*** NAIA DIVISION TWO ***
ELITE EIGHT – FIRST BERTH – There was a mild upset in this game as the 7 seeds – the INDIANA UNIVERSITY- EAST RED WOLVES surprised the 6th seeded VALLEY CITY STATE VIKINGS. By Halftime the Red Wolves had Vikings fans nervous as they held a 41-35 advantage. After the break IU-East slowly but surely managed a bit more separation and ultimately defeated Valley City State 81-69. Vasha Davis led the Red Wolves with his 19 points. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
Kauai
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART FIFTEEN
The goddess Hi’iaka continued her journey to the island of Kauai accompanied by the mortal woman Wahine. Their mission was to reach Prince Lohiau of Kauai and escort him back to the Big Island to marry Pele, the fire and volcano goddess. Little did Hi’iaka and Wahine know that the lovesick Lohiau, despairing because he missed Pele so much, had taken his own life weeks ago.
Continuing to cross the island of Oahu the traveling ladies reached Kehuohapu’u Bluff, where a rough shrine stood to the fish-god Ku’ula. From there they moved on to Ka’ena Point, the peninsula on the western coast of Oahu at the point closest to the island of Kauai. Ka’ena Point was the jumping-off point for the spirits of dead Hawaiians when they were ready to enter the land of the dead ruled by the goddess Milu. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
*** NAIA DIVISION TWO ***
DAY TWO – GAME ONE – A one seed fell in this game that was the shocker of the day yesterday! The 8th seeded YORK (NE) COLLEGE PANTHERS took on the top seeded UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IL) FIGHTING SAINTS and put them on Upset Alert with a 42-42 Halftime tie. After the break the Panthers went on to win this game for the ages by a final score of 87-79. Cameron Coleman led York College with 22 points.
DAY TWO – GAME TWO – The 3 seeds – the NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY BEACONS – faced the 6th seeded SOUTHWESTERN COLLEGE MOUNDBUILDERS. The Beacons methodically established dominance in the game, compiling a 35-28 advantage by the break and following up on that in the 2nd Half for an 84-69 victory. The Beacons were led by Austin Kuemper with 22 points. Continue reading
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Cry havoc and let slip the gods of war! Had to be said. (And yes, I know it’s supposed to be dogs of war.) The Greek god of war Ares and his Roman counterpart Mars get most of the attention in pop culture. Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some of the neglected war gods from around the world.
AIRESKOI
Pantheon: Iroquois
Lore: Aireskoi was identified with the Aurora Borealis. While other Iroquois souls would go to the conventional afterlife warriors slain in battle got to reside with Aireskoi in the heavens, their souls glowing with the grandeur of their battlefield heroics, thus accounting for the brightness of the Aurora Borealis.
Aireskoi was one of the gods who tried to woo the goddess Iagentci when she was carrying her Marriage Bread to the chief deity Hawenneyu. Aireskoi was also associated with fire since the Iroquois used fire to torture captives taken in wartime. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
*** NAIA DIVISION TWO ***
DAY ONE – GAME ONE – The 7 seeds – the CALIFORNIA MARITIME ACADEMY KEELHAULERS – took the court against the 2nd seeded UNION (KY) BULLDOGS. The Keelhaulers were trailing the Bulldogs 39-37 at Halftime but after the break they took control of the game, outscoring Union 44-31 for an 81-70 upset. Zach Davis tossed in 24 points to lead Cal Maritime. Continue reading
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Here at Balladeer’s Blog I enjoy treating conspiracy theories as a form of modern-day mythology. Just like mythology and religious beliefs conspiracy theories are irrational explanations for occurrences or situations that have much more rational explanations. Here’s one of my all-time favorite neglected conspiracy kook bits.
THE DEAD CAN BE RESURRECTED ON PLANET JUPITER – The enigmatic Toynbee Tiles are the major source for the enjoyable canon behind this notion. At some point in the 1980s odd tiles laid into the asphalt of actual streets and roadways were being found, bearing some variation on the following message: “TOYNBEE IDEA/ IN MOVIE 2001/ RESURRECT DEAD/ ON PLANET JUPITER.” Continue reading
Filed under Mythology, Uncategorized
Kaliuwa’a Valley
Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the grand and exciting Hawaiian epic about the goddesses Pele and Hi’iaka.
PART FOURTEEN
Hi’iaka and her mortal companion Wahine continued crossing the island of Oahu as their quest to reach Kauai resumed after their battle with the gigantic lizard-monster Mokoli’i. The ladies arrived at Kaliuwa’a Valley where Hi’iaka encountered another of the gods who had originally arrived in the Hawaiian Islands with the goddess Pele long ago.
Kauhi was the name of this ancient deity who ruled the rocky mountain peak that shared his name. Long ago Pele had assigned – some would say condemned – Kauhi to remain behind here serving as a sentry. The peak was often called “the watchtower of the heavens” and served as both home and prison to Kauhi. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
*** NAIA ***
AMERICAN MIDWEST CONFERENCE – CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The 2nd seeded COLUMBIA (MO) COUGARS had their hands full in this title game with the 5 seeds – the WILLIAM WOODS UNIVERSITY OWLS. After a Battle Royal the Cougars managed to eke out a 77-74 victory. Along the way Columbia also eliminated Harris- Stowe State and Park University. * THE COUGARS ARE AMC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS * Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
Satana the Devil’s Daughter
Comic book movies have been all the rage for quite a while now. With the explosive financial success of the movie Deadpool despite its R rating there is supposedly a mad rush now in Hollywood to find other comic book projects that were previously overlooked. For some reason the film industry had convinced itself that comic book movies would have a hard time making money if they were rated R.
The time is perfect for SATANA THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER.
How has this character NOT been the subject of multiple movies by this point? You’d think that Marvel would have learned long ago not to let its strong female horror figures lie unused. For decades Stan and friends let their 1970s character Rachel Van Helsing, the young blonde descendant of a long line of vampire slayers go unexploited only to watch potential millions of dollars fly away as Buffymania took hold in the 90s. Continue reading
Filed under Halloween Season
*** NAIA ***
GULF COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE – CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – With the top seed in this conference tournament eliminated this game saw the 2nd seeded DILLARD UNIVERSITY BLEU (sic) DEVILS take on the 4 seeds – the XAVIER (LA) UNIVERSITY GOLD RUSH. In the end the Bleu Devils punched their ticket to the National Tournament by defeating the Gold Rush 84-71. * THE BLEU DEVILS ARE CHAMPIONS OF THE GCAC TOURNAMENT * Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
