Birthdays
Lucy Lawless b. 1968
Marina Sirtis b. 1955
That's a whole lot of pretty to choose from. This year I'll go with Xena, next year with Counselor Troi. Ms. Lawless is also known to genre fans from her work on Battlestar Galactica.
Never To Be Forgotten
A new label is added today to mark the passing of Richard Griffiths, 65, whose death was announced this morning, caused by complications after heart surgery.
He is best known to fantasy fans as the awful Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series. He was also in Hugo, the Martin Scorsese fantasy film from 2011 and played King George in Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides from the same year. He was in a lot of other quality films as well. I loved his work in A Private Function, a comedy from 1984 starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith.
Ever since I was a kid I have followed the obituaries. Some may consider it a morbid hobby and I won't disagree vehemently, but for me it's often a chance to bring back fond memories about someone I haven't thought about for a while.
Best wishes to the family and friends of Richard Griffiths, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.
Prediction: In 1968, Armed with advanced alien technology, Gary Seven and his cat Isis appear on earth to avert World War III.
Source: Assignment:Earth, the last episode of season two of Star Trek, aired 29 March 1968
Reality: Damn. That's 45 years ago. This wins today's contest for being the first reminder of the day that I am really old.
Fans of the original series will recall that this was meant to be a pilot for another Gene Roddenberry sci-fi show, but it didn't take off. (He was having a hard enough time convincing them there should be a third year of Star Trek.) Robert Lansing played the mysterious Mr. Seven, Teri Garr played his confused but plucky sidekick/secretary Roberta Lincoln and the cat Isis can turn into a human, played by the fabulous babe Victoria Vetri, who was Playmate of the Year in 1968.
Forty five years ago. Damn, I'm old.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
We get our first prediction of many from sci-fi writer Larry Niven, who like Heinlein wrote a lot of stories with specific dates, many of which have already passed.
Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!
Have science fiction writers learned the lesson that they shouldn't use specific dates unless they are comfortably past their own expected lifetimes?
ReplyDeleteI hope they never do!
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, I'm finding less stuff in more recent novels and short stories, but plenty of apocalyptic movies have the shit hitting the fan within a few years of the movie's release date. Besides giving a sense of immediacy, it makes sets and costumes a little easier.
So clearly, that Star Trek prediction is entirely accurate: there was no nuclear war in 1968. And I hear you: I vividly remember watching the original broadcasts of TOS. Also, thanks for posting the photo of Richard Griffiths- I don't pay attention to the obits unless I recognize the name. This was a case where I definitely knew who the person was, but not by name.
ReplyDelete