July 17, 2015 · 7:32 pm

POLO: WHITE BIRCH CONTINUES TO ROLL AS THE BUTLER HANDICAP BEGINS

When White Birch wins my female readers like to see pictures of their player Hilario Ulloa.

When White Birch wins my female readers like to see pictures of their player Hilario Ulloa.

Balladeer’s Blog continues its coverage of the world’s OLDEST team sport.

White Birch, possibly the most storied Polo Team in U.S. history, continues to pile up the wins here in 2015. After just having taken the Waterbury Cup without losing even one match during the event, the team carried their momentum with them into opening round play in the Butler Handicap.

That  event is being held at the Greenwich Polo Club.  Continue reading →

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July 16, 2015 · 10:56 pm

NEGLECTED SPAGHETTI WESTERN HEROES

Jeffrey Hunter as The Christmas Kid

Jeffrey Hunter as The Christmas Kid

Frontierado is coming up on Friday August 7th!

In the past Balladeer’s Blog has examined some of the big names among the fictional gunslingers of Spaghetti Westerns. I’ve covered the original Django, Sartana, the Holy Ghost, Dynamite Joe, Harmonica and even Tony Anthony’s character the Stranger. Here are a few of the lesser lights from Eurowesterns.

Christmas Kid 2THE CHRISTMAS KID

Film: The Christmas Kid (1966)

The Story: Jeffrey Hunter portrayed this memorable gunslinger, who got his nickname from the date of his birth, December 25th. His nickname was always bitter-sweet, however, since his mother died giving birth to him on Christmas.

The Kid is a pacifist in fictional Jaspen, AZ during a copper rush. Our hero reluctantly takes up a gun and at first seems like he might be corrupted by the faction led by the crooked town boss (Louis Hayward) but eventually his girlfriend Marie dies as the violence escalates. The Christmas Kid redoubles his efforts against Hayward. Good but not a great film. The Kid deserved more than one screen appearance. Continue reading →

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July 15, 2015 · 11:06 pm

MALDOROR 5:4 – A PEDESTAL OF IDEAL PERVERSITY

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. The forces of Hell once again attack Maldoror this time around.

A PEDESTAL OF IDEAL PERVERSITY

Maldoror 5 4 boaThe supernatural being Maldoror is wandering through a jungle region of South America. Readers may remember the author Isidore Ducasse was born and grew up in Uruguay so he was reasonably familiar with the area.

An enormous boa constrictor (or other boa sup-species) has wrapped itself around our narrator in an attempt to crush him. As the battle between them rages Maldoror eventually realizes this is no ordinary serpent he is grappling with. Rather, it is Lucifer himself, incarnate in snake form. As he fights to free himself from the seemingly infinite folds of his opponent Maldoror gives vent to his usual disdain for Lucifer, whom he views as a pathetic figure already defeated by God.   Continue reading →

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July 15, 2015 · 7:16 pm

WHO’S POLITICALLY UNREALISTIC?

The symbol of the nonexistent Balladeer Political Party

The symbol of the nonexistent Balladeer Political Party

Welcome back to Balladeer’s Blog, the only site on the web that truly criticizes both Liberals and Conservatives equally. People sometimes accuse me of being politically unrealistic with my positions. That’s nonsense. Let me point out just a pair of items I’ve supported for well over a decade but which people told me I was being “unrealistic” about.

1. I supported gay marriage since way back when. People scoffed at me and said I was unrealistic about that and support for it would never emerge from the population at large. Take a look at the present circumstances in this country and try telling me I was “unrealistic.” 

2. I supported the legalization of marijuana since way back when. People scoffed at me and said I was unrealistic about that and support for it would never emerge from the population at large. Multiple states have legalized it and more are considering it. Try telling me now that I was “unrealistic.”

So, today when people say I’m unrealistic about my belief that EVENTUALLY enough support will emerge regarding the need to stand up to Islam’s misogyny, homophobia, censorship and all its other forms of intolerance I’m reasonably confident about the ultimate results. And people who agree with me should not be discouraged by the usual spineless conformists who sit on the sidelines and claim we’re being “unrealistic” or that criticism of Islam should be criminalized as “hate speech.” Continue reading →

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July 14, 2015 · 10:46 pm

RANGE WARS OF THE WEST

MASCOT COWBOY 1Frontierado is coming up on Friday August 7th. To help celebrate this holiday which commemorates the myth of the American West, not the grinding reality here is a look at some of the best-known Range Wars of the period along with their most famous gunfighters.

Texas

Texas

MASON COUNTY WAR

Location: Texas

When: June 1874 to September 1876

The Belligerent Parties: The majority German population ranchers versus the English-speaking ranchers.

The War’s Most Famous Gunfighter: Continue reading →

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July 14, 2015 · 7:53 pm

WNBA: THE LATEST STANDINGS

Connecticut SunEASTERN CONFERENCE – 1. CONNECTICUT SUN (7-4)    ###    2. CHICAGO SKY (8-5)    ###     3. NEW YORK LIBERTY (7-5)    ###    4. WASHINGTON MYSTICS (6-5)    ###    5. INDIANA FEVER (7-6)    ###    6. ATLANTA DREAM (6-7)    ###     Continue reading →

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July 14, 2015 · 12:07 am

COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM: OGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE

Oglala Lakota College Brave HeartsOGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE BRAVE HEARTS

Location: Kyle, SD

Division: AIHEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium)

Comment: Oglala Lakota College was chartered by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council in 1971. Continue reading →

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July 13, 2015 · 5:39 pm

RAMADAN BODY COUNT: 26 DAYS IN

Islam = Hatred, Slavery, Mass Rape and Infanticide.

Islam = Hatred, Slavery, Mass Rape and Infanticide.

The month-long Ramadan holiday is a long celebration of those Muslim sacraments of killing and maiming, whether it be preying on non-Muslims or other Muslims who interpret the ridiculous Koran differently. We are well into the Ramadan Murder-Palooza for 2015 and as an Atheist I’ll be periodically updating the violence perpetrated in the name of that reactionary pack of savage superstitions called Islam.

Only the most gutless of hypocrites try to pretend that Islam is not the most homophobic, misogynistic and otherwise intolerant religion in the world at this particular point in history. Decade after decade and century after century Islam continues to retard the social progress of the rest of the world.

DEAD SO FAR: 2,492   WOUNDED: 3,142

July 10th – In Mogadishu, Somalia 12 more people are killed when Muslim fanatics unleash a suicide bombing followed by gunfire to cut down survivors.

Also July 10th – In Gamboru, Nigeria 8 innocent bystanders are gunned down by the Muslim fanatics of Boko Haram.

July 11th – In N’Djamena, Chad another Muslim suicide bomber, this one at a marketplace, took fifteen innocent people with them.    Continue reading →

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July 12, 2015 · 11:13 pm

THE ORIGINAL DJANGO MOVIES

FRONTIERADO IS COMING AUGUST 7th!

The best Django, Franco Nero, played the gunslinger in Django, Django Strikes Again and (wink) Django’s Grand Return

Like Tarzan, James Bond and Sherlock Holmes the melancholy bounty hunter Django has been presented in various incarnations and with wildly differing continuity. And like soccer the Django movies have been an enormous success almost everywhere except the U.S. 

The great Franco Nero created the role in 1966 in a film so popular in Europe (but banned in the UK for its still- controversial violence) that it spawned a legion of sequels. Some sequels starred Franco Nero or others in the role of Django, while others were just unrelated westerns whose distributors simply  attached a phony Django title to them, sometimes redoing the dubbing to have the lead character referred to as Django, other times not bothering.

Original Django poster Balladeer’s Blog helpfully presents a synopsis of the films featuring (legitimately or not) the most durable Eurowestern hero of them all. And, yes, if you’re wondering, the western bounty hunter Django was indeed the reason George Lucas named that outer space bounty hunter Jango Fett.

DJANGO (1966) – In 1867 Mexico Django, a veteran of the Union army in the Civil War, seeks revenge on Major Jackson, the Confederate officer behind his wife’s death. Jackson and his still-loyal troops, now turned  outright Klansmen, are, like so many other fleeing Confederates, fighting for the Mexican Emperor Maximilian in the war to keep his throne.  

Django battles Jackson’s hooded thugs, even ambushing dozens with the Gatling Gun he keeps concealed in a coffin. When he’s out of men Major Jackson calls on Maximilian’s Imperial troopers for reinforcements and prepares to face Django and the Mexican rebel troops he’s fallen in with. For a detailed review of this unforgettable film click here: https://glitternight.com/2012/08/08/the-original-django-and-two-blaxploitation-westerns-a-primer-for-django-unchained/

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST (1966) – AKA He Who Shoots First. Django comes into an enormous inheritance from his murdered father, an inheritance he learns he must share with his late father’s unscrupulous business partner, Mr Cluster. Django starts blowing away a host of bad guys as he tries to piece together who is responsible for his father’s death.

DJANGO, A BULLET FOR YOU (1966) – Django uses his guns to protect a group of downtrodden farmers from the villainous, land-grabbing town boss of Wagon Valley. He Continue reading →

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July 12, 2015 · 2:21 am

BILLY THE KID VS DRACULA (1966) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Billy the Kid vs DraculaBefore MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault! In the middle 1980’s, way down on Level 31 Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class hosted this neglected cult show. Balladeer’s Blog continues its celebration of the program’s THIRTIETH  anniversary year.

Welcome to a special Frontierado Season look at this neglected cult show! And remember, Frontierado is Friday August 7th!

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday May 18th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am. 

Phantom EmpireSERIAL: Before showing and mocking Billy the Kid vs Dracula our members of the Film Vault Corps (“the few, the proud, the sarcastic”) showed and mocked an episode of the Mascot Serial The Phantom Empire (1935). 

In that classically campy serial Gene Autry played a singing cowboy who saves the world from  an  advanced underground civilization that comes complete with killer robots who wear cowboy hats.

FILM VAULT LORE: Special thanks to my fellow Vaultie “King Vita” for the date of this episode. He also passed along the info that he was already obsessed with western movies, serials and television shows by this point in the 1980’s.

The King recalls that he got all excited because he assumed the coincidental “all-western” theme of this episode of The Texas 27 Film Vault, along with the “Texas” part of the title, meant that every episode would focus exclusively on westerns. (Ken Miller’s recurring character Tex probably added to his mistaken impression.) Needless to say he learned he was wrong by the following episode but still fell in love with the show. 

A behind the scenes photo of Laurie Savino, who held the rank of Mystery Clip Technician in the Film Vault Corps.

A behind the scenes photo of Laurie Savino, who held the rank of Mystery Clip Technician in the Film Vault Corps.

FILM VAULT CORPS: Here is another photo of Laurie Savino, whose rank in the fictional Film Vault Corps was “Mystery Clip Technician” for the trivia contests based on quick clips of movies previously shown by Randy and Richard.

Sometimes the prizes would be movie ticket give-aways sponsored by Channel 27 and other times would be items like the Randy and Richard action figures. Laurie was also featured on The Texas 27 Film Vault 3-D poster (another of the give-aways) and the occassional newspaper article about the program.   

THE MOVIE: Billy the Kid vs Dracula is one of the most notorious Golden Turkeys of all time and was directed by the legendary William “One Shot” Beaudine. Beaudine got his nickname for his commitment to using just one take for each scene, no matter how good or bad. And by this point in his career – which reached back to the days of silent movies – there were a lot more bad takes than good.  Continue reading →

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