Rupert Grint b. 1988 (Harry Potter)
Chad Michael Murray b. 1981 (Left Behind, The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghost of Georgia, House of Wax, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2)
Beth Riesgraf b. 1978 (Caper)
Alex O’Loughlin b. 1976 (Moonlight, The Invisible, Man-Thing)
James D’Arcy b. 1975 (Jupiter Ascending, Cloud Atlas, Them [2007])
Kwesi Ameyaw b. 1975 (Continuum, Supernatural, Man of Steel, Once Upon a Time, Riverworld, Fringe, Stargate, Kyle XY, Fallen, Eureka, Blade: Trinity, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Jake 2.0, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Jeremiah, Dark Angel, Strange Frequency, The Lone Gunmen, The 6th Day)
Jennifer Lien b. 1974 (Star Trek: Voyager)
Barret Oliver b.1973 (Twilight Zone [1986], Tall Tales & Legends, Cocoon, D.A.R.Y.L., The NeverEnding Story, Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk)
Eric Edwards b. 1966 (Blade, Candyman)
Jared Harris b. 1961 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Fringe, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Lost in Space [1998], Tall Tale)
Mark Protosevich b. 1961 (writer, Thor, I Am Legend, The Cell)
Steve Guttenberg b. 1958 (Short Circuit, Cocoon 1 and 2, High Spirits, The Day After, The Boys from Brazil)
Stephen Fry b. 1957 (The Hobbit, The Borrowers, Alice in Wonderland [2010], V for Vendetta, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, MirrorMask, Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride)
Kevin Dunn b. 1956 (Transformers, Lost, NYPD 2069, Small Soldiers, Godzilla [1998], Ghostbusters II)
Orson Scott Card b. 1951 (won 1986 Hugo and Nebula for Ender’s Game, won 1987 Hugo and Nebula for Speaker for the Dead)
Charles Rocket b. 1949 died 7 October 2005 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Star Patrol, The X-Files, Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark, Hocus Pocus, Quantum Leap, Earth Girls Are Easy, Max Headroom)
Ronnie Blakley b. 1945 (A Return to Salem’s Lot, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Beyond Westworld)
Castulo Guerra b. 1945 (The Purge: Anarchy, Touch, Invasion, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, Lois & Clark, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beauty and the Beast [1987], Starman [TV])
Kenny Baker b. 1934 (Star Wars, U.F.O. [1993], Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader [1989], Willow, Labyrinth, Time Bandits, Flash Gordon)
William Morgan Sheppard b. 1932 (Mysterious Island, Doctor Who, Legend of the Seeker, Star Trek [2009], Transformers, The Prestige, Charmed, Star Trek: Voyager, Timecop, American Gothic, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Babylon 5, SeaQuest 2032, Needful Things, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Max Headroom, Werewolf, The Day of the Triffids [1981], Hawk the Slayer)
Jimmy Gardner b. 1924 died 3 May 2010 (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, My Hero, The Company of Wolves, Doctor Who, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [1967], The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb)
Helena Carter b. 1920 died 11 January 2000 (Invaders from Mars)
James Tiptree, Jr. b 1915 died 19 May 1987 (author, Tales of the Quintana Roo, Up the Walls of the World)
Jorge Luis Borges b. 1899 died 14 June 1986 (author, The Book of Imaginary Beings, Labyrinths)
So here's my take on who would be in the Picture Slot depending on the main criterion.
Iconic: Today's actual criterion, and Rupert Grint edges out Kenny Baker because I had used a Star Wars picture more recently than I have used a Harry Potter picture.
Fabulous babe: Here it would be a battle between Beth Riesgraf, Jennifer Lien and Helena Carter.
Oh That Guy: I would say William Morgan Sheppard edges out Castulo Guerra, Kevin Dunn and Kwesi Ameyaw. Odd little non-genre coincidence: Sheppard played the father of fellow birthday boy Jared Harris on Mad Men.
Writer: Borges. No contest in my book.
My favorite performer on the list: Stephen Fry, also no contest.
The biggest surprise in the research: I completely forgot Charles Rocket was dead. It was assumed by the police he slit his own throat.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Prediction: “The Wankel will … dwarf such major post-war technological developments as xerography, the Polaroid camera and color television.”
Reality: Ha! Wankel rotary engines! It's actually a damned clever idea, but it's still internal combustion, so it's no solution to the problems we face concerning the use of the world's resources. The reason it didn't take off was if a seal wore out or if a radiator hose busted, these things could overheat very quickly. The overheating flaw can be overcome, but it got bad press for being unreliable and General Motors stopped cheerleading the Wankel.
It's also a little quaint the Polaroid camera gets to be in the major post-war technological developments list, since we now think of that as being obsolete. If I could go back 45 years and make a suggestion, the transistor is a better choice. The microprocessor is another huge leap forward, but that's the early 1970s, so you couldn't use it in 1969.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
OMNI Future Almanac day! Yay! (Also known colloquially as Monday.)
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
Ha! I loved teh Wankel rotary engine. It was just crazy enough to work! It was certainly a better engine that that old Slant Six in my dad's Duster.
ReplyDeleteIt's also one of the embarrassing phrases in a Monty Python sketch.
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