Friday, December 19, 2014

19 December 2014

Birthdays
Irina Voronina b. 1988 (Piranha 3DD, Saul of the Mole Men, Hood of Horror)
Jake Gyllenhaal b. 1980 (Source Code, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Day After Tomorrow, Donnie Darko)
Maria Sokoloff b. 1980 (Meteor [2009 TV], Strange Frequency, Dude, Where’s My Car?, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Bindu De Stoppani b. 1976 (28 Days Later…)
Blake Lindsley b. 1973 (Deep Space Nine, Starship Troopers)
Joshua Bitton b. 1973 (National Treasure)
Alyssa Milano b. 1972 (Charmed, Embrace of the Vampire, The Canterville Ghost)
Rosa Blasi b. 1972 (The Grudge, Lost on Earth)
Amy Locane b. 1971 (Alien Express, Legend of the Mummy)
Kristy Swanson b. 1969 (Mimesis 2, The Black Hole [2006 TV], The Phantom, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Mannequin 2: On the Move, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie], Not Quite Human, Deadly Friend)
Lauren Sanchez b. 1969 (Fantastic Four, The Day After Tomorrow, Babylon 5)
Ken Marino b. 1968 (Reaper, Charmed, Angel, Gattaca)
Robert MacNaughton b. 1966 (Frankenstein vs. The Mummy [2014], E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Electric Grandmother)
Jessica Steen b. 1965 (Supernatural, Left Behind: World at War, Charmed, Stargate SG-1, Mutant X, Armageddon, Earth 2, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future)
Til Schweiger b. 1963 (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life)
Jennifer Beals b. 1963 (The Book of Eli, The Grudge 2, The Hunger [1999 TV], Vampire’s Kiss, The Bride, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Matthew Waterhouse b. 1961 (Doctor Who)
Mike Lookinland b. 1960 (The Stand, Isis)
Nancy (Loomis) Kyes b. 1949 (Twilight Zone [1985], Halloween I, II and III, The Fog)
Robert Ulrich b. 1946 died 16 April 2002 (Amerika, The Ice Pirates, Endangered Species, Tabitha, Killdozer)
Tim Reid b. 1944 (Highlander [TV])
Cicely Tyson b. 1933 (The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, Ms. Scrooge)
Jack DeLeon b. 1924 died 16 October 2006 (Tabitha, The Lost Saucer)
Gordon Jackson b. 1923 died 15 January 1990 (The Medusa Touch, Supernatural [1977 TV], Scrooge [1970], The Quatermass Xperiment)
Ralph Richardson b. 1902 died 10 October 1983 (Time Bandits, Dragonslayer, Rollerball, Frankenstein: The True Story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Tales from the Crypt [1972], Things to Come, The Ghoul [1933])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was the oldest person on the list, Sir Ralph Richardson and this year it's the second youngest, Jake Gyllenhaal from Donnie Darko. The youngest, Irina Voronina, is really pretty, but I don't think her role as Fallopia in Saul of the Mole Men really counts as iconic. Sue me.

As for next year's race, it's going to be a battle of fabulous babes, Alyssa Milano from Charmed, Kristi Swanson from the movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jennifer Beals from The Bride.

2. Spot the Canadian! There is one and the resume definitely has Canadian tendencies. Knock yourselves out.

3. Wait... he's genre? Sometimes, I see a name I know on imdb.com and I check on it just out of curiosity. I didn't know Tim Reid was in the Highlander TV show, I just knew him from WKRP and Frank's Place, a very underrated comedy with no laugh track. Likewise, I knew Gordon Jackson from The Great Escape and Upstairs, Downstairs, and it turns out he has several genre roles I didn't know about.

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

Movie released
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring released 2001

Predictor: H.G. Wells in the 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: [T]he next great war will be the catastrophic breakdown of the formal armies, shame and disasters, and a disorder of conflict between more or less equally matched masses of stupefied, scared, and infuriated people. Just how far the thing may rise from the value of an alarming and edifying incident to a universal catastrophe, depends upon the special nature of the conflict, but it does not alter the fact that any considerable war is bound to be a bitter, appalling, highly educational and constitution-shaking experience for the modern democratic state.

Reality: That's a pretty damned good description of World War I if you ask me. As we go through his book, there are a lot of particulars of the nature of future wars Wells gets wrong, but on this one, I will not quibble. Full marks, young Herbert, and well done.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!


This weekend's regular schedule will be preempted by predictions with exact dates.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

3 comments:

  1. Tim Reid was the librarian in _It_, wasn't he?

    Jessica Steen, which suggests that the "Left Behind" films were made in Canada. Credit to the previous Prime Minister for not considering that an Act of War.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are correct about Ms. Steen and about Left Behind being made in Toronto. On the other hand, she was in Armageddon and I can't find any onfo about it being a Canadian production.

      Delete
  2. In one of those delightful little synchronicities of life, *just* as I started reading this, the Tears for Fears version of "Mad World" started playing at my coffee shop.

    ReplyDelete

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