Franz Drameh b. 1993 (Edge of Tomorrow, Hereafter)
Garette Ratliff Henson b. 1980 (Three Wishes, Captain America [1990], Arachnophobia, The Charmings)
Paul Jarrett b. 1979 (Continuum, Fringe, Twilight: Eclipse, Smallville, Stargate, The Grudge 2, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Millennium, The X-Files, Sliders)
January Jones b. 1978 (Last Man on Earth, X-Men: First Class)
America Olivo b. 1978 (Defiance, Warehouse 13, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Friday the 13th [2009], The Thirst: Blood War)
Olunike Adeliyi b. 1977 (Being Human [U.S./Canada] )
Bradley Cooper b. 1975 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Limitless)
Michelle Parylak b. 1975 (Star Trek [2009])
Daisy Bates b. 1974 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Derek Cecil b. 1973 (Men in Black II)
Jason Miller b. 1972 (The Guild, Battle Planet, Day of the Dead)
Paul McGillion b. 1969 (Tomorrowland, Delete, Once Upon a Time, Fringe, Witchslayer Gretl, Captain Starship, Iron Golem, Sanctuary, V [2010], Supernatural, Star Trek [2009], Stargate: Atlantis, Preview to Atlantis, Jake 2.0, Replicant, First Wave, Smallville, Seven Days, The X-Files, Sliders)
Shea Whigham b. 1969 (Agent Carter, Radio Free Albemuth )
Ross Mullan b. 1967 (Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, Clash of the Titans)
Vinnie Jones b. 1965 (Arrow, Age of the Dragons, X-Men: The Last Stand, Mysterious Island [2005 TV])
Clancy Brown b. 1959 (The Flash, Sleepy Hollow, John Dies at the End, Cowboys & Aliens, A Nightmare on Elm Street [2010], The Burrowers, Lost, Carnivale, Star Trek: Enterprise, Lloyd in Space, Flubber, Starship Troopers, Earth 2, Tales from the Crypt, Pet Sematary II, Highlander, The Bride, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai)
Jeep Swenson b. 1957 died 18 August 1997 (Batman and Robin)
Cisse Cameron b. 1954 (Space Mutiny)
Pamela Sue Martin b. 1953 (Soupernatural)
Robert Catrini b. 1950 (Star-Crossed, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, From the Earth to the Moon, SeaQuest 2032)
Polly Williams b. 1950 died 24 June 2004 (The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella)
Diane Keaton b. 1946 (Sleeper)
Roger Spottiswode b. 1945 (director, The Sixth Day)
Cliff Potts b. 1942 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Starman [TV], Silent Running)
Hayao Miyazaki b. 1941 (writer/director, Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
Michael O’Donoghue b. 1940 died 8 November 1994 (writer, Scrooged)
David Ryall b. 1935 died 25 December 2014 (Automata, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Witchcraft [1992 TV], The Borrowers [1992 TV], Truly Madly Deeply, Blakes 7, Once Upon a Time [1973 TV])
Robert Duvall b. 1931 (The 6th Day, Deep Impact, Phenomenon, The Handmaid’s Tale, Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1978], THX 1138, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
George Reeves b. 1914 died 16 June 1959 (The Adventures of Superman)
Stella Gibbons b. 1902 died 19 December 1989 (author, Cold Comfort Farm)
Notes from the birthday list
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, January Jones from X-Men: First Class and Clancy Brown from Lost have graced the Picture Slot. Even with those two worthies removed, there are plenty of other good choices and this year I went with George Reeves in his most famous role as Superman. My other possible choices were Diane Keaton from Sleeper, Robert Duvall from THX-1138 or a still from a Miyazaki film.
2. Canadians, natural and otherwise. There are Canadian looking resumes on the list today and a Canadian whose credit list don't give them away. Paul Jarrett has the Canadian look and it's because he was born there. Paul McGillion was born in Scotland and his family moved to Canada. Olunike Adeliyi has only one credit and it's a Canadian show, and yes, she was born there. The odd man out is Ross Mullan, born in Canada but moved to Great Britain, with a credit list that looks like a Brit's. Go figure.
3. Die young much? George Reeves was 45 when he committed suicide. Michael O'Donoghue was 54 when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Polly Williams was also 54 when she died of cancer. The wrestler/actor/stuntman Jeep Swenson died of heart failure at 40. There are numbers thrown around claiming pro football takes decades off the lives of the players and those numbers are incorrect when you look at the full data set. On the other hand, a disturbing and statistically significant number of pro wrestlers from the steroid era - the 1980s continuing on until today - have died young.
4. Cold Comfort Farm is sci-fi? Cold Comfort Farm was Stella Gibbons' most popular work and she grew to rue it. It was making fun of a genre nearly forgotten today, known at the time as the "loam and lovechild" books, stories of the English countryside with plenty of illicit sex thrown in, of which only D.H. Lawrence's novels are still well known. Gibbons wrote the story in 1932 but set it in the 1950s. While the action takes place mostly on the farm in the title and seems stuck in the early 20th Century, London has flying cars and several other trappings of popular futuristic novels of the time.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Predictions (reality): Here are a few of the things that should have happened by 2015 if Obama was re-elected in 2012.
1. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said gas would be $5.50 by the beginning of 2015 and would rise five cents a gallon every month after that. Newt Gingrich predicted $10 a gallon. (The president has very little to do with the price of gas. Right now it is crazy low, but the surplus is running out and it will likely rise again soon to about $4.00 a gallon.)
2. Mitt Romney predicted chronic unemployment rates over 8% for the rest of Obama's term. (The unemployment rate is currently 5.8%.)
3. Donald Trump, Charles Bilderman and Marc Faber all predicted the stock market would crash. (There are still two years left in the Obama Administration, but since November 2012, the Dow is up about 35%, near 18,000.)
4. Rush Limbaugh predicted the collapse of the entire economy when California declares bankruptcy and the rest of the nation has to bail it out. (Umm... no. California currently has a $4 billion dollar surplus.)
Editorial note: Government policies really don't make a gigantic difference in the economy in normal circumstances, but the public has certainly bought into the idea. I agree with Paul Krugman that the main way government policy can make things worse is to force austerity after a crash. If the economy turns bad in these next two years, the most likely culprits are the Republicans throttling public spending or another crash based on Wall Street's gambling addiction, an ongoing problem that neither party has shown any interest in fixing.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
How did ESPNs football experts do predicting the wild card match-ups?
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
Thanks for this entry in a whole new field of ridiculousness. I should probably start up a blog of my own to ensure these past few years of bombastic hyperbole follow the bombasts to their graves and beyond. I want them to never be able to escape the stink of their wrongness.
ReplyDeleteThis assumes they are actually listening to themselves or anyone actually cares what they say, two doubtful assumptions at best.
DeleteBut if you think you have enough data to start a blog, please follow your dreams.