Friday, July 24, 2015

24 July 2015

Birthdays
Emily Bett Rickards b. 1991 (The Flash, Arrow, Soldiers of the Apocalypse)
Daveigh Chase b. 1990 (S. Darko, Donnie Darko, The Ring, Charmed, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Jeffrey Zubernis b. 1987 (The Sixth Sense)
Mara Wilson b. 1987 (A Simple Wish)
Kyle Morris b. 1984 (Fear Force Five, The Forbidden Dimensions, Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation)
Anna Paquin b. 1982 (X-Men, True Blood)
Elisabeth Moss b. 1982 (Invasion, Escape to Witch Mountain [1995])
Trevor Matthews b. 1982 (Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer)
Summer Glau b. 1981 (Arrow, Knights of Badassdom, Alphas, The Big Bang Theory, Mammoth, Angel, Dollhouse, Serenity, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The 4400)
Rose Byrne b. 1979 (X-Men: First Class, 28 Weeks Later, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones)
Laura Fraser b. 1976 (Forever, Vanilla Sky, Neverwhere)
Chad Christ b. 1974 (Gattaca)
Jennifer Lopez b. 1969 (The Cell, Anaconda)
Rick Fox b. 1969 (Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, The Guild, Big Bang Theory, Dollhouse)
Kristin Chenoweth b. 1968 (Bewitched [2005])
Paul Ben-Victor b. 1965 (Daredevil, The Invisible Man [2002], Red Scorpion 2, The X-Files)
Doug Liman b. 1965 (director, Edge of Tomorrow, Jumper)
James Anthony Cotton b. 1956 (Phenomenon)
Janit Baldwin b. 1953 (The Powers of Matthew Star, Phantom of the Paradise)
Fiona Reid b. 1951 (Haven, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Puppets Who Kill, Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins)
Lynda Carter b. 1951 (Smallville, Sky High, Wonder Woman)
Jim Kouf b. 1951 (writer, Grimm, National Treasure, Angel, The Boogens)
Michael Richards b. 1949 (Coneheads, Whoops Apocalypse, Transylvania 6-5000, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Robert Hays b. 1947 (Sharknado 2: The Second One, Superhero Movie, Starman [TV], Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare, Cat’s Eye, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything, Wonder Woman)
Linda Harrison b. 1945 (Planet of the Apes [2001 and 1968], Cocoon, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Batman)
Chris Sarandon b. 1942 (Charmed, Perversions of Science, The Vampyre Wars, Bordello of Blood, Deep Space Nine, Shatterbrain, Frankenstein [1987], The Princess Bride, Fright Night [1985])
Dan Hedaya b. 1940 (Gotham, Alien: Resurrection, The Addams Family [1991], The Twilight Zone [1985], Buckaroo Banzai, Earthlings, The Hunger)
Mark Goddard b. 1936 (Soupernatural, Lost in Space [1998 and 1965], Strange Invaders)
Ruth Buzzi b. 1936 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Out of This World, They Came from Outer Space, The Munsters Today, My Mom’s a Werewolf, Legends of the Superheroes, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, The Lost Saucer)
John D. MacDonald b. 1916 died 28 December 1986 (author, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything)
Shelia Florance b. 1916 died 12 October 1991 (Mad Max)
Sydney Bromley b. 1909 died 14 August 1987 (The NeverEnding Story, Dragonslayer, An American Werewolf in London, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Prehistoric Women, Night Creatures, Quatermass and the Pit, Quatermass II, Nineteen Eighty-Four [1954 British version])
Stuart Randall b. 1909 died 22 June 1988 (Indestructible Man, Adventures of Superman)
Lord Dunsany b. 1878 died 25 October 1957 (author, The Gods of Pegana)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Okay, fabulous babes. I have not been intentionally ignoring fabulous babes for the Picture Slot, but I have had only one all month, which is a ridiculously low number. In previous years, the Slot went to the fabulous Lynda Carter and the fabulous Summer Glau, and if I want the most iconic people on the list excluding these two worthies, I'd say it's a contest between Mark Goddard from Lost in Space, Linda Harrison from Planet of the Apes and today's winner Anna Paquin, who has two advantages over Goddard and Harrison, one being a 21st Century pick and the other being she's the actual star of the show.

And, oh yeah, fabulous.

2. Four Canadians, three unspottable. The youngest person on our list today, Emily Bett Rickards, is born north of the border and is featured on two genre shows shot in Canada. Trevor Matthews has only one credit, so it's hard to spot from such minimal evidence. The other two Canadians were born there and moved away at a young age, Anna Paquin and Rick Fox. I know who both of them are, but had no idea they were Canucks. Go figure.

3. The Guy and Gal at the Door, and what I learned today. Today's list has no one who died young and a twenty year gap between a living pair born in 1936 and a dead pair born in 1916. This makes Mark Goddard and Ruth Buzzi the Guy and Gal at the Door. I've had Goddard on the list for a while, but today I clicked on Ms. Buzzi's page just for a lark. I'm a little amazed at how much work she did in genre, and this doesn't even include her voice acting work.

4. MST3K. Stuart Randall appeared in Indestructible Man.

5. Hey... no Star Trek! For only the second time this month, we have a day with no Star Trek birthdays. 

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, especially Ruth Buzzi and Mark Goddard, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.


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

Prediction: Moreover, before Germany can unify to the East she must fight the Russian, and to unify to the West she must fight the French and perhaps the English, and she may have to fight a combination of these powers. I think the military strength of France is enormously underrated… And France will not fight alone. She will fight for Switzerland or Luxembourg, or the mouth of the Rhine. She will fight with the gravity of remembered humiliations, with the whole awakened Slav-race at the back of her antagonist, and very probably with the support of the English-speaking peoples.

Reality: The opinion of the French as bad-asses sounds ridiculous in the 21st Century, but they were bad-asses in the 19th Century and it took two world wars to erase that view. Wells should get some credit for seeing that Germany was going to fight on multiple fronts.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Welcome to the first prediction free weekend, but a few thoughts about the end of petroleum.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

1 comment:

  1. Kristin Chenoweth was also on "Pushing Daisies" which is a show I loved.

    ReplyDelete

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