Balladeer’s Blog’s Science Editor Tamara is on top of this story which has put a smile on William Shatner’s face. Shatner tweaked rival Star WARS fans over this image on Mars that looks like the Starfleet logo from Star Trek.
Naturally it’s an optical illusion that’s as fake as “the face on Mars” and Sidonian ruins but William Shatner once again showed his great sense of humor. For the full story click HERE
Filed under humor
FOR PART ONE OF BALLADEER’S BLOG’S EXAMINATION OF THIS OLD, OLD MARVEL STORYLINE CLICK HERE The revisions I would make are scattered throughout the synopsis below.
AMAZING ADVENTURES Vol 2 #19 (July 1973)
Title: THE SIRENS OF SEVENTH AVENUE
Synopsis: Killraven, wielder of a mysterious force called The Power, continues to lead his Freemen/ Rebel Alliance against Earth’s alien conquerors, led by the armored badass the High Overlord. (1973 means this was BEFORE Star Wars, so don’t leave comments claiming this ripped off that film series)
We pick up where we left off – Killraven, still reeling from some of the shocking information that the late Keeper Whitman just relayed to him about Earth’s alien conquerors, has just realized that his escape rout from Whitman’s underground lab has been blocked by three beautiful Sirens.
Those Sirens are Earth women scientifically modified to be irresistible to men through their physical perfection and presumably through pheromone enhancements. We learned last time around that these Sirens have been very successful at flushing out for capture many of the rebel bands scattered throughout post-apocalypse New York and New Jersey. Now they plan to bring in Killraven, leader of the most successful group of Freemen. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
THE COMIC (1985) – Virtually every film buff today knows the tale of Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and Robert Tapert raising money from doctors, grocers and dentists in Michigan to finance their subsequent horror hit The Evil Dead.
Over in the U.K. Richard Driscoll raised money from Welsh miners and doctors to finance his very odd movie The Comic. Raimi and company went on to lucrative careers in the entertainment industry. Driscoll’s story did not have the same type of fairy-tale ending. Not even with an established figure like John Eyres helping out financially when Richard’s original funds ran out.
The Comic takes place “in another place and another time” according to one of the female characters. From appearances it’s a near-future police state in which fairly ambiguous laws are enforced by goose-stepping goons who wear their hair in ponytails. This film seems to be reaching for the heights achieved in cult films like Eraserhead and Café Flesh but falls so far short that it’s more like The Jar.
Writer/ director Driscoll also peppers in elements of MacBeth, Hamlet and King Lear but only succeeds in embodying the worst clichés of arthouse cinema. If this had been a latter-day student film or direct to video affair it would not deserve all the insults that reviewers throw its way. But if you’re cheeky enough to dump something like this on the theater-going public you’re just asking for a critical onslaught. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies
Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead strikes again with the Go Go’s and We Got The Beat:
Filed under opinion
Balladeer’s Blog’s coverage of the world’s OLDEST team sport continues. Here are the men’s and women’s college Polo champions for this year.
MEN
National Champions – TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Runners-Up – University of Virginia Cavaliers
Score – The Aggies defeated the Cavaliers 21-18.
2018 Champions – Texas A&M Aggies Continue reading
Filed under college sports, Polo
Balladeer’s Blog often covers the intellectual journey from Democrat Fascism to tolerance and support for Free Speech. The masked fascists of the hate group Antifa – really KLAN-tifa like I always say – are the worst kind of political cowards.
Gabe Nadales is the latest figure to follow his conscience to the enlightened path of rejecting Democrat violence and intolerance. Nadales now supports Free Speech and talks at colleges and universities about the need to oppose hatemongers like Antifa. CLICK HERE
And yes, Klan-tifa bacteria, you’ve made it clear in the past you know where I live. Those of us who don’t hide behind masks like you do understand these things.
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore.
FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CLICK HERE
PART TWENTY-FIVE: The 1918 one-shot publication called The Fool Killer was written by Dr Klarenc Wade Mak, poet, author and socialist political candidate for mayoral office in Kansas City, MO around 1918. Mak had also written Ekkoes (sic) from the Hart (sic) and Mental Dinamite (sic).
Mak’s 1918 work is sometimes confused with James Larkin Pearson’s 1910-1917 and 1919-1929 publication called The Fool-Killer. Both Mak and Pearson wrote poetry, both published works using the Fool Killer name and both were open about their sympathy with socialist politics of the time period.
Per the surviving correspondence of Eugene V Debs, Dr Mak once invited Debs to speak in Kansas City, MO at an event where Mak and other socialist candidates would be appearing.
Despite the “socialist” label, Klarenc Mak’s Fool Killer had that quality I have appreciated about nearly all the Fool Killer items I’ve come across: Attitudes which would outrage BOTH the political left AND right here in the 21st Century. Even the socialist label as Mak’s writings define it refers to workers, NOT “people who want something for nothing” as he calls them. (He also calls them parasites.) So even that brand of “socialism” would offend both right-wingers and left-wingers of today. For different reasons, of course.
Mak’s Fool Killer expressed disapproval of capitalism AND disapproval of abortion, so again we see that both the Left and the Right of today would be hard pressed to force a quick and easy label on this Fool Killer. Pretty refreshing!
Before returning to Pearson’s monthly publication I wanted to post some examples of Mak’s incarnation of the Fool Killer expressing sentiments tweaking both ends of the political spectrum by today’s standards:
“When a man has lived long enough to have tried all the bad things in this world he generally wants to hang on a little longer just to see if the Republicans and Democrats won’t invent some NEW evils.”
“The highest part of an education is finding out how much of it isn’t so.” (In the distant past this would have applied to right-wing domination of the educational system, but for decades now it has applied to left-wing domination of the educational system.)
“Wrong ideas are not an education, they are mental weeds, the base materials that prejudice is made out of.”
“If your religion can’t stand being criticized it is in the same class with the gold ring that’s afraid of acids. Such a ring is not gold at all – only a base pretender; and the same with the religion that can’t stand the acid test of criticism – it’s just as spurious and should be rejected.” (Left-wing zealots try to censor all criticism of Islam, right-wing zealots try to censor all criticism of Christianity and Judaism. At present, however, the left-wing book-burners have the help of the Silicon Valley Robber Barons/ Techno Fascists to help them in their censorship jihad.)
“The misdeeds of Democrats are about as plentiful as the drops of water in all the oceans, while the crimes of Republicans are as numerous as the seconds in Eternity.” Continue reading
Filed under Mythology, Neglected History
Here is one last round of congratulations for the ladies who won the 2019 national championship in softball in the nine divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)
National Champions – SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY RAIDERS
Runners-Up – Oklahoma City University Stars
2018 Champions – University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma Drovers
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association)
National Champions – ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET
Runners-Up – Biola (CA) University Eagles
2018 Champions – Central Baptist College Mustangs
USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association)
National Champions – SAINT MARY OF THE WOODS COLLEGE POMEROYS
Runners-Up – Cleary University Prowling Cougars
2018 Champions – Cleary University Prowling Cougars Continue reading
Filed under College Softball
Even though there are signs here and there that audiences are getting fatigued with the oversaturation of superhero adaptations for the big and small screens, there still doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.
What better time for an OPERA version of Philip Wylie’s science fiction novel Gladiator, from 1930? Wylie’s work is often credited with inspiring the creation of Superman and every other superhero that followed.
Long before the overrated and overpraised Alan Moore wrote The Watchmen, this very first look at a superhero presented the figure struggling with the moral issues regarding the use of his superior abilities.
The central character uses his powers in World War One but afterward must cope with the limits of “super-powers” when it comes to dealing with political corruption and other problems that can’t be solved with violence. Or in which flexing his super-muscles would be counter-productive, maybe even ushering in a dictatorship.
In other words, the same type of stories which today are praised as “innovative” for “deconstructing the superhero mythos” WERE ALREADY EXPLORED IN THIS NOVEL EIGHTY-NINE YEARS AGO!
As a break from movie and television superhero tales I think an Opera format would be an intriguing and unexpected way of adapting Gladiator. Let’s face it – if it was done for television or movies today it would be criticized as “derivative” (irony of ironies) and “talky.”
Marvel Comics’ 1976 adaptation
That talkyness would slide nicely into a staged opera since, as I often point out in my examinations of 1970s Marvel stories, operas – like many comic books – are filled with lengthy expository monologues, but in song form. (There are countless “senses-shattering” origin stories and villain rants that are sung in operas.)
Think of this piece as a way of using the familiar superhero formula to encourage more people to “give opera a chance.” I love sharing my enthusiasms and I was very happy with the reception of those blog posts where I wrote about Ancient Greek Comedies to make them seem relevant. I want to try doing the same with operas.
Many people may disagree, but operas and superheroics are made for each other. Look at all the operas adapted from tales of ancient gods or other mythical supernatural figures. When you get right down to it, every larger-than life hero or heroine in any given story can be interpreted from a superhero angle. Continue reading
Filed under Fantastic Movie Reviews, Superheroes
One last round of congratulations to the 2019 college baseball champions from the nine divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)
National Champions – TENNESSEE WESLEYAN COLLEGE BULLDOGS
Runners-Up – Saint Thomas University Bobcats
2018 Champions – Southeastern University Fire
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association)
National Champions – CONCORDIA (MI) UNIVERSITY CARDINALS
Runners-Up – Warner University Royals
2018 Champions – Campbellsville University Tigers Continue reading
Filed under College Baseball
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