MURPH MERCHANDISE: LIZARD PLANET’S TERRIFIC ITEMS

Fellow blogger Dawn at LizardPlanet has been promoting the fun and benefits of lizards as pets for years now. Her charismatic spokesmodel Murph (at left) convinced me long ago that such pet ownership is criminally underrated. 

Murph has a face you can’t resist and reading his Mom’s posts over the years has been a great primer in the care and feeding of little lizards in particular! Murph’s a beardie and I’ve been calling him Dawn’s blog’s Goodwill Ambassador to the world for years now.

I was happy when Lizard Planet started selling Murph Merchandise comparatively recently. We got Murph calendars for different rooms but if calendars aren’t your thing there are magnets, mugs, hoodies, cards, throw pillows, shopping totes and more! 

It’s called the Meta-MURPH-osis and it’s something you’ll want to be a part of! Adults and kids will love the merchandise! On the practical side the site also offers all kinds of supplies for lizard ownership. Click HERE for their Zazzle store. Continue reading

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CHINESE MYTHOLOGY: YI, THE DIVINE ARCHER

 I.WHAT’S UP WITH YI?  – Yi the Divine Archer from Chinese mythology deserves to be remembered in one breath with some of the other great heroes and monster slayers from belief systems around the world. Most people are only familiar with his feat of shooting down multiple suns that appeared in the sky one day, but this article will provide a light- hearted look at all of his fantastic adventures.

NOTE: Some readers may find my inserted jokes to be of an adult nature. Continue reading

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JAN FOURTEENTH ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

From Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog it’s another current events roundup.

BIDEN REGIME’S FBI DIRECTOR CHRIS WRAY ADMITS THAT CHINA HAS PENETRATED AMERICA’S CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AS HE RESIGNS. Further evidence that buying Joe Biden long ago was the best investment China’s government ever made. Joe was owned by China just like he was accused of for years. But hey, Joe Biden’s been pronounced too mentally unfit to stand trial, so he’s still in a position to pardon who knows who else before the 20th.

LENARD MCKELVEY RIGHTFULLY CALLS THE COUTROOM PERSECUTION OF PRESIDENT TRUMP “PURE POLITICAL THEATER.” The Biden Regime’s Banana Republic atrocity. PLUS, THE VOTERS RENDERED THE TRUE VERDICT BACK IN NOVEMBER BY REELECTING TRUMP.

FIREFIGHTERS’ UNION PRESIDENT SAYS LOS ANGELES HAS BEEN NEGLECTED BY ITS LEADERS. To say the least.

DONALD TRUMP, NELSON MANDELA, GANDHI, LECH WALESA – “CONVICTED FELONS” ACCORDING TO CORRUPT REGIMES, BUT HEROES TO THE REST OF US. And it’s sure to be overturned on appeal, anyway, but anti-Trump fascists played the short game again. 

DEMOCRAT FASCISTS FURTHER TRUMP’S MARTYRDOM IN PURSUIT OF A TALKING POINT THAT WILL ULTIMATELY GET OVERTURNED ANYWAY. (Just like all the frantic “Trump colluded with Russia” nonsense and “Trump was running a nuclear program at Mar-a-Lago” and all the other anti-Trump fables that have been spun out of whole cloth.) 

CLEARLY PARTISAN JUDGE AND JURY MADE SURE TRUMP IS THE NEW NELSON MANDELA, MAHATMA GANDHI AND LECH WALESA, ALL OF WHOM WERE ALSO “CONVICTED FELONS” (LMAO) VIA THEIR COUNTRY’S CORRUPT AND SLANTED LEGAL SYSTEMS Continue reading

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NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA: COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM

Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another sports team name that is far outside the overused Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats.

NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA Continue reading

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NBC OPERA THEATRE (1949-1964) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

NBC OPERA THEATRE (1949-1964) – Believe it or not, television networks used to regularly broadcast presentations of operas. Gradually, declining public interest drove operas off the networks and onto educational television. 

The NBC Network actually funded an entire opera company to produce classic AND new operas from 1949-1964. That opera company toured the country breaking in their productions before being aired on the network, then sometimes doing a run on Broadway. 

The NBC Opera mounted America’s very first made-for-television opera – the Christmas-themed Amahl and the Night Visitors – and broadcast it on Christmas Eve 1951. The one-act work filled a one-hour time slot with roughly five minutes of commercials.  Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: JAN THIRTEENTH

It’s time for another current events roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog.

Every time it seems that the zealots who still call themselves Democrats have sunk as low as they possibly could, they prove they are far worse than the rest of us thought. FIRST, DEMOCRATS ARE SO INSANE THEY’RE ACTUALLY BLAMING THE CALIFORNIA FIRES ON TRUMP, EVEN THOUGH HE DOESN’T RETURN TO THE PRESIDENCY UNTIL JANUARY TWENTIETH. More HERE.

        SECOND, DEMOCRATS ARE SUCH REPULSIVE, HYPOCRITICAL DEMAGOGUES THAT WHILE EXPLOITING THE FIRES POLITICALLY ALL DAY EVERY DAY BY PRETENDING CLIMATE CHANGE IS TO BLAME RATHER THAN DEMOCRAT MISMANAGEMENT, THEY SIMULTANEOUSLY CLAIM ANYONE WHO CRITICIZES CALIFORNIA’S DEMOCRAT ADMINISTRATION IS “PLAYING POLITICS.”

CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS IN OFFICE IGNORED TRUMP’S WARNINGS WHEN HE WAS PRESIDENT ABOUT HOW THEIR FAILURES WERE SETTING THE STAGE FOR MAMMOTH WILDFIRES. More HERE. And HERE. As always with anti-Trump loons they pretended anything Trump said MUST be wrong. Now they insanely try blaming him for them ignoring his sage advice. The Democrats at the AP got in on the act HERE.

CALLOUS AND UNCARING CAREER CRIMINAL JOE BIDEN LAUGHS AND TALKS ABOUT BECOMING A GREAT-GRANDFATHER WHEN HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ADDRESSING THE CALIFORNIA FIRES. More HERE. It’s been said that Joe Biden is nothing but a large clump of bacteria sculpted into human form. Joe is filth.

BIDEN REGIME TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE FIRE DISTRACTION TO GRANT AMNESTY TO EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND ILLEGALS. More HERE

WITH THE FIRES ALREADY HAVING RAGED FOR DAYS, CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT OFFICE HOLDERS STILL WASTED TIME ON THEIR ABSURD SPECIAL SESSION ABOUT “TRUMP-PROOFING” THE STATE. How about looking into fireproofing or fire management instead? Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: ROLAND BATTLES MANDRICARDO

These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

ROLAND BATTLES MANDRICARDO – In our previous installment Charlemagne’s Paladin named Roland saved Princess Isabella of Galicia from the Moroccan corsairs who were holding her for ransom.

Now, Roland and Isabella were riding northward to link up with Emperor Charlemagne’s main army as they fought the ongoing Saracen invasion. As always, the Paladin wielded his sword Durindana.

At length they approached a town where there was much consternation. Several soldiers were making their way through the streets but at this distance Roland could not make out if they were friend or foe.

Our hero had Isabella slip down from their horse and hide behind a tree while Roland met with the approaching soldiers to determine their intentions. He saw that they were conducting a prisoner, bound hand and foot.

Finally, Roland could make out the ensigns of the troops – they were men of the Count Anselm, head of the treacherous House Maganza. That House was ever ready to secretly ally themselves with every foe of Emperor Charlemagne. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG: COLLEGE BASKETBALL FROM JANUARY 11th

USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association)

IF YOU WERE A TREE – The SUNY COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & FORESTRY MIGHTY OAKS welcomed the JEFFERSON COLLEGE CANNONEERS. The Mighty Oaks seized control early, leading 47-31 by Halftime and ultimately defeating the Cannoneers by a final score of 96-74. Patrick Emery led SUNY-ESF with his 27 points.

USCAA OVER D2 – The USCAA’s NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) played host to NCAA Division Two’s CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY WOLVES. The Wolves led 41-38 at the midpoint but the Builders outscored them 47-34 from there for an 85-75 victory over the higher division team. Adrion Wall’s 22 points led the Apprentice School.  Continue reading

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MARVEL SUPERHEROINES OF THE 1970s

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog deals with some of Marvel’s superheroines.

THE CAT – Greer Nelson caught on to a conspiracy to take over the world via armies of women clad in superpower-granting costumes. She donned the prototype and called herself the Cat before taking down the entire sinister organization. 

Operating out of Chicago, the Cat also clashed with the Owl, Commander Kraken, Man-Bull and the supervillainess called Man-Killer. Click HERE.

TIGRA THE WERE-WOMAN – After the Cat’s series got canceled from low sales Marvel added Greer Nelson to their 1970s horror characters as Tigra. The Cat was mortally wounded in a battle with Hydra, but Marvel’s race of cat-people saved her life by granting her an amulet that turned her into Tigra the Were-Woman.

Now with far greater powers, she thrived in this new identity and is still in the Marvel universe to this day. Click HERE Continue reading

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TOMMY ROBINSON AND U.K. GROOMING GANGS

There are plenty of news stories that are still unfolding right now but need another few days for the figurative and literal smoke to clear. I will definitely be covering them in the days ahead. For today plenty of readers have been asking about my view of the continuing U.K. grooming gangs scandal.

I covered that story here at Balladeer’s Blog extensively beginning in 2014 and it is tragic and heartbreaking that the atrocities STILL go on. My opinions years ago sadly fit just as well here in 2025.

ROTHERHAM REPORT OPINION (September 2nd, 2014) – “Females as young as ELEVEN were being systematically raped and groomed for further abuse by Pakistani Muslims in the U.K for years. Over FOURTEEN HUNDRED VICTIMS (Note: that was the 2014 estimate) have been referred to in just the Rotherham Report with countless other areas of the U.K. weighing in with similar accounts.”

        “Another common thread uniting the cases is the cowardly way in which LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNMENTAL OFFICIALS IGNORED AND/OR COVERED UP THE INCIDENTS OUT OF FEAR OF BEING LABELED “ISLAMOPHOBIC”.

“I DIDN’T WANT TO BE ACCUSED OF BEING ISLAMOPHOBIC” IS THE NEW “I WAS ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS.” (September 22nd, 2014) – “The atrocities were enabled by U.K. bureaucrats, many of whom willfully ignored the complaints of the rape victims because the assailants were Muslim. Some of the bureaucrats have tried to excuse their actions (or rather their inaction) by plaintively whining that they ‘didn’t want to be accused of Islamophobia.’

        “Incredible state the western world is in. It’s easier to turn a blind eye to multiple rapes of girls as young as 11 than it is to speak out on the issue and be dubbed ‘Islamophobic’. Some of the testimony from the few brave souls who DID speak out detailed how punishment came swift and sure”.

        “That being said, ‘I didn’t want to be accused of Islamophobia’ truly has become the 21st Century equivalent of ‘I was only following orders’. Both lines are used to excuse one’s gutless and/or unreasoning compliance with a system in which atrocities become permissible. Even routine. And both lines basically translate as ‘I didn’t want to get in trouble by speaking out against the horrors I saw unfolding.”  Continue reading

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