Saturday, May 9, 2015

9 May 2015

 Birthdays
Grace Gummer b. 1986 (American Horror Story, Extant)
Chris Zylka b. 1985 (The Leftovers, The Amazing Spider-Man, Piranha 3DD, Shark Night 3D, Kaboom)
Rachel Boston b. 1982 (Witches of East End, Eastwick)
Rosario Dawson b. 1979 (Sin City, Parts Per Billion, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Grindhouse, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Men in Black 2)
Karl Thanning b. 1977 (Dominion, Dredd, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Doomsday, The Triangle, Supernova, Cavegirl)
Chris Diamantopoulos b. 1975 (Charmed)
Megumi Odaka b. 1972 (Godzilla vs. Destroyah, Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mecagodzilla, Gojira vs. Mosura, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Princess from the Moon)
Brent Reichert b. 1971 (Captain America: The Winter Solider, The Avengers)
Hudson Leick b. 1969 (Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Knight Rider 2010)
John Corbett b. 1961 (The Sky’s on Fire, The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy, The Visitor [TV series], Volcano)
Chuck Russell b. 1958 (director, Fringe, The Scorpion King, The Mask, The Blob, A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors)
Lorena Gale b. 1958 died 21 June 2009 (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Battlestar Galactica, Bionic Woman [2007], The 4400, Slither, Supernatural, Neverwas, Fantastic Four, The Chronicles of Riddick, 10.5, Kingdom Hospital, The Butterfly Effect, Smallville, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Halloween: Resurrection, Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1, Runaway Virus, Zenon; Girl of the 21st Century, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The X-Files. Millennium, Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14, M.A.N.T.I.S., Highlander, The Fly II)
Tessa Peake-Jones b. 1957 (Doctor Who, The Lost World, The Demon Headmaster)
Wendy Crewson b. 1956 (Ascension, Antiviral, Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale, ReGenesis, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, The Sixth Day, Bicentennial Man, From the Earth to the Moon, Murder in Space, Mazes and Monsters)
Kevin Peter Hall b. 1955 died 10 April 1991 (Highway to Hell, Harry and the Hendersons [TV and movie], Predator, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Misfits of Science, Monster in the Closet, Mazes and Monsters, Without Warning, Prophecy)
Patty Dworkin b. 1952 (Ghostbusters)
Anthony Higgins b. 1947 (Malice in Wonderland, The Bride, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Vampire Circus, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Candice Bergen b. 1946 (Arthur the King, 2010, The Magus, The Day the Fish Came Out)
Virginia Wetherell b. 1943 (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Demons of the Mind, A Clockwork Orange, Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Doctor Who)
Albert Finney b. 1936 (Big Fish, Breakfast of Champions, Looker, Wolfen)
Alan Bennett b. 1934 (Alice in Wonderland [1966])
Joan Sims b. 1930 died 27 June 2001 (The Canterville Ghost [1996], Super Gran, Doctor Who, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing)
William M. Marston b. 1893 died 2 May 1947 (writer, Wonder Woman)
J.M. Barrie b. 1860 died 19 June 1937 (author, Peter Pan)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Oh That Gal Lorena Gale and fabulous babe Rosario Dawson, but this year I decided to honor William M. Marston's most famous character Wonder Woman. Fans will remember that she had her lasso of truth with which she tied up the bad guys, but it should also be noted that she got tied up a lot.

A whole lot. Just sayin'.


2. Spot the Canadians! Two of today's Canadians are very hard to spot, Chris Diamantopoulos being nearly impossible and Wendy Crewson also very difficult. The third, the late Lorena Gale, has a credit list that has many tell-tale signs.

3. Nepotism FTW. Grace Gummer uses her father's last name, but that doesn't change the fact her mom is Meryl Streep. Pretty sure that opened some doors.

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


Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in his 1955 book Utopia 1976

Prediction: When I first looked at how America spends its leisure time, my mind went to the watching of television, baseball, movies and theater. The facts I found are a welcome shock. Our people are shifting with great speed from an audience society to a participating society.

Reality: The basic premise of Ernst's book is that people are not going to fritter away the extra time off they will have when the 30 hour work week becomes standard. Well, the 30 hour work week isn't standard and Americans as a whole fritter like crazy.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another dip into Heinlein's The Door Into Summer.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

4 comments:

  1. "Our people are shifting with great speed from an audience society to a participating society."
    I'd say he was early. They're just not participating in the way he imagined, however. With Twitter and Facebook and such, people don't just watch things any more; they insist on commenting to all and sundry their opinion of the thing while it's still going on. I did so on Twitter about commercials during the Superbowl. Others do so DURING movies in theaters, sporting events, rock concerts, and TV shows each week.

    I just looked up Lorena Gale and you're right. She is definitely "Oh That Gal" and I was sad to learn she had died.

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    Replies
    1. It's hard to say what he would have counted as participation. He was definitely happy about how many people shopped at hardware stores for do-it-yourself projects, but I can only imagine how he would feel about stuff done online.

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  2. Maybe Facebook and twitter aren't that interactive but FB supports dozens of groups where the comments, links to books, research info and activities off line are busier than ever.

    Then there are sites where people can post their art and writing - not just fiction but long intelligent essays on art and history (my two favs).

    So not giving up hope yet that more leisure time (which hasn't happened for most of us) will enable people to be more creative, not less.

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  3. I don't care about his prediction, but I HARDLY remember 1976 as a Utopia....

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