Another SOS Cuba item from fellow blogger Alvarez Galloso.
#PATRIAYVIDA. #SOSCUBA #SOMOSCUBA
Filed under Uncategorized
JAPAN’S HILARIOUSLY WEIRD 1861 LOOK AT AMERICAN HISTORY
My fellow fans of J-Horror know that Japan practically invented weirdness. What none of us knew is how far back they go with that mastery of entertaining madness.
Their view of American history is mind-boggling. This 1861 work of “J-History” if you will, features little-known events like JOHN ADAMS FACING A GIANT SNAKE (left) and George Washington fighting a tiger. It also corrects the mistaken assumption that Washington’s wife was named Martha when her real name was apparently “Carol.” (?)
Balladeer’s Blog’s Presidential Action and Horror Films bit only WISHES it could be this mind-bending. Credit Nick Kapur with drawing attention to this item from the Waseda University Library.
My favorite part: the illustration of Benjamin Franklin casually HOLDING A CANNON IN HIS ARMS while firing it at a squadron of Red Coats! Now that’s badass. And begs for a movie – “The Rock IS Benjamin Franklin!” And he’d have to follow up blowing away the Brits with an action hero quip like “A penny saved is a penny earned, you bastards!”
Every single page of this acid trip Continue reading
Filed under Mythology, Neglected History
SAINT JACK (1979) MICRO-REVIEW
One of the most misleading movie posters in history.
SAINT JACK (1979) – Directed by Peter Bogdanovich and based on the novel by Paul Theroux, this movie is almost impossible to categorize. The Coen Brothers once said their film Barton Fink defied genre assignment, and if so then the same can be said for Saint Jack. It’s part gangster movie, part expat slice of life, part sex comedy and part failed political commentary. Kinda Hot, a book about the guerilla making of Saint Jack is loaded with even more sex and drama than the film itself.
Before I move on to story details, let me also point out how the creative forces behind the movie may well represent the most unlikely alliance imaginable. It’s produced by Roger Corman and directed by Peter Bogdanovich by way of his then-girlfriend Cybill Shepherd’s snagging of the novel’s film rights as part of a legal settlement with Playboy magazine. Oddest of all, Shepherd wanted the film rights ever since reading the Paul Theroux novel on the recommendation of … Orson Welles. And this was long before Welles appeared on Moonlighting with Cybill. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, opinion
BIDEN: THE WORLD WAS WARNED
Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog will address more Biden failures below, but first a few photos which help draw a distinction between real life and the fantasy world lived in by Joe Biden’s privileged white one-percenter supporters.
Now, see Clarissa Ward a day later, covered up per Taliban orders and with no makeup per those same orders. This is real life, not the fantasies of pampered, privileged white Democrats. The pathetic Joe Biden supporters who love to do Handmaid’s Tale cosplay at political demonstrations to pretend America is moments away from becoming a Christian theocracy are even more laughable now.
Back on topic. The rest of the world is getting a little taste of the suffering that corrupt, senile Joe Biden has been inflicting on the working class and the poor here in the United States. THE EVIDENCE OF BIDEN’S UNFITNESS FOR OFFICE WAS PLENTIFUL ALL DURING HIS NON-CAMPAIGN LAST YEAR. His pathetically few public appearances showed how clueless, irritable, impatient and confused he was. Those public debacles were then followed by Biden hiding from the public for days. The pattern repeated itself over and over again. WHY DID ANYONE THINK HIS TIME IN OFFICE WOULD BE DIFFERENT?
The default position of shallow, uninformed people around the world for years now has been to blame our previous president for anything they didn’t like about the world, so naturally some people are trying to blame him for Biden’s Afghanistan debacle. HOWEVER, countless Democrats and Democrat media outlets have made it clear that this mess is Biden’s alone.
Trump’s agreement imposed a number of conditions on the Taliban – including them allowing the departure of all U.S. personnel and Afghani nationals who felt in danger if they stayed behind BEFORE we left. That agreement also hinged on the Taliban not interfering with the evacuation of U.S. military equipment. Joe Biden could have slowed down the withdrawal any time as BIDEN’S OWN ADVISORS KEPT TELLING HIM TO. OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
If the Taliban had played games with Trump the way they have with Joe Biden, then Trump would have halted the withdrawal because they violated certain conditions. And, as we all know, European “leaders” (LMAO) and Democrats would have been condemning him as a madman and a warmonger for doing so. And no doubt would have called Trump “worse than the Taliban.”
BIDEN IGNORED ALL WARNINGS AND PROCEEDED AND WE SEE THE RESULT. His continuous game of hide and seek since then is a disgrace even I didn’t think he would sink to. But hey, pretentious Europols called Biden “one of the club” and claimed he didn’t make them feel uncomfortable like Trump did. Yeah, a vacuous idiot who makes no waves is MUCH better, right, Europols? I hope your “comfort” was worth not hearing certain harsh realities that you love to ignore.
EVEN THE DEMOCRATS AT CNN ARE SAYING “IF THIS ISN’T FAILURE, WHAT DOES FAILURE LOOK LIKE?” . BUT ABC EDITED OUT PART OF BIDEN’S ON-AIR APPEARANCE TO AVOID SHOWING HOW DEMENTED HE IS.
AND BIDEN REFUSES TO SEND HELP FOR THE STRANDED AMERICANS THE WAY THE BRITISH ARE SENDING TROOPS TO RESCUE THEIR PEOPLE. Yes, the United States, hindered as it is by a clearly incompetent and criminally compromised pretender, isn’t doing the same.
JOE BIDEN HAD HIS STATE DEPARTMENT CANCEL A TRUMP PROGRAM TO HELP AMERICANS OUT OF TROUBLE SPOTS IN AFGHANISTAN. AND HE CANCELED IT JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO. No hint of reality was allowed to intrude upon Joe Biden’s delusions. And I’m sure the pompous snobs of his regime were gleeful about canceling a program started by that “meddling outsider” Donald Trump.
CANADIAN MEDIA OUTLET CORRECTLY POINTS OUT THAT JOE BIDEN’S INCOMPETENCE IS THE WORLD’S TOP CRISIS. As could have been seen by anyone in touch with reality last year.
BIDEN REGIME IS CHARGING AMERICAN CITIZENS $2,000 EACH FOR FLYING THEM OUT OF AFGHANISTAN. No word yet if some of that money gets sent up to “the big guy”. And remember, Biden’s regime is FLYING DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BACK TO THE U.S. FOR FREE.
BIDEN LIED AGAIN TODAY, CLAIMING NO ONE WAS BEING KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN. PREVIOUSLY, BIDEN CALLOUSLY DISMISSED THE DEATHS OF PEOPLE FALLING FROM DEPARTING AIRCRAFT BY SAYING “THAT WAS FOUR OR FIVE DAYS AGO!” (It was only two days earlier, so Joe can’t even keep track of time.) But the media would run up their absurd and inaccurate Trump “lie” count if he simply used the word “bomb” when they felt he should have said “explosive device” instead.
BIDEN SLITHERS BACK INTO HIS BUNKER, JUST LIKE HE HID DURING HIS NON-CAMPAIGN LAST YEAR. MORE HERE.
BRITISH PARLIAMENT OFFICIALLY HOLDS JOE BIDEN IN CONTEMPT. Hey, those fools wanted Biden. They got him. MORE HERE. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
FAQ: SHANG-CHI
With the movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings trickling out, assorted readers have been asking me if I’ll do a blog post about the character. I did one back in June, but the release of the movie wound up getting delayed. Below is the link to that blog post in which I examined the first twelve Shang-Chi stories in the 1970s.
For that post click HERE. For my blog post featuring Shang-Chi stories in which he fights alongside Iron Fist click HERE.
Filed under Pulp Heroes, Superheroes
“WHAT IF?” NOVELS AND SHORT TAKES: FROM 1907 ONWARD
With so many recent contemplations of potential alternate histories if various events had turned out differently, here are a few older examples from that burgeoning subgenre.
WHAT IF NAPOLEON HAD WON AT WATERLOO? (June 18th 1815) – In 1907 G.M. Trevelyan penned an essay on this topic. In Trevelyan’s take, Napoleon had been chastened by his temporary exile to Elba before escaping and regaining control of France.
Bonaparte’s health was failing badly. In fact, his erratic behavior during his ill-considered invasion of Russia has been attributed to a possible stroke in some theories. Feeling limited in his ability to once again lead armies of conquest to rebuild his continent-spanning empire, Napoleon decided to master diplomacy the way he had previously mastered warfare.
Dealing from his position of strength following his victory at Waterloo in this alternate timeline, the Emperor was astonishingly lenient in dealing with his defeated enemies. He imposed no harsh conditions on their surrender and ultimately emerged with his empire extending to the Rhine and with French hegemony of the Italian Peninsula recognized. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
JOE BIDEN: FAR WORSE THAN EXPECTED
UTTER FAILURE JOE BIDEN FLEEING BACK TO CAMP DAVID.
The corrupt, lecherous, rarely coherent Joe Biden slithered back to Camp David after his repulsive address to the nation about the atrocity he unleashed upon Afghanistan and the thousands upon thousands of Afghanis and Americans still trapped there.
Among the well-deserved disgust and contempt being heaped upon the execrable little man there also came reports from Politico.eu that “European leaders had considered Biden a foreign affairs expert” until this Afghanistan travesty. If Politico.eu is right about that, let me remind you that their overestimation of Senile Joe will be just one more reason so many Americans dismiss everything European leaders have to say.
Even Barack Obama, who tolerated the imbecilic Biden’s presence for eight years made the famous quote “Don’t ever underestimate Joe’s ability to f*ck things up.” And assorted U.S. figures had long pointed out that Biden “has been wrong on every major policy issue of the past forty years.” But apparently European leaders are as clueless as Biden himself. By the way, a link to today’s post will be the only response I will ever give from now on to overseas people who think they know our political figures better than we do. If Biden’s senile behavior during his non-campaign last year didn’t clue people in about how unfit for office he was then they’re not worth listening to.
British MP Tom Tugendhat talked tough about Biden’s cosmic levels of incompetence and discussed how the U.K., France and Germany should form closer ties since America is no longer a reliable partner. The damage Biden has done to relations with our old allies is immeasurable, but hey, at least he didn’t imply that your nations should pay your fair share of expenses in NATO, right, Tugendhat? Remember how unbearable you and your fellow clowns found that suggestion from our former president?
You fools over there wanted Biden. You got him. Get ready for more of this from him. At least for once pretentious Europols like you are experiencing some of the fallout from your snobbish ignorance regarding American politicians. Now you’ve tasted a little of how our suffering working class and poor feel because of Biden.
AND BIDEN KEEPS HIDING NOW LIKE HE HID DURING HIS NON-CAMPAIGN LAST YEAR. Fools.
And did anyone catch the Biden Regime idiots TELLING THE TALIBAN LEADERS WHAT THEY EXPECT FROM THEM like inclusive appointments to government positions? (Why not order them to “mask up” too?) HEY JOE, YOU LOST! YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO TELL THEM WHAT TO DO! ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU JUST MADE THEM ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP MILITARY POWERS BY WAY OF ALL THE EQUIPMENT YOU ABANDONED IN YOUR HASTY, ABHORRENTLY BUNGLED PULLOUT! Nobody in the Biden Regime is in touch with reality. And I mean nobody.
There are floating reports that Joe Biden rushed everything just so he could go on television and say he brought the troops home before the 20th anniversary of 9-11. That sounds like the kind of shallow, crass, brainlessly symbolic gesture you could expect from such a shallow, crass, brainless fool.
BIDEN HAS STILL NOT SPOKEN WITH OTHER WORLD LEADERS ABOUT THE CRISIS IN AFGHANISTAN. Hey European “leaders”, if our previous president behaved like this, hiding from other heads of state after a debacle of his own making, you buffoons would be making an even bigger deal out of it than when he withdrew us from some of your climate accords. Again, European leaders’ takes on U.S. presidents are worthless.
DEMOCRAT ORGANIZATION MEDIA MATTERS LASHES OUT AT TRAPPED AMERICANS IN AFGHANISTAN FOR REACHING OUT FOR SENATE HELP SINCE THE EMBARRASSMENT CALLED BIDEN IS HIDING. To 21st Century Democrats, nothing matters but “how something plays” and Media Matters was upset that terrified Americans trapped in Afghanistan because of Joe Biden tried to get help from Senator Tom Cotton. I am SO glad I stopped being a Democrat and became an Independent Voter long ago. #WALKAWAY
AND ANOTHER COURAGEOUS DEMOCRAT PUBLICLY CALLS OUT BIDEN’S COLOSSAL INEPTITUDE. Maybe Sleepy Creepy Joe should “be the change he wants to see” and resign so that Kamala Harris can take over. After all, if she was placed on the ticket with him despite not even winning her own state in the primaries that MUST mean Democrats felt she was capable of taking over, right? Right?
NEW ITEM: “The fact that the Taliban is using US-based servers to run its terror state and nobody in the Biden Administration has thought to disconnect it, even as U.S. forces flee in disarray, is a strategic blunder on par with Pearl Harbor.”https://t.co/Fp8RLgk2UN— Preston Byrne (@prestonjbyrne) August 15, 2021. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
EL MARIACHI: THE SERIES (2014) – FORGOTTEN TELEVISION
EL MARIACHI (2014) – This Mexican television series directed by Salvador Cartas was loosely based on the 1992 Robert Rodriguez movie of the same name and its sequels, Desperado (1995) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). It’s no secret that Rodriguez himself is not fond of this series. According to some sources Sony allegedly made a tentative notification of their plans to the writer/ director and then ran with it without further input from him.
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know how much I love and praise the original El Mariachi movies. The title character, who starts out the trilogy as a struggling mariachi guitar player who winds up having to go all Die Hard on Mexican drug cartels, was played by Carlos Gallardo in 1992 and then Antonio Banderas in 1995 and 2003.
The series of movies certainly seemed to partially inspire the later Sicario films, but I much prefer Rodriguez’s flicks. The El Mariachi television program is, unfortunately, inferior to both franchises. That’s a shame because lead actor Ivan Arana certainly looks the part and Martha Higareda as the hero’s love interest Celeste is just the right mix of sultriness and butt-kicking badness. For some reason photos of Higareda don’t come close to capturing her full allure, but seen in motion she’s even more impressive.
Like in the Robert Rodriguez films, the up and coming mariachi player is mistaken for a Mexican criminal who is carrying a similar guitar case. From there he gets caught up in a battle with Mexico’s ever more powerful drug cartels.
Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
EVEN DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLETS ARE CRUSHING JOE BIDEN OVER AFGHANISTAN
Here at Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog I’ve been getting a lot of comments and emails asking why I haven’t been weighing in on Joe Biden’s utterly disastrous handling of Afghanistan.
Well, I haven’t been because for once even some Democrat media outlets were bashing the corrupt, mentally failing buffoon over one of his many failures. For just a few examples:
From the Democrats at the New York Times – “FINAL FAILURE IN AFGHANISTAN IS BIDEN’S TO OWN.”
From the Democrats at The Atlantic – “BIDEN’S BETRAYAL OF AFGHANS WILL LIVE IN INFAMY.”
Even the Democrats at USA Today weighed in.
Democrat Congressman Vicente Gonzalez had the courage to say on social media that “the situation in Afghanistan is another shame” on the Biden administration and there is now “no way to hide it.” Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
NERDROTIC AT THE LAS VEGAS MEETUP
Balladeer’s Blog gives a shoutout to the show livestreamed from the Las Vegas Meetup this past week from Wednesday on. Here’s a nice short video sample of what Gary and countless others were up to while partying out there in Vegas.
I know a lot of people badmouth Gary and his ugly behavior, but I don’t know him personally, so I don’t know if what everyone says is true. However, it was good to see people getting together out in public again. Obviously, a better person than Gary would have been preferrable as a host but what can you do?
Filed under opinion
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