Longing for SF!

Hey Everyone. I have been keeping myself crazy-busy lately, going back and forth between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I went for a visit to SF in mid November, and had such a great time that I realized I need to be back there. I am so happy when I am in San Francisco! And I’ve been so bored and irritated about LA. I couldn’t afford to go to most of the shows I was interested in, and I hated driving like 30 or 40 minutes across the city just to get to a show and pay 6 bucks for a beer. I gave it a year of my life, and I am over it. So after Christmas, I will be a San Francisco resident once again! I couldn’t be happier about it!

Halloween in Hollywood was a fun weekend for sure though. Friday night I went to an open bar party where my friend’s band, The Deep Eynde played. They sound a lot like early Damned, and I absolutely love them. They are one of my favorite bands in LA. The party had a costume contest, and everyone was dressed up. It was a great crowd with a really fun vibe, and I had a blast. The singer, Fate Fatal told me about the following day’s "Day of the Dead" festivities that would be happening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery (where DD Ramone is buried). He made it sound so interesting and beautiful that I decided to check it out.

The cemetery had beautiful altars built on many of the graves that had paper mache people, candles, photos, lights, flowers, and anything else you could think of, which family members of the deceased had built for the "Day of the Dead." There were a lot of people in costumes, there were performances by a dance troupe who wore giant mohikan feather headdresses, and there were all sorts of vendors selling Mexican art, as well as food and drinks. It went well into the night and there were all kinds of people of all ages. It was a very special, fun night and I am so glad I got to experience it.

The Sunday night of Halloween weekend was Halloween Proper. I went to a party where the huge backyard was decorated with crazy nooks and crannies filled with zombie mannequins galore. It was really intricately done, and the rumor was that the homeowner has it that way year round, but "goes all out at Halloween." It was really crazy!

In November, I went to a great show called the British Invasion in San Bernardino at Orange Pavilion (an hour and a half away from LA). The bands were: The Adicts, Exploited, Cockney Rejects, Discharge, Total Chaos, UK Subs, Resilience, and more. I went along with friends who were hired to film the event, so we had all access and it was a blast. The Adicts were so theatrical, with lots of glitter confetti and huge blow-up beach balls they threw out into the crowd, etc. They were really fun to watch. The rest of the bands, I have seen before, but The Adicts were the highlight for me. I do love the UK Subs though, but having seen them numerous times, I didn’t find it all that exciting. This show was all ages, and there were so many little punk kids, it was a trip. I took photos of the huge crowd from the stage, so I got a performers-eye view.

My month of December was spent finding an apartment in SF and packing my house up to move. I then went to SF to see Turbo Negro play the Thrasher "skater of the year awards" at the Great American Music Hall. I got great photos, which I will have to send in after the New Year because I am in Dallas, TX right now for the holidays and I don’t have the cord to download the photos from my camera. That cord is packed away with all my belongings back in LA! It is snowing in Dallas now, which is exciting for me, since I have not seen snow since 1995! I look forward to the New Year in San Francisco! You will all be hearing more from me about SF later. Have a great holiday season and be safe!

XOXO- Alisha Amnesia