Wandering out of my cave at night like a stray cat, opossum, or raccoon I like it. Last night we went to a local pub with an open bar. The Local Peasant – Woodland Hills Restaurant & Bar. It was open to the street and lots of fresh air. We were on a mission to find a pint of Newcastle beer. Yet all the pubs we visited once a few years ago no longer carry it, or Bass for that matter.
So, we settled to an Irish Mule, an Irish Stout and a Hefeweizen beer. All from microbreweries that have taken over the beer scene.
My youngest son got the best darn cheese sandwich on sourdough bread I ever witnessed in my life. I try not to eat past 6 PM due to a nasty esophagus. Yet I was tempted. Then something rumbled in my heart and brain that reminded me of something.
I was back in New York hanging out with the band Detox. Maybe since Human’s death and talking to Tony Malone I am still grieving the guy and a scene that I just loved through and through.
One nice thing about documenting a scene is what is there to affirm memories. I like that best.
During the day it was so hot, and the subway shook the building where we were staying like a California earthquake. At night on top of the building we watched the businesses close down and open up again modern-day-speakeasies. The limousines drove up and out walked the rich old men and their tall, gorgeous models. It was a shocker but right before our eyes.
From Flipside Fanzine # 47. A Washington D.C. Special with Ink Disease and Flipside. Hudley Review.
There was but not in my time as co-editor, publisher and producer of all of our merchandise! Fanzines, Video and Records… 1979 to 1989.
Same goes for the 1990s more Flipside Records that I do not cover here.
I love it!
RIP “HUMAN” and Dan Forklift
We at Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine had loads of fun having too many projects while supporting a scene. It was way over my head but being right in the middle I did what I did to help it to flow forward. Words below from the Flipside CATALOG.
Flipside Recordz
Detox “Start Finish” LP
Our first attempt to put out a full-out album, A real under-ground sound to this album, with a band that has been around the LA scene for quite some time!!
Twelve punker tunes sung by good old Dan Forklift. Bass played by Steve (Human of the Vandals,) Tony Malone plays guitar (who featured in the movie “Girls just want to have fun,” he played the guy with green hair playing guitar on a table at some party, remember?) and now ex member Lantz Krantz (Boyfriend of Boom Boom of the Screaming Sirens) on drums.
Square dance to “No Reggae in Russia” and slam to “Shoot the Kid,” something for everyone. Oh, Oh , Oh…
“Where from, you growling water? How old are you? Did you come in from the sea with the midnight flood? Were you sired by an iceberg out of the South Polar Cap, or was your dam a cloud knocked up by the High Sierra? Were you falling rain short months ago? What’s the news from Donner Pass and Emigrant Gap, and how are those new motels? You look a little wan, as though you’re tired of the land. Tried to trap you, did they—up Sacramento way? Piped you through a tunnel, dumped chlorine in your face, spun you through a toilet bowl—small wonder you’re brown as a sportsman’s chest. Don’t quit now; two hours will see you through the Gate, and once you’re clear keep rolling on. I’ll join you one day soon. Maybe.”
“Consider the following statement. Every river began its life as a stream, and every stream had its origin in the minutest trickle. In turn, every trickle is the result of filtration through rock and sand and soil, and from this process a single drop of water arises. So often most of these single drops have not seen the sky or the light of the sun for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”
How did Sterling Hayden the best Noir man, and Cerridwen the Welsh Goddess of inspiration twine together in my heart, blood, and water in my body’s imagination? The earth, male and female, sea, sky, rain and the divinely profound now cumulatively and happily joined together to reveal an old image to me.
“There is no new water on earth. In turn, there is no new myth on earth but only the retelling of the same rivers of mythology, flavoured only by the passing of time.”
I am much better at taking criticism now than I was when I was in my twenties, a time when every piece of feedback felt like a personal attack. My worst critique is still my own mind, always analyzing and second-guessing my decisions.
As I reflect on my journey, my goal as a self-publisher is to forget about the notion that some other publisher is going to do the hard work for me or make the process easier.
I sometimes lull into that trap, fantasizing about the ease that traditional publishing might bring, but I realize that true fulfillment comes from embracing my independence and creativity. My goal is to be able to continue to do it my way, crafting my narratives and connecting with my audience on my own terms, while recognizing that every piece of feedback is an opportunity to grow rather than a source of self-doubt.
Click on image to see my small books that are published Through The Seminary of Praying Mantis Publishing.
I would like to eventually print up, made from recyclable material, small books. Hand-held books. Some hand-held hard cover books some not. I love small books. They are interesting to me.
“A chapbook is a type of popular literature printed in early modern Europe. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered booklets, usually printed on a single sheet folded into books of 8, 12, 16 and 24 pages.
They were often illustrated with crude woodcuts, which sometimes bore no relation to the text. When illustrations were included in chapbooks, they were considered popular prints.
“The tradition of chapbooks arose in the 16th century, as soon as printed books became affordable, and rose to its height during the 17th and 18th centuries. Many different kinds of ephemera and popular or folk literature were published as chapbooks, such as almanacs, children’s literature, folk tales, ballads, nursery rhymes, pamphlets, poetry, and political and religious tracts.
The term “chapbook” for this type of literature was coined in the 19th century. The corresponding French and German terms are bibliothèque bleue (blue book) and Volksbuch, respectively. In Spain they were known as pliegos de cordel. The term “chapbook” is also in use for present-day publications, commonly short, inexpensive booklets.”
“Let me tell you… don’t you look at those illustrations too long, because they’ll come alive, and they’ll tell you stories.”
~Rod Steiger is The Illustrated Man (1969)
Shane Enholm talked tonight about the history of tattoo machines. He also shared he was a young punk influenced by many of the same individuals of the early punk scene as I. From Steve Human helping him to print up his large posters, to Darby Crash and Shame Williams (the Rock & Roll Bank Robber) whose wife led him into being a bank robber serving for fucking 10 years at San Quentin, from ages 18 to 30 years old.
My home in the San Fernando Valley holds many treasures and ‘Nathan’s Tattoos and Piercings’is a shining star. Right off of Sherman Way and Topanga Canyon Blvd. is a well rooted history which amplifies art and music. An approachable hub or community of many distinctive individuals dappling in the world of skin illustrations and beyond.
As the fires burn around the Valley amongst my beloved Verdugo and Santa Monica Mountain ranges, a helpful refuse is amongst this grip of psychological terror and fear.
Yet regardless an honest tattoo artist tells his story. The focus was not on technique but on the machines used in the tattoo artist’s world.
The tools of trade and history was the discourse this evening.
I told Nathan,
“I always focused on the images and my feelings when getting a Tattoo not the machine doing the work.”
Tonight, I got to see, appreciate, and understand the technology or machines being passed around. A full house as machines were overseen and passed from hand to hand like gold or precious items.
Shane highlighted his discourse by saying that when someone fucking gets a tattoo the pain needs to be experienced. That each tattoo is like a form of magic. And it does not matter if it is your first or after many, each is unique and changes your life after the episode in your life of getting it. I see it as a time and place in your life. It feels magical! You dig?
Recently my son and his friend went into Nate’s to get their first tattoos. It was on a dare from me because their birthdays are so close together in December. I never knew they would follow through with the crazy old lady’s offer. But they did. I got another too.
This is when Nathan invited me to this event. And I am so happy to have followed him up on it. I almost gave up due to the fires but there was a strange sense of continuity of a group of individuals being fearless together tonight.
The ghost echoes of those who I have known within the realms of this art form and music scene were there, whispering persistent memories that lingered in the air. Those living and dead, their spirits intertwined with the melodies that filled the night.
Like many of us tonight, they were sharing a common bond in this world of time and place, a connection forged through shared experiences and emotions, just like receiving a tattoo that permanently marks our journey.
It is a fucking history that keeps giving, shaping our identities and enriching our stories with depth and meaning; this is what we do as storytellers of our lives, weaving together individual narratives into a larger tapestry that celebrates resilience, creativity, and the unique threads that bind us all.
A gathering around pizza and irresistible fudge. A warm community or hub of brave souls under the full moon and Venus.
“The odors of perfume were fanned out on the summer air by the whirling vents of the grottoes where the women hid like undersea creatures, under electric cones, their hair curled into wild whorls and peaks, their eyes shrewd and glassy, animal and sly, their mouths painted a neon red.”
Click on image to help me raise money for a documentary and to hire lawyers to protect the San Fernando Valley from the Ugly monsters. Each neighborhood, and those living here, can make a difference! Let’s protect and stop the greedy bastards!
Ruff and I traveled the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California on our horses. Yellow weeds, dirty sage hills and shady glens held endless treasures to us. Yes, the hills and fields of Mulholland and Los Angeles County were still wild.
Even the new asphalt streets that came soon to cover the earth echoed with the sound of nature and children playing. We were somehow the hillbillies of Woodland Hills.
Not too rich and uncontrollably wild. The neighborhood was horsey, and Ruff and I noticed the for-sale signs on the empty fields. At dusk, we pulled the real estate posts down with a rope looped around a saddle horn. The signs always were reassembled the next day.
-To Ride a Painted Pony WIld. Hudley Flipside
Today while checking out the supermarket a mature man and lady talked about his red cap that said, “Make America Great Again.” I tried to be a good girl, but it is difficult sometimes to refrain and keep to my new moto of, “Let Go, Stand Aside and receive the gifts.” The guy behind me with the face of St. Francis of Assisi said, “It makes no difference. This country is divided.” I agreed with him. I still have that naivety which thinks that goodness is the way. Yet discernment is not what rules the world, it is lacking. This earth is not a place of good or evil, it is a place here where all that is admirable resides in each individual. I told them I am leaving the democratic party. Become an anarchist once more. Biden did betray us. He should have rounded up the criminals at the get go after his win. So here we are. A twilight zone episode. Where homes are torn down to make big fucking ugly apartments. Where sacred land is raped and recruited for the plenteous and powerful. It is a time of the abounding and potent and their souls are dark. The light may be somewhere because it is getting dark out there.
“A noir story is about people who know what they’re doing is wrong, and they do it anyway. And, typically, there’s hell to pay. We love watching them break the law; we love watching them reap the consequences.” ~ Eddie Muller
I live on an island surrounded by a powerful river and close to a mighty waterfall. One can hear the sound of the waterfall for miles. It sounds like Niagara Falls.
How creative my mind can be. The island is my single-family dwelling. A home with a front and back yard. The house was built in 1958. 66 years old as I am. The river around us is Sherman Way, Fallbrook Ave, and Vanowen St. The sound of the waterfall is really the sound of car tires on asphalt. The sound of traffic with too many cars.
The sound of the city has grown over the last ten years as the monster apartments expand at an alarming rate.
Environmental Etiquette is a theory I have focused on. I see it as caring about our environments and the future. Our living ecosystems. Common sense and caring about our neighborhoods.
Forcing so-called affordable housing by changing zoning laws is not creating affordable housing for anyone. Our government is diabolically inspired by greed and profit while destroying our communities.
Our neighborhoods. This is the opposite of environmental etiquette. I hope you will join the cause to protect our neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley.
I am raising money for my documentary and creating a DEVELOPMENT MORATORIUM petition and seeking legal advice.
Implement building restrictions.
Development moratoriums: A halt on new building permits (especially apartments in the San Fernando Valley). Zoning changes: Adjusting zoning regulations to restrict certain types of development in specific areas. Land acquisition: Purchasing land to preserve open space for future control development.
Environmental concerns, Infrastructure limitations, Community planning.
The image was seized from my backyard. A praying mantis hides in her world practicing Environmental Etiquette.
Hope you will take the time to support my cause. Thank you.
Build me a bridge over the stream to my neighbour’s house where he is standing in dungarees in the fresh morning.
O ring of snowdrops spread wherever you want and you also blackbird sing across the fences.
My neighbour, if the rain falls on you, let it fall on me also from the same black cloud that does not recognise gates.
Smith (1928-98) was a Scottish poet and novelist, who wrote in both English and Gaelic.
Where I grew up Woodland Hills CA… the house my parents built in the late 1940s.
This letter is a demanding call to ask you to help the San Fernando Valley.
I am asking for “a mandatory stop building” in the San Fernando Valley.
DEVELOPMENT MORATORIUM.
Implement building restrictions.
Development moratoriums: A halt on new building permits (especially apartments in the San Fernando Valley). Zoning changes: Adjusting zoning regulations to restrict certain types of development in specific areas. Land acquisition: Purchasing land to preserve open space for future control development.
Environmental concerns, Infrastructure limitations, Community planning.
No more apartments. No more turning our residential communities into apartments where big corporate building contractors, and greedy uncaring landowners, change zoning laws so they can build more apartments next to residential homes. They are trying to take it all over. Yes, it is true! Big ugly monsters are taking over the San Fernando Valley.
I am 66 years old and have lived in the San Fernando Valley all of my life. I grew up in Woodland Hills. My family had a small country home above Canoga Ave. We could see the Verdugo Mountain range from our large windows.
Now I have watched apartments being built on an unbelievable massive scale. With the apartments there is more traffic. Apartments built right next to our freeways. Seems there is no wise Los Angeles City or County planning happening. It is so embarrassing to watch this occurring. It is heartbreaking.
Seems to me, instead of building more apartments we need more DMVs. We have had the same ones since the 1950s. Also, we need more Police Stations, Fire Stations, and Libraries to increase as the population has exploded here.
I am asking for “a mandatory stop building” here in the San Fernando Valley because until there is more concern for our environment and for the people living here now, how can we continue to build more ugly apartment buildings? It does not make sense.
The new apartments are ugly too. The new homes are massive and built so close together without any back or front yards or trees.
Why can’t we go back to small homes with yards? Why can’t we go back to building communities that are rich and beautiful where we can nurture our children with dignity and grace? Instead of being all forced together without any dignity at all. A safe place to ride their bicycles again.
The home my family bought in 2000 is as old as I am. It was built in 1958. I am worried that big money building contractors are trying to change our zoning ordinances so they can start building more apartments in our neighborhoods. They are not affordable housing either.
We are meant to feel guilty for having a front and back yard. Using too many resources, they say. Yet apartments with a lot more people living there are using more than we can imagine.
Where is the dignity of life and where are our communities? Crime and homelessness are on the rise. I have seen the change and as someone who knows the San Fernando Valley very well, you need to care about what I am demanding.
We actually had a local post office taken down to build more apartments near the freeway. Who wants to live near the freeway? It is heartlessly ridiculous and unbelievable poor city and county planning.
There comes a time when the Government and We The People need to say stop no more, we have reached our limits. I call for “mandatory stop building” in the San Fernando Valley.
Building contractors can instead recycle and restore old buildings and shopping malls. Old secondhand empty churches can turn into homes for the homeless? We need more hospital clinics for our large drug addict populations. Places where they can rehabilitate. Create more community centers to help the elderly. We need more animal shelters. More Junior colleges as well. We need better public transportation.
Our local Government does not care about us but only sells out to the big greedy apartment building contractors with no noticeable push backs.
I am going to do a documentary on this very subject. I am asking for your support in helping me to reach out to our cities and communities in the San Fernando Valley. So please hear me and help me make this happen.
I will be sending this letter to my local representatives and senators. To everyone I can think of. I will document this and see who responds.
We have too many apartments and ugly homes built so close together here in the San Fernando Valley, enough is enough.
A mandatory stop building in the San Fernando Valley is needed now. DEVELOPMENT MORATORIUM!
Punk Rock Colleague & Historian and Professional Consultant
Hudley Flipside
Book Review
Cut and Paste The American Hardcore
Click on Image to purchase Cut and Paste The American Hardcore Fanzine from Deathwish Inc.
“Putting that ‘zine out into the world plugged us into the underground network of Hardcore: a happening that saved me as a teenager. The thrill of exchanging creations with other similarly-minded kids from around the world was something that the average kid in high school could never comprehend.”
~ Tony Rettman
Cut and Paste The American Hardcore Fanzine
Tony Rettman
Patrick Kitzel
First Edition 2024
2000 copies
Printed by Signature Book Printing, Maryland USA
Unterwelt Books is a division of Tribal Publishing
unterweltbooks.com/tribalpublishing.net
This punk hardcore-hardcover book stands for one of the first examples of handheld devices, besides cats. A history of American punk rock fanzines.
As I say there were a lot of players in the punk scene and some I knew well. Others I knew only in passing or by way of Flipside Fanzine’s uptown Whittier POBox.
It was an interval of time when a counterculture of punks communicated. The symbiotic relationship of bands, fans, record labels and beyond.
Some fanzines lasted a weekend, others a month or two and others endured the punk scene for years.
I am glad Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine and myself are included in this hardcover book smelling of vinyl records, ink, and a dark room waiting to develop some images taken at a show the night before. Those nasty addictions of mine come into play.
This book is an experience. I was placed back in that office in Whittier Los Angeles surrounded by punk hubs that circulated around me from town-to-town, state-to-state and country-to-country. A punk scene of memories and believing in something greater than yourself.
Sharing a scene, documenting a picture or contribution of a point of view in a letter. The best included are the lyrics to a song.
Punk Friendships… I cried like a baby for a fleeting time and just want to say thanks.
Living at that time we were a scene veiled away, hidden from the mainstream of our existing modern cultures, so we made our own living scene. Our own culture.
No checks, credit cards only cash came to us by trusting punker souls. I only messed up on subscriptions once in a while most likely due to a terrible hang-over.
