BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS: NOV 2nd

HEADLINES

NUMBER FIVE TOPPLED – In NCAA Division Two, the 8th ranked COLORADO STATE AT PUEBLO THUNDERWOLVES visited the number 5 team in the nation – the WESTERN COLORADO UNIVERSITY MOUNTAINEERS. By Halftime WCU was in front 21-7, but the Thunderwolves shut them out from there. It was 21-21 in the 3rd Quarter with CSU-Pueblo winning 24-21 in the 4th.

DOWN GOES NUMBER EIGHT – Down in NCAA Division Three, the number 9 UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT RIVER FALLS FALCONS played host to the 8th ranked UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT WHITEWATER WARHAWKS. UW-River Falls made a definite statement, leading the Warhawks 31-7 at the Half before embarrassing them by a final score of 52-14   

CENTURY CLUB IN FOOTBALL? – My Century Club notes usually apply to college basketball teams that score 100 or more points in Regulation. In a very, very rare case in football, the NJCAA’s SNOW COLLEGE BADGERS welcomed the CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE SAINTS and utterly eviscerated them ONE HUNDRED ONE to SIX! Continue reading

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FOX FEATURES SUPERHEROES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the neglected characters from Fox Features. 

Dynamo Fox Features picDYNAMO

Secret Identity: Jim Andrews, electrical scientist

First Appearance: Science Comics #1 (February 1940)

Origin: Jim Andrews risked his life to contain a potentially deadly accident at the electrical lab where he worked, inadvertently gaining superpowers from the incident. He donned a costume and fought the forces of evil as Dynamo.

Powers: Dynamo could use his electrical powers to shoot electric rays from his hands, to fly, to surround himself with a force field and to magnify his own strength.

Comment: In his very first appearance this hero went by the nom de guerre Electro, but in his remaining 24 adventures called himself Dynamo instead. 

Black Lion picBLACK LION

Secret Identity: George Davis, big-game hunter

First Appearance: Wonderworld Comics #21 (January 1941)

Origin: George Davis’ career as a big-game hunter had brought him wealth and fame. Having met all the challenges of hunting members of the animal kingdom he decided to go after the most dangerous game of all: human criminals. To that end he donned a costume and took on supervillains and Nazi agents.

Powers: The Black Lion was at the peak of human condition and had the agility of an Olympic gymnast. He was also an expert at unarmed combat and could outfight multiple opponents at once. His totem animal the lion gave him superhuman healing ability. Continue reading

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HALLOWEEN WITH PAUL NASCHY, SPAIN’S KING OF HORROR

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Balladeer’s Blog wraps up its 2025 Halloween blog posts with a look at the horror films of the one and only Paul Naschy, real name Jacinto Molina, Spain’s King of Horror Cinema.

Over the past 15 years of writing this blog I’ve only covered Naschy’s more Psychotronic offerings, like Werewolf vs the Yeti, Dr. Jekyll vs the Wolfman, The Hunchback of the Rue Morgue and my all-time favorite – Assignment: Terror.

However, there’s much more to Paul’s filmography than those oft-recycled staples of Movie Host shows. Naschy also starred as a mummy, as Dracula, as slashers and so on. In honor of Halloween here are my brief takes on more of the man’s star vehicle horror films.

THE MARK OF THE WOLFMAN (1968) – Paul Naschy wrote and starred in this first of his many movies as the tormented lycanthrope Waldemar Daninsky. This movie was also released under the title Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror with an edited-in introduction claiming that a branch of the Frankenstein family was cursed to become werewolves. That was done purely so the distributor could pass this off as a Frankenstein film. 

In Eastern Europe of long ago, a pair of drunken gypsies accidentally revive the werewolf Imre Wolfstein by curiously removing the silver crucifix his heart was impaled with. The revived Wolfstein kills the gypsies and eventually passes his lycanthropic curse on to Polish Count Waldemar Daninsky.

After snacking on a few people during a full moon, Waldemar realizes what he has become. He sends for faraway specialists Dr. Janos de Mikhelov and his wife Wandessa, who can supposedly cure him of his curse.

It turns out the couple are actually vampires who prey on victims all over Europe. They kill a few of Waldemar’s friends and then sic Wolfstein on him. Daninsky wins that battle of werewolves and kills Wolfstein, then fights and kills the Mikhelov vampires. Continue reading

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NEWS ROUNDUP FOR THE THIRTIETH

Here’s another current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog.

EVEN THE DEMOCRAT MEDIA OUTLET THE WASHINGTON POST’S EDITORIAL BOARD STATES THE DEMOCRATS HAVE “HELD THE GOVERNMENT HOSTAGE” AND SHOULD MAKE A DEAL. More HERE. Absolutely. I will point out again that what the Democrat Party did was mount a government shutdown to try forcing the opposition party to undo legislation that passed Congress because the Republicans won the 2024 elections and had the numbers to constitutionally pass it.

        It sabotages what the voters wanted if one political party will take the government hostage to try to accomplish through human suffering what they could not accomplish at the ballot box. Grow up, Democrats. Our next national elections are NEXT YEAR, not ten years away. Try to do better in ’26 and you won’t need repulsive stunts like this.

CONGRESSMAN SCALISE, SURVIVOR OF A LEFTIST ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT HIMSELF, BLASTED THE DEMOCRATS FOR BRAGGING THAT THEY USE THE SUFFERING OF CITIZENS AS “LEVERAGE.” 

EXPERTS CREDIT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION POLICIES WITH LOWERING RENT AMOUNTS THAT AMERICANS MUST PAY. The greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime.

PRESIDENT TRUMP BECOMES FIRST U.S. PRESIDENT TO RECEIVE SOUTH KOREA’S HIGHEST HONOR. The leader the world has needed.

DEMOCRAT CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE IN ILLINOIS CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING A FEDERAL OFFICER. Continue reading

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EDGAR ALLAN POE: SILENT FILM ADAPTATIONS

As Halloween Month swiftly draws to a close here is one of my final seasonal posts. I will examine silent film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works.

SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE GREAT MURDER MYSTERY (1908) – Shamelessly, the Crescent Film Company of New York adapted Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue but replaced his master detective Auguste Dupin with Sherlock Holmes and the orangutan of the original story with a gorilla.

Actor William Kolle was in the starring role and an unknown actor portrayed Dr. Watson, supposedly the first time the sidekick was depicted on film. No copies of this short movie have survived but promotional materials have. 

THE SEALED ROOM (1909) – Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado was adapted by film pioneer D.W. Griffith in this movie. Besides changing the title, Griffith altered the story to feature a philandering man and woman being walled up to die. Showing up in small parts during this 11-minute short were America’s future sweetheart Mary Pickford, and Mack Sennett, future comedy icon.  Continue reading

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HALLOWEEN READING: THE KING IN YELLOW (1895)

Just two days left for me to squeeze in Halloween posts!

THE KING IN YELLOW (1895) – Having mentioned this book in passing when I reviewed the Phantasm film franchise, I decided to repost this item from October 16th, 2012

THE KING IN YELLOW

If you’re like me you’re sick to death of the flood of vampire and zombie stories in recent decades. It’s gotten unbelievably monotonous. When it comes to Goths in particular you just want to shake them and scream “There’s more to Gothic horror than just vampires!”

In that spirit and in keeping with my blog’s overall theme here’s a look at an 1895 work of Gothic horror that is among my favorite Halloween reading material, The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers. This unjustly neglected book was praised by H.P. Lovecraft himself and has been called America’s most influential volume of horror between Poe and the moderns.

The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories in which a published but unperformed play, also titled The King in Yellow, brings madness and death to anyone who reads it. Daring to peruse the pages of this damnable drama also makes the reader susceptible to attacks from the sinister minions of the eponymous King, who rules over his own private Hell like Freddy Krueger rules over the Dream Dimension. Here, then, are the tales that make up the King in Yellow cycle.  Continue reading

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OCTOBER TWENTY-NINTH NEWS ROUNDUP

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog is here with another current events roundup.

CONGRESSIONAL REPORT’S BOMBSHELL EXPOSURES ABOUT THE MANY UNAUTHORIZED USES OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AUTOPEN UNDER THE BIDEN REGIME PROMPT ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI TO ADDRESS LEGAL ACTIONS. More HERE. And HERE. And HERE. And HERE. I will point out again that we had unknown, unelected and unaccountable figures illegally “signing” presidential actions as the mentally unfit Joe Biden. 

JAPAN’S PRIME MINISTER SAYS SHE IS “IMPRESSED AND INSPIRED” BY PRESIDENT TRUMP’S MANY, MANY HISTORIC PEACE DEALS. More HERE.

ENTOMOLOGIST NAMES BUTTERFLY SPECIES AFTER IRYNA ZARUTSKA, THE VICTIM OF A KNIFE-WIELDING ANIMAL AND DEMOCRAT “JUDGES“. Say her name.

NEW DOCUMENTS RELEASED ON THE BIDEN REGIME’S WEAPONIZATION OF THE DOJ AGAINST THEIR POLITICAL OPPONENTS.

DEMOCRAT CONGRESSWOMAN JASMINE CROCKETT EXPOSED IN NEWS STORY ABOUT THE SECRET STOCK PORTFOLIO WHICH SHE DID NOT REPORT IN HER CONGRESSIONAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES. More HERE. She was hiding stock holdings in companies whose earnings were affected by her policy votes in Congress.   

MINNESOTA’S TYLER MAXON AVALOS ARRESTED FOR OFFERING FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS TO ANYONE WHO WOULD KILL ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI. That silence you hear is Democrat bacteria failing to condemn these repeated bounties.

DEMOCRAT PODCASTER UNBELIEVABLY THREATENS VIOLENCE AGAINST DEMOCRAT OFFICE-HOLDERS WHO OBJECT TO DEMOCRAT POLITICAL VIOLENCE.

SENATOR SCHMITT EXPOSES HOW DEMOCRATS AND THEIR MEDIA OUTLETS SLANT STUDIES OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE BY REFUSING TO COUNT VIOLENCE FROM PROTESTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS. Because their party conducts virtually one long, never-ending “protest.”

POLL: SEVENTY PERCENT FEEL THE DEMOCRATS ARE “OUT OF TOUCH.” Continue reading

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AGAINST THE DARK (2009) STEVEN SEAGAL FIGHTS ZOMBIES?

AGAINST THE DARK (2009) – As Halloween night creeps ever closer, let’s take a look at the most atypical movie from Steven Seagal’s Down Years. Say what you will, but Against the Dark at least stands out among the Waddlin’ Warrior’s many direct to video turkeys during his Fat Elvis phase. 

Rather than just pit Seagal against interchangeable gangsters or terrorists, this flick throws him up against unliving flesh-eaters and blood-drinkers after a disease has killed off or mutated all but a few hundred million people in the world. So, it’s still a very derivative story, just not one from Steven’s usual genre.

Viewers are thrown right into the post-apocalypse setting. A disease has heavily reduced the global population. Many are dead but many more live on as violent predators who feed on the living.

Supposedly, the humanoid creatures in Against the Dark were unambiguously zombies, but co-producer Seagal apparently felt vampires were classier opponents, hence the characters calling them vampires. They also refer to the infected as “mutants” at times. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS: OCT 28th

My Top 5 teams in each of the six divisions of college football covered here.

NAIA

### 1. GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS   ###   2. BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS   ###   3. KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS   ###   4. MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS   ###   5. DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS   ###   

NCAA DIVISION TWO

### 1. HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON   ###   2. FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS   ###   3. UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS   ###   4. PITTSBURG (KS) STATE GORILLAS   ###   5. KUTZTOWN STATE GOLDEN BEARS   ###    Continue reading

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THE PHANTASM FILMS (1979-2016) ONE OF MY FAVORITE HORROR FRANCHISES

Halloween is almost here, so just a few more days to squeeze in some seasonal posts.

PHANTASM – Don Coscarelli wrote and directed four of the five films in the Phantasm franchise but let David Hartman write and direct the last one in 2016.

The first Phantasm movie back in 1979 was rated X for violence, which makes me and my fellow fans of the Terrifier features and short films laugh our asses off. 

With this movie franchise Don Coscarelli forever changed the way we look at funeral homes. And funeral home directors. Actor Angus Scrimm (1926-2016) owned the role of the sinister mortician the Tall Man as surely as Robert Englund owns the role of Freddy Krueger. 

For newbies to the Phantasm films, let me point out that the Tall Man ran the Morningside Cemetery and Funeral Home business. Some of the loved ones of dearly departed people who became mutated slaves for the Tall Man began to notice strange things about the mortician. Things like carrying a full coffin by himself when he thought nobody was watching.  Continue reading

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