WHAT IS THIS and WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

Bugliosi Talks Manson

Bugliosi will be onstage at The Company Theatre in Norwell, Mass. at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 8. He will discuss that event, the writing of his book and the inner workings of Manson. The talk will conclude with a question-and-answer period with the audience.
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Tickets are $33

Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures

The Travel Channel launches their new season of Ghost Adventures with a visit to Cielo Drive.  That area of Benedict Canyon is said to possess a geomagnetic anomaly conducive to the spirit world.  Yawn.  You may sense that I'm not a believer!  I'm guessing this show will either be marginally entertaining, not in the way intended to, or it will make you cringe at the lengths people will go to to make a buck.



The venerable Robin Leach contributes THIS error ridden article to the Las Vegas Sun announcing the series premier.  The show airs at 9 PM tonight, Saturday February 15th with Zak Bagans and his cohosts Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin.

From Book Review to Plagiarism to Sex Offender

This post was supposed to be called: Book Review - The Manson Family "Then and Now", by David Pietras

As someone obviously interested in the "then and now" aspect of the Manson Family, the title of this "book" piqued my interest a little bit, even though the description on Alibris was fraught with inaccuracies, misspellings and poor grammar.

After reading this, in likely slightly less time than I think Pietras spent writing it, my only question was what did Pietras do with the rest of his day? I was still unaware of what else I was about to discover or how prophetic that thought was.

You know, it's not that often that you get to bust a bad guy, but when you get to bust a REALLY bad guy you can't pass up the opportunity.

This really isn't a book. It felt more like a report a kid might have turned in in the 8th grade - you know, the one he started after dinner the night before it was due and plagiarized the daylights out of and taped in a bunch of pictures to fill up space, then took an old report out of its clear plastic cover (like these in the picture) so he could recycle it? The teacher could always tell the kid didn't write it because it was too good. My memories of those "research projects" - those of the prepubescent kids in the library copying directly from the encyclopedia - would serve me well in this case. The reasons will become clear in a moment.

Pietras quoted extensively from other books such as Helter Skelter, The Garbage People and even leaned on Nuel Emmons a bit. It felt familiar. The book is also filled with photos, all of which we have seen before and take up even more page space than the quotes from other resources. I thought to myself that if you were to remove the quoted text from other authors and the pictures, I think this would not be a book any longer, it would be an article. A well written article, but not a book. Something kept gnawing at me as I read it, I just didn't know what.

So, getting back to what compelled me to push the buy button on Alibris, the last third of the book is called "Where Are They Now?" As someone who loves the connection of the 1960's Manson Family to the 60-year-olds that they are now - the ones you might bump into at the mall, I just couldn't resist. This section begins by saying "Manson endures, even as a sixty-year old". Now, even the most novice among us knows Charles Manson is 79 years old. That sentence bothered me, so I googled it. Guess what? It is a plagiarized line. It comes from a really good article called "Charles Manson and the Manson Family" by Marilyn Bardsley. Most of us have read this at one time or another HERE in the Crime Library. So I skimmed Bardsley's article (I'm snowed in, so I had time to kill). Guess what? It was ALL plagiarized from Bardsley! Not leaned heavily on, not paraphrased - totally fucking plagiarized. In many cases he even uses the same photos Bardsley used in the same parts of her article as illustrations. Nowhere in this book was Bardsley even credited! So, I've read 2/3 of this thing only to find out that he completely plagiarized everything I've read so far.

Not to be deterred, I trudged on, only immediately to find that the next three chapters were copied word for word from Manson's Wikipedia page. I kid you not. Directly from Wikipedia!

He then reproduced a portion of the recent Rolling Stone article to address the Star saga, but at least he cites Rolling Stone.

Then when he turned the "where are they now" subject to Lynette Fromme, he went back to directly plagiarizing Bardsley - word for word. Then returns to copying and pasting from Wikipedia to talk about what has become of Tex, Sadie, Clem and so on. Pietras didn't write any portion of this book. None of it. He copied everything directly from Bardsley and Wikipedia.

I think it would be fair to guess that this book does not get an endorsement. In fact, if Marilyn Bardsley were to get wind of this, Pietras might find himself being sued. Luckily it only set me back six bucks on a used copy.

BIG THUMBS DOWN

But screw the book. Upon investigating this a little bit more, our crack team has compared his Wix page that he proudly displays in the masthead of his "book":

http://mrdavepp.wix.com/davidpietras

...with the Florida sex offender registry:

http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/flyer.do?personId=47963

Oh SNAP! It's the same guy!

Oh, he's a sex offender in NY too:
http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/SomsSUBDirectory/offenderDetails.jsp?offenderid=3593

I wonder if his Parole Officer knows about the plagiarism? I'm guessing this is not going to be his biggest problem going forward. This turned out to be a worthwhile six dollars, don't you think?

Juan Flynn Obituary

Posted HERE

My first encounter with Charles Manson

In the summer of 1968, I would make my first encounter with Charles Manson. On a typical 100plus degree day, Bob, Craig and I were returning to the San Fernando Valley from scouting filming locations in the nearby Simi Valley. As we travelled back on the Old Santa Susana Pass Road, I remembered that there was a coke machine in the saloon at the old Spahn Movie Ranch. Bob pulled up to the old western town boardwalk and I hopped out of his Dodge convertible. As I strolled toward the saloon, Charlie appeared and began walking toward me. When I was about 10 feet from bumping into him, without reason, I seemed to have walked “bam” right into a glass cylinder like a shield encircling an alien being. I made a 180 degree turn, walked back to the car and hopped over the passenger car door as I commanded, “Let’s go.” Bob started the engine and pulled away without questioning my decision to leave. He nor Craig ever complained, “Where are the cold drinks?”  Down the road I finally thought, “Why did I do that?” Not until many years later would I think, “If I had connected with Charles Manson that fateful day, could I have ended up filming the tragic events of August 9th and 10th, 1969?”

OMG look at the drawing pic of Polanski's face on new post then look at Rolling Stone cover Boston Bomber

Horror Fantasy Interview with Roman

This issue of Horror Fantasy was published January 1969. 

Debra Tate - Live on in your illusion

It may look like Sharon. It may taste like Sharon. It may smell like Sharon, but it’s NOT Sharon. It's just an illusion.

"It’s an illusion, postulated, mocked up through confusion. Confusion, it's an illusion, utter confusion, live on in your illusion."

I’m beginning to think that the entire Tate Legacy is an illusion or more like a bad dream.

As usual, Debra Tate provides some comic relief on the "TateFamilyLegacy" website.

Let’s dissect the ramblings of the insane, shall we?

May 6th, 2008: Sharon Tate’s private clothing collection. Exclusive on Inside Edition. Debra Tate will appear on Inside Edition tonight.

Private clothing? What exactly is that supposed to mean? Exactly how "private" are we getting here?

When Inside Edition spoke to Debra, she opened up a trunk she keeps with mementos of Sharon; a school photograph, a pair of gloves, a maternity dress. This is a rare glimpse at the private life of Sharon Tate.

The only trunks that interest me are the ones that contain "Gold Dubloons" and "Pieces of Eight", but I guess the old saying is true that someone else's garbage is another person’s treasure.

"I really enjoy going through the clothes," says Debra. "It takes me back to a much happier time when she and I would spend time in her closet picking which outfit she was going to wear to which event.

Very touching. You probably also got to wear Sharon's "Hand me Downs", but the only problem was that you weren't "Hot" like Sharon so the clothes didn't do anything for you except to remind you of what you aren't and what you will "NEVER" be.

They’re precious moments. That is why I don't open it often. I can still smell her scent."

I’m not sure that I want to examine this one too closely so I'll just take your word for it. Just make sure that the models, who are shown in the photographs wearing these garments, don’t make the scent fade. This is sick. I can’t believe what I'm reading.

Last night Debra worked on a photo shoot for an exhibit in L.A. this summer that will feature Sharon Tate's wardrobe.

Far Out. If she puts one of the dresses up for sale on eBay, I'll buy one so that I can use it to light the sacrificial flames that will consume the two sacrificial photographs that are scheduled for incineration on the morning of August 9, 2008.

I wonder if Debra Tate has any of Patti Tate-Ford's clothes tucked away in a trunk and values those as much as she values Sharon's clothes? Or is it only Sharon's scent that brings out the sentimental feelings in Debra?

Personally, I think that Patti Tate was the prettiest of the three Tate women.

Sure, one can say that Sharon was the "Glamor Girl", but Patti had that "Girl Next Door" look; sweet, innocent, a soft sexy voice and a dynamite looking body that could rival Sharon herself.

As for Debra, I call her a "Go Ugly Early" girl. The guys on the YouTube board will know what I mean



It's hard to believe that Debra Tate came from the same gene pool as Sharon and Patti. It makes me wonder what Col Paul Tate was drinking on that night of conception.

Explain to me how you can get 2 Super Sexy Blondes and 1 Ugly Redhead from the same womb? I guess it’s like mixing yourself a drink. It all depends on what you mix together in the glass.

Original post HERE

Krenwinkel

This is a photo of Katie in the Fall Choir at University High School, 1966 yearbook. 
Can you spot her?