Tuesday, July 7, 2015

7 July 2015

Birthdays
Dylan Sprayberry b. 1998 (Teen Wolf, Man of Steel, Land of the Lost)
Juliana Guill b. 1987 (The Apparition, Altitude, Friday the 13th [2009])
Zoe Anderson b. 1983 (The X Files)
Marika Dominczyk b. 1980 (Witchblade)
Hamish Linklater b. 1976 (Battleship, The Future, Fantastic Four)
Kirsten Vangsness b. 1972 (Agent Carter, Shelf Life, Vampire Mob, Phil of the Future)
Heather Kafka b. 1972 (Idiocracy, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Tanya Newbould b. 1971 (Skyline, X-Men: The Last Stand, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey)
Robia LaMorte b. 1970 (Buffy, Spawn, Earth Girls Are Easy)
Robin Weigert b. 1969 (Once Upon a Time, Gods Behaving Badly, American Horror Story, Lost)
Jorja Fox b. 1968 (House of Frankenstein [1997 TV movie])
Steven Schub b. 1967 (Brave New World, The Thirteenth Floor)
Tracy Reiner b. 1964 (Apollo 13, Masque of the Red Death)
Akiva Goldsman b. 1962 (writer, Allegiant: Part 1, Insurgent, Fringe, I am Legend, I, Robot, Lost in Space [1999], Batman & Robin, Batman Forever)
Billy Campbell b. 1959 (Helix, Revolution [2009 TV movie], Eureka, Meteor, The 4400, Dracula [1991], The Rocketeer, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Catherine Carlen b. 1953 (Fallout: Red Star, They Came from Outer Space [TV], Chopper Chicks in Zombietown)
Shelley Duvall b. 1949 (Big Monster on Campus, Tales of the Mummy, Twilight of the Ice Nymphs, Frogs!, The Twilight Zone, Faerie Tale Theatre, Time Bandits, The Shining, Brewster McCloud)
Michael Herring b. 1947 (artist)
Joe Spano b. 1946 (The Invisible Man, From the Earth to the Moon, The X-Files, Apollo 13, The Incredible Shrinking Woman)
Ringo Starr b. 1940 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Alice in Wonderland, Caveman, Son of Dracula)
Richard Garland b. 1927 died 24 May 1969 (Mutiny in Outer Space, Panic in Year Zero!, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Adventures of Superman)
Jon Pertwee b. 1919 died 20 May 1996 (Doctor Who, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing)
Robert A. Heinlein b 1907 died 8 May 1988 (won 1956 Hugo for Double Star, 1960 Hugo for Starship Troopers, 1962 Hugo for Stranger In A Strange Land, 1967 Hugo for The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress)
George Cukor b. 1899 died 24 January 1983 (director/designer [uncredited], The Wizard of Oz)

Notes from the birthday list. 
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with Robia LaMorte because I'm a Whedonverse nerd and Robert A. Heinlein because, well, this is a science fiction blog. Even with those two removed, I'd still say there are three good iconic choices, Shelley Duvall from The Shining, Ringo Star from Caveman and the winner, Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor.

2. Nepotism FTW. Tracy Reiner is the daughter of Penny Marshall and took the last name of her stepfather Rob Reiner. Zoe Anderson is the younger sister of Gillian Anderson.

3. Living Canadian free! No Canadians today. That happens occasionally.

4. The Guy at the Door. No one older than Ringo Starr is alive and no one younger than he is has died yet. I can't tell you how old this makes me feel.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for the memories.
 
Predictor: John Langdon-Davies in hsi 1936 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction: Power will be supplied to all on the same terms as water and drainage today. Abundant new raw materials will make food, clothing and other necessities universally obtainable.

Reality: Being charitable, there is abundance in the world today compared even to the 20th Century, but not surprisingly, the people who own it want to be paid for it. A Commie like Langdon-Hughes might have thought that was only passing fancy, but we in the future can laugh at his naivete.

Though we might have to laugh through tears.

Never to be Forgotten: Amanda Peterson 1971-2015

For what I think is the first time, there are three genre obits today. The youngest, actress Amanda Peterson, had her heyday during the Brat Pack era and her genre movies are Windrunner and Explorers.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Amanda Peterson. She is never to be forgotten.
 

Never to be Forgotten: Daniel Quinn 1956-2015

The next oldest on our obit list is Daniel Quinn who died a month short of his 59th birthday. He also has just two genre credits, Spiders II: Breeding Ground and The X-Files.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Daniel Quinn. He is never to be forgotten.
Never to be Forgotten: Jerry Weintraub 1927-2015

The oldest of our freshly dead trio, producer Jerry Weintraub, is also the best known of the three. He worked both in the film and music industry and his three genre credits are the 2015 TV version of Westworld and the movies Soldier and My Stepmother Is an Alien.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Jerry Weintraub. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Wednesday already and we hear from our sensible pal George Sutherland from his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

2 comments:

  1. I'd hate to have to be the time traveler entrusted with explaining to Mr. Langdon-Davies that the early 21st century would see the simultaneous problems of homelessness and unoccupied homes, with our politicians throwing up their hands and saying, "What can you do?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The problem here is that for the most part, the unoccupied homes are in the suburbs, where the homeless are relatively scarce. The denser areas that have a more prevalent homeless population, as well as the services that ostensibly support them, don't have nearly as widespread a vacancy problem. It may be noted, however, that in areas where there have been available homes and apartments and the homeless have been housed, their results have improved markedly and nearly immediately; including rapid improvements in health and the ability to obtain and keep jobs.

      Delete

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