Balladeer’s Blog takes its latest look at a college whose sports teams have a nickname that is out of the ordinary.
STANTON UNIVERSITY Continue reading
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THE BOATS OF THE GLEN CARRIG (1907) – ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION
THE BOATS OF THE GLEN CARRIG (1907) – Written by horror legend William Hope Hodgson, whose works The House on the Borderland, The Ghost Pirates and the Thomas Carnacki short stories were all reviewed previously here at Balladeer’s Blog.
Though Hodgson’s usually associated with horror, The Boats of the Glen Carrig gets classed as science fiction because its nightmarish creatures seem rooted in science, making them more akin to the Xenomorphs in Alien than to the undead buccaneers in The Ghost Pirates or the cosmic supernatural entities of The House on the Borderland.
In 1757 the story’s main character, John Winterstraw, is telling his son James Winterstraw about the horrific adventure that brought John together with the boy’s mother. (How I Met Your Mother: The Prequel Series) John and other sailors were on board the Glen Carrig when it struck a rock near the surface of the waters and sank.
All hands evacuated in the lifeboats but were soon mired in a mass of seaweed in the Sargasso Sea. Their troubles were just beginning, as mutated life-forms began to assault them. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
THE KNIGHTS OF THE SKY (1967-1970)
THE KNIGHTS OF THE SKY aka The Knights of Heaven aka The Aeronauts. This 1967-1970 French series is the Forgotten Television subject this time around. The series ran for 39 episodes – 3 seasons of 13 episodes each. Episodes filled a half-hour timeslot with commercials.
Les Chevaliers du Ciel, to use the program’s French title, starred Jacques Santi and Christian Marin as Michel Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure, respectively. The pair were fighter pilots who flew mostly in Mirage aircraft and had a series of espionage and military escapades in addition to lots of encounters with attractive ladies.
The dynamic of their relationship is that Tanguy is the serious man of action and a Casanova with women, while Laverdure, though capable in a fight and as a pilot, is the comical partner whose antics are often undignified. I like to think of Christian Marin as the French Peter Davison, so think of his character Ernest Laverdure as Davison’s hapless Tristan on All Creatures Great and Small. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL RESULTS FROM JANUARY THIRTEENTH
USCAA
NUMBER ONE ROLLS – The nation’s top-ranked NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) took on the CENTRAL INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE CARDINALS. By Halftime the Builders were on top 55-30 and lost no momentum after the break.
The Apprentice School blew out the Cardinals by a Century Club score of 118-70. Adrion Wall’s 28 points led the Builders.
DOWN GOES NUMBER TWO – The BERKELEY (NY) COLLEGE KNIGHTS played host to the number 2 team in the nation – the BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE AT BUFFALO BOBCATS. The storied Knights held a 33-26 advantage at the Half.
From there the Bobcats outscored Berkeley College 60-56, but still fell short as the Knights triumphed 89-86. Karanja Bright notched 21 points to lead B.C. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
MARVEL ISSUES: JANUARY 1968
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog will examine Marvel Comics’ publications for January of 1968, excluding reprints.
TALES OF SUSPENSE Vol 1 #97 (January 1968)
NOTE: At this time Tales of Suspense featured two series – one for Iron Man and one for Captain America. Beginning with issue #100, Tales of Suspense would be retitled Captain America while Iron Man was moved over to his own new title beginning its issue count at #1.
Title (Iron Man): The Coming of Whiplash
Villain: Whiplash
Synopsis: Picking up from the previous issue’s cliffhanger, Iron Man lies helplessly on the pavement at Stark Industries’ Long Island headquarters after exhausting himself while defeating Thor’s old supervillain foe the Grey Gargoyle.
Jasper Sitwell, S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to Stark Industries, tries to revive the fallen hero while a crowd gathers. Iron Man (believed back then to simply be “Tony Stark’s high-tech bodyguard”) has a sleazy cousin named Morgan Stark. Morgan ran up a huge gambling debt with the Maggia (Marvel Comics’ version of the Mafia) and, to save himself from harm at the hands of their thugs, betrays Iron Man into their clutches by transporting the nearly motionless hero to where he told Sitwell that Tony Stark was waiting to repair the armor. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS: JANUARY TWELFTH
Here is the latest current events roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog. As always, everyone is welcome here no matter who they vote for.
MORE AND MORE REVELATIONS ABOUT CORRUPTION IN DEMOCRAT PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS’ ILLEGAL AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL PURSUIT OF OPPOSITION LEADER TO THE BIDEN REGIME. More HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. When the real corrupt ones run a prosecutor’s office.
BIDEN REGIME INVOLVEMENT IN PROSECUTING POLITICAL OPPOSITION. It’s life here in Joe Biden’s corporate fascist kleptocracy. More HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
JUDGE CALLS OUT WISCONSIN FOR ILLEGAL VOTING ACTIVITIES, THIS TIME FOR THE 2022 MIDTERM ELECTIONS. More from CBS HERE. Well, at least it’s a change of pace from all the revelations of vote fraud in 2020.
POLISH MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CITES TRUMP AS AN INSPIRATION. Continue reading
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
THE ELUSIVE AVENGERS (Neulovimye Mstiteli) 1967
THE ELUSIVE AVENGERS (1967) – This movie is often classified as part of the subgenre called “Easterns/ Osterns” – counterparts of Westerns. As an example of global cinema, The Elusive Avengers is worth a watch maybe once in a lifetime, but the cringe factor is heavy as it romanticizes four young guerilla fighters during the Russian Civil War.
The film is based on the 1921 novel Little Red Devils aka Red Devils aka The Hunt for Blue Fox. A 1923 silent movie version was made long before this definitive 1967 adaptation for the big screen. It goes without saying that the story was used as propaganda by Communist tyrants (and just like I never hesitate to say “Nazi tyrants” or “Nazi filth” I’m never going to hesitate to say “Communist tyrants” or “Communist filth”).
Judged purely on its production values and competent direction, The Elusive Avengers fascinates as much as it repels. In a world where a piece of garbage like deranged war criminal Vlad Putin runs Russia it can make a film like this a challenge to sit through without the real world intruding on one’s thoughts, but again, for anyone interested in world cinema history the movie is a revelation. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, opinion
DECKER SHADO: TERRIFIC REVIEWS OF GOOD AND BAD MOVIES
For several years now I’ve meant to make a blog post recommending the YT Channel of Decker Shado, the often-hilarious figure who calls himself “The internet personality with the best hair.” He focuses mostly on genre films – new and old – and offers a lot of fresh insights on anything from schlock to blockbusters.
Decker’s reviews are energetic and informative even when he’s examining movies that he likes. That makes him stand out on an internet filled with snarky reviewers who can only keep a viewer’s attention when they’re insulting truly horrible movies. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, humor, opinion
ELVIS PRESLEY MOVIES FOR JANUARY EIGHTH
January 8th is the combined marking of Elvis Presley’s birthday and the Battle of New Orleans, in which General Andrew Jackson and French Pirate Jean Lafitte defeated the British in the final battle of the War of 1812.
In the past Balladeer’s Blog has observed this date with looks at the musical Rock’N’Roll vs The Redcoats and with an article on the whole Orion/ Elvis situation. This time I’m taking a quick look at some early Elvis movies.
LOVE ME TENDER (1956) – Elvis was the latest reason that the saga of the Reno Gang/ Reno Brothers got distorted on the big screen. The need to turn the Reno story into a vehicle for Elvis Presley made this attempt the most unintentionally funny of them all.
Favorite Part: A scene between Elvis, playing Clint Reno, and Richard Egan, playing Vance Reno. Despite the fact that the long-missing Vance was given up for dead and Elvis married his mourning girlfriend in the meantime the Side-Burned One actually asks “What’s troublin’ you, Vance?” That question has been a catch-phrase for me ever since I first saw this flick on late-night tv.
Favorite Weirdass Song: Let Me Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, humor
BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL RESULTS FROM JANUARY SIXTH
NAIA
ONE AND TWO ROLL – The number 1 team in the nation – the GRACE COLLEGE LANCERS – downed their hosts the GOSHEN COLLEGE MAPLE LEAFS by a Century Club score of 108-78. ### While elsewhere, the 2nd ranked LANGSTON UNIVERSITY LIONS (should be the Hugheses) obliterated the visiting SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES by another Century Club score of 100-59.
OVERTIME THRILLS – The (14) LOURDES UNIVERSITY GRAY WOLVES used OT to defeat the MADONNA UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS 81-68 ### Meanwhile, the UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN JIMMIES survived a 109-108 visit to the MIDLAND U. WARRIORS ### And the (7) MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS won 85-80 over the (15) ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE BATTLIN’ BEARS. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
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