Wednesday, September 16, 2015

15 September 2015

Birthdays
Matt Shively b. 1990 (Teen Wolf, Paranormal Activity 4)
Chloe Dykstra b. 1988 (The League of S.T.E.A.M., Chaotic Awesome, COPS: Skyrim, Drag Me to Hell, Wizards of Waverly Place, Spider-Man 2)
Chelsea Kane b. 1988 (Wizards of Waverly Pace)
Christian Cooke b. 1987 (Witches of East End, Dark Relics, Demons, Doctor Who)
Ben Woolf b. 1980 died 23 February 2015 (American Horror Story, Insidious)
Amy Davidson b. 1979 (NetherBeast Incorporated)
Dave Annable b. 1979 (666 Park Avenue, Spellbound)
Tom Hardy b. 1977 (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Sucker Punch, A for Andromeda, Minotaur)
Marisa Ramirez b. 1977 (Supernatural, Roswell)
Jonathan Liebesman b. 1976 (director, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], Wrath of the Titans, Battle Los Angeles, Darkness Falls)
Marcus Shirock b. 1975 (Hercules Reborn, Bermuda Tentacles, Android Cop, Angel, Charmed)
Josh Charles b. 1971 (Bird People, After.Life, Muppets from Space)
Danny Nucci b. 1968 (Arrow, Monster Heroes, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone [1986])
Kenneth Hite b. 1965 (writer, Lost in Lovecraft)
Steven R. Monroe b. 1964 (director, End of the World, Jabberwock, Mongolian Death Worm, Ice Twisters, Wyvern, Ogre, Sasquatch Mountain, It Waits)
Philip Paley b. 1963 (Land of the Lost)
Colin McFarlane b. 1961 (Olympus, Hounded, Torchwood, Hyperdrive, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight)
Oren Aviv b. 1961 (National Treasure, RocketMan)
Ed Solomon b. 1960 (writer, Venom, What Planet Are You From?, Men In Black, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
Wendie Jo Sperber b. 1958 died 29 November 2005 (Back to the Future)
Barry Shabaka Henley b. 1954 (Carrie [2013], Flash-Forward, Heroes, Fallen)
Brad Leland b. 1954 (The Leftovers, Hancock)
Sabina Franklin b. 1954 (The Worst Witch, Blakes 7)
Olver Stone b. 1946 (director, The Hand)
Tommy Lee Jones b. 1946 (Captain America, Men In Black, Small Soldiers, Batman Forever)
Shelby Leverington b. 1946 (The Island, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Twilight Zone [1985], Cloak & Dagger)
Roy Brocksmith b. 1945 died 16 December 2001 (Babylon 5, Kull the Conqueror, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Lois & Clark, Good & Evil, Eerie, Indiana, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Arachnophobia, Total Recall, Martians Go Home, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Wizard, Wolfen)
John Reynolds b. 1941 died 16 October 1966 (actor/director, Manos: The Hands of Fate)
Norman Spinrad b. 1940 (writer, Star Trek, Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream)
Henry Darrow b. 1933 (NightMan, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager, Time Trax, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Knight Rider, Beyond the Universe, The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Halloween with the New Addams Family, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man [1975 TV], Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits)
Andree Melly b. 1932 (The Brides of Dracula)
Henry Silva b. 1928 (Cyborg – Il Guerriero d'Acciaio, Escape from the Bronx, Alligator, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Quark, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits)
Jackie Cooper b. 1922 died 3 May 2011 (Superman, The Invisible Man [1975], The Astronaut, Twilight Zone)
Joseph Pevney b. 1911 died 18 May 2008 (director, The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek, The Munsters, Bewitched, Destination Space)
Fay Wray b. 1907 died 8 August 2004 (King Kong, The Vampire Bat, Doctor X)
Tom Conway b. 1904 died 22 April 1967 (The Atomic Submarine, Voodoo Woman, The She-Creature, Bride of the Gorilla, Cat People)
James Fenimore Cooper b. 1789 died 14 September 1851 (The Monikins)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot skewed old school, in 2013 with writer Norman Spinrad and in 2014 with the fabulous Fay Wray. If I wanted to push the blog into the 21st Century, the best choice would be Tom Hardy in the most recent Mad Max, but instead I went with Roy Brocksmith in his role from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I blush to mention that he's one of those "Wait... He's Dead?" folks for me.

2. An unspottable Canadian. Fay Wray is from the Great White North. I had no idea.

3. MST3K. This one's pretty easy, John Reynolds, who died only a little after filming was complete, directed Manos: The Hands of Fate and also played Torgo.

4. Nice same birthday pair. I always like it when two people who are both well known were born on the exact same day, and Oliver Stone and Tommy Lee Jones certainly qualify. 

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


Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in his novel The Door Into Summer

Prediction: "IMPORTANT NOTICE! This service automaton DOES NOT understand human speech. It has no understanding at all, being a machine. But for your convenience it has been designed to respond to a list of spoken orders."

Reality: Our pal Bob takes a dim view of The Singularity here, and by 2000 he was still right, machines have no true understanding. It's quite popular in sci-fi now and there are those predicting the reality just around the corner, but as an old school programmer I remain very skeptical.
Never to be Forgotten: Steve Bickel 1951-2015

Film executive Steve Bickel was found dead this week after collapsing on a hiking trip in Portugal. He is mentioned here because he produced the 1980 time travel fantasy Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Steve Bickel, from a fan of the movie. He is never to be forgotten.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit from our pal George Sutherland and his book Twentieth Century Inventions.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

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