MOCK HEADLINES: OCTOBER 8th

mascot new look donkey and elephant headsDEMOCRATS RENEW THEIR VOW TO “MAKE CALIGULA LOOK SANE!”

NANCY PELOSI DEMANDS THAT WOMEN “JUST SHUT UP AND VOTE FOR US DEMOCRATS!”

SENATE DEMOCRATS TELL DI-FI “THIS IS ANOTHER FEINSTEIN MESS YOU’VE GOTTEN US INTO!” 

PRIVILEGED WHITE WOMAN ALYSSA MILANO HATES IT WHEN BLACK PEOPLE DISOBEY HER WHEN SHE ORDERS THEM TO STOP SUPPORTING TRUMP

ocasio cortezALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ SAYS HER SURNAME IS FROM THE SPANISH FOR “CRAZED CHIPMUNK”

DEMOCRATS INSIST THE U.S. CONSTITUTION IS MEANINGLESS BUT A FRAGMENT OF POETRY ON THE BASE OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IS LEGALLY BINDING

MAXINE WATERS SAYS “LAWS SHOULD ONLY BE ENFORCED AGAINST POLITICAL ENEMIES OF US DEMOCRATS!”

FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP STILL SPEAKS MORE LANGUAGES THAN BOTH OBAMAS COMBINED Continue reading

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TALES OF THE ZOMBIE 4

masc graveyard newHalloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog! It’s hard to believe there are still 1970s Marvel Comics characters who have NOT been adapted for the big or small screen yet. Simon Garth, former plantation owner cursed to return from the grave as a zombie is one. Here is the cover to one of his battles with the vile Mister Six.

FOR MY FULL-LENGTH REVIEW OF THIS SERIES CLICK HERE

Tales of the Zombie 4 Continue reading

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 6th

HEADLINES

West Florida Argonauts helmetDIVISION TWO OVER DIVISION ONE – The UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS, from NCAA Division Two, traveled to take on Division ONE’s UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA LIONS yesterday. A 10-10 Halftime tie became a 17-13 edge for the Argonauts in the 3rd Quarter and ultimately a 24-19 upset! This is like when a 1aa team topples a 1a team for you newbies.

Rocky Mountain CollegeKNOCKING OFF NUMBER TWO – Over in the NAIA the 21st ranked ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE BATTLIN’ BEARS welcomed the number 2 team in the nation – the SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY RAIDERS (should be the Sea Gulls). After a scoreless 1st Quarter the Battlin’ Bears put SOU on Upset Alert with a 17-14 lead at the break. In the 2nd Half Rocky Mountain College outscored the Raiders 17-7 for a 34-21 triumph.

University of New England Nor'eastersFIRST-EVER WIN FOR U.N.E. – Moving to NCAA Division Three, the UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND NOR’EASTERS are in their very first year of intercollegiate football. On Saturday they took on the visiting CURRY COLLEGE COLONELS and came back from a 14-7 1st Quarter deficit to go on top 28-21 by the midpoint. From there the Nor’easters had to hold on for a 44-42 victory, the FIRST in program history. Continue reading

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THE PRISONER: IT’S YOUR FUNERAL

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the 1967 science fiction/ existential drama The Prisoner. For Part One, in which I examined the themes and concepts at play in the series click  HERE

It's Your FuneralEpisode Title: IT’S YOUR FUNERAL … In the ongoing debate over the exact ordering of the 17 episodes of The Prisoner I place this one 3rd from the last. 

*** So after this review all we have left is the two-part series finale. ***  For those readers who have requested SPOILERS on who wins in a given episode our hero the Prisoner wins this round.

pennyfarthing bicycle no wordsIt’s Your Funeral centers around an assassination attempt in the Village and features how our main character’s rebellious nature has begun inspiring assorted other Villagers to commit their own subtle acts of defiance to the Villagekeepers.

I’ll also take a brief look at The Stranger/ Stranded in Space, a failed pilot movie for a Prisoneresque sci-fi series in 1973. Cameron Mitchell even delivers a speech straight out of The Prisoner at one point.

THE STORY: Continue reading

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JOHN SILENCE: OCCULT DOCTOR (1908) – HALLOWEEN READING

Halloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog. This time around I take a look at Algernon Blackwood’s occult physician Doctor John Silence.

John SilenceJOHN SILENCE, PHYSICIAN EXTRAORDINARY (1908) – A selection of short stories about Blackwood’s fictional neurologist Doctor Silence and his encounters with the supernatural. 

THE PSYCHICAL INVASION – A professional writer who specializes in humorous stories becomes a patient of Doctor Silence when he suddenly finds himself unable to write anything except grotesque horror tales. Silence discovers that on an occasion when the author’s psychic defenses were neutralized during a hashish jag the spirit of a 19th Century sorceress possessed him. The vile entity ended its life being hanged at Newgate. Doctor Silence must do psychic battle with the spirit to save his patient. Continue reading

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RANDOM FRIDAY WEIRDNESS III

THE ULTIMATE BAT-FLECK MOMENT Continue reading

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HALLOWEEN BOOK: ISABELLA OF EGYPT (1812)

Isabella of Egypt Alraune and the GolemHalloween Month continues here at Balladeer’s Blog! In addition to covering all of my usual topics I spend each October sprinkling in neglected horror movies, stories and novels.

Isabella of Egypt is a very obscure 1812 Gothic Horror novella by Ludwig Achim Von Arnim. Under the more evocative title Alraune and the Golem it was to be filmed as a silent movie in 1919 but unfortunately it was never completed or is one of the countless silent films that have not survived to the present day (sources vary). 

The story is set in the 16th Century and features the real-life Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, but in his teen years, right before he assumed the throne first of Spain and later of the H.R. Empire. The novella is not a horror classic per se, but is very eerie and features an odd variety of horrific supernatural figures in Monster Rally fashion.  The story takes a variety of twists and turns too detailed for a quick synopsis but here is a look at the main characters:

ISABELLA – The main character, a teenage Gypsy girl whose father was Gypsy royalty and after he is hanged she becomes Queen of all the Gypsies. (This novel adheres to the version of Gypsy mythology which states that they were descendants of the ancient Egyptians, hence the title Isabella of Egypt even though the story takes place in various German locations.)

Isabella’s beauty spellbinds various men including the youthful Charles. The monstrous Mandragore lusts after her as well and plans to force her into an unholy union.  Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG IS BACK IN ACTION, NO THANKS TO TECHNO-FASCISTS …

Mascot sword and pistolBaby, I’m BACK, just like that notoriously bad sitcom starring Demond Wilson. The problem was NOT WordPress, so don’t blame them, but it was just another round with me refusing to be silenced by Techno-Fascists who abuse their internet influence. 

I’ll be catching up on my Halloween Month posts and other items now that I’m live again, but for right now here’s an appropriate rerun of my blog post DYSTOPIA NATION: TECHNO-TYRANTS OF SILICON VALLEY – 

Here at Balladeer’s Blog I write plenty of items about myths from around the world. I often mention that my blog posts about figures from the American West are along the same lines to me since I think the exaggerated tales of whatever their real-life stories were originate the same way that many religious fables do: the usual human tendency toward superstition and embellishment.

Dystopian literature is similar but instead of embellishing figures and events from the past this type of fiction involves taking contemporary problems and/ or trends and extrapolating them into larger than life menaces in the near or far future.

Soylent Green did it with overpopulation and food shortages, One Blade of Grass did it with environmental issues and Orwell’s 1984 did it with totalitarian political forces which still threaten to use his nightmarish novel as their road map. Countless other examples could be cited.   

THE TECHNO-TYRANTS OF SILICON VALLEY – The modern-day versions of the disgusting old Robber Barons might well be the corporate fascists aka techno-fascists in assorted tech industries, not just regarding Silicon Valley but also  privacy-violating rich pigs at Facebook and elsewhere.

In fact, you could make the case that people like Mark “Skippy” Zuckerberg and his fellow corporate fascists are even worse since I don’t recall bloated rich pigs like E.H. Harriman or Cornelius Vanderbilt trying to police other people’s every thought, word and deed. The invasive and ever-expanding tentacular reach of techno-fascists or in this fictional case Techno-Tyrants would make these villains a very credible threat to political freedom and freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression amnesty internationalIn recent years outfits like Twitter, Facebook and others even made public noises about banning customers based on their conduct UNRELATED TO THOSE UTILITIES! Can you imagine the old, old Ma Bell monopoly cutting off people’s phone service because their operators caught those users discussing voting for political candidates disapproved of by Ma Bell’s upper echelons or expressing opinions frowned upon by Ma Bell?

Even worse, places like Google and others have made it firing offenses to be caught holding opinions at odds with the one percenters and bloated rich pigs who run those tech-related outfits.

For the fictional Techno-Tyrants of this blog post it’s a quick jump to depicting such abusive totalitarians working in tandem with an oppressive government. They could leave citizens unable to access the internet or their various accounts or medical records until they recant any statements or opinions frowned upon by the Techno-Tyrants of Silicon Valley. Continue reading

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

Based on the Glitternight Index:

Northwestern College Red RaidersNAIA – 1. NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS    ###     2. MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS    ###     3. EVANGEL UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS    ###    4. SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY RAIDERS (should be the Sea Gulls)    ###    5. MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS    ###    

Arizona Christian Univ helmet GOOD6. ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM    ###     7. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS (Defending National Champions)    ###    8. KANSAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY COYOTES    ###    9. BETHEL (TN) WILDCATS    ###    10. REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES (should be the Rottweilers)    ###     Continue reading

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THE BLACK ABBOT (1897): GOTHIC HORROR

messenger-or-black-priestTHE BLACK ABBOT (1897) – Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues with another neglected work of horror – this one penned by Robert W Chambers, author of The King in Yellow, which I reviewed HERE 

The story – also known as The Black Priest or The Messenger – is set in 1896 in the mysterious Brittany region of northwest France. Richard Darrel, a wealthy American knickerbocker (upstate New York gentry) has bought a Breton estate with assorted household staff. He lives there with his beautiful (of course) wife Lys, a native of Brittany.  

Landscaping work near Richard’s estate has uncovered thirty-eight skeletons: men killed in a battle between English invaders and Breton defenders back in 1760. A bronze cylinder in the mass grave holds a delicate parchment with a message written in human blood at the time of the burial. The writing is in the ancient language of Brittany, which only the clergy of the 1760 time period were literate in.  

Our American hero senses that the local authorities are withholding vital information from him. He is also intrigued by the revelation that there were thirty-nine men buried in the pit but only thirty-eight skeletons have been found.

The story gets even more intriguing from there, in typical R.W. Chambers style. The skull of the missing dead man is found. It belonged to Abbe Sorgue, a Breton priest who supposedly betrayed the nearby fort to the British attackers. Legend held that for his treachery the priest was branded on the forehead all the way through to his skull. A skull has been found with an arrow-shaped burn on the forehead, obviously the dead traitor.  

That skull keeps mysteriously showing up, no matter how many times it seems to have been disposed of. Eventually the Mayor of Saint Gildas confides in Richard that part of the scroll made reference to a link between the Black Abbot and the American’s wife.

Very soon the workmen involved in disturbing the Black Abbot’s remains start turning up dead and Richard finds a superabundance of coincidences tying his wife’s Breton family to the Black Abbot. When that undead villain begins terrorizing the American’s now-pregnant wife he researches what history can be learned about Abbe Sorgue, the Black Abbot himself. Continue reading

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