Tuesday, April 21, 2015

21 April 2015

 Birthdays
Frank Dillane b. 1991 (Fear the Walking Dead, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Robbie Amell b. 1988 (The Flash, The Tomorrow People, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins [TV])
Dylan Bruce b. 1980 (Orphan Black, Arrow)
James McAvoy b. 1979 (Victor Frankenstein, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: First Class, Wanted, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Children of Dune)
Dominic Zamprogna b. 1979 (2012, Smallville, Flash Gordon, Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica, Blade: The Series, Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis, Odyssey 5, MythQuest, Tales from the Cryptkeeper)
Brian White b. 1975 (Beauty and the Beast [2013], Cabin in the Woods, Moonlight)
Charlie O’Connell b. 1975 (Zombie Family, DateaHuman.com, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, Dude, Where’s My Car, Sliders, The Magicians)
Jennifer Blanc b. 1974 (Malignant, Zombie Family, My Apocalypse, Dark Angel, Early Edition)
Sandy Jobin-Bevans b. 1972 (Run Robot Run, ReGenesis, Dawn of the Dead, PSI Factor: Tales of the Paranormal)
Rob Riggle b. 1970 (Dead Rising: Watchtower)
Toby Stephens b. 1969 (The Machine, Space Cowboys)
Joel de la Fuente b. 1969 (The Man in the High Castle, Hemlock Grove, The Adjustment Bureau, From Other Worlds, Brave New World, Space: Above and Beyond)
Christian Hoff b. 1968 (Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, Encino Man, Quantum Leap)
Michelle Gomez b. 1966 (Doctor Who, Highlander: The Raven)
John Cameron Mitchell b. 1963 (Freddy’s Nightmares, The Stepford Children, The Twilight Zone [1986])
Roy Dupuis b. 1963 (Hemoglobin, Screamers)
Kate Vernon b. 1961 (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: Voyager, Kindred: The Embraced)
Andie MacDowell b. 1958 (Muppets from Space, Multiplicity, Groundhog Day)
James Morrison b. 1954 (The X-Files, Seven Days, Prey, Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, White Dwarf, Quantum Leap, Monsters, Werewolf, Automan)
Patti LuPone b. 1949 (Penny Dreadful, American Horror Story)
Rod Loomis b. 1942 (Stargate SG-1, Quantum Leap, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Beastmaster, Jason of Star Command)
Souleymane Cisse b. 1940 (director, Brightness)
George DiCenzo b. 1940 died 9 August 2010 (M.A.N.T.I.S., The Exorcist III, Back to the Future, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Space Academy, Dark Shadows [1970])
Reni Santoni b. 1939 (Quantum Leap, Manimal)
Charles Grodin b. 1935 (The Incredible Shrinking Woman, King Kong [1976], Rosemary’s Baby, Captain Nice, My Mother the Car)
Ray Stewart b. 1932 (Space Raiders, Dark Shadows)
Silvana Mangano b. 1930 died 16 December 1989 (Dune, The Flying Saucer)
Dee Hartford b. 1928 (Land of the Giants, Lost in Space, Batman, The Time Tunnel, Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits)
Anthony Quinn b. 1915 died 3 June 2001 (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Last Action Hero, Treasure Island in Outer Space, The Magus, Sinbad, the Sailor)
Gilbert Taylor b. 1914 died 23 August 2013 (cinematographer, Flash Gordon, Dracula, Star Wars, The Omen)

Notes for the birthday list
1. The Picture Slot. In 2013, the birthday list had just two names and I chose Kate Vernon for Battlestar Galactica. Last year, the list was longer and the Picture Slot went to James McAvoy, iconic in both the X-Men and Narnia film franchises. This year, I decided to go with Michelle Gomez in her recurring role as Missy from Doctor Who. There are some other well known names - Anthony Quinn, Patti LuPone, Andie MacDowell - but none are particularly iconic in genre. For fabulous babe-ness, Howard Hawks' former wife Dee Hartford would be a great choice and I snuck in a picture of her with Otto Preminger last December.  As pretty as she was, she wasn't truly iconic. Another fair choice would have been Dylan Bruce in his recurring role from Orphan Black.

2. Nepotism or not. Charlie O'Connell is the brother of Jerry O'Connell. The main nepotistic event in their careers is Charlie being cast as Jerry's brother on Sliders.

3. Canadians to spot. There are five Canadians today. The two older ones, Roy Dupuis and Sandy Jovan-Bevins, are hard to spot. The three younger ones are a little easier and I leave it as an exercise to the reader.

4. Wait... he's dead? George DiCenzo is an Oh That Guy actor, possibly best known as Vincent Bugliosi in the TV movie version of Helter Skelter. He died five years ago of sepsis at the age of 70. I was not consciously aware of it.

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


Predictor: The Long Game, an episode from the first 21st Century season of Doctor Who, aired 21 April 2005

Prediction:In 2019, the microprocessor is replaced by SMT Single Molecular Transfer technology.

Reality: Well, tempus certainly has a way of fugit-ing, doesn't it? We are now ten years into the 21st Century re-boot of Doctor Who. As for the prediction, it's a small throwaway bit of exposition in a story that takes place much farther in the future. I can't be sure of what computer technology will look like in four years, but Moore's Law shouldn't take us down to the size of single molecules just yet.

 Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1901 with our sensible pal George Sutherland.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

2 comments:

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