Viva...Friday :-)

Friday, my task upon waking was to get to a branch of Bank of the West. The night before our departure, I had left my bank card in the cash machine! Yes, when I am getting ready for a fabulous party, I will become all sorts of absent-minded just thinking of the fun I will have. Luckily, there was a branch just shy of two miles away, so I zipped over to withdraw some cash so I would not be begging people to buy me diet cokes all weekend.

Friday day was uneventful to my recollection, except for the discussion I had with the infamous Felicia. Actually, I take that back. I had the good fortune of meeting Cat from The Vintage Housewife . She was a dear and you can click the link to view photos of our meeting. I saw Holly, aka Tempermental Broad who I have gotten to know better this last Vegas. She is adorable and I want to put her in my pocket and take home with me every time I see her.

I picked up a gold confetti lucite yo-yo I had won on ebay for $12 and had shipped to the hotel. It matched my jewelry perfectly so I went upstairs to change after feeling quite sad in the vendors area because I couldn't buy anything. I want to save all my pennies for my UK trip next month.

I decided that Friday would be my "Gold Lame" night.

I didn't really get any good pics and no pics of my yo-yo!

 The top is a Suzy Perette, the skirt I had made with vintage fabric and I carried my gold confetti lucite purse that has seen better days.

The first band I snapped photos of was a great band from the UK, Jesse and the Orbits. I met the lead singer, Natasha, the night before and just loved her. I met quite a few young Londoners and thought they were all adorable and very sweet.

When the band was finished playing, a nice couple approached me and told me they read my blog and that they had followed my band recommendations and had not been disappointed yet! That made me feel quite good to know someone was benefiting from something I wrote.

I missed a couple bands I wanted to see because I was dealing with the situation following the incident with Felicia. "Situation" and "incident" were words that Dorian, Jess, Kim and I used together quite frequently to discuss shenanigans that we witnessed or partook in that weekend. 

The next band up was the Sureshots. I saw them at the second US Rave and enjoyed them. The Bombshells had been negotiating to book them, but it had fallen through. 

Gary from the Sureshots

 Joe from the Sureshots

I went upstairs to change and spent the rest of the night, into the wee hours of the morning at the record hop in the Big Easy. The Big Easy's dance floor was superb. Nice, slick hard wood. Perfect for jiving. 

When I was going back to my room, I came across a guy passed out in the hall. He had fallen asleep, outside his room, a pile of money next to one hand and his room key in his other. I wish I had taken a photo, but I was more concerned that his money would be stolen. I tried to wake him, but he was not opening his eyes. I shoved his money and key in his breast pocket and went back to my room. Sunday I saw him in the hall and told him it was me that put his money in his pocket. He promised to buy me a drink. 

Continuation of Viva Blogs...Thursday Night!

I think I left off with Frankie's Tiki Room...here's another couple photos from Frankies:

With Teresa an a man I totally LOVE, Patrick

 I ran into my friends, Aaron and Mel

After Frankie's we went back to the hotel where I changed for the beginnings of the festivities! Thursday was my "Hawaiian" day, so I changed into a dress that I had to trade a LOT of vintage for. It is a strapless sarong, rayon, with a bolero, that I LOVE. I was thrilled that my friend Renee, who is a dealer was willing to do a trade. 

With Renee, who has the most fabulous wardrobe!

I didn't get any photos of bands...Lil' Mo and the Dynoflos opened the show to a packed ballroom and put on a FANTASTIC show. I also enjoyed Los Straightjackets, Hi Qs and Modern Don Juans. I did get a few photos of the Hi Qs with Matt on vocals.

Here are some random photos from the night with Jessica, Dorian, and also Alex Vargas and my friend Real

One last photo from the night with Dollie aka The Rockabilly Socialite

  I was up until at least 5:30, closing down the hops that night/morning. While I was sitting out a song at the hop, my dear friend from Germany hugged me from behind and spilled a whole glass of whiskey on my dress! I think it will be fine after a cleaning, I want to bring it to England with me when I go to the Rave. I love her and have known her almost 10 years, so I wasn't mad. She was being cute and drunk and bought me a coke because she felt bad. I hope to see her in the UK without a drink! hehe...

This Saturday! The 13th Booze Broads and Hotrods

This is the club I belong to, the Bombshell's annual party. We love to have it the week after Viva, and it is the perfect cure for the post Viva Blues. For more information about hotels and our show, please visit our website: The Bombshells

Viva....Thursday Afternoon

I had to get up early Thursday morning to pick up my good friend Tanya and her husband, Woody at the airport. While waiting in line for my coffee, I ran into Lisa Fremont Street and had the opportunity to see her beautiful new baby girl. I wish I had my camera with me so I could have snapped a photo. I know I have said this before, and I will say this again, most likely, but I greatly need to remember to capture moments if I am going to blog about them.

The day kind of rushed by, and since I had plans to meet a bunch of people at Frankies, I hung out by the bars a bit. Jess, Dorian and I went up to the Bowling Alley to obtain the bowling pin spill proof cups. I was really surprised and disappointed that there was no "boot" this year.

Since it was the middle of the afternoon, we had to hit up Sweetpea's "Hooch 'N' Smooch" where we ran into the Rockabilly Socialite

We made name tags for ourselves using our "Trucker" names. Dorian is "Ginger Fox," Jess is "White Minx" and I'm "Black Bootie."

Next, I met up with the Swedes, Woody and Tanya and we headed over to Frankies...got a lot of cheeky photos while we were there with the well hung Tiki...

Rockabilly dancing...for the uneducated

As I have mentioned many times in my blogs, I love to dance. I didn't always know how to dance, since I have a husband that doesn't know how. After years of watching the dance floors at rockabilly shows, longingly, I asked my friend Christian to teach me how. I want to use this blog to show some of the different styles of rockabilly dancing.

There are basically 3 styles of dance, Strollin', Jivin' and Boppin'.All three have a different style of music. It's hard to discern the different types of music at first. Boppers are faster and more up tempo than jivers, and strollers are a little more R&B, which is the best way I know how to describe it.

First, there is strolling. Strolling or "strollin'" is mostly a girls dance, although there is usually some drunk guy along the edge of the dance floor trying to stroll with the girls. Strollin' is kind of like a peacock dance. It's the time when the girls get out and strut their stuff so all the guys can admire them, and all the girls who decided to sit it out can talk shit about them.

Don't forget to shut off the music before you watch the videos!

Here's a clip from youtube that was taken at the High Rockabilly in Spain:


 Now we'll go onto jiving. Jiving is partner dancing. It is different from swing dancing, primarily because it's more free form and there is not really organization to it or counting steps involved. Some dancers do incorporate swing dance and jitterbug moves into their jive. Jiving is partner dancing that is all about feeling the music and once I figured out how to follow, I could dance with anyone that could lead.



Now we move on to boppin'! Boppin' is really just free form dancing. Sometimes it looks like retarded 80s dancing, but sometimes, I just can't stop staring when some really good boppers are out on the floor. There are some standard type of skipping steps that a lot of people do, and I don't really have much style when I bop. I just have fun moving to the music.


Hope you all enjoyed this, although I know more than half my readers are good dancers, themselves.

Another Friday night of dancing

Pictures stolen from Aaron Dunmore and Raul Castro...

Tanoa was spinning

Met a cool girl from back east...we have mutual friends

Wore my cowboy shirt and a red pencil skirt with my buddy chewed cowboy boots

E and Jake

Jiving with Oran

  The crowd

Gabby and Morgan

Jose, Raul and I

I love to dance...can't wait for the Bombshell Bop!