THE SCIENTIFIC ADVENTURES OF BARON MUENCHHAUSEN (1915-1917) – Written by the iconic Hugo Gernsback in the years before he launched his own publication, these sci-fi tales presented the 1700s Baron being alive and having wild adventures. (The cover spelling does not match the one Gernsback used.)
Like most people I know, I just roll my eyes at the Baron Muenchhausen tall tales, so that’s why I used Hugo’s name in the blog post title. Hugo as the writer of this series of short stories is the REAL draw. The following items first appeared in the magazine Electrical Experimenter.
I MAKE A WIRELESS ACQUAINTANCE (May 1915) – Gernsback’s fictional counterpart I.M. Alier is a radio enthusiast and one day picks up transmissions from THE Baron Muenchhausen. The Baron tells him that in the 1700s he was injected with special embalming fluid which actually put him in suspended animation.
He emerged from that state a few years back and, forced to flee Germany over past offenses, has been having amazing scientific adventures. Alier is skeptical, but the Baron proves his claim by using some of the advanced science he has discovered to change the color of part of the moon. This convinces the narrator.
HOW MUENCHHAUSEN AND THE ALLIES TOOK BERLIN (June 1915) – Alier learns that the Baron has been helping the French in the World War. Among his inventions was a tunneling device for launching sneak attacks but the Central Powers were able to reverse-engineer the technology, resulting in another deadlock.
The Baron and his friend Professor Flitternix have devised anti-gravity screens for a spaceship. They plan to fly the vessel – called the Interstellar – to the moon. Continue reading
IRON SMOKE BOURBON – Hunker down with some Iron Smoke Bourbon to help you and yours celebrate. 
LA ROSE DE FER (1973) – This film’s title was translated into English as The Iron Rose even though The Rose of Iron would be a more literal translation, but that’s just a tiny nitpick. La Rose de Fer was the fifth movie from Jean Rollin, whose horror productions can range from brilliant to So Bad They’re Good level. 
There IS a body count in The Iron Rose, but there is certainly no blood and gore. As our story begins, a beautiful woman (Francoise Pascal) lounges on the beach and regards an iron rose that has washed in with the tide. After tossing it aside she goes about her business, and before long is on a bicycling date with a young man (Hugues Quester). 
Welcome back to Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog, where 
KNOCKING OFF NUMBER THREE – In the NAIA the number 6 team in the nation – the BETHEL (TN) WILDCATS – traveled to face the 3rd ranked LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE BLUE RAIDERS. A 7-7 tie at Halftime turned into a 21-13 Wildcats lead to end the 3rd Quarter. In the 4th Bethel U. held on for a 21-16 Upset of the Blue Raiders. 
NUMBER SEVEN TAKES A FALL – Down in NCAA Division Three the 19th ranked SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY RIVER HAWKS played host to the number 7 JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BLUE JAYS. The River Hawks put the Blue Jays on Upset Alert at the midpoint with a 14-12 edge. Each team scored 12 points in the 2nd Half for a 26-24 Susquehanna victory. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER NINE – Up in NCAA Division 2 the storied HILLSDALE COLLEGE CHARGERS welcomed the number 9 ASHLAND UNIVERSITY EAGLES. After a 7-7 1st Quarter tie the Chargers led 14-10 at the Half and then 22-20 in the 3rd Quarter before winning out by a final score of 36-20. 
WEIRD WAR TALES Vol 1 #93 (November 1980) 
*** Army Sergeant Vincent Velcro, who was given a choice of 30 years of hard labor for crippling a superior officer or being a human guinea pig for chemical injections derived from bat blood. The injections turned him into a science-spawned vampire. 
MALDOROR 
THE RIDER OF THE SKULLS aka El Charro de las Calaveras (1965) – Halloween is fast approaching, so here is another seasonal post from Balladeer’s Blog. Regular readers know how much I enjoy the campy, so-bad-they’re-good horror films from Mexico. I reviewed several of them 
El Charro arrives in a nearly deserted town with a dilapidated cemetery in which assorted skulls lie around in piles. The masked hero encounters the first of three monsters he will fight in this flick – a ridiculous looking werewolf with a headpiece so large it makes him look like the mascot of a sports team. 
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