Manson-type character from Hawaii Five-O 1968

Sitting here watching Netflix, and found a bunch of seasons of the old (and best) Hawaii Five-O shows from 1968 and on. I couldn't believe my eyes when I watched an episode entitled "Up Tight" from Season 1, episode 14. In this episode, young girls are being fed drugs, and getting brainwashed by an older, charming, charismatic dude named "David" who tells the girls that "all is one." He also won't take any of the drugs himself, UNTIL.....Well, won't tell you anymore. You will have to watch it! Sound familiar? The guy who played David in this episode also had dark hair, and a huge unibrow. Of course, there are differences too, like the character being an ex-professor, ala Timothy Leary. Hey, I wonder if Charlie ever watched this episode when it aired in 1968? For those of you who don't have Netflix, it might be on YouTube. I guess there were a lot of "Manson-like dudes" running around all over the place way back then!

The Netflix Companion: Skatopia (88 Acres of Anarchy)

 Note to reader: the following post is allegorical, and should not be taken to mean that Eviliz, her agents, her great aunt, her downstairs neighbor and/or her hairdresser acknowledge any resemblance between the man with the Starship Enterprise on his stomach to persons living, dead and/or incarcerated in Corcoran, CA.

Patty just saw this 2006 documentary about self proclaimed anarchist, womanizer, "skate park cult leader" entrepreneur and anger management problem sufferer, Brewce Martin (cough cough Charlie). He's a hella nice guy, but he's just been "hit with a bullshit felonious assault charge."

Brewce is extremely charismatic, and dabbles in music. He has also been skating a long, long time. His mother says that as a kid he was "violent" so she encouraged his skating as a way to channel his aggression.

At the beginning of the documentary, Brewce is living with the lovely, mohawked Halo Whitelight, mother of his 14 month old child (Brewce's other child is 20 year old Brandon "Hellskull" Martin). Halo understands that Brewce has a "fidelity problem," but she is convinced that he has recently changed for her. She is quite a firecracker and got her college's administration to start a lactation room program when her child was born.

By the end of the documentary Bruce gets caught cheatin' and Halo has moved out.

Brewce tuned in, turned on and dropped out of Generation X back in the 90's to run what appears to be the Spahn Ranch of Rutland, Ohio.

Members of his loose knit (cough cough) "Family" are known as the Citizens Instigating Anarchy, or the CIA (cough SLA cough ELF cough cough International Court of Retribution). One kid recalls being cautioned about Skatopia: "Don't go out there! They'll steal your car keys! They'll beat you up! They'll make you stay!"

 

The people of Rutland "think we are worshipping the devil out here," Brewce laughs. "I'm just keeping my cultees in line."

Brewce has got plenty of (cough) redheaded "young love" camped out on his property for a good part of the year. He encourages them to enjoy the "wonders of nature" (cough cough or you don't get off). "Papa Brewce takes care of us so we do a lot of shit for him."

He's got plenty of horny old geezers out there doing shit for him, too.

Somehow, with all the work gettin' done, everyone still remains perpetually broke. One kid actually admits to having eaten dumpster food.

These are actual people! This is not some low(er) budget reboot of "Leslie, Thy Name is Evil." Oh, and BTW: Brewce has been in Rolling Stone, just like (insert name of musical/political/religious/spaceship/personality cult leader here, cough cough).

Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll and Violence: people will always and forever love reading about lifestyles that contain them. Anyone (cough) who is perceived to have an excess of them is a very dangerous man, indeed.

Check it out!

The Netflix Companion: Six Degrees of Helter Skelter

Your host for this edition of the Netflix companion is Mr. Scott Michaels. He is the fascinating founder of FindADeath.com and DearlyDepartedTours.com and has been a serious Mansonologist since 1994. Some of  the places Scott will show you along the way (in addition to the crime scenes at Cielo, Waverly and Old Topanga Canyon Road) include:

Jay Sebring's home which was built by Jean Harlow's husband Paul Bern in 1930. It is also where Mr. Bern died under "mysterious circumstances" in 1932. The current owners, Dr. Ron Hall and his wife Maggie, bought the home in 1970 and have been there, ever since. They do not report any paranormal oo-EE-oo, despite Sharon's supposed "premonition" there in 1967.

Dennis Wilson's home which is also where Will Rodgers once lived. It is still standing, though it was being renovated at the time of filming. Michaels mentions that Clem wrecked Dennis' uninsured Mercedes, but Patty remembers it being a red sportscar, no?

Voytek and Gibby's home which is not directly across the street from Mama Cass', as is stated in Helter Skelter. Rather, the properties back up to one another. The Falcon's Lair, where Rudolph Valentino lived, and which has a birdseye view of Cielo Drive from across the canyon. Michaels explains which houses were there in 1969, including the one Winnie Chapman ran to for help. Places where Lotsapoppa, Saladin Nader, Rudy Weber, Steven Weiss, and Susan LaBerge lived.

Jack Jones' home which was creepy crawled. Jack was a singer most widely known for the theme from "The Love Boat." Things were moved around in the house, and Jack's cowboy hat went missing. Michael asserts that Jack later found out that the crawlers stuck around in the bushes to watch him come home and only left after police arrived to take a report.

The LA County Coroner where Chief Craig Harvey deciphers publicly available coroner's reports on all the known victims, and finally, Barker Ranch before and after the fire. Patty really enjoyed Michaels' take on everything and thanks to Ken, she recognized a lot of the places she's never been.

The Netflix Companion: Valley of the Dolls

How did Patty get this far in life without viewing the campy, craptastic masterpiece that is Valley of the Dolls? Who knows. She did, however, finally get around to it, but found herself zipping through the unbearable Patty Duke musical numbers to each new scene with Sharon Tate as Jennifer North.  It was, in short, a painful experience for Panamint Patty: Sharon whispering, "I'm pregnant."

Sharon by the pool of a gorgeous mansion in the Hollywood Hills looking both chic and right at home at the same time.

Sharon giving in to a svengali movie director to make less-than-optimal career moves.

And finally, Sharon being taken out of a building in Beverly Hills motionless, and under a white sheet.

Sigh. She was sooooo beautiful. Her acting skills are not particularly well developed yet, likely because she was still so darned young. Or perhaps because not even Meryl Streep could have worked her magic on this absolute dog of a script. However, her screen presence is undeniable: she really is so beautiful to look at that it hurts. What a star.

Patty wonders if her family was able to watch this and other movies that she starred in after her death: was it comforting to them, or as it was to this outsider, an unsettling experience? If you have never seen it, then do. You may laugh, you may cry, you may just go, "meh." But as a student of this subject, it is an absolute must.

The Netflix Companion: Will You Kill For Me?

Currently streamable on Netflix is this 2008 NBC Documentary with The Bug, Catherine Share, Dr. David Smith, Linda Deutsch and Dr. Jack Levin. Patty will remind you that Dr. Smith is the founder of the Haight Street Free Clinic. Linda Deutsch was an AP correspondent who has covered the case since the beginning, and Dr. Levin is a criminologist from Northeastern University who kind of set the tone for a well-balanced (albeit entry level) treatment of the subject:

"I think we have to look beyond the label of monster, crazy, insane. We have to try to understand the entire situation, the circumstances...how the counter culture arose during the 1960's...some of the characteristics of those people who followed Manson and actually carried out the murders, and finally, we have to understand Manson as a human."

Dr. Levin is a man after Patty's own heart. He is balanced in his approach to whether or not the Family was brainwashed, and whether or not Charlie truly ordered the crimes. He does not take sides nor jump to conclusions. He states that "we may never know," but that certainly, it could and most likely will happen again. His interview is in sharp contrast to that of The Bug, who gives us his same old Helter Skelter dog-and-pony freak show.

What may be interesting to The Evilist are the interviews and some of the news footage, including original NBC national coverage with David Brinkley. What may be annoying to you are the goofy "reenactment" scenes. In some places, they make no sense while in others, they're absolutely wrong. For instance, both Sharon and Gibby are wearing long white nightgowns when we know Sharon was in bikini underwear. In other scenes, the criminals and victims just kind of stare at each other in a kind of time warp while the canned spooky, discordant music plays.

Eh...what the heck. It entertained, and IMDB gave it a solid 6.4.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!

Mr. Patty, like our beloved Colonel, loves those little round-headed dudes. For a treat, Patty queued up Christmas Time in South Park:

http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Christmas_Time_in_South_Park/70213147?trkid=496624

Episode One marks the very first appearance of Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo which is an all time classic. Episode Two is entitled "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" Since Patty was not expecting this, she pointed and laughed her fool ass off while Mr. Patty groaned with mock chagrin. Anywhoo, (spoiler alert!) Charlie drives Cartman and the gang to the mall in Grandma Cartman's car, changes his swastika to a smiley face tattoo, then gives a requisite sentimental speech about the meaning of Family as he is ultimately hauled back to the klink. VERY silly. VERY eggnog-and-bongworthy. Enjoy!

Revolution!

Patty supposes she might unofficially be starting an Eviliz.com "Netflix Companion:" recently she discussed "Wild in the Streets" and "Jesus Christ Superstar;" today she will touch on a little gem of a documentary produced in the Haight-Ashbury and released in 1968 that is called quite simply, "Revolution!"

What makes this movie most relevant to Manson researchers is its period look inside the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic at 558 Clayton Street (You can see a photo of the Free Clinic TODAY on Eviliz.com here:

http://www.mansonblog.com/2011/07/annotated-haight-ashbury-now.html

At or around minute 36, the interior of the two front rooms full of medical personnel and hippies is fully visible for several minutes. From a victorian bay window, you can see a short, waif-like little man pacing down on the corner...
...could it be???

Nah...

Anyhoo. You may remember that Dr. David E. Smith was the author of a scholarly paper on the Family entitled "The Group Marriage Commune: A Case Study" in the September, 1970 Journal of Psychedelic Drugs. Dr. Smith is also the founder of the free clinic, and also of Rock Med. Surely, Dr. Smith must have known Ines Folger quite well, wouldn't you think? He has a cameo of sorts at or about minute 18 as the camera pans a public health poster that reads as follows:

"STP Users: Do not take thorazine, seconal or other downers for STP bum trips. David E. Smith, M.D. If you need help, call free medical clinic 431-1714 558 Clayton Street."

STP gets mentioned more than once before the credits roll. Patty never realized before how available it must have been back then. For those of you unfamiliar, STP (aka DOM, aka 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine) is a hallucinogenic characterized by vibrations, distortions, increased sexual sensation and a rise in blood pressure.

One final though before Patty ceases to bore you with her background research...Today. Today Malone is the sunny blonde star who sells dope and booklets on "How To Roll The Perfect Joint" to passers-by:

In the movie, Today says that she took her name because, you know, it's beautiful. "Like, totally NOW." Heard this one before? From Scientology? Or The Process? Or one of the groups mentioned in this film like The Hip Job Co-Op, The Diggers, The Krishna Temple, The Love Vortex or the Orifice? Patty wonders if Today ever met The Family? She looks just like one of the girls but more conventionally "pretty." Here, just to stay kind of on topic, Patty presents you with Today yesterday and Today today:

And, Dr. Smith yesterday and today:

The 1973 JC Superstar Bus

Patty unfortunately does not get to go on her Thanksgiving Road Trip due to a stupid midterm. BOO! So what's the next best thing? Why, streaming the 1973 Andrew Lloyd Weber "Jesus Christ, Superstar" of course! Do y'all remember the opening scene when the whole crew gets off of a big, Manson-esque bus? The similarities are really creepy. This could be The Family, save for the one dude wearing a Coca-Cola T-shirt. Damn, they were even doing product placement way back then!

Read Something: Christopher Jones

Patty streamed "Wild in the Streets" with Christopher Jones, Shelly Winters and Richard Pryor last night which got her to Googling. You may recall that Chris was a close friend of Sharon Tate's and is even rumored to have had an affair with her while she was pregnant. Devastated by her death, he dropped out of the limelight in the early 70's to become a painter. The biography available at http://www.cinetropic.com/jones/bio.html gives a lot more detail about the impact of the crimes on his life including the following statement:

"He'd moved into his manager's guest house on the property where the Tate killings had occurred in Benedict Canyon. Chris, still very upset over Sharon's death, watched unbelieving as the owner's guests were shown blood stained carpets and repeated grizzly stories over and over."

Now, that's messed up.

If you have never seen "Wild in the Streets," maybe you should. It's excellent background research for what the mood was in our country during the time The Family was active, when 52% of the US population was under age 25. There are some excellent shots of the Haight and the Strip if you watch closely. Be warned though, the lyrics to "14 or Fight" are bound to get stuck in your head for many days afterwards.