Today while driving home from shopping. I saw the mail person next door delivering mail. He is rather new. I miss my mail girlfriend who I saw all over the neighborhood delivering mail even during the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This fellow is sweet. He often makes corner turns on lawns and jumps over bushes. The mail man is small with a black beard, regardless he is a welcomed mail person.
Today I waited in my car as he walked along the path to our home. He stopped to answer his phone. A letter fell to the ground.
He looked over at me and I pointed down with my finger. He smiled and proceeded to deliver our mail. I got out of my car and walked over to the letter.
Upside down on the cement walkway with the newly fallen golden leaves it was singular in its significance. It was a simple personal letter addressed from one person to another.
I thought to myself,
“It is nice to see people still writing letters to each other in simple white envelopes.”
As Mr. Mail Person walked up to me, I nicely stated that I found this and saw that it in fact dropped from his bag.
“I just got cataract surgery on both eyes, so now I see everything.”
Smiling he said,
“twenty-twenty..” As he pointed to his eyes.
“I am glad I was there to see the letter.”
I handed him the message.
As I drove up into my driveway, I began to carry the groceries and put them on my red brick porch, I noticed the familiar smell of cannabis.
I then reflected on the concept of randomness and being there at the right time and place. Mr. nice smiling guy mail person got the letter to be delivered again.
In my neighborhood on Thursdays gardeners work, and trash cans are put out. I am happy to say I was an invisible helper.
The last few nights the Coyotes have been howling. I never have heard this before. Loud and in front of my home. As the full moon approaches tomorrow and the few days that follow the first full moon of autumn.
I celebrate my many years of this song and a lifelong celebration of the “She Wolf” as a symbol of being wild. A history that goes back to my archaic ancestors who were once free and were then persecuted by patriarchy. Creating the word “Lycanthropy” as a word of injustice and control by their insane Roman Catholic Inquisition.
Again, we are at a time when the “She Wolf” is howling and calling forth for equality, for the freedom to be who we are without judgments and with no control by the patriarchy.
Celtic Wolf
“We do have myths. Myths nourish the old soul with even older stories. They give us strange images and amazing suggestions; these promote speculations that activate the aging mind.”
~ Hillman, James. The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life
Oh, I grew up with the Werewolf story. My best friend Gigi and I walked down to the local market with our pennies for candy. Then back up the wild hills, what we kids called “the Indian trails,” to watch scary movies on Saturday. Only with a big pillowcase full of candy. We knew this quote by heart,
“Even a man who’s pure at heart and says his prayers at night, will become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the Autumn moon is bright.”
The original quote written by screenwriter Curt Siodmak is “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.”
Moving forward to the early 1980s when I played Charged GBH’s song for the first time. It was such a treat. I became a kid again climbing the “Indian trails” once more.
The wild sage bushes, hills of grass and sun above and the windy blue sky. I was free running and rolling through the wonder of youth. The easiness and thrill of being scared by good old monster films. Walking home at night with the full moon coming up from the Verdugo Mountain Range and hearing owls singing!
I never saw the band play the song live in the 1980s. They would tease us. But Ross and Jock are very clever and played a new song.
Then a few years back 2007 when they were touring in the United Sates, we went to see them in Ventura California. Close to my hometown. They must have known we were coming! As we were walking towards the event from behind the theater I heard a call,
“Hudley, Hudley…”
We saw Ross screaming from the second story room. His English slang-accent endearing to my heart. Looking up we heard him tell us to wait there, he had something to tell me.
So, when we were in front of the theater Ross and Colin came out. Colin came up to me and said,
“Hudley, we have a real treat for you. We are going to play the old songs.”
I often got on their cases. Asking them to play Lycanthropy. Even had them write out the lyrics to the song on a napkin. Which I still have. It only took about thirty something years to finally hear GBH’s song Lycanthropy live.
Well, that about does it this year with my little story about a band, a song, wolfbane and the first full moon of Autumn.
As ritual goes every first full moon of Autumn, since first hearing the song Lycanthropy, I listen to the song! I dance, howl, and enjoy my childhood and youthful rebellion again! I enjoy the song so much! All the good wild feelings are there!
“Aging makes metaphor of biology. The organic changes are a form of poetic speech, rewriting personality into character.”
~ Hillman, James. The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life
On track two of this tape is a revealing talk about Creative Anarchists of America and having a music festival, a very prophetic time for things to come, music wise. Yes, it did not take off in the ’80s. So, the story goes. The seeds were planted, and this may be the goal of any anarchist or counterculture individual. (It turned out to be a bad deal in the scheme of things too. Yet this is the history of punk and what was happening at the time. Maybe I’ll share about it sometime.
Also tape one and tape 13 got mixed up but I got it all Hunky Dory now. I am just following it through no matter the cost. ~Hudley 10/1/2022
The 90s grew a few musical sprouts…yup, The Burning Man and Coachella are the mass appeal of something that once started out as a rebellious dream by a handful of nobody punks!! So, the profits go. Believe me I am laughing the loudest!!
Enjoy the tape. Some great bands.
We all were so spoiled back in the day. This is it a type of emotional, punk rock, 1984, found tape, closure for me. It feels good for me, feels really good.
Remember make a music love punk history donation. BE MORE THAN A WITNESS!!
Be more than a ”puer aeternus.”
Overkill on ZoundZ. Sorry but that is how it was… new, rebellious and it meant something.
If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off I know that is poetry.
~Emily Dickinson
Poets are shameless with their experiences: they exploit them.
~Friedrich Nietzsche
‘Therefore’ is a word the poet must not know.
~Andre Gide
Here is something as if “my head were taken off.” Working and “exploiting” Jazz is a wonderful way of feeling good about life. “Therefore” poems really capture feelings of being alive. Or as my sister “shamelessly” said once, “Is-ing.” That is what poetry captures.
As for stories Dad was the best at keeping us kids interested. He had the gift and I guess he learned this from his mother. Who he said left poems on the refrigerator door just for him. Later she had her poems published in the weekly Santa Monica newspaper back in the late 40s and early 1950s.
It was my mom who asked me to never stop writing and always supported my endeavors.
I even fought and wrestled with the Flipside Fanzine crew to get a Poetry Page in Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine. Pooch continued the poetry page after I left.
Flipside Fanzine Issues 57 Fall 1988
I love to write and especially love to write poetry. It is a time when magic happens. As human beings we naturally engage with memories, with the cosmos, and our feelings. Also, with those large uncontrollable metaphors like our professors tell us.
I was going through my notes and work and found this chapbook of poetry. I was surprised to see it was completed on the day September 17, 2018.
I will be talking this weekend. September 17, 2022. Telling stories with others. It feels great too to join in this narrative of speakers. At a cool pub. I can not think of a better place to talk. My youngest son told me this,
“Mom I just feel so comfortable in pubs, I dot know what it is but is just feels so good. I can just relax and have a pint. Listen to music and have fun.”
We could be talking about the pubs in the stories from Lord of The Rings to the history of William Blake’s’ family where the pub was so important in their freedom to speak and sing when the Church of England suppressed their views.
To the characters who linger, who come and go and grow from such a pub. Or simply to those who want to relax and hear a few stories.
I am happy to see many podcasts, films and documentaries about punk rock coming out these days. Books too. It is overwhelming to me. I am approached by many due to my special experience as a punk rock journalist. Some treat me nicely and others are ruthless to get stuff from me.
Be it writing a fanzine, a book, or releasing a documentary film I have done it all myself. I have published fanzines, books, and records. I just completed two documentaries about Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine.
There is always a line to draw out of kindness.
A few years ago, I was approached by a lady who knew nothing about punk rock but wanted to do a documentary about some punk rock skate women. So, she hired a promotional person to gather information. I agreed to do a Zoom meeting with them.
I soon saw that they wanted to pick my brain. Then when I asked them questions, they got nervous. I told them that I needed to stop sharing with them.
This promotional woman was being paid good money to gather information about punk rock.
I was just brain picking leads for their needs. I call that being compromised and exploited!
I told them if they are interested in a real narrative with a person with valuable experience, they can hire me as a consultant on the film or documentary.
When they got back to me it was by a short message. They could get the information they wanted through an archive. They did not want to have a lived experienced narrative helper. They wanted cold facts and information. Good for them.
There is a difference between behind the scene work or giving an interview to be used in a film or documentary. There is a line to be drawn there too. Or maybe be a source of information for a book; as for a professor in an academic study.
I’ve been used too much. My work stolen, people coming through a backdoor to get money from my hard work, and I am lied too.
I am done.
I came up with the idea of a Punk Rock Historian and Professional Consultant for hire. I don’t help unless it is for a fee. Kinda like a private eye for hire.
It is serious business and most people are cheep. Not me, no more buddy!
From my experience one has to be savvy about these things. To the highest degree.
Send me a message and we can talk project, documents and/or consultant fees.
My letter to the Politicians is something I wrote up when politicians send me their many letters for gathering money for their campaigns. Meant to be a humorous antidote but also saying something important at the same time. I need money in running a small business. Isn’t that the same as campaigning for a cause?
I have sent out many of my letters. Sometimes a few times to the same politicians. I never got a response until today.
I started to write postcards for swing states. It is fun to join in and help spread the word and try and influence votes through opinion and with good intent.
I made up what I called my Strong Women Series on Postcards. One was of Stacy Abrams. Now she is running for Governor in Georgia. I thought she might need some of these postcards. So, I got in all together with a letter to send.
I went to my local Post Office where my P.O Box is located.
I mailed off my little package with glee to the Abrams campaign, yes with a monetary donation.
Then I went to check my P.O Box. I had a retrieve postcard for a package. I went back to wait in line for my unknown package.
Not a clue who, from Washington DC, would be sending me a first-class do not bend large envelope to Hudley.
So, it was a real happy moment that in a moments time that two of my favorite politicians would cross ways by way of letters.
Yes, I did send Joe one of my standard letters. Damn it he did respond. He did not ask for money either. Wow my heart is so happy!
Reminds me years ago when my oldest son was about 3. He painted a wonderful rainbow for me. So, I sent a copy of the painting to Bill Clinton with a political ideal letter too. Thoughts that I shared with him in high regard.
He also wrote me back with a very similar letter.
The only two presidents who wrote me back.
In my life I have written lots of letters to all kinds of people. It is always nice when I get a response. But most times I don’t.
~ Sabrina Fair (subtitled “A Woman of the World”) is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor
I recently purchased a wind chime. Well, it is spiral plastic flowers and hummingbirds that hang on the larger arbor of a hanging tubular burgundy flower bush highlighting our back French doors. They are also solar lights at night that are magical to look at. The cats like to look at it and so do I.
I went for a short cool down swim close to the morning, I looked up to see the plastic colorful hummingbirds and flowers spiraling around in the soft cool breeze. It was going to be a hot day. The Plastic Hummingbird sounded like the nice name of a book.
I started to ponder what the book would be about. The many places we have to be. In nature listening. On the computer writing. Looking into a realm of social media or in our mind’s imagination and then the world of our feelings. We have many places to be or focus our attention.
The world of technology is rather new, but we have long lived in the world of architecture, science, and places of another human’s imagination. Films, books, and music are blending all of these realms.
There is also the intuitive realm or magic, faith, and synchronicity.
Whiskey Girl July 2022
The computer being a kind of oracle. Build by codes among codes among coding… computer programming. A vast new realm of communication on all levels of consciousness by conscious humans or the ‘lack-off.’
Later I went for another quick swim to cool off and once out of the pool sitting on my chair under the cool harbor next to my plastic hummingbird, I hear the sound of a real hummingbird. Under the vining vines of tubular flowers and bush, I see hummingbird right before my gaze. Weaving a little back and forth beating wings of 10-15 times per second. I look at the plastic hummingbird and then the living one and realize the contrary nature of life, plastic, and nature. Quickly grasping those things made and invented by humankind and those made purely by nature.
I flash back to a 1954 film entitled Sabrina. Humphrey Bogart as Linus Larrabee is just discovering something called “plastics” in the film. SO much money, collaborating, thinking and creativity yet no sense of how what they created will affect the environment.
Oh, dear me back to the love story.
“Linus Larrabee: Listen, I work in the real world with real responsibilities.
Sabrina: I know you work in the real world and you’re very good at it. But that’s work. Where do you live, Linus?”
These are a handful of Babes that keep giving. They have influenced generations by their singing, music, and right and left hand creative endeavors.
Alicia “Alice” Armendariz ~ Alice Bag from The early LA Band The Bags
Annette Celia Genevieve Zilinskas ~The Bangles, Blood on the Saddle…
Julie Lanfeld-Keskin ~ Sin 34 (RIP)
Kim Morris – Bass and vocals The Thingz
Susan Janet Ballion aka Siouxsie Sioux~The Creatures, Siouxsie and the Banshees.
We are living through kind of depressing days. I think it is a nice time to share humor and look to some darn strong women!
Babes that keep giving.
I love the term BABE. It means so many things. Here at FLopside Comics Mr. Fuck and Mr. Shit mean it in a HIGH FIVE way. Lovers, girls, and best friends. Yet they also use the word ‘dude’ the same way when referring to their friends that are girls.
Girls, gals, women, females, dames, dolls, and broads.
Mr. Shit does not use proper English and prefers to use “that” instead of “who”… it is a slang thing… yet Babes Who keep Giving he said,
“Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege. Every man, woman and child in our country should be able to access the health care they need regardless of their income. The only long-term solution to America’s health care crisis is a single-payer national health care program.”
~ Sen. Bernie Sanders
I am feeling very raw and vulnerable now. I have had some health issues. The disadvantages of growing older. I am between the Dentist and the Doctor.
I developed a lump under my right neck. I went to the Dentist, and he declared it had nothing to do with my teeth. Then I had a (CT) scan at Kaiser. The Urgent care team declared it as “the cause and effect” of an infection due to most probably my teeth.
A week or so later I went into ER and about died due to almost stroking out.
I notified my Primary care physician at Kaiser, and he never got back to me. I notified him again and no response from him.
I had a antibiotics test done as advice by the Dentist. I now know what I can take for this infection.
Yet after about 8 days now both my doctor and dentist have not responded. I left them both messages about the antibiotic tests. I also asked for their advice as well as for a prescription. Both did not respond. I also wondered is there a connection between the lump and the stroking out due to this infection?
My simple deduction is this. How difficult is it for a Dentist or Doctor to deduce that by calling each other than they could come up with a plan for me the patient? Does this ever happen? It should.
So now I have a new Dentist I will see tomorrow and have a new doctor. I will make sure that they both have phone numbers from each other. At my strong request.
We all must be proactive with our healthcare. I was failed over and over again. It’s heartbreaking for me to say this but one must anticipate incompetence.
It is unbelievable that I could be so ignored and misplaced due to two professionals who I thought I could trust. I deserve better treatment. They both failed me.
Doug Fitzsimmons @punk_diversity is dedicated to sharing music and art with a focus on the early LA punk scene.
It feels good to have inclusion in the punk rock and or underground narrative. Artists, writers, bands, and fanzine writers… all of us smiling into the internet. The electrical fire …. It is fun and surprising to me.
This is Doug Fitzsimmons journey and one can see it all on Instagram.
“You know Iris Berry is the one that encouraged me to start this journey.”
He seems very driven.
“I know it is crazy. I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to meet so many. It has helped that the community has vouched for me & my project which is also to document those who might fall out of the narrative if it is not done soon.”
As we have lost a couple of good buddies recently from the punk scene, I feel his determination.
This picture has a story. I was at the Hong Kong Café in China Town. It was early 1979 and I did not know Al Flipside from Flipside Fanzine very well. Yet he took my picture that night.
He said when he went to bed later that night, he saw me in a dream. The picture he took. My image was made up of hundreds of little dots like an X-8 drawing. X-8 is the original master mind behind Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine. Well, the rest is history.
I am wearing my shirt today to support The Descendents as a punk band.
[Restaurant]
“Welcome to Der Weinerschnitzel
May I take your order please?”
[Milo]
Yeah, I want:
Two large cokes, two large fries
Chili-cheese dog, large Dr. Pepper
Super deluxe with cheese and tomato
[Restaurant]
You want Bill sperm with that?
A cross section or motif of the underbelly of an overall group or groups of people who seem to behold Donald Trump as a great leader.
To see them wake up and testify against him was amazing to witness. One guy a family-oriented person a responsible citizen and one a creative artist. Both pulled into this absurdity is very disturbing to my sensibilities.
Capital Rioter Stephen Ayers and Jason Van Tatenhove
They describe stepping back and then observing what it really is they were supporting and promoting. Their followers denying the holocaust or another noting that all the lawful cases of Donald’s were thrown out of our courts. The BIG LIE is here to be torn down … we now see the man behind the curtain.
“Who was the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz?
One of the iconic characters in the film is the Wizard himself, the Man Behind the Curtain. “Dorothy was in need of a champion, someone who had the power to help her get to her home. Toto pulls back the curtain revealing the Wizard to be a fraud, all smoke and mirrors and no real power.”
The Descendents T-Shirt on Jason Van Tatenhove.
Milo Aukerman was on a cover of Flipside Fanzine #37. We thought they were so crazy good when they first hit the punk scene. Der Weinerschnitzel defined a “amber moment” in punk rock history. I never forget the first time I played it hot off the press.
We all did grow old and now we must address this issue now. I am wearing my shirt today to support The Descendents as a punk band that is not associated with the ideocracy of these stupid assholes and deplorable and lost persons who supported or were at the United States Capitol attack. They are our human doppelganger staring us right in the face.
What will it be like when i get old
Will I still hop on my bike
And ride around town
Will I still want to be someone
And not just sit around
I don’t want to be like the other adults
Cause they’ve already died
Cool and condescending, fossilized
Will I be rich will i be poor
Will i still sleep on the floor
In July 2016, Aukerman announced he would be leaving his scientific career to pursue the Descendents full-time, citing burnout with biochemistry and getting laid off from DuPont.
The mockery of the Monkees contrasted with real bands
Punk Rock Colleague & Historian and Professional Consultant
~Hudley Flipside
While the sitcom was a mostly straightforward affair, the music production generated tension and controversy almost from the beginning. Music supervisor Don Kirshner was dissatisfied with the actor/musicians’ musical abilities, and he limited their involvement during the recording process, relying instead on professional songwriters and studio musicians.
At 8 to 10 years old my friends and I watched The Monkees. We were believers and were all inclusive in the voice of a generation. Crushes were flying around the place and mock band performances were as familiar as tents made out of blankets and sheets. As young girls this was spectacular.
Now I can not watch a show without wanting to regurgitate due to the sugarcoating like the cereal we used to eat back then. Or white bread sandwiched with butter and crystalized sugar.
Two songs come to mind “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone, and “I’m a Believer.”
“(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone is written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart and recorded by Paul Revere & the Raiders.
“I’m a Believer.” is a song written by Neil Diamond.
Yes, both songs were currently riding a generation that had a lot to say in real time. It was around 1966.
Yet, the Monkees were riding their fame on fake time. The medium created by middle-aged men. Mirages in the deserts of youthful minds. That’s entertainment as the band The Jam would say.
“An electric train and a ripped up phone booth
Paint splattered walls and the cry of a tomcat
Lights going out and a kick in the balls.
I tell ya that’s entertainment, that’s entertainment.”
The album also includes “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone,” The Monkees’ version of which became a U.S. Top 20 hit in 1967.[3]
~ Sfetcu,Nicolae (2014). American Music. Niolae Sfetcu. p. 166.
It is ironical when the Sex Pistols and Minor Threat both recorded versions of “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone.” The Sex Pistols music is what it is. They did play by the Monkees playbook and included a lot of mockery and falseness to their persona.
I know Minor Threat was a real band.
That is a good contrast. The mockery of the Monkees contrasted with real bands. That is where my experience comes in. Working with so many bands I learned about the realness and authenticity of what bands do and who they really are. Real talent, intelligence, and heart and sometimes a lot of anger. I am glad I know the difference and have that under my belt.
“The Monkees pioneered the music video format and paved the way for every boy band that followed in their wake, from New Kids on the Block to ‘N Sync to the Jonas Brothers, while Davy set the stage for future teen idols David Cassidy and Justin Bieber.
As pop stars go, you would be hard pressed to find a successful artist who didn’t take a page from the Monkees’ playbook, even generations later. Monkee money also enabled Rafelson and Schneider to finance Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, which made Jack Nicholson a star.
In fact, the Monkees series was the opening salvo in a revolution that brought on the New Hollywood cinema, an influence rarely acknowledged but no less impactful.”
-Sandoval, Andrew. “How Davy Jones and the Monkees Impacted Music, Hollywood – and Jack Nicholson”. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
Are Shawn Kerri and Mad Marc Rude the same person?
Punk Rock Historian & Colleague and Professional Consultant.
~ Hudley Flipside
I may be whacked and out of this world but existing through the punk scene some things bugged the hell out of me. This is one story that needs some clarity.
Shawn Kerri is an American cartoonist who was dynamic through the 1970s & 1980s. She is known for her art as one of the rare female contributors to Cartoons Magazine and as part of the early Southern California punk rock scene, creating iconic images used by the Germs and the Circle Jerks.
Kerri moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and was involved during the punk rock scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1978, she published a fanzine called Rude Situation, with Mad Marc Rude, who was then her boyfriend.
‘During this period, she drew numerous promotional flyers and tour posters for her friends, which included members of the Germs and the Circle Jerks. One of her best-known images, “Skank Kid””
A little punk history, a cross over. I still believe that Mad Marc Rude and Shawn Kerrie are the same person. I thought this and no one has made me think otherwise.
When Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine came out with our Comic Relief Issue # 33 both Mad Marc Rude and Shawn Kerri premiered in this issue.
I have been studying both of their signatures. Both are different yet there is a similarity, though I must admit a very subtle one. As is their art.
The “A” looks like a Mad Marc Rude “A.” It has the format of his signatures. Yet it looks like her signature in how the rest is formed except for two things.
A “C” is added to the beginning and an “E” is added at the end.
The cartoon is humorous filled with punk savvy and has the Mad Marc Rude / Shawn Kerri style. During the early punk scene most all of our communications / correspondence was done through the mail. So many artists, friends, bands and beyond I never met in person. This is the case with Mad Marc Rude and Shawn Kerri. As a punk historian I may not find a conclusion to this narrative. Someone please help me debunk this with solid evidence.
Expose the falseness or futility of this. DEBUNK THE PUNK!
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.
