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January 1, 2017 · 4:37 pm

CRUSADERS DEFEAT COUGARS IN BALLADEER’S BOWL VII

helmetmaryhardinbaylorBalladeer’s Bowl always pits the NAIA football champs against the NCAA D3 football champs. The results are in, and for the VERY FIRST TIME the Champions of NCAA D3 – this year the UNIVERSITY OF MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS – defeated the Champions of the NAIA – this year the UNIVERSITY OF SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS. 

The voting ended today and the Crusaders won, 203 votes to 161. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE UMHB CRUSADERS, THE WINNERS OF BALLADEER’S BOWL SEVEN! This may be the first step toward making it a real rivalry, like when Namath’s Jets beat the Colts.

Here are the results of the six previous Balladeer’s Bowl matchups: Continue reading →

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January 1, 2017 · 2:28 pm

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New YearHAPPY NEW YEAR! As a light-hearted start here’s a look at events that happened on New Year’s Day in the past.

1935 – The very first Orange Bowl pitted Bucknell University against the University of Miami. Bucknell won 26-0. Meanwhile the first Sugar Bowl saw Tulane defeat Temple 20-14.

1915 – With World War One raging a German U-Boat struck in the English Channel, sinking the ship the Formidable and killing 547 people.

1902 – In the first Rose Bowl game Michigan defeats Stanford 49-0.

1946 – Japanese soldiers at Corregidor learned from news reports that World War Two had ended months ago and finally came out of hiding to surrender.

1801 – The asteroid (now a dwarf planet) Ceres is discovered by the Italian Giuseppe Piazzi.  Continue reading →

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December 31, 2016 · 8:23 pm

PRIMER (2004): CREPE SYUZHET

primerPRIMER (2004) – Yes, I’m just childish enough to pat myself on the back for that play on words in the title of this blog post. With that out of the way I know I’m late to the game when it comes to Primer but my own skepticism about it made me keep it on the back burner in terms of priority movies to watch.

Since New Year’s Eve into the New Year is the closest any of us ever get to time travel I figured today was the perfect time to finally review this controversial film. Primer was made for just $7,000 (really) by Shane Carruth, who starred, wrote, directed, edited, arranged the music and pretty much did everything but wash the cars of his collaborators.

The film’s 2:1 film ratio has become legendary and decisively proved the benefits of having your cast repeatedly rehearse scenes before letting the cameras roll. Film stock ain’t cheap and anything an independent producer can do to save on it is pure gold.

primer-2Shane Carruth stars as Aaron and David Sullivan portrays Abe. The pair are engineers who – on the side – run a tech business out of Aaron’s garage. As a side effect of a project they are working on the two discover a means of time travel.

Don’t roll your eyes and assume that Primer is just another use of this well-worn concept. I made that mistake and put off watching this excellent and thought-provoking movie for far too long.

You can ignore reviews which claim the opening half of this 77 minute film is boring. Literally even the most casual exchanges of dialogue have bearing on the overall story. It’s not really a spoiler at this late date to point out that the very beginning of the film is NOT the “first run” of the events in the storyline, as a viewer discovers later. Continue reading →

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December 31, 2016 · 12:30 pm

BAD MOVIES 4 NEW YEAR’S EVE

Here at Balladeer’s Blog I’m very fond of cinematic turkeys that have seasonal tie-ins. In that spirit here’s a look at bad movies with a New Year’s Eve theme. As usual, full-length reviews of these films can be found on my Bad Movie page.

AKA Time Warp

AKA Time Warp

BLOODY NEW YEAR (1987) – Also released under the title Time Warp but it’s grisly enough for the more explicit title. A handful of British boaters who are fleeing a family of soccer hooligans (no, really) wind up on an island with a deserted hotel that’s been decorated for a New Year’s Eve party since the 1950s.

This Norman J Warren film stars nobody and borrows heavily from Sam Raimi’s original Evil Dead in terms of its imitation “Deadites” and its POV tracking shots. It also features a killer who emerges from a movie being watched, a monster who climbs out of a tablecloth, homicidal kitchen utensils, indoor snowfall, laughing shrubbery and living walls. All the chaos is being caused by hapless souls who have been trapped in limbo for decades and will do anything to get out or to drag others into their hellish undead existence with them.

Bloody New Year is a neglected bad movie classic that has all the Continue reading →

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December 30, 2016 · 5:18 pm

THE GREEN HUNTSMAN: CHRISTMAS HORROR FOLKLORE

green-flamesTHE GREEN HUNTSMAN – The Green Huntsman is an interesting example of the many figures who started out as folklore before being committed to the printed page in horror stories.

Long before the short stories featuring the Green Huntsman began to appear around the 1830s the figure was already being conflated with the Wicked Huntsman of Basque folk tales. Joseph Holt Ingraham’s 1841 story titled simply The Green Huntsman is arguably the best known of the short stories.

The figure eventually known as the Green Huntsman has its origins centuries ago. Originally a mortal man, this huntsman was a Castilian nobleman who had a perfect body but a very ugly face. As the tale was inevitably embellished it got to the point where the man freakishly had just one large green eye above the nose of his otherwise handsome face. 

green-flames-2The nobleman was obsessed with tracking down and marrying a mythical woman called the Christmas Bride who could only be found on Christmas Eve. This woman was incredibly beautiful but blind. The Green Huntsman wanted her as his bride not only because she would not be able to see how hideous he was, but, more importantly, she was destined to give birth to a son who would become the New Charlemagne, who would unite all Europe under one ruler. 

Clad in his all-green hunting outfit the Green Huntsman would ride forth every Christmas Eve accompanied by his hunting dogs. One year the whip he used to urge his horse onward contained a hair from the head of the Virgin Mary herself. (Remember, there was a lucrative business long ago in selling fake relics like pieces of wood from the “true” cross, plus the bones or other items from various saints.)

That hair from Christian mythology’s Blessed Mother supposedly would act as a divining rod, and the bristles on the whip would point the way to the Christmas Bride. The Green Huntsman had paid an enormous amount of money to the Pope himself to obtain the hair. Continue reading →

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December 30, 2016 · 3:11 pm

COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS FROM BALLADEER’S BLOG

LSU-Alexandria GeneralsNAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Division One

1. LSU-ALEXANDRIA GENERALS    ###    2. BIOLA UNIVERSITY EAGLES    ###    3. WILLIAM PENN UNIVERSITY STATESMEN    ###    4. WILLIAM CAREY UNIVERSITY CRUSADERS    ###    5. OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY STARS    ###    

Westmont College Warriors6. WESTMONT COLLEGE WARRIORS   ###    7. HOPE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY ROYALS   ###    8. TALLADEGA COLLEGE TORNADOES   ###    9. ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY FIRESTORM   ###    10. XAVIER UNIVERSITY (LA) GOLD RUSH    ###     Continue reading →

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December 29, 2016 · 12:33 am

TEHAINGA’ATUA: A GOD OF BELLONA & RENNELL ISLANDS

FOR BALLADEER’S BLOG’S FULL LIST OF GODS FROM BELLONA AND RENNELL ISLANDS CLICK HERE 

bellona-and-rennel-5TEHAINGA’ATUA – The Chief of the sky gods in Bellona and Rennell (Bel-Ren) mythology. Tehainga’atua ruled the stars, which Bel-Ren astrologers read to determine when (they believed) the sky-god would command particular stars to unleash dangerous seas, rain and thunder storms plus hurricanes. Earthquakes would be unleashed on the two islands by Mahuike, another of Tehainga’atua’s subordinate deities.

Because this deity could dispense or withhold life-giving rains he was often appealed to in rituals. Like Kane/Tane in other Polynesian Islands, Tehainga’atua ruled over wild plant life. Gnetum costatum plants were considered to be “the hair of Tehainga’atua.” 

Tehainga’atua’s parents were the goddess N’guatupu’a and the god Tepoutu’uingangi. In some traditions they are his grandparents instead. His wife (and sister) was the goddess Sikingimoemoe. His children included the god Tehu’aingabenga and other district or clan deities. Some traditions hold that those gods are instead his grandchildren. Continue reading →

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December 28, 2016 · 8:28 pm

MEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER CHAMPIONS FOR 2016

One last round of congratulations for the soccer champions in the TEN divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.

Hastings College Broncos logoNAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

National Champions – HASTINGS COLLEGE BRONCOS

Runners-Up – University of Rio Grande (OH) Red Storm

2015 Champions – University of Rio Grande (OH) Red Storm 

Southwestern Christian U EaglesNCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Division One

National Champions – SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY EAGLES

Runners-Up – Emmanuel College Lions

2015 Champions – Southern Wesleyan University Warriors 

Bob Jones University BruinsNCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Division Two

National Champions – BOB JONES UNIVERSITY BRUINS (women’s team, too)

Runners-Up – North Central University Rams

2015 Champions – Trinity Baptist College (FL) Eagles Continue reading →

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December 28, 2016 · 1:05 am

CAT-MAN: HOLYOKE SUPERHERO

Per reader requests Balladeer’s Blog presents another overlooked superhero.

cat-manCAT-MAN

Secret Identity: David Merryweather, Private Investigator

Origin: As a child David Merryweather, his parents and his sister were traveling through the jungles of Burma when bandits attacked, robbed and killed all but David. Left to die, David instead bonded with his mystic totem animal – tigers – and survived. Over the years the boy was educated by Burmese villagers and learned to control the powers that his totem animals had granted him.

As an adult David Merryweather moved back to the United States, where he eventually became a Private Investigator. In order to battle criminals that were beyond the reach of traditional law enforcement he donned a costume and used his super-powers under the name Cat-Man.

First Appearance: Crash Comics #4 (August 1940). His final Golden Age appearance came in 1946.

Powers: Continue reading →

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December 27, 2016 · 8:00 pm

COLLEGE SOCCER CHAMPIONS FOR 2016 (WOMEN)

One last round of congratulations to the 2016 college soccer champions in the NINE divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog. 

Northwestern Ohio RacersNAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

National Champions – UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO RACERS

Runners-Up – Spring Arbor University Cougars

2015 Champions – Spring Arbor University Cougars

Colorado Christian University CougarsNCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Division One

National Champions – COLORADO CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY COUGARS

Runners-Up – Oklahoma Baptist University Bison

2015 Champions – Houghton College Highlanders  

Bob Jones University BruinsNCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) Division Two

National Champions – BOB JONES UNIVERSITY BRUINS

Runners-Up – Grace Bible College (MI) Tigers

2015 Champions – Bob Jones University Bruins Continue reading →

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