“Maldoror and His Smile” by Lord Orlando
Balladeer’s Blog has done a comprehensive examination of The Songs of Maldoror, often referred to as just Maldoror. The original 1868 French language work by the self-designated Count de Lautreamont (real name Isidore Ducasse) was in verse form, which is great for poetry geeks like me but if you prefer prose there are plenty of prose translations available.
This work of surreal horror was so far ahead of its time that the author himself, in one of the few existing copies of his correspondence, expressed fears that he might be jailed or thrown into an insane asylum and requested that the publisher literally “stop the presses.” Just 88 copies of the book were completed in that initial run and for a few decades The Songs of Maldoror languished in obscurity.
By the 1890s those few copies of Maldoror had been circulating among the more adventurous literati of the time period and the work began to be hailed as a forgotten masterpiece by Maeterlink, Bloy, Huysmans and de Gourmont. This new acclaim ultimately resulted in a new run of copies – this time in the thousands instead of dozens like the first run. This also accounts for why some reviewers mistakenly refer to The Songs of Maldoror as an 1890s work, despite its original publication date of 1868. Continue reading
Joe Biden has been on a roll lately, once again confusing Teresa May with Margaret Thatcher, then saying that “We believe in truth, not facts,” and now he said “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” 
3,000 MILES THROUGH THE CLOUDS (1892) – Written by Francis W Doughty under a house pseudonym for The Boys of New York magazine, serialized from February 13th to April 2nd. 
September 14th – The UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS at the SHORTER UNIVERSITY HAWKS … 1pm ET 
September 21st – The DELTA STATE STATESMEN host the FLORIDA TECH PANTHERS … 7pm ET 
Overseas readers are often very confused by the oddities of American life. Since regular readers here have gotten used to the fact that I’m an Independent Voter and can look at things from the perspective of a non-Democrat and non-Republican I’ve been asked if Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are being accused of causing the Dayton shooting since that shooter expressed support for them and since Democrats love to accuse political opponents every time there are public tragedies. The insinuation being it would be Karmic Justice for the Democrats’ vile use of such cheap political tactics. 
Hello and thank you to readers who offered hopeful messages regarding the recent hospitalization of a loved one. As you would imagine that’s why the slowdown in fresh blog posts in the past few days. Things are going well so I should be back up to speed soon. 
HAMMETT (1982) – Directed by Wim Wenders and produced by Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios, Hammett is a criminally neglected valentine to Hard-Boiled Detective Stories and Film Noir. The flick is based on the novel by Joe Gores. 
Booze and coughing fits figure prominently in the movie, as you would expect given a protagonist who was an alcoholic with tuberculosis. For the sake of convenience the story that Hammett just finished before blacking out was one featuring his character the Continental Op (as in an operative for the fictional Continental Detective Agency). 
Marvel Comics rules the superhero roost right now, and with the movie business being what it is that means they pretty much rule blockbuster cinema, too. We have all seen Marvel’s superhero characters dominate the big screen in a way not seen since Cowboy stars of long ago. 
CAPTAIN TERROR 
NAIA – 1. MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS ### 2. BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS ### 3. KANSAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY COYOTES ### 4. MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS ### 5. CONCORDIA (MI) CARDINALS ### 
6. SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS ### 7. DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS ### 8. REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES (Should be the Rottweilers) ### 9. EVANGEL UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS ### 10. BAKER UNIVERSITY WILDCATS ### 
We have another Martin Luther King Person of Courage: David J Harris, Jr. Mr Harris is another voter of color heroically speaking out in defense of de facto Third Party President Trump and how he has helped the working class and poor of all colors. David recently chronicled one of his encounters with privileged white Democrats who can’t deal with the fact that people of color don’t have to obey people like her. See link below. 
Balladeer's Blog 