THE MEN OF THE MOON (1809) – Several decades before H.G. Wells would use his fictional invasion from Mars in War of the Worlds as an allegorical condemnation of colonialism the American author Washington Irving beat him to it. In Irving’s work The Men of the Moon a technologically advanced race from the moon conquered the Earth and treated its inhabitants the way that European and Muslim colonialists treated the indigenous inhabitants of the areas they subjugated.
Irving tongue-in- cheekly called his invaders from the moon “Lunatics” and depicted them as green-skinned humanoids with tails and one eye each instead of two. Their most bizarre feature is the fact that they carry their detached heads tucked under one arm with a spinal column “cord” attaching the head to the body. For refreshment the moon men drink liquid nitrous oxide. Continue reading

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – This was pretty much a hardcourt version of jousting as the top seeded BERKELEY (NY) COLLEGE KNIGHTS faced the 2 seeds – the CENTRAL PENN COLLEGE SILVER KNIGHTS. Points were flying back and forth with Berkeley College seizing a 40-37 advantage by Halftime. The 2nd Half saw even more red-hot offense as the Knights went on to win by a final count of 107-88! Massiah Merritt’s 34 points led BC. * THE KNIGHTS ARE USCAA DIVISION TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONS *
AMERICAN MIDWEST CONFERENCE – SEMIFINALS – The AMC’s first semifinal pitted the 5 seeds – the WILLIAM WOODS UNIVERSITY OWLS – against the top seeded FREED-HARDEMAN LIONS. The Owls pulled off a 92-82 upset. ### And in the 2 spot the COLUMBIA (MO) COUGARS advanced to the title game at the expense of the 3rd seeded PARK UNIVERSITY PIRATES. The final tally was Cougars 86 Pirates 81. 
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka. 

SOONER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – The 5th seeded UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND ARTS OF OKLAHOMA DROVERS set the tone for the night with an 82-67 takedown of the 4th seeded SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN EAGLES ### The 6 seeds – the WAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY PIONEERS – kept the upsets going with their tight 75-71 win over the 3rd seeded OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY STARS ### Chalk struck back as the 2nd seeded MID-AMERICA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EVANGELS defeated the 7th seeded SAGU LIONS 86-81 ### And the (1) TEXAS WESLEYAN RAMS bounced the (8) JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY GOLDEN EAGLES 70-56.
Anteia was written by the comic poet Philyllius. This comic poet’s career seems to have spanned approximately from the 410s BCE to 390 BCE. One of his comedies won 1st prize at a Lenaea festival in the 390s and he won 1st prize at an unknown Dionysia. His fellow comedian Strattis credited him with being the first Attic Old Comic to use real torches on stage.
A hetaera could move from man to man or keep one man for extended periods. What they were was openly known but the hetaerae occupied the top rung in the open “sex for pay” business in ancient Greece. Political figures could be publicly known as a hetaera’s steady man and it was not a career ender, but the man would be in for a lot of ribbing in the comedies of the time, usually as the butt of jokes pointing out how such an “ugly” man could ONLY get such a beautiful sex partner by paying her.
The NAIA’s Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at last finalized their new conference name and logo. The KIAC has long included colleges and universities from Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well as Kentucky, so in a way this move was long overdue. However, it is a nice way of celebrating the league’s 100th anniversary this year.
SOUTHERN STATES ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – OPENING ROUND – The 10th seeded COLLEGE OF COASTAL GEORGIA MARINERS got things going against the 7 seeds – the BETHEL (TN) WILDCATS. The Mariners put the Wildcats on Upset Alert by Halftime with a 39-31 lead, then held on for a 74-69 victory. Dominic Early led the Mariners with a Double-Double of 22 points and 11 rebounds. ### And the 8th seeded LOYOLA (New Orleans) WOLFPACK had no trouble with the 9th seeded UNIVERSITY OF MOBILE RAMS, defeating them 70-53.