Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog

BALLADEER’S BLOG: WNBA RESULTS – JULY 7th

indiana fever logoWIN IT IN THE FOURTH – The INDIANA FEVER (9-13) played host to the NEW YORK LIBERTY (17-4) yesterday.

The Fever were clinging to a mere 39-38 edge as Halftime arrived. The 3rd Quarter ended with the Liberty on top 62-55, but Indiana roared from behind in the 4th to win the game 83-78. CAITLIN CLARK led the Fever with a Double Double of 19 points and 13 assists, while her teammate NaLyssa Smith notched a Double Double of her own with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

minnesota lynxTUSSLE AT THE TARGET CENTER – In this game the MINNESOTA LYNX (15-6) welcomed the WASHINGTON MYSTICS (5-17) to their Target Center home court.

The Lynx saw their 25-14 1st Quarter lead melt away as Washington tied things up at 36-36 by the midpoint. After the break, the Mystics were up 57-55 in the 3rd Quarter before Minnesota exploded for a 74-67 victory in the 4th. Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams led the Lynx with 17 points each. Continue reading

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CAPTAIN AMERICA & THE FALCON: BICENTENNIAL YEAR

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will look at Jack Kirby’s Captain America storyline for America’s Bicentennial Year: 1976. 

ca 193CAPTAIN AMERICA Vol 1 #193 (January 1976)

Title: Screamer in the Brain

Villains: The Elite aka the Royalist Forces of America

NOTE: Legendary comic book artist and writer Jack Kirby, who co-created Captain America back in 1941, had returned for this Bicentennial storyline.

Synopsis: Captain America and the Falcon are casually hanging out at the apartment of Leila Taylor, the Falcon’s romantic partner. Suddenly, a radiation that feels like screaming in one’s brain induces madness in everyone within a couple block radius including Cap and Falc. 

They are eventually able to resist it and fight the destructive mob of other victims until Cap finds and destroys the device responsible. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrive on the scene and take our heroes to a briefing by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Increasingly large versions of these “Madbombs” have unleashed chaos in multiple locations across the U.S. Continue reading

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THE PONY EXPRESS: FRONTIERADO SEASON

pony express ridersFrontierado is celebrated the first Friday of every August, so this year it will be marked on August 2nd. This holiday celebrates the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. Here’s a seasonal post regarding the Pony Express, the much-romanticized messenger service across the west that lasted from April 3rd, 1860 to October 26th, 1861.

expressmanPONY BOB HASLAM – One of the most famous Pony Express riders of them all, after Buffalo Bill Cody. (Wild Bill Hickok did not really work for the Pony Express, but rather as a teamster for its parent company.) Click HERE

THE MAN CALLED BOSTON – This Expressman, real name Warren Fremont Upson, wasn’t really from Boston, but he was from back east and the nickname just stuck. For his colorful career with the the Pony Express and afterward, click HERE.

IRISH TOMMY RANAHAN – A look at his time with the Pony Express and his later career as an armed guard accompanying payroll shipments for gold and silver mines out west, then as an Army Scout. Click HERE Continue reading

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HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY 2024

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 4ths 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. 

continental soldierJULY 4TH, 1788 – The Constitution of the United States is starting to come into full effect this calendar year, instituting the government we are still officially ruled by. First elections are scheduled for later in the year.

JULY 4TH, 1789 – Congress passes a tariff that taxes goods imported in American ships at a rate 10% lower than on goods imported in ships under foreign flags.

JULY 4TH, 1794 – The “Whiskey Rebellion” is underway in western Pennsylvania. Farmers protesting a federal tax on grain alcohol act against it by refusing to pay it and by tarring and feathering the revenue agents sent to collect the tax money. They also take to burning down the homes of revenue officials. The rebellion ends in November.    Continue reading

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SILENT FILMS ABOUT THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Tomorrow is the big day – July 4th! Balladeer’s Blog is squeezing in another seasonal post before then.

the spy 1914THE SPY (1914) – This four-reel movie was based on the 1821 novel of the same name by THE James Fenimore Cooper. The story is set largely at a home in Scarsdale, New York as American Rebel families share feuds, intrigues and romances with British Loyalists. 

Everybody is keeping a secret or two and which characters are spies and which are really what they say they are remains uncertain until the very end. Cooper based the man who emerges as the central American spy on the real-life Enoch Crosby, a friend of John Jay.

Even in this June of 1914 release, George Washington’s reputation for running his own spy networks was well and truly in force in popular culture and the wily general even shows up in disguise a few times. Things work out well for the Americans, but the deep-cover double agent hero doesn’t get credit until after his tragic death. 

A large battle set-piece at a bridge was impressive for 1914 and was praised by Moving Picture World and Variety that year. Herbert Rawlinson and Edna Maison starred. Continue reading

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REVOLUTIONARY WAR: THE BLACK SOLDIERS OF THE CHASSEURS-VOLUNTAIRES DE SAINT-DOMINGUE

Here’s another seasonal post from Balladeer’s Blog for the upcoming Fourth of July Holiday.

chasseurTHE CHASSEURS-VOLUNTAIRES DE SAINT-DOMINGUE – French assistance to the emerging United States of America during our Revolutionary War took many forms. One of the most often overlooked elements of such assistance came in the form of a unit from Saint-Domingue (renamed Haiti during the nation’s own revolution against French control in 1804).

Originally numbering roughly 800 colored soldiers, the Creole regiment had white officers with the exception of their overall commander – the black Marquis de Rouvray, Laurent Francois Lenoir. The unit was formed in Saint-Domingue on March 12th, 1779, and after training and outfitting departed from Haiti on August 15th.

another chasseurThese Chasseurs arrived outside Savannah, Georgia on September 8th and served alongside the American forces and other French troops in besieging the city. In December of 1778 the British had taken Savannah as part of their operations in Georgia and the Americans were trying to take it back. 

The soldiers served with distinction during the campaign and there is a monument in Savannah’s Franklin Square commemorating their heroism. The Chasseurs also served in South Carolina beginning in 1780. Continue reading

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ANOTHER RUM MAKES THE LIST JUST IN TIME FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY

Squeezing in at nearly the eleventh hour is one last new rum for the 2024 list of Balladeer’s Blog’s Favorite Rums for the Independence Day holiday.

blackheart rumBLACKHEART RUM – Made in America, this rum product is described by the distillers as “rich in flavor and edgy to the core.” Blackheart Rum comes in at 93 proof. 

TASTING NOTES

Nose – Mix of cinnamon, fennel, caramel and licorice.

Palate – Spicy and flavorful, with notes of cherry, cream and molasses.

Finish – Finishes with a tantalizing taste and a tinge of spice.

LORE – With my oddball sense of humor I thoroughly enjoyed the elaborate, tongue-in-cheek backstory that Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. came up with for this rum’s mascot. Ready for it?  Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG: WNBA RESULTS – JUNE 30th EDITION

seattle stormWIN IT BY TWELVE – The SEATTLE STORM (11-6) welcomed the INDIANA FEVER (7-12).

By Halftime of the game the Storm were on top of Indiana by a score of 53-39 and from there they coasted to an 89-77 victory. Jewell Loyd led the winners with her THIRTY-FOUR points. For the Fever, CAITLIN CLARK led with 15 points and 7 assists.    Continue reading

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THE BLACK COAT: REVOLUTIONARY WAR SUPERHERO

bc actaThis weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the independent comic book character the Black Coat, a masked hero in 1770s New York City.

This hero’s stories begin in March 1775, just a month before the Battles of Concord & Lexington will kick off America’s Revolutionary War. He has subsequent adventures set during the war itself.

bc splashThe Black Coat is really Nathaniel Finch, brilliant young scientist and friend of Ben Franklin himself. Our costumed hero runs his own covert network of rebels called the Knights of Liberty, men and women who risk everything to fight against tyranny. His coal-black horse Phobos stands ever-ready as well.

Part Zorro, part Dr. Syn the Scarecrow and part Shadow, the Black Coat uses his sword, pistols and steampunk (well, actually sailpunk) inventions to preserve the emerging United States of America. His right-hand lady Ursula Morgan runs the covert outfit’s day to day operations, with the Black Coat going into action against Great Britain, Tory Loyalists and assorted products of Britain’s weird science & occult arts. 

bc acta 1THE BLACK COAT Vol 1 #1 (2006)

Title: A Call to Arms, Part One

Villains: General Savidge, the Butcher and the League

Synopsis: This tale gets off to an interesting start as the Black Coat and some of his Knights of Liberty pilot his submersible proto-submarine the Scylla in their raid of a secret British ship trying to assassinate Ben Franklin under the guise of a pirate attack. 

NOTE: It’s a nod to the real-life affair of the VERY primitive submarine the Turtle from the Revolutionary War. Except the Black Coat’s sub succeeds in its mission. 

bc fightThe saved Franklin visits with our hero in his civilian Nathaniel Finch identity at the New York Sentinel, Finch’s patriot newspaper. Rumors of war breaking out at any moment are everywhere. British General Savidge has secretly allied himself with shadowy conspirators called the League – an evil version of the Founding Fathers’ Masonic Lodges. Continue reading

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ANNA MARIA LANE AND SALLY ST. CLAIR: REVOLUTIONARY WAR HEROINES

anna maria laneWith the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, here is another seasonal post from Balladeer’s Blog. When it comes to women who dressed up as men and served as soldiers during America’s Revolutionary War, Deborah Sampson gets most of the attention. Here’s a look at two other women who disguised themselves as men to serve in the war.

ANNA MARIA LANE (c1755-1810) – Pictured above left, this courageous woman and her husband John Lane joined America’s Continental Army in 1776. Anna Maria saw action in Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Continue reading

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