1. SAINT NORBERT COLLEGE GREEN KNIGHTS ### 2. OSWEGO STATE LAKERS ### 3. UW- STEVENS POINT POINTERS ### 4. BABSON COLLEGE BEAVERS ### 5. GENESEO STATE BLUE KNIGHTS ### 6. UNIVERSITY OF SAINT THOMAS TOMMIES ### 7. TRINITY (CT) BANTAMS ### 8. NORWICH UNIVERSITY CADETS ### Continue reading
Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog
COLLEGE HOCKEY RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG
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THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SCROOGE (1983)
This entry for Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2014 is a true oddity. It’s not so much a “love it or hate it” version of the Dickens classic so much as it’s a “like it or ridicule it” version, due entirely to the forced religious slant.
The Gospel According to Scrooge is a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol – one which continues to be performed to this very day at various Christian venues around the country. This very first performance was televised in December of 1983 on the Trinity (as in Holy Trinity) Broadcasting Network.
I have a hard time forcing myself to be as rough on Christianity as I used to be, given the atrocities committed by Muslim fanatics on a daily basis and the way in which the world grovels for those same Muslims, all the while the world pretends to be “daring” and “iconoclastic” by relentlessly bashing Christians and Jews. Uh. Yeah. Gutless hypocrites.
At any rate since I’m a non-believer in all the world’s religions I laugh my ass off whenever I watch The Gospel According to Scrooge, but committed Christians will probably like this Carol for all the same reasons that someone like me laughs at it. Continue reading
Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL
AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS CAROL (1979)
Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2014 continues! At the height of Fonzie-mania in the 1970s Henry Winkler had so much pull he could have insisted on a side-deal in which he got to play every D’Ascoyne in a televised remake of Kind Hearts and Coronets if he had wanted to. Mercifully he instead chose to star in this adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Eric Till directed this telefilm which sets Dickens’ story in Depression- Era America. Winkler, so heavily made-up he looks like a zombie instead of an old man, portrays Benedict Slade, the Scrooge stand-in and R.H. Thompson plays Slade’s man-bitch Thatcher, the Bob Cratchit counterpart. David Wayne has the Jacob marley role as Merrivale and Susan Hogan barely registers as the forever-irritating Belle stand-in.
“I’m not gonna pay a lot for this makeup job!” … Henry Winkler IS a zombie Scrooge in An Undead Christmas Carol.
This version of the Carol pulls the annoying maneuver of pretending the visits from Merrivale and the other ghosts are all a dream. There’s even an in-world reference to the Dickens novel A Christmas Carol. On the plus side the visits of each of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come are cleverly heralded by time period appropriate music and news broadcasts airing on Slade’s bedside radio. The old tight-wad is especially discomfited by the outre 1970s music blaring from the radio before the arrival of the black Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Continue reading
Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL
COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM: GOLDEY-BEACOM COLLEGE
GOLDEY-BEACOM COLLEGE LIGHTNING
Location: Wilmington, DE
Conference Affiliation: Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
Comment: This highly-regarded educational institution from Delaware is also known for its cool-named sports teams. The Lightning stand out tall and proud in a collegiate sports landscape littered with WAY too many teams called Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats. Continue reading
Filed under Cool names and cool logos
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1981): AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER
Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2014 continues!
This is a filmed presentation of the stage play by San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre and originally aired December 21st, 1981 on the Arts Channel. The adaptation was by Dennis Powers and Laird Williamson and starred William Patterson as Ebenezer Scrooge. The only real mistake this Carol makes is that it’s one of those versions that reads WAY too much into Scrooge’s relationship with his father, even making up beatings that are never mentioned in the Dickens original. Other than that this production features some very nice touches.
During the Christmas Past segment Young Scrooge (Thomas Harrison) and Belle (Janice Hutchens) are ice-skating under starlit skies while having their breakup scene, which livens up this often tedious bit of business. When the Ghost of Christmas Present (Lawrence Hecht) shows Scrooge the Continue reading
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THE STINGIEST MAN IN TOWN (1953)
THE STINGIEST MAN IN TOWN (1953) – CHRISTMAS CAROL-A-THON 2014 continues! For several years only the soundtrack for this terrific musical was available because the bulk of the video from this television production was missing. A few years back all the video was restored so this Christmas season treasure can finally be enjoyed in its entirety.
Most people are only familiar with the 1978 Rankin-Bass Cartoon version of The Stingiest Man in Town, which chops the story down and omits or shortens a few songs. Here in all its glory is the original live 1953 production from December 23rd, rebroadcast in 1956, hence the 1956 date on some copies. Basil Rathbone stars as Scrooge, Johnny Desmond plays Nephew Fred, Martyn Green plays Bob Cratchit and Vic Damone appears as the young Ebenezer Scrooge at Fezziwig’s party.
Many of the songs in this musical have become Christmas song standards and people are often amazed that The Stingiest Man in Town is where the songs originated. An Old Fashioned Christmas, Listen to the Song of the Christmas Spirit, Yes, There is a Santa Claus, and Birthday Party of the King are among the Continue reading
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MR MAGOO’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1962)
Balladeer’s Blog’s annual Christmas Carol-A- Thon continues with this little item I’m doing as a reader request. I had thought that Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol was way too mainstream and well-known for me to review but I’ve been told it’s fallen off the radar for most people so here we go!
MR MAGOO’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1962) – The nearly-blind one-joke cartoon figure called Mr Magoo was voiced by Jim Backus. The schtick in the character’s regular cartoon adventures was that his cosmic-level near-sightedness caused him to mistake a bowling alley for a laundromat or some similar mixup and slapstick hijinx would develop from there. Continue reading
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CHRISTMAS SEASON ADVICE FOR AMERICAN LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES
Welcome back to Balladeer’s Blog, the only site on the web that equally criticizes those childish fanatics called Liberals and Conservatives. Here’s some Yuletide advice for those two groups of zealots who continue to tear the country apart by putting their respective political party ahead of the nation.
ADVICE FOR LIBERALS – Pretend that these Conservatives you irrationally hate are really Muslim fanatics who treat women like slaves and want all gay people dead. You cowardly hypocrites seem to have no problem refraining from EVER expressing one word of hostility about Muslim homophobes and misogynists, so go through December without saying anything about Christians and/or Conservatives that you would not say about Muslims and/or Islamists. And show their religion the same nauseating deference you gutless wonders show Islam. Continue reading
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OLIVER! – BALLADEER’S BLOG’S THANKSGIVING EVE TRADITION
“Please, sir, may I have some more?”
It’s that time of year again! Just a note in the spirit of the holiday season to mention my favorite Thanksgiving Eve movie.
Every Wednesday before Thanksgiving I make a point out of watching the musical Oliver!
I know the Continue reading
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CCCAA FOOTBALL PLAYOFF AND BOWL MATCHUPS
Balladeer’s Blog presents this year’s matchups in the Bowls and playoffs in CCCAA College Football.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BOWL
Date: November 22nd
Kickoff: 4pm ET
Matchup: The CCCAA incorporates its playoffs into its Bowl structure. This Bowl will serve as one of the semi-finals in the Southern California Football Association and will pit the (2) FULLERTON COLLEGE HORNETS (8-2) against the visiting (3) MOUNT SAN ANTONIO COLLEGE MOUNTIES (8-2). Continue reading
Filed under college football
