Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog

July 25, 2015 · 7:35 pm

MALDOROR 5:7 – BLACK TARANTULA

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. 

BLACK TARANTULA

Maldoror 5 7 tarantulaWe are now on the 5th Canto, 7th Stanza of The Songs of Maldoror. The supernatural villain Maldoror gets more of what he deserves this time around. If you enjoyed his suffering in Four Centuries on a Shapeless Throne then you’ll like this Stanza, too. 

Maldoror tells us that every night for the past 10 years a macabre torment has been inflicted on him. In the small hours of the morning he lies in bed and feels himself paralyzed while an enormous black tarantula emerges from a hole in the wall of whatever room he happens to find himself in. 

He helplessly watches as the monstrous figure crawls over to his bed, then up on it until he is pinned beneath its massive, man-sized body. The huge black tarantula then proceeds to suck the purplish blood from his throat. Continue reading →

20 Comments

Filed under Maldoror

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 22, 2015 · 11:26 pm

MALDOROR 5:6 – FUNERAL FOR THE LIVING

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

FUNERAL FOR THE LIVING

Maldoror 5 6 graveyardMaldoror is enjoying another visit through a random graveyard and, being the malevolent creature that he is, finds himself amused by the funeral procession for a 10 year old child. The priest performing the service enters first, holding a white flag in one hand and in the other a flag that bears a golden cross.

Maldoror sardonically describes the cross as “a symbol of the interaction of male and female sex organs.” Behind the priest comes the horse-drawn hearse followed by the chief mourner and behind him come the family and friends of the deceased. Our narrator pretends that the crickets and frogs that cling to the fringes of the funeral procession are also mourning the delicate little child in the coffin.     Continue reading →

26 Comments

Filed under Maldoror

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 22, 2015 · 8:05 pm

POLO: FINAL MATCHUP SET FOR THE BUTLER HANDICAP

Balladeer’s Blog continues its coverage of the world’s OLDEST team sport.

Airstream NomadsThe other team playing in the championship match of the Butler Handicap at Greenwich Polo Club has been established. The AIRSTREAM NOMADS defeated the K.I.G. LIVERYMEN to advance to Thursday’s title game against Greenwich’s own WHITE BIRCH.

The Airstream team:

The Airstream team: Peter Orthwein (Ace), Guillermo Aguerro (Deuce), Michel Dorignac (Chevy), Mariano Gonzalez (Back)

The first Chukker ended in a 2-2 tie and set the pace for the rest of this defense-heavy match. At the end of Chukker number 5 Airstream held a 7 to 4 advantage over K.I.G. In the 6th Chukker the Liverymen shut out the Nomads and tied the game at 7-7, forcing a Golden Goal sudden death situation.    Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Polo

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

July 18, 2015 · 4:30 pm

MALDOROR 5:5 – PERFIDIOUS SNARE

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

PERFIDIOUS SNARE

KB2765_C63_02, 18-02-2005, 08:36, 8C, 3570x3884 (1455+2342), 100%, Hogtep_Literat, 1/100 s, R41.5, G24.5, B32.7

Maldoror, our supernatural protagonist, begins this stanza by expressing his support and admiration for gay men. Modern readers often hilariously misinterpret this as some sort of advanced and enlightened advocacy on the part of the author Isidore Ducasse. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Maldoror makes it clear that he considers what gay men do to be sinful and perverse, which is why he approves of it and participates in pederasty himself. He gives gay men his dark blessing and sings the praises of kissing various portions of his gay lovers’ anatomies. He proceeds with rapturous accounts of spreading the legs of other men and attaching his mouth to “the insignia of their modesty.”   Continue reading →

10 Comments

Filed under Maldoror

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 17, 2015 · 7:32 pm

POLO: WHITE BIRCH CONTINUES TO ROLL AS THE BUTLER HANDICAP BEGINS

When White Birch wins my female readers like to see pictures of their player Hilario Ulloa.

When White Birch wins my female readers like to see pictures of their player Hilario Ulloa.

Balladeer’s Blog continues its coverage of the world’s OLDEST team sport.

White Birch, possibly the most storied Polo Team in U.S. history, continues to pile up the wins here in 2015. After just having taken the Waterbury Cup without losing even one match during the event, the team carried their momentum with them into opening round play in the Butler Handicap.

That  event is being held at the Greenwich Polo Club.  Continue reading →

10 Comments

Filed under Polo

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

July 15, 2015 · 11:06 pm

MALDOROR 5:4 – A PEDESTAL OF IDEAL PERVERSITY

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror. The forces of Hell once again attack Maldoror this time around.

A PEDESTAL OF IDEAL PERVERSITY

Maldoror 5 4 boaThe supernatural being Maldoror is wandering through a jungle region of South America. Readers may remember the author Isidore Ducasse was born and grew up in Uruguay so he was reasonably familiar with the area.

An enormous boa constrictor (or other boa sup-species) has wrapped itself around our narrator in an attempt to crush him. As the battle between them rages Maldoror eventually realizes this is no ordinary serpent he is grappling with. Rather, it is Lucifer himself, incarnate in snake form. As he fights to free himself from the seemingly infinite folds of his opponent Maldoror gives vent to his usual disdain for Lucifer, whom he views as a pathetic figure already defeated by God.   Continue reading →

52 Comments

Filed under Maldoror

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 14, 2015 · 12:07 am

COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM: OGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE

Oglala Lakota College Brave HeartsOGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE BRAVE HEARTS

Location: Kyle, SD

Division: AIHEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium)

Comment: Oglala Lakota College was chartered by the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council in 1971. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Cool names and cool logos

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

July 11, 2015 · 4:47 pm

MALDOROR 5:3 – INTERMITTENT ANNIHILATION OF HUMAN FACULTIES

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

INTERMITTENT ANNIHILATION OF HUMAN FACULTIES

Maldoror 5 3We are now on the 3rd Stanza of the 5th Canto. Our protagonist is railing against sleep, which he describes as “the intermittent annihilation of human faculties.”

He further pronounces that a person who sleeps is “less than a castrated animal” and makes it clear that sleeping is no different than binding ourselves on a sacrificial altar called a bed and leaving ourselves helpless at the hands of a malevolent God.

Maldodor claims he has gone 30 years now without sleeping, ever since he realized that those nightly rest periods are nothing but an opportunity for his archrival God to cement his hold on us. Through sleep God whispers his commands and his demented philosophies to his creations, according to Maldoror. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under Maldoror

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 8, 2015 · 9:14 pm

MALDOROR 5:2 – FOUR SOULS ERASED FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE

Balladeer’s Blog resumes its examination of the macabre 1868 French language work The Songs of Maldoror.

FOUR SOULS ERASED FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE

dung beetleMaldoror, our supernatural protagonist, encounters four men whose lives were all ruined by the same seductive sorceress. The first man has been transformed into a horse-sized dung beetle and rolls along the mangled corpse of the sorceress the way such beetles usually roll clods of dung. 

Our narrator follows this oddity at a distance and eventually the huge dung-beetle encounters a man with the head of a pelican. (No, it’s not Jay Leno, who used to be described as “the pelican-headed comedian” early in his standup career.) The two bizarre creatures stand and converse in heated tones for a time and it slowly becomes clear to Maldoror what caused their mutual hostility and their current physical condition.   Continue reading →

6 Comments

Filed under Maldoror

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 4, 2015 · 2:14 am

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY 2015

American flagBalladeer’s Blog wishes a happy birthday to the USA! What happened in early July of 1776 certainly needs no rehashing so in keeping with my blog’s theme of addressing more out of the way subjects this post will examine various events that took place on other July 4th’s throughout American history.

JULY 4TH, 1778 – George Rogers Clark led his rebel forces in taking the British stronghold of Kaskaskia, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers. Clark and his Rangers were on a mission for then-Virginia Governor Patrick Henry.

JULY 4TH, 1783 – The Massachusetts Supreme Court is finalizing its written decision holding that slavery has been illegal in the state since adoption of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights in 1780.

JULY 4TH, 1788 – Continue reading →

14 Comments

Filed under Neglected History

Tagged as , , , , , , ,