10 November 2014

 Birthdays
Mackenzie Foy b. 2000 (Interstellar, The Conjuring, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Parts 1 and 2, FlashForward)
Kiernan Shipka b. 1999 (Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Carriers, Land of the Lost, Heroes)
Zoe Deutch b. 1994 (Vampire Academy, Beautiful Creatures)
Josh Peck b. 1986 (The Big Bang Theory, Special)
Lora Anne Criswell b. 1985 (Practical Magic)
Heather Matarazzo b. 1982 (Devil’s Advocate)
Matt Mullins b. 1980 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Team Unicorn, Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Mortal Kombat: Legacy, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, Bloodfist 2050)
Alberta Mayne b.1980 (Supernatural, Fringe, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian)
Brittany Murphy b. 1977 died 20 December 2009 (Something Wicked, MegaFault, Neverwas, SeaQuest2032)
Lea Moreno b. 1977 (Demon Hunter, Doom Runners, Weird Science [TV])
Walton Goggins b. 1971 (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Cowboys and Aliens, Predators, Humanoids from the Deep, Forever Young)
Ellen Pompeo b. 1969 (Daredevil)
Tracy Morgan b. 1968 (Superhero Movie, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Michael Jai White b. 1967 (Arrow, Android Cop, Mortal Kombat: Legacy, The Dark Knight, Universal Soldier: The Return, Breakfast of Champions, Spawn, Universal Soldier, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Toxic Avengers II and III)
Athena Massey b. 1967 (Black Scorpion, Termination Man, Star Trek: Voyager, Virtual Combat)
Vanessa Angel b. 1966 (Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft, Planet Raptor, PuppetMaster vs. Demonic Toys, Weird Science, Stargate SG-1, Sabretooth, Weird Science [TV], Time Trax)
Darla Haun b. 1964 (Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Class of Nuke ‘Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown)
Hugh Bonneville b. 1963 (Doctor Who, Frankenstein [TV 1994])
Daniel Waters b. 1962 (writer, Vampire Academy, Demolition Man, Batman Returns)
Grant Cramer b. 1961 (Aliens from Uranus, Creaturealm: From the Dead, Leapin’ Leprechauns!, Killer Klowns from Outer Space)
Neil Gaiman b. 1960 (won 2002 Hugo and 2003 Nebula for American Gods, won 2009 Hugo for The Graveyard Book)
Steven Herek b. 1958 (director, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Critters)
Matt Craven b. 1956 (Resurrection, X-Men: First Class, Devil, Timeline, From the Earth to the Moon, American Gothic, Jacob’s Ladder, The Medusa Touch, Exorcist II: The Heretic)
Clare Higgins b. 1955 (Doctor Who, Being Human, Hellraiser I and II)
Roland Emmerich b. 1955 (director, 2012, 10,000 BC, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla [1998], Independence Day, Stargate, Universal Soldier, Moon 44)
Michael Schultz b. 1938 (Arrow, The Tomorrow People, Charmed, The Spirit, Timestalkers)
Richard Bradford b. 1937 (Earth 2 [1994], Time Trax, Amerika)
Albert Hall b. 1937 (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Brimstone, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Roy Scheider b. 1932 died 10 February 2008 (The Punisher, SeaQuest 2032, 2010)
Don Henderson b. 1932 died 22 June 1997 (Red Dwarf, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Doctor Who, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire, Brazil, The XYY Man, Star Wars, The Ghoul)
Richard Burton b. 1925 died 10 November 1984 (1984, The Medusa Touch, Exorcist II: The Heretic)
Russell Johnson b. 1924 16 January 2014 (Meego, ALF, Beyond Westworld, Wonder Woman, The Invaders, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, The Space Children, Attack of the Crab Monsters, This Island Earth, It Came From Outer Space, Adventures of Superman)
George Fenneman b. 1919 died 29 May 1997 (Batman, The Thing from Another World)
Tod Andrews b. 1914 died 7 November 1972 (Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Twilight Zone, Return of the Ape Man, Voodoo Man)
Harry Andrews b. 1911 died 6 March 1989 (Superman 2, The Medusa Touch, The Last Days of Man on Earth, Theatre of Blood)
Claude Rains b.1889 died 30 May 1967 (The Lost World, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man)

 Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was Neil Gaiman and this year, in an Oh That Guy mood, I went with George Fenneman in his role from The Thing from Another World. He's the guy in glasses on the right. (Kinda looks like Stephen Colbert.) His best known work is as Groucho Marx's announcer on You Bet Your Life. I put him in because imdb.com says he was uncredited in The Thing. It was a tiny cast, everyone should have had a credit, right? As for next year, Roy Scheider from SeaQuest 2032 is the front runner. Claude Rains as The Invisible Man is certainly iconic, but how can we be sure it's him under all those bandages?

2. Spot the Canadians! Matt Craven would be too hard to spot, as he moved to the states before the Canadian genre TV boom. The second Canadian isn't as hard. I give the answer later today.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Aquaculture, the business of fish farming, will grow substantially in the next few decades. The world's leading fish farming nation China, will produce much more than the 16 million tons they produced in 1980, and the fledgling United States industry will have grown enough that Americans will eat 40 pounds of fish annually by average, up from 20 pounds annually in the early 1980s.

Reality: This is a hit and a miss. China did increase fish farming to produce 32 million tons in 2004. (This picture is from a news story about a die-off in a fish farm in 2007.) But Americans actually reduced their amount of fish consumption per capita to about 10.4 pounds per year according to the E.P.A.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

FM-2030 still has more to say, which means we still get to mock him for a few more weeks at least.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!