News from Around the World

While Vietnam is remembered as the television war, Iraq has been the television-crawl war: a scrolling feed of bad-news bits, pushed to the margins by Brad and Jen, Robert Blake, Jacko and two and a half years of other anesthetizing fare. Americans could go days on end without engaging with the war, on TV or in print.

Via the redoubtable TalkLeft, I ran across an LA Times article discussing the Robert Blake civil trial. The judge is letting jurors pose questions to witnesses by submitting them in writing.

Erik’s respect for tradition, his ability to preserve old forms while simultaneously updating and reviving them, may in part explain why his own songs are so durable. Fellow folk singer Robert Blake once commented on how Mischief Brew songs, entirely apart from their performances and recordings, have the ability to take on a life of their own: “Underneath the bodies moving and the hands-in-the-air singing along,” he writes, “I heard songs that will be sung for a long time.” Here’s to you, then, Mischief Brew: may your songs never get stuck out of my head.

Robert Blake on Thursday gave jurors in his civil trial contradictory portraits of his relationship with his wife, vowing he loved her while saying she once offered him her teenage daughter for sex.Save to My Web

SCIFI: Cocoon: The Series (Science Fiction, As If The Name Of The Channel Wasn’t A Dead Giveaway) At long last, Jack (Steve Guttenberg) discovers the secret of the mysterious rejuvenation pool: Joe (Robert Blake) has been bathing everyone in the blood of true freshmen.

Get a real justice system. Stop acquitting people just because they’re celebrities. Everyone knows that OJ and Robert Blake killed people and even if Michael Jackson didn’t intentionally molest anybody, he DID admit to sleeping in the same bed as them, which is still pretty fucked up. Terrorists, why blow up New York when Hollywood is much more deserving target.

4. “Does Robert Blake dating again count as an emergency?”

4. “Does Robert Blake dating again count as an emergency?”

Addicts are often pitted against other addicts in legal cases. Criminal ones in particular almost always include at least one addict—the criminal, of whom 80-90% are alcohol or other-drug addicts. Often, the victim is also an addict—after all, much crime is committed against people known to the perpetrator, and addicts often associate with other addicts. The Robert Blake non-murder of Bonnie Blakely was a recent glaring public example of this phenomenon, as was Michael Jackson’s non-molesting of Janet Arvizo’s son.

Questioning of prospective jurors in the wrongful death case against Robert Blake was marked Tuesday by a verbal attack on the lawyer who filed the lawsuit.

Watching Live & Direct this week, it’s been hard to get a sense of what Rita was hired to bring to MSNBC. The aftermath of a devastating hurricane is not really a Rita Cosby kind of story; for one thing, there’s no one to blame for it. (I suppose you could rant bitterly against God, as if He were Robert Blake or Joran van der Sloot, but that might lose you a few viewers, especially from the Fox camp.) Cosby seems much more at home with stories like the disappearance of Olivia Newton-John’s boyfriend, Patrick McDermott (I loved her attempt last week to pump some juice about this case out of a visibly nonchalant private investigator, who suggested, “I would say two words: Las Vegas, OK? Look in Las Vegas. He’s probably hanging out there”), and of course, the Natalee Holloway story. This week, Cosby was supposed to be reporting live from Aruba, and she actually did broadcast the show from there, but God had thrown a wrench in MSNBC’s plans to steal some of the Natalee Holloway fire away from Fox: Hurricane Katrina. There was something bitterly amusing in watching Cosby try to justify her presence in Aruba (”As you know, I just arrived here in Aruba, which was not hit by the storm, but is dealing with the fury of the Natalee Holloway investigation”) before devoting the rest of the hour to long-distance coverage of the mega-disaster happening back in her own country.

Robert Blake, the courtroom sequel, is ready to roll. Opening arguments in the wrongful-death civil trial pitting the Emmy winner against the family of his slain wife were set for Thursday morning in Burbank, California. This, after 11 men and five women were selected late Wednesday to serve as jurors.

"I hate to be unduly precise, and mean this with love, but I don't think you've earned that "ergo" yet. Syllogistically, I think you took a wrong turn somwhere and ended up at "All men are Socrates." True, lawyers (if they are wise) wear suits to court -- but not all lawyers go to court, and even many trial lawyers go to court only occasionally. Many people (if they are wise, and have the means) wear suits to court. Robert Blake did; so did Scott Peterson. Ergo, it is at least possible you are training your students to be criminal defendants.

There’s a simple anthropic principle at play here. The inability to contemplate our own individual unimportance in the bigger scheme of things cause us, collectively, to gape in horror at celebrity meltdowns. And when a celebrity really steps outside the law (I submit to you The People of the State of California vs. O.J. Simpson and The People of the State of California vs. Robert Blake) we really begin to salivate for details. It is, as Ian McEwan wrote in “Saturday”, “a human complication beyond the reach of morals.”

When Robert Blake was acquitted, there were some that felt he was guilty, some who felt he was innocent but the verdict and the work of the jurors was considered to be honorable and fair by most. Can you imagine if this had happened after Cook and Hultmans disgraceful behavior rather than before? Everyone who didn't like the verdict would say "well probably they were intimidated, just wait" "I bet there was misconduct in the jury room" , "I'm convinced they want to write books so the ones that 'knew' he was guilty were afraid of a mistrial". We will see these sort of comments backed by "proof" in the actions of Hultman and Cook. And they will be made even in local cases without national coverage.

The high-profile lawyer, who also has represented Robert Blake, Mike Tyson and other celebrities, said he felt many members of the press were disappointed when his client was found not guilty on all 14 counts.

According to CNN, Blake's first wife, Sondra Kerr Blake, was deposed in a civil lawsuit filed by Bonnie Lee Bakley's children against Robert Blake. She testified that she learned some time in the 1970s that Blake had put out a hit on her and her then-boyfriend, actor Steve Railsback. Allegedly, Blake had planned to make the double-murder look like a revenge-killing for Kerr Blake's and Railsback's participation in the movie Helter Skelter (about Charles Manson).

What’s next? Are we going to get Robert Blake for downloading music? O.J. insists he’s innocent and said he will continue to look for the real pirates.

Before he won the Michael Jackson acquittal, he had already achieved results almost unheard of. (check the cmry bio page in the navigation bar). Not only has he avoided the death penalty phase of EVERY dp case in the south and elsewhere - acquittals or convictions on lesser charges-, he has done what some call impossible. In the Robert Blake case, he achieved bail for a man (celebrity or not) charged with 1st degree murder with aggravating circumstances, something that no one considered achievable. He also had the conspiracy charges against Blake dropped. Mr. Mesereau has had numerous charges against his clients simply dropped due to the investigation he does pretrial, a well known one is the brief time he represented Mike Tyson. He compiled a dossier, with all that was learned from his investigation of the case and the complainant, took it to the prosecutors and they dropped the charges.

A.Well I was originally the first one called, When Neverland was raided in nov 03, i was asked to fly to meet MJ, I had a number of discussions that day but i was preparing for the Robert Blake murder trial, another American celebrity, and I decided i couldn't accept the mj case because i couldn't ethically and professionally accommodate both cases at one time. A couple of months later Mr. Blake and I had a falling out, and 3 months after that Randy called me, who i had known for many years, asking me if i would fly to FL to meet mj,I agreed

I’m just about to head upstairs to watch this film. It’s one of my favorites. Of course, I like weird shit like this…and it is weird. Let me give you a hint as to why that might be. It is written and directed by Jennifer Chambers Lynch. Does that name sound familiar? She’s the daugher of David Lynch, one of my all time favorite directors. In fact, he might have been the last person to hire Robert Blake (who acted remarkably close to his own persona in the film Lost Highway, I might add). LOL

46. All New Jersey natives: Sal Martorano, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifah, Susan Sarandon, Connie Francis, Shaq, Judy Blume, Aaron Burr, Joan Robertson, Ken Kross, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Budd Abbott, Lou Costello, Alan Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Marilynn McCoo, Flip Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, Whitney Houston, Eddie Money, Linda McElroy, Eileen Donnelly, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Walt Whitman, Jerry Lewis, Tom Cruise, Joyce Kilmer, Bruce Willis, Caesar Romero, Lauryn Hill, Ice-T, Nick Adams, Nathan Lane, Sandra Dee, Danny DeVito, Richard Conti, Joe Pesci, Joe Piscopo, Robert Blake, John Forsythe, Mer yl Streep, Loretta Swit, Norman Lloyd, Paul Simon, Jerry Herman, Gorden McCrae, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Phyllis Newman, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Eva Marie Saint, Elisabeth Shue, Zebulon Pike, James Fennimore Cooper, Admiral Wm.Halsey,Jr., Dave Thomas (Wendy's), William Carlos Williams, Ray Liotta, Robert Wuhl, Bob Reyers, Paul Robeson, Ernie Kovacs, Joseph Macchia and, of course, Francis Albert Sinatra and "Uncle Floyd" Vivino, Kelly Ripa.

Robert Blake told director Lynch he was not going to give him a hard time about the script because Blake did not understand it. Blake also said he felt his character was the Devil.

Move over Michael Jackson, Robert Blake, OJ Simpson, Martha Stewart and Robert Downey Jr. We have our own celebrities to cover involved in e-mail defamation, drugs, divorce and wife battery etc.

Well, the jury has spoken. Somehow, Michael Jackson has been found NOT GUILTY on all 10 counts of child molestation and various other counts. I am not surprised. I can only hope that he leaves the US and goes away forever. Let the weirdos in the other countries overseas have him. They deserve him. He is not welcome here. It’s sad that all of these big-wig celebrities can get away with anything. OJ, Robert Blake, and now this. Next up – Phil Spector. Anyone care to predict how that one will turn out?

Elcar’s television career spanned 50 years. He played in other drama series, including “Baretta” opposite Robert Blake and the Robert Conrad series “Black Sheep Squadron.”

What sort of allegiance can one really feel for the likes of Robert Blake and OJ Simpson anyway? I mean, it isn’t like this is Bill Cosby or some other celebrity that is actually looked up to and admired on the stand. It’s Robert F’n Blake. I just don’t get it…

There’s also a BIG difference between this and OJ, and Robert Blake. That’s the fact that there is major evidence in those two cases. I saw Craig Ferguson last night, and he was joking that Robert Blake’s alibi included the word “gun” and he was still acquitted! Every juror in the jury for OJ, KNEW that leather shrinks when wet! The other BIG difference is the fact that there were dead bodies.

What else? Oh, I got my panties all in a bunch over these people who are saying that those of us who believe Michael Jackson should have been found guilty believe that only because he’s “different” from the norm or because we’re blindly listening to the media. Um. Again. No. Look, I believe that OJ killed Nicole and Ron, and I believe that Robert Blake probably killed his wife, but in both of those cases, I agreed with the verdict. In those particular cases, the evidence was not there. In this case? It was. And all these interviews that the jurors are giving and the things they’re saying…my god, but what a miscarriage of justice this was. They didn’t convict because they didn’t find the mother believable, because “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” The victim’s background wasn’t lily white. Guess what? Predators pick the weakest victims. Child molesters don’t chose children from strong families - they choose children from clearly dysfunctional families! And regardless, I don’t understand how not liking the mother should have had anything to do with whether this child was molested or not. Whether you believe that the “prior bad acts” should have been brought in or not, the fact is that this is law in California. I believe in the law because sex crimes such as these do follow a pattern and rarely have witnesses. So. Given the fact that the jury was presented with the facts of the two payoffs, given the fact that one of those victims got up and gave a clearly upsetting account of what happened to him, given the pattern of behavior — of all of the alleged victims looking alike, coming from similar backgrounds, each describing damn near exact circumstances and offenses — given the fact that these boys could describe Mr. Jackson’s genitals in detail…given all of that, how could anyone stand up and say that there was any doubt that something untoward was going on at Neverland? In fact, that’s not what the jurors are saying. Some have come right out and said that they thought he probably was a child molester, but that mother made them doubt the entire case.

Finally, the conclusion one may draw is this: It is OK to kill someone (OJ, Robert Blake) or molest children (Jacko) in California if you are famous. I laugh sarcastically when I hear lawyers argue that the system is NOT tilted to favor the famous. Justice can indeed be purchased.

Well, the worst has happened and a verifiable sexual predator has been turned loose on the streets of the world with what amounts to permission to keep doing what he’s been doing. I can’t believe these people actually couldn’t see him for the pervert he is, but it’s been done and we all have to live with it now. And don’t for a minute think he won’t go right back to doing what he’s always done, here or in Europe, or wherever he moves his family to. Once a molester, always a molester, unless they get treatment, and even then it’s not certain they won’t be back at it sooner or later. Here is a man with the money and prestige to do anything he wants to do, and anyone who calls him on it is painted as a liar, a money-grubber, or someone who has a vendetta against him for some reason. Never a hint of remorse, oh no. Not for this animal who can pay off anyone at any time, and has made a habit of doing so. Ask yourself about the witnesses who testified for him. Who were they? People who have a vested interest in keeping him out of prison so their money-train can keep on chugging along, and his ex-wife who won’t do anything to risk her ability to see and be with her children. No, there’s not a one I would trust for any reason. And what about all the damaging testimony supposedly coming from Jay Leno, Chris Tucker, and others? They all said the kid never asked for money, totally against what the Defense claimed they would say, yet their word was taken as truth. The jury said they considered Jose Salas’ testimony to be totally truthful, yet they totally disregarded the part about him and the kid being drunk four out of five days. One has to ask why. What about all those who testified about having seen and experienced things of a sexual nature against boys? Were they all lying, and if so, why? What did they have to gain? Nothing. Yet, their tesimony was totally ignored. I really don’t get it. What is it with these famous guys? OJ had mountains of evidence against him, and more that his Defense managed to have barred, but he was set free. Now, at least he probably won’t be going around killing women all the time, but still, he should have paid for what he did. Robert Blake - did her or did he not kill his wife? I don’t know about his story, since there seem to be two credible sides to what happened. His story about leaving his gun on the table of the restaurant does sound strange, yet when a policeman who’s been on the job for years talks about how distraught her was, how he kept throwing up and all, how can you not feel this is a man who just walked up on a scene he had never experienced before and was having an awful lot of trouble handling? That one confuses me, but he did get off, whether rightly or not. And now Michael Jackson. As I said in my original posting, if anyone else had all the boy traps Jackson has at their house there would be no doubt of what they were there for. Ok, so the amusement park could be just for having fun, and if all he did was have kids over for fun at times, there would be no problem, but no grown man has sleepovers for boys of a certain age, actually sleeping in the bed with them, for innocent reasons. I’ve lived a lot of years and known more people than I can even remember now, and not once in all those years have any of those people done anything like that. Oh, there was one old man who lived near my grandparents who took a shine to my brother when we were little and invited him over to his barn one day to choose a toy from his “stash”. I tagged along, much to his displeasure, and when we got there he had a huge chest full of toys of all kinds and told Jack to help himself. He wasn’t quite as giving with me, handing me a bow and arrow set when Jack asked if I could have something, too, and while we didn’t think much of it at the time, I look back on that and wonder what might have happened to my brother if I hadn’t tagged along with them. He is the only man I have ever seen who had a “boy trap”. Now, he didn’t have the money Mr. Jackson does, and he certainly wasn’t as beloved as Michael is all over the world, but he did have his trap, ready and waiting, and I see no difference between the two men whatsoever. They are examples of perverts who have all the trappings to make any little boy happy and more willing to “pay for” their largesse any way they want them to. You would think more young boys would talk about it, wouldn’t you. At least until you see what’s been done to the boys who’ve dared to speak up against Michael. It’s kind of like what women who’ve been raped go through, or at least they used to, by being called everything but a decent woman, with witnesses paid to line up and claim they’ve “had her before, willingly” all around the block. And of course, as we all know, if a woman says yes to one guy, she must say yes to them all, right? I feel sorry for this boy, and the others, and any of the ones who will follow, because now he has the law on his side, and when he tells the world what whores these boys and their families are people are more likely to believe them. After all, he was found innocent this time, wasn’t he?

And for those of you living under a rock, Michael Jackson was aquitted of all 10 counts of child molestation. Dude did it, but used his celebrity status to prove yet again what a mockery the United States judiciary system is. O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, and Michael Jackson need to be in jail, but they’re free men.

what the jury is going to come back with. I assume that it will be not guilty.. just proving my point that if you are a "Star" you can gte away with anything. I think OJ and Robert Blake proved that cause I do believe that both of the where guilty as ever. I guess only time will tell.

Are there any great mysteries left from the last century? D.B. Cooper, maybe. But are there any great mysteries for this generation to ponder? We can all have ourselves a macabre chuckle about Robert Blake and OJ Simpson on the golf course, looking for the "real killers," but I don't think that there's been anything as tantalizing and stimulating to the imagination since the days that helped wind down the Antiestablishment movement in the way that Watergate did.

The King of Pop (Rocks) called in to answer questions. Did he really give guests alcohol milkshakes? "Yes. Sometimes I give them milkshakes straight from the tap!" Ewww! "No, not like that! Why are you so sick! I am offended by you! And that's saying a lot." Larry King was told to go home yesterday (he was scheduled to testify), but Michael has others in mind to back him up: "O.J., Robert Blake, and...who's the one who did Waterworld? Costner. Big fan, huge fan! Saturday Night Fever, who's that? Big big fan."...

Caldwell will refuse to testify on his own behalf and plead “the fifth” – a choice Robert Blake can’t so easily make since he should have no trouble expressing himself in a public forum and telling the truth he says he so desperately wants everyone to hear. In fact, the trial has been repeatedly postponed because the former TV star kept losing lawyers when he’d insist on giving interviews and performing for the camera.

Want to get away with murder? If you aren’t Robert Blake or O.J. you would have a better chance of doing it in the part of Yellowstone park that is in Idaho, maybe.

Larry King had Robert Blake on! They played an hilarious clip of Robert just repeating Larry's questions. "Wouldn't it be great if the whole hour was like that??"

There is a typical “Our Gang Curse” story making the rounds that lists mostly a selection of cast members that generally fit the curse theory. Left out are many members who do not fit the curse pattern. It is interesting that most of the curse stories list Robert Blake as “Spanky” which is not true. Blake was “Mickey”.

Robert Blake - real name Michael Gubitosi : ("Mickey," but inexplicably listed as "Spanky"): Appeared in 40 installments. Very long and successful post-Rascals career in show business. Arrested in April 2002 for the murder of his wife; acquitted at trial in March 2005. Still alive at age 71.

Ralph played clips from tapes that Celebrity Justice (which just got cancelled) sent him, where Robert Blake is talking with his lawyer at the jailhouse, about stuff like what he should wear to court (the lawyer inexplicably tells him to wear informal clothes, like khakis), dyeing his hair, and what A-list actors could be character witnesses for him, like "the Waterworld guy", and "Mr. Saturday Night Fever." What a nut!

Transcripts of conversations between Robert Blake and his attorney have fallen into the hands of the LA Times. Other than the creepy feeling we get from this (Law & Order tells us those conversations are privileged, right?), the snippets, give us a, well, creepy window into the mind of now-acquitted Robert Blake. He and his lawyer hatched a brilliant plan: have '70s TV stars visit him in jail and speak well of him to the media upon leaving. Scott Baio? Not cool enough. Suzanne Pleshette? Totally cool. We suppose '70s TV was a better pop-culture memory of Blake, as good-guy Baretta, than, say, '60s art film, which might evoke In Cold Blood, where he played psychokiller Perry Smith. Obviously, other celebrities in trouble with the law have thought to call on their fellow celebs to try to make them look good. But really: Gavin McLeod?

Runners-up for top story of the month: Busy month, folks. Jeff Weise, 16, killing nine plus himself at Red Lake High School on the Chippewa Indian reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota, in the worst school shooting since Columbine. Wiese’s father committed suicide in the ’90s and his extremely abusive alcoholic mother is comatose four years after a car crash (see Myth of the Month for more). Jesse James Hollywood, described by prosecutors as the “mastermind” behind the kidnapping and murder of 15-year old Nick Markowitz over...

Runners-up for top story of the month: Former Oakland Raiders’ lineman Barret Robbins who, after going on a drinking binge in South Beach, Florida, body-slammed two officers responding to a burglary call and then tried to reach for their guns; Robbins is breathing with the help of a ventilator in a Miami Beach hospital after having been shot by the officers. “Twin Peaks” star Lara Flynn Boyle who, after consuming “at least two alcoholic drinks” and “some pills,” was reported as “behaving strangely”...

Top Story: Could actor Robert Blake have had Bonny Lee Bakley murdered?

The trial of Emmy-winning actor Robert Blake, star of the 1970s hit series “Baretta,” began in late December. Despite the fact that Blake is a known alcoholic, many commentators are reluctant to accept the possibility that he may be guilty of hiring someone else to murder his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. While a court of law needs to make this determination, we are certainly entitled to conclude in our own minds that he may have committed this nefarious deed.

Robert Blake, if guilty, is now playing the role of his life. Reportedly, he has done a lousy job of it. When he was told his wife was dead on May 4, 2001 (after leaving Bakley alone in their car, having “forgotten” his gun at the restaurant a block away), an officer testified he cried out, put his hands to his head, but didn’t shed a tear. Egomaniacs not only show no remorse, but also have none. If found guilty, the first step will be taken towards deflating his ego and, ultimately, his ability to find redemption.

Robert Blake offered $250,000 to settle a wrongful death suit bought on my the children of his wife that he murdered and got away with.

"I've been watching the Robert Blake and Michael Jackson trials, and I was hoping for my own media circus," said presiding judge Col. James Pohl. "Maybe even a shot at Jay Leno doing a 'Dancing Pohls' comedy bit, and I'm an excellent dancer."

Advice to fellow blogger Andy, Relax! Take it easy, as Robert Blake would say Go Cowboying. When you wake up, put some Foldgers on the pot, turn on Howard Stern, count your blessings and get ready for a great day or at least an okay day. Don’t obsess over girls just because you think she’s hot and you talked to her before, as weezer would say, It’s just sexual attraction so I’d rather keep wacking. Slow down, stay in the present not the future, and let nature work its course. It’s only life, let your destiny come to...

"I've been watching the Robert Blake and Michael Jackson trials, and I was hoping for my own media circus," said presiding judge Col. James Pohl. "Maybe even a shot at Jay Leno doing a 'Dancing Pohls' comedy bit, and I'm an excellent dancer."

After two years of working in an office job, where I actually got to wear clothes and makeup every day, I recently returned to working out of my house, which means that I've immediately manifested my inner troll, spending my days hunched over my laptop in my gloomy living room in my mismatched pajamas, my hair looking like Robert Blake's Cockatoo (Are we tired of "bedhead" het? I'm going to coin a phrase right now for this look: let's call it the "cockadoo.") Well, within two week's I'd landed myself a cripling...

This time it's worse - it's worse than Michael Jackson, Laci Peterson, Robert Blake, and Chandra Levy because it ain't about jack motherfuckin' shit, not even a crime, not even a celebrity, not even a politician - it's about the committing of a misdemeanor by an idiot in order to fool other idiots, but its massive, overwhelming coverage only reveals who the real idiots are. At one point, Sunday morning, all three "news" networks were doing long pieces on who-the-fuck-cares-what-her-name-is, interviewing "experts" about why someone...

Edith Freni, for her deconstructed court sketches (including Robert Blake and Jacko).

Is california going to do a triple crown? O.J. , Robert Blake, Micheal Jackson. Do Californians really have a hard time convicting their icons of heinous crimes? I have been following the Jackson trial and have learned a few things.

14. ’01 Dolcetto d’Alba (Robert Blake)

14. ’01 Dolcetto d’Alba (Robert Blake)

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Dang!– Who said Robert Blake wouldn’t get any roles after his trial. He’s the fragging pope now!

Am I the only one shocked to hear that Robert Blake has been selected as the next Pope? Hopefully he still has that parrot and can consult with him while pontificating.