Tag Archives: 2018

BEST OF APRIL 2018

Balladeer’s Blog’s End of Year Retrospective Continues with this look at The Best of April. 

Freedom of expression amnesty internationalFREE SPEECH, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES – Neither end of the political spectrum seems interested in defending freedom of expression except when their own point of view is in danger of being silenced.

Here at Balladeer’s Blog I deal with these issues all the time. Easily offended people from the political left to the political right are often outraged by what I write. CLICK HERE

End of the worldWITHIN AN ACE OF THE END OF THE WORLD (1900) – My review of this work of “ancient” science fiction was a hit with readers.

Robert Barr was the name of the author of this neglected item that dealt with apocalyptic concerns. What Barr’s previous work The Doom of London did for that city Within An Ace of the End of the World did for the entire planet. CLICK HERE

Polo Silhouette LogoPOLO: 2018 U.S. OPEN, GAMES ONE AND TWO – Balladeer’s Blog’s annual coverage of the U.S. Open in Polo attracted its usual share of attention.

Instead of the title game, like previous years, this year the most hits went to the opening two games pitting the Aviators against the Red Sleeves and the Valiants against the Association. CLICK HERE

donald-trump-and-flagTRUMP-HATERS: FASCISTS AND BUFFOONS – After two pieces of garbage like Barack Obama and George W Bush we got a de facto Third Party President in Donald Trump.

This post infuriated the stuffy, blustering fools who hate President Trump, the new FDR. That seems to be because they hate the working class and the poor whom Trump has helped and when they trash the Donald they are really expressing their resentment of the needy people that Trump has benefited. CLICK HERE 

Edward O HeinrichNEGLECTED DETECTIVES WHO SOLVED REAL-LIFE MYSTERIES – This item looked at a pair of baffling real-life mysteries that were solved decades ago by eccentric detectives as colorful as any in fiction.  

Ellis Parker tackled a puzzling murder and bank robbery in 1920, while Edward O Heinrich solved four murders that took place during a botched train robbery. Heinrich’s case happened in 1923. CLICK HERE  

Prisoner 1THE PRISONER: MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER BEFORE – This item kicked off my review of the 1967 science fiction/ existential drama The Prisoner.

This series has become more timely than ever here in the 21st Century. Part Orwell, part Kafka, part Pirandello and part Alphaville, The Prisoner paved the way for ground-breaking shows like Twin Peaks, The X-Files and Lost. CLICK HERE

American FlagPOLITICAL FORTUNE COOKIES – This was a popular one-shot item in which I took shots at Congressional Republicans, Barack Obama and many, many more.

To enjoy them, just CLICK HERE

Michael MooreMICHAEL MOORE: FAKE FRIEND TO THE WORKING CLASS – Pathetic, outdated Michael Moore STILL refuses to give away all but two million dollars of his bloated fortune to prove that he really cares about the 99 percent like he claims he does.

Moore is a whiny, hypocritical hatemonger and is despised by the working class that he claims to champion. CLICK HERE Continue reading

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CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2018 BEGINS: LEYENDA DE NAVIDAD (1947)

If it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving then that means it’s the start of this year’s Christmas Carol-A-Thon! Between now and Christmas Day Balladeer’s Blog will examine multiple versions of A Christmas Carol, both new reviews AND old favorites mixed in. 

Leyenda de NavidadThis film version of A Christmas Carol was produced in Spain in 1947 (and was remade for Spanish television in 1966 ) and the Spanish language title is Leyenda de Navidad ( Legend of Christmas, of course).

The film was written and directed by Manuel Tamayo (who wrote the screenplay for the 1955 feature Tarde de Toros) This is a wonderful version for several reasons, not the least of which would be its well-done (for the time period) sets of 1843 London.

We’ll take the differences and similarities to other versions in order – 1. Scrooge has several people working for him for some reason, not just Bob Cratchit and NONE of them get Christmas Day off from this Scrooge  …

2.  Marley’s Ghost steps out of a life-sized portrait of the man that adorns the wall above a fireplace, and returns to that portrait after his standard warning about the 3 Ghosts … Continue reading

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