Monthly Archives: April 2020

TOP MOVIES OF SHINYA TSUKAMOTO

tetsuo-bDirector Shinya Tsukamoto hails from Japan and is noted for his surreal, nightmarish excursions into the darker side of transformative  industrial technology … especially any technology that impacts the human anatomy.

Tsukamoto’s noteworthy films include:

 

tetsuoTetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) – From the early shots of a man removing one of his own bones and replacing it with a piece of metal viewers knew this was a work of true genius. Tetsuo becomes more and more relevant by the year, especially with the advent of nanotechnology and its potentially invasive effect on the human mind and body. Continue reading

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Filed under Halloween Season, opinion

TRUMP’S PAYROLL PROTECTION PROGRAM FURTHERS HIS FDR IMAGE

Trump is the new FDRBalladeer’s Blog remains the only site on the web that equally criticizes both Republicans and Democrats. With all the doom and gloom in the news lately let’s put aside partisan politics and mark Friday with a positive take that anyone with compassion can appreciate. President Donald Trump’s Payroll Protection Program (see link below) is rolling and it’s as historic as any of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs.

Even the Democrats at CNBC are marveling at how quickly the president got this program running in a process which they noted “would usually take months.” And in another example of how Donald Trump is a de facto Third Party President I have to say I can’t picture any hard-core Republican taking necessary steps like this. Usually Republican office-holders refuse to accept the fact that governments spend money. Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

MASKED MAN: STORY NINE

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

Eclipse Monthly 7ECLIPSE MONTHLY Vol 1 #7 (April 1984)

Title: Confessions

Synopsis: The Masked Man (Dick Carstairs) shared this issue of Eclipse Monthly with the new superheroine the Nightingale and the early 1800s western hero the Californio.

The relationship between our hero and his reporter friend Barney McAllister got stretched to the breaking point in this tale as the Masked Man found himself tempted by the offers from Dan Drekston. Those offers: to cash in on Masked Man merchandising, Masked Man action figures and books adapted from his adventures. 

Eclipse Monthly 6Once again, years before the overrated and overpraised Alan Moore’s work The Watchmen we see other comic book writers covering material that Moore was praised for as if he was the originator of such meta concepts. Drekston is planning a merchandising empire similar to that of Moore’s superhero Ozymandias.  Continue reading

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TWENTY MORE HAWAIIAN GODS AND GODDESSES

hawaiianislandsBalladeer’s Blog’s Top Twenty Lists For 2020 theme continues with this look at 20 more Hawaiian deities. FOR THE ORIGINAL LIST OF HAWAIIAN GODS AND GODDESSES CLICK HERE

OPUHALA – The goddess of coral, coral reefs and canoe bailers. Because of the sharp, abrasive nature of coral, fish with spiny scales were also considered to be under her rule. She was the daughter of the sea god Kanaloa and the aunt of the demigod Maui. In some traditions it is said she provided enormous jagged chunks of coral for Maui to use as hooks when he was fishing up islands.  

KALAIPAHOA – The Hawaiian poison god. His images were always carved from the nioi, a poisonous pepper tree sacred to him. He was believed to be able to ride comets across the sky. Kalaipahoa was originally worshipped only on the island of Molokai but his worship spread to all the other Hawaiian Islands after their unification into a single kingdom under Kamehameha I. Oddly, this god is also associated with gamblers.     Continue reading

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Filed under Mythology

BERNIE SANDERS BROS HIT JOE BIDEN OVER HIS CORONAVIRUS LIES AND MORE

Trump with biden as backseat driverThank you to the BERNIE BROS who brought all this to my attention.

While I was fully aware that Joe Biden’s lying claim that Trump had called the Chinese Coronavirus a hoax had been proven false I missed a few of these other items. Links are below.

Trump state of the union 2TRUMP HAD MENTIONED THE NEED TO FIGHT THE WUHAN CORONAVIRUS IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS – So much for Biden’s claim that the president was not prepared. Trump’s coronavirus remarks were among the items that privileged white one-percenter Nancy Pelosi tore up in a childish fit.

Bernie BrosRemember, Nancy had even encouraged people in her district to come out and celebrate Chinese New Year despite the coronavirus risks at the time. She and Biden were not taking the threat seriously just to play a game of political spite.  

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDY SHOWS THE U.S. WAS MORE PREPARED FOR THE PANDEMIC THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY – When even the anti-Trump JHU points out this fact then you know it must be manifestly obvious. Thanks again, BERNIE BROS for pointing this out! Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

NIGHT MIND AND THE ULTIMATE ARG: JACK TORRANCE

masc graveyard newRegular readers of Balladeer’s Blog often ask me why I make so many references to ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) and feature tie-ins to some of them in my blog posts. It’s because they are a terrific example of modern day myths relayed through technology.

The effort that some creators put into building their world and the effort taken by their audience to solve the ARG’s mysteries make the experience so interactive it’s fascinating to watch unfold … when they’re done well.

As always, my hat’s off to Night Mind, who is in my opinion the best internet detective when it comes to horror ARGs. The video below features the ultimate example of this niche artform.

It’s Night Mind’s magnum opus: Jack Torrance: Fully Explained. (NOT the character from The Shining.) You’ll see why I find ARGs so addictive. Please subscribe to Night Mind’s channel, too. He deserves a lot of love. 

 

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Filed under Halloween Season, opinion

FOOL KILLER FOR APRIL FOOL’S DAY

Fool Killer illustrationIt’s April Fool’s Day! This time around Balladeer’s Blog will forego its usual Aleister Crowley item and holiday-themed slasher reviews for a breakdown on the assorted depictions of the neglected American folk figure called the Fool Killer.

A. THE MILTON CHRONICLE YEARS – Late 1840s (?) to 1880 (?) – In the earliest WRITTEN versions of American Fool Killer lore the homicidal vigilante wrote letters to Milton Chronicle Editor Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans regarding his victims and why he chose them. (Evans was the real author of the letters.)

              Fool Killer picSurviving Letter One (February 1857): The Fool Killer used his trusty club/ walking stick/ cudgel to slay trigger-happy slave hunting patrols, some “foolish” University of North Carolina students and faculty, a would-be lynch mob, a ruthless land speculator, a vain Southern Belle and her panting suitors plus political figures abusing their positions for partisan purposes. CLICK HERE 

              Surviving Letter Two (March, 1859): The Fool Killer whacked a turkey thief, some Don Quixote Invincibles, a fortune-hunting conman, partisan newspaper “journalists” and corrupt politicians in the North Carolina State Legislature. CLICK HERE 

              Surviving Letter Three (June 1861): In this last surviving Fool Killer Letter PRIOR to his Civil War hibernation period, the wandering killer bumps off slave-owning Democrats who avoided military service, war profiteers, General Benjamin Butler plus a phony “witch” and her clients who were trying to railroad some innocent victims. CLICK HERE   Continue reading

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Filed under Mythology, Neglected History