2 January 2015

Birthdays
Shelley Hennig b. 1987 (Teen Wolf)
Kristen Hager b. 1984 (Being Human, A Little Bit Zombie, The Dresden Files, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem)
Kate Bosworth b. 1983 (Superman Returns)
David Gyasi b. 1980 (Interstellar, Cloud Atlas, The Dark Knight Rises, Doctor Who, Torchwood)
Paz Vega b. 1976 (The Spirit, Talk to Her)
Dax Shepard b. 1975 (Idiocracy, Zathura: A Space Adventure)
Lucy Davis b. 1973 (Reaper, Shaun of the Dead, Belfry Witches)
Taye Diggs b. 1971 (Equilibrium, House on Haunted Hill)
Evan Parke b. 1968 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, American Horror Story, King Kong, Charmed, Planet of the Apes [2001])
Cuba Gooding Jr. b. 1968 (Hardwired, The Devil’s Tomb, What Dreams May Come, Outbreak)
Tia Carrere b. 1967 (Asteroid vs. Earth, Warehouse 13, Supernova, Relic Hunter, Merlin: The Return, Tales from the Crypt, Kull the Conqueror, Quantum Leap, Zombie Nightmare)
James Marshall b. 1967 (Alien Lockdown, The Hunger [2000 TV])
Kate Hodge b. 1966 (Fringe, Level 9, Xena, The Hidden II, She-Wolf of London, Tales from the Crypt)
Joanna Pacula b. 1957 (Dinocroc, Virus, Timemaster, E.A.R.T.H. Force)
John Bedford Lloyd b. 1956 (Aliens in the Family, SeaQuest2032, The Abyss, C.H.U.D.)
Deborah Watling b. 1948 (Doctor Who, H.G. Wells Invisible Man [1959])
Charles Beaumont b. 1929 died 21 February 1967 (writer, Queen of Outer Space, Burn, Witch, Burn, Premature Burial, Twilight Zone, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Masque of the Red Death)
Howard Caine b. 1928 died 28 December 1993 (My Favorite Martian, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Jason Evers b. 1922 died 13 March 2005 (The Bionic Woman, The Fantastic Journey, Escape for the Planet of the Apes, The Illustrated Man, Star Trek, The Invaders, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die)
Isaac Asimov b. 1920 (or not) died 6 March 1992 (definitely) (won 1973 Nebula and Hugo for The Gods Themselves, won 1983 Hugo for Foundation’s Edge)
Alvin Hammer b. 1915 died 31 October 1993 (Scrooged, Planet of the Apes [1974 TV])
Anna Lee b. 1913 died 14 May 2004 (Jack the Giant Killer, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir [1947 Film])
Charles P. Thompson b.1891 died 26 October 1979 (Twilight Zone, Teenage Cave Man)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. When it comes to importance in the genre, no one on the list compares to Isaac Asimov and I nearly repeated using his picture. But when I thought about iconic, Deborah Watling was a companion to the Second Doctor, so at least for the Brits, she certainly qualifies. As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, she is also The Gal at the Door, the oldest person living on the list with everyone younger than her still alive. 67 is a crazy low age for this particular situation, but this was one of those lists without anyone born in the 1930s. As always, the blog presents its special best wishes for many happy returns to Ms Watling.

2. Canadian, pre-spotted. Kristen Hager is the lone Canuck on the list today, and while Being Human and The Dresden Flies are Canadian productions, there is a British Being Human as well and these are not the best known shows.

3. Hey, no Star Trek! It's a somewhat show birthday list and the gap between Charles Beaumont and Deborah Watling is where we should expect to see the actors and guest stars from the original Star Trek, but no one is there today. I've only been keeping track since October, but a Star Trek free day happens about once every nine days on average.

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

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

Prediction: [The combination of Canada, United States, Britain and its colonies] should be the first of the three powers of the world, and it should face the organizing syntheses of Europe and Eastern Asia with an intelligent sympathy.

Reality: While the three countries mentions are clearly allies, this is not a very good picture of the state of geopolitics. It is interesting to note how much it is like Orwell's view of the split in Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

This weekend, we will take a look at what the CIA in 2000 thought 2015 would look like, Saturday for what they got right and Sunday for what they got wrong.

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!