Saturday, March 29, 2014

29 March 2014

 Birthdays
Hayley McFarland b. 1991 (The Conjuring, Pushing Daisies)
Luke Eberl b. 1986 (Eyeborgs, Planet of the Apes, Phantoms)
Ed Vassallo b. 1972 died 25 February 2014 (Fringe, War of the Worlds)
Lucy Lawless b. 1968 (No Ordinary Family, Angel of Death, Battlestar Galactica, Bedtime Stories, Vampire Bats, Locusts, Boogeyman, Spider-Man, The X-Files, Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Hercules and the Amazon Women [1994], The Ray Bradbury Theater)
Elle Macpherson b. 1964 (Batman & Robin)
Annabella Sciorra b. 1960 (What Dreams May Come, Asteroid)
Christopher Lambert b. 1957 (Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Blood Shot, Metamorphosis, Southland Tales, Highlander, Beowulf, Mortal Kombat)
Marina Sirtis b. 1955 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Castlevania: Hymn of Blood, The Grudge 3, InAlienable, Grendel, Terminal Error, Stargate SG-1, Earth: Final Conflict, The Outer Limits, Gargoyles, Waxwork II: Lost in Time)
Brendan Gleeson b. 1955 (Harry Potter, Beowulf, The Village, 28 Days Later…, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Lake Placid)
Christopher Lawford b. 1955 (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The 6th Day, Blankman)
Bud Cort b. 1948 (Dogma, The Mask [TV], Theodore Rex, The Twilight Zone, Deadly Nightmares, Invaders From Mars, Tales from the Darkside, Faerie Tale Theatre, Brave New World, Brewster McCloud, Gas! –Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It)
Eric Idle b. 1943 (Ella Enchanted, Casper, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Scott Wilson b. 1942 (The Walking Dead, Radio Free Ablemuth, The Host [2006], The X-Files, Judge Dredd, Tall Tale, The Exorcist III, The Twilight Zone)
Phil Foster b. 1914 died 8 July 1985 (Conquest of Space)
Arthur O’Connell b. 1908 died 18 May 1981 (Ben, The Reluctant Astronaut, Fantastic Voyage, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao)

Philip Ahn b. 1905 died 28 February 1978 (Wonder Woman, The Time Tunnel)

Last year in the Picture Slot was Lucy Lawless, this year it's Marina Sirtis. Both count as fabulous babes and both count as iconic characters. For my money, the other iconic genre roles would be Brendan Glesson as Mad Eye Moody and Christopher Lambert from Highlander, and as an entertainment icon I absolutely love Eric Idle, but don't be surprised if next year it's another picture of Lucy or Marina.

Many happy returns to the living on the list, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
 



Predictor: Van Buren Denslow, lawyer and author, predicting the world of 1993 from his vantage point in 1893, in honor of the Columbian Exhibition held in Chicago.

Predictions: The population of the United States will be at least 400,000,000.
So large a population will not be ruled by one government.
It will be possible to cool homes in the summer and warm them in the winter.
An acre of land will produce 125 bushels, up from the current 12 to 20.
All theology will be conceded to be mythology.
Education will reveal the high and fine art in broiling a chicken, but will dismiss the senseless and soulless clatter of the piano to the obsolete.
Our greatest city will be in the Rocky Mountains, possibly Denver or Salt Lake City.
The most honored American now living will be [the agnostic lecturer] Robert G. Ingersoll.

Reality: Let's point out what Denslow got right.
1. Air conditioning
2. Yield per acre of wheat, at least at the high end, though the main wheat producing states without irrigation are at 50 to 60 bushels per acre

The rest of it is overshooting by a bunch. I should also note I trimmed his predictions mercilessly. The man went on for five pages, while most predictors only wrote a page or two.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Sunday means nuclear war. So much fun to think of the stuff we avoided.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

3 comments:

  1. It's interesting that Denslow expected Denver to be a major national city of influence. He must have done the prediction before May when the Silver Crash of 1893 became known as the Denver Depression. It took years for Colorado to recover.

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    Replies
    1. That's an interesting point. Reading other predictions from this book, some people suck up to the host city of Chicago, but I was surprised and confused by the choice of Denver. It make a little more sense now.

      Delete
  2. Feel free to post Marina Sirtis pictures as much as you would like.

    I larfed particularly at the "senseless and soulless clatter of the piano". One suspects he may have been abused by a piano tutor when he was younger.

    ReplyDelete

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