SPECIAL GUEST COMMENTATOR ROSEMARY WOZNIAK BREAKS DOWN THE IDITAROD

Iditarod Dogs Racing togetherBalladeer’s Blog welcomes my sister Rosemary as a guest commentator to share her enthusiasm for the upcoming Iditarod Race. She is a terrific Good Will Ambassador for the event and has gotten me and several other people into following the event each year.

Balladeer’s Blog will once again offer updates on the race as it progresses, complete with each competitor’s Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname. For instance four-time Iditarod Champion Lance Mackey, known to my readers as “The Mad Musher”. Now over to Rosemary, after this reminder that the 2013 race will begin on March 3rd.

Rosemary: Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be alone in the Alaska wilderness…just you and maybe 18 well-trained sled dogs pulling your sled?  Well, I have.  I have been a fan and a follower of the Iditarod Race since the early 1990s and since around 2004 I’ve been able to virtually experience the thrills and spills of the race; admire the fortitude of the mushers and the Continue reading →

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THE FOUR MOST INCOMPETENT U.S. PRESIDENTS IN HISTORY

Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the four most thoroughly incompetent presidents in American history. The list features two Republicans and two Democrats but naturally Liberal fanatics will accuse me of being a Conservative and Conservative fanatics will accuse me of being a Liberal. It’s all part of living in this land of partisan zealots.

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

4. BENJAMIN HARRISON

Party Affiliation: Republican

Background: Benjamin was the grandson of President William Henry Harrison, who was famous for dying barely a month into his term.

Presidency: Harrison lost the popular vote to incumbent Democratic President Grover Cleveland but won the Electoral College so Cleveland was out and Benjy was in. Harrison’s campaign virtually sold every possible presidential appointment in its desperate bid for the presidency, so Benjamin had almost no leeway on who he could nominate for positions from Cabinet level on down. The confirmation hearings provided ample fodder for political humor as some of the most unqualified nominees in U.S. history paraded before the Senate. 

Harrison proved to be in over his head on the Continue reading →

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NOTEWORTHY COLLEGE BASKETBALL AND HOCKEY RESULTS FROM JANUARY 19TH

https://i0.wp.com/minorityrecruitonline.com/college/resources/1/georgetown/Georgetown_College_Tiger.gifNUMBER TWO TAKES A FALL – The unranked GEORGETOWN (KY) TIGERS took it on the road and brought down the number 2 team in the nation, the PIKEVILLE UNIVERSITY BEARS. In a hard-fought game that the Georgetown faithful will be talking about for years to come the Tigers emerged with an 80-77 victory.    ***    Meanwhile, in another example of an unranked team toppling a ranked program the UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS (TX) CELTS likewise played road warriors and defeated the 24th ranked TEXAS COLLEGE STEERS. This matchup was a defensive epic with the final score being Celts  55  Steers  53     ###    … And finishing out the upsets in the NAIA Top 25 yesterday the number 25 MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY PIONEERS fell to the CULVER- STOCKTON WILDCATS in an 89-88 heartbreaker on the road.

https://glitternight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/sxucougars1.png?w=500TOP 25 UPSETS – NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) DIVISION TWO – The 18th ranked SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS were on the road against the number 3 CARDINAL STRITCH UNIVERSITY WOLVES and when the dust settled the Cougars went home with a 66-62 win in this undeniable Instant Classic.   ###   The (23) CAL MARITIME ACADEMY KEELHAULERS lost a 71-70 Overtime nailbiter on the road to the UC-MERCED BOBCATS    ###    … And in the only other upset in the Top 25 for this division of college basketball the YORK (NE) PANTHERS edged the Continue reading →

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COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM: GREAT BAY COLLEGE

Great Bay College HeronsGREAT BAY COLLEGE HERONS

Location: Portsmouth, NH

Division: USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association)

Conference Affiliation: Yankee Small College Conference

Comment: Herons are similar to storks and ibises and dwell on every continent except Continue reading →

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LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES AND HYSTERIA

Two presidents who exploited national tragedies to justify eroding fundamental freedoms.

Welcome back to Balladeer’s Blog, the only site on the web that genuinely criticizes both Liberals and Conservatives equally. As always I’m coming to you from an America whose government was hijacked long ago by those rival gangs of white collar criminals called the Democratic and Republican Parties. Neither of those organizations are mentioned in the Constitution but you can’t realistically run for dogcatcher in this country without having to deal with the party apparatus of one of those groups because of the stranglehold they have on our electoral system. 

Both Liberals and Conservatives love to exploit public hysteria to enact policies that are grotesque violations of our constitutional rights and that they could never get away with without the panic that results in people embracing the loss of liberty. 

The Conservatives did this after Muslim terrorists committed the 9-11 attacks. In the hysteria that followed those flukish events the public practically DEMANDED that the Bush administration strip away some of our fundamental freedoms and usher in many policies of a police state. Conspiracy kooks drastically overstated the harm done which unfortunately helped make all legitimate dissent seem lacking in credibility.

Similar hysteria has Continue reading →

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BAD MOVIE PAGE: CORPSE EATERS (1974)

http://goregirl.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/corpse-eaters00.jpgCORPSE EATERS (1974) – No, not The Brain Eaters and not The Worm Eaters, both of which are real movies, but Corpse Eaters without any “the” in front. This 57 minute wonder actually manages to overstay its welcome, believe it or not, which is just as well because the similar low-budget film Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things did everything better than this film does. 

The people behind Corpse Eaters know JUST what horror fans want to see … water-skiing and plenty of it! This baby takes the concept of padding to the next level with interminable footage of two couples having a great time boating and otherwise whooping it up at lakeside. I’m not old enough to have ever sat through a suburban family’s hellishly boring home-movies but thanks to this film I can experience it as if I was alive back then! Sweeeeet!

The aforementioned lakeside footage comes after the audience is treated to several loooong minutes of a mortician and his assistant talking about what a creepy job they have. Then it’s on to our “stars” if that isn’t too strong a word for them. The frolicing couples note that it’s Friday the 13th and decide to spend the night in a graveyard just for the heck of it. While they’re doing so rain forces the quartet to Continue reading →

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BALLADEER’S BLOG’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS: JANUARY 16TH

ave maria university gyrenesUSCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association) Division One –   1. AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY GYRENES   ###   2. ROCHESTER COLLEGE WARRIORS   ###  3. LU- BELLEVILLE LYNX   ###   4. SOUTHERN VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS   ###   5. DAEMEN WILDCATS   ###   6. NEWPORT NEWS BUILDERS   ###   7. WEST VIRGINIA TECH GOLDEN BEARS   ###   8. SJC-BROOKLYN BEARS   ###   9. UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS CRUSADERS   ###   10. SOUTHERN STATE PATRIOTS   ###   11. VIRGINIA- LYNCHBURG DRAGONS   ###   12. WASHINGTON ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY SHOCK Continue reading →

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FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: HEIL HONEY, I’M HOME! (1990)

Heil Honey I'm HomeTo paraphrase master satirist Stan Freberg’s ad line for Hogan’s Heroes let me just say “If you liked World War Two you’ll LOVE Heil Honey, I’m Home! The premise of this study in cosmic-level bad taste makes it sound like a comedy sketch lampooning the staggering callousness of television executives. Or maybe like a Springtime For Hitler– style moment from a satire on television’s desperation for getting ratings through calculated outrageousness. 

Unfortunately this program was an honest-to-God attempt at launching a sitcom in the U.K. in 1990. Eight episodes were filmed but after the pilot aired for this failed attempt at dark comedy the ensuing outcry ensured the show’s immediate cancellation.

This one-shot wonder was a self-styled “Hitcom”, the producer’s technical term for “Hitler comedy” as opposed to “Sitcom” for Situation Comedy. Are you laughing yet? Heil Honey, I’m Home! depicted Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun as a typical apartment-dwelling couple in 1938 Berlin putting up with the standard sitcom trope of annoying neighbors … in the form of Jewish couple Arny and Rosa Goldenstein. Are you Continue reading →

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NOTEWORTHY COLLEGE BASKETBALL AND HOCKEY RESULTS FROM JANUARY 12TH, 2013

Highland Cavaliers logo NUMBER ONE TAKES A FALL – The NAIA’s top-ranked UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS PATRIOTS were upset on the road by the UVA-WISE HIGHLAND CAVALIERS (logo at left). The Highland Cavs won by a respectable score of 69-54 so this was no last-minute fluke with a half-court three or any other freak event.  

Rocky Mountain College logoOTHER TOP 25 UPSETS – A day after trouncing Montana Tech the ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE BATTLIN’ BEARS held serve as well and brought down the number 3 LEWIS-CLARK STATE WARRIORS in an 89-80 affair that was LCSC’s 1st loss of the season   ###   The (18) WESTMINSTER (UT) GRIFFINS dismembered the 10th ranked MONTANA STATE-NORTHERN LIGHTS by a rollicking 82-50   ###   The HOPE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY ROYALS entered the Century Club on the same day they upset the 15th ranked CONCORDIA (CA) EAGLES in a 101-91 game that left the Royals fans feeling regal satisfaction   ###   At 19 the ROGERS STATE UNIVERSITY HILLCATS lost an 81-80 heartbreaker at the (25) JOHN BROWN GOLDEN EAGLES   ###   … And the (22) OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY STARS joined the other ranked teams losing on the road, falling to the WAYLAND BAPTIST PIONEERS in a tight 70-68 matchup. 

St Thomas (Fl) Bobcats logoTOP 25 UPSETS – NAIA DIVISION 2 – The (17) ST THOMAS (FL) BOBCATS took it on the road and brought down the number 2 EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY EAGLES in an 81-78 Instant Classic   ###   The 3rd ranked NORTHWOOD (FL) SEAHAWKS, who recently added ice hockey to their athletics department, fell in Overtime on the road to the WEBBER INTERNATIONAL WARRIORS by a score of 93-88   ###   The number 12 GRACE LANCERS were upset by the ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS in a thrilling 74-69 affair   ###   The 14th ranked SOUTHERN OREGON RAIDERS lost at home to the (22) NORTHWEST (WA) EAGLES by a score of 82-73   ###   … And at number 19 the AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY GYRENES suffered a Continue reading →

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MYTHOLOGY: TWO MORE CHOCTAW DEITIES

choctaw great sealAs a followup to my earlier list of The Top 12 Deities in Choctaw Mythology here’s a look at two additional figures from that same pantheon.

IMMA – The Choctaw goddess of war. Unlike most war deities Imma did not participate in actual combat herself, but was the idealized woman to whom Choctaw warriors dedicated all their battlefield heroics. She was the most beautiful goddess in the Choctaw pantheon and, like her husband, the hunting god Hatakachafa, Imma was originally a mortal raised to godhood in the afterlife by the supreme deity Nanishta. He did this after Imma died from grief after Hatakachafa was given up for dead during his year-long struggle to return home to her. When Imma’s true love at last returned home astride his giant white wolf and learned she was dead he too died of grief. The two were reunited in the afterlife as husband and wife. 

OKLATABAHSHIH – The patron god of Continue reading →

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