Balladeer’s Blog concludes examining this Orphic variation of the Quest for the Golden Fleece. PART ONE HERE. PART TWO HERE. PART THREE HERE. PART FOUR HERE. PART FIVE HERE.
When we left off last time, Medea’s Aunt Circe had informed her that in order to stop the vendetta the Furies were waging against her, Jason, Orpheus and the rest of the Argonauts Medea must be purified from the taint of betraying her father and killing her brother through rites performed by Orpheus and the Meliae – the ash-tree nymphs who nursed the infant Zagreus (in this Orphic version).
The involvement of the Meliae is necessary to assuage the Furies because both the Meliae and the Furies were peers, having been born from the blood of Uranus.
The ship the Argo sailed past Sardinia and Sicily successfully, but then Charybdis caused the Argonauts to become trapped in its powerful whirlpool in the Strait of Messina. The only thing that saved our heroes was the fact that Thetis, a Nereid nymph, was in love with the future King Peleus of the Argonauts, so she freed the Argo from the whirlpool and the ship went on its way.
Later, Peleus and Thetis would become the parents of Achilles. Continue reading
ATTACK OF THE BEAST CREATURES (1983)- Category: A neglected bad movie classic that deserves a Plan 9-sized cult following. 
DR. DEATH (195?-195?) – Ted Knight, famous for his roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Too Close for Comfort is among the surprising names who worked in the American folk art of Movie Hosting. Yes, just as Tim Conway played Ghoulardi’s sidekick and Gary Busey was Mazeppa’s sidekick; just as Pat Sajak wrote for Nashville’s Phantom of the Opry, Bill O’Reilly for Uncle Ted and Tom Snyder for Bob Hersh’s Movie Host the Advisor, Ted Knight is in the mix as well. 
In the wake of 
From April 27th, 2020 – 
From April 7th, 2020 – 
THE SOVEREIGN GUIDE: A TALE OF EDEN (1898) – Written by American William Amos Miller and published under the title My Sovereign Guide: A Tale of Eden, so I have no idea why everyone now starts the title with The instead of My. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that many works of “ancient” science fiction mixed in religious elements with the sci-fi. The Sovereign Guide is one of the most inventive and features angels using advanced technology. Taking the novel section by section: 
THE BLACK SPIDER 
Powers: The Black Spider was in peak physical condition and exceled at unarmed combat. He was also a skilled investigator and handy with a gun. Luckily, Ralph’s lifelong hobby was the study of spiders, so he used trained tarantulas and black widows from a package on his belt against his foes. 
SUPER MYSTERY COMICS Vol 1 #3 (Oct 1940) 
Meanwhile, D.A. Nelson goes to his secret lair – a cave in the woods called the Web, where he keeps his spiders and other items. He becomes the Black Spider and trails Harrigan like Peggy is doing. Our hero arrives in time to save her from Harrigan and a Risko gunman, but she tears off his mask and learns the Black Spider is really Ralph. 
THE UNCLE GODDAMN MOVIES – Over the years, several people have asked me if there are any weird films that I won’t review. Believe it or not, there are. First would be the decades-old version of A Christmas Carol performed by a class of mentally challenged students. 
Over time, that film became one of the products sold by the now-defunct mail order site called Blackest Heart Video. So far, it has been the only version of A Christmas Carol that I’ve neither bought nor reviewed. 
THE SON OF THE SHEIK (1926) – Having had more flops than hits in recent years, Valentino jumped at the chance to try reviving his box office mojo by playing both father and son in this sequel to his mammoth hit The Sheik. 
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