WITHIN AN ACE OF THE END OF THE WORLD (1900) – Written by Robert Barr. No doubt about it, Barr was obsessed with the notion of humanity possibly bringing on its own demise through ill-considered scientific tampering. Recently Balladeer’s Blog reviewed another of his stories, The Doom of London, which mined the same creative territory.
This time around the tale is set in the “present” and the near future of 1903. In 1900 a scientist named Bonsel treats a crowd of VIPs to a lavish banquet, after which he announces that all of the food consumed was created artificially. This was done through his new process of drawing nitrogen from the atmosphere and combining it with other chemicals.
Thus the Great Food Corporation is launched, with many of the banquet’s attendees being its initial investors. The company thrives until 1903, when the Guildhall Banquet degenerates into a chaotic bacchanal and partial riot. Soon this “Guildhall Syndrome” spreads, with the most beastly aspects of human nature on display everywhere it manifests.
John Rule, a British gentleman put off by the poor taste of it all, probes deeper and determines that the scandalous orgies and accompanying violence have been caused by an atmospheric imbalance. That imbalance was caused by the Great Food Corporation’s siphoning off of too much nitrogen from Earth’s atmosphere. Continue reading
Previously, Balladeer’s Blog reviewed various examples of Bruceploitation Movies, that odd subgenre full of martial arts spectacles exploiting and otherwise trying to cash in on the explosion of popularity in kung-fu films that the real Bruce Lee brought to the west. 
BRUCE, KUNG FU GIRLS (1977) – Also released as Bruce’s Angels, Bruce Lee’s Kung Fu Girls and several other titles, but I have a soft spot for this more inane title selection. I really hope that movies titled Bruce, Gone with the Wind; Bruce, Whose Life is it Anyway? and Bruce, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues also exist. But as we’ve established, I’m kind of weird. 
THE BARON (1966-1967) – This ITC/ABC venture starred rugged he-man Steve Forrest as wealthy Texan John Mannering, who works for British Intelligence under the codename the Baron. Mannering’s assistant was Cordelia Winfield, played by the British actress Sue Lloyd. 
Mannering’s cover in London was an antique dealer and jet-set playboy. He drove around in a Jensen C-V8 that had the personalized license plate BAR 1. The Baron was originally a character from novels but John Mannering bore little resemblance to his printed page counterpart.
By 411 BC the Peloponnesian War between Athens (and its allied city-states) and Sparta (and its allied city-states) had been raging for roughly 20 years. The war provides the backdrop for many of Aristophanes’ surviving comedies and is especially relevant where Lysistrata is concerned. Weary of the long, drawn-out conflict the women of Athens, led by the title character Lysistrata (supposedly based on Lysimache, the Priestess of Athena in Athens at the time), join forces with the women of Sparta and decide to withhold sex from the men until they agree to bring an end to the war. 
NUMBER TEN TAKES A FALL – In NCAA Division Three the 23rd ranked GROVE CITY COLLEGE WOLVERINES were on the road against the number 10 team in the nation – the CORTLAND STATE RED DRAGONS. The Red Dragons led 7-0 in the opening Quarter but Grove City tied things up 14-14 at the Half. The Wolverines shut them out from there to win the game 31-14.
HILLSDALE ON THE ROAD – The storied HILLSDALE COLLEGE CHARGERS traveled to face the MCKENDREE UNIVERSITY BEARCATS. A scoreless 1st Quarter was followed by a 14-0 Chargers lead at Halftime. In the 3rd Quarter the Bearcats made it a 14-14 tie, then went up 17-14 in the 4th. Hillsdale then came from behind for a 22-17 victory. 
So, with Buford Pusser being exposed very recently and the Warrens being exposed long ago, yet movies still being made that depict the latter two figures in a positive light, watching any of the many movies about all of them seems in bad taste now.
LADY JUSTICE Vol 1 #1 (Sep 1995) 
LADY JUSTICE Vol 1 #2 (Oct 1995) 
NAIA OVER THE NCAA – The only NAIA game last night was this one between the VALLEY CITY STATE VIKINGS and the visiting AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY AUGGIES from NCAA Division Three. This clash was over almost before it began as the Vikings seized a 19-0 lead in the 1st Quarter on their way to a 27-0 shutout of the Auggies. 
BATTLE OF RANKED TEAMS – The number 18 team in the nation – the CALIFORNIA (PA) UNIVERSITY VULCANS – welcomed the 21st ranked UNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON GOLDEN EAGLES. A 10-7 opening Quarter advantage for the Vulcans became a 20-13 lead by Halftime. The Golden Eagles outscored Cal (PA) 6-3 from there, but the Vulcans won this 23-19 thriller.
ALL NAME GAMES – The HENDERSON STATE REDDIES trounced the SOUTHERN NAZARENE UNIVERSITY CRIMSON STORM 48-13 ### Meanwhile, the UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT MONTICELLO BOLL WEEVILS won 32-10 at the SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA STATE SAVAGE STORM ### And the SOUTHERN ARKANSAS UNIVERSITY MULERIDERS dismembered the OKLAHOMA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY BISON 49-14. 
Balladeer's Blog 