Monthly Archives: October 2014

October 22, 2014 · 3:00 pm

PRESSURE BUILDS ON CONTENDERS AS COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS LOOM

dog-in-football-uniformWith the publication of the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings less than a week away, a number of key Week 9 matchups take on even greater importance, with nation’s top-ranked teams looking to catch the eye of the CFP selection committee.

No. 1 Mississippi State has risen to the top of the national rankings following three straight wins over top 10 teams, and will be looking to improve on their perfect 6-0 record when they travel to Kentucky to take on the Wildcats.

The Bulldogs, who opened the season outside the Top 25, are pegged as early 13.5-point road favorites over Kentucky in college football betting odds published at bettingsports.com. Mississippi State is currently riding a nine-game winning streak and have rewarded bettors with a 9-1 record ATS in their last 10 games, but will need a win to keep ahead of the other two undefeated teams vying for CFP consideration.

No. 2 Florida State, SU winners in their last 23, head into a bye in Week 9 at 7-0 following a 31-27 win over No. 5 Notre Dame on Saturday night. While the Noles have padded their SU record, they have been a disappointment to bettors, covering the spread just once in their last eight dating back to last season’s national championship Continue reading →

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October 21, 2014 · 7:29 pm

GHOSTS OF HANLEY HOUSE (1968) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

The Ghosts of Hanley House

The Ghosts of Hanley House

In the middle 1980′s/ Way down on Level 31 …

Before MST3K there was The Texas 27 Film Vault! Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this neglected cult show from the 1980′s. My interview with Randy Clower, my research through VERY old newspapers and emailed memories from my fellow Film Vault Corps fans are helping to reconstruct elements of the show’s history.

EPISODE ORIGINALLY BROADCAST: Saturday October 26th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.

Flash Gordon Conquers the UniverseSERIAL: Before showing and mocking the movie Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, our Film Vault Technicians First Class showed and mocked a chapter of the 1940 serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.

FILM VAULT LORE: Randy and Richard’s presentation of Ghosts of Hanley House has occupied a very odd niche in pop-culture trivia for quite a long time. To those of us who remember The Texas 27 Film Vault this episode is famous as “the one where Psychotronic‘s Michael Weldon seems to have confused T27FV with MST3K.”

Psychotronic Video GuideIn Weldon’s 1996 book The Psychotronic Video Guide he refers to Ghosts of Hanley House as having been riffed on by the folks at Mystery Science Theater 3000. Actually MST3K NEVER showed Ghosts of Hanley House but The Texas 27 Film Vault DID. Weldon was a fan of Movie Host shows like Ghoulardi, Zacherley, Elvira and others, so it’s possible he had also sampled episodes of Randy and Richard’s show in the 80’s but the subsequent years blurred his memory to the point where he confused T27FV with MST3K in this instance.

It’s a very easy mistake to make given the similarities between the shows.

THE MOVIE: Continue reading →

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October 21, 2014 · 6:08 pm

SHARYL ATTKISSON: THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY IDA TARBELL

America's sole remaining journalist.

America’s sole remaining journalist.

If there’s only one true journalist left in the United States it would be Sharyl Attkisson. She’s the only one doing what the self-infatuated “Fourth Estate” is SUPPOSED to do – follow a story no matter which political party it embarrasses.

Attkisson got targeted by Obama during his abuse of the NSA, got fired from CBS for continuing to pursue the ONGOING investigation into the Benghazi coverup and has kept on digging and digging into the countless Obama scandals, making her the only journalist who can use the cliche “speaking truth to power” without hypocrisy.

Obamacare corpseNow Attkisson is among those reporting how bad the “sticker shock” for the unfortunate victims of Obamacare will be. The new rates were – conveniently of course – delayed for AFTER election day but they’ve been unearthed and the cheapest Bronze Plan alone will go up an average of THIRTEEN POINT NINE PERCENT. This will put an even greater burden on the poor and working class, but Obama’s callous and unfeeling supporters simply will not care.    Continue reading →

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October 20, 2014 · 9:13 pm

GOTHIC HORROR: ANOTHER NEGLECTED STORY FROM THE 1800’s

Halloween month continues at Balladeer’s Blog with another look at a Gothic horror tale that doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

Killcrop the ChangelingKILLCROP THE CHANGELING (1828) – By Richard Thompson. Gothic horror stories always earn extra points from me if they spotlight a supernatural menace that is NOT a vampire or a ghost. This tale features a goblin child who changes places with a human child.

Killcrop the Changeling features the nearly forgotten version of goblin lore, which presented them as supernatural humanoid vermin who mystically inhabit old, uninhabited buildings. In this case the London building in question used to belong to an undertaker who also sold equipment for infants. The establishment was called Both Ends in reference to this cradle and grave specialization, NOT because it was a gay bar. Continue reading →

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October 20, 2014 · 7:19 pm

A NEW REVIEW OF AN ANCIENT GREEK COMEDY IS COMING THIS WEEK

Mascot 1It’s very nice to learn that some of you are so fond of my examinations of ancient Greek comedies that you’ve been asking when the next one will be up. I can guarantee it will be this week, thank you. Don’t let the Halloween posts discourage you, my regular topics will still be showing up.  Continue reading →

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October 19, 2014 · 3:24 pm

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 18th

* HEADLINES *

Pittsburg State GorillasNUMBER ONE TAKES A FALL – The 15th ranked PITTSBURG (KS) STATE GORILLAS traveled to face the top ranked Defending Champions of NCAA Division Two football – the NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE BEARCATS. The Gorillas combined heavy-hitting with unexpected trickery (including recovering two on-side kicks at the least expected moments) to compile a 28-10 lead by Haltime. That became 35-10 in the 3rd Quarter before the Bearcats added a garbage time TD in the 4th. Pitt State won 35-17 as QB Anthony Abenoja passed for 318 yds and 3 TD’s.  

Paine college Lions helmetINFLICTING SOME PAIN(E) – The PAINE COLLEGE LIONS are playing their first season of intercollegiate football in about half a century this year. Yesterday for Homecoming this 2nd Edition of the Lions notched their very first win by defeating the EDWARD WATERS COLLEGE TIGERS. After a scoreless 1st Quarter the visiting Tigers took a 14-0 lead in the 2nd before Paine tied up the game at 14-14 by the Half. That became a 21-14 Lion advantage in the 3rd and ultimately a 38-14 blowout win for Head Coach Greg Ruffin. Continue reading →

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October 18, 2014 · 10:32 pm

FOUR GRUESOME YET NEGLECTED HORROR FILMS

Night of the Scarecrow

Night of the Scarecrow

Halloween month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog! This time around I’ll examine four neglected horror films that are thoroughly macabre and are certainly graphically gruesome enough for today’s audiences but for some reason don’t have the followings they deserve. 

4. NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1995) – A big reason for this film getting lost in the shuffle is no doubt the fact that it is frequently confused with Dark Night of the Scarecrow, a telefilm with Charles Durning. This flick is in a whole different category. A warlock in 1600s America is killed by the holy roller townspeople, with his soul being trapped in a scarecrow and his bones buried in a coffin beneath that scarecrow.

In the 1990s an accident revives the warlock’s soul and unbinds the scarecrow, which sets out for revenge on the descendants of his killers. The scarecrow spent Continue reading →

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October 18, 2014 · 10:26 pm

BARACK EBOLA

Obama greeting ebolaCAN THIS BLITHERING IDIOT (WHO ALSO, IF YOU’LL RECALL, RECENTLY SAID THE WORLD WAS THE LEAST VIOLENT IT’S EVER BEEN) DO ANYTHING RIGHT?  Continue reading →

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October 18, 2014 · 4:44 pm

PULP HERO G-8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES: STORIES FIFTY-FIVE TO FIFTY-SEVEN

Black Aces of DoomBalladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the neglected Pulp Hero G-8. This is a story-by- story look at the adventures of this World War One American fighter pilot who – along with his two wingmen the Battle Aces – took on various supernatural and super- scientific menaces thrown at the Allied Powers by the Central Powers of Germany, Austria- Hungary and the Ottoman Muslim Turks.

G-8 was created by Robert J Hogan in 1933 when World War One was still being called simply the World War or the Great War. Over the next eleven years Hogan wrote 110 stories featuring the adventures of G-8, the street-smart pug Nippy Weston and the brawny giant Bull Martin. The regular cast was rounded out by our hero’s archenemy Doktor Krueger, by Battle, G-8’s British manservant and by our hero’s girlfriend R-1: an American spy/ nurse whose real name, like G-8’s was never revealed.

Black Aces of Doom55. THE BLACK ACES OF DOOM (April 1938) – Doktor Krueger is back! This landmark tale presented another of the supervillain team-ups that the later G-8 tales were noted for. This time around Krueger joined forces with the elusive master assassin Herr Geist (“Mr Ghost”).

In their previous encounter G-8 eliminated all of Geist’s Gray Ghosts of the Skies, his band of specialized assassins. Doktor Krueger supplies his new ally with a host of men outfitted with bizarre high-tech black body armor. These Black Aces of Doom take to the skies armed with Krueger’s futuristic weaponry and boasting exotic training in the arts of murder provided by Herr Geist himself.   Continue reading →

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October 17, 2014 · 10:21 pm

THE MONSTER (1925): SILENT HORROR FILM

Halloween month continues at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at a neglected silent horror film.

Lon Chaney as the mad scientist Dr Ziska in The Monster.

Lon Chaney as the mad scientist Dr Ziska in The Monster.

THE MONSTER (1925) – The incomparable Lon Chaney, “the man of a thousand faces” starred as the mad scientist Dr Ziska in this horror film that is often neglected because of its annoyingly heavy use of comic relief moments. Dr Ziska is in the habit of engineering car accidents for various innocent motorists and their Model T’s. Then his lackeys abduct them and take them to the mad doctor’s sanitarium which is far removed from the nearest town or city. Continue reading →

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