Monthly Archives: August 2018

NEIL BREEN’S LATEST FILM: TWISTED PAIR (2018)

neil breen 2My fellow Human Breens will be thrilled to hear that the one, the only Neil Breen (PBUH) has released his latest cinematic effort. He once again wrote, starred and directed. This addition to the Breeniverse is titled Twisted Pair and features Neil sharing the starring role with the only man who could possibly hold their own with him on the big screen: himself.

As if one Neil Breen pompously setting straight the human race about what moral lepers we are wasn’t enough we now get Breen Times Two or Breen Squared or however you would prefer to describe it. Neil portrays identical twins Keith and Kale, who merge with a form of Artificial Intelligence, gain super powers from it and then set out to save humanity from itself. Same ol’ same ol’ in other words.

We get some Sheer Breenius right off the bat as the twins are listed in the credits as Keith and Kale but are referred to as KANE and Kale in the dialogue. Don’t ever change, Neil.

Anyway, Keith (Or Kane) and Kale are “Identical Neil Breens/ All the way/ They walk alike/ They fly alike/ They even give tiresome lectures with an air of moral superiority alike/ … What a Twisted Pair!/ You will lose your mind/ When Neil Breen/ Is Two of a Kiiiind!” 

twisted pairConflict is the essence of drama, of course, and though Keith and Kale just KNOW they are the Supreme Breens fit to reform humanity the twins disagree about the way to approach their mission. The two members of this Breen Trust clash when one of them decides the human race must be browbeaten into submission while the other decides that the human race must be SAVAGELY browbeaten into submission. Fifty Shades of Grey takes on new meaning here.

Anyway, in Twisted Pair the number of computers destroyed may be larger while the body count and the women’s breasts may be smaller but otherwise it’s pretty much Breen-ness as usual.

Remember the tagline to the Christopher Reeve Superman movie: “You’ll believe a man can fly.” Well in Twisted Pair you WON’T believe how hard you’ll laugh when you see Keith and Kale fly. If you’re a heathen who’s not familiar with the Breen Scene my look at his first four films can be found HERE 

The Twisted Pair trailer is below:  Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies

LOST MOONA LISA FOOTAGE HAS SURFACED

Moona Lisa with skullThank you to reader Peahix for letting me know about this. Moona Lisa aka Lisa Clark, one of the many Movie Hosts that Balladeer’s Blog has covered over the years, has often lacked the acclaim she deserves because of the scarcity of footage that still exists from her shows (Science Fiction Theater, Moona’s Midnight Madness, etc).

Long-time readers of Balladeer’s Blog will remember when I first contacted her years ago and many of you were very nice with your concern about her health issues. For newbies Moona Lisa’s hosting shtick was that she was a Moon Maiden who lived in her own private moonbase with a view of planet Earth outside her window.

Moona Lisa in stairwellShe would host bad and campy movies while vamping it up and offering wry commentary on the “so bad they’re good” flicks she would present. She had a 12-year run from the 1960s into the 1970s, putting her nicely in the middle between the reigns of Vampira and Elvira.

NOTE: THIS FOOTAGE IS IN U-MATIC VIDEO FORMAT TAPED ON A U-MATIC MACHINE. Those recorders were used from the late 1960s onward for several years. (Think of the one used in the William Shatner episode of Columbo.) The footage will need converted.

Moona Lisa posingI am tempted to buy it but as many of you know that would mean the footage would never get posted online. I can’t stand the thought of ever dealing with YouTube or similar sites because of their arbitrary way of frequently taking down videos over real or imaginary copyright issues.

Point being that if I buy the footage and convert it I will review it, but I won’t post it anywhere online. So, for those of you annoyed at the way I don’t post my episodes of The Texas 27 Film Vault or some of my obscure versions of A Christmas Carol here is your chance to get this footage or recommend it to someone you know who DOES have a YouTube channel.    

For more info see below. This Moona Lisa footage is being sold at this link: Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, Movie Hosts

THE PRISONER: THE SCHIZOID MAN

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the 1967 science fiction/ existential drama The Prisoner. For Part One, in which I examined the themes and concepts at play in the series click HERE 

Schizoid ManEpisode Title: THE SCHIZOID MAN … In the ongoing debate about the exact numbering of the 17 episodes of The Prisoner I place this as the 5th episode. 

This episode’s Number Two – the rotating series of executives in charge of the Village – is portrayed by Anton Rodgers, whom regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will remember from his role in the musical Scrooge (1970).

The Schizoid Man is especially beloved by all of us who value our individuality above nearly everything else. In this episode the nefarious Villagekeepers play their most effective mind game against Patrick McGoohan’s character The Prisoner. They seek to break him by robbing him of the very foundation of all his strengths: his identity and uniqueness. Or if you prefer, his sense of self.   Continue reading

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Filed under Forgotten Television, Prisoner (tv series)

NEVER ACCEPT CORPORATE CENSORSHIP

THIS SENTIMENT IS ESPECIALLY APT NOW THAT CORPORATE FASCISTS WHO CONTROL SOCIAL MEDIA GOT IN TOUCH WITH THEIR INNER BOOK-BURNER. YEAH, LET’S TRUST A BUNCH OF WHITE, BLOATED RICH PIGS TO DECIDE WHAT CONSTITUTES ACCEPTABLE LANGUAGE FOR THE REST OF US. 

offend everyone

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, opinion

FLASHMAN AND THE KINGS: LOST FLASHMAN PAPERS

For Flashman Down Under and Flashman in the Opium War click HERE  Balladeer’s Blog moves on to another Harry Flashman adventure referred to but never completed before George MacDonald Fraser’s death.

Flashman for Flashman and the KingsProjected Title: FLASHMAN AND THE KINGS 

Time Period: The Taranaki War (1860-1861)

NOTE: The title refers to the Maori King Movement, which began during this period and whose descending line of a designated “King of Kings” has survived to this very day with the current Maori King in New Zealand.

From 1860-1861 the Maori Kings aka the Maori King Movement proved to be the most battle-savvy and politically shrewd opponents the British would face until the First Boer War of 1880-1881. If the native inhabitants of other regions around the world had been this proficient and coordinated, the Colonial Powers of the European and Muslim Empires might have been dealt such massive setbacks that the course of history would be fascinatingly different.    

The Set-Up: As of the finale of Fraser’s Flashman and the Dragon we readers were left guessing exactly what Harry was being dragged into by blonde, luscious Phoebe Carpenter and her husband.

New ZealandIn Flashman and the Dragon the Carpenters were shown to be smuggling guns to the Taipingi rebels in China, so my speculation would be that they were also involved in smuggling guns to the Maori forces in New Zealand. The Taranaki War had been raging between the Maori and British colonial troops since March of 1860.

The Carpenters had been posing as Christian Missionaries as cover for their smuggling operation in FATD so they might well have been using that same cover for their dealings with the Maori King Movement. Flashman’s standing as a storied, active duty British Colonel could be exploited to their advantage through their extortionate hold on our antihero.

FATD ended in October of 1860. The Taranaki War lasted until March 18th of 1861 so Harry could be on hand for the last several months of the conflict. As usual he might well end up with undeserved military honors from his misadventures, caught up in the martial action while striving to free himself from his entanglement with Phoebe and her husband.   

The Story:   Continue reading

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Filed under Neglected History, Pulp Heroes

MARK “SKIPPY” ZUCKERBERG AND HIS ILK SETTING THEMSELVES UP AS GLOBAL CENSORS

 

corporate fascist Mark Zuckerberg

CORPORATE FASCIST MARK “SKIPPY” ZUCKERBERG

Corporate fascist Mark Zuckerberg – who hopes to become “a real boy” some day – has joined forces with his fellow techno-tyrants in assorted social media to impose their own narrow-minded notions of “decent speech” upon the rest of us.

Conveniently for the Democrats, Zuckerberg and his fellow bloated rich pigs agree to ban ANY opinions that Democrats say should count as “hate speech” and as “violations of community standards” and other such vague, meaningless phrases that totalitarians always use to justify censorship. Already an Asian, female Republican political candidate (Elizabeth Heng) has had her campaign ads censored. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.

Facebook, Twitter, Google and others have been shown discriminating against all non-Democrats plenty of times over the years. As I often point out, I visit left-wing AND right-wing sites regularly to make sure I’m getting multiple viewpoints. Plus in real life I am close to people from all over the political spectrum and it has become impossible to ignore the way that social media target, harass and discriminate against ONLY the non-Democrats.

Freedom of expression amnesty international### Facebook and Twitter should be treated like public utilities and stopped from their war on the free exchange of ideas. Ever check out how the overwhelming majority of the one-percenters at those companies donate ONLY to the Democrats? They are also giving IN-KIND contributions to the Democrats and need to provide equal time. 

The modern-day versions of the disgusting old Robber Barons might well be the corporate fascists aka techno-fascists in assorted tech industries, not just regarding Silicon Valley but also  privacy-violating rich pigs at Facebook and elsewhere.

In fact, you could make the case that people like Mark “Skippy” Zuckerberg and his fellow corporate fascists are even worse since I don’t recall bloated rich pigs like E.H. Harriman or Cornelius Vanderbilt trying to police other people’s every thought, word and deed.

truth is the new hate speechThe invasive and ever-expanding tentacular reach of techno-fascists like Google and others makes these totalitarians a very credible threat to political freedom and freedom of expression.

In recent years outfits like Twitter, Facebook and others even made public noises about banning customers based on their conduct UNRELATED TO THOSE UTILITIES! Can you imagine the old, old Ma Bell monopoly cutting off people’s phone service because their operators caught those users discussing voting for political candidates disapproved of by Ma Bell’s upper echelons or expressing opinions frowned upon by Ma Bell?

Even worse, places like Google and others have made it firing offenses to be caught holding opinions at odds with the one percenters and bloated rich pigs who run those tech-related outfits.

Or put another way:   Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

THE FLAG: NEGLECTED ACE PERIODICALS SUPERHERO

Flag 2Superheroes continue to practically own pop culture right now. Balladeer’s Blog’s readers wanted more, so I recently posted a look at the Superhero Pantheon of Ace Periodicals. Here is another of their characters that I just added. FOR THE ORIGINAL ITEM FEATURING NEARLY TWENTY MORE FORGOTTEN HEROES AND HEROINES CLICK HERE 

FlagTHE FLAG

Secret Identity: Jim Courtney, flag-maker 

Origin: An unnamed baby was left on the doorstep of crippled World War One veteran John Courtney in 1920. Courtney, a flag-maker, was intrigued by the American Flag birthmark on the infant’s chest. He named the boy Jim and raised him as his son, teaching him his flag-making trade.

On Jim’s 21st birthday he was visited by the ghosts of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who told him he was a super-powered being and that his powers were ready to be used now that he was an adult. Jim donned a costume and fought the forces of evil as the Flag.

First Appearance: Our Flag Comics #2 (October 1941). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1942.

Powers: Continue reading

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL: D3 PRESEASON RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

Last week I posted Balladeer’s Blog’s Preseason rankings for the NAIA. Now here’s my early look at NCAA Division 3 for the 2018 season.

Mount Union Purple Raiders1. UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION PURPLE RAIDERS (Defending Champions)    ###     2. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT OSHKOSH TITANS    ###     3. UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS    ###     4. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS (MN) TOMMIES    ###     5. LINFIELD COLLEGE WILDCATS    ###    

Frostburg State Bobcats6. FROSTBURG STATE BOBCATS    ###     7. WARTBURG COLLEGE KNIGHTS    ###     8. WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE PRESIDENTS    ###     9. SAINT JOHN’S UNIVERSITY JOHNNIES    ###     10. DELAWARE VALLEY UNIVERSITY AGGIES    ###     Continue reading

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#WALKAWAY MOVEMENT CONTINUES: BLACK GAY VET LEAVES THE DEMOCRATS AND TELLS THE WORLD WHY

#WalkAwayMany readers have been asking me why I don’t do my own #WalkAway article about how I was driven away from the Democrats by their unhinged fascism. Basically because ever since 2010 many items here at Balladeer’s Blog have ALREADY BEEN my #WalkAway testimonials. I’ve also featured other former Democrats who came to feel just as disgusted long before this whole, beautiful #WalkAway movement began. 

Rob SmithAnother one of the latest #WalkAway heroes is Rob Smith who is black and gay and is fed up with the way Democrats treat black people and gay people like they own them. The link to the item is below, but first some excerpts:

“Rob Smith represents everything Democrats fear most in the #WalkAway era.

A black, gay, Army veteran, Smith became so sick of false narratives from liberals, and the perpetuation of a victimhood mentality that he decided to switch parties …” 

Donald Trump never called racist till running against Democrats“I think for me, I got so sick of the lies. What they were telling black people,” Smith said. 

“Smith, who grew up a Democrat, said the party is all about keeping people in line.

“I think Democrats use identity politics to keep people in line,” Smith explained. “To keep black people in line. To keep Latinos in line. To keep gay people in line. I’m black and gay, and I have seen them use the same tactics for black people as they do for gay people.”

“After being asked if it is harder to come out as a gay person or a Republican, the vet offered a telling response that captures the state of today’s Democratic Party. –

““I didn’t lose friends when I came out as gay. I’ve lost friends since coming out as Republican,” Smith said. “People do not understand it and these are the… left, that’s supposed to be so tolerant and inclusive. These are the people who were the first to shun me … ” 

FOR THE WHOLE PIECE CLICK  Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

SJW’S: LOSERS OR JUST FOOLS?

mascot new look donkey and elephant headsBy way of this general announcement I will once again remind the ridiculous poseurs who refer to themselves as SJW’s that, if they expect me to allow their comments to show – comments in which they absurdly refer to themselves with that hilariously pretentious and grandiose SJW label – then they have to address me as a “Heroic Defender of Freedom.”

Doing so might just convey to you what silly “only child” jackasses you look like to other people when you use that lame SJW title.

First – Calling YOURSELF an SJW is as meaningless as the way some of you compound this narcissistic idiocy by labeling yourselves a “Public Intellectual” on your social media home pages. Face it, if you’re reduced to designating YOURSELF as an intellectual – public or otherwise – you’re probably not one.

Second – The term “Social Justice” is as ridiculous as the Right-Wing terms “Family Values” and “Patriotic American.” Reasonable adults will not necessarily ever agree on the meaning of such silly generalities. Everyone knows when SJW’s and their ilk refer to Social Justice they REALLY mean only their own definition of it – a definition polluted by their political prejudices and self-centered drama queen tendencies. Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, opinion