Saturday, March 14, 2015

14 March 2015

 Birthdays
Ansel Elgort b. 1994 (Allegiant, Insurgent, Divergent, Carrie)
Demetrius Joyette b. 1993 (Carrie [2013], Wonderfalls)
Jamie Bell b. 1986 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Jumper, Snowpiercer, Jumper, King Kong [2005])
Mercedes McNab b. 1980 (Supernatural, Angel, Buffy, Escape from Atlantis, The Fantastic Four [1994], The Addams Family, Harry and the Hendersons [TV])
Chris Klein b. 1979 (Rollerball [2002])
Daniel Gillies b. 1976 (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, True Blood, Spider-Man 2, Jeremiah, Cleopatra 2525, Young Hercules)
Corey Stoll b. 1976 (Ant-Man, The Strain, Charmed)
Ernesto Cantu b. 1975 (Extinction, World War Z)
Grace Park b. 1974 (Battlestar Galactica, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel, The Immortal)
Veronica Gray b. 1974 (La Femme Vampir, Batman & Robin)
Meredith Salenger b. 1970 (Race to Witch Mountain, My Apocalypse, Werewolf in a Women’s Prison, Lake Placid, Buffy, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Village of the Damned [1995], Tales from the Crypt, )
James Frain b. 1968 (Agent Carter, Intruders [2014], Sleepy Hollow, Grimm, Tron Legacy, True Blood, FlashForward, Dark Relic, Fringe, Invasion, Threshold, Tales from the Crypt, Loch Ness)
Kevin Williamson b. 1965 (writer, The Vampire Diaries, The Faculty)
Kiana Tom b. 1965 (Universal Soldier: The Return, Cyber Bandits)
Laila Robbins b. 1959 (Witchblade)
Season Hubley b. 1951 (Humanoids From the Deep, The Twilight Zone [1985], Escape form New York)
Billy Crystal b. 1948 (Which Witch?, Tooth Fairy, The Princess Bride, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Steve Kanaly b. 1946 (Scorpio One, Twilight Zone [1989], Time Express, The Bionic Woman, The Terminal Man)
Tim Rossovich b. 1946 (Harry and the Hendersons [TV], ALF, Knight Rider, Automan, Voyagers!, Looker, Wonder Woman)
Anita Morris b. 1943 died 2 March 1994 (Eerie, Indiana, Tales from the Crypt, Martians Go Home)
Wolfgang Petersen b. 1941 (director, The Neverending Story, Enemy Mine, Outbreak)
Raymond J. Barry b. 1939 (The 100, LA Apocalypse, Lost, The X Files, Flubber [1997], Tales from the Crypt)
Eugene Cernan b. 1934 (astronaut)
Michael Caine b. 1933 (The Last Witch Hunter, Interstellar, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Inception, Children of Men, The Prestige, Bewitched [2005], 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997], The Muppet Christmas Carol, Jekyll & Hyde [TV], The Hand, The Swarm, The Magus)
Skip Young b. 1930 died 17 March 1993 (Lobster Man from Mars, Earth vs the Spider)
Arch Johnson b. 1922 died 9 October 1997 (Wonder Woman, The Invisible Man [1975], Bewitched, Land of the Giants, The Invaders, The Munsters, Twilight Zone)
Dennis Patrick b. 1918 died 13 October 2002 (Twilight Zone [1987], The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, The Time Travelers)
Albert Einstein b. 1979 died 18 April 1955 (physicist)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to astronaut Eugene Cernan and Mercedes McNab from Buffy and Angel. The contenders this year were Albert Einstein, Michael Caine, Billy Crystal and the winner, Grace Park from Battlestar Galactica.

Wait, the fabulous babe won? That's just weird, I tell ya. 

2. Spot the Canadians! Besides being a fabulous babe, Grace Park was raised in Canada, though not born there. True natives on the list are Daniel Gillies, Mercedes McNab and Demetrius Joyette.

3. Hey... no Star Trek! Yet again, we have a day without any Star Trek actors. Just one of those things

4. MST3K. Skip young was in Earth vs the Spider.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories. 
 
Predictor: Octavus Cohen (1860-1927), music and drama critic.

Prediction: Shakespeare will still be in vogue, but the popular concoctions of today will be forgotten. Regional theater will be strong and the two great cities for drama will be San Francisco and Chicago. Few performers will have incomes commensurate with Sarah Bernhardt or Adelina Patti. America will produce composers the equal of Beethoven and dramatists equal to Sheridan and Goldsmith, though no equal to Shakespeare shall ever live.

Reasonably well-to-do men will have telephotes in their home and be able to watch performances from anywhere in the city live in the comfort of his own home. Refreshments at the theatre will be dispensed by machines.

Reality: Okay, here's a guy going out on a limb. His "telephote" is our television, so he gets full points there. Machines for refreshment, another good call.

As for the first paragraph, he's right about Shakespeare still being at the top of the heap, and as for late 19th Century entertainment other than Gilbert and Sullivan, almost all the rest is lost. New York outshines Chicago still and the desert city of Los Angeles is more important than San Francisco. (I should probably refrain from cracks about "desert cities". We in Oakland are probably about two years away from being a desert city ourselves.) We have loads of entertainers making Sarah Bernhardt money or better. I don't think any 20th Century classical composer stands equal to Beethoven in the public consciousness, but we do have playwrights much better known than Sheridan and Goldsmith.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More of Heinlein's guesses about 1970 and 2000 from his vantage point in the late 1950s.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

4 comments:

  1. Perhaps of interest:

    http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_1370_21-insane-true-sex-stories-you-thought-were-urban-legends_p4/

    Check out number five. As if there need to be more reasons for loathing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. His second marriage started when he was 29 and lasted over 30 years, so he had plenty of time to screw around. Wikipedia says he had his wife's consent, which I guess puts his actions a step above Bill Cosby.

      Delete
  2. I haven't got an educated perspective on it, but I think future generations will put John Williams at the level of Beethoven.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's an interesting take. I'm old school, so I would put guys like Bernard Herrmann and Nino Rota ahead of Williams, but there's no denying his music is in bigger hit movies for today's audiences.

      Still, I might put these guys at the Stravinsky or Puccini level, but the Beethoven or Bach or Mozart level... that's a stretch.

      Delete

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