ABC television series “The Fugitive” was shot at Pacific Ocean Park. Filmed on location just prior to the park’s closure in the fall of 1967, the park’s “Mahi, Mahi”

ride tower was the setting for the dramatic face off between Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) and the fictional one-armed man. The episode, broadcast on August 29 1967, was one of the highest rated in television history.

The episode of the Twilight Zone series titled “In Praise of Pip,” starring Jack Klugman and Billy Mumy, was also filmed there.

An episode of the series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was also filmed in the park.

The park was the setting of an episode of the television series Route 66 (Season 2, Episode 29 “Between Hello and Goodbye”) which aired May 11, 1962. Martin Milner’s character Tod is shown working at King Neptune’s Courtyard, and guest star Susan Oliver is depicted riding the Ocean Skyway.

flash forward years later in silicone valley at a company picnic in the park, where a gal

from LA mentions P.O.P.

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brie on a recent vacation:

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Beth Morgan

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Molly

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Shirley Kemp

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&

Taylor St Claire

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Brie:

“Is dat da paperboy again, oh Brie.”

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Miss Bobby Socks

says its time to get your bicycles ready for the bike paths!