Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog

THE FLYING DOCTORS (1986-1992): FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

Flying DoctorsTHE FLYING DOCTORS – Not to be confused with The Teleporting Accountants or The Swimming Chiropractors this was a terrific Australian television series about the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The show was based on the real-life Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, a brilliantly-conceived non-profit outfit that provided medical care – both emergency AND maintenance – for people who had no other access to doctors due to their locations in remote, lightly-populated portions of the Outback.  

With its winning blend of doctors, nurses, life-or-death drama and beautiful Australian scenery this series should have been a NATURAL for crossover success here in the United States. Unfortunately that old t.v. executive excuse always applied to this and other Aussie programming: the belief that the accents would be too heavy for stateside audiences to make out the dialogue. Continue reading →

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL: D3 PRESEASON RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

August 22nd the 2019 college football season kicks off in the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog. Here’s more preseason rankings per the Glitternight Index. 

Mount Union Purple RaidersNCAA Division Three – 1. UNIVERSITY OF MOUNT UNION PURPLE RAIDERS     ###    2. UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS (Defending Champions)    ###     3. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BLUE JAYS    ###    4. SAINT JOHN’S UNIVERSITY JOHNNIES    ###    5. UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT WHITEWATER WARHAWKS    ###   

St Thomas University Tommies6. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS TOMMIES    ###    7. MUHLENBERG UNIVERSITY MULES    ###     8. BETHEL (MN) ROYALS    ###     9. WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE PRESIDENTS    ###     10. HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY COWBOYS    ###     Continue reading →

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KOREAN GOD: TALHAE

King_Kyungsoon_of_Silla_2.jpg (200×233)TALHAE – Also called Tarhae. The wife of King Hamdalpa of Wan-Ha in Yongsong had been married to him for seven years but had yet to produce an heir to the throne. She prayed to the gods for a child and at length she produced a large egg, from which a handsome boy named Talhae emerged.

King Hamdalpa’s advisors told him a child born unnaturally from an egg was a bad omen and that he should get rid of the child. Hamdalpa had the boy placed in a large floating chest along with seven treasures plus a male and female slave.

A red dragon arose from the sea to guard the chest, a red dragon sent by a dragon god who was Talhae’s real father. The chest floated at sea for seven days, during which time Talhae grew to adulthood and stood a full nine feet tall.  

Disembarking at Karak the young god bought even more slaves with his treasure and climbed Mount Toham, followed by his retinue. Talhae sat and pondered at the top of the mountain for seven days, neither sleeping nor eating. Continue reading →

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MALDOROR: A NEGLECTED MASTERPIECE OF SURREAL HORROR

“Maldoror and His Smile” by Lord Orlando

Balladeer’s Blog has done a comprehensive examination of The Songs of Maldoror, often referred to as just Maldoror. The original 1868 French language work by the self-designated Count de Lautreamont (real name Isidore Ducasse) was in verse form, which is great for poetry geeks like me but if you prefer prose there are plenty of prose translations available. 

This work of surreal horror was so far ahead of its time that the author himself, in one of the few existing copies of his correspondence, expressed fears that he might be jailed or thrown into an insane asylum and requested that the publisher literally “stop the presses.” Just 88 copies of the book were completed in that initial run and for a few decades The Songs of Maldoror languished in obscurity.  

By the 1890s those few copies of Maldoror had been circulating among the more adventurous literati of the time period and the work began to be hailed as a forgotten masterpiece by Maeterlink, Bloy, Huysmans and de Gourmont. This new acclaim ultimately resulted in a new run of copies – this time in the thousands instead of dozens like the first run. This also accounts for why some reviewers mistakenly refer to The Songs of Maldoror as an 1890s work, despite its original publication date of 1868. Continue reading →

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ANCIENT SCI-FI – 3,000 MILES THROUGH THE CLOUDS (1892)

The Boys of New York3,000 MILES THROUGH THE CLOUDS (1892) – Written by Francis W Doughty under a house pseudonym for The Boys of New York magazine, serialized from February 13th to April 2nd.

This story starts out like an imitation of Verne’s Mysterious Island but then becomes its own tale after a while. The action starts in 1864 when Union prisoners in the Confederacy’s infamously hellish Libby Prison make their escape led by Captain Mark Wilbur. Their escape by balloon is aided by a sympathetic Confederate.

A storm blows our main characters – Mark, Noel Dupuy and their African-American friend Sam Sandyman – 3,000 miles to the north, where they finally come down into a crater that leads to a subterranean world. They discover a deserted futuristic city overflowing with jewels and precious metals. Continue reading →

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL: 2019 GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE GAME OF THE WEEK SCHEDULE

August 22nd is when the 2019 college football season kicks off in the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog. The Gulf South Conference – often called the SEC of D2 football, has released its Game of the Week schedule for the upcoming season.

West Florida Argonauts helmetSeptember 14th – The UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS at the SHORTER UNIVERSITY HAWKS … 1pm ET

*** 

delta stateSeptember 21st – The DELTA STATE STATESMEN host the FLORIDA TECH PANTHERS … 7pm ET

*** Continue reading →

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ASK BALLADEER: WHAT’S THE DELAY?

masc graveyard newHello and thank you to readers who offered hopeful messages regarding the recent hospitalization of a loved one. As you would imagine that’s why the slowdown in fresh blog posts in the past few days. Things are going well so I should be back up to speed soon. 

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HAMMETT (1982)

HammettHAMMETT (1982) – Directed by Wim Wenders and produced by Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios, Hammett is a criminally neglected valentine to Hard-Boiled Detective Stories and Film Noir. The flick is based on the novel by Joe Gores. 

The stories about the behind the scenes chaos and conflicts surrounding the production of this movie are legion. Pre-production work began in 1975 and by the time it was released in 1982 multiple cast and story changes had taken place and Coppola himself re-shot more than a third of the film.

In the way that Time After Time presented a whimsical “what if” adventure featuring H.G. Wells having a real time machine, Hammett serves up iconic detective novelist Dashiell Hammett getting caught up in solving a real-life mystery.

The timing is excellent, with the story being set in the late 1920s, after Hammett was no longer working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency but before he became a successful author. The tale begins with our hero – played by Frederic Forrest – typing out one of his penny-a-word Pulp stories for Black Mask Magazine, which was to detective fiction what Weird Tales was to horror and sci-fi.

hammett 2Booze and coughing fits figure prominently in the movie, as you would expect given a protagonist who was an alcoholic with tuberculosis. For the sake of convenience the story that Hammett just finished before blacking out was one featuring his character the Continental Op (as in an operative for the fictional Continental Detective Agency).  

Hammett awakens to find his most recent work being read by Jimmy Ryan (Peter Boyle), his old mentor from his Pinkerton days. Ryan jokes with “Sam” (Samuel Dashiell Hammett was his full name if you’re new to all things Hammett) that the “man with no name” in the story seems to be based on him (Ryan) and the way he operates.

Eventually Jimmy gets to the point: he saved Hammett’s life when our hero was new at detective work, and Ryan is finally calling in the debt that Sam owes him for that. The former colleague thus lures Hammett back into detective work for one last case. Continue reading →

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CAPTAIN TERROR: MARVEL SUPERHERO OF THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR AND WORLD WAR TWO

Captain TerrorMarvel Comics rules the superhero roost right now, and with the movie business being what it is that means they pretty much rule blockbuster cinema, too. We have all seen Marvel’s superhero characters dominate the big screen in a way not seen since Cowboy stars of long ago.

Balladeer’s Blog has done plenty of articles about the 1970s comic book serials on which the 21st Century’s Marvel Cinematic Universe was based. I’ve also examined plenty of short-lived World War Two-era superheroes from now defunct comic book companies.

Not only that but regular readers here will remember that I’m an obsessive geek for the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. All that being said, I’m amazed that until yesterday I never knew about the existence of a Marvel Comics (Called Timely Comics in the World War Two Era) superhero who fought in the Spanish Civil War before making a comeback against the Nazis when World War Two broke out. Here’s his complete Golden Age saga.  

Captain TerrorCAPTAIN TERROR

Secret Identity: Dan Kane, millionaire playboy and yachtsman

Origin: During the Spanish Civil War, American millionaire and sport seaman Dan Kane adopted the costumed identity of Captain Terror to fight against future dictator Francisco Franco and his fascists. After the war ended in a victory for Franco’s side, Kane returned to his public life and let the world speculate on what had happened to his alter ego Captain Terror. Continue reading →

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RANDOM WEIRDNESS: SUNDAY EDITION

Balladeer’s Blog’s Random Weirdness item makes its long-awaited return with this little honey:

random weirdness satan

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