Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog

February 7, 2020 · 11:55 am

TWENTY MORE COOL-NAMED NJCAA COLLEGE SPORTS TEAMS

Another Balladeer’s Blog Top Twenty list for 2020. This time it’s 20 more cool-named teams from the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association). FOR THE FIRST TWENTY NJCAA TEAMS CLICK HERE 

Vance Granville VanguardsVANCE-GRANVILLE COLLEGE VANGUARDS

Location: Henderson, NC

Comment: Kudos to the folks at this institution for showing some creativity with the name of their sports teams! The Vanguards definitely stand out and their logo is very, very eye-catching!

Quinsigamond College WyvernsQUINSIGAMOND COLLEGE WYVERNS

Location: Worcester, MA

Comment: Quinsigamond is a mouthful, no doubt about it, and when you combine that memorable school name with the memorable team name Wyverns you have got the kind of magic that Balladeer’s Blog loves!

Faulkner State Sun ChiefsFAULKNER STATE SUN CHIEFS

Location: Bay Minette, AL 

Comment: With a nickname as cool as Sun Chiefs and with a logo that is as eye-catching as this one I can only hope that this college adds football at some point in the future.

newlogo01.aiCHESAPEAKE COLLEGE SKIPJACKS

Location: Wye Mills, MD

Comment: Don’t call them the Flapjacks. Don’t call them the Blackjacks. They are the Skipjacks, one of the most strikingly unique team names in any division of college sports. The Chesapeake College teams take their name from the sloop-rigged sailboat, not the tuna.  Continue reading →

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February 5, 2020 · 10:00 pm

TWENTY BEST SILVER JOHN STORIES

Mascot FOUR original pics

Balladeer’s Blog

Balladeer’s Blog presents another Top Twenty list for 2020. This time it’s a look at the 20 Best Silver John Stories. If you’re not familiar with this neglected Pulp Hero created by Manly Wade Wellman, Silver John was a wandering musician who battled evil supernatural forces in the Appalachian Mountains of yore. His nickname comes from his pure silver guitar strings and the silver coins he wields in his war against darkness. Think Orpheus meets Kolchak. For more info click HERE

Silver John

Silver John

O, UGLY BIRD! – In this debut Silver John story the heroic balladeer squares off against a vile man named Osmer. That villain dominates an isolated mountain community through his ability to send forth his soul in the form of a giant, hideous bird to prey on any who oppose him. 

THE DESRICK ON YANDRO – Desricks are old mountain cabins dating back to Colonial times. Such cabins were heavily fortified against potential attacks from hostile Native Americans or wild animals. This particular desrick houses a powerful old witch and is guarded by a virtual army of horrific monsters. Silver John must face the Bammat (the last of the woolly mammoths) and the Toller (a deadly winged creature), plus others called the Culverin, the Flat, the Skim and the Behinder.     Continue reading →

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February 4, 2020 · 8:33 pm

UP IN THE AIR AND DOWN IN THE SEA (1863): ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

Boys' JournalUP IN THE AIR AND DOWN IN THE SEA (1863) – Written by William S Hayward, this story was originally serialized in The Boy’s Journal from February to August of 1863. In 1865 it was published in novel form as The Cloud King. 

The main character of the tale is scientific adventurer Victor Volans, who has been obsessed with ballooning all his life. During his childhood he would spend untold amounts of time sending up balloons and noting how long they would stay aloft and how far they would travel.

Eventually he moved on to an experiment in which he sent kittens up with a larger balloon, but unfortunately the kittens died from the cold air at the altitude their balloon reached. Little Victor followed up that tragedy by sending up his little brother. The brother survived his balloon trip but the horrified Volans parents angrily forbade Victor from conducting any further experiments.

masc graveyard newYears later, when Volans was a teenager, his parents moved the entire family to California to try to cash in on the Gold Rush. Victor took jobs to earn his own money and returned to his ballooning experiments.

On a test flight in his brand-new balloon, Volans loses control to intense winds which blow him and his aircraft over the Pacific Ocean. Eventually Victor winds up encountering two Lost Worlds somewhere in the Pacific. The first of these is the Region of Eternal Night, where our hero must fend off flying fire beings whose touch can burn humans to death.   Continue reading →

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February 4, 2020 · 12:30 pm

COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

Per the Glitternight Index:

Great Lakes Christian College CrusadersNCCAA Division Two –   1. GREAT LAKES CHRISTIAN COLLEGE CRUSADERS    ###    2. JOHNSON (TN) UNIVERSITY ROYALS    ###    3. GRACE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY TIGERS    ###    4. ARLINGTON BAPTIST UNIVERSITY PATRIOTS    ###    5. CHAMPION CHRISTIAN COLLEGE TIGERS    ###    

Ozark Christian College Ambassadors new logo6. OZARK CHRISTIAN COLLEGE AMBASSADORS        ###    7. MANHATTAN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE THUNDER    ###   8. BOB JONES UNIVERSITY BRUINS   ###    9. JOHNSON (FL) UNIVERSITY SUNS    ###    10. CENTRAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE SAINTS (Should be the Heralds)    ###    Continue reading →

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February 2, 2020 · 3:45 pm

COLLEGE BASKETBALL RESULTS FROM FEBRUARY 1st

NAIA

Arizona Christian University Firestorm BIGNUMBER SEVEN TAKES A FALL – The 23rd ranked ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM took it on the road against the number 7 team in the nation – THE MASTER’S UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS. The Firestorm made the Mustangs faithful nervous with a 54-47 Halftime lead, then consummated the Upset, winning the game 93-84. Tim Soares led ACU with a Double-Double of 23 points and 12 rebounds.

LCSC Logo - Primary Full… AND NUMBER EIGHT COMES TUMBLING AFTER – The number 12 LEWIS-CLARK STATE WARRIORS visited the 8th ranked PROVIDENCE (MT) ARGONAUTS yesterday. The Warriors (should be the Explorers) laid down the law in the 1st Half, leading 53-25 by the break. From there Lewis-Clark State authored a 96-65 beatdown led by 25 points from Trystan Bradley. Jake Albright logged a Double-Double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

USAO Drover newOTHER UPSETS IN THE RANKINGS – The UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & ARTS OF OKLAHOMA DROVERS brought down the (10) JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY GOLDEN EAGLES (should be the Abolitionists) in OT 90-84   ###   Meanwhile the WILLIAM JESSUP UNIVERSITY WARRIORS beat the (18) HOPE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY ROYALS 96-86   ###   And the THOMAS MORE COLLEGE SAINTS won 69-60 at the (25) SHAWNEE STATE BEARS.  Continue reading →

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February 2, 2020 · 8:42 am

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAMES JOYCE!

jamesjoyceHAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JAMES JOYCE! His works got me hooked in my teens when I really related to his character Stephen Dedalus as he rejected his religion and indulged what I call his “young and pretentious side” in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I wore out my copy of Joyce’s novel Ulysses and continue to mark Bloom’s Day to this very day.

Over the years Finnegans Wake replaced Ulysses as my favorite Joyce novel and I’m fonder than many people are of his play Exiles. Naturally, I’m also into his “epiphanies” in Dubliners and, poetry geek that I am, even Pomes Penyeach and Chamber Music. Continue reading →

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February 1, 2020 · 10:42 pm

KILLRAVEN TWENTY-SEVEN: BLOOD AND PASSION

FOR PART ONE OF BALLADEER’S BLOG’S EXAMINATION OF THIS OLD, OLD MARVEL COMICS STORYLINE CLICK HERE  The revisions I would make are scattered throughout the synopsis below.

Killraven 2KILLRAVEN GRAPHIC NOVEL (1983) 

Chapter Three: BLOOD AND PASSION

SYNOPSIS: February, 37 years in the future. Killraven and his Freemen continue their guerilla uprising against Earth’s alien conquerors. We left off last time with Killraven, M’Shulla, Old Skull, Carmilla Frost and their new ally Jenette approaching the alien-upgraded Cape Canaveral. Their mission is to inflict enough damage to thwart the High Overlord’s Project Regenesis.

REVISION: My usual revisions would apply – Deathlok, my substitute for Grok, would still be one of the Freemen, as would Didymus, the two-headed, four-armed, androgynous being who was my substitute for Huey and Louie. Plus the pre-invasion astronaut Jenette Miller would instead be McGregor’s Melissa Siren, newly-returned to Earth after a decades-long chryo-sleep mission in space and horrified to find Earth in the clutches of alien dictators who feed on human flesh.

On their way to the Cape Canaveral fortress of the aliens, Don McGregor’s slapdash writing showed again since he had one foot out the door to move on to his new Sabre series over at Eclipse Comics. Carmilla Frost, the scientist of the group, chose that moment to tell M’Shulla she was pregnant with his child.

While the pair engaged in bland Soap Opera dialogue on the subject, Old Skull, Killraven and the enamored Jenette encountered a moustachioed man being attacked by a bland menace: a larger-than normal wolf. Yes, after all the inventive creatures and villains the Freemen had fought in the original series we’re stuck with a lame large wolf, since McGregor was clearly saving his best ideas for Sabre at this point.  Continue reading →

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January 31, 2020 · 6:38 pm

TWENTY COOL-NAMED NCCAA COLLEGE SPORTS TEAMS

Another Balladeer’s Blog Top Twenty list for 2020. Previously I featured cool-named college sports teams from the NAIA and USCAA. This time it’s 20 cool-named teams from the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association).

Yellowstone Christian College Centurions 2YELLOWSTONE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE CENTURIONS

Location: Billings, MT  

Comment: “Thwow him to the GWOUND, thentuwion!” Had to be said, for the sake of all us Monty Python fans. Joking aside, Centurions is a terrific and almost unique team name in college sports.

saint katherine firebirdsUNIVERSITY OF SAINT KATHERINE FIREBIRDS

Location: San Marcos, CA

Comment: These teams were named after the Doug McClure post-apocalypse movie Firebird: 2015 AD. I’m KIDDING! They were named after the legendary firebirds themselves. 

Nebraska Christian College SentinelsNEBRASKA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE SENTINELS

Location: Papillion, NE

Comment: The Sentinels have got it going on! So does their institution, which has a knack for unique and memorable team names. Prior to going by Sentinels NCC’s teams were called the Parsons.

Moody BIble Institute Archers bigMOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE ARCHERS

Location: Chicago, IL

Comment: Set your Mood Rings to “contemplative!” This team name comes from the school’s reference to their famous Arch, NOT to people who wield a bow and arrows, but that’s a common misconception. Continue reading →

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January 30, 2020 · 10:14 pm

FOOL KILLER PART THIRTY-TWO: JANUARY OF 1910

Fool Killer 1910-1929Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, CLICK HERE 

Balladeer’s Blog’s readers have been asking me to back up a bit and cover the 1910-1917 run of James Larkin Pearson’s Fool-Killer publication before following it any further into the Roaring Twenties. As always, I aim to please the readers, so here we go:

Fool Killer timelessPART THIRTY-TWO: The targets of Pearson’s Fool Killer (I prefer no hyphen) in this debut issue from January of 1910:

*** A flim-flam artist called Grammar who was selling bogus “eternal youth” treatments via his book Perpetual Life, or Living in the Body Forever.

*** Frederick Cook, who, the previous December, had seen his claim to have reached the North Pole ruled invalid and possibly fraudulent by the University of Copenhagen. (The Fool Killer was unable to locate Cook, however.)

*** The “Idle Rich” who had never worked a day in their gilded lives. One memorable line: “A good deal of ‘the cream of society’ ought to be churned.”

*** A Professor Pickering who wanted to raise 10 million dollars to send a message to the planet Mars. Continue reading →

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January 29, 2020 · 9:23 pm

TWENTY BUNYORO DEITIES: AFRICAN MYTHOLOGY

The year 2020 will see plenty of Top Twenty lists here at Balladeer’s Blog. Here’s a look at 20 Bunyoro Gods. Bunyoro was located in and around present-day Uganda. The people had an elaborate pantheon of deities. For the top gods of the Nyanga people instead, click HERE

UgandaRUHANGA – The supreme god of the Bunyoro pantheon. The creator and initiator of the world after he separated the Earth from the sky and adorned the sky with stars. Ruhanga stayed remote and, though omnipotent, was seldom invoked or prayed to. He provided the Banyoro people (Bunyoro for the place, Banyoro for the people) with children, animals and the harvest, but also was the author of disease, sickness and death.  

On the freshly-created Earth Ruhanga put three seeds into the ground and in 1 day 3 calabashes had grown. all on one stem. He took a man/woman couple out of the first 2 calabashes but found just a lone man in the third.  Ruhanga named the men KAKAMA, KAHIMA and KAIRU.  

After subjecting the men to tests to determine their worth, Kakama was judged the most worthy and Ruhanga decreed his descendants would be the ruling class. He further decreed that Kahima’s descendants would be the cattlemen class and Kairu’s descendants would be the farmer class. (No the myth doesn’t say who Kairu has the children with.) Continue reading →

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