BATTLE OF THE JAPAN SEA (1969) – Japan’s Toshiro Mifune led the cast of this Japanese film about their successful naval clashes with Russia during the often-forgotten Russo-Japanese War (February 1904 – September 1905). U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan played the Russians.
Fans of Reilly, Ace of Spies may remember that the Japanese attack on Port Arthur in 1904 was at the core of that program’s second episode.
Other footnotes that might excite interest in this film for people who aren’t familiar with the Russo-Japanese War – President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated the peace between the two nations to end the war; one of the staff officers who accompanied Roosevelt on that venture was a young Douglas MacArthur; and Tsarist Russia’s humiliating loss in the war helped fuel the ultimately unsuccessful communist uprising in 1905.
On to the film itself. Battle of the Japan Sea employs the approach that moviegoers will recall from The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, Midway, even Inchon and others, by having an all-star cast (in the Far East) act out set pieces throughout the scattered fighting. Continue reading
The SOUTH-WESTERN COLLEGE MOUND-BUILDERS (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) will host the UNIVERSITY OF ST. FRANCIS COUGARS (Mid-States Football Association). 
The DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS (North Star Conference) will host the KANSAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY COYOTES (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference).
REEL WILD CINEMA (1996-1997) – This program is still beloved by us fans of Psychotronic movies and the So Bad It’s Good subculture. Reel Wild Cinema helped feed America’s growing appetite for bizarrely awful cinema, an appetite most recently whetted back then by Joel Hodgson’s Mystery Science Theater 3000. 
Similar to Jonathan Ross’ Incredibly Strange Film Show, Reel Wild Cinema also aired interviews with many cult figures from fringe cinema as well as campy trailers for vintage Golden Turkeys. Also like the Jonathan Ross show, Reel Wild Cinema featured an animated opening accompanied by catchy theme music. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER TEN – In NCAA Division Two the BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS welcomed the nation’s number 10 team – the AUGUSTANA (SD) VIKINGS. A scoreless 1st Quarter was followed by a 7-0 Beavers lead at Halftime. The Vikings went up 10-7 in the 3rd Quarter but the 4th saw Bemidji State come from behind to win the game 17-10. 
EIGHTY-SIX – The NAIA’s BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS traveled to face the WILLIAM WOODS UNIVERSITY OWLS in this game. The Ravens converted their 17-0 opening Quarter lead into a 58-0 advantage by the Half. After the break Benedictine College remained perfect on defense as they coasted to an EIGHTY-SIX to NOTHING triumph. 
THE SHADOW
Comment: Many of this hero’s villains were femmes fatale along the line of 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS (1686) – Written by Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle. The author offered up some science fiction concepts that were considered real possibilities in 1686. These ideas were presented within the frame of conversations, as indicated in the full title. The conversations happened over the course of six evenings. 
NELLIE BLY (Elizabeth J. Cochrane), one of the most famous reporters in history, set forth on this date in 1889 in her well-publicized attempt to make it around the world in less than the 80 days used by Jules Verne’s fictional Phileas Fogg. She was 25 years old.
Another look at current events from 
Also, in November and December of 2016 anti-Trump fascists tried intimidating the members of the Electoral College into not casting their votes for Trump even though he won the election, even going so far as DOXING those Electors. I mention this because too many people seem to have forgotten the anti-Trump push for “Faithless Electors” 8 years ago. 
Balladeer's Blog 