Connor Widdows b. 1992 (Smallville, X-Men: The Last Stand, Battlestar Galactica, Taken, Dark Angel, Harsh Realm, So Weird, Millennium)
Chris Gauthier b. 1976 (Once Upon a Time, Eureka, Smallville, Watchmen, Supernatural, Reaper, Bionic Woman, The Butterfly Effect 2, Kyle XY, Zixx: Level Two, Stargate: Atlantis, Earthsea, Dead Like Me, Freddy vs. Jason, Dark Angel)
Amy Hargreaves b. 1970 (Brainscan)
Cindy Cheung b. 1970 (Futurestates, Lady in the Water, Spider-Man 2, Robot Stories)
Patton Oswalt b. 1969 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Caprica, Dollhouse, The Venture Brothers, Reaper)
Tamlyn Tomita b. 1966 (Resurrection, Teen Wolf, True Blood, Touch, Tekken, Heroes, Eureka, Stargate, The Day After Tomorrow, Robot Stories, FreakyLinks, Seven Days, The Burning Zone, The Last Man on Planet Earth, Highlander [TV], Time Trax, Babylon 5: The Gathering, Quantum Leap)
Alan Cumming b. 1965 (Riverworld, Tin Man, Son of the Mask, Spy Kids, X-Men 2, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Bridget Fonda b. 1964 (Snow Queen, Monkeybone, Lake Placid, Army of Darkness, Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound)
Julie Caitlin Brown b. 1961 (Sliders, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine)
Roy Fegan b. 1961 (The Meteor Man, Misfits of Science)
Susanna Thompson b. 1958 (Arrow, Dragonfly, Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, The X Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Frank Miller b. 1957 (writer/artist, Gotham, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City, Elektra, RoboCop 2 and 3)
Mimi Rogers b. 1956 (Ginger Snaps, The X-Files, Lost in Space [1998], Tales from the Crypt)
Peter Laird b. 1954 (writer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Richard Bremmer b. 1953 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
Steve Leialoha b. 1952 (illustrator, Peter & Max)
Stewart Raffill b. 1942 (Tammy and the T-Rex, Mannequin: On the Move, Mac and Me, The Philadelphia Experiment, The Ice Pirates)
James Cromwell b. 1940 (American Horror Story, Surrogates, Impact, Spider-Man 3, I, Robot, Salem’s Lot, A Carol Christmas, Star Trek: Enterprise, Space Cowboys, The Green Mile, Deep Impact, Species II, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Twilight Zone [1985], Knight Rider, Earthlings)
Troy Donohue b. 1936 died 2 September 2001 (Omega Cop, Dr. Alien, Monster on the Campus, The Monolith Monsters)
Michael Craig b. 1928 (Doctor Who, Escape 2000, Mysterious Island [1961])
Sabu b. 1924 died 2 December 1963 (The Jungle Book, The Thief of Bagdad)
Mark Daniels b. 1912 died 23 April 1989 (director, The Wizard, Man from Atlantis, Planet Earth, Star Trek, Way Out)
Howard McNear b. 1905 died 3 January 1969 (Twilight Zone, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Topper)
Lewis Carroll b. 1832 died 14 January 1898 (Alice in Wonderland, The Hunting of the Snark)
Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the picture slot has gone to Frank Miller and Alan Cumming, and I was debating with myself about who would go in this time. I wanted to acknowledge James Cromwell on his 75th birthday, but I wasn't sure his portrayal of Zephram Cochrane was quite iconic enough. I consider a few others as well, but in the end as you see, I decided on Lewis Carroll, both because he is an important writer in the history of fantasy and he was a mathematician as well, which scores many points in my book.
2. Where did all the young people go? More sci-fi and fantasy movies and TV shows are being made now than any other time, so it's very common our birthday lists have a bunch of actors born in the 1980s and 1990s portraying young people in the productions. Today we only have Connor Widdows, who also happens to be our only natural born Canadian. The next youngest person is Chris Gauthier, born in the U.K. but moved to Canada, so his resume is full of credits from the usual Canuck sci-fi fare.
3. Where did Bridget Fonda go? The Fonda family are several generations of well-known American actors and most of them keep acting as long as they could. Bridget Fonda's last role was in 2002, when she wasn't yet 40. Not unlike Phoebe Cates, Ms. Fonda decided to opt out of the business and be a wife and mother full time. I respect their decisions, but it is unusual.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Prediction: Hollings-Gray, the only megacorp that invested heavily in agriculture, cheerfully adopted the self-deprecating acronym of HoG. The company’s specialty was “franchise farming”, buying the land, supplying standardized equipment and training and contracting with agribusinessmen at a guaranteed minimum price, sharing the profits with franchise holders. Their sheer size and capital resources allowed them to survive and prosper and eventually bankrupt many of their smaller rivals in the private sector.
Reality: "Franchise farming" sounds like a modern version of share-cropping. The real agri-business "megacorp" Monsanto has much stranger and more futuristic ways of dominating their industry by patenting genetically modified seeds and suing customers who want to save them for a later crop. Some left-leaning folk make Monsanto into a boogeyman and I'm not sure they are exaggerating that much.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
Another prediction from George Sutherland's 1901 book 20th Century Inventions.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
Susanna Thompson as the Borg Queen is arguably iconic, and she's a Fabulous Babe.
ReplyDeleteSusanna Thompson as the Borg Queen is arguably iconic, and she's a Fabulous Babe.
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