Wednesday, April 29, 2015

29 April 2015

Birthdays
Taylor Cole b. 1984 (Supernatural, The Event, The Green Hornet, Surrogates, Heroes)
Firass Dirani b. 1984 (Power Rangers Mystic Force, Pitch Black)
Alex Vincent b. 1981 (Child’s Play)
Tyler Labine b. 1978 (Deadbeat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011], Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Reaper, Invasion, Jake 2.0, Evil Alien Conquerors, Dark Angel, Dead Last, The Immortal, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], NightMan, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Millennium [TV], The X-Files, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
David Sullivan b. 1977 (Karma Police, The Astronaut Farmer, Primer)
April Telek b. 1975 (Strange Empire, Supernatural, Reaper, Tin Man, Stargate SG-1, Dead Like Me, The Immortal, Replicant, First Wave, The Hunger, Millennium, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, The New Addams Family, Highlander [TV], Sliders)
David Belle b. 1973 (Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Babylon A.D.)
Derek Mears b. 1972 (Sleepy Hollow, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, True Blood, Grimm, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Team Unicorn, Predators, The Hills Have Eyes II, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Cursed, Star Trek: Enterprise, Men in Black II, The Tick, The Wonder Cabinet)
Darby Stanchfield b. 1971 (Jericho, Angel)
Uma Thurman b. 1970 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Paycheck, Gattaca, Batman & Robin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen)
Paul Adelstein b. 1969 (Bedazzled)
Vincent Ventresca b. 1966 (Flying Monkeys, Dollhouse, Mammoth, MorphMan, The Invisible Man [TV])
Bruce Harwood b. 1963 (The Flash, The X-Files, Supernatural, The Last Mimsy, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Alienated, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, The Lone Gunmen, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], The Fly II, Earth Star Voyager)
Robert J. Sawyer b. 1960 (won 1996 Nebula for The Terminal Experiment, won the 2003 Hugo for Homonids)
Michelle Pfeiffer b. 1958 (Dark Shadows [2012], Stardust, Wolf, Batman Returns, The Witches of Eastwick, Ladyhawke)
Eve Plumb b. 1958 (Nowhere, Lois & Clark, Wonder Woman, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Kate Mulgrew b. 1955 (Warehouse 13, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek: Voyager, Gargoyles)
Leslie Jordan b. 1955 (American Horror Story, Undead or Alive: A Zombedy, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, FreakyLinks, Weird Science, Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Frankenstein General Hospital, The Wizard)
Gavin O’Herlihy b. 1954 (The Descent: Part 2, Star Trek: Voyager, Space Riders, Willow, Superman III, The Amazing Spider-Man [TV], The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Robert Towers b. 1952 (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Angel, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Masters of the Universe, Bewitched)
Nora Dunn b. 1952 (Southland Tales, Three Moons Over Milford, The Chronicle, What Planet Are You From?, The X Files)
Ellen Crawford b. 1951 (The Man From Earth, Soldier, Tales from the Crypt, The Invisible Kid, Werewolf, Otherworld)
Reb Brown b. 1948 (Night Claws, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Space Mutiny, Robowar, Howling II, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, Brave New World [TV], Captain America [TV], Strange New World [TV], The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Ssssss)
Wayne Robson b. 1946 died 4 April 2011 (Survival of the Dead, The Timekeeper, The Incredible Hulk [2008], Lexx, Cube, RoboCop [TV], The Twilight Zone [1989])
Richard Kline b. 1944 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Harry and the Hendersons, Shadow Chasers)
Lane Smith b. 1936 died 13 June 2005 (From the Earth to the Moon, Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy, Lois & Clark, The Twilight Zone [1986], Amazing Stories, Duplicates, V)
Akira Takarada b. 1934 (Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, King Kong Escapes, Godzilla [2014 and 1977 and 1954], Invasion of Astro-Monster)
Irvin Kershner b. 1923 died 27 November 2010 (director, SeaQuest 2032, RoboCop 2, The Empire Strikes Back)
Celeste Holm b. 1917 died 15 July 2012 (Wonder Woman, Cinderella [1965 TV])
Richard Carlson b. 1912 died 24 November 1977 (The Valley of Gwangi, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays, Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space, The Magnetic Monster)
Jack Williamson b. 1908 died 10 November 2006 (author, The Legion of Time, Starchild, The Man from Outside, Land’s End)
Ken Tyrell b. 1094 died 8 March 1966 (Master of the World, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Sabu and the Magic Ring, Brain from Planet Arous, Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, Indestructible Man, Son of Sinbad, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Zombies of the Stratosphere, Radar Men from the Moon, Flying Disc Man from Mars, The Invisible Monster)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. A lot of famous names and iconic faces on the list today. In earlier years, Kate Milgrew from Voyager and Akira Takarada from the original Godzilla got the slot, but this year I was thinking it was a competition between Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman or Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. But thinking better of it, I realized I like The Adventures of Baron Munchausen much more than I liked any Batman film and Ms. Thurman's entrance as Venus made a much stronger impression on me.

He wrote, euphemistically.

2. Spot the Canadians. The late Wayne Robson is hard to spot from his credit list, but our other two Canucks are alive, kicking, born in the 1970s and not impossible to suss.

3. MST3K. Between Richard Carlson and Ken Tyrell, there must have been something one of them was in that got the MST3K treatment, and yes, it's Tyrell in Radar Men on the Moon. We also have Akira Takarada in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.

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

Predictor: George Sutherland in the 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: The telegraphic wire in the home and street will fulfill a very important part in the economy of the twentieth century. For conveying intelligence, as well as for heating, cooking and lighting, the electric current will become one of the most familiar of all the forces called in to assist in domestic arrangements.

Reality: Sutherland deserves nearly full points for this one, though he could not quite foresee the telegraph going obsolete. If anything, he underestimates how important electricity would become in our lives. There were already electric lights in use and patents for electric stoves had been granted. The closest thing to visionary is that the first practical electric heater was patented in 1905.

He's not the only person in 1901 who could see that electricity was the wave of the future, but that's a quibble. My two favorite kinds of predictions are the spectacularly right and the spectacularly wrong. This belongs in the first category.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our regular schedule for a re-awakened Dalek. I'm sure that will go well.  

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

2 comments:

  1. From the "eats shoots and leaves" department: Presumably, Sutherland thought "intelligence" would be conveyed by things like switches and dials. But now we know that "conveying intelligence" is also something computers do, even if that "intelligence" consists mostly of cat videos.

    Sutherland should also get credit for an accidental goal, here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, the telegraph is to radio/TV as the text version of the Internet geezers like us used is to this newfangled contraption those damned kids on their cell phones use today.

      Delete

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