2023 COLLEGE BASKETBALL POSTSEASON IS UNDERWAY

The college basketball postseason for 2023 has tipped off in the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.

NAIA CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS

mayville state comets logoNORTH STAR ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – It was all chalk in the opening round of the NSAC Tournament. The top-seeded MAYVILLE STATE COMETS swatted the (8) PRESENTATION COLLEGE SAINTS 91-63   ###   Meanwhile, the 4 seeds – the VALLEY CITY STATE VIKINGS – eliminated the (5) BELLEVUE (NE) BRUINS 72-54   ###   And the (3) DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS won 72-60 over the (6) DAKOTA STATE TROJANS. Continue reading

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RELIC OF FORT TEJON (1957) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

bret and camelRELIC OF FORT TEJON (November 3rd, 1957) – Here’s something a little different from the usual for Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television category. The 1950s James Garner series Maverick was an all-time classic, but this particular episode is often overlooked.

The subject matter deals with a camel supposedly left over from the ill-fated American Camel Corps that the U.S. Army tried launching in the 1800s. The project fell through in the end, but the dozens of camels from the experimental program – and their offspring – wound up roaming the deserts of the southwest for decades afterward.

bret at card tablePreviously, I’ve examined the James Garner western One Little Indian (1973) in which his soldier character winds up using a camel to flee an unjust mutiny charge, and the legendary Red Ghost of Arizona, a Camel Corps leftover which was sighted multiple times in the 1880s to 1890s and was mistaken for a monster.

In Relic of Fort Tejon, Garner’s iconic Bret Maverick, a gambler/ gunslinger, wins a camel named Fatima from a fellow gambler who conned him into thinking he was using an Arabian stallion as part of a poker wager. Continue reading

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A PRESIDENTS DAY POST

trump group photoIn the past, Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog has posted items regarding all the presidents, all the vice presidents, overlooked secretaries of state, etc. This year I’m going with something different, because there is always something so intriguing about contemporary coverage of presidents.

Take a trip back to the election of 2016. In the immediate aftermath, the Democrats were actually beginning to do some necessary introspection over their alienation of the working class and the poor. Unfortunately, unhinged Hillary Clinton supporters derailed that in place of their ridiculous “Russian Collusion” nonsense which has been disproven over and over and over again.

2016

Trump never called racist til running against DemocratsBERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTERS WHO ARE VOTING FOR TRUMP.

SANDERS SUPPORTERS CALL OUT THE MEDIA’S LIE ABOUT WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

THE HYPOCRISY OF TRUMP-HATERS.

BERNIE SANDERS PRAISES TRUMP’S APPEAL TO THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR.

PROS AND CONS OF TRUMP’S ELECTION.

DEMOCRAT JIM WEBB CALLS OUT THE DEMOCRATS FOR LOSING THE WORKING CLASS TO TRUMP.

JEREMY PETERS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES CALLS OUT DEMOCRAT CLUELESSNESS ABOUT TRUMP’S VICTORY.

BERNIE SANDERS LOOKS AT HOW TRUMP GOT THE WORKING CLASS VOTE. Continue reading

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NEWS ROUNDUP: FEBRUARY 19th

Another news roundup here at Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog. We need independent parties.

biden crime family shirtBIDEN CRIME FAMILY: UNDERBOSS HUNTER BIDEN CONNECTED TO RUSSIAN OLIGARCH.

HUNTER BIDEN’S “ART” DEALER STONEWALLING INVESTIGATION INTO THE NAMES OF “BUYERS” WHO USED HUNTER’S PAINTINGS TO FUNNEL MONEY TO THE BIDENS. Life in Joe Biden’s corporate fascist kleptocracy.

BIDEN’S POLICIES HAVE DRIVEN FOOD PRICES UP 11.8 PERCENT AND HE IS CALLED OUT FOR LYING ABOUT THOSE PRICES SUPPOSEDLY GOING DOWN.

BIDEN ATTACKS REPORTER WHO ASKS ABOUT HIS TIES TO CHINA. Buying Joe Biden was the best investment China’s government ever made.

BIDEN CRIME FAMILY: PER COURT DOCUMENTS, JOE BIDEN’S BROTHER JAMES SECRETLY NEGOTIATED 140 MILLION DOLLAR DEAL WITH SAUDIS, THANKS TO HIS CONNECTIONS TO JOE. More HERE

rowan atkinson as mr bean

Not pictured: Pete Buttigieg

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD CONDEMNS BIDEN REGIME’S BUTTIGIEG FOR TRYING  TO BLAME THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION FOR THE EAST PALESTINE, OHIO DISASTER.  

BIDEN’S POLICIES AGAIN SET INFLATION TO SOAR HIGHER. Joe Biden’s war on the working class and the poor continues. 

BIDEN REGIME’S TOP AFGHAN OFFICIAL TELLS AFGHAN WOMEN THEY MAY NEED “BLACK GIRL MAGIC.” Joe Biden’s lifelong racism trickles down to his regime’s functionaries.

JOE BIDEN CALLS AFRICAN-AMERICAN GOVERNOR OF MARYLAND “BOY”. Yet another reminder of Biden’s racism and the fact that he comes from a slave-owning family. Continue reading

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PREZ: HIS 1970s ADVENTURES

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero story will deal with DC’s political comedy character Prez, given how this is Presidents Day weekend.

prez 1PREZ Vol 1 #1 (September 1973)

Title: The Making of the Prez

NOTE: Decades ago, Theodore White was known for his series of books titled The Making of the President, with the year of the election after each new volume. (1960, 1964, 1968, etc) In 1973, many readers would have gotten the implied joke of “The Making of the Prez.”

Villains: Boss Smiley and Misery Marko

Synopsis: On the alternate Earth known in the DC Universe as Earth 72, America not only lowered the voting age to 18 but also made 18-year-olds eligible for holding any elected positions in the U.S. – even president.

Enter stock-car racer Prez Rickard (a riff on the famous Tex Rickard), whose mother named him Prez because she was convinced her son would go on to be president some day. Prez’s political career took off when he synchronized all the clocks in his hometown of Steadfast. (Remember, this is political satire like Al Capp’s Li’l Abner on some levels.)

boss smileyThis caught the attention of corrupt political handler Boss Smiley, whose head was one of those syrupy and kitschy smiley faces that had become widespread by 1973. Boss Smiley and slimy advertising mogul Misery Marko recruited Prez to run for the Senate as their pawn, using the slogan “He made the clocks run on time.” (a Mussolini joke, of course)

Prez ultimately rebelled against Boss Smiley and Misery Marko and, with fellow 18-year-olds, ran his campaign honestly and won. In 1976, Rickard ran for president and won again, filling his administration with colorful youngsters like himself, thus kicking off even more satirical adventures in which Prez and company thwarted political villains. Continue reading

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CONCLUSION: 1972 EPISODES OF N.E.T. PLAYHOUSE

Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television category takes its final look at episodes of the 1966-1972 series N.E.T. Playhouse. For the opening look at the 1966 episodes click HERE

lorraine hansbLORRAINE HANSBURY: TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK (January 20th) – A 90-minute biography of African-American playwright Lorraine Hansbury, whose works include A Raisin in the Sun. Her husband Robert Nemiroff wrote this drama which includes performances of scenes from her plays. Ruby Dee, Roy Scheider, Blythe Danner, Barbara Barrie and Claudia McNeil were among the cast members. 

GALILEO (January 27th) – An airing of the 1968 Italian film about the famed scientist who was charged with heresy for agreeing with Copernicus by refuting the notion that the sun and the planets revolved around the Earth. Liliana Cavani directed this 1 hour and 45 minute production starring Cyril Cusack.   

HARRIET (February 3rd) – Adaptation of the 1943 stage drama about the life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. The drama follows Stowe from her early fantasy writings through her important novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an indictment of the Democrats’ “peculiar institution” of slavery. Kitty Winn, Gretchen Corbett, Dolph Sweet, Richard Dysart and Madeleine Sherwood starred. 90 minutes. Continue reading

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PRESIDENTS AND PRESIDENTS DAY

Presidents Day weekend is fast approaching, so here are several articles about America’s executive branch. 

democrat republican otherAMERICAN PRESIDENTS FROM EISENHOWER TO TRUMP – Be forewarned that my takes on U.S. Presidents can offend members of both major parties since I’m an Independent Voter. Anyway, don’t try accusing me of belonging to either party. I go after both sides’ presidents. Click HERE

U.S. PRESIDENTS FROM WASHINGTON ONWARD – If you want takes on our presidents from the very beginning this is the post for you. Click HERE.

VICE PRESIDENTS: JOKES ABOUT THESE ULTIMATE SECOND BANANAS – Prefer to see jokes about America’s various Vice Presidents instead? Click HERE.

THE FOUR MOST INCOMPETENT PRESIDENTS IN HISTORY – There are two Republicans and two Democrats on the list. Click HERE.

1912: BATTLE OF THE THREE PRESIDENTS – My take on the 1912 election, which pitted Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft against each other. Click HERE.

FIVE MOST UNQUALIFIED PRESIDENTS IN HISTORY – This post does not go by how these presidents performed in office, just their levels of experience before the presidency. Click HERE. Continue reading

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POLITICAL CARTOON AND MEME ROUNDUP: FEBRUARY 15th

democrat republican or awakeIndependent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some of the most recent political cartoons. We need independent parties.

This first one is a reminder of how Joe Biden invited the Russian invasion of Ukraine with his public remark that a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukraine would be acceptable. So much blood on this man’s hands.

biden invited ukraine invasion

The Washington Jeff Bezos Post is ribbed in the item below about how monumentally wrong they have been with so many stories on their front page while burying corrections in the back pages.

democrat media lies

Up next is this reminder that under Biden’s predecessor inflation was only at 1.4%. Joe Biden’s disastrous policies caused the skyrocketing inflation. 

biden inflation

Below is a terrific depiction of political hypocrisy. Continue reading

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1971 EPISODES OF N.E.T. PLAYHOUSE: FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

Mascot and guitar

Balladeer’s Blog

Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the 1971 episodes of N.E.T. Playhouse. For the opening look at the 1966 episodes click HERE

LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS (January 7th) – A 1970 British telefilm. This comedy dealt with an eccentric young British genius drafted to work as a Russian translator for the military intelligence service during Egypt’s 1956 bid to nationalize the Suez Canal. During the resulting crisis, the young genius steals some classified documents to try to impress his mocking family members and chaos follows. 90 minutes.  

jeremt brett ideal playAN IDEAL HUSBAND (January 14th) – Adaptation of the play by Oscar Wilde. THE Jeremy Brett starred as the good guy, Viscount Arthur Goring, who takes action when the brother of his lady love Mabel Chiltern (Susan Hampshire) is being blackmailed by a conniving socialite (Margaret Leighton). Originally aired in England in 1969. 90 minutes. 

A MEMORY OF TWO MONDAYS (January 28th) – This was a 90-minute production of Arthur Miller’s memorable play about several days in the lives of blue-collar workers during the Great Depression. Among the cast members were Harvey Keitel, Estelle Parsons, Tony Lo Bianco, Jerry Stiller, Dick Van Patten, Jack Warden, Cathy Burns and J.D. Cannon.  Continue reading

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VALENTINE’S DAY WITH A CLASSIC POP FICTION COUPLE

Happy Valentine’s Day from Balladeer’s Blog! In the past I’ve marked the day with sentimental items regarding President and First Lady McKinley or my heart-felt (yet sappy) review of the 1942 movie Casablanca, so this year let’s go with some dark humor instead.

For everyone who’s tired of couples who are held up as being epitomes of a “perfect” romance:

so long

But then there are those couples who remind us of good old Mom and Dad: Continue reading

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