From Balladeer’s Blog it’s another look at a sports team name that is far outside the overused Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats.
MILLENIA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY Continue reading
Tag Archives: Balladeer’s Blog
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916) SILENT FILM
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916) – The famous first cinematic adaptation of the Jules Verne classic. Having loved the version of this pioneering 1916 film that was available during the 1990s and earlier I had put off watching the restored and upgraded version released in 2010.
That delay was a mistake on my part. The restored version can leave you floored even when compared to the already impressive print that was previously available. Universal released 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea after two years in production.
The title is misleading, because this movie combines Verne’s original tale of Captain Nemo with the sequel novel The Mysterious Island in which Nemo’s origin was revealed along with his real name – Prince Dakkar.
As you would imagine, combining both novels was necessary to provide a longer viewing experience due to how much of the 20,000 Leagues story had to be omitted. Submarine technology was still fairly primitive and God knows the technology for filming underwater was more primitive still. Viewers get short shrift in terms of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea storyline with the Mysterious Island portion taking up a lot of the runtime.
Personally, I would have preferred that Universal had just produced a shorter 20,000 Leagues film that was all Leagues and nothing but Leagues, then release The Mysterious Island later as a sequel. In 1916 audience expectations were not yet such that movies had to run the 86 to 105 minutes boasted by surviving copies of 20,000 Leagues.
At any rate, we all know the story – a supposed “sea monster” preying on international shipping turns out to actually be the futuristic submarine called the Nautilus. After the sub attacks the vessel the Abraham Lincoln, Captain Nemo (Allen Holubar) and his crew take aboard survivors. Continue reading
Filed under opinion
THE BEST OF BROADWAY (1954-1955) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION
THE BEST OF BROADWAY (1954-1955) – Balladeer’s Blog’s latest look at a Forgotten Television item deals with The Best of Broadway. The color program aired on CBS once per month and its failure to last more than one season may be explained by the fact that the other three weeks the program that aired in its time slot was … Pabst Blue Ribbon Bouts.
I’m certainly not denying that there very well might have been some crossover audience between boxing and Broadway but I imagine some viewers who caught and loved a Best of Broadway episode eagerly tuned in the following week, saw beer-sponsored boxing and just assumed the Broadway program had been canceled or was just a one-off special.
At any rate, this series presented one-hour adaptations of assorted Broadway productions and was filmed with a studio audience.
THE EPISODES:
THE ROYAL FAMILY (September 15th, 1954) – From the Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman comedy The Royal Family of Broadway. Paul Nickell directed this depiction of a Barrymore-esque thespian dynasty and the chaos that results when the family matriarch is outraged to learn that her daughter and granddaughter are considering leaving their stage careers behind for marriage.
CAST: Helen Hayes, Fredric March, Claudette Colbert, Charles Coburn and Nancy Olson Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: MESSAGES FROM MARS (1892)
MESSAGES FROM MARS BY THE AID OF THE TELESCOPE PLANT (1892) – Written by Robert D Braine. I shortened the title for the blog post headline. The main character of this novel is a sailor named Nordhausen. After leaving Madagascar our hero winds up shipwrecked on an uncharted island.
While roaming this island Nordhausen finds plants with thick transparent leaves which refract light like lenses do. The sailor breaks off one of the leaves to study it more closely, only to be seized by the island’s native inhabitants, who have been watching him from hiding.
The natives take him through a cave entrance to their hidden village which is a blend of the primitive and the futuristic. For the “sacrilege” of damaging one of the telescope plants Nordhausen is to be executed. The means? A device formed from several of the lens-like leaves which magnify the sunlight into a makeshift heat-ray, like holding a magnifying glass over a piece of paper to catch it on fire.
Our hero is saved at the last minute by a beautiful woman named Raimonda, who wants him spared. When her own words are not sufficient to stay the execution she enlists the King of Mars to persuade the natives to spare Nordhausen.
Raimonda explains to the freed sailor that the island is called Roxana and its inhabitants Roxanans. Long ago two shipwrecked scientists from Europe showed the Roxanans how to use the incredible leaves of the sacred plant to construct telescopes.
The telescopes led to the discovery of intelligent and advanced life on Mars (Oron to the people of the Red Planet) and eventually two-way communication between the islanders and the “Martials” as the book calls the inhabitants of Mars – interchangeably with “Oronites, as the aliens call themselves. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
BALLADEER’S BLOG COLLEGE BASKETBALL: JANUARY 19th
NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)
NBA LEVEL SCORE – Both teams made the Century Club in this game between the NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA MIGHTY BANYANS and the visiting WARNER UNIVERSITY ROYALS. By Halftime the Mighty Banyans were on top 66-41. The Royals rallied after the break but fell short as NCF won 124-117. Charlie Yoder led the victors with a Double Double of FORTY-FOUR points and 10 rebounds.
CENTURY CLUB – Teams scoring 100 or more points in Regulation: The HUNTINGTON UNIVERSITY FORESTERS won 109-60 at the GOSHEN COLLEGE MAPLE LEAFS ## The BUSHNELL UNIVERSITY BEACONS beat the EVERGREEN COLLEGE GEODUCKS 100-92 ## The LSU-ALEXANDRIA GENERALS won 104-72 at the TEXAS COLLEGE STEERS ## And the DALTON STATE ROADRUNNERS downed the BREWTON-PARKER COLLEGE BARONS 115-87.
DEFENSIVE EPIC – This game pitted the traveling CAL MARITIME ACADEMY KEELHAULERS against the SIMPSON UNIVERSITY REDHAWKS. The Keelhaulers held a 36-27 advantage at the Half then maintained enough distance from the Redhawks for a 64-59 triumph. Thirteen points from Jamal Frenchwood led this team effort. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
AVENGERS 114-135 (1973-1975)
This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at Marvel’s Avengers series – issues 114-135.
AVENGERS Vol 1 #114 (August 1973)
Title: The Night of the Swordsman
Avengers Roster: Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, the Vision, Mantis, the Swordsman
Villain: Lion-God
**
Synopsis: The villainous Swordsman rejoins the Avengers with a pardon and alongside his mysterious romantic partner Mantis, making her very first full appearance. Mantis is part Vietnamese and part unknown at this point.
The mysteries surrounding this superheroine will be resolved in this story arc that would probably be as famous as The Dark Phoenix Saga over at The X-Men if Marvel hadn’t pointlessly retconned so much of it decades later. Thanos, Kang, Loki, Ultron and Dormammu are among the villains. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
BRUCE CAMPBELL AND SAM RAIMI: 1970s and 1980s SHORT FILMS – CLEVELAND SMITH AND MORE
Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m an enormous fan of Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel, Josh Becker, Robert Tapert and all the rest of the Michigan gang who hit the jackpot with the original The Evil Dead (1981, 1983). Ever since then they’ve starred in, written, and directed countless other movies and television projects like Hercules the Legendary Journeys, Spider-Man, Adventures of Brisco County Jr, you name it.
Even before The Evil Dead, the gang had been making amateur Super-8 short films emphasizing the kind of cornball, slapstick humor you’d expect of creative teens goofing around with their very first movie productions. Like many fans I first caught glimpses of the shorts in the Sam Raimi episode of The Incredibly Strange Film Show which also featured Within the Woods, the Evil Dead proof of concept short.
CLEVELAND SMITH: BOUNTY HUNTER (1982) – This last of the Michigan Mafia’s short films is among the most accessible and enjoyable. I review the older ones below. As the title indicates, this 9-minute flick was one of the earliest Raiders of the Lost Ark parodies ever made.
The talent of those involved triumphed over the tiny budget and lame special effects as Bruce Campbell portrayed the mustachioed Cleveland Smith, heroic man of action. This short opens in mock-Republic Serial fashion, pretending this is Chapter 36 of Smith’s adventures.
Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter plays like a live-action Warner Brothers or Woody Woodpecker cartoon and is a fun watch on that level. The Michigan gang’s infectious enthusiasm carries the comedy short, helped by the “cool” factor of knowing what the gang members went on to achieve in the years ahead.
Sam Raimi played a Nazi villain and Evil Dead costar Cheryl Guttridge played Sally, Cleveland Smith’s pith-helmeted girlfriend. Scott Spiegel, Ted Raimi, Robert “Mr. Lucy Lawless” Tapert and Bridget Hoffman portrayed the native jungle tribe like the one in the Indiana Jones movie. Continue reading
Filed under Bad and weird movies
MURPH MERCHANDISE: LIZARD PLANET’S TERRIFIC ITEMS
Fellow blogger Dawn at LizardPlanet has been promoting the fun and benefits of lizards as pets for years now. Her charismatic spokesmodel Murph (at left) convinced me long ago that such pet ownership is criminally underrated.
Murph has a face you can’t resist and reading his Mom’s posts over the years has been a great primer in the care and feeding of little lizards in particular! Murph’s a beardie and I’ve been calling him Dawn’s blog’s Goodwill Ambassador to the world for years now.
I was happy when Lizard Planet started selling Murph Merchandise comparatively recently. We got Murph calendars for different rooms but if calendars aren’t your thing there are magnets, mugs, hoodies, cards, throw pillows, shopping totes and more!
It’s called the Meta-MURPH-osis and it’s something you’ll want to be a part of! Adults and kids will love the merchandise! On the practical side the site also offers all kinds of supplies for lizard ownership. Click HERE for their Zazzle store. Continue reading
Filed under opinion
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY: YI, THE DIVINE ARCHER
I.WHAT’S UP WITH YI? – Yi the Divine Archer from Chinese mythology deserves to be remembered in one breath with some of the other great heroes and monster slayers from belief systems around the world. Most people are only familiar with his feat of shooting down multiple suns that appeared in the sky one day, but this article will provide a light- hearted look at all of his fantastic adventures.
NOTE: Some readers may find my inserted jokes to be of an adult nature. Continue reading
NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA: COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another sports team name that is far outside the overused Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats.
NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA Continue reading
Filed under Cool names and cool logos
Balladeer's Blog 