About balladeer
I am passionately interested in college sports, ancient Greek comedies, bad/weird movies, mythology, the American Revolution, Puck Magazine, World War I, U.S. Presidential history, silent movies, the English Civil War, epic, lyric and comic poetry, U.S. Supreme Court history, the Revolutions of 1848, the Philippine War and old pulp heroes like The Moon Man, Pilot G8, Silver John and The Rio Kid.
April 26, 2022 · 1:07 am
Balladeer’s Blog’s previous look at Seven Ancient Greek Comedies with Themes That Are Still Relevant and Five More Ancient Greek Comedies … went over pretty well, so here are four more.
TAXIARCHOI – Written by Eupolis, who – along with Aristophanes and Cratinus – was one of the Big Three of Attic Old Comedy. The premise serves as a pointed reminder of the inherent ugliness in all taxation – that the power to impose and collect taxes is, ultimately, backed up by the use of force.
In Taxiarchoi the god Dionysus was depicted joining the title military unit in a presumed tax collecting expedition. The ancient Athenians valued freedom of expression so highly that even ridicule of their gods was permitted within the “anything goes” comedies performed in the Theater of Dionysus.
Because of that, Dionysus was depicted as he usually was in the comedies – fey, cowardly, soft and lazy. In other words COMPLETELY unfit for military life. Adding to the comic potential was the fact that he was serving under General Phormios, a hard-ass in the R. Lee Ermey tradition. Click HERE. Continue reading →
April 25, 2022 · 3:20 pm
As ever, Balladeer’s Blog would be just fine if both the Democrat and Republican political parties – or the “Royal Houses” as I call them – splintered into multiple smaller parties. Yet, overseas – and for some smug people right here in the U.S. – a certain prejudice is still prevalent. That prejudice is the false notion that Republican voters are “stupid” and Democrat voters are “intelligent.” That notion is absurd even as sweeping generalizations go.
Here is a real-life incident that shows the template for every deceptive depiction of one political party as stupid and the other one intelligent. This same pattern has been repeated over and over and shows why this stubborn prejudice is not valid no matter how widely-held it may be. Continue reading →
April 24, 2022 · 2:03 pm
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
Tagged as Democrat Atrocity Roundup, Democrat fascism, Democrat intolerance, Independent Voters, Neglected history, news, opinion, politics, WE NEED THIRD PARTIES
April 23, 2022 · 6:59 am
Here is my recap of the National Championship Game in the last of the divisions of college basketball covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.
NJCAA DIVISION ONE
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The last two teams standing in this tournament were the Cinderella 10 seeds – the NORTHWEST FLORIDA STATE RAIDERS – and the top seeded SALT LAKE CITY COLLEGE BRUINS.
The Bruins were trying to make it all the way through the 2021-2022 season and post-season with only one loss on their record. The Raiders were closing in on their third national title. Continue reading →
April 22, 2022 · 1:04 am
For Part One of these Iron Man 1970s classics click HERE.
IRON MAN Vol 1 #59 (June 1973)
Title: A Madness in Motown
Villain: Firebrand
Synopsis: This issue opens up with Tony Stark in his office at Stark International’s Long Island headquarters. He’s on a phone call from the psychiatrist treating Marianne Rodgers at Milford Sanitarium in Connecticut.
NOTE: Marianne is Tony’s ex-fiance whose psychic powers have recently begun driving her crazy with grotesque images.
The doctor informs Stark about how serious Marianne’s condition is, and that she has even taken to ranting about him, her former fiance. After getting off the phone, Tony ponders the situation and blames himself for Marianne’s condition. He even takes to trashing his office. Continue reading →
April 21, 2022 · 12:02 am
SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE (1955-1957) – In Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television category here’s a look at Science Fiction Theatre, which was a syndicated series that lasted from 1955-1957. The program did 39 episodes in each of its two seasons, however, so there are 78 episodes in its history. Season One was in color, Season Two was in black & white.
Truman Bradley hosted Science Fiction Theatre and would open each program with a scientific presentation that often cited incorrect science or was outrightly faked to get the results the showrunners desired.
Unlike The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, this half-hour show didn’t produce as many classic episodes which became cultural reference points to this very day. That can be a positive factor if you’re in the mood for sci fi tales that don’t require as much concentration as those other two programs. Continue reading →
April 20, 2022 · 10:11 am
Call them what they are – Democrats. Twenty-First Century Democrats embody everything they used to pretend to oppose and basically oppress people while posing as the oppressed. You can’t fight oppressors if you aren’t willing to name those oppressors and too many people shy away from bluntly pointing out the common characteristic of today’s totalitarians: they are Democrats. NOT liberals. NOT progressives.
It is DEMOCRATS who keep pushing “transition” drugs on increasingly young children, yet too many people shy away from pointing this out. It is DEMOCRATS who keep pushing to defund the police. It is DEMOCRATS who have this bizarre obsession with sexualizing children.
It is DEMOCRATS who insist just about everything makes them feel “unsafe”. It is DEMOCRATS who insist on pushing “trans” issues into virtually every piece of entertainment and increasing elements of the “educational system” (LMAO). It is DEMOCRATS who push the hatemongering gibberish of CRT.
It is DEMOCRATS who have politicized every single aspect of life to the point where they feel they can just “file complaints” with higher authority to sic those authorities on people who express the slightest disagreement with them. Continue reading →
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
Tagged as #walkaway, Democrat fascism, Democrat intolerance, Independent Voters, Neglected history, news, opinion, politics, WE NEED THIRD PARTIES
April 19, 2022 · 1:00 pm
NCAA DIVISION TWO
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE BEARCATS battled the AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY JAGUARS for the D2 title.
The Bearcats – going for their third national championship in a row – led the Jaguars 39-28 at Halftime, then kept them at arm’s length the rest of the game. Northwest Missouri State won by a final score of 67-58 led by THIRTY-ONE points from Trevor Hudgins. * THE BEARCATS ARE CHAMPIONS OF NCAA DIVISION TWO *
NJCAA DIVISION ONE
WORKIN’ OVERTIME – In this game from the NJCAA National Tournament the HUTCHINSON COLLEGE BLUE DRAGONS went up against the CONNORS STATE COWBOYS.
The Cowboys were on top 46-39 by the Half, but from there the Blue Dragons forced Overtime with a 90-90 tie to end Regulation. In the extra session Hutchinson College prevailed 101-98. Angelo Stuart of the Blue Dragons led his team with THIRTY points. Continue reading →
April 19, 2022 · 12:39 am
Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’ve enjoyed sharing my examinations of ancient Greek comedies and how they could be viewed through modern eyes. Up next are these tales restructured for opera format, act by act and by number of singers needed.
DJANGO
Language: Spanish
Setting: The Texas-Mexico border in 1867
A two-act opera based on the original Django movie from 1966 starring Franco Nero. Django, a former soldier who served in the Union Army during America’s Civil War has been on a quest for revenge against Major Jackson, the former Confederate Army officer who killed his wife. In the early months of 1867 he finds Jackson and his former Confederate soldiers now turned outright Klansmen along the Texas-Mexico borderlands. Continue reading →
April 18, 2022 · 1:33 am
Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog has often stated the opinion that America’s career politicians are actually just career white-collar criminals. At no time was that more clear than when the outsider – de facto Third Party President Donald Trump – was a threat to rock the boat of the cesspool of corruption that masquerades as the U.S. government. As a man who was NOT a career politician or “made man” in the political swamp he had to fight both political parties from the start.
All of the accusations that Trump hurled against the political establishment have been proven true over the years but anti-Trump loons always accused him of lying, then ignored every instance of Trump being proven right. To uninformed fools here and in other countries the number of accusations that Trump supposedly “lied” served to fuel their pompous assumptions about him.
Now comes the revelation regarding a conspiracy to frame President Trump (links below) and regarding more of the lies from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Continue reading →
