18 September 2015

Birthdays
Chris Riggi b. 1985 (Vampires Suck)
Alison Lohman b. 1979 (Gamer, Drag Me to Hell, Beowulf, The Thirteenth Floor, Kraa! The Sea Monster)
Travis Schuldt b. 1974 (Fringe, Big Bang Theory)
James Marsden b. 1973 (Westworld, X-Men, Superman Returns, Enchanted)
Michael Landes b. 1972 (Lois & Clark)
Jada Pinkett Smith b. 1971 (Gotham, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded)
Carrie Genzel b. 1971 (Flashforward, Wizards of Waverly Place, Jennifer’s Body, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Watchmen, Flash Gordon [TV], Beyond Loch Ness, The 4400, Painkiller Jane, Smallville, Kyle XY, The Dead Zone, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1)
Tara Fitzgerald b. 1967 (Game of Thrones)
Holly Robinson Peete b. 1964 (Howard the Duck)
John Mann b. 1962 (Supernatural, Bionic Woman [2007], The Butterfly Effect 2, Battlestar Galactica, Underworld: Evolution, Catwoman, The Chronicles of Riddick, Smallville, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel, Strange Frequency, The Girl from Tomorrow Part Two: Tomorrow’s End)
James Gandolfini b. 1961 died 19 June 2013 (Fallen)
Andrew Airlie b. 1961 (Intruders [2014 TV], Once Upon a Time, Collision Earth, Caprica, Fringe, Reaper, The Butterfly Effect 2, Eureka, Supernatural, Neverwas, The 4400, Stephen Kings’ Dead Zone, Fantastic Four, Stargate SG-1, Smallville, Earth: Final Conflict, Mysterious Ways, Total Recall 2070, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The X Files, M.A.N.T.I.S, The Odyssey, Nightmare Cafe)
Ken Thomas b. 1961 (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Sin City)
Jasmin Geljo b. 1959 (Hemlock Grove, Skinwalkers, Land of the Dead)
Tim McInnerny b. 1956 (Outlander [2014 TV], Doctor Who, Erik the Viking)
Anna Levine a.k.a. Anna Thompson b. 1953 (The Crow, Leonard Part 6)
Beth Grant b. 1949 (Mockingbird Lane, Futurestates, Jericho, Southland Tales, Wonderfalls, Evil Alien Conquerors, Donnie Darko, The X Files, Angel, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Doctor Doolittle, The Wizard)
Alan Roberts b. 1948 died 21 March 2008 (Dinosaurus!, The Space Children)
Nicholas Clay b. 1946 died 25 May 2000 (Merlin [TV], Highlander [TV], The Odyssey, Excalibur, Terror of Frankenstein)
Gailard Sartain b. 1946 (Existo, RocketMan)
Veronica Carlson b. 1944 (Freakshow, Old Drac, The Horror of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Must be Destroyed, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave)
Fred Willard b. 1939 (My Future Boyfriend, Wizards of Waverly Place, Stargate SG-1, Good vs Evil, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Lois & Clark, Superman 50th Anniversary, Out of This World, Salem’s Lot, Americathon, Space Force, Tabitha)
Frankie Avalon b. 1939 (Panic in Year Zero!, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
William O’Malley b. 1931 (The Exorcist)
Phyllis Kirk b. 1927 died 19 October 2006 (Twilight Zone, House of Wax)
Grayson Hall b. 1922 died 7 August 1985 (Dark Shadows)
Jack Warden b. 1920 died 19 July 2006 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], The Invaders, Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
June Foray b. 1917 (hundreds of voice acting credits, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Twilight Zone)
Harry Townes b. 1914 died 23 May 2001 (The Warrior and the Sorceress, Voyagers!, The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Ark II, Planet of the Apes [TV], The Sixth Sense, The Immortal, The Invaders, Star Trek, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Men Into Space)
Leon Askin b. 1907 died 3 June 2005 (Frightmare, Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls, Genesis II, My Favorite Martian, Mr. Terrific, The Outer Limits, Mistress of the World, Adventures of Superman, Son of Sinbad)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was given to June Foray, who turns 98 today, and the late Nicholas Clay from Excalibur. Today, I go a little more new school with Jada Pinkett Smith from Gotham.

2. Spot the Canadians! Three actors on the list self-identify as Canadian and their resumes give it away, Carrie Ganzel, John Mann and Andrew Airlie. Airlie was actually born in Scotland.

3. MST3K. The late Alan Roberts was in The Space Children.

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

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

Prediction: Never before in the world's history was the command of the sea worth what it is now.

Reality: In 1901, this was certainly true, but command of the air would surpass it much sooner than Wells anticipated.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tomorrow's Soapbox discusses the future - or lack of same - for the blog.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 September 2015

Birthdays
Elyse Levesque b. 1985 (The Originals, SGU Stargate Universe, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Smallville, Flash Gordon, 2030 CE, MythQuest)
Harry Treadaway b. 1984 (Penny Dreadful [2014], Cockneys vs Zombies)
Luke Treadaway b. 1984 (Clash of the Titans)
Lindsay Maxwell b. 1981 (Supernatural, Hair of the Sasquatch, The Butterfly Effect 2, Deep Evil, Stargate SG-1, Seven Days)
Kyle Bornheimer b. 1975 (Agent Carter, Jericho)
Sebastian Gutierrez b. 1974 (writer, The Eye, Rise: Blood Hunter, Gothika, Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature)
Sarah Danielle Goldberg Madison b. 1974 died 27 September 2014 (Savage Planet, Jurassic Park III)
Ryan Phillippe b. 1974 (Invader, Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare)
James Duval b. 1972 (Lazarus, Hercules Reborn, Evilution, Frog-g-g!, Donnie Darko, Independence Day)
Tim Plester b. 1970 (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Kick-Ass)
Johnathon Schaech b. 1969 (Sleepy Hollow [TV], Star-Crossed, The Legend of Hercules, Quarantine)
Jay Laga’aia b. 1963 (Daybreakers, Legend of the Seeker, Star Wars: Episodes II and II, Xena, Mysterious Island)
Colin Firth b. 1960 (Dorian Gray, A Christmas Carol [2009], Nanny McPhee)
Jim Meskimen b. 1959 (Big Bang Theory, Battlefield Earth, Seven Days, Team Knight Rider, The Journey of Allen Strange, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Apollo 13)
Stacey Nelkin b. 1959 (Fringe, Twilight Zone [1986], Halloween III: Season of the Witch)
Chris Columbus b. 1958 (director, Pixels, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Bicentennial Man)
Jim Jackman b. 1957 (Zombthology, My Stepmother Is an Alien, Spaceballs)
Kate Burton b. 1957 (Extant, Revolution, Grimm, Big Trouble in Little China, Alice in Wonderland [1983])
Fred Olen Ray b. 1954 (director, 135 films, some under the pseudonym Nicholas Medina, most direct to video, either bad sci-fi or soft-core porn, none worth watching)
Clark Johnson b. 1954 (666 Park Avenue, Re-Generation, Forever Knight, Murder in Space, Mazes and Monsters)
Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson b. 1954 (Sci-Fighter, Virtual Combat, Batman Forever, Cyber Tracker, Future Kick)
Stuart Milligan b. 1953 (Doctor Who, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Whoops Apocalypse, Outland)
Amy Irving b. 1953 (Zero Hour, Tuck Everlasting, Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics [1994], Rumplestiltskin, The Fury, Carrie)
Harry Groener b. 1951 (Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Star Trek: Enterprise, Buffy, Roswell, The Day the World Ended, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Charmed, Sleepwalkers, Star Trek: Voyager, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Judy Geeson b. 1948 (Charmed, Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion, Star Trek: Voyager, Horror Planet, Star Maidens, Space: 1999)
Bo Goldman b. 1932 (screenwriter, Meet Joe Black)
Philip Baker Hall b. 1931 (The Amityville Horror [2005], 3rd Rock from the Sun, Roswell, M.A.N.T.I.S., Ghostbusters II, The Goddess of Love, Man from Atlantis)
Gwen Watford b. 1927 died 6 February 1994 (Doomwatch, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Edmond O’Brien b. 1915 died 9 May 1985 (Fantastic Voyage, Moon Pilot, 1984 [1956])
Robert Wise b. 1914 died 14 September 2005 (director, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Andromeda Strain, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Curse of the Cat People)
Bessie Love b. 1898 died 26 April 1986 (The Hunger, Vampyres, My Partner the Ghost, Battle Beneath the Earth, The Andromeda Breakthrough, The Lost World [1925])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to director Robert Wise and actor Harry Groener for his role on Buffy. While we have a few movie stars, I think the list is light on iconic stars in genre, so I went with Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith in the American movie version of 1984.

WHICH IS NOT ICONIC BECAUSE THE MOVE SUCKED EGGS!

I do this today as a warning. The American versions of 1984, on TV with Eddie Albert and on the big screen with Edmond O'Brien, are just awful. The British versions, on TV in the 1950s with Peter Cushing and the movie from 1984 with John Hurt, actually understand Orwell's point. 

2. Spot the Canadians! We have two today. Elyse Levesque and Lindsay Maxwell.

3. Nepotism FTW.  Kate Burton is Richard Burton's daughter. It had to make a difference early in her career.

4. Awesome nickname, still not quite iconic in genre. Don "The Dragon" Wilson is iconic in martial arts, not so much on sci-fi and fantasy films.

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

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

Prediction: The low estimate of the world’s population in 2000 is three billion.

Reality: This is a crazy number. The world population crossed three billion before 1960 and was over six billion in 2000. The only thing that would have done this is a truly horrific World War III and we have avoided that so far, though Glenn Beck tells me it's just around the corner.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We are running low on predictions from H.G. Wells' Anticipations, which suits me just fine because I lost patience with his scumbaggery quite some time ago.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

5 September 2015

Birthdays
Gage Golightly b. 1993 (Teen Wolf, 5ive Days to Midnight)
Skandar Keynes b. 1991 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Kat Graham b. 1989 (The Vampire Diaries)
Christina Ulloa b. 1982 (Charmed)
Nan Yu b. 1978 (Speed Racer, My DNA Says I Love You)
Carice Van Houten b. 1976 (Game of Thrones, Intruders, Repo Men, From Time to Time)
Paddy Considine b. 1974 (The World’s End)
Justin Nimmo b. 1974 (Power Rangers in Space, Pleasantville)
Rose MacGowan b. 1973 (Once Upon a Time, Conan the Barbarian [2011], Charmed, Grindhouse, Monkeybone, Encino Man)
Dweezil Zappa b. 1969 (Jack Frost, The Running Man)
Terry Ellis b. 1963 (Batman Forever)
Peter Wingfield b. 1962 (Alphas, Caprica, Stonehenge Apocalypse, 10,000 Days, Highlander [TV], Charmed, Smallville, Catwoman, Andromeda, X-Men 2, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge, Stargate SG-1)
Roberta Weiss b. 1961 (Tales from the Darkside, Deadly Nightmares, The Dead Zone)
Joseph Steven b. 1956 (Star Trek [2009], Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Scorpion King, K-PAX)
Michael Keaton b. 1951 (Birdman, RoboCop [2013], Jack Frost, Multiplicity, Batman, Beetlejuice)
Scott H. Reiniger b. 1948 (Dawn of the Dead [2004 and 1978])
Dennis Dugan b. 1946 (The Howling, Unidentified Flying Oddball, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Wim Wenders b. 1942 (director, Nosferatu the Vampire)
Raquel Welch b. 1940 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Lois & Clark, Mork & Mindy, Bedazzled, One Million Years B.C., Fantastic Voyage, Bewitched)
George Lazenby b. 1939 (Team Knight Rider, Superboy, Death Dimension)
William Devane b. 1939 (Interstellar, Leprechaun’s Revenge, The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, The Dark Knight Rises, Race to Space, Hollow Man, Space Cowboys, Timecop, Doomsday Rock, Virus, Timestalkers, Testament)
Alyce Andrece b. 1936 died 14 May 2005 (Star Trek, Batman)
Rhae Andrece b. 1936 died 2 March 2009 (Star Trek, Batman)
Frank Farmer b. 1932 (Ghost Ghirls, Team Knight Rider, The Burning Zone, The Invaders, Babylon 5, Wonder Woman, Capricorn One)
Bob Newhart b. 1929 (The Big Bang Theory, The Librarian, Elf)
Gloria Holden b. 1903 died 22 March 1991 (Dracula’s Daughter)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was filled by the twins Alyce and Rhae Andrece from the I, Mudd episode of Star Trek and Carice Van Houten from Game of Thrones. I could have gone with Michael Keaton from Batman, but continuing with the fabulous babe theme of previous years, it's Raquel Welch in the fur bikini from One Million Years B.C., possibly the most iconic picture from her career.

2. Not the Canadian and Spot the Canadian! Peter Wingfield has a lot of role in Canadian genre productions, but he was born in Great Britain and I have no information about him becoming a resident alien in Canada. His imdb.com bio is proudest of the fact that he has recently completed his studies to become a medical doctor, and good on him for that. Regular reader Abu Scooter informs me that Roberta Weiss is Canadian, a fact which I miss on the initial post.

Nepotism FTW. Dweezil Zappa.

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

Never to be Forgotten: Alan Steel (a.k.a. Sergio Ciani) 1935-2015

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Italy cranked out a lot of movies known collectively as "sword and sandal" in an attempt to cash in on the success of Biblical era costume dramas like Spartacus. The hero was always a bodybuilder, playing characters named Hercules, Machiste, Ursus, Goliath or Samson. While many of the bodybuilders like Steve Reeves and Reg Park were Americans, Sergio Ciani, whose screen name was Alan Steel, was born in Rome. While he was not always the lead, he appeared in 3 Avengers, Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas, Hercules Against the Moon Men, Hercules Against Rome, Hercules and the Black Pirates, Hercules and the Masked Rider, Samson and the Slave Queen, Ursus, the Gladiator Rebel, The Fury of Hercules, The Giant of Marathon and Hercules Unchained. Two of these were given the MST3K treatment.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Sergio Ciani, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Today's soapbox is postponed a day due to the holiday.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

3 September 2015

Birthdays
Ashley Boettcher b. 2000 (Aliens in the House, Aliens in the Attic)
Victoria Jones b. 1991 (Men in Black II)
Garrett Hedlund b. 1984 (Pan, TRON: Legacy, Eragon)
Paz de la Huerta b. 1984 (4:44 Last Day on Earth)
Christine Woods b. 1983 (The Walking Dead, FlashForward)
Nichole Hiltz b. 1978 (Alien Autopsy, Smallville, Buffy, Dude, Where’s My Car?)
Nick Weschsler b. 1978 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Roswell, Team Knight Rider)
Ashley Jones b. 1976 (FlashForward, True Blood)
Clare Kramer b. 1974 (Tales of Halloween, Big Ass Spider!, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Buffy)
Noah Baumbach b. 1969 (writer, The Fantastic Mr. Fox)
Charlie Sheen b. 1965 (Big Bang Theory, The Arrival, The Wraith, Amazing Stories)
Costas Mandylor b. 1965 (Saw, Hyenas, Immortally Yours, Beowulf, Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York, Dinocroc, Charmed, Andromeda, Last Exit to Earth)
Daniel Myrick b. 1963 (writer, The Objective, Solstice, The Blair Witch Project)
Holt McCallany b. 1963 (Heroes, Alien³)
Merritt Butrick b. 1959 died 17 March 1989 (Fright Night Part 2, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beauty and the Beast, Why on Earth?, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Zapped!, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
Kevin McCorkle b. 1958 (The Amazing Spider-Man, The Island, The X Files, Star Trek: Voyager)
Jean-Pierre Jeunet b. 1953 (director, Alien: Resurrection, The City of Lost Children)
Lou Richards b. 1951 (Growth, Charmed, Hulk, The X Files, Project U.F.O., Logan’s Run [TV])
Valerie Perrine b. 1943 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Superman, Slaughterhouse Five)
Pauline Collins b. 1940 (Doctor Who, Merlin)
Eileen Brennan b, 1932 died 28 July 2013 (Tales from the Crypt, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Babes in Toyland [TV])
Nora ‘Dodo’ Denney b. 1927 died 20 November 2005 (Splash, Tucker’s Witch, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian)
Anne Jackson b. 1926 (The Shining)
Terry Wilson b. 1923 died 30 March 1999 (Escape to Witch Mountain, Westworld)
Cecil Parker b. 1897 died 20 April 1971 (Psycho-Circus, The Brain, The Man in the White Suit)
Pat O’Malley b. 1890 died 21 May 1966 (Twilight Zone, Invasion of the Body Snatchers)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Clare Kramer from Buffy and Merritt Butrick from the Star Trek movies. This year, it's Nora 'Dodo' Denny as Mrs. Teavee from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

2. Nepotism FTW. Charlie Sheen is a star in his own right now, but being Martin Sheen's son was definitely a boost to his early career.

3. Living Canadian free.  Did not find any Canadian actors on the list today.

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

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

Prediction: By 1976, trucks may be propelled on special highways without drivers.

Reality: Ernst is very early with this one, assuming automatically driven cars were only twenty years away when he wrote this. The technology is possible today and will likely be accepted practice within ten years or so, though truck drivers may not just roll over and accept obsolescence so easily.
 

Never to be Forgotten: Dean Jones 1931-2015 Dean Jones, the clean-cut star of many Disney films, most notably the movies featuring Herbie the Love Bug, has died at the age of 84. Besides making films for Disney, Jones also starred in many films for the Christian audience. (Note that "clean cut" is sometimes misleading, as in Bob Crane's example.) He also had many roles on Broadway, including the original actor to play the lead Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's Company. His roles in genre include Scrooge and Marley, Special Report: Journey to Mars, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm and the Italian production Mr. Superinvisible.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Dean Jones, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.   

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

There are still a few weeks left of predictions from Anticipations and some of Wells' prophecies do not make him look like a scumbag.

Emphasis on some.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

30 August 2015

Birthdays
Jessica Henwick b. 1992 (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Game of Thrones)
Gaia Weiss b. 1991 (The Legend of Hercules)
Johanna Braddy b. 1987 (Video Game High School, Paranormal Activity 3, The Grudge 3)
Emily Montague b. 1984 (Fright Night)
Max Hoffman b. 1984 (Hook)
Angel Coulby b. 1980 (Merlin, Doctor Who)
Milan Kurspahic b. 1979 (Blubberella, BloodRayne: The Third Reich)
Elden Hanson b. 1977 (Daredevil [TV], The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Rise: Blood Hunter, The Butterfly Effect, Evil Alien Conquerors, Idle Hands, Amazing Stories)
Cameron Diaz b. 1972 (Shrek, The Green Hornet, Minority Report, Vanilla Sky, Being John Malkovich, The Mask)
Michael Chiklis b. 1963 (Gotham, American Horror Story, Fantastic Four, No Ordinary Family, Rise: Blood Hunter, Soldier)
Nelson Ascencio b. 1964 (The Hunger Games, Paul, Birds of Prey)
Ely Puget b. 1961 (Charmed, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, Dark Shadows [1991])
Frank Conniff b. 1958 (Space Hospital, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Invader ZIM)
David Paymer b. 1954 (Drag Me to Hell, Mighty Joe Young, Night of the Creeps, Howard the Duck, The Powers of Matthew Star, The Greatest American Hero)
Timothy Bottoms b. 1951 (Realm of the Mole Men, Vampire Bats, The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes, Land of the Lost [1991-2], Freddy’s Nightmares, The Twilight Zone [1988], Mio in the Land of the Faraway, Deadly Nightmares, Invaders From Mars [1986])
Lewis Black b. 1948 (The Big Bang Theory, Jacob’s Ladder)
Peggy Lipton b. 1946 (The Postman, Deadly Nightmares, Purple People Eater, The Invaders, Bewitched)
Elizabeth Ashley b. 1939 (Vampire’s Kiss, Deadly Nightmares, A Fire in the Sky, Coma, The Six Million Dollar Man: Solid Gold Kidnapping)
Don Pedro Colley b. 1938 (Piranha, Space Academy, The Bionic Woman, THX 1138, Beneath the Planet of the Apes)
Peter Cartwright b. 1935 died 18 November 2013 (Doctor Who, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hammer House of Horror)
Bill Daily b. 1927 (Horrorween, Alligator II: The Mutation, The Munsters Today, ALF, Small & Frye, The Powers of Matthew Star, I Dream of Jeannie, My Mother the Car, Bewitched)
Jacqueline Wells b. 1914 died 30 August 2001 (The Black Cat)
Fred MacMurray b. 1908 died 5 November 1991 (The Swarm, Beyond the Bermuda Triangle, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Shaggy Dog)
Joan Blondell b. 1906 died 25 December 1979 (The Twilight Zone)
Mary Shelley b. 1797 died 1 February 1851 (author, Frankenstein)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The previous Picture Slotters were TV's Frank Conniff and Mary Shelley. Going old school the two most iconic are likely Bill Daily from I Dream of Jeannie and Fred MacMurray from the Flubber movies, but instead I went to the young end of the list with Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand from Game of Thrones.

'Cos she's purdy.

From the middle of the list, I could have taken Michael Chiklis from Fantastic Four, though that would have been cruel or Cameron Diaz from The Mask. I like Game of Thrones better.

2. Nepotism FTW. Max Hoffman is Dustin's kid, played a role as a child in Hook. This is nepotism plain and simple.

3. What we are missing. No Canadians, no Star Trek.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

OMNI Future Almanac, the Old Faithful of all my prediction sources, starts off another week.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

8 August 2014

Birthdays
Shavon Kirksey b. 1989 (Dragonball: Evolution)
Laura Wiggins b. 1988 (The Tomorrow People, Dance of the Dead)
Jake Goldsbie b. 1988 (Prince Charming, Jacob Two Two and the Hooded Fang)
Katie Leung b. 1987 (Harry Potter)
Jenn Proske b. 1987 (Beauty and the Beast [TV], Vampires Suck)
Peyton List b. 1986 (The Flash, The Tomorrow People, Smallville, FlashForward)
Meagan Good b. 1981 (Minority Report [2015])
Tobias Santelmann b. 1980 (Hercules)
Lindsay Sloane b. 1977 (Strange Frequency, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Enzo Cilenti b. 1974 (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Fourth Kind)
Anne Wheaton b. 1969 (Sharknado 2: The Second One, Big Bang Theory)
Jon Turtletaub b. 1963 (director, National Treasure I, II and III, Jericho, From the Earth to the Moon, Phenomenon)
Suzee Pai b. 1962 (Big Trouble in Little China)
Harry Crosby b. 1958 (Friday the 13th)
Branscombe Richmond b. 1955 (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Charmed, Tremors [TV], Power Rangers Wild Force, Batman Returns, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast [TV], The Greatest American Hero, Misfits of Science, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Automan, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Don Most b. 1953 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Star Trek: Voyager, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Dark Skies, Sliders, The Munsters Today)
Martin Brest b. 1951 (director, Meet Joe Black)
Keith Carradine b. 1949 (Cowboys & Aliens, The Big Bang Theory, Dollhouse, Star Trek: Enterprise, Perversions of Science, Special Report: Journey to Mars)
Connie Stevens b. 1938 (Way, Way Out)
Dustin Hoffman b. 1937 (The Cobbler, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sphere, Outbreak, Hook)
Adam Roarke b. 1937 died 27 April 1996 (Star Trek, Return from Witch Mountain, The Six Million Dollar Man, Frogs, Women of the Prehistoric Planet)
Roger Penrose b. 1931 (Physicist, author, White Mars, or, The Mind Set Free)
Terry Nation b. 1930 died 9 March 1977 (writer, Doctor Who, Blake’s 7)
Nina Talbot b. 1930 (Bewitched)
Tom Reese b. 1928 (Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Giants, Twilight Zone)
Richard Anderson b. 1926 (The Stepford Children, Automan, Knight Rider, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Astronaut, Land of the Giants, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, Forbidden Planet, Captain Midnight)
Rory Calhoun b. 1922 died 28 April 1999 (Tales from the Crypt, Hell Comes to Frogtown, The Revenge of Bigfoot, Night of the Lepus)
William Asher b. 1921 died 16 July 2012 (director, I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later, Tabitha, Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
Harry Turner b. 1920 died 11 January 2009 (artist)
Dino De Laurentiis b. 1919 died 10 Nov 2010 (producer, Army of Darkness, King Kong Lives, Maximum Overdrive, Silver Bullet, Cat’s Eye, Dune, Conan the Destroyer, The Dead Zone, Halloween I, II and III, Amityville II, Conan the Barbarian, Flash Gordon, King Kong)
Earl Cameron b. 1917 (Inception, Neverwhere, The Prisoner, Battle Beneath the Earth, Doctor Who, The Andromeda Breakthrough)
Sylvia Sidney b. 1910 died 1 July 1999 (Mars Attacks!, Beetlejuice, Damien: Omen II)
Ford Rainey b. 1908 died 25 July 2005 (Amerika, Halloween II, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Outer Limits)
Robert Siodmak b. 1900 died 10 March 1973 (director, Son of Dracula)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the picture slot went to Terry Nation and to Alfre Woodard because i got her birthday wrong. (Oops.) I had several choices today and very nearly went with Enzo Cilenti as Childermass from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, but as much as I wish the show was popular enough to be iconic, I have to say Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman from the bionic shows actually is iconic.

2. Spot the Canadians! We have two young Canadians today, Jake Goldsbie and Jenn Proskie.

3. Nepotism FTW. Keith Carradine has a long and successful career, but I would have to say his last name opened doors at the beginning. Anne Wheaton doesn't do much acting, but she is often in project her husband Wil works on. Harry Crosby was Bing Crosby's kid, just did a little acting.

4. And a happy 98th birthday to...  Earl Cameron, the British actor born in Bermuda. He started working in the 1950s and his most recent credit is 2013. He's not a household name on this side of the Atlantic, but he has had a long and honourable Oh That Guy career in Britain. Many happy returns, Mr. Cameron.

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

The Weekly Soapbox: Pneumatic tubes

There are a lot of predicted things from sci-fi that never quite took off, some of them literally: we don't have personal jetpacks or flying cars, moving sidewalks are rare outside of airports and food in pill form hasn't become the standard, thank goodness. But if I could make a decree to bring one paleo-futuristic thing back into common usage, it would be the pneumatic tube.

There are two times in my life I thought "OMG, this is the future!" One was in the 1970s when I was typing on a computer screen as part of a network that connected state colleges all over California - and score one point for me, I was right about that - and the other was when I was a kid visiting my dad's office and he got a message through a pneumatic tube.

I don't know how expensive pneumatic tube systems are to install or maintain, but I wish more buildings had them. I am resigned to the fact that the modern "futuristic" way to move small packages are drones, but they creep me out. I still love pneumatic tubes and I wish there were more around.

Okay, I am now off the soapbox for another week.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Sundays are just birthdays now, but we will get a slew of fabulous babes, including one of my favorite Cinderellas.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

4 August 2015

Birthdays
Cole and Dylan Sprouse b. 1992 (Wizards of Waverly Place, The Nightmare Room, The Astronaut’s Wife)
Lucinda Dryzek b. 1991 (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Doctor Who)
Chet Hanks b. 1990 (Fantastic Four, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
David Kaye b. 1988 (Paranormal Solutions Inc., Arrow, Edge of Tomorrow, Supernatural, Dark Angel, So Weird)
Alex Williamson b. 1988 (Me and My Mates vs. the Zombie Apocalypse, #7DaysLater)
Lily Costner b. 1986 (The Postman)
Meghan Markle b. 1981 (Fringe, Knight Rider [2009])
Abigail Spencer b. 1981 (Oz the Great and Powerful, Cowboys & Aliens)
David Lewis b. 1976 (Man of Steel, Supernatural, Fringe, Seeds of Destruction, Stonehenge Apocalypse, Zombie Punch, Wyvern, The Day the Earth Stood Still [2008], Smallville, Ba’al, Beyond Loch Ness, Eureka, The Butterfly Effect 2, Kyle XY, Alien Incursion, Stargate SG-1, Alienated, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Dead Like Me, Halloween: Resurrection, Level 9, Lake Placid, Lexx, The New Addams Family, The X-Files)
Andy Hallett b. 1975 died 29 March 2009 (Angel, Buffy)
Ron Lester b. 1970 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
John August b. 1970 (writer, Frankenweenie, Dark Shadows, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Titan a.e.)
Thomas J. Churchill b. 1970 (Lazarus: Day of the Living Dead)
Michael DeLuise b. 1969 (Bloodsuckers, Lost, Stargate SG-1, 3rd Rock from the Sun, SeaQuest 2032, Tales from the Crypt, Encino Man, Amazing Stories)
Daniel Dae Kim b. 1968 (Insurgent, Once Upon a Time, Lost, The Andromeda Strain, Spider-Man 2, Star Trek: Enterprise, Hulk, Momentum, Angel, Charmed, Crusade, Brave New World [TV movie], NightMan)
James Tupper b. 1965 (Resurrection, Toxic Skies)
Sebastian Roche b. 1964 (The Originals, Once Upon a Time, Pegasus vs. Chimera, Grimm, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Fringe, Vamped Out, Beowulf, Charmed, Odyssey 5)
Lauren Tom b. 1961 (Supernatural, Threshold, Quantum Leap)
Bernard Rose b. 1960 (director, Frankenstein [2015], Candyman)
Billy Bob Thornton b. 1955 (The Big Bang Theory, The Astronaut Farmer, Armageddon, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown)
Lori Lethin b. 1955 (Werewolf, Starman [TV], The Day After)
Donald Gibb b. 1954 (Hancock, Black Scorpion, Homeboys in Outer Space, Breakfast of Aliens, The X-Files, Harry and the Hendersons [TV], Quantum Leap, They Came from Outer Space, Transylvania 6-5000, Otherworld, Knight Rider, Conan the Barbarian)
Kristoffer Tabori b. 1952 (Sliders, SeaQuest 2032, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone [1985], Small and Frye, Brave New World [TV movie])
Sara Botsford b. 1951 (Matty Hanson and the Invisibility Ray, Three Moons Over Milford, The Fog, Tremors 4: The Legend Begins, Total Recall 2070, Sliders )
William Frankfather b. 1944 died 28 December 1998 (Dark Skies, Deep Space Nine, Death Becomes Her, Cool World, Tales from the Crypt, Alien Nation, Freddy’s Nightmares, Harry and the Hendersons, Twilight Zone [1987], Invaders from Mars, Amazing Stories, The Greatest American Hero)
Richard Belzer b. 1944 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Species II, The X-Files, The Invaders, Not of This Earth, The Puppet Masters, Lois & Clark, The Flash)
Georgina Hale b. 1943 (Cockneys vs Zombies, Doctor Who, Hammer House of Horror, The Watcher in the Woods)
Don S. Davis b. 1942 died 29 June 2008 (Stargate, Flash Gordon, Supernatural, Beyond Loch Ness, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Andromeda, Atomic Train, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The X-Files, M.A.N.T.I.S., Highlander [TV], Needful Things, Hook, Omen IV: The Awakening)
Martin Jarvis b. 1941 (Neander-Jin: The Return of the Neanderthal Man, Stargate: Atlantis, Space Island One, Space: Above and Beyond, Doctor Who, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Frank Vincent b. 1939 (Stargate: Atlantis)
Jeanne Carmen b. 1930 died 20 December 2007 (The Naked Monster, The Monster of Piedras Blancas)
Tom Hennesy b. 1923 died 23 May 2011 (Revenge of the Creature)
Wesley Addy b. 1913 died 31 December 1996 (The Invaders, The Outer Limits)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot and MST3K. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to the late Andy Hallett from Angel and Daniel Dae Kim from Lost. The biggest movie star on the list is Billy Bob Thornton, but I don't think of him as iconic in genre. That leaves us with Oh That Guy actors for the most part, and I considered Sebastian Roche and Don S. Davis before deciding on Tom Hennesy, a cowboy actor who was in the monster suit for the non-underwater scenes of Revenge of the Creature, which also means we have an MST3K movie on the list.

2. Spot the Canadians. Today it's David Kaye, David Lewis and Sara Botsford.

3. Nepotism FTW. Some names here should give it away, like Michael DeLuise, Lily Costner and Chet Hanks. There are two other cases, one I count and one I don't. Georgina Hale married Ken Russell, but she had a career before meeting him and worked in plenty of projects he didn't direct. The other is Kristoffer Tabori, son of director Don Siegel and actress Viveca Lindfors. That I would count as nepotism.

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

Predictor: John Langdon-Davies in A Short History of the Future, published in 1936

Prediction: Human beings will become standardized for a time but eventually the state will encourage individuality again along certain carefully controlled lines.

Reality: Langdon-Davies had some very odd ideas, but state encouraged limited individuality is just plain goofy.
 

BONUS!

Predictor: Terminator 2, released 3 July 1991

Prediction: 8/4/1997 Skynet launched

Reality: Skynet turns 18 today! That means it can vote, but you can't take it out for a drink afterward, which is just cruel as far as I'm concerned.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We hear again from our sensible pal George Sutherland about the inventions he predicts will exist by the year 2000.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

29 July 2015

Birthdays
Munro Chambers b. 1990 (Turbo Kid, A Wrinkle in Time)
Penny Bae Bridges b. 1990 (Space Jam)
Genesis Rodriguez b. 1987 (Moose Jaws, Tusk)
Tania Gunadi b. 1983 (Pixel Perfect, Haunted)
Allison Mack b. 1982 (Lost in Oz, Smallville, The Nightmare Room)
Dominic Burgess b. 1982 (The Leftovers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Doctor Who, Batman Begins)
Jeremy Beiler b. 1982 (Men in Black 3)
Megan Hayes b. 1980 (Sleepy Hollow, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, +1)
Rachel Miner b. 1980 (Supernatural, The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations, The X Files)
Lana Kinnear b. 1976 (Iron Man, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV)
Stephen Dorff b. 1973 (Immortals, Blade, Space Truckers)
Dileep Rao b. 1973 (Touch, Inception, Avatar, Drag Me to Hell)
Wil Wheaton b. 1972 (Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana, Sharknado 2: The Second One, Big Bang Theory, Eureka, The Guild, Neverland, Star Trek: Nemesis, The Invisible Man, Python, Deep Core, Flubber, Perversions of Science, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Monsters, The Curse, The Last Starfighter)
Graham McGrath b. 1971 (Krull, Frankenstein [1984 TV])
Mans Marlind b. 1969 (director, Underworld: Awakening)
Timothy Omundson b. 1969 (Supernatural, Warehouse 13, Jericho, Xena, Starship Troopers, Dark Skies, SeaQuest 2032)
Daniel Raymont b. 1969 (Alien: Resurrection)
Richard Steven Horvitz b. 1966 (Invader ZIM, Babylon 5, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Munsters Today)
Dean Haglund b. 1965 (The Icarus II Project, Atlantis Down, The X Files, The Lone Gunmen, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Sliders)
Alexandra Paul b. 1963 (Firequake, A.I. Assault, Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York, Cyber Bandits, Deadly Nighmares, Christine)
Kevin Spirtas b. 1962 (Daredevil, Quantum Leap, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood)
Brian Peck b. 1960 (Jack and the Beanstalk [2010], X-Men 2, X-Men, The Tick, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, Return of the Living Dead I, II and III)
Marcus Gilbert b. 1958 (Army of Darkness, Doctor Who)
Wendy Hughes b. 1952 died 8 March 2014 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Amerika)
Charles Hallahan b. 1953 died 25 November 1997 (Roswell, Warlock: The Armageddon, Cast a Deadly Spell, Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Thing)
Mike Starr b. 1950 (Deep Space Nine, Millennium, Early Edition, James and the Giant Peach, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Freejack, Cat’s Eye)
Leslie Easterbrook b. 1949 (Lavalantula, House of the Witchdoctor, House, Halloween, The Munsters Today, Misfits of Science)
Ryan Cutrona b. 1949 (The X Files, Dark Skies, Millennium, Babylon 5, Alien Nation)
Charles Hallahan b. 1943 died 25 November 1997 (Space Jam, Roswell, Warlock: The Armageddon, Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Thing [1982])
David Warner b. 1941 (Penny Dreadful, Doctor Who, Hogfather, The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse, Cyber Wars, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [2003 TV], Planet of the Apes [2001], The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Total Recall 2070, Wing Commander, The Last Leprechaun, Perversions of Science, Beastmaster III, Babylon 5, Lois & Clark, Necronomicon: Book of Dead, The Lost World, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, My Best Friend is a Vampire, Frankenstein [1984 TV], Faerie Tale Theatre, The Company of Wolves, Cast a Deadly Spell, TRON, Time Bandits, Time After Time, The Omen)
Robert Fuller b. 1933 (The Brain from Planet Arous)
Lloyd Bochner b. 1925 died 29 October 2005 (Legend of the Mummy, Superboy, Millennium [1989], Manimal, Battlestar Galactica, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, The Starlost, The Dunwich Horror, Bewitched, The Green Hornet, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone)
Gordon Mitchell b. 1923 died 20 September 2003 (Evil Spawn, She [1982], Frankenstein ’80, The Giant of Metropolis, Atlas Against the Cyclops)
Frank Marth b. 1922 died 12 January 2014 (The Incredible Hulk, Battlestar Galactica [1979], Captain America, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Marooned, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, My Favorite Martian)
Chris Marker b. 1921 died 29 July 2012 (writer, La Jetee)
Melvin Belli b. 1907 died 9 July 1996 (Star Trek)
William Powell b. 1892 died March 5 1984 (Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid)
Maria Ouspenskaya b. 1876 died 3 December 1949 (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, The Wolf Man)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Okay, in previous years I had Wil Wheaton and Lloyd Bochner in the Picture Slot. Wheaton had an iconic role and has become a major figure in nerd culture, while Bochner had the lead role on one the the greatest Twilight Zone episodes, To Serve Man. But seriously, this means I didn't give the Slot to David Warner two years running and I admit that's just wrong. I mean, could Wheaton or Bochner look like a bad-ass holding a colorized frisbee?

No, they could not. They aren't David Warner.

2. Spot the Canadians! Munro Chambers and Dean Haglund.

3. Wait... she's dead? Wendy Hughes died in March of last year and I didn't give her a Never to be Forgotten. I noted this glaring oversight last year on her birthday. This year, my brain adamantly refused to accept it had seen the memo about this.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Wendy Hughes, from a big fan. She is never to be forgotten, especially by the knucklehead writing this blog.

4. That's a long retirement. William Powell stopped acting in his 60s - Mister Roberts in 1955 - and lived into his 90s, never being tempted to get back on screen.

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


Movie released
Cowboys & Aliens released, 2011

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1902 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: In farming and horticulture the field of labour is not so narrowly localised as it is in mining. Work representing an expenditure of hundreds of thousands of pounds may be carried out in mines whose area does not exceed two or three acres; and it is therefore highly remunerative to concentrate mechanical power upon such enterprises in the most up-to-date machinery. But the farmer ranges from side to side of his wide fields, covering hundreds, or even thousands, of acres with his operations. He is better situated than the miner in respect of the economical and healthy application of horse-power, but far worse in regard to the immediate possibilities of steam-power and electrically-conducted energy. No one can feed draught stock more cheaply than he, and no one can secure able-bodied men to work from sunrise till evening at a lower wage. Yet the course of industrial evolution, which has made so much progress in the mine and the factory, must very soon powerfully affect agriculture… But the presence of a source of power which can easily be shifted about from place to place on the farm for the purpose of watering the ground must very soon suggest the applicability of the same mechanical energy to the digging or ploughing of the soil. It is from this direction, rather than from the wide introduction of steam-ploughs and diggers, that the first great impetus to the employment of mechanical power on the farm may be looked for. The steam-plough, no doubt, has before it a future full of usefulness; and yet the slow progress that has been made by it during a quarter of a century suggests that, in its present form--that is to say while built on lines imitating the locomotive and the traction-engine--it cannot very successfully challenge the plough drawn by horse-power.

Reality: Regular readers will know that Sutherland looked at the problems with internal combustion engines and pretty much discounted their further usefulness, and so predicted great futures for electric engines and steam engines. Even with this major stumbling block in his predictions, I still like the guy.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A prediction from the Edwardian era about how folks will dress in 1950.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

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!
 

20 July 2015

Birthdays
Julianne Hough b. 1988 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
Osric Chau b. 1986 (The 100, Supernatural, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, 2012)
Martin McCann b. 1983 (Clash of the Titans)
Rory Jennings b. 1983 (Doctor Who, Frankenstein [1994])
Charlie Korsmo b. 1978 (Hook)
Judy Greer b. 1975 (Ant-Man, Jurassic World, Tomorrowland, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Big Bang Theory)
Simon Rex b. 1974 (Rise: Blood Hunter)
Omar Epps b. 1973 (Resurrection, Dracula 2000, Breakfast of Champions)
Roberto Orci b. 1973 (writer, Star Trek 3, Van Helsing, Sleepy Hollow, Amazing Spider-Man 2, Star Trek Into Darkness, Fringe, Cowboys & Aliens, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers, The Island, Xena, Hercules)
Sandra Oh b. 1971 (Blindness, Last Night)
Josh Holloway b. 1969 (Lost, Sabretooth, Angel)
Leighanne Littrell b. 1969 (Mortal Kombat: Conquest)
Carlos Saldanha b. 1968 (director, Rio, Ice Age, Robots)
Julian Rhind-Tutt b. 1968 (Lucy, Merlin, Stardust, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
Reed Diamond b. 1967 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Revolution, Dollhouse, Journeyman, Stargate SG-1, Spider-Man 2, The Huntress)
Rodney Eastman b. 1967 (The X-Files, Millennium, Sliders, Babylon 5, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and 4)
Dean Winters b. 1964 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Millennium)
Frank Whaley b. 1963 (Under the Dome, Gotham, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Little Monsters)
Adoni Maropis b. 1963 (The Scorpion King, Angel, Mortal Kombat: Conquest)
Jonathon Morris b. 1960 (Full Moon Fright Night, Doctor Who)
Donna Dixon b. 1957 (Twilight Zone: The Movie)
Jeff Rawle b. 1951 (An Adventure in Space and Time, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Doctor Who)
Tantoo Cardinal b. 1950 (Strange Empire, MythQuest)
Naseeruddin Shah b. 1950 (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)
Muse Watson b. 1948 (TIMER, Frankenfish, Hollywood Vampyr, The Handmaid’s Tale)
Wendy Richard b. 1943 died 26 February 2009 (No Blade of Grass)
Diana Rigg b. 1938 (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Snow White [1987], The Worst Witch, Theatre of Blood)
Natalie Wood b. 1938 died 29 November 1981 (Brainstorm, Meteor)
Cormac McCarthy b. 1933 (author, The Road)
Sally Ann Howes b. 1930 (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Cinderella [1950 TV])
Patricia Cutts b. 1926 died 6 September 1974 (The Tingler)
Lola Albright b. 1925 (The Incredible Hulk, The Monolith Monsters)
Paul Christian a.k.a. Paul Hubschmid b. 1917 died 31 December 2001 (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
John Steadman b. 1909 died 28 January 1993 (The Incredible Hulk, The Hills Have Eyes)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Josh Holloway from Lost and Diana Rigg. To be blunt, the list is not long on iconic actors, but I decided to go Whedonverse nerd and used Reed Diamond as the villain Daniel Whitehall from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

2. Spot the Canadians.  Not very obvious today. Tantoo Cardinal is a First Nations Canadian, and Osric Chau, Sandra Oh and Rodney Eastman.


3. Exact birthday pair.  Natalie Wood and Diana Rigg. Nowhere near as famous as Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, but a lot prettier.

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

Movies released
The Dark Knight Rises released, 2012

Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: In the 1990s, children will be diagnosed to find the best times in the day for mental, physical and intellectual activity, based on biological cycles.

Reality: Oooooh, bio-rhythms! I remember when people kinda sorta took this stuff seriously. It's one of those things I'd like to forget to make room for something useful, but I've been using this memory of mine for quite a long time now and I know for sure things don't work like that, sad to say.

Never to be Forgotten: George Coe 1929-2015

Yet another veteran character actor has died, the third in five days. George Coe had a long and interesting career. He was active in the Screen Actors Guild and did a lot of voice-over work. He was listed as one of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players on the very first episode of Saturday Night Live and was used on that show in fake commercials for about a decade. His genre roles include Supernatural, Smallville, The Lone Gunmen, The Omega Code, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Max Headroom, The Entity and The Stepford Wives. While these roles might lead one to believe we have spotted a Canadian, Coe was born south of the border. I wanted to use a picture of him as the leader of the planet on Star Trek: The Next Generation where Riker has screwed up an undercover first contact assignment, but I couldn't find a good quality still.

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

We get another prediction from our resident Commie, John Langdon-Davies.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 July 2015

Birthdays
Robert Naylor b. 1996 (Helix, Being Human, Immortals, Stephen King's Dead Zone, Race to Mars)
Gregory Smith b. 1983 (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, A Wrinkle in Time, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Small Soldiers, Meego, M.A.N.T.I.S., Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns, Leapin' Leprechauns, Highlander [TV])
Paula LaBaredas b. 1982 (Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader, Camel Spiders, Paul)
Eva Green b. 1980 (Penny Dreadful, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Dark Shadows, Camelot, Perfect Sense, Clone, The Golden Compass)
Kevin Hart b. 1979 (This is the End, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire)
Adam Busch b. 1978 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Point Pleasant, Buffy)
Symba b. 1970 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Deep Space Nine, Sliders, Star Trek: Voyager)
Brian Van Holt b. 1969 (Ascension, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Threshold)
Brian Posehn b. 1966 (The Big Bang Theory, Knights of Badassdom, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Undead or Alive: A Zombedy)
Mark Mitchinson b. 1966 (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Power Rangers, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Legend of the Seeker)
Casey Sander b. 1956 (The Big Bang Theory, Buffy, Quantum Leap, Predator II, Spaced Invaders, V)
Allyce Beasley b. 1954 (Gotham, Rumplestiltskin, The Tommyknockers, Superboy, ALF)
Jennifer Savidge b. 1952 (Evolution, FreakyLinks, Deep Space Nine, House of Frankenstein [TV], Lois & Clark)
Geoffrey Rush b. 1951 (Pirates of the Caribbean, House on Haunted Hill [1999], Mystery Men)
Geraldine James b. 1950 ( Robot Overlords, Alice in Wonderland [2010], Fairy Tales, Hex)
John Byrne b. 1950 (writer/artist, Marvel Comics, DC Comics)
Shelley Hack b. 1947 (Tales from the Crypt, Troll, SeaQuest 2032, Time After Time)
Gloria Gifford b. 1946 (Halloween II, The Incredible Hulk)
Sylvester Stallone b. 1946 (Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Judge Dredd, Demolition Man, Death Race 2000)
Fred Dryer b. 1946 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Relic Hunter)
Burt Ward b. 1945 (Star Quest, Homeboys in Outer Space, Beach Babes from Beyond, Cyber-C.H.I.C., Batman)
Ahna Capri b. 1944 died 19 August 2010 (Man from Atlantis, Piranha, The Ivaders)
Rosemary Forsyth b. 1943 (Ghosts of Mars, Star Trek: Voyager, The Incredible Hulk)
Ned Beatty b. 1937 (Gulliver's Travels [1996], Replikator, Purple People Eater, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Superman I and II, Exorcist II: The Heretic)
Janet Leigh b. 1927 died 3 October 2004 (Halloween H20, The Twilight Zone [1989], Starman, The Fog, Night of the Lepus, Hello Down There)
Merv Griffin b. 1925 died 12 August 2007 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], Slapstick (of Another Kind), The Man with Two Brains, The Girl with Something Extra, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
William Schallert b. 1922 (True Blood, Lois and Clark, Deep Space Nine, Matinee, Quantum Leap, Innerspace, The Twilight Zone [1986 and 1960], Gremlins, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Hangar 18, Legends of the Superheroes, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Land of the Giants, Bewitched, Star Trek, Men Into Space, The Monolith Monsters, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Commando Cody, Tobor the Great, Them!, Invasion U.S.A., The Man from Planet X, Mighty Joe Young)
Nancy Reagan b. 1921 (Donovan's Brain, The Next Voice You Hear)
Sebastian Cabot b. 1918 died 22 August 1977 (Miracle on 34th Street [1973 TV Movie], The Time Machine, The Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previously, the Picture Slot went to Oh That Guy extraordinary William Schallert, who turns 93 today and good on him. When it comes to movie stars, Geoffrey Rush and Sly Stallone are the biggest names here and for TV stars iconic in genre, Burt Ward as Robin is an excellent choice. But I was in a fabulous babe mood and selected Eva Green, the star of the current show Penny Dreadful.

2. Spot the Canadians! The younger Canadians are spottable, Robert Naylor and Gregory Smith, have Canadian looking credit lists. Rosemary Forsyth, the oldest Canadian celebrating a birthday today, is not spottable.

3. Yes, they're still alive. I'm not surprised about our two nonagenarians today. I saw William Schallert on True Blood  a few years back and I knew I hadn't seen his obit yet and I hope that is true for some time to come. I had my tabloid blog years ago and they always had Nancy Reagan on death's door, but she is still with us as well.

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

Predictor: The ESPN panel of baseball experts predict the playoff teams for major league baseball before the season starts.

Predictions (reality):
A.L East: Boston (5th in division)
A.L. Central: Cleveland (4th in division)
Detroit for wild card (3rd in division 6th in wild card race)
A.L. West: Seattle (4th in division)
Anaheim for wild card (currently top wild card team)

N.L East: Washington (1st)
Miami for wild card (4th in division, 9th in wild card race)
N.L. Central: St. Louis (1st)
Pittsburgh for wild card (currently top wild card team)
N.L. West: Los Angeles (1st)
  
Comments: Halfway through the season, the National League is much more predictable than the American. The only oversold team in the National are the wild card Marlins, who are well under .500 right now, while in the American, every prediction division winner is under .500 with lots of teams to climb over to get to the playoffs. We will of course check in again when the season is over and let the experts pick the playoffs, which they sucked at last year because two wild card teams played for the World Series, a hard outcome to predict. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

John Langdon-Davies is back, getting lots of stuff wrong.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

1 July 2015

Birthdays
Hannah Murray b. 1989 (Game of Thrones, Dark Shadows [2012 movie])
Laura Jacobs b. 1987 (Almost Human, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)
Hilarie Burton b. 1982 (Extant, Forever)
Kim Jackson b. 1981 (Iron Sky, Scooby-Doo)
Clemency Burton-Hill b. 1981 (Supernova, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God)
Elizabeth Thai b. 1979 (Man of Steel, Arrow, Eureka, Fringe, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Dresden Files, The 4400, Smallville, Andromeda)
Liv Tyler b. 1977 (The Leftovers, Space Station 76, The Incredible Hulk, The Lord of the Rings, Armageddon)
Julianne Nicholson b. 1971 (The Others, Storm of the Century)
Colin Patrick Lynch b. 1968 (Serenity, Firefly, Angel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Ritchie Coster b. 1967 (Let Me In, The Dark Knight, The Tuxedo)
Harald Zwart b. 1965 (director, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones)
Dominic Keating b. 1962 (Beowulf, Heroes, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Immortal, Good vs Evil, Buffy, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Andre Braugher b. 1962 (The Andromeda Strain [2008 TV], The Mist, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Salem’s Lot, Frequency)
Dale Midkiff b, 1959 (Flight of the Living Dead, Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion, Time Trax, Pet Sematary)
Alan Ruck b. 1956 (The Whispers, Zombie Night, Fringe, Eureka, The Happening, InAlienable, Stargate: Atlantis, From the Earth to the Moon. Star Trek: Generations)
Robby the Robot built 1955 (Earth Girls are Easy, Gremlins, Mork & Mindy, Wonder Woman, Project U.F.O., Space Academy, Ark II, Lost in Space, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, The Invasion of the Neptune Men, The Invisible Boy, Forbidden Planet)
Dan Aykroyd b. 1952 (Earth vs. the Spider [2001 TV], Evolution, Coneheads, Ghostbusters, My Stepmother Is and Alien, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Twilight Zone: The Movie)
Brian George b. 1952 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, The Big Bang Theory The 4400, Andromeda, Star Trek: Voyager, The X-Files, Lois & Clark, Deep Space Nine, Weird Science [TV], Poltergeist: The Legacy, Here Come the Munsters, Quantum Leap, Martians Go Home)
Terrence Mann b. 1951 (Sense8, The Dresden Files, Critters)
Michael Pressman b. 1950 (director, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze)
Deborah Harry b. 1945 (Anamorph, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, Videodrome)
Tony DiBenedetto b. 1944 (Lois & Clark, The Hidden II, Splash)
Genevieve Bujold b. 1942 (The Adventures of Pinocchio, Coma)
Inga Neilsen b. 1940 (Beyond Westworld, Wonder Woman, The Invisible Man, Grave of the Vampire, Batman)
Karen Black b. 1939 died 8 August 2013 (Ooga Booga, Dr. Rage, Teknolust, Dinosaur Valley Girls, Plan Ten from Outer Space, Evil Spirits, The Invisible Kid, It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive, Faerie Tale Theatre, Invader from Mars [1986], Capricorn One, The Invaders)
Ron Masack b. 1935 (They Came from Outer Space, Starman [TV], The Aliens Are Coming, Wonder Woman, Laserblast, Land of the Lost, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Twilight Zone)
David Prowse b. 1935 (Star Wars, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy [TV], Jabberwocky, Gulliver’s Travels [1977], Space: 1999, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, The Tomorrow People [1973 TV], Doctor Who, Vampire Circus, A Clockwork Orange, The Horror of Frankenstein)
Jean Marsh b. 1934 (An Adventure in Space and Time, The Tomorrow People [1994 TV], A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Doctor Who, Willow, Return to Oz, The Changeling [1980], UFO, Unearthly Stranger, Twilight Zone)
Farley Granger b. 1925 died 27 March 2011 (The Invisible Man [1975], The Six Million Dollar Man)
Florence Stanley b. 1974 (Dark Shadows [1960s])
Harold Sakata b. 1920 died 29 July 1982 (Death Dimension, The Amazing Spider-Man [1978], Dimension 5)
Olivia de Havilland b. 1916 (The Swarm)

1. The Picture Slot. In earlier years, the Picture Slot was filled by Liv Tyler and Robby the Robot. This year it was a competition between Hannah Murray who plays Gilly on Game of Thrones, Dan Aykroyd from Ghostbusters and the winner, David Prowse as Darth Vader, seen here without his helmet.


2. Spot the Canadians! The fact that Dan Aykroyd is Canadian is at the level of not very tough trivia to my mind, and the other Canadian is the very pretty Laura Jacobs, whose career so far has consisted of being very pretty in the background.

3. Wait... she's dead? I'm still not quite used to Karen Black being dead.

4. Wait... she's alive? I kinda sorta knew Olivia de Havilland was still alive. I knew that she and her sister Joan Fontaine were still feuding until Joan died in 2013, the thing is I'm a little sketchy on which one is alive and which one is dead.

5. I know this, but I'm still not used to it. Deborah Harry turns 70 this year. Most of the rest of the folks from the punk/new wave scene of the 1970s are about ten years younger.

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

Movie released
The Last Airbender escaped, 2010  
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs released, 2009
 

Predictor: George Sutherland in his book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction:  Just as the miner pounds away at the rock by means of compressed air or electricity, brought to his hands through a pipe or a wire, so the farmer will work his land by spades or ploughs by the same kind of mechanical power. The advantages of electrical transmission of energy will greatly favour this kind of installation on the farm, as compared with any other method of distribution which is as yet in sight. For the ploughing of a field by the electric plough a cable will be required capable of being stretched along one side of the area to be worked.

Reality: I like our sensible friend Mr. Sutherland, but he made an early decision that gas powered machinery was not going to be useful because of the technological challenges of 1900 and 1901. Those problems got fixed and we got the petroleum fueled modern world, like it or not.

This month's splash illustration: I'm a little amazed this exists, but this is a toy based on the 1963 episode of The Outer Limits entitled The Zanti Misfits. I was eight when I saw this and it scared the bejeezus out of me. The face of this toy kind of reminds me of Dr. Venture, so it's a little less scary now, but I can still transport myself back to the terrified pre-pubescent kid who first saw it in black and white.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Thursday again and we get another clunker prediction from The Experts Speak.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

27 June 2015

Birthdays
Chandler Riggs b. 1999 (The Walking Dead, Jesus H. Zombie)
Matthew Lewis b. 1989 (Harry Potter)
Ed Westwick b. 1987 (S. Darko, Children of Men)
India de Beaufort b. 1987 (Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire)
Sam Claflin b. 1986 (The Hunger Games, Snow White and the Huntsman, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Lost Future)
Drake Bell b. 1986 (I [Heart] Vampires, Dragonworld: The Legend Continues)
Sam Hoare b. 1981 (An Adventure in Space and Time, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Golden Compass)
Courtney Ford b. 1978 (True Blood, The Big Bang Theory, The Vampire Diaries, Alien Raiders)
Tobey Maguire b. 1975 (Spider-Man 1, 2 & 3, Pleasantville, Eerie, Indiana)
Christian Kane b. 1974 (The Librarians, Angel)
Stephen Barker Turner b. 1968 (Forever, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2)
J.J. Abrams b. 1966 (writer/director, Star Wars: Episode VII, Fringe, Star Trek, Super 8, Lost, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Armageddon)
Isabelle Adjani b. 1955 (Nosferatu the Vampire)
Julia Duffy b. 1951 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Voyagers!, Wizards and Warriors, Battle Beyond the Stars)
Ken Marshall b. 1950 (Deep Space Nine, Quantum Leap, Krull)
James Daughton b. 1950 (Hologram Man, Weird Science [TV], V, The Incredible Hulk, Future Cop, Planet of the Apes [TV], The Sixth Sense [TV], Shazam!)
Paul Koslo b. 1944 (Stargate SG-1, The Flash, Xtro II, Solar Crisis, Robot Jox, Misfits of Science, The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk, Galactica 1980, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Omega Man)
Sandra Smith b. 1940 (Star Trek)
George McCowan b. 1927 died 1 November 1995 (director, War of the Worlds [TV], The Shape of Things to Come, The Starlost, Frogs, The Invaders)
Wallace Earl Leven b. 1926 died 27 February 2012 (The Greatest American Hero, Time Express, The Six Million Dollar Man, Planet of the Apes, The Monster That Challenged the World)
Skelton Knaggs b. 1911 died 1 May 1955 (Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere, House of Dracula, The Invisible Man’s Revenge)
Billy Curtis b. 1909 died 9 November 1988 (The Twilight Zone [1986], Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Batman, The Angry Red Planet, Adventures of Superman, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Jungle Moon Men, Superman and the Mole Men, The Wizard of Oz)
John McIntire b. 1907 died 30 January 1991 (The Incredible Hulk, Twilight Zone)
Greta Schroder b. 1892 died 8 June 1980 (Nosferatu, The Golem)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Tobey Maguire, who turns 40 today, and Matthew Lewis, best known as Neville Longbottom. Continuing with the trend of iconic stuff from the 21st Century, today it's Chandler Riggs from his most famous role as Carl on The Walking Dead.

2. The Gal at the Door. It's a short list today. No one born after WW II died young, there is no one born in the 1930s and everyone born in the 1920s is gone. These three facts conspire to make Sandra Smith the Gal at the Door. Her most famous role was as Dr. Janice Lester on the third season Star Trek episode Turnabout Intruder, my second choice for the Picture Slot today. As always, special birthday wishes go out to anyone singled out by this odd demographic coincidence.

3. The Geezer Canadians. There are two Canadians on the list today, both of them born before 1950 so their credit lists don't have that much in the way of Canadian genre productions. They are the actor Paul Koslo and the director George McCowan.

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

Movies released
Transformers: Age of Extinction released, 2014 
WALL-E released, 2008
 

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

Prediction: We can already see the outlines of 1976 products. Telephone and telegraph lines are to give way to microwave radio. Electronic lighting will give safety on sea and land. Atomic batteries are not far off and Solar batteries will be commonplace.

Reality: Even the things he gets right are more the outlines of 2015 than 1976. Microwave radio is a good description of cell phone reception, solar batteries are getting more commonplace every day and at an accelerating pace, but atomic batteries ain't happening and I'm not even sure what counts as "electronic lighting". LEDs perhaps?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Regular old Sunday tomorrow means another prediction from Robert A. Heinlein's The Door Into Summer.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

23 June 2015

Birthdays
Connor Jessup b. 1994 (Falling Skies)
Kate Melton b. 1992 (Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins)
Louisa Connolly-Burnham b. 1992 (Wolfblood, House of Anubis)
Marielle Jaffe b. 1989 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)
Isabella Leong b. 1988 (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)
Melissa Rauch b. 1980 (Big Bang Theory, True Blood)
Emmanuelle Vaugier b. 1976 (Lost Girl, Supernatural, Painkiller Jane, Unearthed, Andromeda, Smallville, Charmed, MythQuest, Mindstorm, Level 9, Shapeshifter, Saban’s Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Highlander [TV])
Joel Edgerton b.1974 (The Thing [2011], Star Wars: Episodes II and III)
Selma Blair b. 1972 (Hellboy, The Fog, Xena, Amazon High)
Martin Klebba b. 1969 (Ted 2, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters on Main Street, Oz the Great and Powerful, Mirror Mirror, Project X, The Cape, Van Helsing, Charmed, Planet of the Apes)
David Dobkin b. 1969 (producer, R.I.P.D., Jack the Giant Slayer)
Terri Ivens b. 1967 (Piranhaconda, They Came from Outer Space, The Munsters Today)
Joss Whedon b. 1964 (writer, Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., In Your Eyes, The Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Commentary! The Musical, Serenity, Angel, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Titan A.E., Toy Story)
Billy Wirth b. 1962 (Charmed, Space Marines, Starlight, Body Snatchers, The Lost Boys)
Frances McDormand b. 1957 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, AEon Flux, Darkman, The Twilight Zone [1986])
Russell Mulcahy b. 1953 (director, Teen Wolf [TV], Resident Evil: Extinction, Mysterious Island [TV], Jeremiah, The Hunger [TV], Tale of the Mummy, Perversions of Science, The Shadow, Highlander I and II)
Lauren Shuler Donner b. 1949 (producer, X-Men, Deadpool, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Constantine, Ladyhawke)
Bryan Brown b. 1947 (On the Beach [TV], Journey to the Center of the Earth [TV], 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [TV])
Ted Shackelford b. 1946 (Space Precinct, The Twilight Zone [1988], Wonder Woman)
James Marcus b. 1942 (A Clockwork Orange, Doctor Who, UFO)
Miriam Karlin b. 1925 died 3 June 2011 (Children of Men, Jekyll & Hyde [1995 TV], A Clockwork Orange)
Larry Blyden b. 1925 died 6 June 1975 (The Twilight Zone)
Dennis Price b. 1915 died 6 October 1973 (Son of Dracula, Theatre of Blood, The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1972], Dracula Contra Frankenstein, Vampyros Lesbos, The Horror of Frankenstein, Voodoo Blood Death, The Earth Dies Screaming, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man [TV], Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [TV])
(Paul) Orban b. 1896 died 6 April 1974 (artist)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Melissa Rauch from The Big Bang Theory and Joss Whedon, a writer who gets his own label on this blog, which runs neck and neck for second place with The Twilight Zone. This year, I decided to feature the artwork of Paul Orban, a very prolific artist from the sci-fi magazines. This particular work looks like it was done on scratchboard, an all black surface where the artist scratches out the area that should be white. It was a very unforgiving medium and I don't know if anyone does it anymore. Since magazine illustrator is nearly an extinct profession, scratchboard magazine illustrator is even more strange and exotic now. (For the record, Orban did use other media.)

2. Spot the Canadians! Two Canadians today, the unspottable Connor Jessup (too few credits) and the completely spottable Emmanuelle Vaugier.

3. The Guy at the Door. It's a short list today with no one born in the 1930s and everyone born in the 1920s already dead. This means British actor James Marcus is the cut-off person between the living and the dead at the tender age of 73. As always when this demographic oddity shows up, the blog extends special best wishes to Mr. Marcus

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

Predictor: John Langdon-Davies in his 1936 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction: There will be compulsory education for all until twenty-one.

Reality: Well, ummm... no. As a college instructor, Langdon-Davies' plan would mean more work for me and I'm still against it. One of the things I like about teaching college compared to high school, besides not having to be heard over the raging hormones messing with the kids' brains, is that it is not compulsory, so the majority of the students have actually chosen to be there.

Never to be Forgotten: James Horner 1953-2015

A private plane crash has taken the life of film composer James Horner at the age of 61. As far as my research has been able to discover, the only other film composers of Horner's generation who have as much work in major productions are Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. (My friend the soundtrack expert Abu Scooter includes Thomas Newman, who is the right age with plenty of hit films he worked on, but not quite as prolific.) Most of his obits mention Titanic first, but his genre credits as conductor or composer include Star Trek New Voyages, The Amazing Spider-Man, Shoestring Space Opera, Avatar, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Bicentennial Man, Mighty Joe Young, Deep Impact, Jumanji, Apollo 13, Casper, The Rocketeer, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Cocoon, Willow, *batteries not included, Aliens, Amazing Stories, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Brainstorm, Krull, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Wolfen, The Hand, Battle Beyond the Stars and Humanoids from the Deep.

Best wishes to the family and friends of James Horner, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.

 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Wednesday rolls around and we hear from our sensible pal George Sutherland predicting the inventions of the 20th Century from the year 1901.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!