Monthly Archives: February 2025

MS. MARVEL: MORE OF HER 1970s STORIES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at additional 70s tales of Ms. Marvel. Part One is HERE.

MS. MARVEL Vol 1 #11 (Nov 1977)

Title: Eve of the Elementals

Villains: The Elementals and Hecate

Synopsis: After corralling a gang of thieves, Ms. Marvel turns back into Carol Danvers and heads from her editorial office at Woman Magazine to Cape Canaveral, Florida. She is there to interview an old friend of hers turned astronaut – Salia Petrie.

Just as the launch involving Petrie is about to happen, Carol must become Ms. Marvel to fight the Living Mummy’s old foes the Elementals (Hellfire, Magnum and Hydron), who have captured tomb raider the Asp as well as their renegade female member Zephyr.

Our heroine destroys three earth monsters created by Magnum but is then attacked by the Elementals’ new leader – the villainess Hecate making her first ever appearance. Continue reading

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FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Here’s another current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S LATEST BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE.

DEMOCRAT MAYOR KAREN BASS PRAISES PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR BEING FAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE IN REMOVING TOXIC WASTE FROM LOS ANGELES. She pointed out that a process that was expected to take months has been handled by Trump in mere weeks.

TIGER WOODS AT WHITE HOUSE FOR TRUMP’S EVENT, TOO. Kodak Black HERE

MILLER REMINDS THE CORPORATE MEDIA ABOUT THEIR COMPLICITY IN COVERING UP FOR JOE BIDEN’S UNFITNESS AND MORE.

DELTA AIRLINES CEO SHUTS DOWN GHOULISH DEMOCRAT ATTEMPTS TO BLAME TRUMP FOR THE TORONTO PLANE ACCIDENT. More HERE.

TRUMP NOMINEE KASH PATEL CONFIRMED AS NEW HEAD OF FBI

PRESIDENT TRUMP BRINGS THE RECEIPTS ABOUT THE CORRUPTION THAT D.O.G.E. HAS UNCOVERED. More on D.O.G.E. HERE. But Democrats STILL pretend there is “no evidence” no matter how much evidence has been presented.

D.O.G.E. REVEALS TWO BILLION DOLLARS THAT WAS FUNNELED TO DEMOCRAT STACY ABRAMS’ GROUP.

SMACKING DOWN NIALL FERGUSON’S ABSURD TAKE ON UKRAINE.

CORRUPT REPUBLICAN SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL RETIRING. Light does tend to scare away cockroaches.

NEW YORK DEMOCRATS REDUCING CHARGES AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR ADDITIONAL CRIMES AND LETTING THEM WALK BOND-FREE. More HERE. Even now the Democrat motto is “Illegal immigrants uber alles.” Continue reading

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QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966) BAD MOVIE ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY YEAR OF THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT CONTINUES! In the middle 1980s/ Way down on Level 31 came this pre-MST3K show about bad and campy movies. Film Vault Technicians 1st Class Richard Malmos and Randy Clower hosted the show along with their friend and cocreator Ken Miller as Tex plus Laurie Savino as the Film Vault Corps’ Mystery Clip Technician. 

QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966)  

Originally aired on T27FV: Saturday May 3rd, 1986 from 10:30pm to 1am. Broadcast throughout Texas and Oklahoma.

Extras: The Texas 27 Film Vault ran 2 1/2 hours, so Randy and Richard had more time to work with than many other Movie Host shows. In addition to showing the movie, mocking the movie and featuring Film Vault Corps comedy sketches this episode presented the 12th and final chapter of the 1952 serial Radar Men from the Moon plus an interview with Forry Ackerman. (I think there’s more footage of Ackerman than there is of some U.S. presidents.)

If the only bad movie show you know is MST3K think of: Women of the Prehistoric Planet, First Spaceship on Venus and Humanoid Woman. Continue reading

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BIG HAWAII (1977) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

BIG HAWAII (1977) – From a promising pilot movie to “poof” it’s canceled – that’s the story of and that’s the glory of Big Hawaii. I’ve rarely seen such a pronounced overhaul from a pilot movie to the resulting series. 

We’re not just talking about a change in some cast members here, this thing changed genres between its pilot film and its first episode and was definitely worse off for it. 

BIG HAWAII: DANGER IN PARADISE (May 12th, 1977) – The creative team came so close to changing the future of 1970s prime time programming by getting the jump on Dallas, which did not come out until 1978. The network suits or somebody chickened out after this powerhouse pilot movie.

The Paradise Ranch in Hawaii is the setting for enough family intrigue, corporate power struggles and romantic subplots to fuel what might have been the biggest prime time soap opera since Peyton Place.

JOHN DEHNER, forever remembered as the voice of Paladin on the Have Gun Will Travel radio western, played Barrett Fears, patriarch of the Fears family and a veteran power player in what would soon become Jock Ewing fashion.

Barrett rules through fear and a “divide and conquer” mentality when it comes to those around him. A stroke temporarily slows him down. 

INA BALIN as Barrett’s second wife Marla embodied the older-but-still-hot female character that would soon define a genre. Think Joan Collins and Linda Evans on Dynasty, Abby Dalton, Susan Sullivan and many more on Falcon Crest, Barbara Rush and Stella Stevens on Flamingo Road, Katharine Ross on The Colbys plus a few others I’m probably forgetting.

The sultry Marla Fears misled the much older Barrett into thinking she was a devoted wife but all the while she and her son plus every other man she could manipulate tried helping her steal sole control of Paradise Ranch – especially the priceless land on which it stood.   

In just this telefilm she subtly sabotages her recovering husband’s medical care, works with organized crime in a land-stealing venture, sleeps with her hunky flunky and even tries to seduce her stepson into an alliance against his father. Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP: FEB NINETEENTH

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog presents another current events roundup.

PRESIDENT TRUMP VS AMERICA’S CESSPOOL OF CORRUPTION – CLEANING OUT THE BIDEN REGIME’S POLITICAL OPERATIVES IN U.S. ATTORNEY POSITIONS. The Democrats did a stealth-revert to their Spoils System through their politicized hiring practices.

D.O.G.E. SAVINGS TRACKER PROVIDES UPDATED TOTALS OF THE WASTE THEY HAVE ELIMINATED FROM THE WASHINGTON DC SWAMP. And more HERE.

REVEALED: JOE BIDEN WAS USING THE IRS TO TARGET HIS POLITICAL ENEMIES EVEN ON HIS WAY OUT THE DOOR. And I will mention again that anti-Trump fascists who insisted on seeing years’ worth of his tax returns (which proved he did nothing wrong, by the way) don’t want such tax return transparency applied to the rest of America’s elected figures. And I think we all know why.

PRIME MINISTER ORBAN POINTS OUT HOW THE DEMOCRATS WERE ABUSING USAID TO IMPOSE THEIR POLITICAL PREJUDICES ON THE REST OF THE WORLD VIA TAXPAYER MONEY.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION DUFFY EXPOSES THE MESS OF UNFILLED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER POSITIONS THAT THE BIDEN REGIME LEFT UNFIXED FOR FOUR YEARS. As we all witnessed, if Biden couldn’t make money off a situation he ignored it.

LEAVITT HAS TO CORRECT THE GHOULISH, DEATH-EXPLOITING DEMOCRAT CHUCK SCHUMER ABOUT THE PLANE CRASH IN CANADA.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BATTLES DEMOCRAT BIGOTRY IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Continue reading

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EL HOMBRE ARTIFICIAL (The Artificial Man) (1910) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

EL HOMBRE ARTIFICIAL (1910) – This story was written by Uruguayan-born writer Horacio Quiroga under the alias S. Fragoso Lima. Quiroga moved to Argentina in 1902. Upon being diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1937 he committed suicide.

This particular tale was serialized in Argentina’s weekly publication Caras y Caretas from January 8th to February 12th, 1910.

The artificial man of the title is the work of three scientists. The leader is Nicholas Ivanovich Donisoff, a Russian prince who rebelled against the Tsarist regime and traveled in revolutionary circles. He was eventually forced to flee Russia and became renowned in the field of biochemistry.  Continue reading

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JOHN MELVIN UNIVERSITY: COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM

Tired of college sports teams called Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats? Balladeer’s Blog showcases another institution with a more creative team name.

JOHN MELVIN UNIVERSITY Continue reading

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BESS THE DETECTRESS: SILENT FILM HEROINE

BESS THE DETECTRESS – Bess Meredyth was a silent film starlet, writer and director. This particular blog post will focus on her Bess the Detectress character at Universal Studios but in the future Balladeer’s Blog will cover other aspects of her life and career.

Bess was married to Casablanca director Michael Curtiz and was the mother of writer-director John Meredyth Lucas, famous for his work on Star Trek and other programs. 

BESS THE DETECTRESS IN THE OLD MILL AT MIDNIGHT (Jun 1914) – The first short in the Bess the Detectress series. When the stage show she was performing in closes as a flop, Bess is left scrambling for her next meal. She spots a Wanted poster offering a reward of $200.00 (equal to $6,300 in 2025) for the capture of the male outlaw Honey Hall.

Bess determines to get that reward money and turns sleuth, wielding a toy gun which she uses to bluff criminals. She follows a few wrong leads but ultimately gets the bandit and the reward money. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG RANKS THE PRESIDENTS: 2025

FIRST, I AM DOING WHAT ANY SUCH LIST COMPILER SHOULD DO IF THEY ARE TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE: I am omitting the most recent presidents because of the way emotion (and hysteria in some cases) can color perceptions of them. Presidential rankings lists which go all the way up to the present year are used simply as partisan political propaganda, not as true assessments.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

GEORGE WASHINGTON 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT Continue reading

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FEB SEVENTEENTH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Another current events roundup courtesy of Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog, coming to you from an America where the Democrat/ Republican divide has temporarily been replaced by a “pro-corruption/ anti-corruption” divide.

TRUMP-MODI MEETING RESULTS IN INDIA BUYING MORE FUEL AND JETS FROM THE UNITED STATES.

BUSTING THE USAID-INTERNEWS MEDIA CARTEL.

CORRUPT WASHINGTON DC POLITICIANS AND FUNCTIONARIES SCRAMBLING TO DESTROY EVIDENCE, LAUNDER THEIR ILL-GOTTEN MONEY OUT OF THE COUNTRY AND LAWYER UP.

MORE REVELATIONS ABOUT THE BIDEN REGIME MONEY LAUNDERING OPERATION.

ANOTHER ONE POINT NINE BILLION DOLLARS REVEALED TO HAVE BEEN LOOTED FROM HUD BY THE BIDEN REGIME. More about HUD HERE.

BIDEN REGIME’S ARMY WAS DIVERTING SOLDIERS’ FOOD MONEY FOR OTHER USES

WASHINGTON STATE DEMOCRATS ADJUST LEGISLATION IN FAVOR OF WITHOLDING INFORMATION FROM PARENTS IF THEIR CHILD SUFFERS SEXUAL ASSAULTS AT THE HANDS OF FACULTY OR STAFF. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

JUDGE’S STEALTH MODIFICATION TO THEIR ANTI-INTEGRITY RULING GIVES THE GAME AWAY.

FURTHER LOOKS AT HOW DEMOCRATS DISTORTED THE DOE, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES INTO CHURCHES OF IRRATIONAL THOUGHT AND POLITICAL INTOLERANCE. I need to revive my Faculty Lounge Fascist Roundup series.

DEMOCRAT SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY RIDICULED FOR MISTAKING A FAKE LARA TRUMP PAGE FOR THE REAL THING. Once again, we see that anti-Trump buffoons will foolishly believe anything. Murphy was called a moron, but hey, anti-Trumpers will be quoting the fake page as if it was real for years. Continue reading

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