…. Orthrift store, only sometimes it does end up in the Museum !
My progressed moon and sun are entering Taurus. The sun is a bit ahead. I guess the active Gemini moon and sun fun are going to be leaving me~ thinking wise. Says I will need to sleep a lot and I will not take all this political strife too well either.
Today at Trader Joe’s while checking out my groceries, I talked to a young punk checker. He declared himself punk! He looked more like a 70s punk than a current morphed-up pretentious one. We talked about thrift stores, art and a Polish artist that was considered a Polish Picasso. After his death they found his work in thrift stores. I told the young punk my punk line, that I tell all young punks.
“Yes, I found my first punk record at a used book-thrift store, The Saints.”
He told me he thinks he heard their name but will check them out. I will check out the Polish Artist. He told me about, a film / documentary came out about the genius Polish Picasso. I told the young punk about the Museum of Fred.
While driving home I thought about a few things the young punk and I talked about. It was nice to have an interesting conversation with someone in real-time. That the core “lifestyle” of punk is not dead. The idea of art as a process is a message I enjoyed sharing. Also, I admitted to him something I never have admitted to anyone. Though some have tried to label me an artist.
Young Punk Checker at Trader Joe’s:
“Are you an artist?”
I hesitated, but he did compliment me on my green hat with silver flowers & purple stone. (Even if it was a thrift store joke).
Me:
“Yes, yes, I am an artist. I love the process of art.”
I also confessed that I am not struggling and I’m quite content.
What a brilliant time for this documentary. The waxing moon is growing strong with the full moon arriving this Friday June 13th, 2014. Check it out and support friends Paul Bishow & James Schneider!! And check out their Kickstarter site… Punk the Capital, straight from Washington D.C. Documentary by Paul Bishow & James Schneider
A documentary exploring how Punk took hold in Washington D.C., from 1976 through the hardcore explosion of the early 1980s. Look below and click on it…!!!!! Being a backer makes a pledge. It is like the good old days when supporting the wildfire of a scene …no questions asked…it was just done. FIVE DAYS LEFT!!!!!
Erased from Punk History: My Experience with Punk the Capital
Flipside T-Shirt for sale. Support the Flipside memory.
Just click on image.
In 2019, I was interviewed for Punk the Capital: The DC Punk Scene. The filmmakers presented it as a definitive story of a cultural moment that shaped us all. I was excited to be included—because I lived it, contributed to it, and carried it forward.
Flipside Fanzine, where I worked and wrote, didn’t just cover the Los Angeles punk scene—we reached across the country. We connected DC bands with readers who cared. We helped document their scene, gave them space, and built the bridge between coasts.
The early punk scene was loaded with women.
But on the day of the Los Angeles premiere, I was told I was excluded. My interview was cut. Instead of my own words, a band member was given the stage to read a letter from Flipside—my home, my work, my history.
As if my voice, my presence, my lived experience didn’t matter.
A Panel Without Me
That night, I watched as the panel unfolded: Henry Rollins ignored me. Ian from Minor Threat patronized me. The filmmaker himself patronized me. And yet, some of my ideas appeared in the film anyway—stripped of context, stripped of credit.
I was erased, not once but twice.
Alec Mackay the only DC punk that matters.
The Gendered Silence of Punk
Punk claimed to be about smashing old hierarchies, giving voice to the voiceless. But too often, the same patriarchal patterns replayed themselves under a new name. Women who built the scene—who published, promoted, archived, and lived punk—were dismissed or cut out.
Flipside supported DC punk when few others did. And yet, when the “official” history was packaged, my presence was replaced by a man reading a letter. That choice says everything about how women’s contributions are handled in punk history.
What It Cost
It broke my heart. Punk was my family. My contribution was real. To have it dismissed in front of my peers was devastating.
But I also know this: I was there. I worked for Flipside. I carried Los Angeles punk alongside others who gave everything to it. My work supported theirs. My words documented theirs.
Hudley doing a record review on Media Blitz 1980s
Why I’m Speaking Now
I’m writing this because silence equals erasure. Henry Rollins ignored me. Ian patronized me. The filmmaker patronized me. They used my insights, but not my name. That’s not just coincidence—it’s systemic.
When the “official” story of punk is told, it matters who gets included and who gets left out. Every time a woman’s contribution is erased, the story becomes less true, less radical, less punk.
Click on image to order Los Angeles Ten Year Anniversary Issue. Focus on Alec Mackay
KFJC Hosted by Hudley Flipside on Flipside Radio 1984.
Tape Two 05/28/84
Interview Minor Threat.
This is the first 60-minute recording from 1984. Right out of punk rock. Enjoy, because you just never knew who would come a knocking on our door? An interesting article in the Los Angeles times today 11/17/2012…in the Business section. “Hostess to go out of business” and how it synchronizes with the above tape, which contains an interview with Ian MacKaye about straight edge virus eating of sweets… and Al mentions the “Twinkle defense” in so many words…. impressive.
Dan White killed San Francisco city supervisor Milk and Mayor Moscone due to the eating of Twinkies, and that he was depressed (hypoglycemia). Also, one of the reasons Hostess is going out of business is because consumers are getting smart about their diets and just don’t eat Twinkies anymore. Some 30 years ago and I win the argument today… how good is that…ahead of me time …. ahhahah life is strange…nasty sweet.
Some great bands in this issue and some wonderful memories. Yet as you know my goal is to bring in the Los Angeles Flipside Flipside narrative. My mission. As I find Flipside Fanzine things cut-up I reunite and make whole.
This is a good narrative and thanks to Pat and Ann it has a nice finish.
To D. Boon on his birthday one of the “cult’ov58.” He would be 66 today. Joy abounds and memories shared, I just try and be less clinging and more inclusive in the overwhelming love of our original punk rock wild people.
Photo by Al Flipside.
Flipside Fanzine # 32 Minutemen Cover at the Whisky A Go Go’s upstairs Bathroom July 1982. We wrote “In the issue and bands” on the wall of the bathroom at the Whisky A Go Go.
Reference Number ARC-0451
Level of description collection
Title Flipside Collection
Click on image below to be taken to link.
The Flip Side Collection consists of ephemera related to Los Angeles’ Flip Side fanzine, including 20 stickers with seven different designs, business cards, a distribution letter and flyer, a Fanzine Nation letter, photocopy of an article by Jeff O’Neill in the Rio Hondo College publication El Paisano entitled “Punk Rock: The Sick Shall Inherit the Earth” from February 24, 1978, and the Summer 2012 issue (#45) of Colorado’s Dagger fanzine that contains an interview with Flip Side staffers Patrick DiPuccio and Holly Hudson [Holly Kowalewski, Holly Cornell]. Also included in the collection is a document created by donor DiPuccio describing the items in the collection at length. The Flip Side Collection provides a business context to the fanzine. Seen in a broader context, the collection highlights the do-it-yourself aesthetic of 1970s punk fanzines and illustrates their evolution into the new millennium.
Curiosity of Pat DiPuccio
This is a picture of Pat or “Pooch” at the Library in front of a giant mural there. Image taken by his wife Ann.
There is a reason this picture is saved on my computer. At the time it was just another punk adventure with the bands. This picture is the last one that I can remember with all the original Black Flag together. I was sitting back in an open closet and took it. It was hot and I swear the walls were melting. We were wild and out of control. No one cared about us then! Man has that changed! We grew up and as adults we do what we have to. I see so much hate and taking sides over “Black Flag and Flag” that I have grown sick. Everyone of these members contributed overwhelming to the punk rock scene…I have to let it go. I have chosen to remember them all as friends who helped to create and nurture the continuity of our punk rock scene. I promise this is my last sweaty two bits on the matter. Case closed !!!
