Balladeer’s Blog’s recent look at The Gods of Fiji has been a hit! For another deity from Fiji here is Tuilakemba, whom I also went ahead and added to the main article. For more than 20 other gods from Fiji see my blog post HERE
TUILAKEMBA – This figure was the son of Tuilangi, the god who ruled over the Skyland, and a mortal woman. When Tuilakemba was a little boy he was often ridiculed by the other children for not having a father on hand like they did. One day the young demigod had had enough and threatened to kill his mother unless she told him who his father was.
She did so and Tuilakemba was spitefully satisfied. He took to carrying around an ironwood war-club wherever he went. He would use it to strike the heads off flowers, gleefully anticipating one day knocking off the heads of his enemies in wartime just as easily, given his massive strength.
On one occasion he took a nap, planting the ironwood war-club upright in the ground next to him while he slept. When he awoke he saw that the war-club had grown into an enormous tree which reached all the way up to the Skyland realm of his father. Tuilakemba took advantage of the situation and climbed up the newly-formed tree to the land above.
The little boy walked through the jungle of Skyland until he reached the village ruled by his father Tuilangi. That lord of the land above was in the middle of a council of war regarding his armies’ recent losses in their ages-old conflict with the evil gods of the sky. Continue reading
FRONTIERADO IS COMING UP ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 3rd! As always the Frontierado holiday (now celebrated on 6 continents) is about the myth of the Wild West, not the grinding reality. It’s just like the way medieval festivals celebrate the era’s romantic aspects, not “the violence inherent in the system” (for my fellow Monty Python fans). 
MAVERICK (1994) – Richard Donner directed and Mel Gibson starred in this excellent tribute to the 1950s and 1980s Maverick television series. The original series starred James Garner as slick-talking gambler/ gunslinger Bret Maverick AND, in old-age makeup, as “Pappy” Beauregard Maverick, the gambler and con-man patriarch of that family of rogues. (No relation to the real-life Maverick family of Texas, for whom “maverick” cattle were named.)
Mel Gibson portrays Bret Maverick since by 1994 James Garner was too old for the role. Jodie Foster co-stars as rival gambler Annabelle Bransford and the iconic James Garner provides memorable support as a lawman. 
Marvel Comics continues to dominate pop culture, so with the movie Ant-Man and the Wasp now in theaters here’s a look at the very first meeting between the original Ant-Man and the Wasp in 1963. As a bonus their second adventure, up against Ant-Man’s archenemy Egghead, is below. 
TALES TO ASTONISH # 44 (June 1963) 
Janet Van Dyne comes across her father’s corpse and calls Dr Pym in a panic. One thing leads to another and Pym reveals to Janet that he is really Ant-Man and he offers to give her wasp-based powers so she can get revenge on Pilai and become his partner in superheroics. Janet agrees and is subjected to bio-genetic treatments that give her the ability to shrink and to fly with wings that retract into her body when she returns to normal size. (Her bioelectrical Wasp-stings came later.)
Balladeer’s Blog’s recent look at The Gods of Fiji has been a hit! For another deity from Fiji here is Kambuya, whom I also went ahead and added to the main article. For more than 20 other gods from Fiji see my blog post 
Here at Balladeer’s Blog I often cover the way the Democrats have for years been driving away so many of us who used to belong to their political party. They have become nothing but intolerant fascists who think they’re entitled to inflict and promote violence against everyone who expresses disagreement with them. 
It may be my fondness for mythology that makes me love to watch particular movies around particular holidays. I say that because many of the well- known myths were recited on ancient holidays when their subject matter was relevant to those holidays. The stories helped accentuate the meaning of the special events and that’s the way I use various movies. 
FORT GRISWOLD – Fort Griswold was an American fortess on Groton Heights in Connecticut overlooking the Thames River. On September 6th, 1781 the American traitor General Benedict Arnold and his British troops raided Groton and burned New London while battling the massively outnumbered Rebel troops in the fort. 
Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’m still fascinated with the ongoing political developments here in America under our de facto Third Party President Donald Trump. The crazed Democrats thrive on driving away more and more of us. Their latest disgusting act was trying to blame President Trump for the shooting at that Annapolis newspaper but it turned out that the alleged shooter – Jarrod Ramos – had a feud with the newspaper going back several years. Nothing to do with Trump in other words. 
Bobby Hesley is another of Balladeer’s Blog’s Martin Luther King People of Courage who fit that description. A link to Hesley’s latest piece is below but first some excerpts: 
Balladeer's Blog 