Monthly Archives: February 2020

PSI CASSIOPEIA (1854): ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

Star by C I Defontenay betterPSI CASSIOPEIA, or STAR: A MARVELOUS HISTORY OF WORLDS IN OUTER SPACE (1854) – Written by Dr Charlemagne Ischer Defontenay, a French M.D. and author. Long before J.R.R. Tolkien churned out obsessive amounts of fine detail about his fictional Middle Earth, Defontenay produced this volume of history, poetry and drama from his fictional planets in the star system Psi Cassiopeia.  

The narrator of the story is supposedly translating alien documents which he discovered in an artificial meteor that crashed in the Himalayas. The documents were from a planet called (incongruously enough) “Star.”

Star by C I DeFontenayThe system where that planet is located is a three-star system. Ruliel is the large, white star at the center, around which orbit the two lesser stars Altether (green) and Erragror (blue). The planet called Star is orbited by large planetoids/ moons named Tassul, Lessur, Rudar and Elier. Throwing all science to the winds the planet is also orbited by a small red star called Urrias.  

Star and its satellites are inhabited except, of course, for Urrias. The translated documents cover a roughly 1,000 year period of events regarding these worlds. The ancient Starian humanoids formed a united world-wide culture which started as an Empire before becoming a socialist planet economically and politically. The documents also claim that their culture boasted beautiful architecture, incredible feats of engineering and awe-inspiring works of art.

At one point a plague swept the globe, reducing the proud Starian civilization to chaos. A Nihilist Cult formed as the plague kept whittling away at the population over the course of years. In the post-apocalyptic ruins the Nihilists formed a fanatical religion devoted to ending all life on Star. The zealots formed armies which exterminated millions of Starians with the intention of taking their own lives when all non-members of their cult had been wiped out. Continue reading

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DEMOCRATS AGREE THAT TRUMP’S POPULARITY WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS IS A DANGER TO THEM

Van JonesEven Democrats like CNN’s Van Jones and Jamal Simmons have begun facing the fact that President Trump’s policies have helped the working class and the poor of all colors. Trump has broken many of the old political paradigms in America, partly by being a de facto Third Party President.

Since he doesn’t fit the traditional Democrat or Republican mold, Donald Trump won far more of the African-American vote in 2016 than Republicans usually get. The president’s real-world improvements to life for the African-American community has only increased his popularity with voters of color. No, he won’t win the African-American vote but is on pace to capture an even larger share in 2020 than he did in 2016. (links below)

At CNN Van Jones admitted that President Trump’s policies have helped African-Americans “in real life” and that:

Donald Trump never called racist till running against Democrats“What he (Trump) was saying to African-Americans can be effective. You may not like it, but he mentioned HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities] — our black colleges have been struggling for a long time, a bunch of them have gone under — he threw a lifeline to them, in real life, in his budget. He talked about that. He talked about the criminal justice reform. He talked about opportunity zones. He talked about school choice.”

Jones also called out “the bubble” in which white Democrats live, a confirmation bias bubble which prevents white Democrats from acknowledging Trump’s positive results in minority communities. That same bubble also prevents white Democrats from seeing Trump’s positive results for the entire working class.

Contrast that with white Democrat heroes like the tone-deaf Oscar celebrities, who lectured and harangued Trump and his supporters while carrying off TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLAR “swag bags” from the ceremony. Donating those swag bag funds to the poor and needy would be more effective than loud public posturing but shallow celebrities fail to realize how despised their hypocrisy is. Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT ANNIVERSARY AND A CALL TO FANS

1a randy and richard

Randy (right) and Richard way down on Level 31 hosting The Texas 27 Film Vault

*** SADLY, I FORGOT TO NOTE THE FEBRUARY 9th ANNIVERSARY OF THIS SHOW THIS YEAR.

Sunday was the 35th Anniversary of the very first episode of The Texas 27 Film Vault from Saturday, February 9th of 1985. My psychotically obsessive research on the show has yielded a lot of info over the years but I have now worn out every source I could find.

Even the show’s co-host and co-creator Randy Clower has been bled dry of information on the show by me. Over the years other fans of the show – and a special shout-out goes to “the Cap’n” – have provided info here and there that often led me to concrete source material.

Anyway, here are some movies that we have general, varied reason to believe were shown on The Texas 27 Film Vault but I need original broadcast dates, info on comedy sketches or movie ticket give-aways, etc. Episodes aired for 2 and a half hours Saturday nights from 10:30pm to 1:00am in Texas and Oklahoma.

Fiend without a faceFIEND WITHOUT A FACE (1958)

The Film: “Thought Monsters” leech into atomic energy, then extract human brains and spinal columns to use as their corporeal forms. This is a Bad Movie Classic remembered largely because of the scenes where the flying brains, sporting antennae, attack their prey, with their spinal cord “tails” streaming along behind them.     

Serial Episode: No idea, for now.

Reason for believing it was shown: Some of the Flying Brain Creatures are on the 1987 Texas 27 Film Vault poster. Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

Per the Glitternight Index:

Tyler College Apaches BIGGERNJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association)   1. TYLER COLLEGE APACHES    ###    2. FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN STATE BUCCANEERS    ###   3. RANGER COLLEGE RANGERS    ###   4. VINCENNES UNIVERSITY TRAILBLAZERS   ###   5. SOUTH PLAINS COLLEGE TEXANS   ###  

Gulf Coast State Commodores6. GULF COAST STATE COMMODORES    ###    7. CALDWELL TECH COBRAS    ###    8. MOBERLY AREA COLLEGE GREYHOUNDS    ###    9. OTERO COLLEGE RATTLERS    ###    10. EASTERN ARIZONA COLLEGE GILA MONSTERS    ###    Continue reading

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ROBERT CONRAD’S “THE ADVENTURES OF NICK CARTER” (1972): FORGOTTEN TV

Adventures of Nick CarterTHE ADVENTURES OF NICK CARTER (1972) – Rest in peace, Robert Conrad. For decades, rugged sex symbol Robert Conrad embodied the old expression “women want him and men want to BE him.” My sister Debbie was a huge fan of Robert’s incredibly tight pants and frequently-bared chest. 

Thanks to television, home video and the internet, generations of viewers have been treated to Conrad’s memorable portrayals of heroes like old west Secret Service Agent Jim West on Wild, Wild West, real-life World War Two flying ace Greg “Pappy” Boyington on Black Sheep Squadron, secret agent T.R. Sloane on A Man Called Sloane and French trapper Pasquanel on the mini-series Centennial. (“Mawn uh-MEE!”)      

Nick Carter 2A few years after Wild, Wild West went off the air, Conrad starred in this pilot film for a tv series based on old Dime Novel and Pulp hero Nick Carter.

Carter had been around since the 1880s but, presumably to avoid too much resemblance to Wild Wild West, The Adventures of Nick Carter was set in the year 1912 instead. Continue reading

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ROLLING STONE’S MATT TAIBBI: DEMOCRATS ARE DOOMED ELITES AND DUMB CROOKS

Matt TaibbiIndependent voter site Balladeer’s Blog often points out the need for Third Parties. So many of us decided to #WALKAWAY from the increasingly deranged Democrats to become Independent voters. Rolling Stone‘s Matt Taibbi expressed similar disgust with Democrat corruption and dishonesty after last week’s Iowa Caucus debacle.

The link is below but first some excerpts:

The chaos in Iowa “reeked of third-world treachery — from monolithic TV propaganda against the challenger (Bernie Sanders) to rumors of foreign intrusion to, finally, a “botched” vote count that felt as legitimate as a Supreme Soviet election. . . .”

#WalkAwayWorse, though, is the fact that the Democrats have become so politically entrenched that, in this election, they are the reactionaries. Iowa and the “flatulent end of the party’s impeachment gambit” revealed to the world that Democrats are “an incompetent lobby for doomed elites, dumb crooks with nothing left to offer but their exit.”

What happened over the five days after the caucus was a mind-boggling display of fecklessness and ineptitude. Delay after inexplicable delay halted the process, to the point where it began to feel like the caucus had not really taken place.”

No matter what result emerges, it’s likely many individual voters will not trust it. [snip] [T]he overall impression was a clown show performance by a political establishment too bored to worry about the appearance of impartiality.” 
Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

THE SEA DEMONS (1916): ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

Amphibious Man

Picture by Doneplay at Deviant Art

THE SEA DEMONS (1916) by Victor Rousseau Emanuel aka H.M. Egbert. Set in contemporary times this story features Lt Donald Paget of the Royal Navy battling sea creatures. World War One is raging but Paget’s scientist friend Masterman warns him about invisible humanoid sea beings who are mutating into air-breathers.

That development means the Sea Demons are looking to conquer the surface world and with their respectable intelligence they just might succeed. Paget dismisses the story as lunacy even after the Sea Demons kill Masterman to prevent him from rallying the surface world against them.

Lt Paget remains skeptical even after he encounters Sea Demons going through the late Masterman’s papers to find out how much he knew about them. Not even Agent Scully would still be doubting the existence of the sea creatures by this point but Donald remains skeptical until he goes back on duty at sea where he and his crew encounter the Sea Demons in action. Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL RESULTS FROM FEBRUARY 8th

NAIA

Midamerica Christian University Evangels BESTNUMBERS TWO AND THREE SURVIVE SCARES – The (2) MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS snuck past the visiting WAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY PIONEERS (should be the Flying W’s) by a score of 83-81    ###    And the (3) DALTON STATE ROADRUNNERS needed Overtime to defeat their hosts the BETHEL (TN) WILDCATS in a 107-101 shootout.

Tougaloo College BulldogsUPSETS IN THE RANKINGS – The (18) TOUGALOO COLLEGE BULLDOGS took the court against the visiting (13) XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA GOLD RUSH. The Bulldogs had managed a 36-32 advantage by Halftime, then held tight to topple the Gold Rush 64-63   ###   And the LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE BLUE RAIDERS won 80-75 at the (22) SHAWNEE STATE BEARS.

Benedictine College Ravens logoCENTURY CLUB – Teams scoring 100 points or more in Regulation: The BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS clobbered their guests the MOUNT MERCY UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS 101-65    ###    And the (19) CENTRAL BAPTIST COLLEGE MUSTANGS utterly eviscerated the visiting CROWLEY’S RIDGE COLLEGE PIONEERS 108-58.  Continue reading

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KILLRAVEN TWENTY-EIGHT: LET IT DIE LIKE IT’S THE FOURTH OF JULY

FOR PART ONE OF BALLADEER’S BLOG’S EXAMINATION OF THIS OLD, OLD MARVEL COMICS STORYLINE CLICK HERE  The revisions I would make are scattered throughout the synopsis below.

Killraven in his glory daysKILLRAVEN GRAPHIC NOVEL (1983)

Chapter Four: Let It Die Like It’s the Fourth of July

SYNOPSIS: February, 2020, or 37 years in the future, like it would have been to readers in 1983. Killraven and his Freemen continue their guerilla war against Earth’s alien conquerors.

Their current target, as this four-chapter story comes to a close, is Cape Canaveral. The site has been upgraded with alien tech and serves as both a fortress for the aliens and as a hub of the High Overlord’s Project Regenesis. The High Overlord himself is currently inside the Cape personally overseeing the final stages of this project.

With him is Keeper Saunders, the human quisling who separated Killraven (Jonathan Raven) from his brother Joshua Raven when they were children.     Continue reading

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TWENTY MORE COOL-NAMED NJCAA COLLEGE SPORTS TEAMS

Another Balladeer’s Blog Top Twenty list for 2020. This time it’s 20 more cool-named teams from the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association). FOR THE FIRST TWENTY NJCAA TEAMS CLICK HERE 

Vance Granville VanguardsVANCE-GRANVILLE COLLEGE VANGUARDS

Location: Henderson, NC

Comment: Kudos to the folks at this institution for showing some creativity with the name of their sports teams! The Vanguards definitely stand out and their logo is very, very eye-catching!

Quinsigamond College WyvernsQUINSIGAMOND COLLEGE WYVERNS

Location: Worcester, MA

Comment: Quinsigamond is a mouthful, no doubt about it, and when you combine that memorable school name with the memorable team name Wyverns you have got the kind of magic that Balladeer’s Blog loves!

Faulkner State Sun ChiefsFAULKNER STATE SUN CHIEFS

Location: Bay Minette, AL 

Comment: With a nickname as cool as Sun Chiefs and with a logo that is as eye-catching as this one I can only hope that this college adds football at some point in the future.

newlogo01.aiCHESAPEAKE COLLEGE SKIPJACKS

Location: Wye Mills, MD

Comment: Don’t call them the Flapjacks. Don’t call them the Blackjacks. They are the Skipjacks, one of the most strikingly unique team names in any division of college sports. The Chesapeake College teams take their name from the sloop-rigged sailboat, not the tuna.  Continue reading

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