For Flashman Down Under, Flashman in the Opium War & Flashman and the Kings click HERE
For Flashman on the Gold Coast click HERE .
Balladeer’s Blog now moves on to another Harry Flashman adventure referred to but never completed before George MacDonald Fraser’s death.
IF HE WAS BRITISH, LEE HORSLEY WOULD HAVE MADE A PERFECT HARRY FLASHMAN.
Projected Title: FLASHMAN OF ARABIA
Time Period: 1852-1854
The Setup: Sometime in the second half of 1852 Harry Flashman at last arrives back in England from his travels which began in 1848. The scandals he fled have fallen into relative obscurity and he’s getting some positive acclaim over his recent experiences during the Australian Gold Rush and earlier participation in a wagon train across America.
In addition he’s finally gotten to see his son “Havvy” (not Harry), the child his wife Elspeth was pregnant with when his travels began.
The Story: The one and only Richard Burton, viewing Harry as a kindred spirit, reaches out via correspondence and personally to encourage Flashman to write some papers and deliver public talks about his journey through America and Australia. Always ready to play to his public, and now discovering the raconteur side of his personality, Harry writes a (very) bowdlerized account of his adventures of the past four years and even delivers a few talks at which he meets Burton in person.
The duo enjoy diving into the darker and more forbidden side of life where sex, booze and other diversions are concerned. Flashman happens to be with Burton in Egypt in early 1853 when the famous explorer begins his journey to Medina and Mecca disguised as a Muslim.
We will learn he originally invited Harry to accompany him, since our protagonist was fluent in the necessary languages and was well-versed in Muslim customs from his military service in Afghanistan in the early 1840s. Flashman would have initially turned down the offer and stayed behind in Egypt until, getting into his usual trouble from boozing, whoring and gambling he would wind up fleeing for his life. Continue reading
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The last 2 teams standing in this Conference Tournament were the 4 seeds – the UNIVERSITY OF RIO GRANDE (OH) RED STORM – and the 3rd seeded INDIANA UNIVERSITY AT KOKOMO COUGARS. When the Cougars grabbed a 6-1 lead in the 1st Inning few could have guessed this game would last TWELVE INNINGS.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The Cinderella 6th seeded THOMAS UNIVERSITY NIGHT HAWKS remained THE story of the Sun Conference tourney as they battled the 3 seeds – the WEBBER INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY WARRIORS – for the title. 
PART FIFTEEN: Last time around I examined Joel Chandler Harris’ 1902 story Flingin’ Jim And His Fool-Killer, set in Georgia in October of 1872, plus Ridgway Hill’s Facts For The Fool-Killer, set in and around Buffalo, NY in 1909. 
When even some reporters at the Democrat media outlet CNN realize that the lies Democrats tell about President Trump’s Charlottesville remarks have been exposed you’d think Joe Biden would know better than to try peddling them. 
Democrats and their media outlets have been trying to sell their lies about Trump’s remarks ever since then, with Crazy Joe Biden even perpetuating that lie when he joined 9,783 other Democrats in the presidential race. 
DAY TWO, GAME ONE: The 4 seeds – the TRINITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE TROLLS – took the diamond against the 8th seeded INDIANA UNIVERSITY AT SOUTH BEND TITANS. Neither team drove in a Run until the Titans grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 3rd Inning. 
Thank you to readers who reminded me that I did not follow up my examination of the World War Two-era Justice Society of America stories with my usual collection of links. I always did that after similar items like The Celestial Madonna Saga, Panther’s Rage, The Kree-Skrull War and most recently Adam Warlock’s encounter with the Magus, Thanos and Gamora. 
THE FIRST MEETING OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA (December 1940)
FOR AMERICA AND DEMOCRACY (March 1941)
THE MYSTERIOUS MISTER X (June 1941) 
DAY TWO, GAME ONE: The 8 seeds – the BREWTON-PARKER COLLEGE BARONS – played an elimination game against the 5th seeded BLUE MOUNTAIN COLLEGE TOPPERS. After 2 Scoreless Innings the teams were knotted up at 1-1 in the 3rd. 
May the Fourth is upon us once again. First up are some links to my previous Star Wars blog posts plus my full-length review of The Jet Benny Show, a Star Wars parody. 
THE JET BENNY SHOW (1986) – Buy this for the Star Wars fan in your life … but only if you strongly dislike the Star Wars fan in your life. Buy this for the Jack Benny fan in your life … but only if they’re too old and feeble to be capable of inflicting grievous bodily harm on you. 
Roger Evans directed The Jet Benny Show from a script by Mark Felch. Steve Norman stars as Jet Benny, a take-off on the real-life comedy legend Jack Benny. Norman does not do nearly as good a Jack Benny impression as we’re led to believe by the few positive remarks this pant-load of a film receives. 
Even the least attentive people are beginning to realize why America’s thuggish “Intelligence Agencies” like the CIA, NSA and FBI are so deservedly despised. They’re also beginning to notice the way that people who get elected to even the most junior positions in Congress wind up as multi-millionaires in just a few years. (Some of the more subtle crooks use their male or female spouses as their fronts, letting them acquire wealth via government contracts.) 
We’re living history but some people are so narrow-minded and so short-sighted that they’re letting their irrational hatred of one man prevent them from acknowledging the fact. It’s like the old saying “Some people feel the rain while others just get wet.” 
Try saying “At least Trump is not a career politician. The other crooks have been plundering the treasury their whole careers.”
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