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
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
NBC OPERA THEATRE (1949-1964) – Believe it or not, television networks used to regularly broadcast presentations of operas. Gradually, declining public interest drove operas off the networks and onto educational television.
The NBC Network actually funded an entire opera company to produce classic AND new operas from 1949-1964. That opera company toured the country breaking in their productions before being aired on the network, then sometimes doing a run on Broadway.
The NBC Opera mounted America’s very first made-for-television opera – the Christmas-themed Amahl and the Night Visitors – and broadcast it on Christmas Eve 1951. The one-act work filled a one-hour time slot with roughly five minutes of commercials. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic.
FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.
ROLAND BATTLES MANDRICARDO – In our previous installment Charlemagne’s Paladin named Roland saved Princess Isabella of Galicia from the Moroccan corsairs who were holding her for ransom.
Now, Roland and Isabella were riding northward to link up with Emperor Charlemagne’s main army as they fought the ongoing Saracen invasion. As always, the Paladin wielded his sword Durindana.
At length they approached a town where there was much consternation. Several soldiers were making their way through the streets but at this distance Roland could not make out if they were friend or foe.
Our hero had Isabella slip down from their horse and hide behind a tree while Roland met with the approaching soldiers to determine their intentions. He saw that they were conducting a prisoner, bound hand and foot.
Finally, Roland could make out the ensigns of the troops – they were men of the Count Anselm, head of the treacherous House Maganza. That House was ever ready to secretly ally themselves with every foe of Emperor Charlemagne. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
USCAA (United States Collegiate Athletic Association)
IF YOU WERE A TREE – The SUNY COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & FORESTRY MIGHTY OAKS welcomed the JEFFERSON COLLEGE CANNONEERS. The Mighty Oaks seized control early, leading 47-31 by Halftime and ultimately defeating the Cannoneers by a final score of 96-74. Patrick Emery led SUNY-ESF with his 27 points.
USCAA OVER D2 – The USCAA’s NEWPORT NEWS APPRENTICE SCHOOL BUILDERS (Shipbuilders) played host to NCAA Division Two’s CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY WOLVES. The Wolves led 41-38 at the midpoint but the Builders outscored them 47-34 from there for an 85-75 victory over the higher division team. Adrion Wall’s 22 points led the Apprentice School. Continue reading
Filed under College Basketball
This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog deals with some of Marvel’s superheroines.
THE CAT – Greer Nelson caught on to a conspiracy to take over the world via armies of women clad in superpower-granting costumes. She donned the prototype and called herself the Cat before taking down the entire sinister organization.
Operating out of Chicago, the Cat also clashed with the Owl, Commander Kraken, Man-Bull and the supervillainess called Man-Killer. Click HERE.
TIGRA THE WERE-WOMAN – After the Cat’s series got canceled from low sales Marvel added Greer Nelson to their 1970s horror characters as Tigra. The Cat was mortally wounded in a battle with Hydra, but Marvel’s race of cat-people saved her life by granting her an amulet that turned her into Tigra the Were-Woman.
Now with far greater powers, she thrived in this new identity and is still in the Marvel universe to this day. Click HERE. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
As an appreciative shoutout to James Woods, one of the wildfire victims in California, here’s a Balladeer’s Blog look at 8 of his films.
This was originally posted in 2021 so the complimentary reviews of his acting are not just sympathy for this week’s events.
James Woods is like a force of nature. When he’s on the screen he virtually blows away most of the people with whom he shares that screen. His staggering versatility also marks him as one of the few true actors in the industry. Here are some of the movies which harnessed Hurricane Woods:
VIDEODROME (1983)
Role: Max Renn, cable television entrepreneur
Comment: Sorry to start with such an obvious choice but I’m amazed that there are still people out there who haven’t seen this movie. David Cronenberg’s patented body horror and other surreal visuals needed a thespian who wouldn’t fade into the woodwork among them. Woods as the intense, sleazy Max Renn fit the bill perfectly.
James proved you don’t need to be twitchy and leering to portray a character who is virtually amoral in his pursuit of money, kinky thrills, Deborah Harry … and the ultimate underground broadcast called Videodrome. Anticipating the Deep Web, there was this magnificent film about how – before the internet came along – it was cable television that was considered a doorway to the forbidden and the depraved.
A cable titillation peddler tries to locate and strike a broadcast deal with a seeming Snuff Show called Videodrome. The sinister parties behind the pirate broadcast are the ultimate villains for the time period, and Cronenberg’s treatment of them shows that SUBTLETY can be more effective than hammering your audience over the head. LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH! Continue reading
Filed under opinion
BABYLON ELECTRIFIED (1888) – Written by Albert Bleunard. In the tradition of his fellow Frenchman, Jules Verne, Bleunard crafted this work of science fiction with an international cast.
British magnate Sir James Badger wants to reestablish old trade routes leading from Europe eastward through Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. He and his associates plan a railroad but lack of coal in sufficient quantities seems to be a project-killer.
Jack Adams, one of Badger’s colleagues, recommends the new invention of a French electrical engineer and inventor named Cornille. This inventor has designed a method of generating electricity from sunlight aka solar power. He agrees to let his technology be used to construct an electric train for the railroad project.
Things get underway, with hydroelectric dams built in the mountains of Kurdistan and wind plus tidal power-stations set up in the Persian Gulf. Cornille’s solar tech will be used for the overwhelming majority of the territory to be covered. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
Back in November, Balladeer’s Blog covered female journalist Nellie Bly’s journey around the world. I mentioned the lost but rediscovered novels she had written and fellow blogger The Introverted Bookworm inquired if I was going to cover them. So, here we go:
EVA THE ADVENTURESS – This was the second of the novels that Nellie Bly (Elizabeth J. Cochrane) wrote between 1889 and 1895. They were considered lost until being rediscovered in 2021.
Eva the Adventuress or A Romance of a Blighted Life was inspired by Nellie’s interview with the convicted criminal Eva Hamilton, wife of a descendant of Alexander Hamilton. The novel features the fictional Eva Scarlett rising from poverty to marrying a dynamic man of means.
Before long Eva learns that the marriage is a sham and she is tossed into the streets, marked as a fallen woman. Our title character begins a climb back up the ladder, seeking revenge on anyone who wrongs her.
Filed under Neglected History, opinion
These are the legends about Charlemagne and his Paladins, not the actual history, so there will be dragons, monsters and magic.
FOR MY FIRST CHAPTER ON CHARLEMAGNE’S PALADINS CLICK HERE.
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ROLAND BATTLES MOROCCAN CORSAIRS – The Paladins recently freed by Astolpho from the prison of the sorcerer Atlantes all hastened to rejoin Emperor Charlemagne’s army. The war against the Muslim invaders from colonized Spain and North Africa was still raging.
Roland, the greatest of those Paladins, was so anxious to link up with the forces of his uncle the Emperor that he tried riding his horse up a mountainside as a shortcut. Part way up, Roland spotted light emerging from the entrance of a cave.
Our hero investigated and found a young woman being held against her will by a toothless hag who threatened and abused her repeatedly. Roland entered the furnished cave and asked the captive about her plight. Continue reading
Filed under Mythology
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