IDAHO TRANSFER (1973) – This film, directed by Peter Fonda and starring mostly unknowns, deals with time travel and post-apocalypse themes. It was retitled Deranged for its DVD release. I have no idea why.
Not so long ago Idaho Transfer was regarded among us fans of bad movies as a So-Bad-It’s Good example of the way so many 1970s sci-fi films were presented as if they were being deep and innovative when in truth they were just reworking ideas from old Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episodes but dragging them out to unbearable length.
Here in 2021 Idaho Transfer has fallen so far off the schlock charts that it’s unknown to many viewers. However, it is STILL one of the best So-Bad-It’s-Good examples of pretentious yet shallow 1970s sci-fi films. While this story might have made a decent episode of a half-hour anthology series it is excruciatingly stretched out to 86 minutes.
THE PREMISE: In the movie’s present-day (1973) a group of scientists in Idaho have been using their federal grant money to try developing a teleportation/ matter transfer device for the government. Along the way, however, they realized that they had accidentally invented a machine that transports people and objects through time instead of space. Continue reading
In the past Balladeer’s Blog has examined the gods and myths of Polynesian people in Hawaii, Samoa, Bellona and Rennell. This time around I’m taking a look at the neglected gods of the Melanesian people of Fiji. 
ALEWANISOSO – The patron goddess of travelers and hospitality. Regardless of their tribe, fellow Fijians who reach one of Alewanisoso’s temples can be assured of not being harmed during their stay – usually an overnight one. 
ROKOMAUTU – A son of the supreme deity Ndengei by his sister. This deity was born from his mother’s elbow as another example of birthing oddities in world mythology. Rokomautu was so headstrong he tried to force even his own parents to worship him. 
It’s been multiple catastrophes per day with Joe Biden in the White House. And Biden’s regime is still squirming over questions regarding why it drone-killed innocent people while thinking it was killing terrorists. PLUS Biden’s Afghanistan Hostage Crisis continues.
The good doctor has created a special chemical solution that in experiments has restored body parts from dissected corpses to a condition resembling living tissue. He believes he can use this chemical solution as part of a procedure to bring an Aztec Mummy back to life. Ancient papyri refer to “Heaven’s fire” and Dr Von Herbst is convinced that means lightning and so he plans to use electricity generated from a Daniell’s Battery to aid in the resuscitation process. 
DOCTOR HACKENSAW’S SECRETS – Written by Clement Fezandie. Doctor Hackensaw and his adventures were similar to Paul B’Old’s short stories about Professor Jerome Mudgewood, but with less emphasis on humor. Both figures dealt with the often destructive consequences of their own inventions or discoveries. Ferzandie’s Hackensaw tales were published in the magazine Science and Invention. 
Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog’s musings on this Monday. Joe Biden still has hostages in Afghanistan. 
BLUEFIELD CONQUERS DIVISION TWO – The NAIA’s BLUEFIELD COLLEGE RAMBLING RAMS took it on the road against the NCAA Division Two team the EMORY & HENRY COLLEGE WASPS. For newbies this is like when 1AA teams take on 1A teams. Trailing 38-17 in the 4th Quarter the Rambling Rams came back to win 46-45!
GIANT-KILLERS – This week 3 NCAA Division 3 teams imitated the NAIA’s usual schtick of defeating teams from higher divisions. The UW-OSHKOSH TITANS won 28-10 at D2’s NORTHERN MICHIGAN WILDCATS ### Meanwhile the LINFIELD COLLEGE WILDCATS hammered D2’s SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY CLAN 56-20 ### And the WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY PIRATES edged D2’s LINCOLN (CA) UNIVERSITY OAKLANDERS 31-29. 
HISTORY WAS MADE – The BLUEFIELD STATE BIG BLUE managed the FIRST victory for their revived intercollegiate football program! After losing last week the Big Blue visited the ELIZABETH CITY STATE VIKINGS. Bluefield State trailed 21-0 in the 1st Quarter but tied things up 21-21 by Halftime. The Vikings went up 27-21 in the 3rd but the Big Blue came back to win it 35-27. 
MARATHON GAME OF THE WEEK – This particular designation goes to the clash between the SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY RIVER HAWKS and their hosts the FRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE DIPLOMATS. It took FIVE OVERTIMES before the River Hawks emerged with a 30-28 victory. 
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #123 (August 1973) 
Robbie and the police at the scene tell Jameson they aren’t so sure Spider-Man was the killer. There are fragments of the Green Goblin’s exploding pumpkin-bombs in the battle scarred area there on the New York City streets. PLUS, someone obviously moved Osborn’s body a bit before the cops arrived on the scene. At length Jonah refuses to listen any further and rides off angrily in his limo. 
RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY (1991) – Back when I started Balladeer’s Blog in 2010 this Hong Kong martial arts/ splatter film was among the first movies I planned to review. Feeling intimidated by the need to describe the sheer scale of the joyously tasteless violence in this movie I kept postponing it. Eventually, it seemed so notorious that I figured too many people knew about it for me to bother. 
Riki-Oh (pronounced Ricky-HO) is also known as Violence King and with good reason. This Category 3 Hong Kong movie does the seemingly impossible – it more than lives up to the Japanese Manga it was based on. Siu-Wong Fan stars as the title character. Ngai Choi Lam directed and wrote the screenplay adaptation. 
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