The Frontierado holiday celebrates the myth of the Old West, not the grinding reality. It’s celebrated the first Friday of every August, so this year that will be August 2nd.
JUDGE ROY BEAN – Phantly Roy Bean, Jr. (Phantly?) was born around 1825 and passed away March 16th, 1903. The figure has been brought to the big and small screens multiple times over the decades, with Paul Newman’s The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean as the most well-known attempt.
Well before this part-hero, part-villain became renowned as “The Only Law West of the Pecos” he was already experiencing an adventurous life. In 1841, at the age of 16, Bean hitched a ride on a flatboat from his dirt-poor Kentucky community to New Orleans, LA in search of work.
After assorted hell-raising, including a supposed stint as a riverboat gambler up and down the Mississippi, things got too dangerous for Roy in New Orleans so he fled further west. In San Antonio, TX he settled down with his brother Sam Bean for years, working in Sam’s trade of transporting goods to Santa Fe, NM and northern Mexico. Continue reading
For what it’s worth, here are my current thoughts on the ongoing situation regarding the attempt to kill populist folk hero President Donald Trump. There are countless articles out there praising his courage under literal fire and condemning the loathsome conduct of Trump-haters, so I’m covering a different angle right now. 
INDIANA OVER PHOENIX – The INDIANA FEVER (10-14) welcomed the PHOENIX MERCURY (12-11) in this game. 
ACES WILD – The LAS VEGAS ACES (15-7) took it on the road against the ATLANTA DREAM (7-15) yesterday. 
Well, the Democrats, their media outlets and their unhinged narrative that de facto Third Party President Donald Trump is the new Hitler finally got the result they’ve been wanting … almost. Clearly they would rather that Trump was dead. I will have more to write about this in a day or so. 
Longtime readers of Balladeer’s Blog know that when something huge happens I like to wait for the initial fog of mistakes and incorrect reports by the media to clear up before I do a lengthy blog post. In the meantime, obviously, I’m glad that Trump – who kept us out of any new wars, was the greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime and the man most feared by the absolute garbage called career politicians in the United States – survived this attempt on his life.
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #166 (January 1976) 
THE TOUCH OF BREEZE (2023) – Last year Balladeer’s Blog reviewed 
THE ALASKANS (1959-1960) – The gold rushes in Alaska during the late 1890s and early 1900s provided the usual tableaus of boom towns, claim-jumping, gambling and gunslinging. Unlike such rushes in the Continental United States, the frigid temperatures and monumental snows of Alaska added unique twists to the wild west feel of gold-seeking. 
The series was produced by 
THE FORGOTTEN LAND (1917) – Written by H. H. Knibbs. This writer was much better known for his poems about the American West. The Forgotten Land ventured into science fiction and “future history.” 
RIN TIN TIN (1918-1932) – Here at Balladeer’s Blog, I’m even fonder of dogs than I am of silent movies, so this post will combine the two topics. Sadly, most silent films have become so little remembered that few people even realize that there actually WAS a real Rin Tin Tin, adopted by American soldiers during World War One. 
