HEADLINE ROUNDUP: DECEMBER 29th

democrats and ftx

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at a sampling of the latest news here in Joe Biden’s corporate fascist kleptocracy. WE NEED THIRD PARTIES.

FTX SCANDAL REVELATIONS LEAD STRAIGHT TO BIDEN.

FACEBOOK WHISTLEBLOWER STATES THAT FACEBOOK’S SCANDALS WOULD OVERSHADOW TWITTER’S. Big Tech’s political interference and blatant partisanship is beyond disgusting.

biden 2 yearsCALLOUS AND UNCARING JOE BIDEN CALLED OUT FOR PARTYING IN SAINT CROIX WHILE STORM DESTRUCTION RAGED. Joe and his regime are the lowest of the low.

BIG TECH CALLED OUT FOR MAKING LINKS DISAPPEAR TO STORIES THEY WANT SUPPRESSED.

THE FBI (FUGGEDDA BOUT INTEGRITY, FUHRER BIDEN’S INQUISITORS) REFUSE TO NAME OTHER BIG TECH OUTFITS THAT THEY PAY OFF. Social media outlets have been and still are partisan tools.

JOE BIDEN’S TOP FIFTEEN LIES NOTED. Joe is unfit, not legit and much worse. Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

ALL COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS FOR 2022

As 2022 nears its end here’s one last round of congratulations to the college football champions from all the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.

northwestern ia redNAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

National Champions – NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS

Runners-Up – Keiser University Seahawks

2021 Champions – Morningside College Mustangs 

Ottawa (AZ) SpiritNCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association)

My National Champions – OTTAWA UNIVERSITY (AZ) SPIRIT

Runners-Up – Olivet Nazarene University Tigers

2019 Champions – Concordia University (MI) Cardinals (No champs in 2021 or 2020) Continue reading

14 Comments

Filed under college football

DARK JUNGLE THEATER (2015-2016): MOVIE HOST SHOW

dark jungle theaterHere at Balladeer’s Blog my fascination with Movie Host shows of the past and present is pretty well established. I’ve written about such programs from the 1950s onward. Not long ago I covered “the Mexican MST3K” – A Platicar a su Casa, which has been translated into English as Let’s Talk at HomeDo Your Talking at Home and similar titles.

The Movie Host show being examined this time around is Dark Jungle Theater, which lasted for 2 seasons consisting of 26 episodes from March 15th, 2015 to January 8th, 2016. Dark Jungle Theater was hosted by Omaka Omegah as Princess Omaka, an African aristocrat who hosted and offered commentary on many jungle-themed movies and serials of the past.

princess omakaThis program was created, written and produced by Joel Stephens, famous for his many Movie Host programs that combine assorted old movies, cartoons and serials with the tradition of attractive female hosts introducing and commenting upon such superannuated programming. Similar Movie Host shows from Stephens include Frightmare Theater, Six Gun Theater, Mobster Theater, Your Afternoon Movie and others.

princess omaka againGetting back to Dark Jungle Theater, here is an overview:

SEASON ONE: Princess Omaka hosted 13 jungle-themed flicks with 12 of them preceded by 1 episode each from the old Republic serial Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955).

EPISODE 1 – Panther Girl of the Kongo, Chapter One: The Claw Monster – Phyllis Coates, famous for playing Lois Lane, was the titular Panther Girl, Jean Evans, who swung from vines, rode elephants and communicated with the animals in Tarzan style. This chapter finds her facing a giant crayfish monster. B-Movie regular Myron Healey co-stars. Continue reading

8 Comments

Filed under Bad and weird movies, Forgotten Television, Movie Hosts

BEST OF AUGUST 2022

Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective continues with this look at August’s best:

day time endedBRIDE OF WILLIAM SHATNER – My review of several movies featuring Marcy Lafferty-Shatner, William Shatner’s wife from 1973-1996. I take a look at Marcy’s appearances in Paper Man, Coffee, Tea or Me?, Hunter, Stat, Want a Ride, Little Girl?, Kingdom of the Spiders, The Day Time Ended and a Bacardi Rum short with Bill at her side. Click HERE.

NEWS ROUNDUP: AUGUST 1st – Many virtually unbelievable examples of political corruption and incompetence. You can read about them HERE.

365 days365 DAYS (2020) – The hilariously bad movie version of the equally lame novel that combined the worst elements of Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey with Dark Mafia “romances.” My review is HERE.

POLITICAL CARTOONS: AUGUST 8th – See them HERE.

ROBERT E. HOWARD’S NEGLECTED CHARACTER TURLOGH DUBH – My review of Howard’s three stories about this ancient Irish warrior is HERE

LIFE HERE IN CROOKED JOE BIDEN’S CORPORATE FASCIST KLEPTOCRACY – Some Banana Republic dictators are more honest and less abusive than the Biden Regime. HERE.

jack p greatest show onGREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1963-1964) – Balladeer’s Blog’s look at the Forgotten Television item The Greatest Show on Earth, with Jack Palance, Lucille Ball and others in Desilu’s series about a circus. Read it HERE.   

ROBERTO ALVAREZ-GALLOSO: A CUBAN EMIGRE’S TAKE ON FBI TOTALITARIANISM AND ALTERNATIVES TO BIG TECH SITES – This courageous man’s look at these issues is HERE.

BATMAN: THE REAL YEAR ONE – I examine the Batman stories from the character’s first year: 1939-1940, featuring the Joker, Catwoman and others. Click HERE.

buckskin frank picBUCKSKIN FRANK LESLIE: NEGLECTED GUNSLINGER – A Frontierado Holiday look at the saga of the one and only Buckskin Frank Leslie, and his exploits in Tombstone, San Francisco, Guadalupe Canyon and at Yuma Territorial Prison.

All that and his mysterious death. Find it HERE.

NEWS ROUNDUP: AUGUST 21st – The heroic Sharyl Attkisson reports on widespread corruption at the FBI, plus much more HERE Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under opinion

NEWS ROUNDUP: DECEMBER 26th

Christmas is a great time to take a break from the harsh realities of the daily headlines, but today Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog dives back into current events with this latest news roundup.

biden gestapoFURTHER REVELATIONS ABOUT HOW THE FBI (Fuggedda Bout Integrity), the CIA AND OTHER GESTAPO-LIKE ORGANIZATIONS USED SOCIAL MEDIA TO CENSOR THE REST OF US. More HERE. And HERE.

SEVEN OF JOE BIDEN’S BIGGEST LIES OF 2022.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELOR SENTENCED TO TWENTY-FIVE YEARS FOR EXPLOITING UNDERAGE GIRLS. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?

SURVEY: MAJORITY OF AMERICANS FEEL THAT BIDEN’S DISASTROUS ECONOMY IS GETTING EVEN WORSE . Continue reading

18 Comments

Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

SIMON CALLOW: A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2018)

simon callow carolMERRY CHRISTMAS! Balladeer’s Blog’s Christmas Carol-a-Thon 2022 comes to a close with this look at Simon Callow’s one man show A Christmas Carol. Under Tom Cairns’ direction, Callow’s lauded performance, this time taking place in an abandoned warehouse, gets just enough goosing from smoke, sound effects, fake snow and other enhancements to justify capturing it on film.

Callow even lights a fire at one point and in another portion warms his hands over a lit candle, Bob Cratchit style. The only score consists of ambient electronic music from Ben and Max Ringham.   

Simon Callow has surpassed Patrick Stewart’s old one-man performance of the Carol in recent decades and he even portrayed Charles Dickens himself doing a public reading of A Christmas Carol in a Doctor Who special in 2005. Like Patrick Stewart, Callow uses Dickens’ old prompt copy for public readings as his launching point but acts out each character in a far more impressive manner than Stewart ever did. Continue reading

29 Comments

Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL

JOHN GRIN’S CHRISTMAS (1986) – CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON CONTINUES

john-grins-christmas

Wealthy John Grin (left) with a Ghostly Visitor

JOHN GRIN’S CHRISTMAS (1986) – The 2022 edition of Balladeer’s Blog’s Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this obscure item from the 1980s. My copy of John Grin’s Christmas was already barely watchable when I first tracked it down and it looks worse and worse each time I watch it. Still no DVD release, though, so I’ve decided to give up hoping for a clearer copy and will just review it as is.

Regular readers are familiar with the obsessive lengths I go to in order to track down the various out-of-the-way adaptations of A Christmas Carol. I’m afraid this time around the story is kind of dull – I bought John Grin’s Christmas from someone on E-Bay a few years back. They had taped it off television in 1986 and were selling that very faded and gargly-sounding VHS tape.

Renaissance Man Robert Guillaume directed and stars as the Ebenezer Scrooge stand-in John Grin, our title craftsman who makes a variety of collectibles. Many sources claim he only makes toys but that is not true, it’s just that as Christmas approaches most of his sales are toys. And, since the story is set around Christmas time … Continue reading

13 Comments

Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL

SANTA CLAUS VILLAGE

santa claus villageA few years back, when Balladeer’s Blog reviewed I Met Father Christmas, I went on a little tangent about one of the filming locations – Rovaniemi in Lapland, Finland. Beginning in 1985 Rovaniemi’s Santa Claus Village was Finland’s new “official” designation of the site of Santa’s workshop and related items. 

scvPrior to 1985, Korvatunturi was considered Santa’s home, which is why I suspect that I Met Father Christmas may have been part of a 1984 publicity push regarding Finland’s upcoming “official” re-designation of Rovaniemi as the site of Santa’s workshop and village. Rovaniemi’s airport is just a mile away from Santa Claus Village.  

more at santa claus villageIn the years since then, Rovaniemi has become more and more entrenched as the home of Santa and his workshop. A Christmas special called Lapland Out was filmed there as part of Tots TV, as was the Bam Margera movie Where The #$&% Is Santa? Hell, even a Lordi heavy metal music video was filmed there for their song Hardrock Hallelujah. (That overhead line marks the actual Arctic Circle.) 

reindeer sleigh ridesSanta Claus Village seems like a fantastic spot for a family vacation if you don’t mind traveling, and if you don’t mind the frigid outside conditions. There are sleigh rides powered by reindeer (above right), snowmobile touring, dogsledding, a petting zoo, an Elf Academy and much more.    Continue reading

4 Comments

Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Neglected History

BEST OF JULY 2022

Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective continues with this look at July’s best:

murdercycle posterMURDERCYCLE (1999) – A Bad Movie gem! An alien object lands on Earth and melds with a motorcycle and its rider. The resulting bio-mechanical creature attacks a secret military compound to recover extraterrestrial technology being studied and reverse-engineered there. The full review is HERE.

MOTHER JONES: DEMOCRATS VS THE REST OF US – You can read it HERE.

LUKE RYAN: PRIVATEER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR – A look at his swashbuckling career HERE.

duel at diablo coverEIGHT JAMES GARNER WESTERNS – Balladeer’s Blog’s review of some of the Westerns starring the iconic James Garner, like A Man Called Sledge, Duel at Diablo, Hour of the Gun, One Little Indian and more. Click HERE

BIDEN CAMPAIGN FIGURE SENTENCED TO TWELVE YEARS FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY – Democrats, can you please leave children alone? HERE.

KIKUYU CREATION MYTH FROM KENYA – A look at the Kikuyu stories of creation and the establishment of their culture. Read it HERE.

conan and belitCONAN THE BARBARIAN: MARVEL’S ADAPTATION OF QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST – After the Pulp Era, the Marvel Comics adaptations of Robert E. Howard’s Conan tales kept the figure alive in the public’s mind. A look at their lengthy version of Conan’s adventures with the love of his life Belit, the pirate queen. Also, Amra, Lord of the Lions. HERE.

JOE BIDEN’S DISASTROUS POLICIES CONTINUE TO HARM THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR – Plus more HERE.

FOOL-KILLER (April 1913) – James Larkin Pearson’s version of the Fool Killer attacks child labor and dives into conflict-of-interest scandals in politics plus the latest unrest in Mexico. Click HERE.

FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: JULY 27th – HERE.

c cody sky marshalCOMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE (1953) – From my Forgotten Television category came this look at the Commando Cody television series from the 1950s. Plus a summary of the movie serials the character had appeared in from 1949 onward. Click HERE.

NEWS ROUNDUP: JULY 20th – You can find it HERE. Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under opinion

SCROOGE AND THE STARS (1963)

Scrooge and the StarsBalladeer’s Blog’s Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2022 continues! Back in the 2012 edition I reviewed Rich Little’s Christmas Carol, his 1978 television special. In that review I mentioned impressionist Little’s earlier, shorter, stand-up version of the special in which he used the voices of entirely different celebrities for the characters in A Christmas Carol.

This time around I will look at that 1963 AUDIO version. Rich Little had compiled the piece over the course of years, stretching back to his days as a DJ when he would ad-lib much of the material.

A historical footnote is the fact that – since Rich Little prepared the material far in advance of Christmas – he used the voice of John F Kennedy for the Ghost of Christmas Present. The record album version was released mere days after JFK’s assassination.

The voice lineup for the other characters went as follows:

Scrooge – Jack Benny Continue reading

12 Comments

Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL