To end this hectic week how about some dog photos to give all of us a few smiles?
Tag Archives: blogging
DOG BREAK!
Filed under humor
THE ADVENTURES OF LIEUTENANT PETROSINO (1912) SILENT FILM ABOUT THE REAL-LIFE DETECTIVE
THE ADVENTURES OF LIEUTENANT PETROSINO (1912) – This 47-minute silent movie was a rushed look at the career of New York City Police Detective Joseph Petrosino, who specialized in fighting organized crime. I meant to cover Petrosino years ago, but other topics kept taking priority.
Petrosino has become all but forgotten here in 2026, but he was once so popular that hundreds of thousands attended his funeral, which was declared a holiday in New York. He was murdered by organized crime in 1909, and his posthumous fame made him the hero of Dime Novels like old west figures Buffalo Bill Cody and others.
I’ll do more detailed examinations of Joseph Petrosino in the near future, but for now I will review this 1912 flick while peppering in a few notes about the man’s real-life saga which was far too broadly presented on the big screen.
THE REEL PETROSINO – Still in uniform, Joseph has made a name for himself as a tough cop capable of dealing with Italian gangs like the Black Hand, the Mafia and the Camorra. When Mafia bank robbers humiliate a pair of policemen who try taking them in, the storied Petrosino is sent for.
He quickly finds the gang, subdues them and drags two of them in to be booked as the others flee. The arrested criminals rat out their colleagues. That night at the dinner table, Joe brags to his wife Adelina about his exploits.
THE REAL PETROSINO – Born in 1860, Joseph Petrosino joined the New York City Police Department as a uniformed cop in 1883. He made excellent use of his fluency in Italian to solve crimes in Italian-American neighborhoods that were easy prey for organized gangs from the Old Country. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History, opinion
USCAA CHAMPS CROWNED PLUS NCCAA BASKETBALL POSTSEASON RESULTS
USCAA DIVISION ONE
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The 4th seeded NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STALLIONS fought it out with the 3 seeds – the BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE (Syracuse) BOBCATS – for the USCAA Division One title. At Halftime the Stallions clung to a 36-34 edge but after the break they made their move. NAU took the crown with an 89-74 triumph led by Jamarric Hammond’s Double Double of 21 points and 11 rebounds.
USCAA DIVISION TWO
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The Cinderella 6 seeds – the MIAMI UNIVERSITY AT HAMILTON HARRIERS – kept on dancing in this clash with the 2nd seeded UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI AT CLERMONT COUGARS. UC-Clermont watched their 43-32 advantage at the Half melt away as the Harriers came back to win the game 76-66. Kaleb Wanamaker led MU-Hamilton with a Double Double of THIRTY points and 12 rebounds. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
SIR GRAVES GHASTLY (1967-1982) BAD MOVIE HOST
SIR GRAVES GHASTLY – Lawson J. Deming portrayed this vampire character whose eponymous movie show ran from January 1967 to November 1982 in Detroit – a longer run than most other classic Movie Hosts. His Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm program was even syndicated in Cleveland and Washington, DC for a year or two during the 1970s.
(NOTE: Some sources claim that Lawson Deming hosted the syndicated shows as Count Alu Card.)
The backstory that Deming created for his tongue-in-cheek vampire was that he was over 400 years old and was originally Gravarious Ghastliano from Italy. After moving to England he met William Shakespeare and acted in his plays. One of Demings’ most frequent lines held that Queen Elizabeth had Sir Graves Ghastly hanged “but like a bad vaccination, it didn’t take.”
At the start of each episode Sir Graves would emerge from a coffin and make with his signature laugh – “”Nyeeea-aaaa-haa-haaaaa.” At show’s end he would climb back into the coffin and pull down the lid.
In between came old horror and sci-fi movies from classic Universal hits to So-Bad-They’re-Good bombs like Robot Monster, Revenge of the Creature, The Crawling Hand and others. Deming also portrayed a variety of supporting characters on Sir Graves Ghastly. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, Movie Hosts
FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: THE FLYING DOCTOR (1959-1960)
THE FLYING DOCTOR (1959-1960) – This installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s Forgotten Television is a series that was based on the 1950s BBC radio show about Australia’s airborne doctors who tended to widely separated communities in the Outback. Previously, I covered the long-running Australian television series The Flying Doctors based on the same outfits.
Richard Denning starred in this 1959-1960 UK-Australian co-production as Dr. Greg Graham. Jill Adams portrayed Nurse Mary Meredith, Alan White played pilot Charley Wood, and Peter Madden was Dr. Jim Harrison, a temporarily blinded physician.
There were 39 half-hour episodes.
STANDOUT EPISODES:
A PAIR OF EYES – American Dr. Greg Graham (Denning) takes a leave of absence from a medical research institute in San Francisco to temporarily serve in Australia’s Flying Doctor Corps.
DEATH BY WILLIE-WILLIE – Nothing to do with Death by Snu-Snu. A windstorm called a Willie-Willie prevents planes from flying, meaning pilot Charley Wood must be talked through a medical procedure for a patient.
BLOOD DONOR – Dr. Graham must improvise his way through a blood transfusion for a little girl who fell down a mine shaft. Meanwhile, the only donor for her rare blood type is an escaped convict. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
MARCH NINTH: ANNIVERSARY OF THE POLIO VACCINE
On March 9th, 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announced his successful vaccine against poliomyelitis, the virus that causes polio.
Just the previous year, polio had 58,000 new victims and left 3,000 dead. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
2026 COLLEGE BASKETBALL POSTSEASON CONTINUES
For Divisions One and Two in the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association).
USCAA DIVISION ONE
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The 4th seeded NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STALLIONS played the 1 seeds – the BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE BEARS. The Stallions put Bloomfield College on Upset alert with their 43-41 Halftime edge, then carried through by knocking off the top seeds by a final score of 98-88. North American University was led by Jamarric Hammond with a Double Double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. (So almost a Triple Double.)
SECOND SEMIFINAL – And in this game the 3 seeds – the BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE (Syracuse) BOBCATS – took on the 2nd seeded SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE FALCONS (should be Blue Falcons). SIC led 43-37 at the Half, only for the Bobcats to force Overtime with an 80-80 tie. In the extra session, BSC-Syracuse triumphed 92-87. Jordan Drain’s 25 points led the victors, while his fellow Bobcats Wayne Longmore and Khai Pugh logged Double Doubles of 15 points & 12 rebounds, and 13 points & 10 rebounds, respectively. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THE ALTAR AND THE SCORPION
This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post looks at Marvel Comics’ adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s non-Conan short story The Altar and the Scorpion rewritten with Conan as the central character.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN Vol 1 #52 (Jul 1975)
Title: The Altar and the Scorpion
Villain: The Scorpion God
Synopsis: Conan’s wanderings bring him to Belverus, the capital city of Nemedia in the Hyborian Age. He encounters the suave, handsome and capable Murilo, whom he first met in Rogues in the House during his battle with Thak and Nabodinus.
Murilo now leads a mercenary troop called Crimson Company and he hires Conan as his new second-in-command. The hundreds of Crimson Company soldiers ride south to Ophir to start working for their new client – the ruler of the city of Ronnoco.
Their first mission is to retrieve the Ring of the Black Shadow, a powerful ring in the ruins of an abandoned, ancient Valusian city dating back to the time of Robert E. Howard’s character Kull the Conqueror. The ring can unleash a dark god if worn by a mortal. Conan and a female member of Crimson Company, Tara of Hanumar, shine in the expedition.
Conan finds the Ring of the Black Shadow, thus animating a huge statue of the Scorpion God which guards the ring to keep it out of human hands. Our hero fights the statue and renders it inert again with a sword through its “brain.”
Heeding Murilo’s instructions that nobody must touch the ring, two Crimson Company soldiers are assigned to stand guard over it while Conan, Tara and the others ride on to Ronnoco to get priestly help in containing the ring.
One of the guards greedily decides to steal the ring but upon touching it is transformed into a human-sized black shadow-being. He absorbs the other guard at his touch and becomes as large as two humans. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
BALLADEER’S BLOG: USCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS
As the 2026 college basketball postseason continues, here’s a look at the national tournaments in Divisions One and Two of the USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association).
DIVISION ONE
FIRST QUARTERFINAL – The 4 seeds – the NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STALLIONS – took the court against the 5th seeded BRYANT & STRATTON COLLEGE (Buffalo) BOBCATS. Come Halftime the Stallions held a comfortable 38-21 lead over Bryant & Stratton. After the break, however, North American U. had to hold on by its fingertips to defeat the Bobcats just 65-64. Sixteen points from Jamarric Hammond led the Stallions. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE MAN AND THE MONSTER (1826)
THE MAN AND THE MONSTER – Written by Henry M. Milner, this stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein differs significantly from her novel and was first performed on July 3rd, 1826 at the Royal Cobourg Theatre.
The full title of this play is Frankenstein; or The Man and the Monster, a Melodrama in Two Acts. At least one other stage adaptation in 1823 preceded Milner’s version of the story. Milner’s play can be read in its entirety online.
In honor of Rome: Italian Style on SCTV I like to think of this work as Frankenstein: Italian Style since it is set in Sicily, apparently only so that Mt. Aetna can figure in the play’s finale. Rather than laboring in his own castle, Dr. Frankenstein lives and works in Sicily under the auspices of the Prince del Piombino.
The prince is a great patron of arts and sciences, and he finances Frankenstein’s work. In turn, the doctor tutors the prince’s son Julio (Julio?). Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction, Halloween Season
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