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BALLADEER’S BLOG: COLLEGE BASKETBALL MARCH NINTH

NORTHEAST TEN CONFERENCE

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The last teams standing in this tournament were the 2nd seeded UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE PENMEN and the 5 seeds – the PACE UNIVERSITY SETTERS (Irish Setters). The Setters were up 35-33 at the Half, but after the break the Penmen forced Overtime with a 64-64 tie. USNH edged Pace 72-71. Royce Williams led the Penmen with 21 points and teammate Paul Greene got a Double Double of 18 points & 13 rebounds.  

PEACH BELT CONFERENCE

FIRST SEMIFINAL – The 4 seeds – the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT BEAUFORT SAND SHARKS – took the court against the top seeded COLUMBUS STATE COUGARS. The score was knotted up at 41-41 come Halftime, but from there the Sand Sharks managed enough separation for a 91-87 Upset win. Hudson Norton tossed in 18 points to lead USC-Beaufort. Continue reading

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THE GIANT CLAW (1957) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

The Secret of the Bermuda Triangle Revealed

Before MST3K we had … The Texas 27 Film Vault! Before Joel and Mike there was Randy and Richard! Balladeer’s Blog continues celebrating the FORTIETH anniversary year of this neglected cult show which debuted Saturday night February 9th, 1985.

MOVIE: The Giant Claw (1957)

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday April 6th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am. Broadcast throughout Texas and Oklahoma.

SERIAL: The Lost City (1935) about a mad scientist who rules a high-tech city in the middle of the African jungle.

Randy (right) and Richard way down on Level 31 hosting The Texas 27 Film Vault

Film Vault Lore: Thank you to my fellow T27FV fan Dolores for this episode’s date, the serial and for this quote about Ken Miller, who played “Tex” on the show: “I loved the random bits of madness added by the gung-ho Tex each episode! He always reminded me of Robert Duvall’s character Kilgore from Apocalypse Now.

The Movie: The Giant Claw is another of those staples of bad movie shows. It’s been presented by just about every Movie Host program at one time or another. Because of the film’s familiarity I will keep this review short.

Global UFO sightings turn out to be sightings of a gigantic (and ridiculous-looking) flying buzzard from outer space. As if that isn’t silly enough the destructive creature is also an ANTI-MATTER gigantic flying buzzard from outer space. Continue reading

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MARVEL ISSUES: MAY 1966

This weekend’s escapist and light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at all of the Marvel Comics published in May 1966 except for reprints.

SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #36 (May 1966)

Title: When Falls the Meteor

Villain: Meteor Man

Synopsis: A meteor comes crashing down in upstate New York and is retrieved by unscrupulous scientist Norton Fester. He discovers microscopic organisms inside the meteorite and those organisms grant him incredible strength.

Fester dons a costume and begins robbing banks on a daily basis as Meteor Man. Meanwhile, Peter Parker is continuing his classes at Empire State University where his interest in science over dating intrigues fellow student Gwen Stacy.

She makes a point of showing up at an astro-science exhibit that Peter is visiting and is exasperated once again as the fragments of meteorites and other displays capture Peter’s attention instead of her blonde hotness. (Save your own life and just walk away, Gwen!)

The villainous Meteor Man, however, has noted that his personal meteorite no longer shows signs of microorganisms or unearthly gases. Worried that this means his powers may wear off some day he goes to the Empire State exhibit to steal some of the meteor fragments hoping they contain more. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: A TRIP TO THE NORTH POLE (1903)

A TRIP TO THE NORTH POLE or DISCOVERY OF THE TEN TRIBES AS FOUND IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN (1903) – Written by Otte Julius Swenson Lindelof.

This is a work of Mormon science fiction. A detailed message in a bottle is found regarding the fate of the LDS whaling ship Mt. Walston and its crew, led by Captain Nye, Linder, Jost and Lothair. The manuscript is dated to the late 1870s and recounts the ship’s journey through the Bering Strait and on so far north that the crew discovered a region of warm temperatures.

The Americans come across an archipelago of more than ten islands which turn out to be populated by descendants of the ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The islands are ruled by a beautiful young queen and, in fact, all of the Arctic Israelites are excellent physical specimens thanks to the abnormally high nutritional value of the region’s foodstuffs. Continue reading

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“I CLAIM THE WORLD” – BEHOLD!!! THE PROTONG (c1940)

STANISLAV SZUKALSKI (1893-1987) – Just as L. Ron Hubbard went from being a pulp story writer to founder of a nutzoid religion, Stanislav Szukalski went from being a celebrated, even brilliant, artist to founder of an equally irrational belief system.

Stanislav Szukalski the artist was a complicated figure who held a lot of ugly attitudes and he fled Poland after the Nazi invasion despite his own intense antisemitism. The war destroyed most of Szukalski’s artwork and he arrived in the U.S. without a penny. 

By all means check out Struggle, a 2018 Stanislav Szukalski documentary co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, whose father was friends with the artist. There’s even a photo of a very young Leo sitting next to Szukalski. 

The topic of this blog post, however, is Zermatism, the insane philosophy that Szukalski founded in 1940. He named it after the city of Zermatt, where he was convinced that survivors of a pre-deluge civilization settled.

Yes, it’s about to get weird, as in Scientology weird or even Yakub/ Tribe of Shabazz weird. And at 39 volumes,  Zermatism would be way too off-putting if not for some of the memorable artwork that Szukalski made to accompany his mad ravings. 

IN THE BEGINNING(ish) – Szukalski argued that all of humanity once dwelt on one huge continent and spoke one language (Protong) which still lives in fragmentary fashion in all modern languages. The Great Flood wiped out most life on Earth with the only survivors being on what is now Easter Island, which was the peak of the highest mountain of the now submerged mother continent. Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AT BALLADEER’S BLOG: MARCH FIFTH

NJCAA3

NORTH DISTRICT

FIRST SEMIFINAL – The HERKIMER COLLEGE GENERALS took the court against the GENESEE COLLEGE COUGARS. The Generals were on top 36-30 by Halftime, and from there they floored it. Herkimer College left the Cougars further and further behind as they won the game 86-65. Kenny Freeman and Jayson McGhee led the Generals with 20 points each, while teammate Oladele Oladitan logged a Double Double of 19 points & 10 rebounds. Continue reading

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AMY PRENTISS (1974-1975) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

AMY PRENTISS – Long before she was known as Archer’s mother, the talented Jessica Walter had churned out powerful performances of all kinds in movies and television. Jessica’s short-lived run as the sleuth Amy Prentiss is a reminder that a program can be a bit too far ahead of its time to thrive. 

IRONSIDE: AMY PRENTISS (May 23rd, 1974) – For readers too young to remember the term “back-door pilots” it referred to producers using an episode of an existing hit television series as a de facto pilot for a new series. The star and a few cast members of the prospective new series would costar with the hit series’ regulars in a story tailored to show off what the proposed new series would be like. Continue reading

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THE MYSTERY OF DR. FU MANCHU (1923) SILENT FILM SERIAL

THE MYSTERY OF DR. FU MANCHU (1923) – One of the earliest, if not THE earliest, big screen adaptations of Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels, which launched in 1913. The tales depicted the brilliant Chinese figure Dr. Fu Manchu at most plotting global domination but most often uniting many Far Eastern races against White Colonial nations to drive them out of Asia.  

Yes, these stories have quite a bit wrong with them given their bigoted, unfair caricatures of Chinese people and other Asians. Personally, I would never expose children to them as they require adult minds to sort through ugly wording and concepts.  Continue reading

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BILLY THE KID VS DRACULA (1966) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Before MST3K there was The Texas 27 Film Vault. Before Joel and Mike there was Randy and Richard! Before Deep 13 there was Level 31.

Balladeer’s Blog continues its celebration of the program’s FORTIETH anniversary year. Beginning on Saturday February 9th, 1985 “Film Vault Technicians First Class” Randy and Richard presented old serials and bad or campy movies while wielding their machine guns in defense of “America’s schlock-culture heritage.”

MOVIE: Billy the Kid vs Dracula (1966)    

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday May 18th, 1985 from 10:30pm to 1:00am. Broadcast throughout Texas and Oklahoma. 

SERIAL: Before showing and mocking John Carradine’s Billy the Kid vs Dracula our members of the Film Vault Corps (“the few, the proud, the sarcastic”) showed and mocked an episode of the Mascot Serial The Phantom Empire (1935). 

In that classically campy serial Gene Autry played a singing cowboy who saves the world from an  advanced underground civilization that comes complete with killer robots who wear cowboy hats. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG: MORE COLLEGE BASKETBALL POSTSEASON ACTION

APPALACHIAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

FIRST SEMIFINAL – The 4th seeded JOHNSON UNIVERSITY ROYALS (formerly the Royal Crusaders) took on the 1 seeds – the UNIVERSITY OF PIKEVILLE BEARS. By Halftime the Royals were on top 35-26. After the break the University of Pikeville mounted a small rally but fell short as Johnson U. triumphed 78-73. Isaiah Poore led the victors with 29 points. Continue reading

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