8 November 2014

 Birthdays
Jessica Lowndes b. 1988 (The Devil’s Carnival, Altitude, Kyle XY)
Jared Kusnitz b. 1988 (Dance of the Dead, Doll Graveyard)
Samantha Droke b. 1987 (Eastwick)
Magda Apanowicz b. 1985 (Continuum, Snowmageddon, Team Unicorn, Caprica, Kyle XY, The Andromeda Strain [2008 TV], Bionic Woman [2007], The Butterfly Effect, Jeremiah)
Chris Rankin b. 1983 (Harry Potter)
Azura Skye b. 1981 (Grimm, American Horror Story, Buffy, Smallville)
Keir O’Donnell b. 1978 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Ghosts/Aliens, FlashForward, Lost)
Jennifer Banko b. 1978 (Alien Nation [TV], Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood)
Jennifer Barbosa b. 1978 (Zombie Apocalypse)
Thom Fell b. 1976 (Highlander: The Source, An American Haunting)
Dania Ramirez b. 1975 (Heroes, Quarantine, X-Men: The Last Stand, Buffy)
Tara Reid b. 1975 (Sharknado 1 & 2, Incubus, The Crow: Silent Prayer, Good vs Evil, A Return to Salem’s Lot)
Jason Matthew Smith b. 1972 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek [2009], Charmed)
Gretchen Mol b. 1972 (The Thirteenth Floor, Godzilla [1998])
Ocean Hellman b. 1971 (Jeremiah, Mysterious Ways, Voyage of the Unicorn, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Highlander [TV])
Gonzalo Menendez b. 1971 (Grimm, The Dark Knight Rises, The Event, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Threshold, The Island, Sliders)
Parker Posey b. 1968 (The Eye, Superman Returns, Blade: Trinity, Frankenstein [2004 TV])
Kamar de los Reyes b. 1967 (Doomed Planet, The Cell, Total Recall 2070)
Bradley Gregg b. 1966 (Class of 1999, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Twilight Zone [1986], Explorers)
Leif Garrett b. 1961 (Superboy, Wonder Woman)
Megan Cavanaugh b. 1960 (Scrooge & Marley, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Tales from the Crypt)
Don McManus b. 1959 (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Supernatural, Journeyman, Ben 10: Race Against Time, National Treasure, The Invisible Man, Star Trek: Voyager, Knight Rider 2010)
David Sherrill b. 1959 (Surface, Mars Attacks!, The Arrival, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1992 movie], SuperForce, The Wraith)
Jeff Speakman b. 1958 (Escape from Atlantis, Scorpio One, Timelock)
Aidan Gillett b. 1958 (Shadow of the Vampire, The 10th Kingdom, The Borrowers)
Phil Fondacaro b.1958 (Land of the Dead, The Polar Express, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Sliders, The Creeps, Bordello of Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Mann & Machine, Quantum Leap, Superboy, Ghoulies II, Phantasm II, Troll, Willow, Invaders from Mars, Hard Rock Zombies, The Black Cauldron, Faerie Tale Theatre, Star Wars: Episode VI – The Return of the Jedi, Something Wicked This Way Comes)
Richard Curtis b. 1956 (writer, About Time, Doctor Who)
Randi Brooks b. 1956 (Terrorvision, Knight Rider, The Man with Two Brains, Wizards and Warriors)
John Musker b. 1953 (director, The Princess and the Frog, Treasure Planet, Hercules, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective)
Alfre Woodard b. 1952 (The Last Ship, True Blood, A Wrinkle in Time, K-PAX, Star Trek: First Contact, Special Report: Journey to Mars, Gulliver’s Travels, Scrooged, Faerie Tale Theatre, Tucker’s Witch)
Francois Petit b. 1951 (Mortal Kombat)
Ben Bova b. 1932 (editor, Analog, Omni)
Joe Flynn b. 1924 died 19 July 1974 (Now You See Him, Now You Don’t, I Dream of Jeannie, Captain Nice, Batman, Son of Flubber, Men Into Space, Twilight Zone, Indestructible Man)
Norman Lloyd b. 1914 (Seven Days, The Omen [1995 TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Amityville: The Evil Escapes [1989 TV], The Twilight Zone [1986])
Robert Strauss b. 1913 died 20 February 1975 (Mr. Terrific, The Green Hornet, Bewitched, My Mother the Car, The Munsters, 4D Man, The Atomic Kid)
June Havoc b. 1912 died 28 March 2010 (A Return to Salem’s Lot, The Outer Limits)
Bram Stoker b.1847 died 20 April 1912 (writer, Dracula)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Honestly, there are several well-known actors on the list (Tara Reid, Gretchen Mol, Parker Posey, Alfre Woodard, Joe Flynn, Norman Lloyd, Robert Strauss) who aren't well known for roles in genre. I picked Lloyd for two reasons, he turns 100 today (kudos!) and he was on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Dr. Galen, Picard's mentor from the Academy, and any Trek role is kinda sorta iconic. More than that, if it wasn't for the fact that Joe Flynn from McHale's Navy died at the age of 49, Norman Lloyd would be 100 AND The Guy at the Door, which is pretty remarkable. For folks who lived very long lives, we also have June Havoc, at one time known as Gypsy Rose Lee's sister and the woman in the Never to be Forgotten section below. In 2013, the Picture Slot was Ben Bova. In 2015, odds are I'll go with Bram Stoker.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are three today, all born after 1970. Good luck!

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, which special good wishes once again to Norman Lloyd, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.


Movies released
Thor: The Dark World released, 2013  

Predictor: Sidney Gorham Brock (1837-1918), mayor of Macon, Missouri, publisher of the Macon Republican newspaper, predicting life in America in 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago

Facial hair comments: Yep. That's the late 19th Century for sure.

Predictions (reality in parentheses):
By 1993, the social condition of the people will be such that there will be no suffering from the deprivation of the necessities of life. (No.)


Vice and immorality will have largely, if not all together, ceased to exist. (Strike two.)

There is no likelihood that the railroads and telegraphs will ever be managed by the state. (This is kinda sorta a hit. Amtrak exists, but private freight rail also still exists. The telegraph is still private and nearly completely obsolete.)

The people by this time will have become educated to such an extent that the vice of intemperance will largely cease. Saloons or public drinking places will probably no longer exist. (Yet another whiff.)

Much more attention will be paid to the reform of prisoners than to their punishment. (This guy us piling up the mistakes.)

Wealth will be more evenly distributed. (Comparing 1893 to 1993, this statement is correct, but the trend since is towards greater income inequality.)

There will be more friendly relations between employers and employees. (This is true. Labor riots were deadly back in the 19th Century, not so much today.)

Methods and machinery of agriculture will be so improved as to provide for the immense population of 1993. (Okay, he's hitting his stride. The population change was immense and agriculture kept pace very well.)

People will be longer liver, due to better understanding of the nature of disease and improved treatment. (Absolutely correct once again.)

The tendency of the race will be towards comfort, leisure, luxury, cultivation, simplicity in dress and broader charity in all social relations. (I'm not sure he'd think much of the "cultivation" of folks in the 1990s, but I'd say all the rest of it can be marked as correct in comparison with life in the 1890s.)

Never to be Forgotten: Renee Asherson 1915-2014 

Renee Asherson died on the 30th October at the age of 99. She had a long career in film and on TV, starting in the 1940s in films starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. A lot of British actors can go an entire career without roles in genre, but not so Ms. Asherson. She was in The Others starring Nicole Kidman, Theater of Blood with Vincent Price and the 1961 British sci-fi film The Day the Earth Caught Fire. Like our birthday boy and girl Norman Lloyd and June Havoc, she lived to a rip old age and like Ms. Havoc, she was one fabulous babe.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Renee Asherson, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is tomorrow Sunday already? Time for another nuclear war we didn't have.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!