Monday, December 1, 2014

1 December 2014

 Birthdays
Zoe Kravitz b. 1988 (Mad Max: Fury Road, Insurgent, Divergent, X-Men: First Class, After Earth)
Mark Ghanime b. 1977 (Dark Universe, Helix, Eve of Destruction, Soldiers of the Apocalypse, Supernatural, Smallville)
Akiva Schaffer b. 1977 (director, The Watch)
Dean O’Gorman b. 1976 (The Hobbit, The Legend of the Seeker, Farscape, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, Young Hercules)
Michael Maize b. 1974 (True Blood, Grimm, No Ordinary Family, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Charmed, Angel)
Ron Melendez b. 1972 (Awake, Charmed, Angel, Sliders, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, The Unborn II)
Emily Mortimer b. 1971 (Hugo)
Sarah Silverman b. 1970 (Evolution, What Planet Are You From?, Star Trek: Voyager)
Julie Condra b. 1970 (Weird Science, Eerie, Indiana)
Nestor Carbonell b. 1967 (The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight, Lost, The Tick)
Stephen Blackehart b. 1967 (Dominion, Jurassic City, Guardians of the Galaxy, Deep Space Nine, Brave New World, The Tromaville Café, Rockabilly Vampire, Tromeo and Juliet)
Katherine LaNasa b. 1966 (Sliders, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Andrew Adamson b. 1966 (director, The Chronicles of Narnia, Shrek)
Jo Walton b. 1964 (won 2012 Hugo and Nebula for Among Others)
Jeremy Northam b. 1961 (The Invasion, Cypher, Mimic)
Treat Williams b. 1951 (Age of Dinosaurs, Eve of Destruction, Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Deep Rising, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Empire Strikes Back)
Bette Midler b. 1945 (Hocus Pocus, Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories)
Richard Pryor b. 1940 died 10 December 2005 (Superman III)
Melissa Jaffer b 1936 (Farscape, The Lost World, Komodo)
Woody Allen b. 1935 (director, Zelig, Sleeper)
David Doyle b. 1929 died 26 February 1997 (Lois & Clark, Out of This World, Starman [TV], The Invisible Woman, Capricorn One, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Malachi Throne b. 1928 died 13 March 2013 (Babylon 5, M.A.N.T.I.S., Star Trek: The Next Generation, Project U.F.O., Ark II, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Star Trek, The Six Million Dollar Man, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!, Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Batman, The Outer Limits)
Robert Symonds b. 1926 died 23 August 2007 (Deep Space Nine, Mandroid, Quantum Leap, C.H.U.D. II – Bud the Chud, Beauty and the Beast [1987], Rumplestiltskin, Knight Rider, The Ice Pirates, The Six Million Dollar Man, Future Cop, The Exorcist)
Dick Shawn b. 1923 died 17 April 1987 (Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1986], Faerie Tale Theatre, The Wizard of Baghdad)
Paul Picerni b. 1922 died 12 January 2011 (The Powers of Matthew Star, The Incredible Hulk, Capricorn One, Project U.F.O., Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Sixth Sense, The Immortal, Batman, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, House of Wax)
Norman Leavitt b. 1913 died 11 December 2005 (Lost in Space, The Green Hornet, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, The Three Stooges in Orbit)
Cyril Ritchard b. 1897 died 18 December 1977 (The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, Mr. Scrooge, Peter Pan)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Malachi Throne from the original Star Trek series. This year was tricky. There are several actors who are household names on the list, but iconic in genre is a little more problematic. Reviewing it now after I've made my decision, Woody Allen dressed up as the robot in Sleeper is iconic and he might well be in the slot in 2015, but this year I went with the cover from the award winning book Among Others.

2. Spot the Canadian! There is just one and as is typical, born after 1970 with multiple telltale shows on his resume. Answer later in the day.

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

 Predictor: Mann, Kozar and Miller

Prediction: The 2014 Atlantic hurricane season will have 9 named storms, with a margin of error of +/-3.

Reality: November 30 is gone and there were 8 named storms, well within the margin of error. Last year, the prediction was 16 +/- 4 and the actual number was 13. This means they have gotten two years in a row correct, but this one was closer than last year. Nice work.



This month's splash photo

The FX-Atmos was a concept car from Ford in 1954. I love the bubble top roof and the headlight adornments that are somewhere between missile casings and hypodermic needles. This is not the first car with tailfins, Wikipedia gives that distinction to the Cadillac Eldorado of the late 1940s, but these were much more pronounced than any production in 1954.

I do love these car designs. Using actual science like aerodynamics, these things weren't as efficient as production cars today, but they made a real effort to make the separate brands distinctive.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We take another break from the regular schedule of predictions for a prediction of astronomical wonders.  


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

4 comments:

  1. The FX-Atmos is a wonderful car but it looks as if only one person can sit in the front seat and the passenger must ride in the back. Is that simply an optical illusion due to camera angle? Enquiring minds want to know!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I looked at other pictures online and your first impression is correct. There is a single seat up front for the driver that doesn't take up the entire width of the seating section and a couch style seat in the back that could fit two comfortably and a third behind the driver, except no leg room there.

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Absolutely right. Sorry I didn't post the answer earlier.

      Delete

Traveler! Have you news... FROM THE FUTURE?