Thursday, March 5, 2015

5 March 2015

 Birthdays
Jake Lloyd b. 1989 (Star Wars-Episode I: Don’t Make Me Type the Name, Apollo 11)
Tania Saulnier b. 1982 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Slither, Supernatural, Smallville, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Hanna Alstrom b. 1981 (Real Humans)
Samantha Thomson b. 1981 (Primer)
Jolene Blalock b. 1975 (Legend of the Seeker, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate SG-1, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Good vs Evil)
Riki Lindhome b. 1979 (Big Bang Theory, Heroes, Buffy)
Kevin Cotteleer b. 1975 (Agent Carter, The Event, Men in Black II)
Eva Mendes b. 1974 (The Spirit, Holy Motors, Ghost Rider, Mortal Kombat: Conquest [TV])
Matt Lucas b. 1974 (Alice in Wonderland [2010], Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, The Wind in the Willows [2006], Shaun of the Dead, Captain V)
Lisa Robin Kelly b. 1970 died 15 August 2013 (Charmed, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The X Files)
Paul Blackthorne b. 1969 (Arrow, Warehouse 13, A Christmas Carol [2009], The Dresden Files)
David Palffy b. 1969 (Blade: The Series, Bloodsuckers, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Jeremiah, House of the Dead, Replicant, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, The New Addams Family, NightMan, Millennium, The X Files)
John Fawcett b. 1968 (director, Orphan Black, Bitten, Lost Girl, The Dresden Files, Blade: The Series, Mutant X, Xena, Ginger Snaps, Space Cases)
Aasif Mandvi b. 1966 (The Last Airbender, Jericho, Spider-Man 2)
Jonathan Penner b. 1962 (The Tick, Coneheads)
David Fury b. 1959 (writer/actor, Fringe Terra Nova, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, Lost, Angel, Buffy)
Talia Balsam b. 1959 (Early Edition, Tales from the Darkside, The Supernaturals)
Adriana Barraza b. 1956 (The Strain, Thor, Drag Me to Hell)
Penn Jillette b. 1955 (Babylon 5, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, VR.5, Lois & Clark)
Michael Warren b. 1946 (Buffy, Sliders, Invasion [1997 TV movie], Early Edition, Time Trax, Tales from the Darkside)
Murray Head b. 1946 (Gawain and the Green Knight)
Samantha Eggar b. 1939 (The Astronaut’s Wife, Mann & Machine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Demonoid: Messenger of Death, The Brood, Doctor Doolittle [1967])
Fred Williamson b. 1938 (Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption, Knight Rider [2009], Vegas Vampires, From Dusk Till Dawn, Warriors of the Wasteland, Warriors of the Lost World, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Star Trek)
Dean Stockwell b. 1936 (The Dunwich Horror [1970 and 2009], Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Enterprise, Phenomenon: The Lost Archives, CQ, They Nest, Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights, The Langoliers, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone [1989 and 1962], Dune, The Boy with Green Hair)
Dawn Richard b. 1936 (I Was a Teenage Werewolf)
Paul Sand b. 1935 (Sliders, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The X Files, Eerie, Indiana, Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone [1987], The Legend of Sleepy Hollow [1980], Wonder Woman, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, Bewitched)
James Sikking b. 1934 (Morons from Outer Space, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Outland, Capricorn One, The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, Man From Atlantis, The Terminal Man, Six Million Dollar Man, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, The Invaders, My Favorite Martian, The Outer Limits)
Nicholas Smith b. 1934 (The Ghouls, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde [1973 TV], The Champions, Doctor Who, Pathfinders to Mars)
Jack Cassidy b. 1927 died 12 December 1976 (Bewitched)
James Noble b. 1922 (Elidor, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Virginia Christine b. 1920 died 24 July 1996 (The Invaders, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, Twilight Zone, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Adventures of Superman, The Mummy’s Curse)
Ursula Reit b. 1914 died 9 November 1998 (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
Rex Harrison b. 1908 died 2 June 1990 (Doctor Dolittle [1967], The Ghost and Mrs. Muir [1947], Blithe Spirit)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years i used Dean Stockwell and Jolene Blalock. Since I am trying not to repeat myself, as much as I hate the movie, I have to admit Jake Lloyd as Anakin is iconic. Other names are well known, but I'm going with this guy this year.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are three. They are spottable. Knock yourself out.

3. Nepotism or not? Talia Balsam, Roger Sterling's wive on Mad Men, is Martin Balsam's daughter. Murray Head is the older brother of Anthony Stewart Head. Jack Cassidy was married to Shirley Jones and is the father of David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy. I'm not sure how much of a help to their careers these family relationships were.

4. Gone too soon. Speaking of Jack Cassidy, he died in a fire in his apartment, assumed to be started by a dropped cigarette. Lisa Robin Kelly, best know as the older sister on That's 70s Show, died in rehab.

5. Wait... he's alive? James Noble is best known as the governor on Benson. I clicked on his name on imdb.com because I recognized his picture and decided to check his credits. He played the governor on Benson. I was surprised both at how old he was and that he was still alive. Good on ya , Mr. Noble and many happy returns.

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


Predictor: The New York Times, 5 November, 1932, the Saturday before Election Day

Prediction: The re-election of President Hoover with at least 270 votes in the electoral college, four in excess of a majority, is predicted in a statistical study of vote percentages in several states, based on a poll taken by the Hearst publications.

Reality: FDR won the electoral college 472 to 59, and the popular vote by 7,000,000 when the total votes were less than 40,000,000. In other words, this one wasn't close. Modern methods should avoid this kind of screw-up, but Gallup in 2012 were sure the turnout would be more like the midterm in 2010 than the general election in 2008 and predicted Romney over Obama. Then again, Obama beat Romney, he didn't obliterate him, and better polling companies than Gallup had Obama leading all the way.

Seriously, not many companies go from the gold standard to crap and survive, but that description fits Gallup to a tee these days. If there weren't people who want to be lied to, Gallup would dry up and blow away.


 Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another dip into H.G. Wells' book Anticipations.

Join is then... IN THE FUTURE!

  

5 comments:

  1. There's a typo in the prediction date. Should that be in 1932?

    Since I'm here, the Canadians are Ms. Salunier, Mr. Palffy and Mr. Fawcett.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the correction and you correctly spotted all three Canucks. Good on ya, Abu.

      Delete
  2. Obama got more than 300 EV and more than 51% of the popular vote (the latter for the second time, making him the first President since at least Eisenhower to do so). So your confidence in Gallup's "modern" polling is stretching it.

    Murray Head has had a long and successful career on screen (Sunday Bloody Sunday, 1971) and especially stage, including being one of the several people who is a "one-hit wonder" more than once. ("Superstar" in 1970, "One Night in Bangkok" in 1985). If anything, Mr. Giles might owe his career to his brother's success--think Elizabeth Olsen or Emily Osment.

    Of course, the Folgers commercials are sui generis, and wouldn't have worked with his sharper-featured brother, so maybe just a successful family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have much confidence in Gallup's modern work and they get to come up with the employment numbers for the government last time I checked. They deserve to be out of business like American Motors or Osborne Computers.

      Like Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges, I consider the Head brothers each got their careers on their own merits.

      Delete

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