Balladeer’s Blog concludes its examination of another neglected pulp hero – in this case Northwest Smith. Created by the female author C.L. Moore in the 1930s Northwest Smith was a ruthless outer-space smuggler and mercenary decades before Han Solo. With his Venusian partner Yarol at his side and armed with a trusty blaster Smith roamed our solar system in his deceptively fast spaceship The Maid. For more on Northwest Smith and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/
13. SONG IN A MINOR KEY – For this farewell vignette featuring Northwest Smith we get an oddly touching piece that enhances Smith’s character without ruining the mystery. He and Yarol are back on Earth to visit the spot where Northwest committed his first crime exactly 20 years earlier, setting his life on its present course.
He reveals that Northwest Smith is not his real name (Well, duh! I always figured his real name was Northwest Rabinowitz.) and is uncharacteristically serious- minded as he soaks in the atmosphere of the woodland area where his fate was determined so long ago.
Our melancholy outlaw ruefully ponders his life that might have been and the woman he might have shared that life with. He contemplates the home they might have had together and more as we get tantalizing glimpses into Smith’s past here in this place … where he killed his first man. Continue reading
Balladeer’s Blog is happy to announce that at least one of the many divisions of college football covered here has made an announcement about their 2020 season. The NJCAA will begin practices on August 1st and the opening night of the season will be Thursday, August 20th. 
Balladeer’s Blog presents another examination of an ancient Greek political satire. This comedy by Aristophanes was one that I was planning on covering very soon when I started posting my reviews of Attic Old Comedy years ago. For various reasons it kept falling by the wayside. 
More than 2,300 years before George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984, Aristophanes was dealing with some of the same political themes. 
THANK YOU once again to all of you readers for making Balladeer’s Blog so enjoyable to write. As I always say the unusual and controversial items I sometimes churn out here mean that readers have to be open-minded and very secure in their own beliefs not to just take offense and leave.
FIRST AND SECOND BATTLES OF MACHIAS – Revolutionary War history about the two separate battles in Machias, Maine. CLICK 
THE MONKS OF MONK HALL – This neglected American horror classic was the country’s best-selling novel prior to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. CLICK 
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG! Over the years my review of the 2011 horror film Father’s Day has been the most controversial. Reader reaction has been split between requests that I run the review every single Father’s Day and requests that I never run it again. 
Brandon Tatum, one of the most courageous and iconoclastic voices in the nation, spoke out recently on the insane attempts to defund the police AND on the police officers in the Rayshard Brooks shooting. 
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of another neglected pulp hero – in this case Northwest Smith. Created by the female author C.L. Moore in the 1930′s Northwest Smith was a ruthless outer-space smuggler and mercenary decades before Han Solo. With his Venusian partner Yarol at his side and armed with a trusty blaster Smith roamed our solar system in his deceptively fast spaceship The Maid. For more on Northwest Smith and other neglected pulp heroes click here: 
The story opens in Jirel’s time. She is leading her obedient band of male outlaws in an assault on the castle of a sorceror named Franga. Our sword-wielding heroine battles her way through to Franga’s chamber where she seizes a mystic gem called the Star Stone. That jewel is so powerful but so unfathomable that even Franga was still trying to discover how to harness its arcane energies. Jirel defeats Franga and forces him to flee between dimensions, but as he leaves he promises Jirel that he’ll return to get revenge on her and get the Star Stone back – just as soon as he finds a champion capable of matching Jirel’s courage, cunning and force of will. “No matter what world or what time I find them in” he adds, letting the reader know what’s coming up. 
TERRY CREWS – Terry spoke out recently about Democrat Joe Biden’s bigoted claim that if you don’t vote for him “you ain’t black.” “…black people have different views,” Crews said on the CBS show The Talk. “When you’re white, you can be Republican, Libertarian, Democrat. You can be anything. But if you’re black, you have to be one thing. Even Joe Biden said, ‘Hey man, if you don’t vote for me, you ain’t black.’”
“MY BLEXIT” – There is an entire YT Channel filled with video testimonials from courageous people of color discussing their fight for the right to leave the Democrats and vote for whoever they want to vote for.
LLOYD MARCUS – Balladeer’s Blog has previously showcased items by the courageous Lloyd Marcus. Here he is absolutely nailing it when it comes to the rot and sickness which have driven so many of us away from the Democrats. 
DEMOCRAT SLOGANS: 
DEMOCRATS: WE WARNED YOU THAT IF ANY MORE ELECTIONS DID NOT GO THE WAY WE WANTED THEN WE WOULD IMPOSE VIOLENT FASCISM AND NOW WE’RE KEEPING THAT PROMISE!
ATOMAN 
GOLDEN LAD 
Balladeer's Blog 