Monday, June 16, 2014

16 June 2014

 Birthdays
Madisen Hill b. 1993 (The Last Man on Earth)
Nathan Parsons b. 1988 (The Originals)
Debora Nascimento b. 1985 (The Incredible Hulk)
Missy Peregrym b. 1982 (Cybergeddon, Reaper, Heroes, Smallville, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, Dark Angel)
Sibel Kekilli b. 1980 (Game of Thrones)
Tom Lenk b. 1976 (Witches of East End, The Cabin in the Woods, The Guild, Transformers, Angel, Buffy)
Joseph May b. 1974 (Dracula [TV], Revolution [TV movie], Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Stargate: Atlantis, Dead Like Me, Resident Evil, Bugs)
Eddie Cibrian b. 1973 (Invasion, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
John Cho b. 1972 (Sleepy Hollow [TV], Star Trek, Total Recall [2012], FlashForward, Solaris, Earth vs. the Spider, Evolution)
Clifton Collins Jr. b 1970 (Transcendence, Pacific Rim, The Event, Star Trek, The Flash, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Arnold Vosloo b. 1962 (G.I. Joe, Fire & Ice, Odysseus: Voyage to the Underworld, Endangered Species, The Mummy, Strange World, Progeny, American Gothic [TV], Darkman II and III, Steel Dawn, Gor)
James M. Connor b. 1960 (Watchmen, Buffy, The X-Files, Futureworld)
John Franklin b. 1959 (Star Trek: Voyager, Tammy and the T-Rex, Addams Family, Beauty and the Beast, Children of the Corn)
Peter Vaughn-Clark b. 1957 (The Tomorrow People)
Laurie Metcalf b. 1955 (Big Bang Theory, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Making Mr. Right)
Bjorn Sunquist b. 1948 (Ragnarok, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Dead Snow)
Joan Van Ark b, 1943 (Wonder Woman, Quark, The Last Dinosaur, The Six Million Dollar Man, Frogs)
Suzan Farmer b. 1942 (Blakes 7, UFO, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Monster of Terror)
Carole Ann Ford b. 1940 (Doctor Who, Day of the Triffids)
Joyce Carol Oates b. 1938 (author, American Gothic Stories, Zombie)
Michael Culver b. 1938 (The Empire Strikes Back, Space: 1999)
Bill Cobbs b. 1934 (Vampires in Venice, Oz the Great and Powerful, Star Trek: Enterprise, Lost, Demolition Man, The Brother from Another Planet)
Faith Domergue b. 1924 died 4 April 1999 (Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, It Came from Beneath the Sea, This Island Earth)
Phil Chambers b. 1916 died 16 January 1993 (The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Twilight Zone, The Mole People)
Anthony Sharp b. 1915 died 23 July 1984 (Gawain and the Green Knight, A Clockwork Orange, No Blade of Grass, The Andromeda Breakthrough)
Jack Albertson b. 1907 died 25 November 1981 (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, It’s About Time, Twilight Zone)
Murray Leinster b. 1896 died 8 June 1975 (author, Exploration Team, A Logic Named Joe)

Technically, Game of Thrones is no longer on the air as of last night, but Sibel Kekilli gets the Picture Slot yet again, because... reasons. She is certainly not the only choice. As a Whedonverse nerd, I could put up a picture of Tom Lenk, John Cho is Sulu in the Star Trek re-boot, Laurie Metcalf plays Sheldon's mom on Big Bang Theory, Carole Ann Ford was one of the Doctor's companions, Faith Domergue was in a lot of 1950s monster movies and Jack Albertson's turn in Willy Wonka certainly counts as iconic. Arnold Vosloo is a great villain and Bill Cobbs is a great Oh That Guy.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Sometime in the early twenty first century, probably by 2010, the first space vacations will become a reality, say NASA officials. Although cramped and physically taxing, short stays in space aboard a space station should prove very alluring because of the danger - largely an illusion - and sheer excitement. At first, space tourism will be more of a novelty vacation. As space development continues and the fares decrease, astronomy and photography hobbyists will become the first serious space tourists.

Reality: There have been space tourists, all going up on Russian rockets. The danger is not largely an illusion and the Columbia disaster put a lot of plans on hold. There have been a total of seven space tourists according to Wikipedia: Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Anousheh Ansari, Charles Simonyi, Richard Garriott and Guy Laliberte. The first went up in 2001 and the most recent in 2009. Companies are planning more, but everything is still in the planning stages. OMNI Future Almanac gets close to full marks here, but the fares still make this a hobby for the very wealthy.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our Tuesday regular Geoffrey Hoyle looks boldly once more at the wonders that await in 2010.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

4 comments:

  1. I know of some extremely wealthy people I would like to nominate as space tourists. Maybe we could pay their upwards bound tickets, and they would, as the great self-made persons they claim to be, find their own way back.

    Or perhaps we could create a large space liner type of thing - an 'ark' if you will - that could accommodate many of them at once. Since Noah's ark was the first, this one might be "Ark 2" or something similar. And it could have a nice pre-planned destination, with a particular landing pattern selected for them. For their convenience and comfort, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Don't know if you caught it, but Daniel Keyes, author of "Flowers for Algernon" (which was the basis for the movie "Charlie"), died yesterday. I grew up with one of his daughters, and know the other. I'm sure they'd appreciate a "Never to be Forgotten." https://www.facebook.com/pococappu/posts/10202286847392199

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lockwood, I hadn't heard yet. He definitely will get a post.

      Delete
    2. I remember watching "Charly" in one of my middle school classes, which caused me to search out the book. In a subsequent class, we were assigned the book, which I think introduced me to the pleasures of re-reading.

      Looking forward to the NTBF.

      Delete

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