Monthly Archives: April 2025

MEMORABLE QUOTES

Mascot sword and pistolA change of pace blog post for Tuesday. 

“Whoever is not a misanthrope at forty can never have loved mankind.” – Nicolas Chamfort 

“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” – Albert Camus

“Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes.” – Norman Douglas

“To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood.” – George Santayana

“A best-seller is the gilded tomb of a mediocre talent.” – Logan Pearsall Smith

“Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies.” – Honore de Balzac Continue reading

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THE ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK SHOW (1969-1970) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

THE ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK SHOW (1969-1970) – No, it wasn’t a Meeting of Minds type of educational program depicting the long-ago German composer Engelbert Humperdinck interacting with other historical figures. Although I would have watched a show like that! (But I’m kind of weird.)

This project starred the Euro-Vegas crooner who also used the name Engelbert Humperdinck, presumably on a dare or something. (I’m kidding.) Picture the comedy series Viva Variety played straight – that’s the aesthetic of The Engelbert Humperdinck Show.

Each episode Engelbert welcomed equally non-threatening and bland entertainers for an hour of music and comedy the way grandma and grandpa used to love. I’m not seriously attacking the show, just pointing out how tastes change over the decades. 

THE EPISODES:

PILOT (Dec 2nd, 1969) – The Dinckster shared the stage with Barbara Eden, Jose Feliciano, Dionne Warwick and his entertainment doppelganger Tom Jones. The Mike Sammes Singers, the Jack Parnell Orchestra and the Paddy Stone Dancers were on hand as well. This episode was rebroadcast on December 26th. 

EPISODE ONE (Jan 21st, 1970) – E-Bert’s guests this time were Tony Bennett, Leslie Uggams, Donald O’Connor and Ed Bishop from UFO. The Irving Davies Dancers joined the Mike Sammes Singers and the Jack Parnell Orchestra as the figurative house entertainers.

Mr. Humperdinck sang Marry Me, The Best Things in Life are Free, When I Fall in Love and Winter World of Love. Bennett did MacArthur Park (I swear!), What the World Needs Now and For Once in My Life.

Uggams sang Come Together and Free Again, while O’Connor belted out The Joker is Me and Look at that Face plus did a World War One Flying Ace comedy sketch with laugh meister Engelbert. Continue reading

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APRIL SEVENTH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Kicking off the week with a current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog, as anti-Trump hysteria moves from “Russia, Russia, Russia” to “tariffs, tariffs, tariffs” and from “Trump’s going to start World War Three” to “Trump’s going to start a Depression.”

DEMOCRATS AT THE AP UPSET THAT THE MARCH JOBS REPORT WAS SUCH A SPECTACULAR TRUMP SUCCESS. Democrats still root against the working class and the poor apparently.

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY BROOKE ROLLINS SKILLFULLY CORRECTS CNN REGARDING TARIFFS. The strong, intelligent woman exposed weak, uninformed Jake Tapper’s spin. More HERE. More on tariffs HERE. And HERE

OVER FIFTY NATIONS HAVE ALREADY SOUGHT OUT NEW DEALS WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP TO STOP GOUGING THE U.S. WITH THEIR OUTRAGEOUS TARIFFS. More HERE. And HERE. And HERE. Getting nations to come to the table for talks was obviously the goal and such talks are taking place. NOTE: I wish various news outlets would stop wording headlines on this to mean that other countries are “caving” or “bending the knee.” Such wording is counterproductive at best.

COURAGEOUS ROLE MODEL TULSI GABBARD MOVING TO REVEAL ALL OF THE BIDEN REGIME’S AUTHORITARIAN DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE AND CENSORSHIP PROGRAMS.

PRIVILEGED WHITE DEMOCRAT CONGRESSWOMAN (AND BILLIONAIRE) MOVES TO DEFUND DOGE, UNAWARE THAT DOGE DOESN’T GET ANY MONEY. Shouldn’t a member of Congress be able to understand such things? Even one from California?  

ALLEGED “JUDGE” BOASBERG CAUGHT IN TRANSCRIPT OVER CONSPIRACY AGAINST TRUMP AND THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. Honest judges recuse themselves when they are this biased. But I wonder if anyone has ever accused James Boasberg of being an honest judge. 

PARTISAN HACK JAMES “JEB” BOASBERG’S BROTHER WAS INVOLVED IN HIRING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

FASCIST DEMOCRAT MOBS SWARM BORDER CHIEF TOM HOMAN’S RESIDENCE

CORPORATE FASCIST BILL GATES’ ORGANIZATION MAY LOSE TAX-EXEMPT STATUS OVER RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ACCUSATIONS. Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: NJCAA and CCCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS

NJCAA DIVISION ONE

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The TRINITY VALLEY COLLEGE CARDINALS and the CONNORS STATE COWBOYS squared off against each other for this division’s crown. The teams went basket for basket in the opening Half, which ended in a 32-32 tie. After the break the Cardinals pulled away from the Cowboys for a 69-61 triumph. Zati Loubaki and Garrett Nuckolls led TVC with 17 points each.

NJCAA DIVISION TWO

FIRST SEMIFINAL – In this game the PARKLAND COLLEGE COBRAS faced the PIMA COLLEGE AZTECS. Come Halftime the Cobras were on top of Pima College 44-38. From there Parkland College left the Aztecs further and further behind to win the game 95-74. Adam Squire led the Cobras with 23 points while teammate Jaden Martin logged a Double Double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Continue reading

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HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (1964) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Randy Clower and Richard Malmos of The Texas 27 Film Vault (both lower right) featured in a Movie Host article with Stella from Saturday Night Dead and Elvira.

Before MST3K we had The Texas 27 Film Vault, which debuted on Saturday February 9th, 1985. Balladeer’s Blog continues marking the cult show’s FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY YEAR with another episode where an original broadcast date can be narrowed down. 

EPISODE ORIGINALLY BROADCAST: Saturday May 25th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am. Broadcast throughout Texas and Oklahoma. Special thanks to my fellow Texas 27 Film Vault fan Jana for the date of this episode and which serial preceded the movie.

SERIAL: The Phantom Empire (1935), in which Gene Autry played a singing cowboy who saves the world from an advanced underground civilization complete with killer robots who wear cowboy hats.

FILM VAULT LORE: Randy and Richard, both sons of military men, had come up with a very detailed back-story for their fictional Film Vault Corps. Back before the Corps members found themselves protecting old movies from gigantic rats, celluloid-eating cellumites and subterranean Drone species the FVC got its start during the Great Depression. 

FDR’s Works Progress Administration engineered the first Film Vaults beneath America’s major cities. Each subterranean vault was as large as an aircraft carrier and they were originally used to store the monumental film collection of FDR friend Larry Alexander Finley of Frankfort, KY.

Eventually the vaults were used to house the superannuated Golden Turkeys and camp classics that local television stations across the country filled their late-night hours with. The vaults also housed other bits of cultural kitsch like old commercials and tv shows and such. 

THE MOVIE: Horror of Party Beach is one of those flicks that is on EVERYBODY’S Worst Films of All Time list and has been for several decades. In the 1980s the Medved Brothers’ books on Golden Turkeys helped secure its reputation. Just about every Movie Host show presented this film at some point.

Radioactive waste dumped in the sea spawns a tribe of large, goofy-looking, carnivorous sea monsters who walk on two legs and have so many big tongues they seem to have bouquets of hot dogs in their mouths.  Continue reading

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THE CLOCK III: MAY 1940-SEP 1941

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog is my 3rd look at the original run of the Clock, who debuted in 1936 – BEFORE Superman (1938) and Batman (1939). PART ONE: 1936-1939. PART TWO: 1939-1940.

CRACK COMICS #1 (May 1940)

Title: The Story of Pug Brady

Villain: The Big Shot

Synopsis: Brian O’Brien, the wealthy playboy who is really the superhero called the Clock, acquires his very first sidekick. Pat “Pug” Brady, a former boxer becomes O’Brien’s chauffer in this issue.

Our hero takes Pug into his confidence and tells him he is really the Clock and the former prizefighter becomes his aide in crimefighting. This adventure finds the Clock bringing down a masked villain called the Big Shot who is trying to take over New York City via his gang of criminals and corrupt police officers.

The Clock exposes the Big Shot as Mayor Kozer and shuts down his entire operation. Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: APRIL FOURTH

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog serves up another current events roundup from a world where anti-Trump loons who never even heard of the word “tariff” a few weeks ago are joining the latest pile-on panic. Seriously, the best way to silence anti-Trumpers with the TikTok mentality is to ask them to explain their understanding of how tariffs work. You’ve never seen conversations end so quickly.

COURAGEOUS BATYA UNGAR-SARGON DEFENDS PRESIDENT TRUMP AND POINTS OUT HOW MUCH HE HAS ALWAYS HELPED THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR. Like me, she calls him a new FDR HERE.

SENATOR BERNIE MORENO SMACKS DOWN REPUBLICAN MIKE PENCE AND DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLET’S ANTI-TRUMP TARIFFS HYSTERIA. Pence was typically clueless, outdated and useless.

ECONOMOST E.J. ANTONI POINTS OUT THAT TRUMP’S TARIFFS WILL STILL BE MUCH LOWER THAN THE TARIFFS OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE HAD ON THE U.S. FOR DECADES. More HERE. Trump fighting the unfairness is not him “unleashing a trade war.”

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS LEAVES THE CORRUPT AND FASCISTIC DEMOCRAT PARTY TO SEEK REELECTION AS AN INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE.

PRIVILEGED WHITE ONE PERCENTER DEMOCRAT NANCY PELOSI SUPPORTED THE KIND OF TARIFFS TRUMP IS PURSUING … WHEN IT WASN’T TRUMP PURSUING THEM. Anti-Trump hysteria is pathetic.

EVEN THE DEMOCRATS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES ADMIT ONCE AGAIN THAT TRUMP’S POLICIES REGARDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION WILL BOOST WAGES FOR THE AMERICAN WORKING CLASS.

LENARD MCKELVEY CALLS FOR DEMOCRATS CHUCK SCHUMER AND HAKEEM JEFFRIES TO BE PRIMARIED AND THROWN OUT OF OFFICE.

EYESOVER ANALYSIS SHOWS TRUMP’S SUPPORT CONTINUES TO GROW. More HERE.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL TAX RELIEF FOR SENIOR CITIZENS AND THE MIDDLE CLASS.

TRUMP ECONOMY FAR EXCEEDS ECONOMIST PREDICTIONS BY ADDING 228,000 NEW JOBS IN MARCH. Fretful economists predicted just 140,000 new jobs. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: CONSOLATIONS IN TRAVEL (1830)

Consolations in TravelCONSOLATIONS IN TRAVEL or THE LAST DAYS OF A PHILOSOPHER (1830) – Written by THE Sir Humphrey Davy, this is largely a work of philosophical discourse but with one section devoted to a science fiction tale: The Vision.   

In that section of the book Sir Humphrey relates a first-person story in which he is taking in the Colosseum in Rome. An extra-terrestrial being calling itself a Genius and claiming to be from the Sun appears to him.

First this honey-voiced being fills him with a series of visions regarding humanity’s history, from prehistoric times to the recent past. After that the visitor from the Sun takes him on a tour of our solar system.

Mascot new lookThe first planet they travel to is Saturn, where Davy is awestruck by the alien landscape. Strange clouds fill the skies and among the oddest planetary features are large columns of liquid which flow from the ground upward. Saturn is inhabited by intelligent beings with three pairs of wings and organs like elephant trunks dangling from their bodies. Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: D3 and NJCAA TOURNAMENTS

NCAA DIVISION THREE

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – It all came down to the TRINITY (CT) BANTAMS fighting it out with the NEW YORK UNIVERSITY VIOLETS. The Violets were threatening an Upset with their 30-27 Halftime edge but Trinity College came out of the locker room ready for a comeback. The Bantams went on to win the game 64-60 led by 20 points from Jarrel Okorougo. Teammate Drew (not Rem) Lazarre logged a Double Double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.

NJCAA DIVISION ONE

FIRST SEMIFINAL – The CONNORS STATE COWBOYS played the SOUTH PLAINS COLLEGE TEXANS. The Cowboys put SPC on Upset Alert at the Half as they led 40-28. From there Connors State carried through, holding on against a Texans rally for an 80-74 triumph. Twenty-eight points from D.J. Dormu led the Cowboys to victory. Continue reading

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VAL KILMER: RIP – TOP SECRET (1984)

With the passing of the one and only Val Kilmer here’s a look at his debut movie, Top Secret

TOP SECRET (1984)

Directed and written by the Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams, Top Secret is the Citizen Kane of movies which simultaneously parody spy movies and Elvis Presley flicks.

Val Kilmer, in the years before he took himself way too seriously, could truly do it all and masterfully stars as rock music idol Nick Rivers. Nick gets caught up in an anachronistic World War Two-style spy movie which also incorporates elements of Elvis’ Harum Scarum but with Nazi stereotypes instead of Arab stereotypes.    Continue reading

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