1 June 2014

Birthdays
Willow Shields b. 2000 (The Wonder, The Hunger Games)
Taylor Handley b. 1984 (Battle Los Angeles)
Sarah Wayne Callies b. 1977 (The Walking Dead)
Patrick Gilmore b. 1976 (Continuum, Primeval: New World, Cabin in the Woods, Stargate, Fringe, 2012, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Supernatural, Eureka, The Last Mimzy, Final Days of Planet Earth, Stephen King’s Dead Zone)
Kate Magowan b. 1975 (Stardust)
Heidi Klum b. 1973 (Ella Enchanted)
Rick Gomez b. 1972 (Sin City)
Paul Schrier b. 1970 (Power Rangers)
Teri Polo b. 1969 (The Hole, The Storm, Brimstone, Van Helsing Chronicles, House of Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera)
Mark Curry b. 1961 (Armageddon)
Lisa Hartman b. 1956 (Not of this World, Tabitha)
Powers Boothe b. 1948 (Sin City, The Avengers, Mutant Species, Red Dawn)
Jonathan Pryce b. 1947 (G.I. Joe, Clone, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Brothers Grimm, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Brazil)
Brian Cox b. 1946 (An Adventure in Space and Time, Her, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Day of the Triffids, Doctor Who, Timewatch, X-Men 2, The Ring, Bug, Red Dwarf, The Cloning of Joanna May, Hammer House of Horror)
Rene Auberjonois b. 1940 (Warehouse 13, Stargate SG-1, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Deep Space Nine, Batman Forever, Eerie, Indiana, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Count, My Best Friend is a Vampire, Faerie Tale Theatre, Beyond Westworld, Wonder Woman, Man from Atlantis, The Bionic Woman, King Kong [1976], Brewster McCloud)
Morgan Freeman b.1937 (Lucy, Transcendence, Oblivion, The Dark Knight, Conan the Barbarian [2011], War of the Worlds, Dreamcatcher, Deep Impact, Outbreak, Twilight Zone)
Glenn Beck (no, not that one) b. 1935 (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doctor Who)
Peter Masterson b. 1934 (The Stepford Wives, The Exorcist)
Edward Woodward b. 1930 died 16 November 2009 (Crusade, Gulliver’s Travels, Arthur the King, 1990, Bloodsuckers)
Aubrey Morris b. 1926 (Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature, The Others, Legend of the Mummy, Bordello of Blood, Babylon 5, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast, Lifeforce, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy [TV], Space: 1999, A Clockwork Orange, Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb, The Prisoner)
John Randolph b. 1915 died 24 February 2004 (King Kong, Wonder Woman, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Seconds)
Frank Morgan b. 1890 died 18 September 1949 (The Wizard of Oz)

The choice for Picture Slot isn't cut and dried here. If The Walking Dead were airing new episodes, I might well have gone with Sarah Wayne Callies as Lori. If I was in a fabulous babe mood, I could have Heidi Klum as the giantess who fell in love with an elf (ahem) in Ella Enchanted. There's a heck of a lot of good and well known actors on the list born before 1950, including honest to Odin movie stars and folks with iconic roles in movies and on TV. But being in an iconic mood and wanting to give props to a movie that has to be in contention for the most important genre film of all time, I gave the Picture Slot to Frank Morgan in one of his many roles (or disguises) from the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz.

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

Movies released
Snow White and the Huntsman released, 2012
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock released, 1984
 

Predictors: ESPN's panel of baseball experts

Prediction: The teams that will make the playoffs in 2014

Reality: I'm going to report on this prediction a total of four times: The original prediction and at the beginning of June and August, and then at the end of the season. The teams they picked are listed as well as their current position.

American League
Division winners
Red Sox (currently in fourth)
Tigers (currently leading)
Athletics (currently leading)
Wild Card teams
Rays (currently in fifth)
Rangers (currently in third)

National League
Division winners
Nationals (currently in third)
Cardinals (currently in second)
Dodgers (currently in second)
Wild Card teams
Braves (currently leading)
Pirates (currently in third)

The season is about one third of the way through, and right now only four or maybe five of the ten teams listed would be in the playoffs. The Red Sox and Rays look really bad, the Nationals and Rangers are both playing exactly .500 baseball, and the teams given the least amount of credit would be the Blue Jays, leading the relatively close American League East, and the Brewers and the Giants, currently the two best teams in the National League.

Another update in two months.  

This month's splash illustration: People who are familiar with retro future will immediately recognize the sleek and shiny style of artist Syd Mead, known for his design work on movies like Blade Runner and brochures for future products for companies including General Motors. This is not the first Syd Mead illustration I have used and it will not be the last.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to the regular weekly schedule and one of my favorite sources.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!