October 24, 2013 · 7:45 pm

OBAMACARE: THE DISASTERS CONTINUE

The new Obama presidential seal

The new Obama presidential seal

Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my contempt for American Liberals and American Conservatives. Barack Obama is a repulsive left-wing demagogue who spouts nothing but mindless Liberal gibberish no matter how much it conflicts with reality. This is similar to the equally repulsive Ronald Reagan who was a right-wing demagogue who spouted nothing but mindless Conservative gibberish no matter how much it conflicted with reality.

At any rate a fellow blogger – who is unfortunately unemployed and therefore the type of person that the oily and sleazy Little Barry pretended would be helped by Obamacare – recently wrote about his own frustrations with the faulty website and the ill-considered Catch 22’s of this disastrous piece of legislation. I will say again that Obamacare is NOT in any way similar to Franklin Roosevelt’s introduction of Social Security, a program I support. Obamacare is a disaster that everyone of all political persuasions tend to oppose, but the media continues to act as if only right-wing people oppose it.

Here is a link to the Continue reading →

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October 23, 2013 · 12:08 am

HORROR MARVELS: FIVE INTRIGUING BUT FORGOTTEN HORROR COMICS

Satana the Devil's Daughter

Satana the Devil’s Daughter

Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues! There are plenty of Marvel Comics authorities who could give you the story of the in-depth evolution of horror comics in the 1970’s, from the relaxing of the Comics Code around 1970 onward. I’ll spare all of us a trip down that particular alley and cut to the chase. Marvel Comics is THE comic book publishing house in pop culture right now with nearly every movie that ever gets made being based on a superhero figure from The House of Ideas.

The 1970’s saw Stan Lee and company churn out countless horror comics to cash in on the new flexibility in four-color storytelling. Some were long-lasting successes, like Tomb of Dracula, and others weren’t, like The Frankenstein Monster. When Marvel ventured outside established works by Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and others they actually produced some very intriguing characters who had more potential than many actual horror films from the 70’s. Excluding the overworked Drac and Frank here are five of Marvel’s most intriguing horror figures from that experimental decade.

Satana

Satana

1. SATANA THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER

Comment: How has this character NOT been the subject of multiple movies by this point? You’d think that Marvel would have learned long ago not to Continue reading →

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October 22, 2013 · 8:42 pm

COOL FOOTBALL HELMET: WESTERN STATE COLORADO UNIVERSITY

Western State Mountaineers helmetWESTERN STATE COLORADO UNIVERSITY MOUNTAINEERS

Location: Gunnison, CO

Division: NCAA Division 2

Conference Affiliation: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

Comment: Plenty of other institutions have names that seem unusual at first glance – Texas A&M University of Corpus Christi, Indiana University Purdue University of Indiana or Continue reading →

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October 21, 2013 · 10:44 pm

HALLOWEEN SILVER JOHN TALES

Silver John: Can These Bones Live?

Silver John: Can These Bones Live?

My month-long celebration of Halloween continues! Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will recognize Manly Wade Wellman’s Silver John from my Pulp Heroes page. Silver John, so- named because of the silver strings on his guitar and the silver coins he carried in his pockets, roamed the Appalachian Mountains decades ago combating dark supernatural menaces. On my Pulp Heroes page I’ve done a synopsis for each of the short stories featuring this neglected character, but this post will simply list the four tales most appropriate for Halloween.

4. THE LITTLE BLACK TRAIN – While performing with other musicians at a wealthy Southern Belle’s outdoor celebration Silver John finds himself trying to save his alluring but wicked hostess from losing her life to a ghostly train. That pitch- black train with coffin- shaped boxcars runs only at midnight on just one night a year to run down and take the life of a Continue reading →

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October 20, 2013 · 2:35 pm

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 19TH

Bacone WarriorsBACONE RULES THE WORLD YET AGAIN! – Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will remember that each week of every college football season brings us at least one NAIA college football team upsetting a team from NCAA Division Two. (No NCAA Division 3 teams do that) The BACONE COLLEGE WARRIORS are one of the NAIA teams that accomplish this task on a fairly regular basis and yesterday they did it again, trouncing D2’s visiting PANHANDLE STATE AGGIES 47-9.

Northwestern College Red RaidersTOP 25 UPSETS – NAIA – The unranked STERLING COLLEGE WARRIORS brought down the visiting 8th ranked OTTAWA UNIVERSITY BRAVES in an authoritative 30-18 manhandling   ###   The NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS (helmet at left) won a thrilling 30-28 homestand against the number 14 CONCORDIA (NE) BULLDOGS   ###   And the SOUTHERN OREGON RAIDERS sent the 18th ranked MSU-NORTHERN LIGHTS home reeling from a 55-28 beatdown.

Midwestern State MustangsTOP 25 UPSETS – NCAA DIVISION TWO – The number 21 MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS hosted the 7th ranked WEST ALABAMA TIGERS and crushed them 45-21   ###   Meanwhile the LENOIR-RHYNE UNIVERSITY BEARS smacked around the visiting number 23 NEWBERRY WOLVES to the tune of 35-14   ###   And the EDINBORO UNIVERSITY FIGHTING SCOTS knocked the homestanding 25th ranked IUP CRIMSON HAWKS out of the rankings in a 36-30 nailbiter.

Rowan ProfsTOP 25 UPSETS – NCAA DIVISION THREE – The ROWAN UNIVERSITY PROFS were ungracious hosts, toppling the number 11 WESLEY WOLVERINES by a score of 24-17   ###   Meanwhile the SALISBURY UNIVERSITY SEAGULLS marked Family Weekend by winning a 42-35 Instant Classic against the 19th ranked ST JOHN FISHER CARDINALS   ###   And the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE SPARTANS clobbered the number 21 COE KOHAWKS 38-14 in Continue reading →

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October 19, 2013 · 9:26 pm

ELEVEN MORE NEGLECTED BAD MOVIE CLASSICS FOR HALLOWEEN

Return of Dr X

Return of Dr X

My month-long celebration of Halloween continues! Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are very familiar with my Bad Movie page where I examine plenty of under the radar movies that are hilariously awful. Previously I ran a list of the top Eleven Neglected Bad Movie Classics for Halloween. That was such a hit here is a list of eleven more neglected bombs. My Bad Movie page features full-length reviews of each of the movies I’m offering a synopsis of here.

THE RETURN OF DR X (1939) – The notorious film in which the legendary Humphrey Bogart played a zombified mad scientist named Dr Xavier who was brought back from the dead by another mad scientist named Dr Flegg. Much of the fun comes from Bogie’s unmistakable disdain for finding himself in the kind of stinker that Bela Lugosi often waded through. Bogie’s Dr X kills Continue reading →

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October 19, 2013 · 1:54 am

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 17TH AND 18TH

Washburn Ichabods helmetFOURTEEN AND FIFTEEN ROLL! – During Halloween season one of the things you think about is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which makes you think of Ichabod Crane, which makes you think about the WASHBURN UNIVERSITY ICHABODS. The Ichabods are ranked number 14 in the nation and on Thursday night they crushed the visiting FORT VALLEY STATE WILDCATS 41-0   ###   And the 15th ranked OHIO DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY PANTHERS nearly doubled up on the FINDLAY OILERS, smashing them 41-21.

MercyhurstMASSACRE AT MERCYHURST – On Thursday night the MERCYHURST UNIVERSITY LAKERS welcomed the GANNON UNIVERSITY GOLDEN KNIGHTS into their lair. This game too kept to the evening’s theme of teams playing incredibly lopsided affairs. Per the title of this segment Mercyhurst massacred their opponents in merciless (see what I did there) fashion, with the final score being Lakers 51  Golden Knights 21.

Itawamba College IndiansFINALLY A CLOSE GAME! – Thursday night did yield one close game, fortunately. The ITAWAMBA COLLEGE INDIANS won an Instant Classic against the visiting NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE TIGERS. The Indians eked out a 36-33 win in this nailbiter   ###   And in the only other reasonably close game of the evening the HINDS COLLEGE EAGLES defeated the Continue reading →

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October 17, 2013 · 1:55 am

FOUR ZOMBIE FILMS THAT ARE ACTUALLY UNIQUE

Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues! 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 1980’s were in tiresome, cookie-cutter slasher flicks.

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

Living Dead Girl

Living Dead Girl

1. THE LIVING DEAD GIRL (LA MORTE VIVANTE) (1982) – French director Jean Rollin helmed this introspective, touching and at times even poignant rendition of a zombie film. If you’re not familiar with Rollin’s work he often starts with a prosaic premise but then flies off into strikingly original territory with it.   

La Morte Vivante starts off with the trope of toxic waste artificially preserving and ultimately reviving the corpse of heiress Catherine Valmont (Francoise Blanchard). The barrels of toxic waste have been illegally stored in the Valmont family’s catacombs over the course of two years without their knowledge and Catherine’s first action when restored to life is to dispatch the men dumping the waste in swift and bloody fashion. Another corpse in the catacombs with Catherine is Continue reading →

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October 16, 2013 · 9:29 pm

COLLEGE FOOTBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

HELMETMorningside_IANAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) –

1. MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS (2012 runners-up)      ###      2. BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS      ###      3. GRAND VIEW UNIVERSITY VIKINGS      ###      4. CARROLL COLLEGE FIGHTING SAINTS      ###      5. UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS PATRIOTS      ###      6. MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE VIKINGS      ###     

Rocky_Mountain_MT_OLD57. ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE BATTLIN’ BEARS      ###      8. CONCORDIA (NE) UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS      ###      9. OTTAWA (KS) UNIVERSITY BRAVES      ###      10. TABOR COLLEGE BLUEJAYS      ###      11. PERU STATE BOBCATS      ###      12. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS      ###     

NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) –

North Greenville Crusaders1. NORTH GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS      ###      2. AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY COUGARS      ###      3. TRINITY INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY TROJANS      ###      4. GREENVILLE COLLEGE PANTHERS ( defending champions)      ###      5. GENEVA COLLEGE GOLDEN TORNADOES       ###      6. Continue reading →

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October 16, 2013 · 12:10 pm

THE GREAT GOD PAN (1890) : HALLOWEEN READING

The Great God Pan

The Great God Pan

Balladeer’s Blog’s month-long celebration of Halloween continues! Nearly a century before Rosemary’s Baby and The Omen trilogy and decades before H.P. Lovecraft’s Dunwich Horror and From Beyond there was Arthur Machen’s story The Great God Pan. Originally published in 1890 and then expanded in 1894 this gothic horror tale was so far ahead of its time that it scandalized readers and reviewers of the era. Even though it came along earlier than Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula Machen’s great work dealt with such a brand of horror and with such adult themes that movies – silent and then early talkies – wouldn’t dare adapting it for the screen. 

Thus denied the cinematic exposure that made names like Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde household words The Great God Pan fell into undeserved obscurity, much like The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers, a work reviewed previously here at Balladeer’s Blog.

Like so many of the best horror stories Machen’s tale begins with a mad scientist, in this case Dr Raymond, who invites his friend Mr Clarke to witness him perform an Continue reading →

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