Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog

BALLADEER’S BLOG: WNBA RESULTS

With just over a week left in the WNBA’s regular season, here’s a look at recent results:

EXTRA SESSION – The INDIANA FEVER (19-17) took the court against the visiting ATLANTA DREAM (12-24).

Atlanta was leading 48-44 at Halftime, but from there the Fever forced Overtime with a 90-90 deadlock to end Regulation. In the extra session Indiana defeated the Fever by a final score of 104-100. Aliyah Boston led Indiana with her Double Double of THIRTY points and 13 rebounds, while Caitlin Clark notched her own Double Double of 26 points and 12 assists.

NO ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK – The league leading NEW YORK LIBERTY (30-6) invaded the lair of the DALLAS WINGS (9-27) in this game.

A 28-18 1st Quarter lead for the Liberty became 58-43 by the midpoint. After the break, New York kept the Wings at arm’s length while they glided to a Century Club victory of 105-91. (To qualify for the Century Club 100 points or more must be scored in 4 Qtrs, not OT.) Twenty-seven points from Breanna Stewart led the way for the Liberty, while her teammate Sabrina Ionescu got a Double Double of 14 points and 11 assists. Continue reading

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RED SUN (1971) CHARLES BRONSON, ALAIN DELON AND TOSHIRO MIFUNE

red sunRED SUN (1971) – I had originally planned to review this international production during Frontierado Season of 2025, but French superstar Alain Delon’s recent death made me decide to post it now. Red Sun was a French-Italian co-production starring America’s Charles Bronson, France’s Alain Delon and Japan’s Toshiro Mifune in a Spaghetti Western.   

Directing the film was Terence Young, who had helmed Dr. No and From Russia with Love. Ursula Andress and Capucine added to the massive international star power.

Red Sun is set in 1870. The new Japanese Ambassador to the United States, along with his retinue and bodyguards, arrived in California and as the movie opens is traveling via train across the West in order to reach Washington DC. Ambassador Sakaguchi is bringing with him an ancient Japanese sword as a gift for President Ulysses S. Grant.

red sun againThe train also carries a shipment of gold targeted by a gang of outlaws led by a charismatic but cruel man called Gauche (Alain Delon) and his longtime partner in crime Link Stuart (Charles Bronson). The bandits rob the gold as the train passes through the western deserts. Gauche displays his callous ruthlessness by not caring that he has to kill an innocent passenger while gunning down a man trying to play hero.

Despite the best efforts of samurai Kuroda Jubei (Toshiro Mifune) the gunslinging outlaw leader even steals valuables from the Ambassador’s party, including the sword intended for President Grant. This sets in motion the rest of the storyline.          Continue reading

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THE BOURNE IDENTITY (1980) MY SECOND FAVORITE ROBERT LUDLUM NOVEL

FOR BALLADEER’S BLOG’S OTHER TOP SEVEN LUDLUM NOVELS CLICK HERE.

Bourne Identity2. THE BOURNE IDENTITY (1980)

TIME PERIOD: Vietnam War era to the late 1970s.

Robert Ludlum’s most popular fictional creation – Jason Bourne (Real name David Webb) – has become as thoroughly overused, distorted and bastardized as James Bond or Sherlock Holmes. Ludlum himself already watered down the character’s original impact with two additional novels putting the amnesiac figure in increasingly ridiculous situations.

Since then other writers have churned out so many silly Bourne stories (ten at last count) to the point where Jason Bourne In Spaaaaace is the only avenue left unexplored. Or maybe a crossover with All My Sins Remembered. The Matt Damon movies use virtually nothing but the Jason Bourne name.

To me the bulk of the appeal of the original novel The Bourne Identity was that a reader only had to suspend disbelief just enough to accept an amnesiac figure surviving the unique set of circumstances presented in that story.   Continue reading

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL RESULTS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

HEADLINES

FMU CONQUERS D2 – Each year various teams topple opponents who play in higher divisions. Yesterday the NAIA’s FLORIDA MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY LIONS welcomed the EDWARD WATERS UNIVERSITY TIGERS from NCAA Division Two. The Lions led EWU 10-0, 17-0 and 24-14 in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Quarters, respectively. In the 4th FMU won 31-21.

SEAHAWKS CONQUER D2 – Also from the NAIA, the KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS traveled to face the NCAA Division Two NORTH GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY TRAILBLAZERS. A 7-7 1st Quarter tie became a 14-10 Seahawks edge by Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended with KU up 17-13 before the Trailblazers forced OT with a 20-20 deadlock in the 4th. The Seahawks won 23-20 in Overtime. Continue reading

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LONGSHOT: ONE OF MARVEL’S WTF? HEROES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will look at Longshot, who has been repeatedly memory-wiped, rebooted, repurposed, retconned and has even been a mutant, then NOT a mutant.

ls 1LONGSHOT Vol 1 #1 (September 1985)

Title: A Man Without a Past

Villains: Mojoverse humanoids and creatures

Synopsis: Readers are dumped into events as this issue opens. A mulleted man we will come to know as Longshot is being pursued through a bizarre alternate dimension which we will come to know as the Mojoverse. His pursuers are menacing humanoids armed with rayguns, and oddly formed creatures, some of whom can talk. 

longshot 5At length, Longshot escapes through a random portal and ends up on Earth. We readers learn he has lost his memory and has two hearts and only three fingers and a thumb on each hand. His first superpower (aside from his incredible agility) is revealed to be incredible “luck” and that luck prevented his pursuers’ blaster fire from actually hitting him and instead hitting everything around him. Continue reading

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ELECTRIC VENUS: COMBINING HORROR HOSTESSES WITH YT FILM CRITICS

the electric venusBalladeer’s Blog has covered many, many Movie Hosts over the years. Pioneers from the 1950s like Vampira and Mad Marvin through Moona Lisa, Svengoolie AND Son of Svengoolie, to The Texas 27 Film Vault, Laraine Newman’s Canned Film Festival and Stella from Saturday Night Dead.

electric venusAmong the many others that I’ve examined were big names like Elvira, Joe Bob Briggs, and Joel Hodgson of MST3K. Balladeer’s Blog even covered YT figures who combined movie hosting schtick with online film reviewing like Mr. Plinkett, Decker Shado and The Critical Drinker.

And that brings us to “the glam giallo girlie” herself, Electric Venus, or The Electric Venus as she calls herself. She sprinkles in some humor, but her horror film reviews are also informative. Electric Venus is fond of many Psychotronic movies and genres that the rest of us love, and her youth lets her interest yet another generation in out of the way horror from the silent era to the present day. Continue reading

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A WAR BETWEEN GODS: EPIC FROM VIETNAM

A WAR BETWEEN GODS 

Vietnam mapCANTO ONE – The jungle and mountain god Tan Vien was accompanying the semi-divine Emperor Hung Vuong XVIII on a Royal Hunt. A turn of fate puts them in a position to save the imperiled son of Long Vuong, the chief sea god. CLICK HERE

CANTO TWO – Tan Vien and Thuy Tinh, the god of the monsoon rains, both fall in love with Mi Nuong, the daughter of Emperor Hung Vuong XVIII. Against the backdrop of their growing rivalry, Thuy Tinh’s father Long Vuong honors Tan Vien for saving his son. CLICK HERE 

CANTO THREE – Tan Vien, Thuy Tinh and the patriarch of the Thuc family are among the suitors competing in various contests for the hand of Mi Nuong. CLICK HERE  Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG: WNBA RESULTS

CENTURY CLUB – The INDIANA FEVER (17-16) took it on the road against the DALLAS WINGS (9-24).

A 23-19 1st Quarter lead for Dallas became a mere 46-45 edge by Halftime. The Fever were still chasing their opponents 74-70 to end the 3rd Quarter, but they roared from behind in the 4th to win the game by a Century Club score of 100-93. Kelsey Mitchell’s THIRTY-SIX points led Indiana, while teammate CAITLIN CLARK logged a Double Double of 28 points and 12 assists.

WELCOME TO UNCASVILLE – The CONNECTICUT SUN (24-9) hosted the SEATTLE STORM (20-13) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.

At the Half the Sun were on top of Seattle by a score of 42-34. After the break, Connecticut kept the Storm at arm’s length on their way to a 93-86 victory. Twenty-six points from Brionna Jones led the way for the Sun.  Continue reading

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A VOYAGE INTO TARTARY (1689) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

a voyage into tartaryA VOYAGE INTO TARTARY (1689) – The real author of this work is unknown. It is a fictional encounter with a lost race, advanced technology and more. It’s possible that the writer wanted anonymity due to his then-blasphemous attitudes toward religion.

Ostensibly the travel memoirs of Heliogenes de L’Epy, A Voyage into Tartary details the author’s desire to experience the world first-hand and his subsequent expedition to the east. He and his companions visit Rome and Naples, then Athens and Constantinople.

From there the expedition proceeds further inland, where various calamities rob L’Epy of his fellow travelers. He struggles onward and luckily stumbles upon the isolated city of Heliopolis, located near what we in the 21st Century know as Samarkand.  Continue reading

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LABOR DAY LOOK AT THE “LABORS” OF SAMSON

Happy Labor Day! And yes, I know it’s traditionally the Labors of Hercules, but last week’s blog post about silent film versions of the Samson saga got me thinking. I decided to put together a brief look at the various deeds of Samson from different sources.   

*** Covering the distance between Zorah and Eshtaol in a single leap.

*** Uprooting two “mighty” trees with his massive strength.

*** Moving two formerly separate mountains together to form one single “new” mountain. Continue reading

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