VILLON CHAPTER LINKS

a stranger in villonHere is my usual post-completion collection of chapter links, in this case for The Villon Legend.

PART ONE – Francois Villon, poet and outlaw, is born in 1431 into a nearly post-apocalyptic France in the wake of the Hundred Years War and the Plague. He grows up idolizing and defending the memory of the controversial Joan of Arc, who was not made a saint until 1920.

           Villon begins writing irreverent poems in his teens and through his years getting a Master’s Degree at the Sorbonne.

           After that, he falls into a career as a thief in Paris while still churning out poetry. CLICK HERE.

Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under Mythology, Neglected History

DECEMBER 2021: LOOKING BACK

FOR PART ONE (2016) OF THIS RETROSPECTIVE FROM INDEPENDENT VOTER SITE BALLADEER’S BLOG CLICK HERE.

biden derangedLIFELONG RACIST JOE BIDEN SAYS SCHOOLS IN IOWA DO BETTER THAN SCHOOLS IN WASHINGTON DC BECAUSE IOWA HAS A LOWER AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION. If we had a competent opposition party that understood media usage like Biden’s party does, this remark would still be getting quoted on a weekly basis, just like any such remark by an opposition party candidate would be endlessly quoted by the media-savvy Democrats. We need 3rd Parties, or maybe I should say an effective 2nd Party.   

JOURNALIST SHARYL ATTKISSON STILL IN COURT OVER THE WAY DEMOCRATS VIOLATED HER RIGHTS.

Trump ala Lech Walesa and Nelson MPRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP NAMED MAN OF THE YEAR.

DEMOCRAT POLLSTER: 67 PERCENT SAY BIDEN HAS MADE THE U.S. MORE DIVIDED THAN IT WAS UNDER TRUMP. And Biden was just getting started on dividing the country with his hatemongering.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT HATE HOAX AGAINST TRUMP SUPPORTERS EPITOMIZES ALL THE LIES PUSHED BY ANTI-TRUMP FASCISTS.

populism picESTABLISHMENT FEAR OF POPULISM FUELS THEIR HATRED OF TRUMP AND HIS SUPPORTERS.

JOE BIDEN CRIMES AND SCANDALS: DECEMBER 20th Continue reading

18 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

BALLADEER’S BLOG: WNBA RESULTS

WNBA

indiana feverINSTANT CLASSIC – The INDIANA FEVER (2-8) welcomed the CHICAGO SKY (3-4) yesterday for what turned out to be a terrific game.

The Fever led 17-14 in the 1st Quarter and 35-33 at Halftime. After the break, the Sky put up 37 points to the 36 scored by Indiana but the Fever won out 71-70. Kelsey Mitchell led the victors with 18 points. New draftee Caitlin Clark plays for Indiana. Continue reading

6 Comments

Filed under WNBA

JACK OF HEARTS: NEGLECTED MARVEL HERO

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the early stories about Jack of Hearts.

jack of hearts coverDEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #22 (March 1976)

Title: Who is the White Tiger?

Villains: The Corporation

NOTE: In his first appearance, Jack of Hearts was a supporting character.

Synopsis: Jonathan Hart, the son of scientist Phillip Hart, saw his father killed by agents of the Corporation (a lesser version of Marvel’s Hydra and A.I.M.). The Corporation agents wanted the secret of Jonathan’s father’s Zero Fluid, a liquid energy source.

deadly hokf 22While fleeing those villains, Jonathan was accidentally exposed to the Zero Fluid, transforming him into a super-powered being able to shoot Zero Energy from his hands in the form of rays of concussive force. That concussive force from his hands could allow him to fly, as well, the same way the Fantastic Four villain Blastarr does. 

Jonathan designed armor to contain the volatile Zero Energy in his body and made it a costume which he wore as the superhero Jack of Hearts. In this story he fought Corporation agents to start his revenge quest. He also fought the martial arts hero the White Tiger, mistakenly thinking he too worked for the Corporation. Continue reading

18 Comments

Filed under Superheroes

DEMOCRATS PLAY THE SHORT GAME AGAIN: TRUMP VERDICT WILL OBVIOUSLY BE OVERTURNED ON APPEAL

political martyrsIndependent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog recognizes that multiple titles could have applied to this blog post, so before I get into the meat of this item, let’s look at some of those potential alternate titles.

VERDICT MEANS JUST ONE THING: PEOPLE WHO HATED TRUMP YESTERDAY STILL HATE HIM TODAY AND PEOPLE WHO LIKED TRUMP YESTERDAY STILL LIKE HIM TODAY

rock star trumpDEMOCRAT FASCISTS FURTHER TRUMP’S MARTYRDOM IN PURSUIT OF A TALKING POINT THAT WILL ULTIMATELY GET OVERTURNED ANYWAY. (Just like all the frantic “Trump colluded with Russia” nonsense and “Trump was running a nuclear program at Mar-a-Lago” and all the other anti-Trump fables that have been spun out of whole cloth.) ALSO, REMEMBER, ALL OF THESE CHARGES ARE USUALLY MISDEMEANORS THAT WERE DISTORTED INTO FELONIES JUST TO “GET TRUMP,”

CLEARLY PARTISAN JUDGE AND JURY MAKE SURE TRUMP IS THE NEW NELSON MANDELA, MAHATMA GANDHI AND LECH WALESA, ALL OF WHOM WERE ALSO “CONVICTED FELONS” (LMAO) VIA THEIR COUNTRY’S CORRUPT AND SLANTED LEGAL SYSTEMS

mandela and trumpONLY FOOLS ARE ACTING LIKE WE DIDN’T ALL KNOW THIS WOULD BE THE INITIAL VERDICT FROM DAY ONE. THAT’S WHY THE APPEALS PROCESS EXISTS, BECAUSE OF FLAWED OUTCOMES LIKE THIS.

DONATIONS POUR IN FOR TRUMP CAMPAIGN FOLLOWING LATEST LEGAL TRAVESTY AGAINST HIM. More HERE. And HERE. And HERE. Silicon Valley man donates $300,000 HERE.

reminder that trump neverOkay, for overseas readers, let me mention once again that EVEN IF TRUMP IS SENT TO PRISON, HE CAN STILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT JUST LIKE EUGENE DEBS DID. Hell, such a provision was made possible by recognition of the fact that any incumbent administration could well turn out to be as criminal and authoritarian as the Biden Regime has proven to be and would jail political opponents.  I never thought the hopelessly corrupt Democrat and Republican political establishment would allow Trump to win, anyway, and have said so in countless previous blog posts. I will still vote for him, though.  It looks like my comparison of these situations to the ending of the Robert Redford movie Brubaker years ago was accurate.  

trump won twiceAnd remember: “The evidence and testimony don’t matter, because the outcome was predetermined before the “trial” ever started. This is a political operation organized by the Democratic Party to punish Trump and, if possible, to prevent him from being elected president again.
Understand that 86% of voters in Manhattan voted for Joe Biden in 2020. There are no honest people on that jury. They know full well why they are there, and what is expected of them.”      Every word of that is true. Plus, in another of the Trump cases NY literally changed the Statute of Limitations to get Trump, remember that? They also broke ex post facto by trying Trump, for whom that statute of limitations had already passed

Now, on to my usual roundup of news, memes and political cartoons: 

ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST PARTISAN ANTI-TRUMP ZEALOT MERCHAN ALREADY FILED.

tulsi gabbard heroicTULSI GABBARD BRAVELY CALLS OUT BIDEN FOR “ABUSE OF POWER”.

LEGAL SCHOLARS DELUGE THE MEDIA TO POINT OUT THE MANY, MANY THINGS WRONG WITH THIS ABSURD TRUMP VERDICT. More HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

MOTHER JONES: TRUMP IS MANY HEROES IN ONE. Continue reading

12 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

TRADER HORN (1927) PART THREE

Balladeer’s Blog continues reviewing the 1927 book Trader Horn, the quasi-autobiographical account of the British Trade Agent Alfred Aloysius Horn’s adventures in Africa during the late 1800s. The partially factual book spawned multiple movies. For Part One click HERE.

trader horn another picPART THREE – Trader Horn’s skills at bartering and deal-making with the indigenous people grew as he acquired more and more experience. His account always expressed his awe at the high populations of animal life throughout the region in the 1870s-1880s.

Gorillas were plentiful enough to live in what Horn and his fellow Trade Agents called colonies. It was from observing gorillas that humans had learned to break open the huge water vines to drink the water inside. Alfred was always grateful for the way this practice allowed one to make one’s water supply last longer on extended journeys through the jungle. The water from the vines was clean enough to avoid dysentery, too. Continue reading

10 Comments

Filed under Mythology, Neglected History

CODENAME: FOXFIRE (1985) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

codename foxfireCODENAME: FOXFIRE (1985) – The often star-crossed career of Joanna Cassidy hit another bump with this short-lived imitation of Charlie’s Angels. Joanna’s attractiveness and wild laugh had been paying decreasing dividends ever since the demise of her 1970s cult series 240 Robert.     

This program, which lasted just one pilot movie and seven episodes, starred Cassidy as Elizabeth “Foxfire” Towne, a former intelligence agent fresh out of prison for a crime she didn’t commit. The president’s brother – eight years before Roger Clinton and four years after Billy Carter – recruits Foxfire to lead a special espionage team for Top Secret missions.

African American con-woman Maggie Bryan (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and tomboyish stunt driver “Danny” O’Toole (Robin Johnson) were the other two members of Elizabeth’s team. Henry Jones played their butler Phillips. THE Joel Schumacher co-created the series and also wrote a few episodes. Continue reading

8 Comments

Filed under Forgotten Television

FOOL KILLER: MELUNGEON TALES

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CLICK HERE

Fool Killer condensedMELUNGEON VARIATIONS PART ONE

In the previous installments I reviewed the various surviving Fool Killer Letters recounting the folk figure’s homicidal adventures in North Carolina, Virginia (including what is now West Virginia) and Kentucky.

Those tales presented the Milton Chronicle‘s Fool Killer from the late 1840s or early 1850s on through the late 1870s or possibly as late as 1880. That figure slew fools with his club/ walking stick/ cudgel and his set of Bowie knives, each blade inscribed with the words “Fool Killer.”  

The very first Fool Killer Letter by Charles Napoleon Bonaparte Evans’ fictional Jesse Holmes has not survived, so if Evans made reference to being inspired by any older Fool Killer traditions we have no way of knowing it.

East Tennessee MountainsIf he had, one possible source would be the Fool Killer figure from Melungeon folklore in East Tennessee and other Appalachian areas. Or, since we have no way of checking exact dates, Evans’ darkly satirical tales may have influenced the existing Melungeon lore since Melungeons at the time were scattered from Tennessee to North Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia. Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under Mythology, Neglected History

ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS: MAY 28th

From the corrupt political cesspool called Joe Biden’s America it’s another current events roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog.

biden crime family shirtBIDEN CRIME FAMILY: ASSOCIATE OF JOE BIDEN’S BROTHER JAMES PLEADS GUILTY IN DEFRAUDING MEDICARE OF FIFTY-ONE MILLION DOLLARS. White-collar criminals in action. Meanwhile the Biden Regime continues persecuting the opposition leader with kangaroo court trials. 

JOE BIDEN’S LATEST SCANDAL: WITNESS INTIMIDATION REGARDING HIS UNDERBOSS HUNTER BIDEN’S UPCOMING TRIAL. Tara Reade, Joe Biden’s rape accuser, was probably right to flee the country in fear for her life. The Biden Regime is criminal trash.

DEMOCRAT JAMES CARVILLE COURAGEOUSLY CALLS OUT THE PARTY’S GROTESQUE BEHAVIOR. A few excerpts – “The generational thievery that has occurred in this country is criminality of the first order. We keep wondering why these young people are not coming home to the Democrats. Why are blacks not coming home to the Democrats?”

          student loans biden And especially “Why are we forgiving student loans for people that go to Harvard? Which, according to Scott Galloway, quite accurately, is nothing but a hedge fund that has classrooms. Well, they got a $52 billion f*cking surplus. Why are taxpayers going to bail these people out? Why don’t you come out with a proposal to tax every university with an endowment of over $5 billion and use that money to give their former students relief?”     

           WOW! Those remarks make me miss the days when the Democrat Party was actually worth supporting. And Carville forgot to mention that the Supreme Court already ruled that Biden does NOT have the authority to forgive these debts, but he just keeps on doing it while the impotent Congressional Republicans do nothing.

behizyVOTERS OF COLOR PRAISE TRUMP AND HIS SUPPORTERS AT THE BRONX RALLY. Video HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE. My favorite one was when the reporter tried to steer the Bronx resident into making an anti-Trump remark but she wouldn’t do it. Second favorite was the breakdown of how much better off the country and the world were with Trump in the White House.

           DEMOCRAT SNOBBERY TOWARD THOSE SUPPORTERS HERE and HERE and HERE    

MARINE WIDOW WARMLY RECALLS THE COMFORT THAT DE FACTO THIRD PARTY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP GAVE HER SON AT HIS FATHER’S GRAVE IN 2017. Wasn’t it nice to have a president who actually understood what Memorial Day is about?   Continue reading

17 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

MEDAL OF HONOR WINNERS FOR AMERICA’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE SECOND SAMOAN CIVIL WAR (1898-1899)

HAVE A RESPECTFUL MEMORIAL DAY, EVERYONE! I like to honor American veterans from some of our nation’s overlooked military actions since their service often seems forgotten. This year it’s the Second Samoan Civil War (1898-1899).

american samoaTHE CONFLICT – On August 22nd, 1898 Malietoa Laupepa passed away. He had been the ruling King of Samoa by agreements among the German Empire, Great Britain and the United States. With his passing, the U.S. and Great Britain supported the ascension of his son Malietoa Tanumafili to the throne. The Germans supported Mata’afa Iosefo, a former rival of the late king who returned from exile.

Neither side would yield, and the three nations began reinforcing their military positions in the Samoan Islands to fight the imminent war. By January of 1899 Malietoa Tanumafili had been driven into exile by the Germans and their Samoan allies. The German-Mata’afan forces began forcibly removing Americans and Europeans from their homes.   Continue reading

17 Comments

Filed under Neglected History, opinion