Tag Archives: glitternight.com

April 18, 2018 · 9:03 pm

COLLEGE BASEBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

georgia gwinnettNAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) 1. GEORGIA GWINNETT COLLEGE GRIZZLIES    ###    2. FAULKNER UNIVERSITY EAGLES (Should be the Furies)    ###    3. SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY FIRE    ###     4. OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY STARS    ###    5. SAINT THOMAS UNIVERSITY (FL) BOBCATS    ###   

USAO Drover new6. UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND ARTS OF OKLAHOMA DROVERS    ###    7. LEWIS-CLARK STATE WARRIORS    ###     8. LYON COLLEGE SCOTS    ###     9. UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS PATRIOTS    ###     10. UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE RAMS (Should be the Iron Rams)    ###     Continue reading →

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April 17, 2018 · 9:55 pm

POLO: 2018 U.S. OPEN SEMIFINAL MATCHUPS SET

Balladeer’s Blog continues its coverage of the world’s OLDEST team sport. FOR MY PRIMER ON POLO CLICK HERE  The 115th U.S. Open rolled along with the final two teams for the Semifinals being determined.

FlexJet polo shirtGAME ONE: FLEXJET VERSUS AUDI – Two Ganzis, one of the First Families of Polo, were in action in this opening Match while a third played in the second one. Melissa Ganzi led the quartet from Flexjet – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: The Aviators – against Marc Ganzi and his foursome from Audi – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: The Bavarians.

FIRST CHUKKER – Things got off to a slow start on the offensive side. Both teams’ defenses were on top of their game and limited their opponents to just 1 Goal. The First Chukker ended in a 1-1 tie.

SECOND CHUKKER – The Bavarians managed to outdo the Aviators this time around. Audi swatted in 3 Goals compared to the 2 scored by Flexjet. The score now stood at 4-3 with the Bavarians on top.

THIRD CHUKKER – Audi dominated this Chukker on both sides of the ball, shutting out the Aviators while thwacking 2 more Goals between the Uprights. Going into Halftime the Bavarians led Flexjet by a tally of 6-3.

FOURTH CHUKKER – To start the 2nd Half the Aviators acted like they had just been playing possum the first three Chukkers. Flexjet notched FIVE Goals while limiting Audi to just 1! The Aviators had gone on top 8-7. Continue reading →

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April 16, 2018 · 11:04 pm

NEGLECTED DETECTIVES WHO SOLVED REAL-LIFE MYSTERIES

Ellis ParkerTHE SLEUTH: Ellis Parker, Chief of Detectives in Burlington County, NJ. Parker’s professional reputation was such that detectives from other jurisdictions often sought help from him.

TAGLINE: “The county detective with an international reputation.”

THE CRIME: On October 5th of 1920 bank employee David Paul, known to his friends and loved ones as a quiet, prim and devoted family man, disappeared with a courier pouch containing more than $70,000 in cash and $30,000 in negotiable securities. Eleven days later Mr Paul’s corpse was found in a shallow grave.

THE SCENE: David Paul’s clothing was soaking wet but his grave and the surrounding soil were bone dry. Authorities determined that Paul had only been dead for about 2-3 days despite the 11 day absence. The cause of death was a bullet through the head.

SOLVING THE CRIME: Ellis Parker learned that the seemingly quiet David Paul was known for participating in wild orgies at a cottage far outside of town. None of the other participants in the cottage’s wild sex parties admitted to seeing David during the days after the theft but before his dead body was found. Continue reading →

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April 16, 2018 · 8:24 am

REMEMBERING THE MOON MAN

The Moon Man

The Moon Man

THE MOON MAN – Created by Frederick C Davis, the Moon Man is, to me, the epitome of the campy but fascinating heroes the old 1930s pulp publications used to treat readers to, issue after issue. Operating in fictional Great City, the Moon Man not only waged war on the ruthless representatives of the criminal element, he also plundered their ill-gotten wealth from them and distributed it to the Great Depression-ravaged poor of the 1930s.

This not only made the hero a combination of the best elements of the Shadow and Robin Hood, but it also gave him a healthy dose of “Green Hornet appeal”, too, because, like the Hornet, the Moon Man was hunted by both the crooks AND the cops, doubling the danger for the  daring and resourceful figure every time he donned his costume and stalked the night-darkened streets.

That costume, by the way, is beloved by some fans for its hammy, campy, “pulpish” quality, but is just barely tolerated by others for the same reason. The Moon Man was armed with an automatic and dressed all in black, usually including a black cloak, and hid his face behind a round glass globe that covered his entire head.

The globe was made of one-way Argus glass, the glass Speakeasies used to use for their windows during Prohibition, so the customers inside could see anyone approaching the illegal boozery but cops approaching it would see only their reflection in the glass. Similarly the Moon Man could see out of the globe but people looking at him would see just the mirrored surface of the globe. The globe-headed aspect of the Moon Man’s outfit often annoys people who take pulps a little too seriously, but to me it adds to the old-fashioned fun. Continue reading →

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April 15, 2018 · 8:00 pm

THE BLACK CROWES: HARD TO HANDLE

Another installment of Give Them A Shoutout Before They’re Dead finds Balladeer’s Blog giving a shoutout to the Black Crowes and their song Hard to Handle. 

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April 15, 2018 · 3:00 am

TAXIARCHOI (C 427-415 B.C.): ANCIENT GREEK COMEDY

TaxiarchoiBalladeer’s Blog presents another examination of an ancient Greek political satire.

TAXIARCHOI (Tax Collectors) – By Eupolis. Tax Day is the most appropriate day to examine this comedy because its premise serves as a pointed reminder of the inherent ugliness in all taxation – that the power to impose and collect taxes is, ultimately, backed up by the use of force. (If you doubt me go without paying your personal property taxes. Then we’ll discuss how much you truly “own” your home or your car.)  

In Taxiarchoi the god Dionysus is depicted joining the title military unit. Those Taxiarchoi units would periodically collect the “taxes” or – in its most honest form – “tribute” from the various regions, not only of Athens proper but of the Athenian subject states. Military units were necessary for such tasks for the reasons you would expect – attempted resistance on the part of those being taxed and/or attempted robbery by bands of thieves after the taxes had been collected.    

Sometimes a particular community might try to poor-mouth their circumstances and provide the taxiarchs with less money than had been assessed against them. In such cases the officer in charge was empowered to either seize portable property to make up the difference or to ransack the town and its vicinity to determine if the citizens were simply hiding their wealth.

For Athens proper, a representative of each of the traditional Ten Regions of Athens would lead the taxiarchs collecting taxes in their region and would select the squadron leaders. I’ll discuss the breakdown of the Ten Regions and the way they factored into political representation, the law and the census in ancient Athens in the future when I examine comedies that deal with issues relevant to those regions.  

THE PLAY 

Though it would be appropriate, given the daring nature of the ancient Greek satires, if Taxiarchoi was a hard-hitting commentary on the taxation process, unfortunately it was not. It was a comedy about the god Dionysus joining a unit of taxiarchs who were about to go on a tax collecting expedition. As usual in the comedies Dionysus was depicted as a fey, bumbling figure and in this particular case the laughs come largely from how the wine god’s soft, lazy nature was incredibly ill-suited for military life. Continue reading →

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April 14, 2018 · 5:30 pm

POLO: FATHER VS SON AT THE 2018 U.S. OPEN

Balladeer’s Blog continues its coverage of the world’s OLDEST team sport. FOR MY PRIMER ON POLO CLICK HERE  2018 U.S. Open action continues with two more games in Bracket Play:

Audi polo shirtAUDI VERSUS THE U.S. POLO ASSOCIATION – Marc Ganzi led Audi – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: the Bavarians – against his son Grant, who was playing for the United States Polo Association – Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: The Association (Thank you to Jim Rome.)

FIRST CHUKKER: Audi and the USPA matched each other shot for shot and Goal for Goal to start things off. This opening Chukker ended with the score knotted up at 2-2.

SECOND CHUKKER: The Bavarians shone in this second sextant, dominating the Association on both sides of the ball. Audi thwacked in a pair of Goals for themselves while completely shutting out USPA. The Bavarians now held a 4-2 lead.

THIRD CHUKKER: Audi exploded on the Association this time around, absolutely OWNING them. The Bavarians got 4 more Goals between the Uprights compared to the lone Goal mustered by the struggling and baffled Association. Headed into Halftime Audi was on top by a score of 8-3. Yes … EIGHT to THREE! Continue reading →

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April 14, 2018 · 11:19 am

FRIDAY THE 13th PART 3D (1982): ON THE TEXAS TWENTY-SEVEN FILM VAULT

Friday the 13th Part 3DBefore MST3K there was … The Texas 27 Film Vault! In the middle 1980s, way down on Level 31 Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class hosted this neglected cult show. 

ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: Saturday February 14th, 1987 from 10:30pm to 1:00am. 

SERIAL: None. The movie, Film Vault Corps comedy sketches and commercials filled up the entire two and a half hours this time.

FILM VAULT LORE: This episode marked the second time The Texas 27 Film Vault came with a warning about violent content. It was also at least the second time they riffed on a movie that was originally in 3-D. Randy and Richard did various jokes about wearing 3-D glasses and 3-D effects coming out of the screen at them as they watched the movie.

Randy and Richard firing their machine guns at giant rats, cellumites and other subterranean creatures.

Randy and Richard firing their machine guns on the T27FV 3D poster.

When you throw in the previous year’s “Mock 3D” interview with Ben Johnson and the 1987 release of The Texas 27 Film Vault‘s official 3-D poster you could say Randy, Richard, Ken “Tex” Miller, Joe Riley and Laurie Savino had a definite fondness for taking shots at the whole 3-D concept.  

 FOR A LOOK AT THE 3-D TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT POSTER (courtesy of Randy Clower) –https://glitternight.com/2013/03/18/movie-hosts-the-texas-27-film-vault-poster/  

THE MOVIE:

Friday the 13th Part 3-D was the most notoriously lame sequel in the Friday the 13th film series during the 1980s. Not only was it part of the laughable 1980s attempt to revive the 3-D craze of the 1950s but it’s also infamous for its DISCO VERSION of the iconic Friday the 13th theme. However it’s essential viewing for horror fans because it was the first time Jason Voorhees put on the hockey mask that is so closely associated with the character.    Continue reading →

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April 13, 2018 · 2:00 am

FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH: 1907 NOVEL

friday-the-thirteenth-novelFRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH (1907) – Written by Thomas William Lawson, a writer and stock manipulator who made a fortune from shady stock deals … in between advocating for cleaning up Wall Street to shut down those fleece jobs. The reforms Lawson campaigned for were taken up decades later when Franklin Roosevelt appointed future Supreme Court Justice William O Douglas to head the Securities Exchange Commission.

Coincidentally enough the overall feel of Friday the Thirteenth put me in mind of FDR’s cousin, Theodore Roosevelt. The novel did that with its New York setting, with the way the story takes place late in T.R.’s presidency and most especially with the way it dealt with ethics in the marketplace.  

lawson-cartoon-betterJim Randolph, one of the novel’s main characters, is in the T.R. mold: he may be a bloated rich pig but at least he’s a bloated rich pig with a sense of noblesse oblige. Jim shares Teddy Roosevelt’s disdain for the Trusts and for con men who use the stock market to rip off their clients.

It’s not as if Jim Randolph is as fiery as Teddy Forstmann was in his opposition to Leveraged Buy Outs during the 1980s, but like Forstmann he has a sense of what makes for a healthy economy and frowns upon the fly-by-night operators who thrive on irresponsible “frenzied finance” as Randolph calls it.   Continue reading →

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April 12, 2018 · 8:56 pm

EVIL CLUTCH (1988): MICRO-REVIEW

Mascot FOUR original pics

Balladeer’s Blog

THIS THING IS SUCH A RIPOFF IT DOESN’T EVEN DESERVE TO HAVE ITS OWN POSTER SHOWN. 

EVIL CLUTCH (1988) – Whatever movie you THINK is the worst Evil Dead ripoff, you’ll likely have second thoughts if you’re unfortunate enough to see Evil Clutch. This awful movie’s original Italian title was Il Bosco and it has literally NO entertainment value of its own. 

A creepy-looking Italian couple – the woman pretending to be American – encounter even creepier people in an isolated woodland community in the Alps. Everything that happens from there is simply an excuse to stage inept imitations of scenes from the Evil Dead.

And I don’t mean that it borrows a few things, like the roaming POV shots and the concept of some people getting possessed by ancient evil forces. Countless shots are literally just restagings of the memorable scenes from the earlier Sam Raimi/ Bruce Campbell/ Rob Tapert film. And the restagings are more like very, very cheap imitations, as if some amateurs had a little fun trying to match the makeup and primitive special effects from their inspiration. Continue reading →

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