THE NEW HUMANS (1909) – ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

UgandaTHE NEW HUMANS (1909) – Written by B Vallance. No other name has come to light for the author of this thought-provoking work. Explorer Montgomery Merrick is roaming around the wilds of 1909 Uganda when he falls down a mountainside and into a concealed valley.

Merrick’s injuries are such that he does not expect to survive but he wakes up on an operating table in fine condition. Looking down at him are amoeboid humans who don barrel-shaped exo-skeletons whenever they need to keep their forms stable, as in during the surgery they were performing on Merrick.  

One of the beings speaks English and introduces himself to the recovering patient as the Chief Adaptor, who takes credit for “repairing” our hero. Merrick gradually becomes aware that his ultimate fate is still being debated by his odd saviors. Continue reading

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FOOL KILLER FIFTY-TWO: DECEMBER 1911

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN THE 1850s, CLICK HERE

Fool Killer wardrobePART FIFTY-TWO – Some of the targets from the December of 1911 edition of James Larkin Pearson’s version of The Fool-Killer:

*** The United States Supreme Court, authors of so many miscarriages of “justice” in the nation’s history, for the way that Pearson and his Fool Killer felt the court’s vaunted dissolution of the Tobacco Trust (American Tobacco Company) was a farce. ATC was, he felt, allowed too much say in their sentence to dissolve into four separate companies.

              There was certainly a lot of truth to that take on the situation. The “new” companies were soon being accused of colluding with each other to carry out the same monopolistic practices that they had before.  Three of those four companies were found guilty of this in 1938 after years of further investigation and litigation. This calls to mind the way Big Tech basically calls its own shots by virtue of all the political figures they own.

*** Churches which allowed Bingo, a game that the odd Pearson viewed as “gambling.”   

*** George W Perkins at U.S. Steel for what Pearson and his Fool Killer considered the miserly amount that Perkins made employees eligible for under the company’s new profit-sharing plan.   

*** The masked and armed men who tarred and feathered school teacher Miss Mary Chamberlain in Shady Bend, KS. What newspapers of the time called “gossip from jealous women” regarding the teacher prompted the ugly incident, which had been planned at the mill owned by wealthy citizen E.G. Clark. The masked, pistol-packing mob stopped Chamberlain in her buggy and carried out the deed.  Continue reading

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Filed under Mythology, Neglected History, opinion

SCORPION THUNDERBOLT (1983)

Scorpion ThunderboltSCORPION THUNDERBOLT – Yes, it’s Scorpion Thunderbolt, the horror movie that has absolutely NOTHING to do with EITHER scorpions OR thunderbolts! They could have titled this thing Terms of Endearment 2 and it wouldn’t have been any less appropriate.

Potential viewers will find various years of release listed for this flick like 1983, 1985 or 1988. That’s because this is another of those bizarre cinematic cut-and-paste jobs that we fans of bad movies just love, like They Saved Hitler’s Brain, Spookies, Pink Angels, Monster A Go-Go and so many others.

The original film was titled Grudge of the Sleepwalking Woman and was a Taiwanese horror movie from 1983. Balladeer’s Blog’s old friend Godfrey Ho, the Schlockmeister General of Hong Kong cinema, bought the original movie. That Dr Frankenstein of the editing room padded the film’s run-time by adding some kung fu fights and one of his usual non sequitur movie quickies starring Richard Harrison, then tried to pass the mess off as all one movie. Same ol’ same ol’ for Godfrey Ho, in other words.   Continue reading

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DEMOCRAT ATROCITY ROUNDUP: MARCH 8th

Biden a fool, Cuomo an animalIndependent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at Democrats, those nauseating scavengers of human misery who pretend to be THE moral models for the rest of us. Well, actually, it might be more appropriate to point out that they are very often the CAUSE of human misery with their fascism, intolerance and inability to think for themselves. 

Biden a dunceBut either way, Democrats pompously pretend to be THE moral models for the rest of us. It’s the same type of behavior that alienated so many people from the religious right long ago but Democrats are saying “Hold our beer” and showing how rabid intolerance, political witch-hunts and pretended moral superiority are REALLY done. 

JOE BIDEN AND HIS UNDERLINGS STILL NOT TESTING ILLEGAL BORDER-CROSSERS FOR COVID BEFORE RELEASING THEM INTO THE COUNTRY.

DEMOCRATS CONTINUE WAGING WAR ON THE WORKING CLASS AND THE POOR.

ANOTHER REASON PEOPLE REJECT DEMOCRAT “FACT CHECKERS” AS PARTISAN PROPAGANDISTS.

DEMOCRAT ANDREW CUOMO’S PEOPLE ACCUSED OF REWRITING NURSING HOME REPORT TO CONCEAL THE REAL DEATH NUMBERS. BUT HE WON AN EMMY FOR HIS LYING PRESS BRIEFINGS.

NBA JUST FINE WITH CHINA DECLARING HOMOSEXUALITY A MENTAL DISORDER. SILENCE IS CONSENT, DEMOCRATS TELL US.

MORE FROM GEORGIA ABOUT THE VOTE FRAUD AND OTHER ISSUES FROM THE FOREVER-TAINTED 2020 ELECTION.

AND YET ANOTHER COURAGEOUS WOMAN COMES FORWARD AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSER AND MASS-MURDERER OF THE ELDERLY ANDREW CUOMO. BELIEVE ALL WOMEN!

THUGGISH FASCIST JOE BIDEN BLOCKING WORKERS WHO WANT TO LEAVE THEIR UNION

NOTED RACIST AND HATEMONGER JOE BIDEN STILL SPREADING CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT INDIAN-AMERICANS ARE “TAKING OVER THE COUNTRY”

BIDEN REGIME POLITICALLY REWARDING THEIR RIOTERS FROM LAST YEAR.

ACCUSED RAPIST JOE BIDEN REALLY HATES THESE PEOPLE OF COLOR.

ANOTHER OF THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST ANDREW CUOMO BY A BRAVE WOMAN.

EVEN THE NEW YORK TIMES BASHES BIDEN FOR TRYING TO STEAL CREDIT FOR TRUMP’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Continue reading

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Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

MARCH COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS

Games are still being made up after postponements last fall.

NAIA

Concordia_MIDOWN GOES NUMBER TWO – The CONCORDIA (MI) CARDINALS played host to the 2nd ranked team in the nation – the MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS. In this very odd game the Knights grabbed a quick 7-0 lead in the 1st Quarter, only to see the Cardinals go up 16-14 by Halftime. After the break the defenses dominated and 16-14 wound up being the final score as well.

Arizona Christian Firestorm alternateOTHER UPSETS IN THE RANKINGS – The 24th ranked ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM took it on the road against the 16th ranked OTTAWA UNIVERSITY (AZ) SPIRIT and toppled them 45-35    ###    And the INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WILDCATS downed their guests the number 22 SIENA HEIGHTS UNIVERSITY SAINTS in a 17-10 clash.

Point University good helmetFOURTH QUARTER COMEBACK – The POINT UNIVERSITY SKYHAWKS traveled to face the BLUEFIELD COLLEGE RAMBLING RAMS. A 7-7 1st Quarter tie became a 20-7 advantage for the Rambling Rams at the Half. The 3rd Quarter ended with the Skyhawks pulling to within 20-14 before exploding in the 4th for a magnificent 28-23 comeback victory. Continue reading

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IRON FIST: THE EARLY ADVENTURES

Balladeer’s Blog’s readers always make it clear that they feel superhero blog posts make for nice, light diversions over the weekend, so here comes another one. This one takes a look at the early stories of Iron Fist from the 1970s.

iron fist aMARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 15 (May 1974)

Title: The Fury of Iron Fist

Villain: Shu Hu the One

Comment: In the 1970s “Everybody was Kung Fu fight-iiiiing” and Marvel Comics jumped onto the bandwagon with a series of martial arts characters. By this point in 1974 the company had already introduced Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu, the female Avenger called Mantis and the Sons of the Tiger. Now would come Iron Fist, real name Daniel Rand, later modified to Daniel Rand-Kai.

Synopsis: The origin story of Iron Fist is told through flashbacks this issue and the next. This story starts with action and THEN delves into the superhero’s origin, a formula I think works best, but I’m not a comic book expert. In the Himalayan Mountains, in the mystical city called K’un-Lun, Iron Fist is battling four opponents under the watchful eyes of K’un-Lun’s ruler Yu-Ti the August Personage of Jade and his subordinate Dragon Kings.     

NOTE: This K’un-Lun is not THE K’un-Lun from Chinese mythology but it uses the same name and many of the inhabitants go by names corresponding to Chinese gods. Yu-Ti is one of them, Lei Kung the Thunderer is another. This K’un-Lun is an enchanted city that appears on Earth only once every ten years before returning to its pocket dimension home for another ten.

Back to the story – Iron Fist defeats his four opponents and, having survived this Challenge of the Many, now asks Yu-Ti for permission to face the Challenge of the One (Shu Hu). Yu-Ti wants Iron Fist to be sure that is what he desires, so he tells him to contemplate the path that has led him to this Day of Days. Continue reading

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WORLD OF GIANTS (1959): FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

World of GiantsWORLD OF GIANTS (1959) – Don’t confuse this program with Land of the Giants, the later Irwin Allen series about normal-sized people trapped in the title land. For that matter, don’t confuse it with the old spy series Man in a Suitcase, either. World of Giants involved secret agent Mel Hunter (Marshall Thompson), who was accidentally shrunk down to six inches in height by radiation while on a mission behind the Iron Curtain.

Mel still worked with his old espionage partner Bill Winters (Arthur Franz), who was not exposed to the radiation but got his stricken pal back to the U.S. to recover from his exposure to it. Now the pair were sent out on missions requiring Mel’s specialized skill-set. Bill would transport his diminutive partner in his briefcase, where Hunter would sit strapped into a test-pilot’s seat to prevent being battered around as Winters and the briefcase traveled. Continue reading

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JOE BIDEN TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE AND MORE

Balladeer TV is back with new episodes premiering tonight, beginning at 8PM ET: 

Senile Joe BidenTWILIGHT ZONE – “C’mon, Man …” A hopelessly corrupt sexual assailant named Joe Biden makes a bargain with the devil to become president, only to have that dream become a nightmare as he only reaches office via mail-in vote fraud and the help of techno-fascists who then own him. Even worse, he is so mentally impaired that he is not even capable of understanding that he is in office and his own staff have to cut him off when he offers to take questions from the media.

Mascot and guitar

BALLADEER TV

IT’S AN INSURRECTION, CHARLIE BROWN! – Charlie Brown’s friend Linus has given up on waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear and begins holding a lonely vigil waiting for an imaginary March 4th uprising. When that March 4th event fails to materialize Linus just keeps on claiming it will happen “soon.”   

HANDSY ANDY – Assorted women are fooled into thinking that Governor Andrew Cuomo, accused mass murderer of the elderly, is taking an interest in their careers only to recoil in horror when the lecherous troglodyte wants sexual favors. Continue reading

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Filed under humor, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, opinion

MORE COLLEGE BASKETBALL CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS

Conference Champs move on to the NAIA National Tournament.

Marian University KnightsCROSSROADS LEAGUE: CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The two teams left standing in the battle for this conference’s crown were the 2nd seeded MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS and the 4 seeds – the UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS.

By Halftime the Knights were in possession of a comfortable 41-30 advantage. After the break, Marian U managed a bit more separation from the Cougars for an 86-71 triumph led by Brayton Bailey and Antwaan Cushingberry, who put up 16 points each. * THE KNIGHTS ARE 2021 CHAMPIONS OF THE CROSSROADS LEAGUE *

providence mt argonauts

FRONTIER CONFERENCE: CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – This title tilt pitted the top seeds – the UNIVERSITY OF PROVIDENCE (MT) ARGONAUTS – against the 2nd seeded CARROLL COLLEGE FIGHTING SAINTS.

The Argonauts were on top of the Fighting Saints 32-25 by the midpoint. From there, the University of Providence poured it on, ultimately winning the game by a very comfortable margin of 77-57. Rashee Stocks tossed in 20 points to lead the Argos while teammate Zaccheus Darko-Kelly notched a Double-Double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. * THE ARGONAUTS ARE 2021 CHAMPIONS OF THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE * Continue reading

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DREAM NO EVIL (1970) BAD MOVIE

dream no evilDREAM NO EVIL (1970) – This film, written and directed by schlockmeister John Hayes, made me wonder who I have to sue to make up for not having seen this gloriously bad movie before now. Dream No Evil is often pigeon-holed as a horror film but actually it combines a number of genres, none of which are well-represented. For a glib summary, let’s call it “A David Lynch film if all the David Lynch was drained from it.”

Brooke Mills stars as Grace MacDonald, whose character we viewers first meet in a flashback to when she was a little girl who had been abandoned at an orphanage. The child has recurring dreams about her father coming to take her back but that never happens. Ultimately she is adopted by the Bundy family, consisting of a preacher father who is also a faith healer and his two sons, Patrick and Jessie. Grace becomes part of the clan’s itinerant tent-show revival lifestyle. Continue reading

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