In the style of Balladeer’s Blog’s separate examinations of Hawaiian and Samoan myths as a subset of Polynesian Mythology comes this look at the deities worshipped on the Polynesian outliers Bellona Island and Rennell Island. Despite its much smaller size Bellona had a larger population for much of their history.
NGE’OBIONGO – The goddess of the stone ovens used by the people of Rennell and Bellona. The ovens were shown such reverence that it was forbidden to eat near them or to scatter firewood or even to speak in raised voices in their vicinity.
Nge’obiongo would punish anyone who violated those taboos, just as she punished women who were bad or lazy cooks or who prepared meals without first properly cleaning their hands.
Undercooking the food would also invite this deity’s wrath. On rare occassions some of the prepared food would be left in the ovens as an offering to Nge’obiongo.
MAHUIKE – The earthquake god of Bellona and Rennell Islands (henceforth Bel-Ren). Like his counterparts in Hawaii and Samoa, Mahuike lived far underground and caused earthquakes by pushing at the earth with both of his arms.
Once, after a particularly destructive earthquake, the god Tehu’aingabenga fought Mahuike for injuring his worshippers and broke off one of the earthquake god’s arms. After that the quakes caused by Mahuike were never as severe. (In Hawaiian versions it is Maui who breaks the earthquake god’s arm off and in Samoan versions it is Ti’i Ti’i who does it. Bel-Ren myths do feature the figure Mautikitiki but he is less prominent than Tehu’aingabenga.)
More current events in this latest roundup from 
FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH (1980) – It’s the review FOURTEEN YEARS in the making! Yep, Fist of Fear, Touch of Death is yet another one of those classically bad films that I had planned on reviewing here on Balladeer’s Blog back in 2010 but it always fell by the wayside. At long last this review can stand alongside my examinations of other Bruceploitation flicks like 
Also stretching out this jumbled mess to feature length are scenes from several 1970s and 1960s Chop Socky movies which are supposed to be footage chronicling Bruce’s ancestor, who is called a samurai even though samurai are Japanese, not Chinese. Other forced connections with Lee pollute this sewage. 
He’s being himself, Adolph Caesar, as if he is doing sports commentary for the Madison Square Garden tournament for network television. The bizarre tone of this film is set within the first five minutes, as Caesar’s play by play of a karate tussle we’re seeing in the ring includes the words “suddenly, he grabs for the eyes and twists violently, ripping them out from the sockets and in a dazzling piece of showmanship tossing them to the crowd.” 
A VOICE FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1874) – Written by W.S. Lach-Szyrma. The 1874 date marks when a selection of stories that Lach-Szyrma had written beginning at some point around 1865 in untraced magazines were finally collected in novel form. The author penned more novels in the series as the years went by. 
Eventually during his years traveling among human beings, “Dr. Posela” rescues a friendly Englishman who is among those trapped in the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War. The Earthling gets returned to England, and is delighted with Dr. Posela and his philosophical observations about humanity and his theories that life certainly exists on many other planets.
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VICTIMS OF KAMALA AND HER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS – 
ANNA AND THE KING (1972) – It’s a shame that so few people remember this 13-episode attempt to make a television series of Margaret Landon’s classic novel Anna and the King of Siam. The producers even scored the coup of signing screen legend Yul Brynner himself to reprise his role as the King of Siam from the novel’s revered musical adaptation The King and I. 
Samantha Eggar was cast as Anna Leonowens, the British governess brought to Siam in 1862 by King Mongkut to provide a more cosmopolitan element to the education of his children, including 12-year-old son and heir Prince Chulalongkorn, played by Brian Tochi. 
“Donald Trump won because the corporate media and the political establishment don’t understand there are tens of millions of people who are not racists, who are not sexists, they’re hurting.”
1997 CHAMPIONS – HOUSTON COMETS 
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