Monthly Archives: November 2024

THE ORIGINAL MS. MARVEL: HER 1970s STORIES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the earliest adventures of the original Ms. Marvel – Carol Danvers.

mm 1MS. MARVEL Vol 1 #1 (January 1977)

Title: This Woman, This Warrior

Villain: The Scorpion

NOTE: Ms. Marvel’s secret identity was Carol Danvers, a character that Marvel first introduced in the supporting cast of their original male Captain Marvel series in 1967. Carol was introduced as the head of security at Cape Canaveral, so even before becoming a superheroine she had a very solid role.

Carol made regular appearances alongside Captain Marvel (Kree Captain Mar-Vell) through the cancellation of his first solo series in August 1970. She made a few guest appearances in the pages of The Avengers during the original Kree-Skrull War (1970-1971) and was even impersonated by the Super-Skrull.

Synopsis: Readers are caught up with Carol Danvers’ life via flashbacks. During one of Captain Marvel’s battles with Yon-Rogg she was exposed to Kree technology which accidentally endowed her with super-strength plus the power of flight and a large degree of invulnerability. Continue reading

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SUSAN LUCCI IS EBBIE (1995) AS CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2024 BEGINS

If it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving, then regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know it’s the day when I kick off my annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon in which I review several versions of A Christmas Carol. I look at movies, television shows, radio shows and books which adapt the Dickens classic. Every year I present new reviews with a few old classics mixed in since newer readers will have missed them.

ebbieEBBIE (1995) Balladeer’s Blog’s Fifteenth Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon begins with an encore review of this 1995 telefilm starring soap opera queen Susan Lucci. The eternally-sexy Lucci plays Elizabeth “Ebbie” Scrooge, our regulation “grasping and covetous” business magnate who runs the Dobson’s department store empire. This version of A Christmas Carol is kind of cute and it tries hard.

At its core Ebbie combines the Dickens tale with elements of the Diane Keaton movie Baby Boom. The dialogue self-consciously uses Big Business/ Executive Culture cliches in various exchanges. For example, where Scrooge normally says “Can’t I take them (the Ghosts) all at once and have it over with” Ebbie instead says “Can’t I just Conference Call them all in and have it over with?” Plus Marley’s Ghost refers to Scrooge “taking meetings” with the three Spirits. Sometimes these substitutions are amusing, other times just eye-rolling.   Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: NOV 29th

polish official saysIt’s time for another current events roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog.

POLISH OFFICIAL CONFIRMS THAT DEMOCRAT SCAM WITH ZELENSKY FUNNELED HALF OF U.S. AID BACK TO BIDEN REGIME AND OTHER CORRUPT POLITICIANS. And the Biden Crime Organization just gave twenty-four BILLION more to their coconspirator Zelensky. Bigger than the Teapot Dome and Credit Mobilier Scandals combined.

CALIFORNIA’S ONGOING LONG COUNT OF ELECTION RESULTS HAS ALREADY FLIPPED TWO MORE HOUSE SEATS BACK TO DEMOCRATS. Since at least 2018 these long counts this far after election day have done this. It may go back even further, but 2018 was when it first caught my attention. 

DESANTIS ADDS HIS VOICE TO THE CRITICISM OF CALIFORNIA’S ABSURD ONGOING FARCE WITH FINDING “UNCOUNTED” VOTES FOR THEIR CANDIDATES THIS LONG AFTER ELECTION DAY.

LEGAL FIGHT AGAINST CALIFORNIA’S TRANSPARENT LATE COUNT CHICANERY. It’s about time!

DONALD TRUMP ONCE AGAIN NOMINATED FOR THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, THIS TIME BY A UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL. More HERE.

CORRUPT BIDEN REGIME OPENLY SABOTAGING INCOMING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ON THEIR WAY OUT THE DOOR.

FAMILIES OF AMERICAN HOSTAGES STILL BEING HELD BY HAMAS LOOK TO TRUMP FOR HELP SINCE THE BIDEN REGIME FAILED THEM. Continue reading

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NJCAA FOOTBALL PLAYOFF TEAMS 2024

With the NAIA, D2, D3 and CCCAA playoffs addressed previously, here are the the teams competing for the title in the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association).

NJCAA DIVISION ONE

The GEORGIA MILITARY COLLEGE BULLDOGS will host the HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS.

Kickoff will be on December 8th at 3:30PM Eastern Time. Continue reading

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2024!

happy t givingHAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy this holiday and the hope for peaceful coexistence represented by the possibly mythic meal that it commemorates. The kind of self-righteous killjoys who bash Thanksgiving are the type of sanctimonious idiots that are fun to laugh at since they have no identity outside of their ephemeral political concerns.

Whether you consider the tale of the first Thanksgiving to be literal or aspirational, enjoy yourselves! Be thankful that you’re not one of those heartless people who try to pollute every happy gathering with divisiveness and turn it into a showcase for the simple-minded, ankle-biting political remarks that those people laughably think are Really Deep.

How sad is it that every year they circulate those articles about which brainless talking points they should use to harass the adults at the Thanksgiving Day table?   

PREVIOUS THANKSGIVING DAY POSTS:

A THANKSGIVING STORY FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERE. Continue reading

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WOI: EPIC HERO OF LIBERIA

LiberiaBalladeer’s Blog presents another neglected epic myth from around the world. In this case, Liberia’s Woi Epic of the Kpelle people.

The Woi Epic is often studied for its use of music, dance, singing and audience participation to reflect the action in the story. Think of it as a combination opera, ballet, live drama and Rocky Horror Picture Show screening.

The order of the episodes in the epic is not set in stone and a performance may include only a few of the episodes, all of them or just one. The finish of each episode is marked by the performer(s) announcing “Dried millet, wese” to which the audience repeats simply “wese.”  

ONE – Woi, a culture deity and master of ritual magic, and his wife Gelengol are the only living things that exist. After Woi impregnates his wife she eventually gives birth to human beings, chickens, goats, cows, sheep and, after all other life-forms, spiders. (Plenty of African myths feature a female deity giving birth to multiple living creatures and many feature the woman also giving birth to tools and weapons and utensils.)    

TWO – Woi notes that the demonic figure Yele-Walo has stolen one of his bulls by sneaking up on it in the form of a rattan plant. Yele-Walo took the bull with him to his hideaway “behind the sky.” Woi prepares for battle and is aided by squirrel-monkeys, tsetse flies and horse-flies. Yele-Walo also steels himself for the upcoming fight. Continue reading

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NOV 27th ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

From Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog it’s another current events roundup. 

trump newBE FURTHER THANKFUL THAT TRUMP WON – BIDEN REGIME POLICIES CAUSED THANKSGIVING COSTS TO GO UP 24%. Americans look with hope to less inflation next year. 

JOE BIDEN’S LACKEYS SURRENDER AND CALL OFF LAWFARE AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP, DROPPING THEIR PURELY POLITICAL PERSECUTION OF HIM. More HERE. We all knew that these cases were absolute nonsense. Only Trump-haters pretended they were legit. More HERE. We also knew the appeals courts would strike down these cases.

california outlineTHE DEMOCRATS IN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON ARE STILL FINDING VOTES. And literally 2 million more “uncounted” votes for Kamala have been found. It’s possible the goal is to pretend Kamala won the popular vote or at least argue that Trump does not have a mandate.

           Voter integrity groups need to fight this absurdity – the election was weeks ago and Democrats are still engaging in their practice of “finding” votes for their candidates long after the country stops paying attention.

THE TRUMP EFFECT: MEXICO’S PRESIDENT NOW SAYS THE LATEST MOB OF ILLEGALS WON’T BE ALLOWED TO REACH THE U.S. BORDER. As adults knew, Trump’s tariff talk was your typical bargaining stratagem. Anti-Trump fanatics are apparently still going to pretend his every move is a call for hysteria.

REPUBLICAN JOHN BOLTON, A CHRONIC FAILURE, FLAILING AGAINST TULSI GABBARD. It’s silly for Bolton of all people to pretend someone else is unqualified. Continue reading

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Filed under Anti-Donald Trump hysteria, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History

REEL WILD CINEMA: EPISODES EIGHT-TEN

In this installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s recurring Forgotten Television segment I continue my look at Reel Wild Cinema (1996-1997). This time around it’s Episodes 8-10.

THE RUNDOWN FOR EPISODE EIGHT (June 9th, 1996)

Title: Kids in Peril

Truncated Films Shown:

untamed furyUNTAMED FURY (1947) – A very early hicksploitation movie. This black & white movie’s stock footage is set in the swamps of the Deep South but everything else takes place on the usual cheap sets we all know and love from Producers Releasing Corporation.

As children, two swamp kids develop a rivalry over a pretty gal and over which one of them is “best” at getting dragged behind their fathers’ boats to lure out alligators for killing. Dubious honor to be fighting for. At any rate, the boy so good that he earns the nickname Gator Bait (yes, like the 1970s Claudia Jennings flick) goes off to college.

When he comes back years later, Gator Bait wants to do improvements to the swamplands to provide a better way of life for the locals. His boyhood rival in luring out alligators is opposed to the idea, as are a few other folks and conflict results. E.G. Marshall’s film debut. I’m NOT joking.      Continue reading

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CCCAA FOOTBALL PLAYOFF TEAMS FOR 2024

This weekend’s matchups as the playoffs kick off in the CCCAA (California Community College Athletic Association).

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The MOUNT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE MOUNTIES will host the EL CAMINO COLLEGE WARRIORS.

Kickoff is at 6:00PM Pacific Time.

The RIVERSIDE CITY COLLEGE TIGERS will host the SAN DIEGO MESA COLLEGE OLYMPIANS.

Kickoff is at 1:00PM Pacific Time. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE DOMINION IN 1983 (1883)

Dominion in 1983THE DOMINION IN 1983 (1883) – Written by “Ralph Centennius,” the presumed pseudonym of an unknown author.

Oh, Canada! Our neighbors to the north hopped on the speculative science fiction bandwagon with this short story. The premise is that the author is looking back at the 100 years of Canadian “history” from 1883 to 1983.

In futuristic 1983 the population of Canada is 93 million, there are 15 provinces and the country is a model for the world in terms of peace, learning, arts and sciences. We readers are told that there was a period around 1885 when many Canadians supported the idea of Canada becoming part of the United States, but this movement faded after losing at the ballot box.

Mascot new lookCanadian technology leads the world, with rocketships that can fly at a mile per second and electric automobiles for ground transport. Electricity is the predominant energy source, and Electropolis, the first all-electric city, was recently completed. Continue reading

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