Wednesday, January 8, 2014

8 January 2014

Birthdays
Freddie Stroma b. 1987 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Rachel Nichols b. 1980 (Continuum, Conan the Barbarian, Star Trek, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, The Amityville Horror)
Sarah Polley b. 1979 (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, eXistenZ, Dawn of the Dead, Mr. Nobody)
Amber Benson b. 1977 (Buffy, Gryphon, Supernatural)
Michelle Forbes b. 1965 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Escape from L.A., Battlestar Galactica, True Blood)
John McTiernan b. 1951 (Director, Predator, Last Action Hero, Rollerball [2002])
David Bowie b. 1947 (The Man Who Fell to Earth, Labyrinth, The Hunger)
Terry Brooks b. 1944 (Shannara series)
Yvette Mimieux b. 1942 (The Time Machine, The Black Hole, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm)
Joan Freeman b. 1942 (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Death Moon, Project U.F.O., Land of the Giants, The Outer Limits, Panic in the Year Zero!)
Boris Vallejo b. 1941 (graphic artist)
Roy Kinnear b. 1934 died 20 September 1988 (The Avengers[TV], Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland[1972], Blakes 7)
Kerwin Mathews b. 1926 died 5 July 2007 (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, Jack the Giant Killer, Octaman, Battle Beneath the Earth, The Boy who Cried Werewolf, Nightmare in Blood)
Jose Ferrer b. 1912 died 26 January 1992 (Dune, The Swarm, Dracula’s Dog, The Amazing Captain Nemo, Exo-Man, The Sentinel)
William Hartnell b. 1908 died 23 April 1975 (Doctor Who)
Gene Roth b. 1903 died 19 July 1976 (Twilight Zone, Attack of the Giant Leeches, Earth vs. the Spider, She Demons, Zombies of Mora Tau, Red Planet Mars, Mysterious Island [1951])

This is a heck of a birthday list. Sci-fi and fantasy from the 1950s to the 2010s is represented. We have the first Doctor Who, one of Ray Harryhausen's favorite leading men, a bona fide rock star, a great comic actor in Roy Kinnear and a whole of actresses younger than I am who qualify for Pretty Girl = Picture Slot. In Jose Ferrer, we have a respected actor whose later career took a turn into the cheese, not unlike the beloved Vincent Price. Our "Oh, That Guy!" representative is Gene Roth, a tall actor who lasted a long time in the business and in later years played cops, military officers and judges a lot. But the slot goes to the lovely Yvette Mimieux, best known in genre for he work in The Time Machine.

To the living, many happy returns of the day and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
 

Predictor: T. Baron Russell in A Hundred Years Hence, published 1905

Prediction: And one thing which the intelligently-elected Parliaments of the new age will assuredly discover is this principle : that it is not good for the State that any one man, or any one associated body of men, should possess an inordinate amount of wealth.

Reality: Well, this presents a problem. It isn't good for the state to have plutocrats, but since Russell specifically requires "intelligently-elected Parliaments", we are very unlikely to see this prediction tested in our lifetimes.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit from Isaac Asimov making his forecast for 2014 from 1964.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

2 comments:

  1. Wait, "Zombies of Mora Tau" is a real movie? I thought it was just made up as a joke for "The Middleman".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The best known star in Zombies of Mora Tau is Allison Hayes, who would star one year later in the classic stinker The Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman.

      Do not ask how I know this. (Actually, many regular readers do not have to ask how I know this.)

      Delete

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