BALLADEER’S BLOG
THANK YOU once again to all of you readers for making Balladeer’s Blog so enjoyable to write. As I always say the unusual and controversial items I sometimes churn out here mean that readers have to be open-minded and very secure in their own beliefs not to just take offense and leave.
Here are some of my most popular blog posts from the past 12 months.
LATITUDE ZERO (1969) – My review of the long unavailable Japanese monster/ sci fi movie HERE.
DEMOCRAT SLOGANS – Yesterday’s jokes are today’s reality. Click HERE.
INSPECTOR LIPINZKI: FIVE HUNDRED CARATS – My review of this 1893 mystery story as dramatized on The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes in 1973. Read it HERE.
SHARYL ATTKISSON EXPOSES THE BIASES OF SELF-PROCLAIMED “FACT CHECKERS” – It’s brilliant and it’s right HERE.
AMERICA: PART OF THE DUNE SERIES – In the spirit of my blog post America: Part of the Alien Series. Click HERE.
EXPLAINING “DEFUND THE POLICE” FOR OVERSEAS READERS – A look at the ugly political game being played at the expense of community safety. Click HERE.
IRON MAN: THE FIRST TWENTY STORIES – Robert Downey Jr made Iron Man a household name, now see the hero’s earliest adventures HERE.
PROFILE IN COURAGE: DEMOCRAT TULSI GABBARD WARNED ABOUT MAIL-IN VOTE FRAUD BEFORE THE ELECTION LAST YEAR – She was proven right as we continue to learn in the ongoing vote audits and other investigations. Click HERE.
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION – Gullivar Jones On Mars (1905) HERE, Are The Planets Inhabited? HERE. Continue reading
THE YEAR 2440 (1771) – Written by Louis-Sebastien Mercier, this French novel was at first published anonymously in Holland because of its criticism of the French aristocracy and of religion. Also for its bold rejection of societal norms of the time period. It was years before Mercier dared to take public credit for the work, and even then he did so largely because some were crediting The Year 2440 to Rousseau or Voltaire. 
SWALLOWED BY AN EARTHQUAKE (1894) – Written by Edward Douglas Fawcett. The Rinaldi family in Naples invite a group of friends, consisting of young Charlie, his uncle, his friend Jack and Dr Ruggieri, to pay them a visit. An earthquake of record intensity rips open deep chasms in the countryside, with the four travelers sliding down into one.
PHARAOH’S BROKER: BEING THE VERY REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES IN ANOTHER WORLD OF ISIDOR WERNER WRITTEN BY HIMSELF (1899) – Written by Elmer Dwiggins under the name Ellsworth Douglass. For obvious reasons I shortened the title for the blog post headline. 
THE SCARLET PLAGUE (1912) – Written by THE Jack London. Years ago Balladeer’s Blog reviewed London’s mad scientist horror tale A Thousand Deaths, now I’ll examine The Scarlet Plague, London’s post-apocalypse plague story set in the year 2073. 
James Howard Smith is that elderly survivor in a world returned largely to hunting and gathering. He is cared for by his three grandsons, Edwin and two others whose absurd names probably contribute to keeping The Scarlet Plague so underappreciated – Hoo-Hoo and Harelip. (?) They get by as well as they can in northern California, raising dogs to help them herd the goats that they raise for meat and milk, and relying on the ocean for much of the rest of their food supply. Primitive weapons like bows and arrows are all they have on hand to use against wild bears and other menaces. 
THE CAVERN OF FIRE (1888) – Written by Francis W Doughty. This novel was originally serialized in The Boys of New York from September 15th to November 3rd of 1888. The main character is Professor Hardcastle, head of Merton College in Illinois. Hardcastle’s pet theory over the years has been that America’s mound builders were really from ancient Greece. 
ARE THE PLANETS INHABITED? (1913) – Written by Edward Walter Maunder, this book began with ridicule of the outdated belief that the sun and moon might be inhabited, but it doesn’t exactly embody scientific accuracy itself. Therefore I’m classifying it as science fiction even though in 1913 it was considered to be a series of observations adhering to rigid scientific principles. 
THE STEAM MAN OF THE PRAIRIES (1868) – Written by Edward Sylvester Ellis. Before the Frank Reade stories came this work that is often hailed as the first Dime Novel with a science fiction theme. 
THE NEW HUMANS (1909) – Written by B Vallance. No other name has come to light for the author of this thought-provoking work. Explorer Montgomery Merrick is roaming around the wilds of 1909 Uganda when he falls down a mountainside and into a concealed valley. 
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