More Trivia

[Thom]

BTW harry potter has outsold the bible now

Well, at least the kids are reading something.

[Anonymous]

I was on Skipper Chuck too! I actually selected the balloon at the end with the chalk in it and won! I gave away all my candy to everyone in the studio!

Dwgiht

[landyh]

I don't remember that but I was put on the "Skipper Chuck" show at about 12 years old as a happy smiling representative of The Seed. This is starting to creep me out.

[Anonymous]

I think I remember you landy.  You were a cute little kid and a smart one to boot if my memory serves me right.

[landyh]

On 2005-02-18 07:13:00, Anonymous wrote:

"She's talkin "Century Village" 55 and over adult living condos.  Chuck zink I think did a movie that Art Barker was in also.  Some of the Seed kids went on "Skipper Chuck Show" for a short time way back then."

Yea I was one of them at about 12 or so on my second go round

[Anonymous]

Blond Hair and alot of it I think...

[landyh]

On 2005-03-04 20:44:00, korne wrote:

"I remember Zappa, Black Sabbath, Tull at Pirates world.  Also remember several local guys that were very good at guitar.  HH guys who played at great local parties.  I often wonder how I survived with so many drugs. But, I have survived well!

Legalizing drugs would simultaneously reduce the amount of crime and raise the quality of law enforcement. Can you conceive of any other measure that would accomplish so much to promote law and order?  
--Economist Milton Friedman

"

Isaw Paul Butterfield Blues Band with my sister and her boyfriend. There was pot everywhere

[landyh]

On 2005-03-02 04:47:00, Ft. Lauderdale wrote:

"Does anyone remember Dina singing "Lost and lonely

Children" or Penny singing "People" or Tommy M. singing "People Get Ready"& playing his guitar. :smile:   or also Penny singing "Summertime". Everytime I hear those songs today I think of them. Nice memories for me. OK the Dina song she made up- but it was appropiate for how I personally felt at the time.

[ This Message was edited by: Ft. Lauderdale on 2005-03-02 04:48 ]"

I can't believe the memories you just triggered for me. I loved to hear Penny sing People. She was awsome. I can't picture Tommy M. but I can hear him singing the song in my head. This had to be at the location that became the haunted didn't it. Or the first little house.  I was just nine years old and leading raps around that time maybe 10. This place is unbelievable.

[landyh]

On 2005-03-03 14:11:00, TRUCKER wrote:

"Thats right.Black lady ,round face,big smile and short hair and love to sing and knew she could.One of her favorit songs was the "impossiable dream". Does any one remember talent night around xmas when the staff sang "Heard it thru the grape vine"



                  TRUCKER"

If it was between 69' and 71' yes.

[landyh]

On 2005-03-09 04:47:00, Ft. Lauderdale wrote:

"OK here we go again. Singing those songs was to let certain emotions out that we were too cool to do. Hey it helped me.  I don't go around singing them today.(maybe I think I am too cool now)

 :silly: "

I agree I was uplifted and had fun with those songs and heck I was a kid. Does anybody remember the term we used to describe that spiritual uplift was it "high on life" not sure lots of things are fuzzy.

[Ft. Lauderdale]

Yep that was on Andrews but Tommy M. was sr 84.  But I think he may have been on 3rd ave as well.
Do you remember Bonny she was his sister in law.

[landyh]

On 2005-03-10 11:49:00, GregFL wrote:

"There is some dissention on this board and even a thread of incredulty when it is mentioned that the seed used cultic methods.



Here is an account with my comments in parenthesis of how someone used to be recruited into the moonies back in the seventies. It may have changed or maybe not...



                 ________

Generally, the recruit meets organizational officials over a quiet dinner. Moon is not mentioned, religion is seldom broached. While you eat, you listen to their lectures and prayers and share in their singing, the recruiters constantly smile throughout the encounter. The youth is asked to attend a three-day workshop. (this is the common deceptive recruiting technique, in the seed it was done at the 'intake' and after wearing you down it was suggested to you to  "just sign yourself in for three days and then you can leave if you want).



The first recognition individuals have when arriving for the three day workshops, is that the followers of Moon regard each other as a family....(no comment necessary)



The recruit is not left alone.(right!) As the neighbors of the Moonie encampment in Pope Valley have attested to, they walk in pairs.(YES!) ... It becomes immediately apparent to you that you are not to be left alone and that all 'spiritual children'(or in our case, Seedlings) have someone of their opposite sex(for seedlings, same sex) from the family assigned to them. If you should wander off by yourself, someone will follow you and politely ask you to rejoin the group.(or as the case with the seed, tackle you to the ground and drag you back to the group) You are even escorted to the rest room." (same!)The book continues, "You also learn that there is a rigidly held schedule. There are specific times for eating, exercising, playing, singing, listening to lectures and discussing them.(and no, absolutely no, exceptions to the schedule) You are separated into small groups, led by a team leader who has to have perfect control, not approximate control.(yep!) From the beginning, the leader directs his or her group like a kindergarten teacher, telling you when to do this or that."(and how to talk, what to say and when and how to say it under the threat of punishment).



If the leaders of the group should slacken in their enthusiasm or diligence, they are sternly reprimanded.(in the seed, started over or demoted to junior staff) The recruit is rarely permitted to engage in any casual conversation with anyone.(in the seed, never) They are only allowed to speak about spiritual things(or in our case, seed approved things when called on) within a structured framework. Creativity is frowned upon, conformity is stressed.(and required) "All day you are bombarded by ideas and concepts," (12 hour per day structured groups) states The Puppet Master.(this was a book written on the moonies) "There is little relaxation, and so your resistance is low.(no relaxation at all at the seed). When you refrain from sharing or resist in any way, you are met with benevolent concern.(in the seed, confrontation) Peer approval is an important technique which subtly tells you to conform. The family members aim directly at your most vulnerable points: the need to belong, to feel useful and to feel love.(same as the seed) Throughout the workshop you are flooded with affection, hugs, pats, hand-holding and smiles."(same as the seed, but usually only when you were in compliance)



Recruits react to the regimental control by trying to please.(as a coping method, same in the seed) "But, you quickly learn that the only way to please is to conform,"(completely and absolutely) The Puppet Master states. "You succumb many times to small acts of conformity without realizing it.(yes!) You feel guilty when you hold back, and you are told that wanting to be alone is a symptom of fear and alienation." (being alone is never an option in the seed)It is at this point that the recruit is asked to join the movement.(in the seed, encouraged to 'work his program') The family member who has spent all the time with the specific recruit (oldcomer in the seed) will beg and plead for the recruit to stay.(and "get straight) There will even be tears along with promises. They will continue to implore until you decide to join," (get straight, and if they fail, the seed would assign someone else to work on you)The Puppet Master states.



After joining the Moonies, the recruit will be given about two weeks of adjustment. They call it "losing", a period when the recruit's desires become nothing. Recruits are allowed to return home for one visit (earn the right to speak to your parents at group), but they must be accompanied or tailed by a Moonie. After that one visit, the recruit's communication with his natural family is reduced to mainly correspondence, and that diminishes rapidly.(this is a difference in voluntary cults because the family in essense joins the seed cult with you. If they don't, your contact is severely limited or forbidden as mine was with my mother)  "When you do step out into the world, it is a shock, a cultural shock," states The Puppet Master. "You are taught that everyone not in the movement is under the influence of Satan (or as with the seed..'unaware or druggies') and that you should mistrust them..... no doubt they are trying to take your mind away. You begin to fear the world and those in it. Thus you become dependent on the group for love and positive reinforcement. After alienation is complete, you are told that you can leave if you want."



After the "losing period" the regimentation becomes even more rigid. The recruit is required to adhere to even more demanding workshop schedules. They sleep five or six hours a day.(same in the seed, and studies show teenagers need much more sleep or they cannot function correctly) Their diet consists of starchy foods and low proteins.(early stages of the seed and when there for weekends) Often they fast for many days.(no fasting, but extremely limited proteins and liquids in early stages of the seed) The recruit must now fundraise and recruit others.(absolutely but recruiting was done thru parents in the seed) The recruit must sing and pray before meals, before classes, before work, before evening gatherings. Most songs are traditional or Korean hymns. Alcohol and drugs are forbidden.







 :eek: "

I like the references but the food thing at the very early Seed was a money thing the way I remember it. They had a kitchen right there in the main room. My second time at st rd 84 I thought the pb and j were still a cost issue. Not sure just the way I remember it.

[landyh]

On 2005-03-16 15:33:00, Thom wrote:

"

On 2005-03-16 11:20:00, Antigen wrote:


"...You mean you took yourself down there or asked mom to take you? I really don't know how that happened and I really would like to. I don't know why, exactly, just that it's family history. "

Must have been the latter, since I was not of driving age at the time. I chose to go to the Seed. I was not under any external threat or compulsion. I get the impression this was a bit unusual, but I guess it explains why I wasn't yelled at or locked in. I was not a flight risk.
"

My first time was voluntary too I followed my sister in I think she felt guilty that she had let start somking pot and drink with her when I was only nine. Seems to me that in that very early time it was all voluntary. Any body go back far enough like me to remember Hap and Mavis. Mavis's claim to faim (she was a tough ex drinker form New York) was in the Seed song she inserted the line "if you F**k up then I'll break your leg" and everybody would laugh but they didn't hurt anybody back then ever. Remember the "Hot Seat" I think it didn't start until we moved to the place that became the "Haunted House" If you got caught in "Bull Sh*t" you had to sit on a toilet while the group "helped" you through it. That was the closest thing to torture in those early days that I can remember.

[landyh]

On 2005-06-17 06:52:00, GregFL wrote:

"

On 2005-03-17 07:52:00, Anonymous wrote:







I also know from reading the posts that Greg hated every minute in the seed and has alot of pent up anger still from his time there and I respect that....but when someone comes along with wonderful carefree memories of love and peace from the seed....Greg comes down on them with Cult this and Cult that.



This forum should be a place that we can say what we want to without the shit hitting the fan and offending someone.

Man, somehow I missed this and never addressed it.



Anon, you are just wrong about your perceptions. While I did resent being put in the seed, there was a period of time while I was there that I bought into the whole seedling thing.  That passed quickly once I graduated.



I am not angry at my seed experience. Hell, it was over 30 years ago.  I moderate this forum for the sole purpose of discussion because I think for a lot of people it is important to confront what happened to them, and it is fun discussing issues with people with a common background.



Anon, this is a place where you can say whatever you want, but all forums, and this one included, have people that don't agree.  Expect that on a forum.  All I ask is we all respect each other and avoid personal attacks.



I do have strong opinions on this type of "treatment" for juveniles, but my opinion is just that, no more or less valid than yours or anyone else's here.  I will continue to express my opinion when the mood moves me.



 I wish you knew how hard I have worked to foster an environment of inclusion of everybody that went to the Seed on all sides of the issue and not just make this a soapbox for one side or the other. But that vision of the SDF requires participation and understanding of the goal of this website, and forums in general require tough skin sometimes because people openly express various opinions and even get testy with each other, and not everybody is able to carry on that type of conversation.



That being said, I am proud of the way the people in this forum have kind of become a community of people, not divided along pro-seed or anti-seed sentiments.



I hope you are also enjoying this forum and hope you participate often regardless of how you view your time spent in your childhood warehouse.



 "

I just found this place and don't feel as if it were an accident and while my first post was mostly very positive in view of my experience at  The Seed. Reading some of the opposing points of view has triggered some very emotional memories that are not at all positive.  I think my view is shaped uniquely by the fact that I went through the program twice before I was thirteen. The two experiences are vastly different. I realize I can sit on both sides of this experience depending on the time frame. Going from the voluntary experience at the little house on andrews during my first run through was a vastly different experience to the all out kiddnapping by my own parents when I went to St rd 84 on the second go round. I for one am glad that I can talk out of both sides of my mouth on the subject of The Seed in an honest way here. Because I have both hostility and love for the program pehaps I have something to share that bridges in someway the gulf between those too sides. Cheers and thanks for being there to help provide this forum. When I hit Google this morning I just knew it would be here and I am glad it is.

[Antigen]

I'm glad you came along too, landyh. I don't know anybody else but me who was involved at such a young age. Now, I never sat in on group, far less on those vaunted bar room stools (btw, they had those at Straight too... anyone else find that ironic?) But I was in on the endless clatches at Denny's after open meeing on SR 84 and a good bit of Programming in our home, around the diningroom table and whenever I tagged along w/ my brother and the New Crusty Nostrils.

I definitely remember the rush of having grown ups bow to my impressive "Awareness". Looking back, of course, I was such an obnoxious prig! But, what's done is done.

Also, I think you probably can answer some questions about the way things were before the ominous 1313 Andrews ave (well, 1315, actually... but the other way sounds better, uh?) There's a legend that the first group started out on Art's yacht tied up at the Playboy Mansion or some such. Any truth to that? Cause the way I remember Art's telling of it, he had started getting the building ready to open before the first Seedling ever arrived and found that his entire work crew were all druggies. So he sat them down and started feeding them beans or something along those lines. Which story is closer to the facts?

If quitting drugs means joining the war on terrorism, does this portend the fire bombing of Amsterdamn ?

--Felton Manifestation