BALLADEER’S BLOG
THANK YOU once again to all of you readers for making Balladeer’s Blog so enjoyable to write. As I always say the unusual and controversial items I sometimes churn out here mean that readers have to be open-minded and very secure in their own beliefs not to just take offense and leave.
Here are some of my most popular blog posts from the past 12 months.
LATITUDE ZERO (1969) – My review of the long unavailable Japanese monster/ sci fi movie HERE.
DEMOCRAT SLOGANS – Yesterday’s jokes are today’s reality. Click HERE.
INSPECTOR LIPINZKI: FIVE HUNDRED CARATS – My review of this 1893 mystery story as dramatized on The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes in 1973. Read it HERE.
SHARYL ATTKISSON EXPOSES THE BIASES OF SELF-PROCLAIMED “FACT CHECKERS” – It’s brilliant and it’s right HERE.
AMERICA: PART OF THE DUNE SERIES – In the spirit of my blog post America: Part of the Alien Series. Click HERE.
EXPLAINING “DEFUND THE POLICE” FOR OVERSEAS READERS – A look at the ugly political game being played at the expense of community safety. Click HERE.
IRON MAN: THE FIRST TWENTY STORIES – Robert Downey Jr made Iron Man a household name, now see the hero’s earliest adventures HERE.
PROFILE IN COURAGE: DEMOCRAT TULSI GABBARD WARNED ABOUT MAIL-IN VOTE FRAUD BEFORE THE ELECTION LAST YEAR – She was proven right as we continue to learn in the ongoing vote audits and other investigations. Click HERE.
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION – Gullivar Jones On Mars (1905) HERE, Are The Planets Inhabited? HERE. Continue reading
I WOKE UP EARLY THE DAY I DIED (1998) – Directed by Aris Iliopulos, this is the film that was made based on that notorious unproduced script written by THE Ed Wood, the master of badfilm behind Glen or Glenda, Plan 9 From Outer Space and more. 
There’s no dialogue, Easter Eggs regarding Wood’s various Golden Turkeys abound and excerpts from the actual screenplay appear on screen at times in case viewers are skeptical that the weirdness they’re witnessing really was in the original script. 
With the big 4th of July holiday coming up, this weekend’s light-hearted bit of superhero escapism will combine some Revolutionary War nostalgia with some World War Two nostalgia. Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the early adventures of the Nedor Comics hero called the Fighting Yank. 
STARTLING COMICS #10 (September 1941) 
Previously Balladeer’s Blog has examined 
DECEMBER 1894 – On December 11th France declared war on Madagascar after its rulers refused to willingly become a French Protectorate. Though the French Army would be running this military campaign, the French Navy and their Marines kicked off the action by bombarding and then seizing Toamasina/ Tamatave on the eastern coast of Madagascar. 
THE YEAR 2440 (1771) – Written by Louis-Sebastien Mercier, this French novel was at first published anonymously in Holland because of its criticism of the French aristocracy and of religion. Also for its bold rejection of societal norms of the time period. It was years before Mercier dared to take public credit for the work, and even then he did so largely because some were crediting The Year 2440 to Rousseau or Voltaire. 
With the Fourth of July holiday rapidly approaching here is another seasonal post. Previously, Balladeer’s Blog has looked at the 
SEPTEMBER 1st-5th – The American privateer ship the Active seized multiple prizes and took aboard several British Prisoners of War. Unfortunately, the Captain of the Active had stretched his crew too thin. The captive Brits gleaned the vulnerable position of their captors and rose up to seize control of the ship and were determined to link up with the first British vessel they could find to help take in the seized U.S. ship and consummate their freedom. 
First, a little background information. In the early 1970s Marvel was experimenting with hybrid titles that would combine the old and the new by
SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #15 (December 1973)
LIGHT SPEED ESPER (1967-1968) – This overlooked Japanese television show was titled Kousoku Esupâ in its nation of origin. If you enjoy live action programs like Ultraman or other shows from the tokusatsu subgenre of entertainment then Light Speed Esper will certainly appeal to you. 
Hikaru’s parents are killed in this intergalactic accident, filling the extraterrestrials – called Alien Espers or Esper Seijin – with immense feelings of guilt. They possess and animate the dead bodies of Hikaru’s mother and father to make amends. Very morbid amends, I grant you, but amends nonetheless. 
