Location: Woodland Hills, CA
Site: http://www.piercecollege.edu/
Comment: I defy you to name one young football player who wouldn’t want to Continue reading
COOL FOOTBALL HELMET: PIERCE COLLEGE BRAHMA BULLS
Filed under Cool Helmets
MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF STUPIDITY: ISLAM AND “HONOR” KILLINGS
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my view of all religion as mythology. Most religions are civilized enough that their practitioners can deal with that type of viewpoint. Islam, of course, is the exception, and perpetuates superstitious savagery like killing people for drawing pictures of Continue reading
Filed under Milestones In Stupidity
BAD MOVIE PAGE – ELVES (1989)
ELVES (1989) – Category: Enjoyably bad movie but not fun- bad enough for my highest rating Last Christmas season I reviewed the underappreciated Yuletide turkeys The Christmas Martian and Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny. (see my Bad Movie page for those reviews) This year I’ll address the horror film Elves, which will have you laughing like crazy but unlike a film like Santa’s Slay, it’s not MEANT as a comedy.
Where to begin with this film? We’ve got Dan Haggerty as a washed up ex- store detective and drug addict working as a department store Santa Claus, we’ve got Julie Austin as rebellious teenager Kirsten and our special-effects elf (seen in photo) as our title menace. Yep, right off the bat something to love about this Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies
CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2011: 1977 BBC VERSION
Time once again for an under-the-radar version of A Christmas Carol. This time it’s the 1977 BBC TV version starring Michael Hordern as Scrooge. Hordern was better known to some people as the voice of Paddington Bear way back when. There’s a lot of charm to this 58 minute version even though it’s got 70′s sitcom-style lighting and special effects that even the makers of the original Dr Who show could have looked down their noses at. The dialogue is drawn directly from Dickens so it flows nicely and the segment with Belle is Continue reading
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF AND BOWL RESULTS DECEMBER 3RD
NAIA SEMIFINALS – The ST XAVIER UNIVERSITY COUGARS came into Indianapolis determined to make up for their lone regular season loss. That loss came at the hands of the MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS who, by virtue of their win in that game became the number 1 team in the polls and the top seed in the playoffs. SXU sank to the 5 seed but after today’s sweet revenge advance to the championship game in Rome, GA on December 17th. SXU came out on top 30-27 in this post-season Instant Classic.
Meanwhile, in the other NAIA semifinal the defending champions, the CC FIGHTING SAINTS, proved as potent as ever, embarrassing the visiting GEORGETOWN (KY) TIGERS by a score of 35-3. The score was 14-3 at halftime but apparently the Fighting Saints were just toying with Georgetown like a cat playing with a mouse. The Hellions from Helena have won 6 of the past 9 NAIA football titles and the SXU Cougars will have a difficult time dethroning them. But who knows? St Xavier put itself on the national football map for good in 2006 by upsetting CC in Helena, so maybe they have a decent shot in a neutral stadium in Rome, GA.
NJCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
EL TORO BOWL – The EAST MISSISSIPPI LIONS won their 1st national championship in any sport yesterday in a 55-47 shootout win over the ARIZONA WESTERN COLLEGE MATADORS. The Continue reading
Filed under college football
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS AND BOWLS DECEMBER 3RD
Welcome to another wonderful Saturday of postseason college football! The NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) playoffs are down to their semi-finals today. The defending champions, the CC Fighting Saints, welcome fellow traditional football power the Georgetown (KY) Tigers while the other semi-final matchup brings us a rematch. Just a few weeks ago the St Xavier University Cougars and the Marian University Knights were ranked one and two in the nation, respectively, when the Knights brought down Mike Feminis’ Cougars. Now the two teams play again in Marian’s house for the right to advance to the NAIA Championship Game in Rome, GA.
The NJCAA Championship Game will be played today in the El Toro Bowl and will pit the Arizona Western College Matadors against the East Mississippi Lions. Kickoff is at 2:30pm PT.
Quarter-final games will be played in NCAA Division 2 and in Division 3 where there is still a chance for a seventh consecutive title game between the Whitewater Warhawks, the reigning champs, and the other dominant D3 football dynasty, the Mt Union Purple Raiders. In addition there will be Bowl games in Continue reading
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CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2011 BEGINS
TIME ONCE AGAIN FOR MY ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF THE ENORMOUS NUMBER OF VERSIONS OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL THAT ARE OUT THERE. I’LL BE PEPPERING IN SEVERAL THAT I DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO INCLUDE LAST YEAR (I have about five dozen different versions)BUT FIRST A REPOST OF MY FAVORITE VERSION, BAR NONE:
I’ll come right out and admit it – I’ve always been a sucker for any version of A Christmas Carol. Trouble is, most adaptations distort the story or are produced by people who don’t seem to “get” the story or treat it like it’s a children’s tale. Anyone who thinks that needs to read the novelette again. My love of mythology is partly why I love the story so much. A Christmas Carol is the closest thing to an Epic Myth the Industrial Age has produced. The language Dickens uses is very close to prose poetry but precious few adaptations of the story preserve enough of it.
That brings us to Patrick Stewart‘s one-man stage presentation of A Christmas Carol. (NOT the fairly lame made-for-tv movie he did on TNT) Stewart does all the voices and pretty much all the sound effects and his 
presentation is magnificent. It’s NOT a book-on-tape, it’s Patrick Stewart acting out the story by himself, like he did on Broadway in the 1980’s. Stewart clearly “gets” the story and includes all the crucial parts that many adaptations omit, and since he’s taking the lines faithfully from the book, it’s also made clear, like in the book ,that MARLEY IS NOT JEWISH, he’s referred to in the book as a Christian, just like Scrooge is. If people Continue reading
Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RESULTS FROM NOVEMBER 26TH
NAIA FOOTBALL DOWN TO ITS FINAL FOUR TEAMS – The MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS, who are the Top Ranked and Top Seeded team in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, completely annihilated the 11th seeded ST FRANCIS (IL) FIGHTING SAINTS by a score of 49-7. The Fighting Saints pulled off the upset of the 6 seeds from Morningside last Saturday, but the Knights would have none of it. Marian played focused on both sides of the ball and made St Francis’ trip to Indiana a nightmare for them.
COUGARS CLAW THE PIONEERS – The SAINT XAVIER COUGARS, who were ranked at number one in the polls for the bulk of the 2011 season saw their one loss – to then- number 2 Marian in the next- to the last game of the regular season – drop them to a 5 seed in the playoffs. They rose above that bizarre snub and have taken care of business in the first 2 rounds, yesterday slapping around the 4th seeded MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY PIONEERS by a score of 29- 14. Mike Feminis’ boys move on to the semi- finals and you can’t want to play this team with the roll they’re on.
NO, NOT THAT GEORGETOWN – The GEORGETOWN (KY) TIGERS clashed with their fellow NAIA football power the ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS in this quarterfinal matchup. Home standing Georgetown College came out on top 26- 14.
TWO MINUTE DRILL – With barely two minutes left in regulation, the CC FIGHTING SAINTS, the defending champions of NAIA football, wrested the lead from the AZUSA PACIFIC UNIVERSITY COUGARS and won by a score of 17- 14. Just like last year an eventful season for APU was cut short by the Hellions from Helena.
CCCAA PLAYOFFS
INSERT YOUR OWN DUDLEY DO- RIGHT JOKE HERE – If the CCCAA was the NFL yesterday would have been the NFC and AFC championship games. The MT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE MOUNTIES, the defending champs of BOTH the SCFA and the CCCAA, won an Instant Classic over the visiting CERRITOS COLLEGE FALCONS. The Mounties won 17-14, notch another SCFA title and go on to play in the CCCAA championship game on December 10th.
RAM ON RAM VIOLENCE – The Continue reading
Filed under college football
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SCOREBOARDS FOR NOVEMBER 26TH
Yes, newbies to Balladeer’s Blog, the divisions of college football covered here settle their seasons on the field. Today the CC Fighting Saints, the defending champions of NAIA football, welcome the Azusa Pacific Cougars to Helena, MT for quarter- final action. Will CC once again derail the Cougars’ post season run or will APU rise up and dethrone the champs? Watch and see.
Meanwhile the NAIA’s Top Seeded Marian University Knights will host the University of St Francis (IL) Fighting Saints and the St Xavier University Cougars, who spent most of the 2011 season ranked at number 1 in the polls, travel to take on the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers.
In SCFA college football the Mt San Antonio College Mounties, the defending SCFA champs as well as the defending CCCAA champs, welcome the Cerritos Falcons for the SCFA crown. The winner will play for the CCCAA title against the winner of the NCFA championship game today between the Fresno City College Rams and the defending NCFA title holders, the San Francisco Rams.
All this plus 2nd round playoff action in NCAA Divisions 2 and 3. Here are links to updating scoreboards for the divisions covered by Balladeer’s Blog:
NAIA – http://www.victorysportsnetwork.com/sport/0/14.php
D3 – Continue reading
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MOVIE HOSTS: CHRISTOPHER COFFIN (1961? – 1967)
Christopher Coffin, AKA Reed Pasternak AKA Reed Farrell, deserves to be mentioned with the biggest names in the history of B- Movie Hosts. As you can see in the photo at left Coffin hosted his movies from a wheelchair and when you combine that with his wry, erudite sense of humor and his aristocratic manner I think the best way to describe him would be as a combination of Sheridan Whitehead in The Man Who Came To Dinner and Ghoulardi. Or maybe I should make that a pre- Ghoulardi version of Ghoulardi, depending on what year you accept for CC’s premier.
I want to address the ongoing debate over exactly what year his program debuted. The advocates of a Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies, Movie Hosts
