Friday, October 3, 2014

3 October 2014

 Birthdays
Aramis Knight b. 1999 (Deadtime Stories, Ender’s Game, The Dark Knight Rises, Lost, Invasion)
Adair Tischler b. 1996 (Jack and the Beanstalk, Heroes, Dollhouse, Charmed)
Haily McCann b. 1995 (The Time Traveler’s Wife, Jericho)
Jessica Parker Kennedy b. 1984 (In Time, Collision Earth, Behemoth, Smallville, V)
Chris Marquette b. 1984 (Awake, Race to Witch Mountain, The Invisible, Freddy vs. Jason, Aliens in the Family)
Meghan Heffern b. 1983 (Lost Girl, Monster Warriors, The Fog, Insecticidal)
Tessa Thompson b. 1983 (666 Park Avenue, Heroes)
Erik von Detten b. 1982 (Dinotopia, Charmed, So Weird, Meego, Escape to Witch Mountain [1995 TV])
Sanya Hughes b. 1982 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
Amanda Walsh b. 1981 (Grimm, Smallville)
Seth Gabel b. 1981 (Salem, Arrow, Fringe, Gothica, Jonah Hex)
John Hennigan b. 1979 (Hercules Reborn, Legion of the Black)
Seann William Scott b. 1976 (Southland Tales, Dude, Where’s My Car?)
Alanna Ubach b. 1975 (Revolution, Jekyll, Virtuosity, Beakman’s World)
Lena Headey b. 1973 (The Mortal Instruments, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dredd, The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box, The Purge, Game of Thrones, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Broken, Ultra, The Brothers Grimm, Merlin, The Hunger [TV])
Richard Ian Cox b. 1973 (Fringe, Eureka, Ghost Rider, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Sliders)
Neve Campbell b. 1973 (The Canterville Ghost, The Dark)
Keiko Agena b. 1973 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Nightmare Room)
Janel Moloney b. 1969 (The Leftovers)
Rob Liefeld b. 1967 (author, Deadpool, X-Force)
Clive Owen b. 1964 (Intruders, Children of Men, Sin City)
Jack Wagner b. 1959 (Lois & Clark, Trapped in Space)
Hart Bochner b. 1956 (Supergirl)
Peter Frechette b. 1956 (The Burning Zone, M.A.N.T.I.S., The Unholy, The Hills Have Eyes Part II)
Joel Polis b. 1951 (Stargate: Atlantis, Angel, The Invisible Man, NightMan, Star Trek: Voyager, Alien Nation, Misfits of Science, Twilight Zone [1985], Deadly Nightmares, The Thing)
Pamela Hensley b. 1950 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man, Rollerball, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze)
Niall Buggy b. 1948 (Alien³, Hellraiser, Zardoz)
Alan Rachins b. 1942 (Stargate SG-1, Lois & Clark, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Time Walker)
Madlyn Rhue b. 1935 died 16 December 2003 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Land of the Giants, Captain Nice, Star Trek)
Alvin Toffler b. 1928 (author, Future Shock)
Gore Vidal b. 1925 died 31 July 2012 (author, Visit to a Small Planet, actor, Gattaca)
Michael Hordern b. 1911 died 2 May 1995 (Labyrinth, A Christmas Carol [1977 TV and 1951], Theatre of Blood, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Man in the Moon)
Henry Hull b. 1890 died 8 March 1977 (Master of the World, Werewolf of London)
Warner Oland b. 1879 died 6 August 1938 (Werewolf of London)
Charles Middleton b. 1874 died 22 April 1949 (Flash Gordon)

Last year, the Picture Slot was Lena Headey from Game of Thrones. This year, it's Lena Headey from The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I repeat her place in the pictures for several reasons, not least of which is that she's a fabulous babe. (D'uh!) Right now, she is one of those actresses whose fame is due to roles in genre, a list that includes Lynda Carter, Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hamilton and Lucy Lawless. Unlike any of those other women, she is a movie star and a TV star at the same time. Usually when an actor makes the transition from TV to movies or vice versa, that actor doesn't return to the media they were in, except in cases when TV stars try to become movie stars and fail then return to TV. (And yes, I'm looking at you, Shelley Long.) Because of the amount of down time Ms. Headey has on Game of Thrones, she can take movie projects and many of them are fantasy and sci-fi. Perhaps her career arc is the wave of the future, but right now you can count the number of people being stars in both media simultaneously on the fingers of one hand.

Now that I've written this, I may not make Ms. Headey next year's Picture Slot choice, but I make no promises. If she was out of contention, my top choices would be decidedly old school, Charles Middleton as Ming or Henry Hull in the title role of Werewolf of London.

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

Predictor: Henry A. Wallace, commerce secretary in November 1945, quoted in The Experts Speak

Prediction: During the next four years… unless drastic steps are taken by Congress, the U.S. will have nearly 8,000,000 unemployed and will stand on the brink of a deep depression.

Reality: Wallace had been vice-president until he was booted from the ticket in favor of Harry Truman in 1944. When he said this, there were 4,000,000 unemployed. The thing was, Congress had done something drastic, the G.I. Bill of Rights in 1944, which is on the short list of the most successful pieces of social legislation of all time.

Looking one day... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another trip back to 1893, where uncomfortable clothes, remarkable facial hair and bold predictions all come together.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!



6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It's a great name, but I don' t know the face, so no chance he's next year's picture slot.

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  2. The thing was, Congress had done something drastic

    So he was correct?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, not correct.Unemployment fell, not rose after the end if WW II. possibly because they stopped counting women.

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  3. Well, Lena Headey is British, and Brits are known for bouncing back and forth from TV to movies to the stage all the time, albeit less so in genre. Brits never think of their careers as being all one thing.
    Thanks for the cool picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are absolutely right. It might be that no Brit in my lifetime was quite the star she has become on both sides of the Atlantic, most notably on TV. HBO really does change the formula.

      Delete

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