Stokereport posted this most excellent clip of a fight at Ocean Beach from the 1974 film “Slaughter in San Francisco”, starring Chuck Norris (though he’s not in this clip). Sound effects galore!!

Notice how it’s sunny when he drives up, but when he hits the beach, overcast and gloomy. Typical Ocean Beach!

Nothing like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar… SF Citizen alerted us to this recent episode of Dateline NBC which follows California lottery investigators as they make their rounds.

The segment features Chris Hansen, who you may remember as the guy who used to surprise men on MSNBC’s “To Catch a Predator” when they came to meet underage girls for sex. Well now he’s on the lottery fraud trail.

The segment begins with a stop at Lincoln Park Market, located on Clement at 31st Avenue. In a previous visit, lottery investigators posed as a normal citizen, stopping in to see if any of the several tickets they purchased turned out to be winners. The owner, Mr. Nguyen, looks over the tickets and tells the man that he has a $5 winner, but nothing else.

Turns out that there was a $10,000 winner in the batch, which Nguyen then filed for himself to collect the winnings, essentially stealing the winning ticket from his customer. Nguyen tried his best to talk his way out of it, but eventually, the handcuffs came out. How not fun to get arrested on national television.

Nguyen pleaded no contest to a felony charge for filing a false lottery claim. He was sentenced to a 30 day work program and community service. And the California Lottery Commission promptly terminated his contract. So Lincoln Park Market is no longer a place to buy your winning tickets.

Sarah B.

Despite the rain on Friday, the view was still great. I love how you can see the bay from up there too.

Robert Mcintosh visited San Francisco several months ago but rather than take standard pics during his visit, he strapped a GoPro HD camera to a remote controlled helicopter. The result is some fun aerial footage as he buzzes over local landmarks including the bison in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor. For a moment, you’ll know how a pigeon or seagull sees the city…

Sarah B.

[via SFist]

Stokereport came across this cool video that shows the highlights and “vibe” from the Rip Curl pro surfing competition that took place last October at Ocean Beach.

Kelly Slater took home the title – his 11th in world competition. He made it look so easy.

Sarah B.

RichmondSFBlog reader Rob sent me some great old videos of San Francisco, showing life in the 1920s, 1930s and even earlier in some shots. If you’re into this kind of thing, be sure to catch the free screening of Lost Landscapes of San Francisco, Part VI coming up at the Internet Archive on January 24.

Sarah B.

These first three are worth watching for the humorous narration alone. Shots of cable cars, Chinatown (“Where ancient East and modern West serenely blend”), the Marina harbor, Seal Rock, the Bay Bridge (“The City that knows how, did it!”), great footage of of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge (“The bridge that couldn’t be built!”), and the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition (which apparently cost $50M to build).

This next video is 13 minutes in length but has no soundtrack. It’s labeled 1939 but also contains earlier footage. You’ll see great shots of the Conservatory of Flowers, the Japanese Tea Garden, Musee Mechanique?, footage after the 1906 earthquake including a rubble-filled Market Street, a ferry unloading, the Great Highway, City Hall, Golden Gate and Bay bridges, what appears to be footage of the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island, SFO, panoramic views of the city, and lots of old cars.

This next 8 minute video is set to lovely Rachmaninoff piano concertos and features life scenes from the early 1920s. More cable cars, the Ferry Building, Chinatown, the piers, overhead aerial footage (incl. ones of the Richmond District + Golden Gate Park!), dock laborers, a great steam locomotive running along the Embarcadero, a shot of a stadium (not sure where?), and Golden Gate Park.

This last video has a brief history and historic stills of the Cliff House and Sutro Baths, some 1897 film footage of Sutro Baths from the Library of Congress Edison films catalog (previously posted) plus film of Ocean Beach.

Photo by ampoda

The photo above and video below is from the 2012 “Post Yule Pyre” event held at Ocean Beach on Sunday night. Put on by Friends of the Rootless Forest, the event utilizes discarded Christmas trees to create a massive bonfire.

Known to draw upwards of 200 people, the group has been holding their roast-o-tannenbaum for the last 20 years. Based on the photo above, last night’s event didn’t draw a giant crowd.

And though the bonfire created by the mass of trees is typically much larger than the allowed fires on Ocean Beach, the GGNRA and Park Police usually look the other way during the fiery event.

Sarah B.

More from Ocean Beach Bulletin
More from the SF Examiner

Here’s the latest history minute video from Woody and David of the Western Neighborhoods Project. In this installment, they share some history about unfortunate vessels that met their fate on the rocks below Lands End; you can still see some of their remains at low tide.

Sarah B.