4 December 2013

Birthdays
Kevin Sussman b. 1970 (A.I., Big Bang Theory)
Tony Todd b. 1954 (The Man From Earth, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Smallville, Angel, Candyman, Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Star Trek: Voyager, Xena, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The X-Files, The Crow, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Night of the Living Dead[1990])
Pamela Stephenson b. 1949 (Superman III, Space: 1999)
Jeff Bridges b. 1949 (Tron, Birdman, Iron Man, R.I.P.D., King Kong[1976])
Gemma Jones b. 1942 (Harry Potter)
Samuel Butler b. 1935 died 18 June 1902 (author, Erewhon)

The only honest to Odin, name above the title of major motion pictures movie star here is Jeff Bridges,and given how many roles he's had recently playing old coots, I'm a little surprised he's only 64 and also surprised he is the exact same age as Pamela Stephenson. But the Picture Slot goes to Tony Todd, who has a long career mostly doing guest shots on TV, which is a tough way to make a living. Whoopi Goldberg has a quote that she loved the original Star Trek because it was the first time on TV that there was evidence there would be black people in the future. What she didn't realize then was that 30% of the black people in the future would be played by Tony Todd.

I kid. I'm a kidder.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list.
 

Prediction:December 4, 1912: Germany attacks the United States, sinking three cruisers and a revenue cutter in Honolulu, also bombarding the city.

Predictor: Jack London in The Iron Heel, published 1907

Reality: I am going to call this one eerily incorrect. A lot of writers thought war was coming in the early 1900s, but most thought it would be held in Europe, which it was from 1914 to 1918. But to guess a war would start (eventually) by an attack on Hawaii in December and that the U.S. would be at war with Germany does make one go "hmm".

Let me be clear. London doesn't get full credit or even half credit on this one. Monty Python had a horoscope sketch featuring two of their middle-aged ladies that explains my feelings here.

Mrs O, reading the horoscope for Mrs Trepidatious, whose astrological sign is Nesbitt: You have green, scaly skin, and a soft yellow underbelly with a series of fin-like ridges running down your spine and tail. Although lizardlike in shape, you can grow anything up to thirty feet in length with huge teeth that can bite off great rocks and trees. You inhabit arid sub-tropical zones and wear spectacles.

Mrs Trepidatious: It's very good about the spectacles.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to the regular weekly schedule, so it's another Asimov prediction from 1964 speculating about the wonders of 2014.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!