Monthly Archives: March 2020

ALL THAT GLITTERS (1977): FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

All that glittersALL THAT GLITTERS (1977) – With the syndicated late-night soap opera satire Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman becoming a cultural phenomenon in the 1970s, Norman Lear launched this oddball, self-consciously “adult” program which added a touch of parallel world sci-fi stories to the soapiness.

All That Glitters was a comedy set in a world where women were in charge and men filled workplace and societal roles filled by women in our world at the time. The humor in this show is painfully dated but the inversion of roles still gives it a certain strange watchability.

All That glitters 2Want to see women running the business world and men serving as secretaries while getting ogled and sexually harassed? This show’s got it! Want to see a tuxedo-clad groom carrying flowers and walking down the aisle toward his intended bride? This show’s got it! Want to see some fairly kinky quasi-FemDom scenarios as the premise is taken to its logical conclusions? This show’s got it! Continue reading

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TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR (1887): ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

Travels in the InteriorTRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR (1887) – Nearly eighty years before the movie Fantastic Voyage, this work of “ancient” science fiction detailed a party of shrunken heroes on an odyssey through a human being’s body. This cleverly-titled tale was written by Alfred Taylor Schofield under the name Luke T Courteney.

London medical student Luke Theophilus Courteney passes his examinations to be admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons. His uncle, Captain Goodchild, helps the young man celebrate by taking Luke (nicknamed Pill from his middle name) and his younger sister Belinda to Trebizond, Turkey for a brief holiday.

Goodchild kindly takes along Pill’s friend Sutton, who failed the examinations and needs some moral support. Pill’s mastery of anatomy will enable him, Belinda and Sutton to survive their upcoming microscopic adventure.
Continue reading

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TWENTY BOOKS ABOUT BARACK OBAMA

democrat republican awakeBalladeer’s Blog’s theme of Top Twenty lists for 2020 continues. We need Third Parties, as I often point out, and here are some books emphasizing how American career politicians are nothing but white-collar criminals. In this case the spotlight is on the scandal-plagued Barack Obama from a REALISTIC viewpoint, not from Democrat partisans who inflate Obama’s reputation the way George W Bush fans do with his disastrous presidency. 

Gangster GovernmentGANGSTER GOVERNMENT – Written by Columbia School of Journalism graduate David Freddoso.

The title Gangster Government could have applied to George W Bush’s administration as well, but this is a list of books about Obama.

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: OBAMA AND HIS TEAM OF TAX CHEATS, CROOKS AND CRONIES – It’s been said that the Obama Administration may have been the most corrupt since the days of the Ohio Gang under Republican President Warren G Harding. This book details why.

Worst President in HistoryTHE WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY: THE LEGACY OF BARACK OBAMA – Written by Matt Margolis and Mark Noonan, this thoroughly documented and highly detailed work of investigative journalism has been called “the definitive takedown of the Obama Presidency.”

THE SCANDALOUS PRESIDENCY OF BARACK OBAMA – Another of Matt Margolis’ blistering exposes of one of the most damaging and crooked presidencies in history.

THE OBAMA SCANDALS: THE TWENTY-TWO WORST OUTRAGES OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION – This riveting book was authored by Keith Koffler and is a must-read.

Commander In FailureCOMMANDER-IN-FAILURE: AN AFRICAN AMERICAN REFLECTS ON AMERICA’S FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT AND HOW HE FAILED US ALL – Martin Luther King Person of Courage Kiara Ashanti penned this masterful deconstruction of the weak, inept and crooked little man named Barack Obama.  

THE PEOPLE VS BARACK OBAMA – A very apt book title when it comes to the president who damaged the working class and the poor more than any other president of my lifetime.  Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion, Presidential Rap Sheets

TWENTY MORE COOL FOOTBALL HELMETS

With too many sporting events getting canceled these days here’s a new Top Twenty List for 2020 here at Balladeer’s Blog. This one examines some neglected football helmets. 

EASTWOOD TROOPERS el-paso-eastwood-troopersComment: Why aren’t there more teams called Troopers?

WEATHERFORD KANGAROOSweatherford-kangaroos

Comment: Awesome name and awesome lids.

LEWISVILLE FARMERSlewisville-farmersComment: There’s something about the stark simplicity of these helmets paired up with the unique name the Farmers.

EISENHOWER EAGLESeisenhower-eaglesComment: Yes, that’s Eisenhower as in General and President Dwight Eisenhower aka “Ike.” Continue reading

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THE MASKED MAN: STORIES SEVEN AND EIGHT

For this superhero-crazed world Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of B.C. Boyer’s neglected 1980s superhero the Masked Man. For Part One click HERE 

Eclipse Monthly 6ECLIPSE MONTHLY Vol 1 #5 and 6

Number 5 (February 1984)

Title: The Incredible Seven

Villains: The alien Wezzarian race

Synopsis: Writer and artist B.C. Boyer used this Masked Man story to wrap up the tale from his canceled Incredible Seven series.

Masked Man faceThe Masked Man learns how the Wezzarians and their ally Rileth – really a cyborg Adolf Hitler kept alive through Wezzarian technology – were thwarted by the Incredible Seven in their attempt to conquer the Earth.

Number 6 (March 1984)

Title: The Trial

Villains: A gang of ski-masked armed robbers Continue reading

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TWENTY DJANGO MOVIES

The best Django, Franco Nero, played the gunslinger in Django, Django Strikes Again and (wink) Django’s Grand Return

Like Tarzan, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes the melancholy bounty hunter Django has been presented in various incarnations and with wildly differing continuity. And like soccer the Django movies have been an enormous success almost everywhere except the U.S. 

The great Franco Nero created the role in 1966 in a film so popular in Europe (but banned in the UK for its still- controversial violence) that it spawned a legion of sequels. Some sequels starred Franco Nero or others in the role of Django, while others were just unrelated westerns whose distributors simply  attached a phony Django title to them, sometimes redoing the dubbing to have the lead character referred to as Django, other times not bothering.

Original Django poster Balladeer’s Blog presents a look at twenty of the films featuring (legitimately or not) the most durable Eurowestern hero of them all. And, yes, if you’re wondering, the western bounty hunter Django was indeed the reason George Lucas named that outer space bounty hunter Jango Fett.

DJANGO (1966) – In 1867 Mexico Django, a veteran of the Union army in the Civil War, seeks revenge on Major Jackson, the Confederate officer behind his wife’s death. Jackson and his still-loyal troops, now turned  outright Klansmen, are, like so many other fleeing Confederates,  fighting for the Mexican Emperor Maximilian in the war to keep his throne.  

Django battles Jackson’s hooded thugs, even ambushing dozens with the Gatling Gun he keeps concealed in a coffin. When he’s out of men Major Jackson calls on Maximilian’s Imperial troopers for reinforcements and prepares to face Django and the Mexican rebel troops he’s fallen in with. For a detailed review of this unforgettable film click here: https://glitternight.com/2012/08/08/the-original-django-and-two-blaxploitation-westerns-a-primer-for-django-unchained/

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST (1966) – AKA He Who Shoots First. Django comes into an enormous inheritance from his murdered father, an inheritance he learns he must share with his late father’s unscrupulous business partner, Mr Cluster. Django starts blowing away a host of bad guys as he tries to piece together who is responsible for his father’s death.

DJANGO, A BULLET FOR YOU (1966) – Django uses his guns to protect a group of downtrodden farmers from the villainous, land-grabbing town boss of Wagon Valley. He gets more than he bargained for when it turns out the town boss is conspiring with a railroad tycoon who has lots of money and lots of  gunmen to throw at him.

 $10,000 for a massacre$10,000.00 BLOOD MONEY (1966) – AKA $10,000.00 for a Massacre. A wealthy land baron hires Django to recover his kidnapped daughter and kill the gang of Mexican bandits who snatched her.

Django tries to manipulate the situation so he can get the land baron’s fee AND the bounties offered on the bandits. Continue reading

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Filed under FRONTIERADO, Spaghetti Westerns

SUPER PRESIDENT (1967): FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

superpresident

Super President

SUPER PRESIDENT was an actual cartoon series from the 1960s that has virtually disappeared. It’s rare to catch a glimpse of this DePatie- Freleng show anywhere or even to find people who have heard of it outside of oddballs like me.

This cartoon was not intended for laughs, like it would be today. It honestly featured a superhero whose “secret identity” was being President of the United States. First off, there’s the absurd fun of the name AND the fact that calling yourself Super President  instantly blows your cover anyway, unless you think people are dumb enough to not figure out what you’re the president OF. (The Teamsters Union? The National Egg Council?)  

President James Norcross was our title superhero and like the Fantastic Four a half-dozen years earlier got his powers from a cosmic ray storm. He had super-strength, could fly via small rockets on his belt and as the topper could transform himself into any substance – steel, granite, water, electricity and on more than one occassion – “ozone”. (Ozone?)

Super President also had a nifty Omnicar that could drive, fly and serve as a submarine. The Omnicar was stashed in a secret room in the White House that served as SP’s version of the Batcave (How was this addition to the White House added without attracting attention and how much did it cost?). Continue reading

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Filed under Forgotten Television, Superheroes

KILLRAVEN: CHAPTER LINKS

Reader Daniel Kibblesmith reminded Balladeer’s Blog that I had not followed up my reviews and revisions of the original Killraven stories (1973-1976) at Marvel Comics with my usual collection of links in one handy blog post. Here we go:

Killraven 1WAR OF THE WORLDS – Jonathan Raven, rechristened Killraven in the gladiatorial circuit of Earth’s alien conquerors of the “future,” leads a group of Freemen in an attempt to retake the planet. CLICK HERE   

THE SIRENS OF SEVENTH AVENUE – After learning the truth about Earth’s alien conquerors AND about his possession of “The Power” (a pre-Star Wars variation of the Force), Killraven leads his Freemen against genetically modified women called Sirens as well as against assorted other post-apocalyptic threats. CLICK HERE

Killraven WarlordTHE WARLORD STRIKES – On the run after the destruction of their Staten Island rebel colony, Killraven and his Freemen run afoul of the Warlord, a human quisling who has wanted revenge against the rebel leader ever since he escaped from the gladiatorial pens. CLICK HERE 

THE MUTANT SLAYERS – The Freemen are joined by scientist Carmilla Frost and her monstrous creation Grok as they battle the Warlord and an assortment of mutated Earth creatures and deadly beasts from the aliens’ home planet. CLICK HERE  Continue reading

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FOOL KILLER THIRTY-SIX: JUNE OF 1910

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CLICK HERE

Fool Killer timelessPART THIRTY-SIX: Here’s a look at the Fool Killer’s targets in the June of 1910 issue of James Larkin Pearson’s Fool-Killer publication:

*** Women who chewed snuff, whom Pearson and his Fool Killer called “snuff-dipping girls.” (Snuff-dipping girls, they make the rockin’ world go ’round! … Had to be said.)

*** Human traffickers. 

*** People who drank, since Pearson was oddly stuffy about alcohol consumption.

*** In a tongue-in-cheek bit he targeted Bronchitis itself, since stories were in the news about ex-President Theodore Roosevelt battling the illness. The Fool Killer implied that Bronchitis was a “fool” for daring to tangle with Teddy. He also made a joke about Teddy’s personality being so huge it took attention away from Halley’s Comet.

*** People who had predicted that the comet would hit the Earth, wreaking immense damage.

*** Scholars who thought they had discovered the Missing Link in Illinois.

*** Religious hypocrites who wore pointlessly expensive clothes to church just to show off their wealth. Continue reading

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Filed under Mythology, Neglected History

JOE BIDEN BLITHERS MORE AND MORE INCOHERENTLY: NEW SUPERCUT

Joe Biden smileThank you to the BERNIE BROS who brought this video compilation to my attention. Doddering, inept Joe Biden continues stumbling along. His incoherent ramblings have become such an embarrassment to his presidential campaign that he has been put under wraps, available only for prepackaged statements (which he frequently muffs) and delicate softball “interviews” with supportive Democrats in the media.

Below (OR CLICK HERE ) is the latest supercut of Biden’s senile attempts to put on his big boy pants and pretend he would be capable of handling emergencies like the Coronavirus. The Democrats seem to have already designated Joe Biden as their 2020 candidate while snubbing Bernie Sanders once again.

Joe Biden senile manAs Bernie Sanders supporters point out, with over 60% approving of de facto Third Party President Trump’s handling of the current crisis, Bernie might make a better candidate than Biden against the FDR-like Trump. 

To quote from the story: “In a series of interviews Tuesday, Joe Biden attempted to remind America he’s still running for president, but ended up providing President Trump a treasure trove of campaign fodder.”

“On The View, Biden scored an own-goal after trying to take down Trump, saying: “We have to take care of the cure. That will make the problem worse no matter what — no matter what.” (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: Joe may be suffering from dementia. Watch the whole video.) Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion