20 February 2013

Birthday
Pierre Boulle b. 1912 died 1/30/1994
 Boulle was credited with the screenplay for The Bridge Over the River Kwai, which was actually written by blacklisted writers Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson, the credit was changed posthumously in 1980. He did write the original novel.

He is mentioned here because of his other best known novel, Planet of the Apes.

   

What life will be like... in the year 2001!

Predictor: Lilly Daché (milliner and fashion expert)
Contra-magnetism will mean fabrics will repel dirt...
Whites and pastels will be worn in all seasons...

Predictor: Herb Score (pitcher, Cleveland Indians)
Plastic domes over stadiums keep out bad weather...
Parking not a problem, fans come in on helicopters...
No vendors in the stands, vending machines on the back of every chair...

Reality: We don't have fabrics that repel dirt quite yet, but Ms. Daché gets some points for predicting the "no white after Labor Day" rule would be largely forgotten.

Herb Score gets a point for domed stadiums, but we still don't use helicopters like buses and there are still vendors at ball games. I, for one, kinda like it that way. Sometimes you miss a play when the popcorn guy walks by, but it's part of the ambiance.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Even when I mix things up for the sake of variety, we can't escape Robert A. Heinlein, who made a special batch of predictions for this issue of Amazing Stories, almost all of them amazingly wrong.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!