Friday, September 6, 2013

6 September 2013


Birthdays
Idris Elba b. 1972 (Prometheus, Thor)
China MiƩville b. 1972 (won 2010 Hugo for The City & the City)
Patti Yasutake b. 1953 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Max Schreck b. 1879 died 20 February 1936 (Nosferatu)

Elba is likely better known as Stringer Bell on The Wire and Ms. Yasutake was Nurse Ogawa, but I gave the Picture Slot to Max Schreck in his iconic role in the silent vampire movie that pre-dated Dracula.

Many happy returns to the living.

 

Prediction and predictor: In 1992, Harold Camping publishes a book 1994? that predicts a strong likelihood Christ will return in September 1994.

Reality: Camping made a huge spectacle of himself in 2011, but he had already made a smaller similar mistake in the early 1990s. There's even a question mark in the title, but I remember seeing a few bumper stickers on cars in the Bay Area. (Camping's Family Radio network is headquarted in Oakland.) It's easy to mock Camping and he obviously has earned it, but I think it would be wrong to call him a charlatan. He spent almost all his fortune in 2011 getting the word out.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date for the end of the world, this time with nukes in 1974.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 comments:

  1. Of course, Max's iconic turn was wonderfully recorded in the documentary "Shadow of the Vampire"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, Prof. This is kind of sad, hilarious, and impressive all at the same time:

    http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/09/05/the-1970s-cold-war-era-home-built-26-feet-underground/

    It's not a prediction, per se, but rather the result of someone being rather taken in by predictions. It looks like the set design inspiration for A Boy And His Dog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Swank-EEE!

      But looking at the above ground part, I'm pretty sure that some character from Breaking Bad lives there.

      Delete
    2. driftglass and blue gal are of the opinion that BB is science fiction; based on dg's definition that says that if you remove the science, the story falls apart.

      I am not quite convinced; it seems to me the science in BB is more peripheral.

      Delete
  3. Does anyone else find China Mieville difficult to get through? I've tried any number of his novels and have only managed to finish King Rat and Kraken.

    ReplyDelete

Traveler! Have you news... FROM THE FUTURE?