Give Me Waffles Or Give Me Death

One of the unexpected pluses of relocating to the westside of L.A. has to be my proximity to a gem of a fifties diner called Pann's. My discovery of this restaurant coincided with my family's marathon viewing of the first season of "Dead Like Me" on DVD. One of the recurring settings on this series is a fictional restaurant called "Der Waffle Haus," which kindled our desire to search for a similar all-hours eating establishment in L.A.

Sadly, nothing quite as cool as Der Waffle Haus could be found, but Pann's is a close second.

Scary Teachers

Punkoustica is playing a Pre-Halloween show with Third Grade Teacher and some special friends next Saturday night. Click on the flyer to check it out. I hope you can make it, this should be a GREAT show!

Let Them Drink Limonada!

I'll be performing live this Friday with Punkoustica, in an effort to slake the thirst of "criminals who cross the border illegally to take American jobs." Actually, it's a benefit concert for www.desertwater.org at The Blvd. Cafe and Bar, in the heart of East Los.

This place is so underground, it's not even listed! Tickets are $5.00 at the door and all ages are welcome. Come be a part of the conspiracy to aid and abet illegal immigration this Friday night. Me, I'm all for subverting the system, one way or another!

The photo above was taken at an art show/fundraiser last weekend. Susan Weber took this shot of me, mugging for the camera in front of an original artwork by Lorraine Scognomillo. If there are any interested collectors, drop a line to alice@alicebag.com and I'll put you in touch with the artist.

Women On Top

TG's comments on my last blog entry got me thinking about what it was like sharing an apartment at the Canterbury with Shannon Wilhelm, who formed and led Castration Squad. Shannon and I were also members of the Piranhas, a kind of feminist punk girls' gang. Shannon had a great sense of humor and was so much fun to hang out with back in the early days. Anyway, I recall one time when Shannon and I had lured Terry into our apartment for a little Fun With Ropes. I'm sure that we tempted him with the idea that we were both planning to have our way with him. We tied him to the bed and teased him a bit, then we both left to go shopping for several hours, leaving him trussed up to the bedposts. When we got back, he was FURIOUS and wouldn't even speak to us. Another traumatized victim of the Pyranhas : )

On another note, I'd like to direct you all to check out Jenny Lens' online store, where she is selling prints of her amazing photos. Yes, there are a couple of yours truly mixed in along with so many other great photos that you just have to see for yourself. Buy a print and help Jenny keep her invaluable archive up and running.

Lastly, I came across this very rough MP3 of a song I wrote and performed with Stay At Home Bomb, entitled "Women On Top." It just seemed like the right opportunity to post this song because it shows how my feminist ideology has evolved (devolved?) since my Pyranha and Castration Squad days. That's Lysa Flores on the catchy ba da ba ba's.

I hope you enjoy it!

Women In L.A. Punk, Part XVI - Jane Wiedlin

Here's another proof sheet picture from the same night as the Rik L. Rik shot below. I am molesting Jane Wiedlin's shoe in the parking lot of Bergamot Station in L.A.

Jane's used to being molested by me, as you will learn when you read her interview in the Women In L.A. Punk section of my website. Click on the thumbnail below to go there now!

Rik L. Rik

I just came across a proof sheet from a roll of photos taken a few years ago at a punk reunion in L.A. and I thought I'd share this one with you. Rik L. Rik, for those of you who don't know, was one of those kids who was around in the earliest days of the L.A. punk scene with his band F-Word, who played at the Masque on a regular basis. I'm sure that members of F-Word were in the audience at the "Trashing of the Troubadour" Bags show and someone told me that they were literally hanging from the rafters of the balcony. F-Word was one of the more aggressive punk bands and they got along well with the Bags. I had some rare video footage of them at the Masque in my archives, but had to take it down because the copyright owners did not want it posted. Too bad.

He later sang with other bands, including Negative Trend and recorded under his own name for Posh Boy Records. He was one of the most charismatic lead singers and there's little doubt that, given the right circumstances, he had the talent, looks and ability to become a big star.

Unfortunately, Rik passed away in 2000, less than a year after this photo was taken. He had not yet turned 40. Another friend who left us too soon.

"I Remember The Women Being The Strong Ones"

From time to time, I get emails giving me feedback on my website, www.alicebag.com. One of the best things about doing my website has been establishing connections with old friends, not just for myself, but between people who haven't seen each other in years. I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank Ms. Jenny Lens, whose energy, passion and incredible memory have made many of these online and in-person reunions possible.

I have to share an excerpt from a recent email I received from Gaby Gomez, who was around in the early days of L.A. punk but who I didn't know very well at the time. She writes:

"Hi Alice, I just got in touch with Rover again thru a “happy accident” and she directed me to your website... I wanted to thank you for publicizing all the very strong women who made up the scene back then. I feel it was very much a scene of women, at least I remember the women as being the strong ones.

I remember one time when Rover and I lived at the masque, and Lee Ving was spray painting on the wall out in the alley. I think someone came down the stairs and said something, because Ro and I went running up the stairs to see. Well, there he was. And Rover just called up that big loud mean voice of hers and said (Something like) “What the hell do you think you are doing?” And Lee Ving turned around, looked around at us, And Ran Away! We just laughed and laughed. That was one of my favorite remembrances of Rover, this little tiny sprite, chasing away the big bad punk rocker. It still makes me laugh every time."

Thanks for allowing me to share this memory, Gaby! And thanks also to those of you who take the time to write to me. I can't always respond to your comments and/or inquiries in a timely manner, but I read all of your comments and emails and appreciate the feedback. Someone asked about adding a bulletin board or a forum to the website. I'll consider it. Monitoring comments for accuracy and subject matter is time consuming and I don't know that I have the time for it. For now you'll have to continue to comment on the blog if you want others to respond or write directly to me at alice@alicebag.com.

Punk's Not Dead

Susan Dynner and her punk conspirators have been working on what has got to be a true labor of love for the past few years, a film entitled Punk's Not Dead.

I have no idea what this movie is going to be like, but Susan seems to be genuinely interested in presenting the complete picture of punk rock, then and now. Now you have a chance to speak your mind about what punk rock means to you. This is from the Punk's Not Dead website:

"Love it or hate it, if you’ve got something to say about the state of punk today, we want to hear it.

Loads of documentaries about punk focus on the same handful of bands, repeating the same old story over and over again. For once, we’re going to invite the fans of the music into discussion.

Punk’s Not Dead tells a different story, looking at punk through the many perspectives of those directly involved today. We want to expand our story to document punk communities all over the world, in places like Osaka, Mexico City, Prague and all over the US. However, our budget prevents us from traveling there ourselves.

That’s where you come in!"

In a clever bit of DIY filmmaking, Susan is soliciting video contributions from punk bands, punk fans and anyone who has a strong opinion about the state of punk today. You only have until October 15 to get your contribution to them, so speak now or forever hold your peace!

Click on the photo below to find out how you can have your voice heard.

Punk Rock, High Tech Yard Sale

We're selling off some of our collection of records, flyers and other stuff this week and next week on Ebay. We'll keep adding things as the week goes by. Some of the items are quite rare and others are things we just need to part with, trying to reduce the clutter in our home and our lives. Check it out, you might see something you'd like! Alice and Greg's Punk Rock Yard Sale!

Women In L.A. Punk - Part XV - Lisa Fancher

I know, I know, I'm late on updating my website and I got behind on keeping up my series of interviews with women in the early L.A. punk scene. But we're finally getting our lives back to "normal" after our move and now we can get back to the fun stuff!

I am happy to announce that we have a new interview posted today with Lisa Fancher. For those of you who don't know, Lisa was one of the first females involved on the business side of the indie record business. She got her start at Bomp, which was one of the first stores to carry punk music. Through her label, Frontier Records, Lisa was responsible for helping establish and distribute globally what became the blueprint for the So-Cal Hardcore sound. It would be hard to overestimate her importance to the modern punk scene.

Click on the Women In Punk thumbnail to read her interview.