30 June 2014

 Birthdays
Angela Sarafyan b. 1983 (Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Buffy)
Lizzy Caplan b. 1982 (Hot Tub Time Machine, True Blood, Cloverfield, Smallville)
Aaron Perilo b. 1981 (In Time, True Blood)
Desi Lydic b. 1981 (Stan Helsing, Invasion Iowa)
Rick Gonzalez b. 1979 (Reaper, War of the Worlds, Buffy)
Molly Parker b. 1972 (The Road, The Wicker Man, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Highlander [TV])
Megan Fahlenblock b. 1971 (Warehouse 13, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Mutant X, Witchblade, The Fifth Quadrant, Relic Hunter)
Chris Conrad b. 1970 (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Marton Csokas b. 1966 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Alice in Wonderland [2010], AEon Flux, Lord of the Rings, Xena, Cleopatra 2525, The Lost World [TV], BeastMaster [TV], Farscape, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Rupert Graves b. 1963 (Doctor Who, V for Vendetta)
Predrag Bjelac b. 1962 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Omen [2006], Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Children of Dune, The Immortal [TV])
Rebecca Tilney b. 1960 (True Blood, Lost, Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
Vincent D’Onofrio b. 1959 (Daredevil [2015], Jurassic World, The Cell, The Thirteenth Floor, Men in Black, Strange Days)
David Alan Grier b. 1955 (Bewitched [2005 movie], The X-Files, Jumanji, Blankman, ALF)
Leonard Whiting b. 1950 (Frankenstein: The True Story)
Charlene Polite b. 1943 died 21 June 1999 (Star Trek)
Jeri Taylor b. 1938 (writer/producer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager)
Clifford David b. 1932 (The Exorcist III, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
Harvey Vernon b. 1927 died 9 October 1996 (Deep Space Nine, The Twilight Zone [1985], Teen Wolf)
Nestor Paiva b. 1905 died 9 September 1966 (They Saved Hitler’s Brain, Jesse James Meet Frankenstein’s Daughter, The Addams Family, My Living Doll, The Three Stooges in Orbit, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, World of Giants, The Mole People, Tarantula, Revenge of the Creature, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Mighty Joe Young)

The Picture Slot was a tough choice today. There are several living actors on the list whose work I've liked, Molly Parker as Alma Garrett in Deadwood, Rupert Graves as Lestrade in Sherlock, Vincent D'Onofrio in several projects, and D'Onofrio in Men in Black would count as genre and iconic. But my main debate was between two of the actors no longer with us, The bald Oh That Guy actor Nestor Paiva (300 credits on imdb.com!) and our winner, Charlene Polite, who played the revolutionary Vanna in The Cloud Minders. On the other end of the spectrum form Paiva, she had only eleven screen roles, one of them uncredited. The only thing they have in common is that they both died from cancer in their early sixties.

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

Movies released
Twilight Saga: Eclipse released, 2010
Spider-Man 2 released 30 June 2004

Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac published 1982

Prediction: By 2010, most tourism travel will be in vertical take-off and landing craft or high speed trains. The speeds will range from 500 to 3,000 mph and the cost will be five cents a mile, measured in 1981 dollars.

Reality: Oh, pull the other one, it's got bells on it! Nobody has VTOL commercial flights and the United States never got behind supersonic air travel or high speed trains. Now, the high speed train issue is a left-right split based on the recent conservative view that conserving energy is for commies. As for five cents a mile in 1981 dollars, that's about 12 cents a mile now. That's in the ballpark if you get a cheap flight across the country or a good price on a train ticket for shorter distances, but not at the speeds being discussed.

Looking on day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our weekly routine is broken up by a prediction from Dale Brown that does NOT involve an act of war. Crazy, right?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!