Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.
THE PHILOSOPHICAL GRAVEDIGGER
The supernatural being Maldoror, here referring to himself as “He who knows not how to weep”, found himself in Norway in his wanderings. While in the Faroe Islands he observed men who hunt for the nests of sea birds in mountain crevices hundreds of feet deep. He mused that if he was in charge of such an expedition he would have knicked the strong rope the mountain climbers use, weakening it so he could enjoy watching at least one of them plummet to a bone-shattering death far below.
This image of a human body fatally falling into a massive hole in the earth put him in mind of freshly-dug graves. Thus inspired, Maldoror indulged in a nocturnal exploration of the area’s graveyards. In one in particular he passed a band of necrophiliacs violating beautiful corpses and stopped to chat with a nearby gravedigger.
With typical vanity Maldoror told the gravedigger to consider himself lucky to be interacting with him. He (Maldoror) fancied himself a figurative “great whale” momentarily raising his head above the waters of the Sea of Death in which he made his home, granting a mere mortal like the gravedigger the privilege of seeing him in his dread majesty. Continue reading →
FINAL FOUR – GAME ONE – This first semifinal saw the 8th seeded SOUTH PLAINS COLLEGE TEXANS take on the 12 seeds – the HILL COLLEGE REBELS. In this 2015 NJCAA Tournament which has been so tough on single-digit seeds it seemed yet another upset might be in the offing as the Rebels led the Texans 40-38 at Halftime. The 2nd Half was equally tight and Regulation ended in a 79-79 tie. In Overtime the South Plains College offense exploded, outscoring Hill College 23-11 for a 102-90 victory! Andre Spight led the Texans with 22 points. Continue reading 
