Tag Archives: blogging

TRUMBO (2015): DEMOCRAT HYPOCRISY IS HILARIOUS

democrat republican or awakeThe political intolerance of the shallow, uninformed and emotionally unstable fascists called Democrats knows no bounds. They unabashedly call for the personal and professional destruction of everyone who thinks differently or votes differently than they do while ignoring the fact that they are practicing their own – even more fanatical – form of McCarthyism. In fact, Democrats are such fascist filth that if someone doesn’t denounce the Democrats’ countless objects of hatred as fanatically as THEY do, they want the person destroyed. “Lack of sufficient zeal” I guess.  

This movie is further proof that American Liberals are the biggest hypocrites in history.

This movie is further proof that Democrats are the biggest hypocrites in history.

TRUMBO (2015) – How about “Are you now or have you ever been a racist or imperialist or Islamophobic or privileged?” Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know how sick I am of the increasingly meaningless Democrats vs Republicans paradigm. It’s just that right now American Democrats are far more pompous, divisive and hubristic and in need of being cut down to size.

Case in point: the movie Trumbo. Only America’s Democrats could be so lacking in self-awareness that they would – in this age of non-stop harassment of dissenting opinions, of police, of Trump supporters, an age of Cancel Culture, the Political Correctness Police and SJW persecutors – yes, only the monumentally hypocritical trash called Democrats would be so lacking in self-awareness that they would trot out (for the millionth time) the story of Dalton Trumbo and some of the other figures who were black-listed during the Communist Witch Hunt of decades ago.

For the past few decades Left-Wing Archie Bunkers  have been the ones black-listing and inflicting draconian punishments on people who dare to hold different political opinions than they do.

We are still suffering under the “Racist” and “Privilege” and “White Supremacy” Witch Hunts that Democrats continue to pursue with the same sickeningly judgmental attitude and spurious statistics that Joe McCarthy was accused of. How many careers (and therefore lives) have we all seen ruined by the cold, merciless asses of the political left? Often over  simple remarks or organizations the victims belonged to or political contributions they made YEARS earlier. Plus DemoKKKrats accuse people of being racists/ white supremacists as a scare tactic the way accusations of being a Communist were used back then.

Anyone under 30 (maybe even 40) who watches Trumbo needs to focus on the OBVIOUS parallels to the way Democrats hound and persecute dissenters and any behavior they choose to interpret as “racism” or more generally as “hate.” When you watch right-wing zealots obsessively looking for “pernicious communism” and “secret communist messages” in Trumbo’s screenplays make a point of noting the similarities to the way Democrat zealots obsessively look for “white supremacy”, “xenophobia”, “imperialism,” “colonial narratives” and on and on through the entire list of their paranoid fixations.  

Democrats are monumental hypocrites who thrive on censoring dissenting ideas and black-listing people who hold those ideas even though they pretended to disapprove of censorship and black-listing when those tactics were used against them. Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion

ANALOG ARCHIVES AND CHANNEL 7

analog archivesPreviously here at Balladeer’s Blog I covered YT Channels that featured what I considered the very best of the emerging subgenre of Analog Horror or “Unfiction” as a lot of people have labeled it. Those descriptive terms have been coined to help keep these creative efforts distinct from pure ARGs (Alternate Reality Games).

Last year I reviewed Local 58, Kris Straub’s latest venture, but many readers have since been expressing their discontent with the way the new 2020 episodes never materialized. Per Straub, that’s because Local 58‘s Analog Horror tale was going to incorporate a fictional pandemic, so given real-world events he decided to hold off and reorganize the series.

masc graveyard smaller(If you’re in the mood for Analog Horror which does NOT back away from pandemic and lockdown lore, check out Walker Creek Broadcast Station, but be aware that such lore is only incidental to the main storyline.)

At any rate, being left hanging like that with Local 58 left many of you asking about similar Analog Horror/ Unfiction series which are already completed. I’m happy to say that two of the most popular series are now available COMPLETE and IN ORDER. Even better, they have been edited into one long-form YT video each for your viewing convenience, rather than spread out episodically. (You damn whiners. I’m KIDDING!)  Continue reading

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Filed under Forgotten Television, Halloween Season

MARDI GRAS MASSACRE – (1978)

Mardi Gras MassacreMARDI GRAS MASSACRE (1978) – Category: A neglected Bad Movie classic, but its hard-core gore will prevent it from ever having a Plan 9-sized cult following

It takes a twisted sort of genius to make multiple disembowelment murders look boring, but that’s exactly what Jack Weis accomplishes in Mardi Gras Massacre! Today may be Fat Tuesday, but let’s rechristen it “Splat Tuesday” in honor of this late 70s splatterfest. 

The actual “massacre” part of this movie is an incredible disappointment. An insane, hate-filled man with a knife – no, not Jim Bowie (rimshot) – is roaming around New Orleans during Mardi Gras targeting prostitutes as sacrificial offerings to the Aztec deities he worships.

That sounds promising for a horror film but the disembowelment ritual is reenacted word for word and movement for movement for EACH VICTIM! There is no variation and also no suspense because after the first killing we know exactly how all the subsequent sacrifices will play out. The only chills come from listening to the awful disco music that plays during the ceremonial slayings. (“NOOOOOOOOOO!”) Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies

FEBRUARY FOOTBALL: RECENT SCORES

Because of so many reschedulings caused by Covid last fall here are football scores from the past few days.

NAIA

Roosevelt LakersHISTORY WAS MADE – The ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY LAKERS played their first ever intercollegiate football game. It was played in snow … in freezing temperatures … but they STILL won, notching the first win in program history! Their opponents were the visiting SAINT AMBROSE UNIVERSITY FIGHTING BEES. Recently, Roosevelt University merged with Robert Morris University (IL), whose sports teams were called the Eagles but in the merger all teams will now go by the RU team name Lakers.

As for this game the Lakers, boasting members of the old Robert Morris-Illinois football program due to the merger, were on top 13-6 at the end of the 1st Quarter. That became a 20-6 advantage by Halftime. Neither team scored in the 3rd Quarter, then exchanged Touchdowns in the 4th for a final count of Roosevelt U 27  Fighting Bees 13.

Saint Andrews University KnightsCOMEBACK KIDS – The SAINT ANDREWS UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS took it on the road against the BLUEFIELD COLLEGE RAMBLING RAMS yesterday. The Rambling Rams led 14-7 in the opening Quarter and 20-9 at the Half. The Knights exploded in the 3rd Quarter to take a 42-27 lead but Bluefield College countered by going up 43-42 in the 4th. The Knights notched a late TD to emerge with a 48-43 victory.   

saint-xavier-cougars-helmet-newCOUGARS ON THE ROAD – The SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS traveled to face the UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IL) FIGHTING SAINTS. The 1st Half of this gridiron grudge match ended in a 9-9 deadlock, followed by the Cougars grabbing a 12-9 edge to end the 3rd Quarter. The Fighting Saints knotted things up at 12-12 only to see Saint Xavier University go on to win the game by a score of 19-12.    Continue reading

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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LATEST JAMES BOND INSTALLMENT, “NO TIME TO DIE”

Daniel CraigDaniel Craig has been the face of James Bond since Casino Royale’s 2006 premier

With over two dozen films and a variety of different lead actors, the James Bond franchise is one of the highest grossing movie series of all time. From the 60s and 70s with Sean Connery to the mid 90s and early 2000s’ portrayal by the handsome Pierce Brosnan, viewers can’t get enough of the famous British spy and his exciting, daring expeditions.

This year fans are gearing up for the 25th installment, No Time to Die, extremely expectant for all it has in store. After all, as the 2020 Super Bowl trailer promised, this Bond will change everything. Below we’ll give you all the info you need to know about the film industry’s most anticipated production of the year. Continue reading

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Filed under Pulp Heroes

FIRST 20 CAPTAIN AMERICA STORIES FROM THE 1960s

Regular readers have let me know they are going through Marvel withdrawal right now because WandaVision just isn’t giving them enough of a fix. Last year I looked at Captain America’s first 20 stories from the 1940s. Now here’s a look at his first 20 solo stories from the 1960s.

tales of suspense 59TALES OF SUSPENSE Vol 1 #59 (November 1964)

Title: Captain America

Villain: Bull

Comment: After being thawed out from his suspended animation in Avengers #4, Captain America had been serving as a member of the team while trying to adjust to the way he had lost twenty years preserved in ice. Now he was getting his first Silver Age solo stories. Jack Kirby was drawing Cap’s stories, just as he had during the 1940s when he co-created the character. 

Synopsis: Alone on monitor duty at Avengers Mansion one night, Captain America was helping to pass the time by looking through old World War Two scrapbooks and memorabilia. He still missed his late partner Bucky. (NOTE: It was not until decades later that Marvel retconned events so that Bucky had survived as the Winter Soldier.)

Elsewhere in New York City, a gangster called Bull and his dozen or so men have learned that it’s Cap’s turn on monitor duty. With the other Avengers (Thor, Iron Man, the Wasp and Giant-Man) elsewhere, Bull and his men decide it’s their best chance to mount a raid on Avengers Mansion and make off with some of the Top Secret tech and national defense secrets in the place. Continue reading

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Filed under Superheroes

SIXTEEN NEGLECTED SECRETARIES OF STATE

masc chair and bottleWith President’s Day coming here’s a look at some of the people who proved pivotal to the administrations of the Presidents of the United States. Many of those Secretaries may not be household names here in the 21st Century but they would definitely stand out on any staff. Here is an examination of sixteen such figures in chronological order.

Figures like James G Blaine, William Seward, and Henry Kissinger are so well-known that they are not included on this list.

Timothy Pickering1. TIMOTHY PICKERING (1795-1800)

Served under: Presidents George Washington and John Adams

Noted for: Conspiring with Alexander Hamilton to undermine some of the policies of the Washington and Adams administrations. When Adams discovered this he ordered Pickering to resign, but Pickering refused, forcing Adams to fire him. Pickering remains the only Secretary of State to officially be fired by the President.

Henry Clay2. HENRY CLAY (1825-1829)

Served under: President John Quincy Adams

Noted for: Fighting a duel with Senator John Randolph, one of Clay’s critics who felt he had struck a “corrupt bargain” with Adams to get this prized cabinet position. Also for completing the first commerce treaties between the young United States and the various nations in Scandinavia and Latin America.

John Forsyth3. JOHN FORSYTH (1834-1841)

Served under: Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren

Noted for: Obtaining long-disputed reparations from France for U.S. commercial losses suffered during the Napoleonic Wars. Also for threatening to resign early in Van Buren’s administration before his relationship with the new president improved. Continue reading

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SAMURAI FILMS – THE SON OF THE BLACK MASS SERIES

Raizo Ichikawa as the red-haired Samurai Kyoshiro Nemuri, the Son of the Black Mass.

Raizo Ichikawa as the red-haired Samurai Kyoshiro Nemuri, the Son of the Black Mass.

Balladeer’s Blog begins its examination of various Samurai films from Japan. In keeping with my blog’s overall theme I won’t be covering the uber-popular Samurai flicks like Yojimbo, The Seven Magnificent Samurai or the Musashi Miyamoto Trilogy. Regular readers who are familiar with my contempt for organized religion will not be at all surprised that I’ll be starting out with the Son of the Black Mass series of films starring Raizo Ichikawa, often called “the James Dean of Japan.”

In addition to the twelve Ichikawa movies I will also cover the two entries in the series made after Raizo’s untimely death from cancer. After that, to be a fully comprehensive look, I will also examine the original novels as well as the three Son of the Black Mass movies made in the 1950’s, even though they did not have the cinematic impact of the films starring Raizo Ichikawa.

Raizo Ichikawa headshotThe odd title of the movie series comes from the fact that the title character, former Samurai turned Ronin Kyoshiro Nemuri, is the child of a Japanese woman and the crazed Portugese missionary who raped her. The insane missionary was dabbling in Satanism and Nemuri was conceived during a Black Mass ritual, hence the series title. The deadly swordsman inherited his hated father’s red hair and when a heavy rain washed out the black dye Nemuri was disguising it with, his exposure as a half-breed led to his shunning and his fallen status. Continue reading

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Filed under Bad and weird movies, Samurai Films

FOURTEEN MORE FAILED PREDICTIONS BY SCIENTISTS

mascot sword and gun pic

BALLADEER’S BLOG

Balladeer’s Blog’s previous lists of failed predictions from psychics, religious figures and even scientists have been big hits. Here’s another list looking at such failed predictions, made in 1975.

JAMES BONNER

*** By 1980 doctors will be able to grow new hearts and livers for human beings and after 2 or 3 years insert them into the patient’s anatomy to replace the failing organs. 

*** In “the near future” cloning might be used to develop a superspecies of human beings.

D.G. BRENNAN

*** By 2018 hurricanes will be controllable and used as weapons in warfare. Continue reading

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Filed under opinion

HILLMAN PERIODICALS SUPERHERO PANTHEON

Balladeer’s Blog’s readers demanded another detailed look at superheroes from a forgotten publishing company. Here are the often neglected heroes of Hillman Periodicals.

Dash Dixon 2DASH DIXON

Secret Identity: None, but he was called Dash Dixon the Man of Might so some sources list him as Man of Might with Dash Dixon given as his secret identity. He was publicly known, however.

First Appearance: Miracle Comics #1 (February 1940)

Origin: When police officer Dash Dixon was guarding a scientist named Doctor Lorenz, he agreed to be a human guinea pig for the doctor’s “Perpetual Life Rays” in his enclosed Perpetual Life Cabinet/ Coffin, in which he was also fed chemicals intravenously. Those rays and chemicals gave Dash superpowers with which he fought crime on special assignments from the Commissioner.

Dash Dixon Man of MightPowers: Dash Dixon, the Man of Might, possessed the strength of fifty men, could leap incredible distances, was invulnerable to harm and could live forever. (Originally he had the strength of just three men but that was changed to fifty. You know comic books.)

Normally the Perpetual Life Rays would wear off after a period of 24 hours but Dr Lorenz provided a pliable metal uniform for this hero to wear. The uniform contained the rays within his body, making his powers permanent.

Comment: Obviously staying in his uniform all the time would present problems that young readers of comic books might be oblivious to. I’d have thrown in the development that Dash was mortally wounded by villains trying to kill Dr Lorenz, who used his Perpetual Life Rays on Dixon to save his life.

The superpowers would be a bonus but in order to stay alive he had to remain in the uniform all the time, allowing for lots of the angst and tragedy that modern superheroes thrive on.  

Black AngelBLACK ANGEL

Secret Identity: Sylvia Manners

First Appearance: Air Fighters Comics #2 (November 1942)

Origin: Wealthy and connected British society woman Sylvia Manners kept a secret underground hangar in her aunt’s castle. (What, you mean your aunt doesn’t own a castle?) When Nazi bombers began wreaking havoc on Great Britain during World War Two she adopted the costumed identity of Black Angel and took to the air to do battle with them.

Powers: Black Angel was in peak human condition and excelled at both armed and unarmed combat. She was also a deadly fighter pilot and commando. This heroine used a handgun and also wielded a blow-pipe that shot poison darts, which she called “silent death.” Continue reading

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Filed under Superheroes