Thursday, October 31, 2013

31 October 2013

Birthdays
Willow Smith b. 2000 (I am Legend)
Justin Chatwin b. 1982 (War of the Worlds)
Erica Cerra b. 1979 (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Eureka, Blade:Trinity, Smallville, Under the Dome, Battlestar Galactica, The 4400)
Peter Jackson b. 1961 (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong)
Neal Stephenson b. 1959 (won the 1996 Hugo for The Diamond Age)
John Candy b.1950 died 31 October 1994 (Spaceballs)
Stephen Rea b. 1946 (V for Vendetta, Underworld: Awakening)
Brian Doyle-Murray b. 1945 (Groundhog Day)
Michael Landon b. 1936 died 1 July 1991 (I was a Teenage Werewolf)

I considered putting up several pictures this morning. Peter Jackson is the biggest name in genre on this list and I've liked the Neal Stephenson books I've read. I could put up a picture of John Candy or Michael Landon in the make-up they wore in their single important roles in genre, but instead I put up a picture of Erica Cerra,who has been in quite a few sci-fi and fantasy productions, mostly on TV, and who easily qualifies for the Pretty Girl = Picture Slot formula.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list.
 

Predictor: Vladimir Keilis-Borok, January 2004

Prediction: A quake of magnitude 6.4 or larger would rock a 12,000-square-mile region east of Los Angeles before Sept. 5, 2004

Reality: There was no such quake. Keilis-Borok, who died earlier this month, worked on earthquake prediction for much of his career, considering it the "holy grail" of his field of geophysics. In 2003, he had two successes, predicting a strong quake in Japan and another in central California, both in a similar time window of somewhat less than a year. As Meat Loaf might say, two out of three ain't bad, but such long lead times and large areas are better at producing anxiety than they are at saving lives or property. Maybe we'll know better some day, but that day appears to be far in the future.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another scientific prediction from this year, and not very good news.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

3 comments:

  1. Another scientific prediction from this year, and not very good news.

    Because while you can milk disaster predictions for all you're worth, banks don't cash good news.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I could make some pithy comment about cynicism, but all I can really do is admit you are right. I've never seen a supermarket tabloid headline blaring QUEEN ELIZABETH CERTAIN TO LIVE ANOTHER TEN YEARS!

      Delete
    2. well, it's not as if I am the first person to say "if it bleeds, it leads".

      Delete

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