Monthly Archives: August 2020

August 23, 2020 · 10:29 am

MALDOROR 11: DISTANT SCREAMS OF MOST POIGNANT AGONY

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. NOT FOR THE EASILY FRIGHTENED.

DISTANT SCREAMS OF MOST POIGNANT AGONY

Maldoror 11For a change of pace we readers are not immersed entirely in a first person narration by Maldoror himself. This section begins with a mother, father and their beloved child Edward spending a quiet evening together. The parents are advanced in age and did not have Edward until very late in life after years of longing for a child of their own. 

The happy trio catch a glimpse of the supernatural being Maldoror peering in at them through a window. Though they think they succeed at shooing him away from their home little Edward cannot get the hideous man out of his mind. The family’s conversation is periodically and repeatedly punctuated by what the author describes as “distant prolonged screams of the most poignant agony.”  Continue reading →

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August 22, 2020 · 2:31 am

THE FIRST TWENTY THOR STORIES FROM THE 1960s

The world cannot get enough superhero articles. Readers demanded another one so here is a look at the first 20 stories of the Marvel Comics version of Thor.

Thor 1JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY Vol 1 #83 (August 1962)

Title: Thor The Mighty and the Stone Men

Villains: Kronans (Stone Men)

Synopsis: Brilliant and famous doctor and surgeon, Donald Blake MD, has traveled to Norway on vacation. While he is there an alien race of Stone Men called the Kronans, using Saturn as a staging post, invade the Earth.

The lame (as in limping with a cane) Doctor Blake hides in a nearby cave where he finds a hidden chamber containing an alternate walking stick. An inscription on the cavern wall indicates that the stick can bestow the power of the Norse thunder god Thor.

When Blake fails to move rocks which have fallen across the cave entrance by using the walking stick as a lever, he lashes out in frustration, striking the bottom of the stick against the rocks. This triggers his transformation into Thor while the enchanted walking stick becomes Thor’s legendary hammer Mjolnir.

NOTE: As Thor’s adventures went along, Marvel Comics ultimately decided that Donald Blake really WAS the ancient Norse god Thor, but that his father Odin had wiped his memory and forced him to live as the lame Donald Blake to teach the cocky god humility. The lesson apparently learned, we’re told Odin made Blake take this Norway vacation so he could find the cane/ Mjolnir and return to being Thor in order to save Earth from the Stone Men. 

Back to the story, as Thor, our hero easily removed all the rocks blocking the cave entrance and watched as Earth fighter jets were driven off by the Kronan spaceships, whose force fields protected them from all the Earthlings’ missiles and bombs. Continue reading →

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August 21, 2020 · 10:05 am

INVADERS FROM MARS (1953) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Invaders from MarsBefore MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault! Before Joel and Mike there were Randy and Richard! Before Pearl, Devil Dogs and Deep 13 there came Laurie Savino, Cellumites and Level 31!

In the middle 1980s, way down on Level 31 Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class hosted this neglected cult show.

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday June 7th, 1986 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.

Atom Man vs SupermanSERIAL: Before showing and mocking Invaders from Mars our members of the Film Vault Corps (“the few, the proud, the sarcastic”) showed and mocked an episode of the 1950 Columbia serial Atom Man vs Superman. Kirk Alyn starred as Superman with Lyle Talbot as his archenemy Lex Luthor. Lex has his own secret identity in this serial – each episode he dons a lead mask and oversees the villainy as “Atom Man”.

This was one of the liveliest and most campily watchable serials of the 50s. Especially laughable are the bits when Superman “flies” – an effect achieved by switching from live footage of Kirk Alyn to INSERTED CARTOON FOOTAGE of Superman flying. Think of the ‘Toons in Roger Rabbit interacting with the live backgrounds and you have the idea.

A behind the scenes photo of Laurie Savino, who held the rank of Mystery Clip Technician in the Film Vault Corps.

A behind the scenes photo of Laurie Savino, who held the rank of Mystery Clip Technician in the Film Vault Corps.

FILM VAULT LORE: This week Laurie Savino, who held the rank of Mystery Clip Technician in the Film Vault Corps once again presented Channel 27’s Movie Ticket Giveaway.

Correctly identifying the Mystery Clip this time around would win a few lucky viewers tickets to the upcoming release of the 1986 remake of Invaders from Mars, starring Karen Black. 

HOST SEGMENTS/ COMEDY SKETCHES – One of the comedy bits Randy and Richard injected into the film this time involved Jimmy Hunt, who played David Maclean, the child hero of the movie.

Whenever Hunt would say something harmless like “Gee Whiz” the Film Vault Guys would bleep part of it to make it sound like the kid had said “Jesus” and was getting censored. And so it went throughout the movie. Little Jimmy – but, hilariously, NONE of the adults, would occassionally get bleeped misleadingly as if cursing like a sailor.

That is one foul-mouthed little boy!

That is one foul-mouthed little boy!

A word beginning with “sh” would be bleeped like Jimmy was saying “shit”, a word beginning with “f” would be bleeped like Jimmy was saying “fuck”, multi-syllable “m” words would be bleeped like he was saying “motherfucking”. It was like a more adult throwback to the old “Cleveland-style” of movie hosting, dating back to the legendary Ghoulardi (Ernie Anderson). 

THE MOVIE: Invaders from Mars is a very fun-bad movie complete with cheap and unconvincing 1950s special effects, stiff and unbelievable characters and a groan-inducing finale.

Some elderly critics praise this movie nostalgically and try to present it as a metaphor for anti-Communist paranoia, like the more-deserving Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Anybody who didn’t see this thing as a child in 1953 tends to view it more realistically: as a kitschy relic of its era, entertaining but hardly thought-provoking.  Continue reading →

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August 20, 2020 · 9:28 am

EVEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CLOBBERED JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATS OVER LIES AND OBAMA SCANDALS

Only an uninformed imbecile would try claiming that ANY American presidential administration has been “scandal free” (LMAO) but the seemingly senile and/or demented Joe Biden is STILL trying to peddle that “not a whisper of scandal” nonsense about the scandal-plagued Obama administration that he was part of.

Even the Democrats at the Associated Press pointed out that Biden and Michelle Obama are still blaming Trump for the “Kids in Cages” policy that was ALREADY IN EFFECT UNDER OBAMA. 

And remember when a member of Obama’s administration resigned over having SHOT AT a police officer? I do.

And it’s weird that Democrats would try pushing that claim during a week when KEVIN CLINESMITH PLEADED GUILTY in the Obama FBI’s fraudulent Russiagate operation against Trump. And more guilty pleas are expected to follow.

Plus here’s a hilarious video that lists just a handful of the Obama scandals:

And here are TWENTY BOOKS ABOUT OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SCANDALS. There are plenty more out there but I just went with the Top Twenty here:

Gangster Government

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

The title Gangster Government would be the perfect title for any 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 History

THE 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 Failure

COMMANDER-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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August 19, 2020 · 8:37 pm

KIMBERLY KLACIK, MARTIN LUTHER KING PERSON OF COURAGE, EXPOSES DEMOCRAT FAILURES

Kimberly Klacik has joined so many other voters of color to expose Democrat policies and the devastating effect they have on the working class and the poor. The Democrats aka Fascists aka The Political Mafia aka House Harkonnen long ago switched to just paying lip service to working class and poor people. Klacic also looks at the insanity of Democrat attempts to defund the police, like they’ve done in Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland and Austin. 

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August 19, 2020 · 5:20 am

PULP HERO G-8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES: STORIES NINETEEN THROUGH TWENTY-ONE

Caveman Patrol*** SOME READERS HAVE ASKED ME THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PULP MAGAZINES AND COMIC BOOKS. Pulp magazines were WRITTEN material with a few accompanying illustrations. Comic Books were picture stories told via sequential art. ***

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the neglected Pulp Hero G-8. This continues a story-by- story look at the adventures of this World War One American fighter pilot who – along with his two wingmen the Battle Aces – took on various supernatural and super- scientific menaces thrown at the Allied Powers by the Central Powers of Germany, Austria- Hungary and the Ottoman Muslim Turks.

G-8 was created by Robert J Hogan in 1933 when World War One was still being called simply the World War or the Great War. Over the next eleven years Hogan wrote 110 stories featuring the adventures of G-8, the street-smart pug Nippy Weston and the brawny giant Bull Martin. The regular cast was rounded out by our hero’s archenemy Doktor Krueger, by Battle, G-8’s British manservant and by our hero’s girlfriend R-1: an American nurse/ spy whose real name, like G-8’s, was never revealed.

Caveman Patrol19. THE CAVEMAN PATROL (April 1935) – Previously in G-8’s adventures the Central Powers formed an alliance with Martians to try to win the war. This time around those same powers form an alliance with a subterranean race of pointy- eared cavemen still living the same way they did in the distant past. Well, except for the fact that they’ve evolved enough to use crossbows.

This squadron of cavemen are victorious on the ground and even in the air as the ancient troglodytes calmly adapt to flying in airplanes … although they still just shoot their crossbows at their foes. G-8, Nippy and Bull try to rally their comrades-in- arms against this bizarre menace before the Central Powers gain the upper hand once and for all. Continue reading →

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August 18, 2020 · 2:16 pm

MALDOROR 8: AN INSATIABLE THIRST FOR THE INFINITE

Balladeer’s Blog continues its poem by poem examination of the 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror by Isidore Ducasse, the self-titled Count de Lautreamont.

AN INSATIABLE THIRST FOR THE INFINITE

Maldoror 8This section begins with Maldoror wandering through the darkness of the night, at times nostalgically recalling the terror and dread with which he used to regard the sounds and distant impressions of the overnight hours. But that was when he was merely a human child and his mother would try to calm him as he huddled beneath his blankets listening fearfully to the savage or vaguely sinister sounds made by the beasts who roam the night.

She would explain away the horror of the distant noises by assuring him that the beasts meant no harm, but were instead filled with an insatiable thirst for the infinite, the same thirst she sensed in the son she was trying to comfort.

Now, fully grown and more than human, Maldoror prowls the night as one of the beasts making noises that terrify others in their beds. Supreme in his element our narrator blissfully describes some of the nightly tableaus that catch his attention. Continue reading →

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August 17, 2020 · 4:33 pm

MARTIN LUTHER KING PEOPLE OF COURAGE TAKE DOWN JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS

Leo TerrellCIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY LEO TERRELL STATED JOE “BIDEN HAS THE MIND-SET OF A PLANTATION OWNER.” And much more.

Joe Biden’s history of draconian and dictatorial policies toward African-Americans has gotten a lot of attention.

Joe often pursued those policies alongside Hillary Clinton, who is remembered for referring to African-American males as “super-predators.” 

Joe Biden confusedBiden, who often seems senile or demented, tried addressing his ugly history on racial issues with his running mate selection. As we all know, he went with the scandal-plagued Kamala Harris, with even some Democrat pundits calling her selection “The best day of the Trump Campaign.” (Yes, she’s that bad.) 

AMERICAN DESCENDANTS OF SLAVERY (ADOS) has specifically stated “She ain’t us.” (Readers may remember Kamala Harris’ history of exploiting color for political gain then turning her back right after election day. Plus her own ancestors owned slaves, something the Biden Campaign is trying to ignore.) Click HERE 

THE HODGE TWINS have even gone so far as to say that “Black people hate Kamala Harris.” 

Continue reading →

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August 16, 2020 · 11:55 pm

THE 2020 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON KICKS OFF THURSDAY NIGHT

… At least it does in some of the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog! There are two games on the slate for Thursday night plus 4 more set for Saturday. Here are the matchups for this Thursday and Saturday –

THURSDAY

Dodge City College Conquistadors HELMET WITH PICThe DODGE CITY COLLEGE CONQUISTADORS, out of the trinity-valley-cardinals-helmet-newJayhawk Conference, welcome the TRINITY VALLEY COLLEGE CARDINALS, from the Western States Football League. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00PM Central Time. 

Coffeyville Red Ravens helmetAnother Jayhawk Conference team, the COFFEYVILLE Ellsworth College Panthers helmet NEWCOLLEGE RED RAVENS, take it on the road against the ELLSWORTH COLLEGE PANTHERS, out of the Iowa Collegiate Conference. This game also kicks off at 7:00PM Central Time.

SATURDAY

Vermilion College Ironmen helmetThe VERMILION COLLEGE IRONMEN travel to face the Minnesota State Tech SpartansMINNESOTA STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE SPARTANS in a gridiron grudge match between two teams from the Minnesota College Athletic Conference. The game is set to kick off at 3:00PM Central Time. Continue reading →

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August 15, 2020 · 4:40 pm

THE FIRST TWENTY IRON MAN STORIES FROM THE 1960s

Robert Downey Jr as Iron ManBalladeer’s Blog continues its Top Twenty Lists for 2020 while simultaneously providing another item for this superhero-hungry world. It’s the first 20 Iron Man stories, beginning in 1963.

Iron Man 1TALES OF SUSPENSE Vol 1 #39 (March 1963)

Title: Iron Man Is Born

Villains: Wong Chu and his Red Guerillas

Synopsis: Tony Stark is living the dream. He’s a multi-millionaire, women consider him very handsome and he has all the inventive genius of a new Thomas Edison but without the litigiousness. He has multiplied the fortune he inherited from his parents many times over through the value of his tech and weapons creations instead of through the ruthless big business savvy shown by his late father.

After Tony demonstrates his latest inventions for the Defense Department to an audience of Generals he is flown to Vietnam to watch his devices in action in the field. This will help him refine them for the front-line troops.

While accompanying a squad of soldiers through the jungle, Stark accidentally triggers a Viet Cong booby trap and the subsequent explosion kills his soldier escorts. Tony himself is left with a piece of shrapnel lodged dangerously near his heart and inching closer by the day.

Wong Chu, the North Vietnamese Warlord, is holding the injured millionaire captive in the village he rules with an iron fist. Wong Chu knows that Tony Stark has only days to live but lies to him and tells him he will set him free if he devises a high-tech weapon for him and his VC forces. Continue reading →

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