Be More Than A Witness
I have multitudes of ways that you, the visitor, can be more than a "witness" to this website.  I invite you to write in, with either a cool story about a riot you were at (ok it doesn't have to be one of the riots), stories about the scene in your town or high school, etc. Remember how the old letters section was? That was my favorite part about going down to the Flipside house in Whittier - I'd go there JUST to read the letters from you guys, the readers.  If you have something you would like to write about or a short story about your scene to contribute, please write it and send it in (or just contact me). It doesn't have to be "L.A./O.C. scene-related" - it can be about anywhere in the US, but must be within the time frame of 1977 to 1984.  If you're not a big writer, just send me a short email with a bit about something you remember (like a backyard party being busted, etc). It doesn't have to be a big elaborate article. Just check out the letters section; perhaps that will inspire you to write just a blurb that can be included there. This is the punk rock "memory lanes," but in order for it to be that, people have to give me those stories and experiences, even if it is a just one simple recollection in a short paragraph.

Other big ways you can help: We need content, such as scans of old flyers, ads for gigs out of newspapers (see my Rollerworks example, on this page. It's not a flyer, but just a small advertisement clipped from a newspaper), pictures of bands, ticket stubs, etc.  Even pictures of unknown bands from local scenes that never made it into the pages of Flipside are welcome.  I've got a new section called "Featured Band" where I hope to display pictures and short bios of unknown bands from those days. If you wanted your band to be in Flipside, but you never made it in those days, here's your chance now to let the world see your band (Please see the featured band page for guidelines on what is an acceptable submission). If you have your flyers up on display, for example, at Flicker or some other public website, perhaps your own website (even a temporary Ebay auction), let me know so I can go harvest the dates off those flyers for the gig database.  (or just jot down the names of the bands, the venue name, and day of the week and date for the show and send it to me in an email). As mentioned earlier, in the future I hope to provide PDF versions of the Flipsides that I have up on the website, but I'm missing quite a few issues. If you have one of the zines I'm missing and the ability to scan and convert to PDF, I want to hear from you (just email me about this and I'll let you know what I'm missing). I will desperately be looking for people who can fill those gaps.

I want this website to be an ongoing and collaborative process with you, the visitor. The Flipside archives are gone and I'm relying on what's left of my picture collection, donations and whatever I can find at public libraries when doing my research. And remember, you don't have to physically give up your items to me; just provide a copy (use your scanner or digital camera). If your punk stuff is just sitting around gathering dust, why not share pictures of these items here on this website? Even if you're planning to sell on Ebay, providing copies of the jpegs of the sold items would provide ongoing and lasting memories to many visitors. This website receives from 3,000 to 4,000 unique visitors a month (mileage may vary) so think about the happiness to thousands of worldwide visitors you could provide by sharing your jpegs with us here. And remember, all donations are credited on the page where they appear and right on the home page to that section.