October 29, 2015 · 5:32 pm

JOHN RHYS-DAVIES ON ISLAM’S PERPETUATION OF SLAVERY

John Rhys-Davies*NOTE: I’m a non-believer so I don’t go along with the “Christian” bits but on everything else I think he’s dead-on. 

“It is disgraceful that Christians are being persecuted and the West is doing little or nothing to stop them. And not just persecuted, but killed. And of course, slavery is back.

“This drives me to a fury. Getting rid of slavery is one of the great successes of Western European Christian civilization. And let me go a little bit further. I am shocked, for instance, that the black community, which has, historically, a recent experience of slavery in their ancestry, is not raging at this reemergence of slavery. Have we become so immune to outrage that we have lost our passion against this abomination? And it is an abomination.

“And let me go further. If there is an ideology that even obliges any of us to tolerate the notion that slavery is a legitimate form of expressing God’s will, then my suggestion is, there is no place in Western civilized society for anyone even prepared to countenance that. Continue reading →

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October 28, 2015 · 11:14 pm

THE RED GNOME

Another neglected American horror legend from Balladeer’s Blog to help celebrate Halloween Month.

THE RED GNOME

Red GnomeThis red-hued hobgoblin has plagued Detroit for over 300 years. The Red Gnome was one of the supernatural entities created by the Native American deity Glooskap to protect his people. When European  settlers began to populate the area the figure did what he could to protect the native inhabitants but when that proved futile he turned his attention exclusively to tormenting the newcomers. 

The Red Gnome was short in stature and often mistaken for a child when glimpsed from behind. The hobgoblin has rotten teeth and breath that can kill if the creature so chooses. Anyone tricked into kissing the Red Gnome is said to die immediately. In addition this ageless being has ruby-red eyes that can shoot fiery rays. 

In 1701 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (yes, as in THAT Cadillac) battled the Red Gnome, which plagued him until he had lost all his fortune. The hobgoblin’s fiery eye-beams would cause frozen ice on the Detroit River to melt under skaters or racers, plunging them to their deaths in the icy waters below. In warmer weather he would cause small boats to capsize and then drown the passengers.  Continue reading →

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October 28, 2015 · 9:45 pm

MWINDO: EPIC MYTH OF AFRICA PART ELEVEN

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this epic myth of the Nyanga people.

PART ELEVEN

african beesAfter spending another night with Kahindo, the goddess of good fortune, the semidivine hero Mwindo reported to the hut of the death-god Muisa the next morning.

The new “impossible” task that Muisa commanded Mwindo to carry out was the harvesting of honey from the deadly African honey-bees in the land of the dead. If the hero succeeded in this task the death-god promised to reveal to him where his evil father Shemwindo was hiding. If he failed then Muisa would kill him and he would never leave the realm of the dead. Continue reading →

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October 27, 2015 · 10:34 pm

THE CORPSE-SMITH OF CONNECTICUT

Another neglected American horror legend from Balladeer’s Blog to help celebrate Halloween Month.

THE CORPSE-SMITH OF CONNECTICUT

Corpse SmithConnecticut is known for its lost cemeteries and graveyards. The Stamford area was supposedly the central territory for the macabre figure called the Corpse-Smith of Connecticut. Also known as the Cadaver Master and the Carrion Engineer this ghoulish character was once a mortal man.

Around the late 1770s the Corpse-Smith was a new arrival from Europe but his exact nationality is no longer known. The man was a brilliant scientist and had made extensive studies of the funerary arts of many High Civilizations from the past including Egypt and Sumer.

The Corpse-Smith combined those arts with his own scientific brilliance and had made incredible advances in the preservation and study of corpses. Like so many geniuses this man was far ahead of his time. Continue reading →

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October 27, 2015 · 7:27 pm

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: LATEST RANKINGS

Northwest Mississippi RangersNJCAA – 1. NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI RANGERS     ###      2. ROCHESTER TECH YELLOWJACKETS     ###      3. BUTLER (KS) GRIZZLIES     ###      4. SNOW COLLEGE BADGERS     ###      5. CENTRAL LAKES- BRAINERD RAIDERS     ###       Continue reading →

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October 26, 2015 · 11:05 pm

THE GREEN STAIN

Another neglected American horror legend from Balladeer’s Blog to help celebrate Halloween Month.

THE GREEN STAIN

Green StainOn Manhattan Island in the early 1800s a druggist named Rigdon ran an apothecary/ drug shoppe. He was a decidedly unfriendly man but the excellence of his concoctions and their rapid effect on his customers ensured him steady business.

The man’s wife and children seemed to fear the man and were a decidedly nervous lot whenever they were found to be helping out at Rigdon’s establishment. It was noticed by the gossips that feline and canine pets of the children never seemed to be around very long, and the children would refuse comment on the disappearances. Continue reading →

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October 26, 2015 · 9:58 pm

THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTED (1980)

Night of the Hunted 1THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTED (1980) – Halloween Month continues with a review of this French horror film. The Night of the Hunted was written and directed by Jean Rollin, who may be the definitive “love him or hate him” auteur.

My own view has long been that Rollin’s films are like projects David Lynch would direct from scripts by Anne Rice. I also believe that the often pedestrian translations of his movies into English accounts for why some viewers think his films are much less complex than they really are.

With The Night of the Hunted our man Jean departs from his usual tales of the undead and explores a different sort of horror. Brigitte Lahaie, the beautiful starlet of so many Rollin films, stars as Elysabeth, who is part of a pair of women on the run through the night-darkened roadways. Continue reading →

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October 26, 2015 · 6:25 pm

FREE PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TO LIVE ACCORDING TO MUSLIM SUPERSTITIONS

Islam

Islam

In my opinion religion is a disease of the mind and Islam is the deadliest and most oppressive form of religion at this particular point in history. The tendency of Muslims to insist that people in countries they migrate to have to live according to their backward religion needs to be opposed, loudly and daily.

*Women have the right to dress however they like no matter what Muslims say about it.

*People have the right to draw pictures of the blood-soaked child rapist Muhammad no matter what Muslims say about it.

*People have the right to question and criticize Islam the same way they question and criticize all other religions.

*Men have the right to love other men and women have the right to love other women no matter what Muslims say about it. Continue reading →

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October 25, 2015 · 4:35 am

SIX ZOMBIE FILMS THAT ARE UNIQUE

If you’re like me you’re bored with all of the zombie and pseudo-zombie films that seem to come out every few months. The 21st Century is as mired in tiresome, cookie-cutter zombie flicks as the 1980s were in tiresome, cookie-cutter slasher flicks.

Here is a look at six films which, while technically classified as zombie films at least adopt unique perspectives and don’t follow established formulas.

ShiversSHIVERS (1975) – David Cronenberg directed this overlooked gem that takes his love affair with body-horror and sets it in what would otherwise be a traditional zombie format. In fact my opinion is that George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead from a few years later shows a lot of this Cronenberg film’s influence.

Barbara Steele is the big name for horror fans in Shivers which was also released under the title They Came From Within. Lynn Lowry and Joe Silver are also in the film.

Countless other movies give us zombies that act purely on the animal instinct to kill and feed. Shivers gives us zombies who act first on the animal instinct to fornicate with killing being a secondary – but no less inevitable – consideration. Continue reading →

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October 25, 2015 · 3:38 am

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 24th

* HEADLINES *

Georgetown (KY) TigersGEORGETOWN COLLEGE RULES THE WORLD – Once again an NAIA team has toppled a team from NCAA Division TWO. For newbies that’s like a 1AA team upsetting a 1A team. The GEORGETOWN (KY) COLLEGE TIGERS were on the road against NCAA D2’s ALDERSON- BROADDUS UNIVERSITY BATTLERS and clobbered them 28-15.

Winona StateNUMBER ONE TAKES A FALL – In NCAA Division Two the WINONA STATE WARRIORS traveled to face the number 1 team in the nation – the MINNESOTA STATE MAVERICKS. The Warriors brought down Number One in their own house in a 31-27 game for the ages. Continue reading →

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