The courageous defiance toward senile yet corrupt Joe Biden and his regime continues as “Let’s go Brandon” showed up at the recent World Series game and in the postgame show. Continue reading
Author Archives: balladeer
“LET’S GO BRANDON” GOES TO THE WORLD SERIES
Filed under humor, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
TWENTY-FOUR GREAT SILENT HORROR FILMS
Halloween month continues at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at two dozen of my favorite silent horror films.
THE CRIMSON STAIN MYSTERY (1916) – This was a 16 chapter silent serial that contained multiple horrific elements. The fact that it is so little remembered these days makes it perfect for this list, given Balladeer’s Blog’s overall theme. A mad scientist calling himself the Crimson Stain experiments on human guinea pigs in an attempt to create an intellectually superior race. His experiments all fail, producing hideous, mutated monsters. The Crimson Stain organizes his misbegotten menagerie into a villainous organization and wages a campaign of terror on the world at large. A heroic detective leads the opposition against them and tries to learn the identity of the Crimson Stain. Chapters in this serial boasted wonderfully campy titles like The Brand of Satan, The Devil’s Symphony, Despoiling Brutes and The Human Tiger.
THE MAN WITHOUT A SOUL (1916) – A man returns from the dead bereft of any trace of morality or humanity. He now views the people around him as victims and prey.
THE GOLEM AND THE DANCER (1917) – In the very first known horror movie sequel Paul Wegener starred and directed himself once again as the clay monster called the Golem. In this enjoyably “meta” production decades before Scream or The Human Caterpillar II, Wegener played himself. Continue reading
Filed under Halloween Season
JON MALIN’S GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Halloween Month is racing toward its end so here’s another seasonal post. It’s a review of the first three volumes of Graveyard Shift, the “monsters as superheroes” series by Jon Malin, Mark Poulton and Aaron Alfeche.
GRAVEYARD SHIFT Volume 1 (2019)
Professor Blood, the Monster, the Bride, Monster Girl, Sea Urchin and Ghost in the Machine. I’d call this team the greatest heroes alive … except they’re all dead. This initial Graveyard Shift installment was a critical and financial triumph, blending horror, science fiction, superheroics and OUTSTANDING artwork into one of the most acclaimed independent comics ever. (Yes, these sequential art visionaries left the creative suffocation at the Big Two publishers to pursue their own projects.)
Each volume is the length of almost 3 regular comic books. The unfolding story in Graveyard Shift also pays homage to many horror classics through the names of several characters and organizations.
Atlantis Corporation, a subaquatic base for scientific research run by a man named Abraham Van Helsing is pursuing many projects for its charming but nefarious founder. One of those projects is an enormous spaceship that is being readied to transport thousands of scientists and colonists into space to explore distant planets.
Another undertaking (as it were) is Project Wormwood, which involves Regen Chambers to restore life to newly slain soldiers in order to form an unbeatable army, and Mind Wipe technology to reprogram the revived dead to know nothing but their new existence as servitors of whatever nation buys them (but really as servitors of Van Helsing himself). Continue reading
Filed under Halloween Season, Superheroes
NEW YORK TIMES: BIDEN’S INFLATION FURTHER CRUSHES THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR FOR THANKSGIVING
Even the Democrat media outlet the New York Times is forced to admit that Joe Biden’s inflation has made this coming Thanksgiving the most expensive ever. The Times admitted that every item for a Thanksgiving meal costs more than ever before as Biden’s inflation and supply chain crisis further crushes the working class and the poor. The Democrats stopped being the party of FDR and JFK long ago. Join so many of us and #walkaway from them to become Independent Voters.
A great piece tracks NINE MONTHS OF BIDEN DISASTERS AND FAILURES.
By the way, even Democrat-dominated Austin, TX has put a measure on the ballot to restore lost funding to its police because of the wild increase in crime after the city foolishly followed the irrational Democrat demand to DEFUND THE POLICE last year. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
DUNE IN OPERA FORM
Here at Balladeer’s Blog I love sharing my enthusiasms. My blog posts where I provide contemporary slants to Ancient Greek Comedies to make them more accessible have been big hits over the years, so I’ve been trying it with operas, too. Previously I wrote about how Philip Wylie’s science fiction novel Gladiator could be done as an opera. Then I looked at how an opera version of the 1966 Spaghetti Western Django could be done and then an opera based on the novel Venus in Furs.
This blog post starts a look at how the original Dune novel could be done as an entire cycle of operas. If you’re not familiar with the story it is set over 20,000 years in the future, when humanity has colonized many Earth-like planets.
DUNE
LANGUAGE: Spanish. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that most of my fellow English-speakers find English-language operas to be silly. The prosaic nature of the forced rhymes in a language we are well-versed in does seem to rob opera of its mystique and its grandeur.
BALLADEER’S BLOG
SINGERS: Two Baritones, two Bass-Baritones, two Sopranos, one Mezzo-Soprano, four Tenors, a contralto and a Bass.
ACTS: FOUR ACTS
STORY: My fellow Dune geeks may get annoyed with this change, but remember, adaptations for staged performances have to be made very tight. I would start out at the Arrakeen Great Hall as the family and court members of House Atreides have just arrived on Arrakis/ Dune, the desert planet. All the scenes that the book covered while the Atreides family were preparing to depart their home on Caladan would instead play out shortly after their arrival on their new planetary fiefdom. Continue reading
Filed under opinion
THE BLACK REAPER (1899) – GOTHIC HORROR
THE BLACK REAPER (1899) – By Bernard Capes. Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues with this neglected horror tale. The story takes place in 1665 in a secluded British farming town called Anathoth.
The Black Reaper of the title is an interesting humanoid monster. Religious superstition and human evil mingle in this tale, just like in so many other great horror stories. And it seems Stephen King must have been, uh … “inspired” by The Black Reaper.
The citizens of Anathoth are described in the narrative as the kind of religious people who merely pay lip service to their beliefs but don’t live by them. They even treated their previous Vicar like a joke.
Now the plague is once more at large in the land and a new fire-and- brimstone preacher has replaced the disrespected man in Anathoth. The new “holy” man frequently rails at the citizens, telling them that they are all horrible sinners and that God will one day mow them down like ripe corn.
All of them, that is, except the children. Continue reading
Filed under Halloween Season
JOE BIDEN ATROCITY ROUNDUP: OCTOBER 25th
Joe Biden continues to demonstrate that he is easily the creepiest, most deranged figure to stay in the White House. His unhinged behavior at last week’s softball make-believe “Town Hall” was a source of ridicule around the world. The accused rapist’s disturbed whispering and repeated lies are just part of the reasons why his approval rating was down to 36% in last week’s Zogby poll.
“HE’S NOT ALL THERE”. Australia’s news media looks at Biden’s obvious mental deficiencies.
BIDEN’S SUPPLY CHAIN CRISIS CONTINUES TO DAMAGE THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR. More HERE. And HERE. And HERE. Biden is a disaster all around.
JEN PSAKI’S CALLOUSNESS TOWARD THE HARM BIDEN HAS DONE TO THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR IS SUMMED UP BY NOT THE BEE – “For rich elites like Jen – who have the institutional privilege they keep accusing others of – it is just a matter of inconvenience. If food prices keep skyrocketing (which they will) and essential items disappear off shelves completely (which they are), it’s not going to affect Jen.“
BIDEN STILL HAS OVER 360 AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN AFGHANISTAN. He also has more KIDS IN CAGES than either Obama or Trump did, but we all know Democrats never really cared about those kids. They just used them as political sticks. More HERE and HERE. And HERE.
HEROIC RESISTANCE TO BIDEN REGIME CONTINUES VIA “LET’S GO BRANDON” AND PLENTY OF “F*CK JOE BIDEN” CHANTS. More HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
HUNTER BIDEN STILL FUNNELING BRIBE MONEY INTO THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY THROUGH HIS ONGOING SCAM OF “SELLING HIS ARTWORK.” Want to get in good with the regime? “Buy” some of Hunter’s “artwork.” (wink)
RASMUSSEN POLL: ONLY 28% BELIEVE JOE BIDEN IS UP TO THE DEMANDS OF HIS JOB. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 23rd
HEADLINES
SHENANDOAH CONQUERS DIVISION TWO – NCAA Division Three’s SHENANDOAH UNIVERSITY HORNETS borrowed a page from assorted NAIA teams by toppling a higher division team. The Hornets welcomed NCAA Division Two’s EMORY & HENRY COLLEGE WASPS and in the ensuing defensive epic pulled out a 9-7 victory.
KNOCKING OFF NUMBER THREE – In NCAA Division Two the COLORADO MESA UNIVERSITY MAVERICKS welcomed the number 3 team in the nation – the COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES OREDIGGERS. After a 7-7 1st Quarter tie the Orediggers were up 21-16 at Halftime. From there the Mavericks shut them out and won the game 26-21.
DOWN GOES NUMBER FIVE – Over in the NAIA the number 11 MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS faced the visiting 5th ranked CONCORDIA (MI) UNIVERSITY CARDINALS. A 13-7 Knights lead at the Half became 19-7 to end the 3rd Quarter and ultimately a 25-7 victory for Marian U. Continue reading
Filed under college football
JOE BIDEN TESTS POSITIVE FOR MORONAVIRUS
Congratulations to whoever came up with this!
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Filed under humor, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
SPIDER-MAN: 1970s CLASSICS 8 – TARANTULA AND THE PUNISHER
Here’s Part Eight of Spider-Man 1970s Classics. For Part One click HERE.
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #134 (July 1974)
Title: Danger is a Man Called Tarantula
Villain: Tarantula (first appearance)
Synopsis: As Spider-Man, Peter Parker swings along, hurrying to catch a Hudson River cruise ship that he, Mary Jane Watson, Flash Thompson and the newly returned Liz Allen are taking for a few hours of fun. As he switches back into Peter Parker he notes that he’s down to his last current cartridge of web fluid in his web shooters and makes a mental note to pick up more the next time he’s at the apartment he shares with Harry Osborn.
As the ship sails along it is hijacked and held for $1,000,000.00 ransom (equivalent to $5,581,387.00 today). The hijackers are the brand new Hispanic villain Tarantula and his two costumed sidekicks. While the villain and his aides rob the passengers of all their valuables, Peter grabs the first chance he gets to become Spider-Man and saves a sailor knocked overboard in a scuffle with one of Tarantula’s men. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
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