Feliz Navidad desde Mexico City!

Two days ago, my husband surprised me with an early Christmas gift: a trip for our family to Mexico City to see my beloved Tia (aunt) for the holidays. Mexico is especially festive at this time of year.

We arrived yesterday, unannounced and were welcomed with tears of joy and excitement. My cousins then arranged a spur of the moment "Posadas" celebration. We all held candles and sang songs asking for shelter for the holy family as we walked single file in the courtyard, carrying statues of the expectant parents Mary and Joseph being led by an angel. Out of nowhere appeared a clay pinata with seven "cuernos", or horns, each representing one of the seven deadly sins. One at a time, the participants were blindfolded (to symbolize the virtue of blind faith) and took turns swinging a bat at the clay pinata as it flew up and down on a rope, suspended across the courtyard.

A few well placed hits and the clay pinata broke open, scattering its contents (representing heavenly rewards to those with faith) all over the ground: "cacahuates" (peanuts), persimmons, oranges and raw sugar cane. We all scrambled to gather the treasures with our hands. I spotted a large pile of "nueces" (nuts) and reached for them but my cousins screamed "no!" just in time to stop me from picking up some dried dog droppings. We all broke up in laughter and went inside to toast the holiday with a liquer made from quince, a regional specialty from the state of Chihuahua (and very tasty, I might add)!

Nobody in my family -except for my aunt- is a practicing Catholic. But we are all interested in preserving and passing down the symbols of our heritage and the meaning of those symbols to each new generation.

Here's our last holiday song for you, dear readers. It's my version of Jose Feliciano's Christmas classic, Feliz Navidad, recorded with Goddess 13. Thank you all for your comments and feedback throughout the past six months. It's been a great year for me and having you all by my side has made it even better. Look for changes and additions to the www.alicebag.com website next month. We'll add more rare L.A. punk stuff and more interviews with women who made the L.A. punk scene happen back in the late seventies.

I'd like to wish each of you the very best for the coming year. And remember...don't pick up any unusual looking "nuts"... I hope that doesn't cut into your dating options for New Years eve!
Feliz Navidad

Whew...Almost Done!

Almost on vacation! Sorry I haven't posted in so long, the end of the calendar year is especially busy for teachers. We have testing and reports to do before we get to take a break. Here's another Christmas carol done Goddess 13 style for you, sung by Teresa. We hope you enjoy this version of "(Have Yourself) A Merry Little Christmas" by Goddess 13.

Christmas Is Just Another Day

Here's another cheery holiday song for you. I wrote and recorded this with Goddess 13 several years ago, when my husband-to-be was doing time in prison. It was the saddest Christmas time ever and I tried to capture a little bit of the melancholy I was feeling.

Women In L.A. Punk - Dinah Cancer

I am very happy to announce that we have just posted our second in a series of interviews with influential women in the early (mid-late seventies) L.A. punk scene at www.alicebag.com. This time, my interviewee is Ms. Dinah Cancer, whom you may know from her days with the popular and very influential band, 45 Grave. She shares a little bit of her past with us in this interview and lets us know that she's still rocking (and looking terrific, I might add - maybe there is something to all that blood drinking... Countess Bathory = Dinah Cancer?!?).

You can read the interview by clicking the thumbnail below:


For those of you who missed reading our inaugural interview with Ms. Jenny Lens, you can still find it by following the "past interviews" link on the Women In L.A. Punk page. Enjoy!

HOlidaze Are Here...Redux

Thanks for the positive feedback on last week's song, which is still available below. Here is this week's holiday song by Goddess 13, our arrangement of Christmas Is Coming, sung ever-so-sweetly by Teresa Covarrubias:

From www.carols.org.uk: "The music to Christmas is Coming was composed by Edith Nesbit Bland in the late nineteenth century. The author of the lyrics is unknown but the popularity of this traditional Christmas song is handed down from generation to generation in the form of a nursery rhyme. The words of Christmas is coming reflects the Christmas festival of celebration of being a time of plenty but that charity should be given to the less fortunate according to the giver's means!"
-Alice

Craig Lee...Found!

Craig Lee's picture tumbled out of a stack of photos I was sorting through last night. It completes the alternate set of Bags photobooth shots (see below) we took for the back of the original Dangerhouse 7" back in 1978. At the bottom of this entry I've posted the alternate photos with the actual Dangerhouse sleeve for comparison.

This record (Survive b/w Babylonian Gorgon) has been out of print for over twenty years and has just been re-released on Artifix Records . If you click on the Artifix link and go to their news page, you'll see a picture of Dix Denney holding the record...YEY!

You should be able to find it in your local punk record store and it will also be available by mail order soon.

Holidaze Are Upon Us

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I guess the holiday season has officially arrived. That gives me an excuse to share these holiday songs with you all. I recorded these with Goddess 13 (me and Teresa Covarrubias) over ten years ago to give out as Christmas presents to a few of our friends. They were never officially released...we hope you enjoy them. I'll post a different song each week as we get closer to December 25.

The first selection is called "Los Peces En El Rio" and it is a traditional Spanish Christmas song with a Moorish influence. If you know more about the origins of this song and would like to share, please comment!

Women In L.A. Punk

I am VERY pleased and excited to announce that we have just opened a new section at www.alicebag.com, dedicated to the women who were involved in the early L.A. punk scene. One of the goals of this website is to expose the important and too-often overlooked contributions of female artists in the late seventies punk movement. The Women In L.A. Punk section aims to address that by allowing interviewees to share their recollections and opinions in an unrestricted forum. The format is eight questions and responses- no time or space limitations, no editing of content.



I had the good fortune to have as my first interview Ms. Jenny Lens, the legendary punk photographer who shot some of the most iconic images of Patti Smith, The Ramones, The Screamers and so many others. I've considered Jenny a friend for well over twenty years now and believe me when I say that the stories she shares in her interview are not even the tip of the iceberg.

Enjoy!

Alice

Hollywood Has Been Bombed...On To San Diego

Stay At Home Bomb played a fast and furious set last night at the Knitting Factory, opening for Girlschool. Lysa Flores (lead guitar and vocals) had seriously injured her back earlier in the week and was not even able to stand up at one point, so we were more than a little worried. After soundcheck and before the show, we all walked down to Hooters to "get some food" and on our way back to the club we had to help Lysa hobble quickly across Hollywood Blvd before the light changed.

We love playing all ages shows because you don't typically get many stage climbers at 21 and over gigs. To the kid who got pulled off the stage: Sorry if you got hurt, whoever you are! Don't you know it's against the rules to climb onstage?

Got to sleep at 2 am after the show, had a conference with my daughter's school principal this morning at 8 am, then I drive to San Diego for our show tonight at the Casbah.

On another note: Go SEE THE DRESDEN DOLLS AT THE EL REY THIS FRIDAY!
Gotta run now.

BOMBS OVER HOLLYWOOD, SAN DIEGO

O.K., so no one reads these posts anyway, but...Stay At Home Bomb is performing with Girlschool Wednesday night at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood - we go on at 9:45 and Thursday night at The Casbah in San Diego. If you come up to our merch table or see us at the club and tell us you saw our bulletin on MySpace or that you read my blog, we'll give you a free, limited edition (we won't be making anymore of these) Stay At Home Bomb button or a sticker, while supplies last! Hope to see you at the show.