Friday, June 26, 2015

26 June 2015

Birthdays
Harley Quinn Smith b. 1999 (Tusk)
Katie and Kelly Cockrell b. 1988 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Return to Halloweentown)
Aubrey Plaza b. 1984 (Safety Not Guaranteed)
Tolga Safer b. 1982 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Jason Schwartzman b. 1980 (Bewitched [2005 movie], The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, S1m0ne)
Tory Mussett b. 1978 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Boogeyman, Peter Pan [2003], The Matrix Reloaded)
Matt Letscher b. 1970 (The Flash, Her, Radio Free Albemuth)
Chris O’Donnell b. 1970 (Batman & Robin, Batman Forever)
Nick Offerman b. 1970 (Sin City)
Steven Brand b. 1969 (Teen Wolf, Hellraiser: Revelations, Jurassic Attack, Alien Express, The Scorpion King)
Christina Fulton b. 1969 (Dracula [1992])
Ian Tracy b. 1964 (The 100, Strange Empire, Continuum, Man of Steel, Supernatural, Sanctuary, Sucker Punch, The 4400, Smallville, Elektra, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Taken, Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Highlander [TV], The Adventures of Sinbad [TV], The X-Files, Timecop)
Terri Nunn b. 1961 (Time Express)
Mark McKinney b. 1959 (Space Riders: Division Earth, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy)
Lela Ivey b. 1958 (Pleasantville, The Addams Family [movie], Quantum Leap, She-Wolf of London, ALF, The Purple Rose of Cairo)
Gedde Watanabe b. 1955 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Armageddon, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Vamp)
David Brisbin b. 1952 (The X-Files, Buffy, From the Earth to the Moon, Dark Skies)
Robert Davi b. 1951 (Lost Time, Asteroid vs. Earth, Swamp Shark, Stargate: Atlantis, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, VR.5, Predator 2, The Powers of Matthew Star, The Incredible Hulk)
Michael Paul Chan b. 1950 (Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, The Invisible Man [TV], Good vs Evil, Batman & Robin, Lois & Clark, The Burning Zone, Batman Forever, Babylon 5, Alien Nation, Max Headroom)
Leo Rossi b. 1946 (The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human, Mutant Species, Amazing Stories, Halloween II)
Clive Francis b. 1946 (Relic Hunter, A Clockwork Orange, Journey to the Unknown)
John Beasley b. 1943 (The Lost Room, Millennium [TV])
Edwin Hodgeman b. 1935 (Ultraman: Toward the Future, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
Josef Sommer b. 1934 (X-Men: The Last Stand, Early Edition, Strange Days, Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Dracula’s Widow, D.A.R.Y.L., Iceman, The Henderson Monster, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Stepford Wives)
Richard X. Slattery b. 1925 died 27 January 1997 (Space, Monster Squad, Wonder Woman, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Invaders, Mr. Terrific, The Green Hornet)
Richard Bull b. 1924 died 3 February 2014 (Amazing Stories, The Andromeda Strain, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bewitched, The Satan Bug, Men Into Space)
Dick Smith b. 1922 died 30 July 2014 (make-up artist, House on Haunted Hill [1999], Death Becomes Her, Monsters [TV], Poltergeist III, Starman, The Hunger, Ghost Story, Scanners, Altered States, Exorcist I and II, The Stepford Wives, Dark Shadows, ‘Way Out, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [TV 1968], The Alligator People, Alice in Wonderland [TV 1955])
Peter Lorre b. 1904 died 23 March 1964 (The Raven, Tales of Terror, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In 2013, I didn't have a birthday list for June 26, and in 2014, I decided to use Oh That Cop Richard X. Slattery because I thought it was cruel to use Chris O'Donnell in his silly nipple costume from one of his only two roles in genre, the movies that almost killed the Batman franchise forever. (My position: Blame Schumacher First!)

Well, okay, I admit it. Sometimes I'm cruel.


2. Nepotism FTW. What kind of person would name his daughter after a villain from a comic book? That would be director Kevin Smith and his daughter Harley Quinn Smith.

3. Spot the Canadians! Easy to find with a simple clue. There are two, one born in the 1950s and the other in the 1960s.

4. Wait... they are the same age? This happens sometimes, when you get two actors, one best known for younger roles and the other best known for roles later in his or her career. Both Chris O'Donnell and Nick Offerman turn 45 this year. I would not have guessed they were the same age.

5. The Guy at the Door. Two people on this list have died during the lifetime of this blog. I did do a Never to be Forgotten for Dick Smith, but I missed the obit for Richard Bull. My bad. With those two gone, everyone born in the1920s is dead and our new oldest person on the list is veteran character actor Josef Summer, who turns 81 today. As always when this happens, I wish special birthday greeting to our Guy (or Gal) at the Door.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1901 book Anticipations

Prediction: [B]etween contiguous nations that have mastered the art of war, instead of the pouring clouds of cavalry of the old dispensation, this will be the opening phase of the struggle, a vast duel all along the frontier between groups of skilled marksmen, continually being relieved and refreshed from the rear. For a time quite possibly there will be no definite army here or there, there will be no controllable battle, there will be no Great General in the field at all. But somewhere far in the rear the central organizer will sit at the telephonic centre of his vast front, and he will strengthen here and feed there and watch, watch perpetually the pressure, the incessant remorseless pressure that is seeking to wear down his countervailing thrust. Behind the thin firing line that is actually engaged, the country for many miles will be rapidly cleared and devoted to the business of war, big machines will be at work making second, third, and fourth lines of trenches that may be needed if presently the firing line is forced back, spreading out transverse paths for the swift lateral movement of the cyclists who will be in perpetual alertness to relieve sudden local pressures, and all along those great motor roads our first "Anticipations" sketched, there will be a vast and rapid shifting to and fro of big and very long range guns. These guns will probably be fought with the help of balloons.

Reality: I'm going to give Herb pretty much full marks for this. He is describing that massive clusterfuck now known as World War I fairly accurately. Aircraft, tanks and other technology have made trench warfare a thing of the past, but in 1901 our past is his future.

Never to be Forgotten: Laura Antonelli 1941-2015 Italian beauty Laura Antonelli has died at the age of 73. In Italy she was nearly as well known for her long affair with Jean-Paul Belmondo as she was for her film career. She was also in the news when she was convicted for dealing cocaine after it was found in her home during a police raid in 1991. She steadfastly proclaimed her innocence, and after a long process was vindicated and paid damages of 106,000 euros. She is mentioned here for her one role in genre in the silly Vincent Price vehicle Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs. This picture is a still from the movie and she was the top billed actress in the cast.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Laura Antonelli, from an adoring fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Saturday tomorrow, so we hear from our optimistic and moralistic pal Morris L, Ernst in his book Utopia 1976.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

5 comments:

  1. and he will strengthen here and feed there and watch, watch perpetually the pressure, the incessant remorseless pressure that is seeking to wear down his countervailing thrust.

    Ol' Herbert seems to have some sexual issues....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As Riker Tips tweeted this week:

      Riker flirtation tip: It's possible to make a double entendre out of any statement, although it's often hard.

      Delete
  2. Very good prediction. Only one important miss:

    He might have predicted that generals, stuck in the past, needed to continually sacrifice hundreds of thousands of their soldiers in old-fashioned attacks to keep proving to themselves that yes, war really had changed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it would have been nice if he added "and it will be a horror like no one has ever seen", but he loved being an armchair general.

      Delete

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