TWO VERY RELEVANT NOVELS FROM ROBERT LUDLUM

Robert Ludlum expanded universeYesterday’s blog post about the dystopian film Golem (1980) called to mind a pair of Robert Ludlum’s espionage novels from the 1970s. Both of them are spy thrillers but reflected Ludlum’s distrust of both left-wing and right-wing fanatics. Sadly, they also predicted a lot of what citizens around the world face right here in 2023. It’s not just science fiction that can prove virtually prophetic.

THE MATARESE CIRCLE (1979) – Two veteran intelligence operatives – Brandon Scofield from the U.S. and Vasili Taleniekov from the Soviet Union – are forced to set aside their personal enmity when they get caught up in the intrigues of the Matarese organization. Continue reading

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ERASERHEAD MEETS “THE PRISONER” – GOLEM (1980)

golem 1980GOLEM (1980) – This science fiction film set in a post-World War Three dictatorship was made in Poland by director Piotr Szulkin and starred Marek Walczewski & Krystyna Janda. It uses the concept of a Golem as an allegory for the creation of artificial humans and examines the motives of those who would do the creating.

Golem is a challenging movie that plays like Eraserhead crossed with the Patrick McGoohan series The Prisoner or even Kafka. The main character is Pernat (Walczewski), a meek and not too bright man among the struggling lower class in the oppressive dictatorship that has emerged following the nuclear war.

The low budget limits the film’s depiction of this post-apocalypse dystopia to a claustrophobic ghetto environment rather than sweeping vistas of ruined buildings or vast wastelands. Most of the story is set in Pernat’s apartment slums or at the local police station.

PernatWhen we first meet Pernat, who has a kind of “Phil Collins in Buster” look, he is being interrogated about a murder committed in his apartment block. We observe how easily subdued and fairly lacking in intelligence he is, but ultimately the authorities release him because they don’t have enough evidence and he is just one of the suspects.

While timidly taking his leave of the police station, he notices a dead body being wheeled to the morgue and gets enough of a fleeting glimpse to realize the corpse looks just like him. Not even forceful enough to inquire about this, Pernat tries to claim his jacket and hat from the police property room but is mistaken for another person (hinting that there is yet another person who looks like him and was brought in by the police in an unrelated matter). Continue reading

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COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM: HAWKEYE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

hawkeye comm college red tails

College: HAWKEYE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Team Name: RED TAILS

Location: Waterloo, IA  Continue reading

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JANUARY 2017

Mascot and guitar

Balladeer’s Blog

FOR PART ONE OF THIS RETROSPECTIVE (2016) CLICK HERE.

COMEDIC LOOK AT THE UNHINGED ATTACKS ON TRUMP.

THE MEDIA LIES BY CLAIMING TRUMP GOT RID OF A WHITE HOUSE BUST OF MLK. They still lie about Trump on a daily basis here in 2023.

RATIONAL PEOPLE WEIGH IN ON TRUMP. Many of them are his African American supporters.

MORE OF TRUMP’S AFRICAN AMERICAN SUPPORTERS SPEAKING OUT.

A WOMAN OF COLOR DISCUSSES WHY SHE VOTED FOR DONALD TRUMP. Continue reading

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CANADA’S GOLDEN AGE SUPERHEROES (1941-1950)

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog examines Canadian-made superheroes from the 1940s. When imports of American comic books were banned in Canada in late 1940 to try trimming their trade deficit, writers and artists north of the border filled the gap with some unjustly neglected characters.  

nelvanaNELVANA OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS

Secret Identity: Alana North

First Appearance: Triumph-Adventure Comics #31 (August 1941). Her final Golden Age appearance came in 1947.

Origin: Nelvana was the daughter of a mortal woman and Koliak, god of the northern lights. When she became an adult, she took to using her powers as a demigoddess to battle the forces of evil. 

Powers: Nelvana could fly at the speed of light, turn invisible, shoot heat rays from her hands and disrupt radio and other communications. In addition, she possessed the power of telepathy. 

Comment: Nelvana was one of the superheroines to be in print before Wonder Woman herself. Nelvana has been on postage stamps in Canada and is still synonymous with Canadian-made comic books of the Golden Age. 

black wingBLACK WING

Secret Identity: Phil Dauntless

First Appearance: Lucky Comics #1 (June 1941). His final Golden Age appearance came around mid-1944. 

Origin: While serving as a fighter pilot in World War Two Europe, Phil Dauntless stole the Flying Fish, a virtually indestructible experimental plane/ submarine from the Nazis. Nazi spies framed Phil for treason, causing him to adopt the costumed identity of Black Wing as he went on to fight crime and Axis villains while seeking evidence to clear himself. 

black wing runningPowers: Black Wing was in peak physical condition and excelled at unarmed combat. He was also a superb pilot and had the advantage of flying the high-tech craft he had stolen from the Nazis.

Comment: Black Wing had two sidekicks – his love interest Dizzy and his co-pilot Hap. After a few issues Black Wing and Hap overhauled the Flying Fish to be wingless like a rocketship.    Continue reading

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BOOK OF THE DUN COW: PART TWO

Here is Part Two of Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the various works in Ireland’s Lebor na hUidre, The Book of the Dun Cow. For Part One of this examination of that collection of mixed Pagan and Christian documents click HERE

elijah and enochTWO SORROWS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (Dá brón flatha nime) – This is a variation of the tales about Elijah and Enoch, who asked to be risen physically to Heaven while still alive. Because of their virtuous lives, their desire was fulfilled, but their “sorrows” centered around the limitations of their physical forms amid the wonders of Heaven. For just one example, they cannot fly like the angels and souls around them. 

        One day Elijah sits under the Tree of Paradise and, while the birds of Heaven feed on the splendid fruit of that tree, he reads aloud to them from the Teachings of Doomsday. He reads about four rivers running down Mount Zion and their waters burning the sinful.

lebor na huidre        Next, he reads to them about Christ returning for the Final Judgment accompanied by the Hosts of Heaven. Each human who appears before him is accompanied by a personal angel and a personal devil. The angel speaks of the person’s good deeds and the devil about their bad deeds. Jesus then assigns souls to Heaven or Hell.

        Those assigned to Heaven are flown there by angels. Those assigned to Hell are dragged down by devils, one striking the soul with their fists, another whipping the soul and another driving spikes into the soul’s mouth. A great cry rises from the damned as Hell is sealed away forever. Continue reading

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DEMOCRATS FURTHER CEMENT DONALD TRUMP’S POLITICAL MARTYRDOM

democrat travesties

Sorry for so many political posts recently from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog, but America’s cesspool of corruption has once again expanded its witch hunt regarding opposition leader Donald Trump. I will be posting more about it once all the contradictory information we are getting right now becomes clearer in the days ahead.

trump is a lot like jfkFor right now, we see once again what a Banana Republic the U.S. has become and are reminded that de facto Third Party President Donald Trump has been made into another Lech Walesa, Nelson Mandela, Eugene Debs (who ran for the presidency from prison, you’ll recall), Charles Stewart Parnell, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

trump rosa parks and muhammad aliYou might even say that they’ve made Trump comparable to Rosa Parks, alongside whom Trump received an Ellis Island Award for “patriotism, tolerance, brotherhood and diversity” as seen at left.

Below are some biting takes on this latest Democrat travesty, which is yet another reminder that America’s hopelessly corrupt political establishment fears Trump like it fears no one else.

First up is a reminder of how the Democrat D.A. targeting Trump has already been called out for hiding HUNDREDS of documents of exculpatory evidence from the Grand Jury

bragg hid exculpatory evidence too

bragg new york crime wave Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS: MARCH 30th

biden hush moneyHere at Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog, I can’t help but recall the way – not so long ago – America’s white-collar criminals who hold political offices were pretending that examining tax returns was the ultimate standard of testing honesty. However, when their target – Donald Trump’s – tax returns revealed no wrongdoing and proved that he had, in fact, lost money while in office, the urgency of exposed tax returns suddenly vanished, despite the fact that so many dishonest American politicians become millionaires while in office. 

biden tax returnsThe people who run the cesspool of corruption in Washington D.C. shamelessly stopped being interested in what an elected official’s tax returns can reveal, then told the country to shut up and forget about any of THEM revealing their tax returns and moved along. It’s life in Joe Biden’s corporate fascist kleptocracy. At any rate, here’s a look at current events:

HEROIC JOURNALIST O’KEEFE RUNS HIS LATEST EXPOSE ABOUT DEMOCRAT MONEY LAUNDERING. More HERE. I can’t help but note, though, that this same Act Blue scandal was exposed in 2020, but the national memory seems to be incredibly short. Will something actually be DONE about it this time? 

THE BIDEN REGIME USING GROTESQUE INTIMIDATION TACTICS AGAINST ANOTHER JOURNALIST COURAGEOUS ENOUGH TO INVESTIGATE ITS MISCONDUCT AND FAILURES. Impeachments have been launched over far less.

biden bloodAMERICANS STILL TRAPPED IN AFGHANISTAN LONG AFTER JOE BIDEN’S DISASTROUS HANDLING OF THE WITHDRAWAL.

FORMER DEMOCRAT SENATOR TURNED INDEPENDENT KYRSTEN SINEMA BLASTS “SELF LAUDING” DEMOCRATS. Continue reading

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LIST OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS FOR 2023

Balladeer’s Blog offers one last round of congratulations to college basketball’s national champions from the divisions covered here. 

college of idaho coyotesNAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) 

National Champions – COLLEGE OF IDAHO COYOTES

Runners-Up – Indiana Tech Warriors

2022 Champions – Loyola University (LA) Wolfpack 

bethel in pilotsNCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) DIVISION ONE

National Champions – BETHEL (IN) PILOTS (riverboat pilots)

Runners-Up – Clinton College Golden Bears

2022 Champions – Baptist Bible College Patriots    Continue reading

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IRISH MYTHOLOGY: BOOK OF THE DUN COW

book of the dun cowBOOK OF THE DUN COW (Lebor na hUidre) – In the past, Balladeer’s Blog has done deep dives into gods, goddesses and epics from Hawaiian, Inuit, Navajo, Choctaw, Ainu, Nyanga, Norse, Shinto, Aztec mythology and many, many more pantheons. This kicks off a multi-part look at the various works in Ireland’s Lebor na hUidre, The Book of the Dun Cow

        For anyone not familiar with this collection of ancient material, it features cultural, historical and mythological material mixed together in many forms from around 1,000 AD and much earlier. I will be examining the material section by section.

six ages of the worldSIX AGES OF THE WORLD (Sex aetates mundi) – This was one of the many texts from many Christian-influenced cultures that viewed the world from Creation through Jesus Christ as being Six Ages. In this fictional context each age was roughly 1,000 years.

        The First Age lasted from Adam and Eve to Noah and the Great Flood. The Second Age ran from that time period up to the time of Abraham. The Third Age covered Abraham to King David. The Fourth Age picked up from King David to the Babylonian Captivity. The Fifth Age lasted from there to the Birth of Jesus. And the Sixth Age ran through the life of Jesus and everything afterward.

        The assumption that, per these ages, the Sixth Age would end 1,000 years after Christ’s birth contributed to fears of the End of the World occurring around 1,000 AD. Some belief systems add a Seventh Age, as in the supposed 1,000 years of peace, aka the Millenium, which would follow the return of Jesus. Continue reading

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