Monthly Archives: December 2023

BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES: DECEMBER 16th

keiser helmetnorthwestern ia redTHE NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPION-SHIP GAME BETWEEN THE NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS AND THE KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS WILL BE PLAYED ON MONDAY THE 18th.

NCAA DIVISION TWO

Harding Bisons helmetNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The battle for the D2 crown pitted the HARDING UNIVERSITY BISON against the COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES OREDIGGERS. The 1st Quarter ended in a 7-7 tie, but by Halftime the Bison were on top 21-7. Harding University shut out the Orediggers from there while continuing to score on the way to a 38-7 rout. * THE BISON ARE NCAA DIVISION TWO CHAMPIONS * Continue reading

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DC SUPERHEROES FROM FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the best new superheroes from DC’s First Issue Special, in which they introduced new characters to see if they drew enough fan response to get their own series.

dc1 12FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL Vol 1 #12 (March 1976)

Title: Starman

Synopsis: A blue-skinned alien from the warlike Tradlavian race, Mikaal Tomas, was sent to Earth to start laying the groundwork for his planet’s invasion of our world. His female mate Lyssa was slain by his own people when she showed compassion for previous planets conquered by the Tradlavians and tried to warn Earth. 

Disillusioned with his own race following that, Starman battled and defeated the first wave of the Tradlavian invasion and prepared to defend Earth from the impending additional attempts. The energy crystal he wore granted him superpowers like flight, the ability to shoot energy blasts from his hands, a degree of superstrength and rapid healing. Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP FOR DECEMBER 15th

Here is the latest current events roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog. As always, everyone is welcome here no matter who they vote for.

joe biden is aCONGRESS TAKES THE IMPEACHMENT PROCEDURES AGAINST JOE BIDEN TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

UNDERBOSS HUNTER BIDEN CAUSES CONTEMPT CHARGES OVER FLOUTING OF SUBPOENA.

breaking bidenONE OF THE FEDERAL PROSECUTORS WHO WERE SCANDALOUSLY TRYING TO HELP HUNTER BIDEN AVOID PROSECUTION LEAVING THE DOJ. About time.

MORNING CONSULT POLL: VOTERS TRUST TRUMP OVER BIDEN ON SAVING THE ECONOMY (AGAIN, IN TRUMP’S CASE) – TRUMP 50%, BIDEN ONLY 32%.

MASTERFUL TAKEDOWN OF THE TOTALITARIAN POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT IN AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD.

SLOBBERING ANTI-TRUMP LOONS SPOUT DERANGED NONSENSE ABOUT WHAT HE WOULD SUPPOSEDLY DO BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Their unhinged claims didn’t come true during his first term, but that doesn’t stop them from making even more irrational claims this time around.

Continue reading

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A SESAME STREET CHRISTMAS CAROL (2006)

Balladeer’s Blog’s 14th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon rolls along. Here’s a look at yet another version of the Dickens Yuletide classic for Christmas season.  

Sesame Street Christmas CarolA SESAME STREET CHRISTMAS CAROL (2006) – This 46 minute special, which presents Oscar the Grouch as the Ebenezer Scrooge substitute, opens and closes with some very Christmassy scenes of artificial snow falling on the Sesame Street set. The apartments on that street are all decorated for the holiday so everything looks very festive.

Obviously this version of A Christmas Carol is aimed at children and pretty much only children so don’t expect the broader appeal that lies in A Muppet Christmas Carol. Still, anyone with children of their own or nieces or nephews or really young siblings can take 46 minutes to hang out with the kids while they enjoy this.

The story does not follow the actual plot of A Christmas Carol but instead uses the ghostly visits as framing devices for short sketches featuring the likes of Big Bird, Tickle-Me-Elmo, Bert & Ernie, Snuffle-upagus and Mr. Hooper. This is ideal for children’s shorter attention spans while the adults can enjoy long-ago clips from when Hooper and the original voice actors for those Muppets were all still alive.

We start with Oscar the Grouch trying to barricade himself in his garbage can to avoid all that mushy Christmas cheer. He is visited by Joe Marley, a Muppet who works as a delivery man for the Scaredy-Pants Delivery Service. Marley informs the annoyed Oscar that he will be receiving three packages which contain Ghost-O-Grams.  Continue reading

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BEST OF MARCH 2023

Here’s another installment of Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective, this one reflecting on March’s best.

floris dvdFLORIS (1969 and 1975) – Rutger Hauer and Paul Verhoeven’s neglected television series starring Rutger as a swashbuckling hero caught up in the Guelders Wars of the Netherlands. Read about it HERE.

BOOK OF THE DUN COW – My examination of each section of Ireland’s Lebor na hUidre, The Book of the Dun Cow. Part One HERE. Part Two HERE. A wealth of mythology.

TWO EARLY GOTHIC HORROR NOVELS – I reviewed The Monk (1796) and The Castle of Otronto (1764) HERE.

hitler dead or alive coverBAD MOVIE REVIEW: HITLER – DEAD OR ALIVE (1943) My review of this bizarre movie HERE.

BLONDE PHANTOM: HER 1940s STORIES – Stan Lee’s 1946-1949 female superhero from his much, much younger years. Click HERE.

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE END OF AN EPOCH (1901) – A bio-engineered disease that wipes out millions upon millions of lives on Earth. Click HERE.

jsa jla 1963JUSTICE SOCIETY AND JUSTICE LEAGUE CROSSOVER STORIES: 1963-1969 – Their first 7 meetings HERE

DEMOCRATS FURTHER CEMENT DONALD TRUMP’S MARTYRDOM. Click HERE.

MY TOP HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS HORROR FILMS – Read it HERE.

GRACE O’MALLEY: THE PIRATE QUEEN OF IRELAND – The real-life female pirate leader of the late 1500s and early 1600s. Click HERE. Continue reading

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CHARLEMAGNE: RUGGIERO AND THE ENCHANTRESS ALCINA

CharlemagneAs regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may recall, December and early January are when I sprinkle in more tales of the Paladins of Charlemagne. These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic. 

FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.

bradamante another picRUGGIERO AND THE ENCHANTRESS ALCINA – When we left off last time around, the Emperor Charlemagne and his armies were still engaged in their war against the recent Muslim invasion from North Africa and Spain, led by Agramant.

Among the many dramas scattered throughout Charlemagne’s Empire was the star-crossed Romeo and Juliet style romance of the Muslim warrior Ruggiero and the female Christian Paladin Bradamante of the White Armor. Prophecies had foretold that Bradamante would lead Ruggiero away from Islam, and so he had been held captive by the enchanter Atlantes to keep the two of them separated.

Our previous installment ended with Bradamante having defeated and driven off Atlantes and freed the many men and women imprisoned in his mystic castle atop the Pyrenees. She and Ruggiero had been reunited and renewed their feelings for each other amid the general exodus of freed prisoners from the annihilated castle of Atlantes. Continue reading

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DECEMBER 12th NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP

The latest current events roundup from Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog. As always, everyone is welcome here no matter who they vote for.

unfit and pathetic biden

UNDER JOE BIDEN’S INFLATION AVERAGE MORTGAGE PAYMENTS HAVE NEARLY DOUBLED. Average new home payments currently stand at $3,322, up from $1,746 at the end of 2020. Biden’s war on the working class and the poor continues.

REPUBLICAN NIKKI HALEY IDIOTICALLY ATTACKS SOCIAL SECURITY. No wonder garbage like George W. Bush, Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney speak highly of her.

CONGRESS NOTES SIX OF THE BIGGEST REVELATIONS ABOUT THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY SO FAR IN THE IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATION. More HERE. And HERE.

CONGRESSMAN MATT ROSENDALE IS THE LATEST TO ENDORSE TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT IN 2024.

MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY THREATENING TO KILL REPUBLICAN VIVEK RAMASWAMY AND HIS SUPPORTERS.

president trump

CNN POLL: TRUMP OPENS UP A DOUBLE-DIGIT LEAD OVER BIDEN IN MICHIGAN. As always, I feel that polls this far out from election day are meaningless, but I enjoy noting how Trump withstands all the unhinged and untruthful attacks on him. Continue reading

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LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE: COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM

The latest look at a college whose sports teams have a nickname that is out of the ordinary, or in this case unique.

LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Continue reading

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ANGLIA TELEVISION CHRISTMAS CAROL (1970)

Anglia Television

Anglia Television version

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1970) – Balladeer’s Blog’s 14th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with my brief review of one of my favorite “change of pace” versions of A Christmas Carol

This is the 1970 version that was first televised on Christmas Day on England’s Anglia Television. Paul Honeyman (who also produced) narrates, or rather, reads aloud from his personally edited version of the Dickens classic, ensuring we get treated to the author’s actual wording. Continue reading

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FEBRUARY 2020: LOOKING BACK

FOR PART ONE (2016) OF THIS RETROSPECTIVE FROM INDEPENDENT VOTER SITE BALLADEER’S BLOG CLICK HERE.   

Andrew YangDEMOCRAT ANDREW YANG ON HOW DEMOCRATS HAVE BETRAYED THE WORKING CLASS. Excerpts: “Yang pointed out that the Democrats’ snobbery and contempt for working class voters was why he entered the presidential race in the first place, to try to bring the party back to its long-abandoned base.”“The Democrats can barely conceal their disdain for the working class and the poor. Democrats are incredibly out of touch with the voters and have been for quite some time.” Read the full item HERE.

jack brewerJACK BREWER PRAISES DE FACTO THIRD PARTY PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR BLACK COMMUNITIES. Excerpts: “Brewer also noted that President Trump had ignited “a tremendous awakening in the country” among black Americans.” For the full item click HERE.

FOR A NEEDED LAUGH, HERE ARE EVEN MORE RIDICULOUSLY WRONG PREDICTIONS BY PSYCHICS. You can read them HERE.

tulsi gabbard heroicDEMOCRAT TULSI GABBARD (back in February 2020) CALLS OUT THE DNC FOR RIGGING THE PRIMARIES IN FAVOR OF JOE BIDEN’S 2020 CAMPAIGN JUST LIKE THEY RIGGED THEM IN FAVOR OF HILLARY CLINTON IN 2016. And journalistic exposes since 2020 have supported Gabbard’s statement. Click HERE. And for Democrat Donna Brazille’s book exposing Hillary’s rigging of the 2016 primaries against Bernie Sanders click HERE.

democrat republican or awakeROLLING STONE IN FEBRUARY OF 2020 SHARED GABBARD’S EVALUATION. Excerpt: “What happened over the five days after the caucus was a mind-boggling display of fecklessness and ineptitude. Delay after inexplicable delay halted the process, to the point where it began to feel like the caucus had not really taken place.” Read the full piece HERE.

SON OF INDIANA JONES – You can read it HERE.

Van JonesEVEN CNN’S VAN JONES AND JAMAL SIMMONS CITED TRUMP’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR VOTERS OF COLOR. Excerpts: “You may not like it, but he mentioned HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities] — our black colleges have been struggling for a long time, a bunch of them have gone under — he threw a lifeline to them, in real life, in his budget. He talked about that. He talked about the criminal justice reform. He talked about opportunity zones. He talked about school choice.”

        “Jones also called out “the bubble” in which white Democrats live, a confirmation bias bubble which prevents white Democrats from acknowledging Trump’s positive results in minority communities. That same bubble also prevents white Democrats from seeing Trump’s positive results for the entire working class.” For the full piece click HERE. Continue reading

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