Tuesday, April 29, 2014

29 April 2014

Birthdays
Taylor Cole b. 1984 (Supernatural, The Event, The Green Hornet, Surrogates, Heroes)
Firass Dirani b. 1984 (Power Ranger Mystic Force, Pitch Black)
Alex Vincent b. 1981 (Child’s Play)
Tyler Labine b. 1978 (Deadbeat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011], Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Invasion, Jake 2.0, Evil Alien Conquerors, Dark Angel, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], Poltergeist: The Legacy, Millennium [TV], The X-Files, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
David Sullivan b. 1977 (Karma Police, The Astronaut Farmer, Primer)
David Belle b. 1973 (Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Babylon A.D.)
Derek Mears b. 1972 (Sleepy Hollow, Grimm, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Team Unicorn, Predators, The Hills Have Eyes II, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Cursed, Star Trek: Enterprise, Men in Black II, The Tick, The Wonder Cabinet)
Darby Stanchfield b. 1971 (Jericho, Angel)
Uma Thurman b. 1970 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Paycheck, Gattaca, Batman & Robin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen)
Vincent Ventresca b. 1966 (Dollhouse, Mammoth, The Invisible Man [TV])
Bruce Harwoord b. 1963 (The X-Files, Supernatural, The Last Mimsy, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Alienated, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, The Lone Gunmen, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], The Fly II, Earth Star Voyager)
Robert J. Sawyer b. 1960 (author, won 1996 Nebula for The Terminal Experiment and won 2003 Hugo for Homonids)
Michelle Pfeiffer b. 1958 (Dark Shadows [2012], Stardust, Wolf, Batman Returns, The Witches of Eastwick, Ladyhawke)
Kate Mulgrew b. 1955 (Warehouse 13, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek: Voyager, Gargoyles)
Gavin O’Herlihy b. 1954 (Star Trek: Voyager, Willow, Superman III, The Amazing Spider-Man [TV], The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Reb Brown b. 1948 (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Space Mutiny, Robowar, Howling II, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, Brave New World [TV], Captain America [TV], Strange New World [TV], The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Ssssss)
Wayne Robson b. 1946 died 4 April 2011 (Survival of the Dead, The Timekeeper, The Incredible Hulk [2008], Lexx, Cube, RoboCop [TV], The Twilight Zone [1989])
Lane Smith b. 1936 died 13 June 2005 (From the Earth to the Moon, Lois & Clark, Duplicates, V)
Akira Takarada b. 1934 (Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, King Kong Escapes, Godzilla [2014 and 1977 and 1954], Invasion of Astro-Monster)
Irvin Kershner b. 1923 died 27 November 2010 (director, SeaQuest 2032, RoboCop 2, The Empire Strikes Back)
Richard Carlson b. 1912 died 24 November 1977 (The Valley of Gwangi, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays, Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space, The Magnetic Monster)
Jack Williamson b. 1908 died 10 November 2006 (author, The Legion of Time, Starchild, The Man from Outside, Land’s End)

Okay, first things first. Whose job was it to tell me Lane Smith died? I loved his work and I had no idea.

Last year's Picture Slot was Kate Mulgrew, an excellent and iconic choice without a doubt, but this year I was torn between Michelle Pfieffer and Uma Thurman when I read online that Akira Takarada's part in the newest Godzilla ended up on the cutting room floor. That seemed so unfair I decided to give him the Picture Slot with a still from the 1954 version.

I also want to give a shout out to Reb Brown, the actor who played Captain America in Marvel's 1970 attempt to get their stuff turned into TV shows. Hulk worked well and Spider-Man did okay, but Cap didn't quite make the cut. You have to be nearly as old as I am to remember that once upon a time, DC had all the successes in turning comic books into live action movies and TV while Marvel had a whole lotta flops.

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

 

Predictor: Geoffrey Hoyle in the 1972 book 2010: Living in the Future, illustrations by Alasdair Anderson

Prediction: No tubs. Just showers. No faucets for hot and cold, no need for soap or towels. Set the dial for water temperature and step in. Foamy water covers you, clean water rinses you, a jet of warm air dries you.

Reality: As I wrote last week, Hoyle's vision is fairly nice in many ways, but there is an obsession with space because of overcrowding. Also, I'm not that keen on stepping into a mini car wash every morning. Think about how long it takes air dryers to work on my hands, I'd be way too antsy to air dry my whole body.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our Edwardian pal T. Baron Russell is winding down and May will be his last month with us. We'll see what more he has to say tomorrow.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

5 comments:

  1. I would give Hoyle half points. Most showers nowadays have a single lever for temperature, with a visual scale; but many of the newer controls do actually have temperature readouts. And some of the high end units have settings for different additives.

    But more importantly, the 'no tubs' part. I am currently laying out an apartment building that only has tubs in the accessible units, and the same developer is just finishing up a rehab that went that way. The only reason tubs haven't faded away completely is, I think, a combination of the dual influence of whirlpool tubs and the fact that a shower actually takes up pretty much the same amount of space as a tub. In America, tubs have become adjuncts to showers in many houses; rarely used, except in commercials and romantic comedies. I would give him a full mark for this one.

    For a while, Kohler was marketing an environmental unit that included air drying, but I think it was mainly an augment to towel drying.

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  2. When Kate Mulgrew showed up as Janeway, I had an "Oh, THAT woman" moment. Back in the 70s, I remembered a tv movie, with that harsh-edged videotape look (possibly a public TV effort?) where she played a young girl, very cute (which explains why I remembered the damn thing) who found a TV in the attic that connected her to a handsome young man who turned out to be a criminal from another dimension.

    Recently, I managed to see part of the thing on YouTube or something like that, and it was as disappointing as it sounds.

    Except for her voice; even as very young woman, she had the beginnings of that smoky voice. Maybe that's what lodged it in my memory.

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  3. Whole body air dryers certainly would not be energy efficient plus even with a fairly hot fan the evaporative cooling on the body would cause a full body chill.

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