Yes, it’s that time again! The Master’s Review is running their Winter Short Story Contest and the deadline is January 31st.
The Winter Short Story Award, a prize that recognizes the best fiction from today’s emerging writers, closes in less than a month. The winning story will be judged by Aimee Bender and awarded $3000 and publication online. All winning stories and any notable honorable mentions will receive agency review. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
Well, I am STILL having a terrific time watching the political realignment going on here in the U.S. The only change we would have gotten would have come from either Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders and if one of them got in then the two rival gangs of White Collar Criminals called Democrats and Republicans would attack the outsider at all costs.
The attacks would be different in nature but Bernie would now be getting slammed like Trump is by the establishment forces. Well, actually, Bernie would probably have sold out as cheaply as he did to the Democrats. Anyway, most recently the Democrats made it clearer than ever that they care ONLY about illegal immigrants because illegals allow the Democrats to continue pulling off vote fraud or “vote harvesting” as those career criminals call it.
Then there’s the childish drama queens of the self-styled “Resistance.” LMFAO! Yep, the opposition to Trump and his Populism is a rag-tag collection of bloated rich pigs, privileged children of the left, international corporate interests and establishment politicians who’ve been in office for DECADES in many cases.
“Resistance, Inc” or maybe “ResistCo” would be a better name for them. None of these allegedly “rebellious” groups lacks funding and the mask-wearing members gleefully launch physical attacks on anyone who disagrees with them.
REAL Resistance movements throughout history have been composed of the poor, the working class and courageous nonconformists of all stripes. Those REAL Resistance movements are composed of people who are taking actual RISKS because of the stands they take, unlike the Anti-Trump fascists.
The bizarre, uninformed people who make up the conformist mobs that oppose Trump are the ones inflicting physical injury on people as well as “filing complaints” around the clock to try to inflict financial or professional harm on their victims.
HELPFUL HINTS:
If you can file a complaint and get the Powers That Be to act on your behalf to punish those who disagree with you then you are NOT part of a Resistance Movement … you’re part of the forces of Oppression.
If TEACHERS – the ultimate forces of conformity – are on your side and encouraging your “resistance” (LMFAO) then you are NOT part of a Resistance Movement … you’re part of the forces of Oppression. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
January 8th is the combined marking of Elvis Presley’s birthday and the Battle of New Orleans, in which General Andrew Jackson and French Pirate Jean Lafitte defeated the British in the final battle of the War of 1812.
In the past Balladeer’s Blog has observed this date with looks at the musical Rock ‘N’ Roll vs The Red Coats and with an article on the whole Orion/Elvis situation. This time I’m taking a quick look at some early Elvis movies.
LOVE ME TENDER (1956) – Elvis was the latest reason that the saga of the Reno Gang/ Reno Brothers got distorted on the big screen. The need to turn the Reno story into a vehicle for Elvis Presley made this attempt the most unintentionally funny of them all.
Favorite Part: A scene between Elvis, playing Clint Reno, and Richard Egan, playing Vance Reno. Despite the fact that the long-missing Vance was given up for dead and Elvis married his mourning girlfriend in the meantime the Side-Burned One actually asks “What’s troublin’ you, Vance?” That question has been a catch-phrase for me ever since I first saw this flick on late-night tv.
Favorite Weirdass Song: Let Me Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, Uncategorized
Per the Glitternight Index:
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Division Two – 1. COLLEGE OF IDAHO COYOTES ### 2. OKLAHOMA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES ### 3. SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE MOUNDBUILDERS ### 4. MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS ### 5. MOUNT VERNON NAZARENE UNIVERSITY COUGARS ###
6. SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY FIRE ### 7. INDIANA TECH WARRIORS (Should be the Hoplites) ### 8. INDIANA EAST UNIVERSITY RED WOLVES ### 9. COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS BOBCATS ### 10. WARNER UNIVERSITY ROYALS ### Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
Time for another installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s feature Transgress With Me.
*** Thanks to Democrat intolerance toward any dissenting views, affiliation with just ONE political party has become an unspoken condition of employment in “education” (LMAO), entertainment and most media outlets (including social media).
*** Academic Freedom is a meaningless sham when alleged colleges and universities become political organizations that fascistically impose just ONE narrow-minded set of views and punish any dissent.
*** When Democrats call for more women in certain positions they really mean they want more DEMOCRAT women in certain positions. When Democrats call for more people of color in certain positions they really mean they want more DEMOCRAT people of color in certain positions. We’ve all seen how Democrats treat women and people of color who refuse to obey white Democrats. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
GENTLEMAN JEKYLL AND DRIVER HYDE (1950) – Educational short films are often hilarious snapshots of their era. Driver’s Ed shorts are especially vulnerable to seeming outdated given how quickly car designs can change in certain decades.
This particular item is Canadian-made, proving that the Badfilm aesthetic is unfazed by international borders. (Yet Time Zones fill it with a vague sense of unease. Go figure.)
At any rate Gentleman Jekyll and Driver Hyde obviously takes its cue from Stevenson’s story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A pair of Canadian furniture movers – one tall and heavy, the other short and slender – bicker like a comedy team while discussing statistics which indicated that in 1950 a Canadian had a better chance of getting killed in a car accident than in a war.
Which I find to be a silly statistic. If it’s peacetime you probably have a better chance of dying from a piano dropping on your head than from a war. Wouldn’t it have been more ominous to say a person had a better chance of dying in a car accident than from heart disease or whatever physical ailment that a 1950 stat would indicate?
After some horrifically strained jokes “Laurel and Hardy, Eh” get to the meat of the matter: The way perfectly polite people can turn into figurative monsters when they get behind the wheel of a car. A kind, considerate man who just interacted with our two leads literally turns into a B-Movie monster thanks to editing and cheap makeup as he drives off. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies
For this superhero-crazed world it’s the very first superhero team in history: the Justice Society of America. FOR PART ONE CLICK HERE
I will review the original issue and then detail how I would “script-doctor” the story for modern audiences.
ALL STAR COMICS #13 (October 1942)
Title: SHANGHAIED INTO SPACE
Heroes: WONDER WOMAN (Original), STARMAN, THE ATOM (Original), DOCTOR MIDNITE, HAWKMAN (Original), THE SPECTRE, SANDMAN, JOHNNY THUNDER
Villains: NAZI SCIENTIST GRAF GOOTSDEN, ASSORTED HOSTILE ALIENS
Synopsis: Der Fuhrer and the Japanese Emperor are discussing their outrage over the defeats their forces have suffered at the hands of the Justice Society of America. Grasping at straws the Axis leaders okay the plan of Gootsden, a German rocket scientist. (And since this was written in 1942 it’s interesting to note that there was at least pop culture speculation about a German rocket program that early.) Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
Balladeer’s Blog’s recurring item Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead returns with this look at the Stray Cats song Look At That Cadillac.
Filed under opinion
For Balladeer’s Blog’s Number One Harry Flashman Novel click HERE . For background info on George MacDonald Fraser’s infamous anti-hero Harry Paget Flashman you can also click that link.
Reaction to my list of The Top Five Harry Flashman Novels continues to come in, with readers wanting more Flashman reviews. Here’s my take on the novel which would have been in seventh place if I had done a list of my Top Seven Harry Flashman Novels.
7. FLASHMAN AND THE REDSKINS (1982)
Time Period: Part One – 1849-1850, Part Two – 1875-1876
The Flashman novels jump around to different periods of the fictional Harry Flashman’s life. This book covers his adventures with the Forty-Niners on the way to the California gold fields as well as his much later involvement in the Sioux Uprising.
Favorite Book Blurb: “The West is just wild about Harry!” (It came long before “See what I did there?” was a thing, but the sentiment still applies.)
NOTE: Once again Fraser used the structure of a swashbuckling, guns-blazing adventure story to cast his critical eye on some of the Great Names and Great Events of the 19th Century. Get ready for another generous helping of “History Noir” as only George could write it: by blending fact, fiction and satirical subtext in a way which scandalizes BOTH the political right AND the left.
And as always when viewed against the backdrop of history’s major atrocities the amoral carnal and monetary pursuits of that British blackguard Harry Paget Flashman look almost harmless by comparison.
Synopsis: The plot of Flashman and the Redskins picks up immediately after the end of Flash For Freedom (1971). Still stranded without funds in 1849 America our antihero returns to the welcoming arms – and bed – of brothel madam Susie Willink. That voluptuous MILF has been bitten by the Gold Bug and invites Harry to join her and her stable of prostitutes as part of a wagon train headed to California.
Soon the expatriate British Cavalry Officer is traipsing across the continent alongside the young Kit Carson himself. Harry, Kit, Susie and their wagon train wind up negotiating with and/or fighting Pawnee, Arapaho and other assorted tribes of Native Americans as well as combating cholera, thirst and hunger along the way. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History, Pulp Heroes
YES, DEMOCRATS, WE ALL KNOW THAT THE VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS MEAN NOTHING TO YOU. NO NEED TO REMIND US.
Journalist and strong female role model Kelli Ballard courageously continues to compile as comprehensive as possible a breakdown of the additional crimes committed by people in the country illegally.
The victims of illegal immigrant crimes and the loved ones of those victims deserve at least as much care and compassion as the corporate media and the Democrats heap upon every criminal alien who commits murders and rapes.
(Maybe victims of illegal immigrants need their own #MeToo hashtag)
FOR KELLI’S DECEMBER 20th to 26th ROUNDUP OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ ADDITIONAL CRIMES CLICK HERE
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
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