Bopping & Knocking!

Fun fun fun fun funnnnnnnnnnn! That's what the past month of weekends have been!

Let me delve into the vaults of my memory, back to early October, when we headed to the 23 Club in Brisbane for the Bombshell Bop. The night was organised by Nor-Cal rockabilly ladies, The Bombshells, who are well known for their events celebrating rockabilly and hot-rodding.




I had never been to the 23 Club before, and I really liked the space and vibe of the place. It is big enough to fit quite a crowd, and there is a good dance floor - so of course we spent the whole night dancing our little socks off!




The bands that played were The Rhythm Shakers (from LA), Charlie Roman & The Teenage Werewolves (from SF) and Jailbreak! (from Fresno). They were all great, with fun sets and really danceable music. All of the musicians were also very entertaining with their performances and interacted with the crowd well.








Loads of friends and familiar faces filled the joint to celebrate the birthday of Kim Bombshell which made it extra fun! This was definitely one of my top nights out on this trip so far.


The weekend ended up being jam-packed full of good music and lots of dancing, as the next evening we donned our cowboy boots and headed to The Knockout to see the debut performance of The West Coast Ramblers (featuring Jay, who is also the drummer in The High-Rhythm Hustlers) and headliners Kit & The Branded Men (who I've been wanting to check out for a while now).








Both bands put on great performances - The West Coast Ramblers were so smooth, I never would have guessed it was their first live show, and Christina the lead singer/guitarist in Kit & The Branded Men has a really pretty singing voice and is a kick-ass (and very stylish) front person for the band.








I managed to get in a lot of really fun dances with my sweetheart, and we often had the dance floor to ourselves (which is always good, when the dance floor happens to be quite small). I have finally discovered that my cowboy boots are the best footwear for me to dance in at The Knockout. The floor is so uneven and bumpy, but I was able to spin comfortably and smoothly in the old boots. Yeeeehaaaawww!


Added bonuses to the night, aside from good music, friends and good dances, were; photoboothing (we had to do two takes, as a certain someone's big-ass cowboy hat kept edging me out of the frame in the first set...) trying a sip of Four Loko (I only had a sip as a) it was nasty and b) I felt tispy after one sip - that stuff is dangerous) and getting late-night papusas across the street at El Zocalo afterwards. Yum.

Halloweekend....

Wow, time flies when you're having fun! I have so much to blog about, yet I've been finding it hard to motivate myself to get typing and note down my thoughts...but the time has now come.

I love dressing up, and given that Americans go all out for Halloween, I have celebrated this holiday in San Francisco for the past few years.

I can safely say that this year has been my funnest Halloween yet! I even got to visit a pumpkin patch for the first time in my life, and then carved one (this is where my competitive streak came out) which was a great way to get into the festive spirit (actual spirits - namely, gin - also helped with this).










The pumpkins were surprisingly easier to scoop out than I had imagined, and I saved all the seeds to toast in the oven the next day....unfortunately, they didn't come out so great, as I forgot they were in there and burnt them a little...






October 31st fell on a Sunday this year, so it ended up being a Halloweekend full of fun. Friday kicked off with the party that the swing dance community has been awaiting with much excitement - the now annual Zombie Prom.






Held at Verdi Club, the Zombie Prom featured live music from the Hi-Rhythm Hustlers and Stompy Jones, plus Dj Oran Scott was on hand to play some killer (muahahahha!) sets. Hats off to Tanoa Stewart for organising such a fun party, and for going all out with the decorations. The joint was packed and it was great that so many people made a real effort with their costumes....there were some seriously terrifying zombies walking around!










I went as zombie Jessica Rabbit, and my boyfriend went as a zombie priest, and it was fun from the moment we started getting ready, to the moment I got to peel my eyelashes (yay I managed to glue them on and get them to stay in place all night!) off at the end of the night. I scored on the costume this year, as I found my dress at Goodwill for a bargainalicious $4, and managed to customise it into a pretty accurate representation of the original. I loved wearing a wig too, for the night, although having that much hair (which kept going in my eyes, my mouth...) got to be a little tedious - I have no idea how people with really long hair deal with having it everywhere about them, as it would drive me nuts having a mane that had a life of its own.








The night was the perfect mix of dancing and socialising. I found it tricky to dance too much (and by too much, I mean dancing to nearly every song), due to the combination of make-up, sweat and long hair, but I still managed to meet my exercise quota, and the music was so good, it was impossible not to dance.


It was great to see so many friends in costume (I didn't recognise them all!) and I found it highly amusing when people I knew didn't recognise me with red hair!








All in all a top night, and most certainly the best Halloween party I have been to thus far....


Sunday, Team Brunch hit Mission Beach Cafe in costume, where I had a seriously delicious short rib hash, with yams, brussel sprouts, apple, sweet potato and crème fraiche. I liked the vibe of the place, the 80s pop music was awesome, and our waiter was very knowledgable and helpful with regards to the dishes and his preferences. That said, although my food was yummy, I thought it was a little over priced at $15 for a breakfast dish.


I went to brunch as the devil, and I don't know if it was because it was warm out, or I was tired, or what, but I was so happy to get home and get out of costume, as my wig was driving me nuts, the horny hairband gave me a headache, and the make up was making me feel yucky. It was all worth it though, when on the walk back to the car, Michael Jackson and I were chased down the street and each got given medals for our costumes. Oh to get recognition....




Sunday night we celebrated in Alameda with a tiki twist at Forbidden Island's Hulaween party. Again, there were some great costumes (the lady who dressed up as a scorpion bowl was amazing) and a contest showcasing the crème de la crème of the bunch.


DJ Tanoa was on the decks and the music was the perfect mix of Halloween themed songs and then everything from the 50s to the 80s which got people up and dancing.....whooooooaaaaa here she comes, look out boy, she'll chew you up....






I went as a mime artist, on the arm of a handsome sailor. I think my mime was successful when I saw my boyfriend in his sailor uniform, as my eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets, although, I still need to learn the gestures for 'the coconut shrimp, spicy chicken bites and monkeypods at Forbidden Island are delicious' - because they are.