Friday, May 1, 2015

1 May 2015


Birthdays
Ariel Gade b. 1997 (Meteor, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Invasion)
Caitlin Stasey b. 1990 (I, Frankenstein)
Nicholas Braun b. 1988 (The Watch, Brave New World, Sky High)
Emilia Clarke b. 1987 (Terminator: Genesis, Game of Thrones, Triassic Attack)
Jamie Dornan b. 1982 (Once Upon a Time)
James Badge Dale b. 1978 (World War Z, Iron Man 3)
Darius McCrary b. 1976 (Transformers, Vampires: Los Muertos)
Violante Placido b. 1976 (Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance)
Jodhi May b. 1975 (Game of Thrones, The Turn of the Screw)
Julie Benz b. 1972 (Defiance, No Ordinary Family, Supernatural, Locusts: The 8th Plague, Taken, Angel, Buffy, Roswell, Darkdrive, Sliders)
Bailey Chase b. 1972 (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Awake, Dark Metropolis, Buffy, Charmed)
Kendrick Cross b. 1971 (Insurgent, Under the Dome, Witches of East End, Iron Man 3, Teen Wolf [TV])
Carrie Stevens b. 1969 (Birdemic 2: The Resurrection, Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Black Scorpion, Weird Science [TV])
Todd Eric Andrews b. 1966 (Big Bang Theory, Zapped Again!)
John Diehl b. 1950 (Almost Human, Singularity Principle, Jericho, Jurassic Park III, The X-Files, Stargate, The Dark Side of the Moon, Beauty and the Beast [TV], Escape from New York)
Dann Florek b. 1950 (From the Earth to the Moon, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Free Spirit, Angel Heart)
Douglas Barr b. 1949 (Spaced Invaders, Superboy, The Wizard, The Unseen)
Joanna Lumley b. 1946 (Ella Enchanted, James and the Giant Peach, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, The House That Dripped Blood)
Stephen Macht b. 1942 (Sliders, Millennium, The Legend of Galgameth, Babylon 5, Trancers, Deep Space Nine, Highlander [TV], The Monster Squad, Galaxina, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Sharon Spelman b. 1942 (The Blob [1988], The Stepford Children, Amazing Stories)
Joy Harmon b. 1940 (Village of the Giants, Bewitched, Batman)
Terry Southern b. 1924 died 29 October 1995 (writer, Barbarella)
Dan O’ Herlihy b. 1919 died 17 February 2005 (VR5, RoboCop 1 & 2, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Last Starfighter, Halloween III: The Season of the Witch, Death Ray 2000, Battlestar Galactica, The Bionic Woman, The People, Invasion U.S.A.)
Glenn Ford b. 1916 died 30 August 2006 (Day of Resurrection, Superman, The Visitor)
Louie Nye b. 1913 died 9 October 2005 (Alice in Wonderland [1985], The Munsters, Zotz!)
Henry Koster b. 1905 died 21 September 1988 (director, Harvey)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Emilia Clarke and Julie Benz. Continuing in the fabulous babe mode, this year it's Joy Harmon from Village of the Giants. I have shown restraint not using her picture previously, but the movie is notable on this blog because it got the MST3K treatment, and by chance, much increased by the sixteen year gap between Ms. Harmon and the next oldest person on the list, she is The Gal at the Door today. As if I needed a reason, special birthday wishes for Joy Harmon on her 75th birthday.

2. Unspottable Canadian. Canadians are spottable by showing up on the genre TV shows of the past few decades. That is not the career path of Canadian Glenn Ford, since he was born way too early to be part of that scene.

3. Hey... no Star Trek! When I typed this label, it felt like a while since we had a birthday list devoid of folks from Star Trek, and I was right. The last Trek free list was in the middle of March. These things happen just not that often.

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

Movies released
X-Men Origins: Wolverine released, 2009
  
 Predictor: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, first aired in 1979

Prediction: In May 1987, Captain William Anthony “Buck” Rogers aboard the Ranger 3 is put into suspended animation, only to awaken in 2491.

Reality: People are getting frozen and nobody has shut down these businesses yet, even though no one is close to solving the "thawing them back out" problem.


This month's splash illustration: It was by no means the greatest of the 1950s sci-fi movies, but the giant rat spider from The Angry Red Planet was one of the scariest monsters from all those films, or at least that's how I felt as a pre-teen. I don't know if seeing this picture is going to bring back any nightmares now. I guess I have about a month to find out, right?

Looking one day ahead... IN THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule is interrupted for a prediction by James Tiptree Jr.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 comments:

  1. I loved creature features of all types, all my life. Until Alien, I can't recall being really scared of anything... with a few embarrassing exceptions. I remember a few of the Lost in Space monsters giving me trouble. The very slow ones that said, "Wum" and a single guy that said, "Crush... Kill... Destroy..."

    I may have also got my claustrophobia from the episode where the robot gets huge, and Will and his dad have to scurry around inside, and try to get out before he shrank down again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alien scared me as an adult. Multiple things scared me as a kid. I think The Zanti Misfits was the last episode of The Outer Limits I watched, because that one freaked me out bad.

      Delete
  2. re: Buck Rogers
    Also, America doesn't/didn't have any manned deep space probes. The future ain't what it used to be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, that whole physical reality of outer space really bit us in the ass after about 1970 or so.

      Delete
  3. Why did you have Buck Rogers here it was (series)premiered September 20th 1979 and the movie March 1979, but hey did you know Mel Blanc was Twiki?? Sure you did...

    ReplyDelete

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