August 22nd is when the 2019 college football season kicks off in the divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog. The Gulf South Conference – often called the SEC of D2 football, has released its Game of the Week schedule for the upcoming season.
September 14th – The UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS at the SHORTER UNIVERSITY HAWKS … 1pm ET
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September 21st – The DELTA STATE STATESMEN host the FLORIDA TECH PANTHERS … 7pm ET
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Filed under college football
HAMMETT (1982) – Directed by Wim Wenders and produced by Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios, Hammett is a criminally neglected valentine to Hard-Boiled Detective Stories and Film Noir. The flick is based on the novel by Joe Gores.
The stories about the behind the scenes chaos and conflicts surrounding the production of this movie are legion. Pre-production work began in 1975 and by the time it was released in 1982 multiple cast and story changes had taken place and Coppola himself re-shot more than a third of the film.
In the way that Time After Time presented a whimsical “what if” adventure featuring H.G. Wells having a real time machine, Hammett serves up iconic detective novelist Dashiell Hammett getting caught up in solving a real-life mystery.
The timing is excellent, with the story being set in the late 1920s, after Hammett was no longer working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency but before he became a successful author. The tale begins with our hero – played by Frederic Forrest – typing out one of his penny-a-word Pulp stories for Black Mask Magazine, which was to detective fiction what Weird Tales was to horror and sci-fi.
Booze and coughing fits figure prominently in the movie, as you would expect given a protagonist who was an alcoholic with tuberculosis. For the sake of convenience the story that Hammett just finished before blacking out was one featuring his character the Continental Op (as in an operative for the fictional Continental Detective Agency).
Hammett awakens to find his most recent work being read by Jimmy Ryan (Peter Boyle), his old mentor from his Pinkerton days. Ryan jokes with “Sam” (Samuel Dashiell Hammett was his full name if you’re new to all things Hammett) that the “man with no name” in the story seems to be based on him (Ryan) and the way he operates.
Eventually Jimmy gets to the point: he saved Hammett’s life when our hero was new at detective work, and Ryan is finally calling in the debt that Sam owes him for that. The former colleague thus lures Hammett back into detective work for one last case. Continue reading
Filed under Pulp Heroes
NAIA – 1. MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE MUSTANGS ### 2. BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS ### 3. KANSAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY COYOTES ### 4. MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS ### 5. CONCORDIA (MI) CARDINALS ###
6. SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS ### 7. DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS ### 8. REINHARDT UNIVERSITY EAGLES (Should be the Rottweilers) ### 9. EVANGEL UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS ### 10. BAKER UNIVERSITY WILDCATS ### Continue reading
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We have another Martin Luther King Person of Courage: David J Harris, Jr. Mr Harris is another voter of color heroically speaking out in defense of de facto Third Party President Trump and how he has helped the working class and poor of all colors. David recently chronicled one of his encounters with privileged white Democrats who can’t deal with the fact that people of color don’t have to obey people like her. See link below.
Here’s a similar pic of a Person of Courage:
Back to Mr Harris, here is a great video from his YT channel featuring other People of Courage praising the Donald in their own words. The mentioned link is below:
Filed under LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES, Neglected History, opinion
Balladeer’s Blog’s Random Weirdness item makes its long-awaited return with this little honey:
Filed under humor
The Maritime College football team and head coach Mickey Rehring announced the addition of Zach Sterling to the coaching staff as an Assistant Coach and Offensive Line Coach on August 1. Sterling will also serve as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the athletic department.
I’d like to thank Coach Rehring and the Director of Athletics, Kris Schnatz, for the opportunity to coach here at Maritime College,” said Sterling. “I am excited to help continue the success and tradition of Maritime Football and to be back in New York coaching the game I love.” Continue reading
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With a loved one in the hospital it’s been a subdued Frontierado here today. Still, wherever you are and whatever your Frontierado Saga, I hope you and yours are having a terrific time! In the past Bon Jovi has given us holiday songs like Wanted: Dead or Alive, Blaze of Glory and Billy Get Your Guns. This time it’s Santa Fe or as some call it Judgment Day in Santa Fe.
Filed under FRONTIERADO
Frontierado is here at last! Time for buffalo steaks, cactus salads, Tumbleweed Pizzas, Cactus Jacks, Deuces Wilds, Western Spaghetti and lots of games of Frontierado Poker. Naturally the day ends with Silverado plus a few other westerns of your choice. I usually add Posse or Once Upon A Time In The West.
And since it’s a three-day weekend you’ve got both Saturday and Sunday to recover.
When it comes to Wild West towns places like Tombstone, Dodge City and Deadwood get the lion’s share of the attention. In keeping with Balladeer’s Blog’s overall theme here’s a look at some of the action in the neglected town of Sidney, NE. Figures like Wild Bill Hickok, Luke Short, Susan B Anthony, Whispering Smith and Dom Pedro II of Brazil passed through Sidney in its heyday. Here’s a timeline of just some of the events in the town infamous as “The Wicked Burg”:
April 29th, 1868 – Daniel Richardson, Thomas Cahoon and William Edmondson became the first recorded dead men buried in Sidney’s Boot Hill Cemetery. All three men were killed in a clash with Native Americans.
May ?, 1875 – Susan B Anthony delivered a lecture in Sidney advocating women’s suffrage.
October 24th, 1875 – At the Capitol Saloon the livery stable owner Robert W Porter and Charles Patterson got into an argument (the subject is not known) that resulted in Patterson shooting Porter to death with 3 shots. Patterson was placed under arrest. Continue reading
Filed under FRONTIERADO
Superheroes rule pop culture right now and readers demand more superhero items whenever I go too long without one. Here’s a look at yet another neglected pantheon of comic book heroes who don’t get the attention that Marvel and DC do.
PHANTASMO
Secret Identity: Phil Anson
Origin: A young American ran off to Tibet in 1915 and spent 25 years studying with the Grand High Lamas to learn some of their mystic secrets. After mastering them he returned to the U.S. to fight the forces of evil.
First Appearance: The Funnies #45 (July 1940). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1941.
Powers: Phil Anson only had superpowers in his astral body. He would go into a trance – during which his vulnerable physical form would be guarded by his sidekick, bellhop Whizzer McGee. While in this trance Anson’s astral form, Phantasmo, could fly, had massive super-strength and could grow to giant size as well as turn invisible.
Comment: Phantasmo had a kind of “Superman crossed with the Spectre” appeal.
NUKLA
Secret Identity: Matthew Gibbs, Air Force Pilot
Origin: While flying a U-2 spy plane over Communist China, Matthew Gibbs and his aircraft were hit by multiple Red Chinese experimental nuclear missiles. In the aftermath, Gibbs was able to reassemble his body, which now possessed extraordinary nuclear powers. He donned a costume and began working for the CIA as the superhero Nukla.
First Appearance: Nukla #1 (October 1965). His final Silver Age appearance came in 1966.
Powers: Nukla could shoot controlled nuclear explosions from his fingertips as well as render his body immaterial at will.
Comment: As was the case with Timely/ Marvel Comics, Dell went from having World War Two spawn many of their Golden Age heroes to having the Cold War spawn many of their Silver Age heroes. And since Nukla sounds like a female figure this hero could be a woman if revived today. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
Here are a few words from Brandon: 
My name is Brandon – I work for an organization called Consumers Advocate that strives to protect consumers (and their pets!) online. Part of protecting the four-legged dudes and dudettes of society is knowing what options are available for them.
My lil pupper’s name is Frida (Kahlo). She’s a scrappy middle-aged rescue with eyebrows like her namesake. When I found her 4 years ago she had been injured by other dogs, and the vet said she had pre-existing asthma. She’s a tough girl, but there is a lot that goes into taking care of her. Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
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