21 January 2015

Birthdays
Owen Best b. 1997 (TRON: Legacy, Smallville, Impact)
Jennifer Rae Daykin b. 1995 (Nanny McPhee)
Booboo Stewart b. 1994 (Dominion, Twilight Saga, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Space Warriors, Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft, 666: The Child)
Chanelle Peloso b. 1994 (Zapped [2014])
Keely Purvis b. 1992 (The Time Tunnel [2006], X-Men 2, Taken)
Craig Roberts b. 1991 (Being Human, Becoming Human, Young Dracula)
Jacob Smith b. 1990 (Hansel & Gretel [2002], Evolution’s Child, Small Soldiers, Meego)
Jeff Ballard b. 1987 (Grave Halloween, Forever 16, Supernatural, Snowmageddon, Painkiller Jane, Kyle XY, Smallville, Zolar, A Wrinkle in Time, Dark Angel, Mission to Mars)
Luke Grimes b. 1984 (True Blood)
Izabella Miko b. 1981 (Supernatural, Clash of the Titans)
Svetlana Khodchenkova b. 1983 (The Wolverine)
Jerry Trainor b. 1977 (Angel, Evolution, Donnie Darko)
Paul Anthony b. 1975 (Tomorrowland, The Flash, The Returned, Suck, Painkiller Jane, Stargate: Atlantis, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Blade: Trinity, Dead Like Me, Jake 2.0, Stargate SG-1, Strange Frequency, Dark Angel)
Luigia Zucaro b. 1971 (Dawn of the Dead)
Ken Leung b. 1970 (Lost, X_Men: The Last Stand, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence)
Karina Lombard b. 1969 (The 4400, Kull the Conqueror)
Matthew Willig b. 1969 (Grimm, Abelar: Tales of an Ancient Empire)
Todd Caldecott b. 1969 (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
John Ducey b. 1969 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Deep Impact, Rumplestiltskin [1995])
Charlotte Ross b. 1968 (Arrow)
Patrick Weil b. 1963 (Touch, Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred, Eastwick)
Michael Wincott b. 1958 (Alien: Resurrection, Strange Days, The Crow, An American Christmas Carol)
Geena Davis b. 1956 (Coma [2012], Transylvania 6-5000, The Fly, Beetlejuice, Earth Girls Are Easy, Knight Rider)
Robby Benson b. 1956 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Deadly Nightmares)
Trey Wilson b. 1948 died 16 January 1989 (Vampire Hookers)
Ann Wedgeworth b. 1934 (The Twilight Zone [1986], My Science Project)
Clive Donner b. 1926 died 7 September 2010 (director, A Christmas Carol [1984], The Thief of Baghdad [1978])
Steve Reeves b. 1926 died 1 May 2000 (Hercules, Hercules Unchained, The Thief of Baghdad, Goliath and the Barbarians, Topper [1953 TV])
Dean Fredericks b. 1924 died 30 June 1999 (The Phantom Planet, The Disembodied, Them!)
Telly Savalas b. 1922 died 22 January 1994 (Alice in Wonderland [1985], Capricorn One, The Twilight Zone)
John Doucette b. 1921 died 16 August 1994 (The Time Machine [1978 TV], Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Time Tunnel, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Sabu and the Magic Ring, Adventures of Superman, Batman and Robin [1949])
J. Carrol Naish b. 1896 died 24 January 1973 (Dracula vs. Frankenstein, I Dream of Jeannie, House of Frankenstein, The Monster Maker, Batman [1943])

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, Geena Davis was in the Picture Slot with a still from The Fly, though Beetlejuice was probably more iconic. This year, it's Steve Reeves from Hercules. While I admit to geezerhood, I challenge anyone to find an actor younger than Ms. Davis who had an iconic genre role.

2. Oh Those Guys. We have some great character actors on the list. I don't count Telly Savalas because Kojak turned him into a household name. J. Carrol Naish has 222 credits on imdb.com, and while I remember his role as the hunchback Daniel in House of Frankenstein very well even though it's been more than fifty years since I saw it, I think that's more about my memory than his being truly iconic. John Doucette was a stocky bald guy who usually played a villain. If you are old enough, his face should be familiar, he has 284 credits on imdb.com/

3. Wait... he's dead?  Another familiar face whose name might escape you is Trey Wilson, who died 26 years ago at the age of 40. His best known role is Nathan Arizona in Raising Arizona. I was completely unaware he was gone and it makes me sad.

4. Canadians, the bold and the furtive. There are a lot of Canadians today, some with very few credits of any kind, some born too early to be able to exploit the modern sci-fi gold rush in Vancouver and Toronto. Jeff Ballard and Paul Anthony have credit lists that are typically Canadian, but Chanelle Peloso, Keely Purvis, Luigia Zucaro, Todd Caldecott and Michael Wincott are less obviously from The Great White North.

5. Hey, no Star Trek! I started this label because Star Trek is far and away the most popular label. I figured days without folks from Star Trek would be few and far between, but it's been pretty common in January.

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

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions: A Forecast

Prediction:The solar engine, if generally introduced, would be found more intermittent in its action than the windmill--excepting perhaps in a very few localities where there is a cloudless sky throughout the year. The windmill gathers up the power generated by the expansion of the air in passing over long stretches of heated ground, while a solar engine cannot command more of the sun's heat than that which falls upon the reflector or condenser of the engine itself. The latter machine may possibly have a place assigned to it in the industrial economy of the future, but the sum total of the power which it will furnish must always be an insignificant fraction.

Reality: According to Wikipedia, solar power accounts for about 0.85% of the world's energy as of 2015. This number is growing, but I would argue Sutherland is not incorrect so far with his "insignificant fraction" prediction.

Welcome our new pal George Sutherland to the fold. I found out about his book by reading H.G. Wells' Anticipations. I've just started reading his book and so far he seems very sensible, which likely means he will miss a lot of what gets invented in the 20th Century. The electron was discovered in 1897 and it took a while before it was completely accepted by the scientific community. When the Royal Society got around to celebrating J.J. Thomson's work, he gave the toast "Gentlemen, I give you the electron. May it be of no earthly use to anyone!"While this means Sutherland will have to make a huge leap to predict anything electronic, You can expect to read his predictions for the next couple months at least.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another incorrect prediction from The Experts Speak.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!