Sunday, February 1, 2015

1 February 2015

 Birthdays
Britanni Johnson b. 1989 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Zombie Break Room)
Alex Arleo b. 1987 (Sharknado, The Haunting of Whaley House)
Lee Thompson Young b. 1984 died 19 August 2013 (Smallville, FlashForward, The Sarah Connor Chronicle, The Hills Have Eyes II, Jake 2.0)
Sara Malakul Lane b. 1983 (Sharktopus, 100 Degrees Below Zero, 12/12/12)
Rachelle Lefevre b. 1979 (Under the Dome, Twilight, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Big Wolf on Campus, The Hunger [TV])
Rutina Wesley b. 1979 (True Blood)
Candace Smith b. 1977 (Heroes)
Ana Alexander b. 1976 (Land of the Lost [2009])
Michael C. Hall b. 1971 (Gamer, Paycheck)
Hynden Walch b. 1971 (Groundhog Day)
Brian Krause b. 1969 (Plan 9 [2015], Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds, Alien Rising, Camel Spiders, Beyond Loch Ness, Charmed, Tales from the Crypt, Sleepwalkers)
Pauly Shore b. 1968 (Encino Man)
Brandon Lee b. 1965 died 31 March 1993 (The Crow)
Sherilynn Fenn b. 1965 (Bigfoot, The 4400, Dream Warrior, Birds of Prey, Tales from the Crypt [TV], Zombie High, The Wraith)
Abdul Ayoola b. 1965 (Warm Bodies, Immortals, 10.5: Apocalypse)
Linus Roache b. 1964 (Batman Begins, The Chronicles of Riddick)
Bill Mumy b. 1954 (Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, Superboy, The Flash [1991], Captain America [1990], Twilight Zone [Movie and TV], Lost in Space, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Munsters, The Wizard of Baghdad)
Elisabeth Sladen b. 1946 died 19 April 2011 (The Sarah Jane Adventures, Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland [1986], Gulliver in Lilliput)
Bart Braverman b. 1946 (Good vs Evil, Brimstone, From the Earth to the Moon, Harry and the Hendersons [TV], Freddy’s Nightmares, The Wizard, Automan, Alligator, 20 Million Miles to Earth)
Leo Burmester b. 1944 died 28 June 2007 (Innocent Blood, The Abyss)
Linda Gaye Scott b. 1943 (Westworld, The Green Hornet, Lost in Space, Bewitched, Batman, My Favorite Martian, My Living Doll)
Terry Jones b. 1942 (Erik the Viking, Jabberwocky, Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Bibi Besch b. 1940 died 7 September 1996 (Tales from the Crypt, Tremors, The Day After, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Meteor, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Sherman Hemsley b. 1938 died 24 July 2012 (Lois & Clark, Alice in Wonderland, The Twilight Zone, The Incredible Hulk [TV])
Garrett Morris b. 1937 (Good vs Evil, Black Scorpion I & II, Coneheads, Twilight Zone [1985], The Invisible Woman)
Richard Roat b. 1933 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Lois & Clark, Hard Time on Planet Earth, ALF, Logan’s Run [TV], Holmes and Yo-Yo, Westworld)
Stuart Whitman b. 1928 (Time Trax, Superboy, Omega Cop, Tales from the Darkside, Knight Rider, The Monster Club, Demonoid: Messenger of Death, The Cat Creature, Night of the Lepus, The Invisible Six, The Day the Earth Stood Still, When Worlds Collide)
Peter Sallis b. 1921 (Wallace and Gromit, Taste the Blood of Dracula, The Mouse on the Moon, Curse of the Werewolf, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Andrea King b. 1919 died 22 April 2003 (Red Planet Mars, The Beast with Five Fingers)
Bruce Gordon b. 1916 died 20 January 2011 (Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann, Hello Down There, Curse of the Undead)
Gene Sheldon b. 1908 died 1 May 1982 (Babes in Toyland [1961])
George Pal b. 1908 died 2 May 1980 (director, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The Time Machine, tom thumb, Atlantis, the Lost Continent)
Helen Chandler b. 1906 died 30 April 1965 (Dracula [1931])

Notes form the birthday list
1. The Picture Slot. In both 2013 and 2014, I used pictures of Bill Mumy, the first from Lost in Space and the second from Babylon 5. I could go with the Mumy trifecta and use a picture from The Twilight Zone, clearly iconic, but I decided to go with someone else. Among the people younger than I am, I think Rutina Wesley from True Blood and the late Brandon Lee from The Crow count as iconic in genre, and to go super old school, Helen Chandler was Mina opposite Bela Lugosi in Dracula. But with all the people who died young here, I wanted to honor the oldest living person on the list, Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace, who turns 94 today. The writing in Wallace and Gromit is very good, but Sallis' interpretation gives it that little something extra. When the criminal mastermind penguin takes the red rubber glove off the top of his head and Wallace exclaims "Good grief, it's you!", I can still laugh just typing this in.

2. A lone Canadienne. Rachelle Lefevre is Canadian. Her list of credits doesn't have that typical Canuck feel.

3. Wait... he's dead? I already had typed in several of the death dates of actors last year, but this is the first time I added Oh That Guy Leo Burmester. He has a scene in Passion Fish as the very flamboyant brother of main character Mary McDonnell. After he leaves, McDonnell's caretaker, played by Alfre Woodard, says "I didn't know your brother was... literary." "He always has been." replies McDonnell. I'm sorry Mr. Burmester isn't still around. He was really good.

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

Predictor:Tom Clancy’s NetForce released 1 Feb 1999

Prediction: In 2005, a division of the FBI called NetForce has been instituted to investigate Internet crime. A Bill Gates-type has found a loophole in his new browser that lets him take over the Internet.

Reality: Well... for a Bill Gates-type to take over the Internet, nearly everyone would have to use an Explorer-type browser, and that is ridiculous enough to be laughable.


This month's splash illustration: Walt Disney made several episodes of his TV show introducing Disneyland to the public. This painting depicts domed cities on Mars from Mars and Beyond, first shown in December of 1957.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Ten of fourteen pro football experts at ESPN believe the Patriots are going to win today. We'll be back tomorrow to get their final numbers. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

5 comments:

  1. Back when Microsoft's Mac unit actually was given the freedom to create software tailored for Macs (rather than clunky ports of Windows dreck) there was a short period when Explorer actually was a better browser on the the OS. Also, many websites ignored universal standards, designed for Explorer, and called it a day so you sometimes had to use it anyway; banking was one example.

    But not one to settle blandly for being assimilated, I changed the splash screen to say "Internet Exploder" and added a start up sound for the program, of someone making a barfing noise.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We'll be back tomorrow to get their final numbers.

    How will you score it when the aliens kidnap both teams, and use the flashy thing to make all the spectators believe the Packers won, and that Weird Al was the halftime entertainment?

    It is déclassé to wish for injuries in the Footsball games now, but am I a bad person if I hope both teams suffer debilitating groin infections? Except for Marshawn Lynch. I like his style....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "the Packers won, and that Weird Al was the halftime entertainment"

      That would have been a much better show.

      Delete

Traveler! Have you news... FROM THE FUTURE?