To end this hectic week how about some dog photos to give all of us a few smiles?
DOG BREAK!
Filed under humor
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE PROFESSOR’S EXPERIMENTS (1910)
THE PROFESSOR’S EXPERIMENTS (1910) – By Paul Bo’ld (sic) – real name: Edward George Paul Bousfield. (Not to be confused with John Paul George Ann Ringo.) A possible influence on H.P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West, Reanimator in style but not in content. This collection of six short stories centered around mad scientist Jerome Mudgewood and his assistant Dr Gertrude Delaney.
Mudgewood’s envelope-pushing experiments unleash forces beyond his control, resulting in death and tragedy. The stories in order:
The Retardatory Force – Professor Mudgewood tries to harness a pair of sub-atomic and extra-atomic forces, believing that eternal life can be achieved by doing so. He, Dr Delaney and their housekeeper instead find themselves confined in an energy field that slows matter down and eventually dissolves it into nothingness. Jerome and Gertrude survive but the housekeeper isn’t as lucky.
The Magnetic Essence – The Professor isolates a particle in iron, a particle which he believes causes iron to be attracted to magnets. Dubbing this particle “the magneto component” he plans to implant it into any object he wishes to magnetize. It turns out the force is also responsible for maintaining an atom’s integrity and so extracting “the magneto component” figuratively splits the atom, unleashing incredibly deadly explosions. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
THE ADVENTURES OF LIEUTENANT PETROSINO (1912) SILENT FILM ABOUT THE REAL-LIFE DETECTIVE
THE ADVENTURES OF LIEUTENANT PETROSINO (1912) – This 47-minute silent movie was a rushed look at the career of New York City Police Detective Joseph Petrosino, who specialized in fighting organized crime. I meant to cover Petrosino years ago, but other topics kept taking priority.
Petrosino has become all but forgotten here in 2026, but he was once so popular that hundreds of thousands attended his funeral, which was declared a holiday in New York. He was murdered by organized crime in 1909, and his posthumous fame made him the hero of Dime Novels like old west figures Buffalo Bill Cody and others.
I’ll do more detailed examinations of Joseph Petrosino in the near future, but for now I will review this 1912 flick while peppering in a few notes about the man’s real-life saga which was far too broadly presented on the big screen.
THE REEL PETROSINO – Still in uniform, Joseph has made a name for himself as a tough cop capable of dealing with Italian gangs like the Black Hand, the Mafia and the Camorra. When Mafia bank robbers humiliate a pair of policemen who try taking them in, the storied Petrosino is sent for.
He quickly finds the gang, subdues them and drags two of them in to be booked as the others flee. The arrested criminals rat out their colleagues. That night at the dinner table, Joe brags to his wife Adelina about his exploits.
THE REAL PETROSINO – Born in 1860, Joseph Petrosino joined the New York City Police Department as a uniformed cop in 1883. He made excellent use of his fluency in Italian to solve crimes in Italian-American neighborhoods that were easy prey for organized gangs from the Old Country. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History, opinion
NEWS ROUNDUP FOR MARCH ELEVENTH
It’s a mid-week current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.
IRAN EXPERT LISA DAFTARI ADDS HER VOICE TO THOSE POINTING OUT THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP DID NOT START A NEW WAR, HE IS ENDING THE WAR IRAN STARTED. Aaron Flint agreed HERE.
MUSIC VIDEO: DEATH TO KHAMENEI.
EVEN MORE FIGURES ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S TAX CUTS PRODUCING LARGER TAX REFUNDS FOR WORKING CLASS VOTERS. Just like during his first term, but anti-Trump loons ignored the facts then and now to lie that the tax cuts only help “the rich.”
NBC POLL: ICE HAS HIGHER APPROVAL RATING THAN DEMOCRAT PARTY, AS DOES PRESIDENT TRUMP OVER AOC, KAMALA HARRIS AND OTHER DEMOCRATS. More HERE. And HERE.
DR. MEHMET OZ EXPOSES EVEN MORE OBAMACARE FRAUD.
DEMOCRAT PARTY
PRIVILEGED WHITE DEMOCRAT WOMEN FORM GROUP TO TARGET ICE AGENTS.
DEMOCRAT-RUN CHICAGO TEACHER’S UNION PRIORITIZES THEIR POLITICAL DEMONSTRATIONS OVER ACTUALLY TEACHING THEIR STUDENTS TO READ. Democrat politicization of the “educational system” (LMAO) continues. Continue reading
USCAA CHAMPS CROWNED PLUS NCCAA BASKETBALL POSTSEASON RESULTS
USCAA DIVISION ONE
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The 4th seeded NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STALLIONS fought it out with the 3 seeds – the BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE (Syracuse) BOBCATS – for the USCAA Division One title. At Halftime the Stallions clung to a 36-34 edge but after the break they made their move. NAU took the crown with an 89-74 triumph led by Jamarric Hammond’s Double Double of 21 points and 11 rebounds.
USCAA DIVISION TWO
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The Cinderella 6 seeds – the MIAMI UNIVERSITY AT HAMILTON HARRIERS – kept on dancing in this clash with the 2nd seeded UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI AT CLERMONT COUGARS. UC-Clermont watched their 43-32 advantage at the Half melt away as the Harriers came back to win the game 76-66. Kaleb Wanamaker led MU-Hamilton with a Double Double of THIRTY points and 12 rebounds. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
SIR GRAVES GHASTLY (1967-1982) BAD MOVIE HOST
SIR GRAVES GHASTLY – Lawson J. Deming portrayed this vampire character whose eponymous movie show ran from January 1967 to November 1982 in Detroit – a longer run than most other classic Movie Hosts. His Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm program was even syndicated in Cleveland and Washington, DC for a year or two during the 1970s.
(NOTE: Some sources claim that Lawson Deming hosted the syndicated shows as Count Alu Card.)
The backstory that Deming created for his tongue-in-cheek vampire was that he was over 400 years old and was originally Gravarious Ghastliano from Italy. After moving to England he met William Shakespeare and acted in his plays. One of Demings’ most frequent lines held that Queen Elizabeth had Sir Graves Ghastly hanged “but like a bad vaccination, it didn’t take.”
At the start of each episode Sir Graves would emerge from a coffin and make with his signature laugh – “”Nyeeea-aaaa-haa-haaaaa.” At show’s end he would climb back into the coffin and pull down the lid.
In between came old horror and sci-fi movies from classic Universal hits to So-Bad-They’re-Good bombs like Robot Monster,The Crawling Hand, Japan’s Starman flicks and others. Deming also portrayed a variety of supporting characters on Sir Graves Ghastly. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, Movie Hosts
FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: THE FLYING DOCTOR (1959-1960)
THE FLYING DOCTOR (1959-1960) – This installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television is a series that was based on the 1950s BBC radio show about Australia’s airborne doctors who tended to widely separated communities in the Outback. Previously, I covered the long-running Australian television series The Flying Doctors based on the same outfits.
Richard Denning starred in this 1959-1960 UK-Australian co-production as Dr. Greg Graham. Jill Adams portrayed Nurse Mary Meredith, Alan White played pilot Charley Wood, and Peter Madden was Dr. Jim Harrison, a temporarily blinded physician.
There were 39 half-hour episodes.
STANDOUT EPISODES:
A PAIR OF EYES – American Dr. Greg Graham (Denning) takes a leave of absence from a medical research institute in San Francisco to temporarily serve in Australia’s Flying Doctor Corps.
DEATH BY WILLIE-WILLIE – Nothing to do with Death by Snu-Snu. A windstorm called a Willie-Willie prevents planes from flying, meaning pilot Charley Wood must be talked through a medical procedure for a patient.
BLOOD DONOR – Dr. Graham must improvise his way through a blood transfusion for a little girl who fell down a mine shaft. Meanwhile, the only donor for her rare blood type is an escaped convict. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
MARCH NINTH NEWS ROUNDUP
Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog is back with another current events roundup from an America where Ukrainiacs are still trying to pretend that the regime in Iran isn’t at least as bad as crazed war criminal Vlad Putin’s regime.
FORMER IRANIAN POLITICAL PRISONER KIAN TAJBAKHSH POINTS OUT THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP IS WORKING TO END THE WAR THAT IRAN HAS BEEN WAGING AGAINST AMERICA SINCE 1979. More HERE. TAJBAKHSH ALSO DISCUSSES HOW THE MONEY THAT OBAMA SUBSERVIENTLY PAID TO IRAN FINANCED TERRORISM.
ALFREDO ORTIZ AMONG THOSE PROMOTING TRUMP’S WORKING CLASS FAMILIES TAX CUTS. The greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime.
ICE ARRESTS MORE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FOR MURDER, CHILD RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULTS ON WOMEN.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN IDAHO ARRESTED FOR TRAFFICKING CHILDREN FOR SLAVE LABOR AND POSSIBLY MORE. People who are like Renee Good and Alex Pretti support that over ICE.
IN DEMOCRAT “SANCTUARY STATE” MARYLAND, FOUR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MEMBERS OF MS13 INDICTED FOR MURDERING FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD. As always, victims get no “sanctuary” under Democrats – only the perpetrators do.
NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND RESETTLEMENT. SEVENTH CIRCUIT COURT SMACKS DOWN ANOTHER LOWER COURT JUDGE WHO RULED AGAINST ICE. Continue reading
MARCH NINTH: ANNIVERSARY OF THE POLIO VACCINE
On March 9th, 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announced his successful vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes polio.
Just the previous year, polio had 58,000 new victims and left 3,000 dead. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
2026 COLLEGE BASKETBALL POSTSEASON CONTINUES
For Divisions One and Two in the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association).
USCAA DIVISION ONE
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The 4th seeded NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STALLIONS played the 1 seeds – the BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE BEARS. The Stallions put Bloomfield College on Upset alert with their 43-41 Halftime edge, then carried through by knocking off the top seeds by a final score of 98-88. North American University was led by Jamarric Hammond with a Double Double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. (So almost a Triple Double.)
SECOND SEMIFINAL – And in this game the 3 seeds – the BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE (Syracuse) BOBCATS – took on the 2nd seeded SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE FALCONS (should be Blue Falcons). SIC led 43-37 at the Half, only for the Bobcats to force Overtime with an 80-80 tie. In the extra session, BSC-Syracuse triumphed 92-87. Jordan Drain’s 25 points led the victors, while his fellow Bobcats Wayne Longmore and Khai Pugh logged Double Doubles of 15 points & 12 rebounds, and 13 points & 10 rebounds, respectively. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
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