17 May 2013

Birthday
Nikki Reed b. 1988

Ms. Reed's best known role in genre is as Rosalie Hale in the Twilight Saga films. Many happy returns to her.
 

In the year 2000!

Prediction: Cities will have enormous transparent roofs to keep out the rain.


Predictor: A series of postcards from Hildebrands German Chocolate, published in 1900

Reality: The authors of the German chocolate postcards missed a whole lot of stuff. As you can see, people are still riding horses as regular transportation in this picture and we don't see any skyscrapers, so this roof might only be about 100 feet up. Even with today's technology, a transparent roof strong enough to hold tons of water would be a challenge and of course, eventually the water would have to drain somewhere. Keeping the roof clean so the light coming in wouldn't become hazy and depressing is no small task either. While I love the artwork on these cards, the ability to predict the future is not at the level of John Elfreth Watkins, whose work is contemporary with this.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction from Jack London's The Iron Heel, a novel in which people with jobs do not think the corporations running the economy have the workers' best interests at heart. What a strange idea!

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!