Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog

LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES AND CLICHES

The sexual tension is palpable!

 Welcome back to the Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog, the Open City in an America being torn to pieces by uncompromising liberal and conservative fanatics. As the only site on the ‘net that is truly non- partisan in its criticism of liberal zombies and conservative zombies Balladeer’s Blog now takes a look at the many, many, MANY mindless cliches that mean so much to left-wing and right-wing zealots but that make the rest of us (AKA “adults”) laugh and roll our eyes.

If you can actually use the following expressions without chuckling with contempt you’re a liberal zombie: Continue reading →

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SHINTO DEITY: KOTOHIRA

For other Shinto deities I’ve covered here at Balladeer’s Blog click here: http://www.makethelist.net/the-top-10-deities-in-shinto-mythology/ 

 KOTOHIRA – The god of the Inland Sea, the location of which is indicated on the map to your right. (the rough translation of the words above the arrow would be “Here’s the Inland Sea … assholes”. ) This deity guarded over the entire Inland Sea and commanded Continue reading →

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FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: SHADOW THEATER (1990-1991)

 Shadow Theater was a terrific series hosted by Robert “Freddy Krueger” Englund. Everyone over the age of 30 remembers a time when you couldn’t just go to the internet to get your fix of info and footage from fringe and/ or obscure horror films. This program was a nice once-a- week documentary look at movies for the Psychotronic- minded.

An additional plus about the show was the way it treated viewers to behind-the- scenes facts and rare interviews with some of horror’s most daring filmmakers without having to attend a fan convention. (It’s a joke! Lighten up!)

Robert Englund displayed the same macabre charm he would employ when hosting the Horror Movie Hall of Fame ceremonies later in the decade. He didn’t copy his patented Freddy routine, but rather Continue reading →

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END OF THE WORLD MYTH: WILLIAM WHISTON

 If you believe we never landed on the moon and that the 9-11 attacks were staged by the U.S. government you probably also believe that the world will end this December 21st. Balladeer’s Blog has been examining past “end of the world” scares, and will continue to do so through at least December 22nd, 2012.

William Whiston, a British mathematician, grandly announced that according to his calculations the world would end on October 13th, 1736. He further stated that the opening act for this cosmic drama would be the destruction of London by a flood early on that same date.

Because no matter what the century, there’s never any shortage of people willing to be suckered in by the latest predictions of global doom, countless numbers of Continue reading →

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BAD MOVIE PAGE: DRIVE-IN MASSACRE (1976)

 DRIVE-IN MASSACRE (1976) – Category: Gimmick movie worth watching once, but never again     

This movie has that certain charm to it that most low-budget 70’s horror films possess. When watching Drive-In Massacre you can’t help but reflect on the fact that the talent of John Carpenter is the only thing separating his milestone film Halloween from the many other 1970’s slice and dice films like this one. 

The plot of Drive-In Massacre involves a Continue reading →

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END OF THE WORLD MYTH: JOHANNES STOEFFLER

Mascot FOUR original pics

Balladeer’s Blog

The same kind of conspiracy kooks who believe that we never landed on the moon and that the 9-11 attacks were staged by the U.S. government also believe the world will end on December 21st of this year. In their honor Balladeer’s Blog has been examining some of the previous end of the world scares in history.

German astrologer Johannes Stoeffler predicted that according to his calculations the world would end by a giant flood on February 20th, 1524. Since Stoeffler worked for the prestigious Tubingen University he seemed to be a credible source, and before you knew it, hundreds of believers built themselves wooden arks (yes, wooden arks no less) and Continue reading →

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NEW YEAR’S EVE BAD MOVIE: NEW YEAR’S EVIL (1980)

The best thing about these seasonal bad movie reviews of mine is the fact that they save a lot of time by being appropriate AND already done. From 2010 it’s a repost of my review of the laughably bad holiday horror film New Year’s Evil.

New Year's EvilNEW YEAR’S EVIL (1980) – Category:  Enjoyably campy bad movie  elevated by kitsch-value in the casting    This is another of those holiday-themed slasher movies that followed in the bloody footsteps of the original Halloween. See my review of the Thanksgiving slasher movie Slasher In The House for more on this odd sub-genre.

Our cups runneth over with kitsch-casting in this little honey. ROZ KELLY, “Pinky Tuscadero” herself, stars as Blaze, an alleged punk rock icon who hosts an alleged punk rock (but really New Wave) concert being televised on New Year’s Eve.

Kelly is Continue reading →

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COOL FOOTBALL HELMET: ST AMBROSE UNIVERSITY FIGHTING BEES

 Location: Davenport, IA

Comment: It’s no secret here at Balladeer’s Blog that I love the name Fighting Bees. I also love that incredibly cool helmet logo that St Ambrose has. This NAIA college team just needs to

Continue reading →

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CHRISTMAS CAROL- A-THON 2011: MR SCROOGE (1964)

Time for another post in Balladeer’s Blog’s annual orgy of entries on various versions of THE Christmas tale. The Charles Dickens classic has a certain  unquenchable charm that ensures it will continue to be adapted for at least another few hundred years. 

Mr Scrooge was originally broadcast on December 21st, 1964 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It runs just an hour and stars Cyril Ritchard as Ebenezer Scrooge and the very appropriately named Eric Christmas as Marley’s Ghost. As with the  Continue reading →

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCOREBOARDS FOR NOVEMBER 19TH

 Today brings us the opening round of the NAIA college football playoffs, and they’re joined, of course, by some of the other divisions of college football covered by Balladeer’s Blog. There are also several Bowl games scheduled for today as well. See my preview earlier in the week for your favorite team’s matchup.

The National Christian College Athletic Association’s Victory Bowl will also be played today with the Greenville College Panthers taking on the Campbellsville Tigers. See below for the video link.

Naturally I’ll have my usual pithy recaps of the day’s gridiron action tomorrow morning. For today, spread the word to fans of NCAA Division 1 football that they can see the kind of intercollegiate football playoff action they can’t get from D1. And now, links to updating scoreboards for the divisions of college football covered here at Balladeer’s Blog:

NAIA – http://www.victorysportsnetwork.com/sport/0/14.php

D3 – http://d3football.com/scoreboard/composite

D2 –  http://www.d2football.com/scores/

NJCAA – http://www.njcaa.org/sports_schedules.cfm?category=Schedules%2FScores&sid=11&divid=0&slid=5

SCFA – http://www.scfafootball.com/statistics/scoreboard.html

NCFA – http://www.cccaasports.org/football/men/ 

AND FOR STREAMING VIDEO OF THE NCCAA’S VICTORY BOWL CLICK HERE – http://www.campbellsville.edu/wlcutv

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