NAIA
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME – The NORTHWESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS and the KEISER UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS battled it out for the NAIA title on Saturday. After a scoreless 1st Quarter, Halftime arrived with things knotted up at 7-7. The Red Raiders went on top 21-17 in the 3rd Quarter, and an action-packed 4th saw Northwestern College defeat the Seahawks 35-25. * THE RED RAIDERS ARE NAIA CHAMPIONS *
NCAA DIVISION TWO Continue reading
Filed under college football
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero blog post takes a look at the Golden Age superhero line-up from Nedor.
THE CAVALIER
Secret Identity: Rance Raleigh, owner of an antique and curio shop
Origin: In Raleigh’s store was a portrait of the Duke de Chantreigh, sometimes said to be an ancestor of Rance. When that portrait would frown it was a supernatural sign that danger was coming. Rance would then suit up as the Cavalier and go into action. The first time was when Jake Miles, who was investigating munitions factory sabotage was hit by a truck outside Raleigh’s shop before he could tell him what he had discovered.
First Appearance: Thrilling Comics # 53 (April 1946). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1948
Powers: The Cavalier possessed the strength of a normal athletic male but was highly skilled with a sword and at unarmed combat. In addition he often used esoteric weapons and relics from his shop, just like the Golden Age Hawkman would wield artifacts from his museum. Continue reading
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Christmas Carol-a-Thon 2022 continues here at Balladeer’s Blog with this look at the often-overlooked animated version from 1997.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1997) – This musical cartoon version of the Dickens classic was produced by DIC, the animators known for the early Real Ghostbusters and Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons. The animation quality is adequate but nothing outstanding. However, I will say I find this version’s animation superior to that in the 1982 Australian cartoon A Christmas Carol.
The songs range from bland and forgettable to annoying. I take back everything bad I ever said about a few of Leslie Bricusse’s songs in Scrooge. Every bit of his work towers over the “striving for competence” songs we get in many other Christmas Carol renditions. Santa’s Sooty Suit from this one sticks in your head but not necessarily in a good way.
Tim Curry of all people voices Ebenezer Scrooge and shows how good he can really be. If you’re like me, you can’t see anything but Dr. Frank N. Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show whenever Curry appears as himself on screen. Because he gets to hide behind animation in this production it’s much easier to lose yourself in the character he plays, and he does an excellent job. Continue reading
Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective continues with April’s best:
VORTEX (1982) – Lydia Lunch and James Russo star in this science fiction detective story. Lydia plays private investigator Angel Powers, who gets caught up in a case involving murders, blackmail and industrial espionage in the near future. The clues lead to James Russo and a heinous plan regarding behavior modification among humans. My full review is HERE.
ADDRESSING A PREJUDICED VIEW HELD OVERSEAS – You can read it HERE.
A FLIGHT TO THE MOON (1813) – This work of ancient science fiction dealt with a bold young man named Randalthus encountering a female alien who flies him to the moon. Once there, he and the lunar inhabitants learn a lot from each other. Click HERE.
JOE BIDEN CAUGHT HIDING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF INCOME ON AN ETHICS DISCLOSURE – And just how did Joe become such a multimillionaire on a mere congressional salary all those years? I think we know how. – You can read it HERE.
THE SECRET OF THE LOCH (1934) – British-made quasi-kaiju film from the 1930s. Loch Ness is the site of a media frenzy after multiple people are devoured by something in the Loch. The Loch Ness Monster attacks divers and ultimately emerges from the waters for the grand finale. My full review is HERE.
AND FOUR MORE ANCIENT GREEK COMEDIES SEEN THROUGH MODERN EYES – This third installment covers Taxiarchoi, Callipides, The Pageant of Letters and Cities. Read it HERE. Continue reading
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Recently, Balladeer’s Blog examined the 1937 Jungle Jim serial and all sixteen Johnny Weissmuller movies in which he was technically in the role. In this third and final Jungle Jim blog post I will look at the one-season series from 1955-1956. Each episode was 30 minutes with commercials.
Jim’s chimp was back to being called Tamba, and the series added a son named Skipper (Martin Huston) for the hero. Fans will remember that Skipper was originally the name of Jungle Jim’s pet dog. Norman Fredric was added to the cast as Jim’s turbaned assistant Kaseem.
EPISODE ONE: MAN KILLER
Synopsis: Jungle Jim tussles with an inexperienced hunter (Dick Rich) who, while shooting at big game from a riverboat, wounds a lion but fails to kill it, setting the pained animal on a reign of terror. Jim, Skipper, Kaseem and (groan) Tamba must save the locals AND the careless hunter from the lion.
EPISODE TWO: LAND OF TERROR
Synopsis: Helene Marshall, playing the sister of a famous botanist, interrupts Jungle Jim and Skipper’s census of wild animals to help her search for her missing brother. Our heroes and Tamba rescue the botanist from yet another remote African locale teeming with dinosaurs. (The usual stock footage from One Million B.C. that showed up in countless movies.) This time the area gets wiped out by lava after a volcano eruption.
EPISODE THREE: TREASURE OF THE AMAZON
Synopsis: A pair of murderous plunderers posing as archeologists trick Jungle Jim into flying to Brazil with them to lead their expedition. They are searching for a lost city built by the Incas long ago, but naturally just want to loot the place’s treasure. Jim and the villains find it, but face headhunters, piranha, warthogs, jungle cats and boa constrictors. The bad guys get killed as a consequence of their own greed. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television, Pulp Heroes
For my full-length review of the entirety of Scrooge’s Rock and Roll Christmas click HERE. Below you can see Paul Revere and the Raiders performing Jingle Bells from that odd version of A Christmas Carol.
Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective continues with this look at March’s best:
CALL OF CTHULHU: THE SILENT MOVIE (2005) – A very clever black & white film presented like a silent movie as it would have been produced in a 1928 adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s story The Call of Cthulhu.
The “impossible” architecture of the risen city of R’lyeh is depicted in the style of Metropolis (1927) and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and huge Cthulhu’s movements are done like the stop-motion in The Lost World (1925). For my full-length review click HERE.
POLITICAL CARTOON ROUNDUP: MARCH 6th – Find it HERE. FOR MARCH 24th HERE.
MONDO MIKE HAMMER MOVIES – My look at some of the straightforward AND the bizarre Mike Hammer detective movies from America and Japan, where the character was called Maiku Hama. And the Japanese versions are just part of the story. The full article HERE.
HOW PRIVILEGED WHITE ONE PERCENTER NANCY PELOSI AND HER HUSBAND ABUSED THE SYSTEM TO GROW RICH – All that and more HERE.
AFRICAN EPIC MYTH: AIWEL LONGAR – You can read my examination of it HERE.
FEBRUARY NEWS ABOUT THE BIDEN CRIME FAMILY LAPTOP COVERUP – So much was being hidden and lied about. Read it HERE.
DAVID LYNCH’S WISTERIA/ UNRECORDED NIGHT – The potential new Twin Peaks project, either a sequel or a prequel. Click HERE.
LUKE CAGE, HERO FOR HIRE – My look at his early adventures as he battled villains like Diamondback, Gideon Mace, Black Mariah, Chemistro, Stiletto, Cottonmouth and more. You can read the article HERE.
THE BIDEN REGIME RELEASED A RUSSIAN HACKER A YEAR BEFORE HIS SENTENCE WAS UP – Even before Biden let loose deathmonger Viktor Bout he also helped Putin by freeing this hacker who may have gone on to help Russian cyber-strikes against Ukraine. Find it HERE. Continue reading
Filed under opinion
NAIA
The NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) will be played Saturday, December 17th.
The competing teams are the NORTH-WESTERN (IA) COLLEGE RED RAIDERS and the KEISER UNIVERSITY SEA HAWKS. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 Noon ET.
NCAA DIVISON TWO
FIRST SEMIFINAL – The COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES OREDIGGERS took the field against the SHEPHERD UNIVERSITY RAMS in this game. A 3-0 1st Quarter edge for the Orediggers turned into a 17-3 advantage by Halftime. After the break the Colorado School of Mines limited the Rams to just 10 points in the 4th Quarter while piling up points for themselves. The final score was Orediggers 44 Shepherd U. 13. Continue reading
Filed under college football
Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2022 continues, this time combined with the weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero blog post. This item looks at A Christmas Carol getting adapted through two separate stories – first with Luke Cage/ Power Man and then with the Teen Titans.
LUKE CAGE, HERO FOR HIRE Vol 1 #7 (March 1973)
Jingle Bombs was the real title of this holiday tale which pitted superhero Luke Cage aka Hero for Hire aka Power Man against the one-off supervillain called Marley. Like a Guest Villain from the Adam West Batman show Marley uses a campy Christmas Carol motif for his nefarious plan … yet, oddly the story is kind of quaint.
On Christmas Eve, Luke Cage is hanging out with his then-girlfriend Claire Temple, a doctor who worked at a clinic in the New York ghetto. Later on in the series Claire would be the center of a romantic triangle between Luke Cage and another of Marvel’s black superheroes – Black Goliath, Hank Pym’s former lab assistant who used Pym’s inventions to turn to giant-size and back.
As night approaches Luke sees a ruckus outside the clinic: a man in Dickensian 1800s clothing is using his walking stick to beat a little handicapped boy named Timmy. Our hero goes out to save the little boy and is attacked by the strange man, who identifies himself as “Marley.” Continue reading
Filed under A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Superheroes
Balladeer’s Blog’s annual end of year retrospective continues with this look at February’s best:
THE SUPERMAN MUSICAL FROM 1975 – This stage musical from the 1960s was trying for that intentionally campy and overdone feel of the Adam West Batman series. The official title is It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s Superman! In this 1975 made for tv staging, David Wilson plays Clark Kent/ Superman, Lesley Ann Warren is Lois Lane, Loretta Swit portrays a femme fatale, plus David Wayne and Kenneth Mars play the main villains. Allen Ludden fills the Perry White role, while Malachi Throne, Harvey Lembeck and Al Molinaro play gangsters. You can read the full review HERE.
CRATES: ANCIENT GREEK COMEDIES – A look at the ancient comedies written by Crates, like Neighbors, Lamia, Heroes, Resident Aliens and more. Click HERE.
FACULTY LOUNGE FASCIST ROUNDUP: FEBRUARY 6th – You can read it HERE.
THE AFTERMAN (1985) – This post-apocalypse film from Belgium is not for the squeamish. The story presents 1991 as the year nuclear war broke out, and in 2011 our lead character has run out of provisions in the radiation-proof shelter he’s been in for 20 years. The rest of the flick deals with his often violent and depraved encounters with the barbaric world that’s left. My full review is HERE.
COURAGEOUS DEMOCRAT TULSI GABBARD CALLS OUT THE HOPELESSLY CORRUPT HILLARY CLINTON. Find it HERE.
DEATH GAME (1977) – This horror/ suspense film is OUT THERE. From the bizarrely inappropriate opening song to the home invasion aspect to the exploitative middle section all the way up to the surreal ending. Sondra Locke, Colleen Camp, Bill Paxton and Sissy Spacek were all involved with this weird flick. Death Game inspired a much later remake starring Keanu Reeves. My full review is HERE.
MEDA: A TALE OF THE FUTURE (1891) – This work of “ancient” science fiction depicts life in Scotland in the year 5575 A.D. It’s a VERY interesting look at all the scientific, cultural, political and even geographical changes in the years leading up to 5575. But the Scots still wear a form of kilt! My full review is HERE. Continue reading
Filed under opinion
