As 2023 nears its end here’s one last round of congratulations to the college football champions from all eight divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)
National Champions – KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS
Runners-Up – Northwestern (IA) College Red Raiders
2022 Champions – Northwestern (IA) College Red Raiders
NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association)
My National Champions – CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY (MI) CARDINALS
Runners-Up – North Greenville University Crusaders
2022 Champions – Ottawa University (AZ) Spirit Continue reading
RIVERBOAT (1959-1961) – My review of this neglected television series about Darren McGavin and a young Burt Reynolds as partners who run a riverboat along the Mississippi and its tributaries during the 1830s and 1840s. Burt and Darren help Texas rebels fight Mexican tyrants, assist historical figures like Zachary Taylor and Abe Lincoln, and clash with river pirates, gunrunners and fugitives. Click 
THOMASINE & BUSHROD (1974) – A western about a pair of fictional outlaws who become folk heroes from 1911-1915 as the Wild West is fading away. Vonetta McGee plays Thomasine, a female bounty hunter who winds up robbing banks alongside her true love J.P. Bushrod (Max Julien). The pair give away most of their illegal proceeds to the poor of all colors. This movie is like The Wild Bunch crossed with Bonnie & Clyde, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and more. Click 
JANUARY 1972 MARVEL PUBLICATIONS – Black Bolt and the Inhumans take on Magneto, Spider-Man fights Kraven the Hunter in the Savage Land, Daredevil and the Black Widow face MK-9, Conan the Barbarian meets Omm the Spider-God and much more. Click 
HURRICANE NELL – One of the first Dime Novel heroines created by Edward L. Wheeler in 1877. This tale follows the daring young lady sharpshooter on her revenge quest against a gang of outlaws. Click 
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog will remember my review of three neglected swashbuckler novels by Alexandre Dumas. (For those three – Georges, Captain Pamphile and La Dame de Monsoreau click 
When I was a little boy thrilled with the Musketeers, Monte Cristo and Iron Mask I excitedly grabbed The Black Tulip to read, assuming it, too would feature derring-do and swordplay. Much to my disappointment the novel instead dealt with attempts to cultivate a black tulip, the mob-slaying of Netherlands politicians Johann and Cornelius de Witt, romance and the redemption of personal honor. 
TOP DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS SWASHBUCKLER MOVIES – My review of the eight spectacular, milestone silent movies starring Fairbanks in the forerunners of today’s action blockbusters. (1920-1929) Click 
AMPHIBIAN MAN (1962) – Review of this bad Russian movie. Odd science fiction piece. Click 
JANUARY 1970 AT MARVEL – Brief reviews of Marvel’s January ’70 releases – Avengers vs the supervillain team called Zodiac, X-Men vs Sunfire, Spider-Man vs the Chameleon, Hulk vs the Leader, Iron Man vs the Crimson Dynamo, plus the very first appearance of Agatha Harkness as the Fantastic Four take on the Frightful Four. Click 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL – A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS (1995) – Remember Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater? Switch it to another name for that deity and you get Quicksilver Radio Theater. QRT went to great pains to treat listeners to as authentic a simulation of old-time radio dramas as possible. 
BUGS BUNNY’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1979) – When is an adaptation of A Christmas Carol NOT an adaptation of A Christmas Carol? When it features Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Nearly thirty years later WB would inflict on the world another version of the Carol that was just as soulless and joyless as this 1979 effort. 
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at some of the early stories during the time when Daredevil and the Black Widow were a team, like 
DAREDEVIL & THE BLACK WIDOW Vol 1 #92 (October 1972) 
THE CASSANDRA CROSSING (1976) – My review of this hilariously bad disaster movie starring Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Martin Sheen and O.J. Simpson. Passengers on a train are exposed to a deadly virus because of terrorists. Click 
GRIPS: ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL SUPERHEROES EVER – From 1986-1992 Grips, a combination of Wolverine and the Punisher, had ultra-violent and otherwise adult adventures in Kris Silver’s independent publications. Only Faust exceeded Grips in the 80s and 90s, and artist Tim Vigil worked on both series. Must be read to be believed. Click 
A VERY MISSING PERSON (1972) – Eve Arden starred as amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers from a series of mystery novels. Hildegarde solves a murder involving high-level figures in New York City. Also includes my review of the 1930s movies about the character. Click 
MOMMA THE DETECTIVE (1981) – A Mother’s Day look at this made for tv movie about Esther Rolle as an amateur detective who solves a high society murder. Think of shows like McMillan and Wife, The Snoop Sisters, etc. Click 
A VHS CHRISTMAS CAROL LIVE – I was going to save my review of this 45-minute StarKid musical adaptation of the Dickens classic for Christmas Day itself, but I changed my mind. 
The cast members perform their roles in costumes which make each of them pastiches AND composites of recognizable 1980s pop singers. They don’t stoop to doing impressions of those singers, they stay in character and stay true to the musical vibe of the score. But you can’t help but smile at the 80s pop culture mainstays they put you in mind of. 
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