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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 11h

Macs will also have my other books for sale, or bring your own copies and I'll sign those, too. The Grog Shop is at the corner of Euclid heights Blvd. and Coventry Rd. in Cleveland Heights. Ample free parking nearby. This event is free.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 11h

This Wednesday at 7pm! Join me for the official Cleveland book launch of THE DISSIDENTS, hosted by MacsBacks Books at the Grog Shop, just up the street. There will be a visual presentation packed with goodies about the making of this book, followed by a signing. I'll be drawing in title pages.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 11h

The 2nd to mistakenly attribute that line to Mandy. That was delivered by Babs Jansen, Mandy's sorority sister. I'm docking you 500 Dork Points for the error.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 13h

One day shy of her... gulp... 80th birthday.

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Reposted by Derf Backderf

Ethan Kocak @ethankocak.com · 03/10/2026

Everyone who makes comics is cool and is doing a good job.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

After having a limo driver take her 2500km to Sidney! before she was forced by the studio to return to the set.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

After watching the doc and knowing what went down, the film itself is much more enjoyable. LOST SOUL is free on both Tubi and Pluto.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Kilmer and Brando detested each other. Brando disappeared for weeks at a time. Stars bailed right and left: Bruce Willis, Rob Morrow, James Woods. Brando improvised his entire role. The entire set was destroyed by a hurricane. On and on. It's an incredible tale.

youtube.com

Trailer: Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau

YouTube video by Mavshack Movies

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Film execs removed Stanley from the set and drove to the airport, but he slipped away, vanished into the jungle and had a breakdown. Later he snuck back onto set wearing a dog man suit and acted as an extra in the film!

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I recommend first watching LOST SOUL, the award-winning documentary which details the absolutely bonkers history of this film. Director & screenwriter Richard Stanley spent years on the project, and then was fired 2 weeks into filming! Apparently because megalomaniacal Kilmer loathed him.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

So the ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, the infamous 1996 remake of the classic film, is apparently on heavy rotation on Roku streaming this month. What a train wreck! A decrepit Marlon Brando in his final starring role. Val Kilmer was completely insane, on and off screen. It's so bad it's fascinating!

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

No. That was "Babs" Jansen, Mandy's sorority sister. I'm sorry, but I'll have to dock you 500 Dork Points for the error.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The Grog Shop is located next to Harvey Pekar Park, in his (and my) old neighborhood. Seating is limited so don't be tardy. Already bought a copy? Bring it and I'll sign it. Same for any of my other books, and Macs will also have copies of those for sale at the event.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This coming Wednesday at 7pm. The big Cleveland book launch of THE DISSIDENTS! This will be my first proper launch in the city in 10 years. Join me for a slideshow presentation and Q&A on the making of the book, followed by a signing. Order copies here: macsbacks.com/book/9781419...

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

RIP Mary Louise Weller, aka Mandy Pepperidge, aka the wife of Sen. John Blutarski. #AnimalHouse #Belushi

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Mailorder from Macs is very reasonable. And it's a great indie bookstore.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

All caught up on the signed copies of THE DISSIDENTS. Apologies for the delay for many of you who ordered a copy. I had to hit the road for a couple weeks for book events. Want a signed copy WITH a free title page sketch? Order here: macsbacks.com/book/9781419...

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

By Ann Telnaes. anntelnaes.substack.com/p/me-me-me

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It’s so weird how when you tell the rest of the world to go fuck itself and fill your nation’s streets with gangs of armed, masked, and unaccountable armed thugs and terrorize people at the border…that people will decide to vacation elsewhere. Who could have guessed?

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Same as it ever was. The Oligarchs and political powers are absolutely terrified of socialism, and its appeal to the peasants. 100 years ago I document this in my new book THE DISSIDENTS. #socialism #dissidents

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 01/10/2026

"He is not here to help. He’s distant, angry, a figure of nothing but venom & vengeance. He walks toward the viewer like a serial killer stalking his prey, his face a mask of contempt & barely-contained rage. His visage in this ad is glowering, almost a parody of a dictator trying to inspire terror"

publicnotice.co

Scenes from a personality cult

Trump’s taxpayer-funded agitprop is clearly illegal — and that’s the point.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 30/09/2026

I for one think it’s bad that the president can just say crazy stuff all day every day and 99% of it doesn’t make the news because we’ve normalized having an insane president

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Reposted by Derf Backderf

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

25th Amendment? We can’t even get network news to air it or even mention it. It’s a massive national media coverup to hide the fact the we have an addled president.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Note Sen. John Kennedy is helping hold aloft the sign, with a smirk on his face. Kennedy is one of bigger idiots in the GOP Senate (a high HIGH bar). So Schmitthead dragged him into toilet, too, not that Kennedy isn't at home there.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Nah, the Hawkeyes are a Big Ten program, so that's strike one. The fact Schmitt-for-brains mixed up one of their womens teams with an NBA team makes it even WORSE in the eyes of sports chuds!

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I imagine the young bros in his office who found this "evidence" have already been booted out of the building. When I was in DC for an event at the Library of Congress, I went to the Starbucks across the street to caf up. The line was ALL young aide bros, laughing & backslapping. My skin crawled.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Times have changed and it's much more difficult to cover up these crimes like Ohio State did. Kudos to the Cornell Daily Sun and their student journalists for refusing to let the story go, despite the indifference from administrators and authorities. I've no doubt they got flak and threats.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Within weeks some rich donors paid off the victim, and set her up at a different university. She stayed silent. Who could blame her? I hope she was able to deal with the trauma and forge a happy life. And that was NOT the only such crime during my time at The Lantern, merely the worst one.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Having Big Ten athletes involved added to intensity of the cover up. The university gave us no information at all. It didn't even admit a rape had happened! Just "an incident." All the bros in the dorm clammed up, too. All we had was rumors and hearsay. We couldn't print a substantive story.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

At that time, the Ohio State Campus was it's own municipality. Campus cops "investigated" the crime. Everything was hidden behind student privacy laws. We couldn't even get documentation about the crime, or the perpetrators, nothing. A wall of silence.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

When I was working at The Lantern, there was a similar gang rape. In a dorm, involving several athletes. Floor party. Heavy drinking. A shitfaced woman was into it at first, then wanted to stop. It didn't. Guys lined up. We caught wind of it at The Lantern. The university stonewalled.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

As a former student journalist at the Ohio State Lantern, where we routinely took heavy flak for holding truth to power, I couldn't be prouder. We HAVE to rebuild the watchdog press, and tear it away from the oligarchs who have smothered it. We're finished as a nation if we fail.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The current huge story about the gang rape at Cornell University, a crime originally brushed off and covered up by the administration, is SOLELY the product of the student paper, the Cornell Daily Sun, which doggedly pursued the story. Not the NYT or CNN. An independent student paper. #Cornell

cornellsun.com

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | Cornell Won’t Listen, We Will

The Sun's Editor-in-Chief Sophia Dasser '28 calls on the Cornell community to share its reactions to the Chi Phi lawsuit and the University's response, on the record, for a permanent public archive.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Glad I saw them back in the day. They were always ridiculous, of course. That's what made them awesome. They always WERE Spinal Tap... and we love them for it.

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Derf Backderf @derfbackderf.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I don't care, honestly. I have zero interest in Byrne or the X-men. I know, however, it's the best selling X-men release in decades.

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