5 September 2014

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, 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)
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 Revnge, Stargate SG-1)
Roberta Weiss b. 1961 (Tales from the Darkside, Deadly Nightmares, The Dead Zone)
Michael Keaton b. 1951 (RoboCop [2013], Herbie Fully Loaded, 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])
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)

As regular readers know, I like the Picture Slot to have something iconic and I'm not adverse to pictures of attractive women. On this list, if I go with iconic genre roles, only Michael Keaton as Batman is not a fabulous babe. Last year I went with Carice Van Houten from Game of Thrones, and  the other top choices are Rose MacGowan from Grindhouse, Raquel Welch from either Fantastic Voyage or One Million Years B.C., Gloria Holden as Dracula's Daughter and this years winners, the twins Alyce and Rhae Andrece, who played the androids named Alice in the I, Mudd episode from the original Star Trek.

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

Predictor: Edgar Cayce

Prediction: A research geologist (author of Earth Changes) suggests the discovery of the unified field theory in 1958 coincides with Cayce’s 1932 reading that 1958 would be the year that the secret of how the Great Pyramid of Gizeh was built. (“Iron swims and stone floats in the air.”)

Reality: The source I had for Edgar Cayce's predictions were true believers and they were very proud that an actual scientist was backing up the stuff Cayce said. but this "actual scientist" was just as much of a bullshit artist as Cayce himself. (No disrespect to geologists. I know at least one regular reader is a geologist.) The problems with the "confirmation" are as follows.

1. The unified field theory doesn't explain how "iron swims and stone floats in the air".
2. No important step forward in the unified field theory happened in 1958. The biggest discovery close to 1958 are the Yang-Mills equations which were published in 1954.

And so we bid farewell to Edgar Cayce and his gift of prophecy. I had fun digging up his corpse and kicking it around for a while, but all good things must come to an end.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893, complete with uncomfortable suits, fantastic facial hair and to top it off, predictions of opulently bejeweled priests!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

22 August 2014

Birthdays
Dakota Goyo b. 1999 (Dark Skies, Real Steel, Thor, Ultra)
Jorge Diaz b. 1983 (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, True Blood)
Jennifer Finnigan b. 1979 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Big Wolf on Campus)
Brandon Quintin Adams b. 1979 (The Burning Zone, Ghost in the Machine, Quantum Leap)
James Corden b. 1978 (Into the Woods, Doctor Who, Gulliver’s Travels, Vampire Killers, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story)
Rodrigo Santoro b. 1975 (Lost)
Kristen Wiig b. 1973 (Paul)
Heidi Lenhart b. 1973 (Crocodile 2: Death Swamp, The Burning Zone)
Richard Armitage b. 1971 (The Hobbit, Captain America: The First Avenger, Star Wars: Episode I – Yes, Yes That One Again)
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje b. 1967 (Thor: The Dark World, The Thing [2011], G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Lost, The Mummy Returns, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [2001])
Ty Burrell b. 1967 (The Incredible Hulk [2008], National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Dawn of the Dead, Evolution)
Pamella D’Pella b. 1967 (Alien Nation: Millennium, Beauty and the Beast, ALF)
Courtney Gains b. 1965 (Mimesis, Alien Encounter, Halloween [2007], Charmed, Superboy, Starman [TV], Misfits of Science, Back to the Future, Children of the Corn)
Andrew Wilson b. 1964 (Idiocracy, Merlin: The Return)
Lara Harris b. 1962 (American Horror Story, Demolition Man, Monsters)
Mark Williams b. 1959 (Doctor Who, Being Human, Harry Potter, Frankenstein’s Wedding… Live in Leeds, Stardust, The Borrowers, Red Dwarf)
Holly Hawkins b. 1959 (True Blood, Alice in Wonderland)
Colm Feore b. 1958 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Beauty and the Beast [2014 TV], Revolution, Thor, Battlestar Galactica, The Chronicles of Riddick, Storm of the Century, Creature [1998 TV], Forever Knight, Beyond Reality, War of the Worlds [TV])
Honor Blackman b. 1925 (Cockneys vs Zombies, Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, Tale of the Mummy, Doctor Who, Jason and the Argonauts, H. G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Ray Bradbury b. 1920 died 5 June 2012 (author, Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles)
Cecil Kellaway b. 1893 died 28 February 1973 (Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone, Zotz!, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Harvey, The Luck of the Irish, I Married a Witch, The Invisible Man Returns)

Last year the Picture Slot belonged to Ray Bradbury, and when it comes to genre, he bestrides this list like a colossus. I would be completely justified to give him the Picture Slot every 22nd of August. But if we want to talk about bestriding and colossi, we also have Honor Blackman as Hera in Jason and the Argonauts. In 1963 I saw this movie at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland on a Saturday. The special effects were state of the art at the time and a lot of scenes made a deep impression, the one in the Picture Slot more than most. It's still one of the most memorable times at the movies for me to this day.

Next year is still unclear, but Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter series is an early front runner.

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

Movies released
1990: The Bronx Warriors released, 1982
 

Predictor: Edgar Cayce

Prediction: The time of great upheaval will begin in 1958 with the eruption of Mt. Etna.

Reality: Wikipedia lists 1928 as the biggest eruption for Mt. Etna in the 20th Century, with other notable eruptions in 1949 and 1971, no mention of 1958.

Next week is Edgar Cayce's swan song and (spoiler alert) it will be as bad as the rest of his stuff. When I had the idea of putting him on the list, I knew he'd be hit or miss, but I was still surprised by how few hits he had, given that he once had a reputation.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Saturday, so we return to 1893 for bold predictions and bolder facial hair.
 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

15 August 2014

 Birthdays

Jennifer Lawrence b. 1990 (X-Men, Hunger Games)
Natasha Henstridge b. 1974 (The Secret Circle, Impact, Ghosts of Mars, Jason and the Argonauts [TV 2000], Species I, II & III, Homeboys from Outer Space)
Ben Affleck b. 1972 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Paycheck, Daredevil, Dogma, Armageddon, Phantoms, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie])
Anthony Anderson b. 1970 (Transformers, Alien Avengers)
Debra Messing b. 1968 (The Mothman Prophecies, Prey)
Michael Berresse b. 1964 (Meet Dave, A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
Andy Forrest b. 1963 (The Future, Carnivale)
David Zayas b. 1962 (Grimm, Skyline, Angel)
Zeljko Ivanek b. 1957 (True Blood, Revolution, The Event, Heroes, Lost, From the Earth to the Moon, The X-Files)
Ann Ryerson b. 1949 (Constantine, Minority Report, Friday the 13th Part VI)
Jill Haworth b. 1945 died 3 January 2011 (The Mutations, Horror on Snape Island, Horror House, It!, The Outer Limits)
Nigel Terry b. 1945 (Doctor Who, Highlander [TV], Excalibur)
Barbara Bouchet b. 1943 (Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Lou Perryman b. 1941 died 1 April 2009 (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Poltergeist)
Michael J. Reynolds b. 1939 (Moonshot, Lexx, Earth: Final Conflict, The Lifeforce Experiment, Twilight Zone [1989], Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Plague, The Neptune Factor)
Pat Priest b. 1936 (The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, Bewitched, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Mike Henry b. 1936 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Soylent Green)
Abby Dalton b. 1935 (Cyber Tracker, Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent)
Lori Nelson b. 1933 (The Naked Monster, Day the World Ended, Revenge of the Creature)
Janice Rule b. 1931 died 17 October 2003 (Twilight Zone, Bell, Book and Candle)
Nicolas Roeg b. 1928 (director, The Witches, The Man Who Fell to Earth)
Mike Connors b. 1925 (Earthlings, Voodoo Woman, The Day the World Ended)
Signe Hasso b. 1910 died 7 June 2002 (The Green Hornet, The Outer Limits)

Last year, the Picture Slot was Jennifer Lawrence from The Hunger Games. This year, following the fabulous babe theme, it's Natasha Henstridge from Species. There are certainly other iconic roles on the list from genre and I have no idea who I will use next year, except probably not Ben Affleck as Daredevil, because that would be cruel. I actually like Affleck.

Extra note from my past: I used to have a blog about the supermarket tabloid covers. The Globe gave a Brave Last Days alert for Mike Connors in 2010. Four years later, he's still here and good for him.

Also, anyone working at the Globe can go to hell.

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

Movies released
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, released 1984  

Predictor: Edgar Cayce in December 1930

Prediction: Cayce predicts the Depression will last to 1934 or 1935.

Reality: Most sources say it ended in 1939 and some say it was World War II war manufacturing that finally ended it. In any case, it was still going on at the end of 1935, so another swing and a miss by Mr. Cayce.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction about the 20th Century from 1893, this time about the arts.

Yes, there will be facial hair.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

8 August 2014

Birthdays
Peyton List b. 1986 (The Tomorrow People, Smallville, FlashForward)
Katie Leung b. 1987 (Harry Potter)
Jean Proske b. 1987 (Beauty and the Beast [TV], Vampires Suck)
Tobias Santelmann b. 1980 (Hercules)
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)
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)
Dustin Hoffman b. 1937 (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)
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)
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)

Every morning, my research starts at two websites, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org) and the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). The isfdb lists names chronologically from oldest to youngest, but the imdb lists them by popularity. I don't write down every name from both lists, but today isfdb had Terry Nation listed for a book he wrote, but imdb did not have him in the top 100, which is as far as I usually check. (He was listed in position 102.) I wanted to show him some respect after that slight, so he and his most famous creations the Daleks are in the Picture Slot.

If I were choosing the Picture Slot based on movie stardom, it would be Dustin Hoffman. If I was choosing based on iconic work in genre, Richard Anderson would be the most recognizable face for Americans of a certain age. As a Whedonverse nerd, I might choose Keith Carradine from Dollhouse and if I was in a Fabulous Babe mood, Katie Leung played Harry Potter's first love interest Cho Chang in the movies and Suzee Pai was one of the damsels in distress in Big Trouble in Little China. The other attractive women don't have genre roles as iconic. (Peyton List, for example, played Roger Sterling's second wife on Mad Men.)

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

Predictor: Edgar Cayce

Prediction: A great spiritual leader will be incarnated in 1935 or 1936 and will serve in some manner in 1989 at the age of 54, a reincarnation of St. Martin, patron saint of France.

Reality: Are there any "great spiritual leaders" born in those years? Yes, the Dalai Lama in 1935 and Pope Francis in 1936. Looking online, the year 1989 was not pivotal in either of their lives and neither of them claims to be a reincarnation of St. Martin.

Some may complain that giving Cayce any points here is far too lenient, but he gets credit where he was vague and no credit where he was precise. For poor Edgar, this will count as a tape measure home run, surrounded by a long career of pathetic strikeouts.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We travel back to 1893 for the one-two punch of futurism and facial hair.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

25 July 2014

Birthdays
Mason Cook b. 2000 (Mockingbird Lane, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D)
Preston Bailey b. 2000 (Children of the Corn [2009])
Linsey Godfrey b. 1988 (Altergeist, Wizards of Waverly Place, Surface)
Michael Welch b. 1987 (Twilight, Grimm, Day of the Dead, Stargate SG-1, Birds of Prey, The Invisible Man, The X-Files, Star Trek: Insurrection)
Shantel VanSanten b. 1985 (The Messengers, Beauty and the Beast [2013])
James Lafferty b. 1985 (Oculus, S. Darko)
Jay R. Ferguson b. 1974 (No Ordinary Family, Surface)
Jason Marin b. 1974 (Back to the Future)
Aaron Craven b. 1974 (100,000 Zombie Heads, Supernatural, Continuum, Fringe, Smallville, Alien Trespass, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Stargate: Atlantis, Kyle XY, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone)
Michael C. Williams b. 1973 (The Objective, Altered, The Blair Witch Project)
David Denman b. 1973 (After Earth, Angel, The X-Files)
Miriam Shor b. 1971 (Bedazzled)
D.B. Woodside b. 1969 (Buffy)
Matt LeBlanc b. 1967 (Lost in Space [1998])
Illeana Douglas b. 1965 (The Coven, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Strange Frequency)
Iman b. 1955 (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Lynne Frederick b. 1954 died 27 April 1994 (Space: 1999, The Canterville Ghost, Phase IV, Vampire Circus, No Blade of Grass)
Janet Margolin b. 1943 died 17 December 1993 (Ghostbusters II, Planet Earth)
Ken Swofford b. 1933 (Max Headroom, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Girl with Something Extra, The Andromeda Strain, The Intruders, Shadow on the Land)
Woody Strode b. 1914 died 31 December 1994 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Kingdom of the Spiders, Batman)
Jack Gilford b. 1908 died 2 June 1990 (Cocoon, Anna to the Infinite Power, Caveman)

Yesterday, there were a bunch of excellent iconic choices for the Picture Slot, many of them fabulous babes, but today the star power in genre productions is not that great. Even the Oh That Guy actors aren't all that recognizable, with the exception of Woody Strode who was in a jillion Westerns and the comic actor Jack Gilford. And so, I make the Whedonverse Nerd move and go with a picture of David Denman as the demon Skip from Angel.

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

 

Predictor: Edgar Cayce in 1932

Prediction: In 1936, political upheavals will see the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan.

Reality: Wow. That's really specific and predicting very large changes to happen in a very short time period.

He's completely wrong, of course, but you have to admire the boldness.

I can understand how the Soviet Union or the U.K. or even the U.S. might break apart, but it's hard to imagine Japan becoming more than one political entity. Maybe he assumed they would be kicked out of Manchuria, which they invaded in 1931 so he should have known about that when he made the prediction. Even that didn't happen by 1936, so another big strikeout for Mr. Prophecy Guy.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is Saturday just around the corner again. Then it's back to 1893. (Spoiler alert: no cool facial hair, but some clothing choices no one would make today.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!


 

18 July 2014

Birthdays
Brody Nicholas Lee b. 1997 (Cloud Atlas)
Cody Benjamin Lee b. 1997 (Cloud Atlas, The Shiftling, Invasion)
Chace Crawford b. 1985 (The Covenant)
Rosalind Halstead b. 1984 (Dominion, Rage of the Yeti, The Day of the Triffids [2009])
Michael Huisman b. 1981 (Orphan Black, Game of Thrones, World War Z)
Kristen Bell b. 1980 (Heroes)
Kelly Reilly b. 1977 (Puffball: The Devil’s Eyeball, A for Andromeda)
Valerie Cruz b. 1976 (Grimm, Alphas, True Blood, Dollhouse, The Dresden Files, Invasion)
Jed Whedon b. 1975 (writer, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog)
Sarah McLeod b. 1971 (The Lord of the Rings)
Grant Bowler b. 1968 (Defiance, True Blood, Lost, The Lost World, On the Beach [2000], Farscape)
Andre Royo b. 1968 (Fringe, Hellbenders, Heroes, The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Vin Diesel b. 1967 (The Last Witch Hunter, Pitch Black, Babylon A.D.)
Elizabeth McGovern b. 1961 (Clash of the Titans, Kick-Ass, The Handmaid’s Tale, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Lee Arenberg b. 1962 (Once Upon a Time, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek: Enterprise, Charmed, Dungeons & Dragons, Angel, Star Trek: Voyager, The Apocalypse, Lois & Clark, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Freaked, RoboCop 3, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Wizard, Martians Go Home)
Travis McKenna b. 1960 (Meego, Batman Returns, Quantum Leap)
Anne-Marie Johnson b. 1960 (The X Files, Asteroid, Babylon 5, Robot Jox)
James Faulkner b. 1948 (X-Men: First Class, Relic Hunter, Highlander [TV], The Martian Chronicles)
Tony Azito b. 1948 died 26 May 1995 (Necronomicon: Book of Dead, The Addams Family [1991])
James Brolin b 1940 (Lost City Raiders, Category 7: The End of the World, Terminal Virus, The Amityville Horror, Capricorn One, Westworld, Batman, Fantastic Voyage, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Hampton Fancher b. 1938 (writer, Blade Runner)
Britt Leach b. 1938 (Quantum Leap, Amazing Stories, Weird Science, Wonder Woman)
Paul Verhoeven b. 1938 (director, Hollow Man, Starship Troopers, Total Recall, RoboCop, Deadly Nightmares)
Burt Kwouk b. 1930 (Spirit Warriors, I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle, Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People, Rollerball, Curse of the Fly)
Syd Mead b. 1933 (artist)
John Glenn b. 1921 (astronaut)
Hume Cronyn b. 1911 died 15 June 2003 (Cocoon, *batteries not included)

This year, guys who walked on the moon are trump. While John Glenn did not make that trip, he was the big media darling of the original Mercury Seven. Last year, I had a Syd Mead illustration in the Picture Slot and I might do that again next year, Mead's contribution to the look of the future is so influential, but there are some other choices I might go with instead.

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

Movies released
The Dark Knight released, 2008
Jurassic Park III released , 2001

Predictor: Edgar Cayce

Prediction: The Great Lakes will empty into the Gulf of Mexico in the 1958-1998 era.

Reality: If you wonder why no one talks about Edgar Cayce anymore, crap predictions like this are a big part of it. Yes, he knew enough geography to know the Great Lakes flow to the ocean through the St. Lawrence River, but he predicted massive changes at the tectonic plate level in the second half of the 20th Century and simply put, none of them happened. But there. It's hard to believe now how many people took him seriously back in the day.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's the weekend already and time to hear from our futurist pals from 1893 again.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

11 July 2014

Birthdays
Kelsey Sanders b. 1990 (10,000 Days, Wizards of Waverly Place)
Rachael Taylor b. 1984 (666 Park Avenue, Transformers, Man-Thing)
Serinda Swan b. 1984 (The Tomorrow People, Creature, TRON: Legacy, Supernatural, Smallville, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Reaper, Beyond Loch Ness)
Michael Rosenbaum b. 1972 (Smallville)
Greg Grunberg b. 1966 (Big Ass Spider!, End of the World, Super 8, Heroes, Lost, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Hollow Man, Frankenstein: The College Years)
Greg Mottola b. 1964 (director, Paul)
Lisa Rinna b. 1963 (Nick Fury: Agent of Shield [TV movie 1998], Robot Wars)
Sela Ward b. 1956 (The Day After Tomorrow)
Stephen Lang b. 1952 (Avatar, Terra Nova, Conan the Barbarian [2011], Project X)
Tim De Zarn b. 1952 (The Cabin in the Woods, Lost, Spider-Man, Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap)
Bruce McGill b. 1950 (No Ordinary Family, Deep Core., Area 57, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Timecop, Quantum Leap, Tales from the Crypt, The Man Who Fell to Earth [TV])
Tom Holland b. 1943 (director, Twisted Tales [TV], Thinner, The Langoliers, Amazing Stories, Fright Night)
David Kelly b. 1929 died 12 February 2012 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Merlin of the Crystal Cave, Stardust, Whoops Apocalypse)
Yul Brynner b. 1920 died 10 October 1985 (Futureworld, Westworld, The Ultimate Warrior)
Cordwainer Smith b. 1913 died 6 August 1966 (Author, The Instrumentality of Mankind)

Today's Picture Slot choice was difficult, but I went with Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor from Smallville. I've watched several different versions of Superman, but I'll never forget Luthor's origin story from the comics when I was a kid. Superboy saved him from a fire at a lab, but blowing out the fire burned off Luthor's lovely head of hair which never grew back. This was the reason he was the most evil man on earth.

This is just one of the many reasons I have disliked DC Comics almost my entire life, not that this is any fault of Mr. Rosenbaum.

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

Movies released 
Journey to the Center of the Earth released, 2008
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix released, 2007

Predictor: Edgar Cayce, interpreting a stockbroker's dream in March 1929

Prediction: "Unless more stable banking conditions come to the relief, there will be a great disturbance in financial circles."

Reality: I'm reading books written by proponents of Cayce, and this is an example of what they consider a great success. The thing is, his readings quite often have a "maybe it will and maybe it won't" clause in them and this one didn't say "later this year". Still, here he is saying the stock market could go boom seven months before it did, so I'm giving him at least partial credit here.

Looking on day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule is interrupted by an exact date from Robert A. Heinlein. Yay!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

4 July 2014

Birthdays
Andrea Gabriel b. 1978 (Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 2, Lost)
Rohan Nicol b. 1976 (Terra Nova, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith)
Reggie Rolle b. 1976 (Power Rangers, Charmed)
Marti Matulis b. 1970 (Sleepy Hollow [TV], Harry Potter and the Ten Years Later, Men in Black 3, Grimm, Land of the Lost, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Nemesis)
Marni McPhail b. 1966 (Sliders, The X-Files, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Voyager, Space: Above and Beyond)
Lee Reherman b. 1966 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Race to Witch Mountain, The X-Files, Angel, Last Action Hero)
Ted Elliott b. 1961 (writer, Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Shrek, Small Soldiers, Godzilla [1988], The Puppet Masters, Little Monsters)
David Robbins b. 1950 (author, Blade)
Ed O' Ross b. 1946 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Kindred: The Embraced, Universal Soldier)
Bruce French b. 1945 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Jurassic Park III, Star Trek: Insurrection, Team Knight Rider, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Christine, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Susan Kellermann b. 1944 (The Devil's Advocate, Beetlejuice)
Stephen Boyd b. 1931 died 2 June 1977 (Fantastic Voyage)
Eric Fleming b. 1925 died 28 September 1966 (Curse of the Undead, Queen of Outer Space, Conquest of Space)
Eva Marie Saint b. 1924 (Superman Returns)
Gloria Stuart b. 1910 died 26 September 2010 (The Invisible Man [2001 TV and 1933 movie])

The list is short today and iconic genre roles are at a minimum. We have a weird dichotomy with the dead, Gloria Stuart living to be one hundred and Eric Fleming and Stephen Boyd both dying before they were fifty. I chose this picture of Boyd in his package forward jumpsuit from Fantastic Voyage, doing what I remember him most for in this film, leering at Raquel Welch. To be fair, I spent most of the movie leering at Raquel Welch as well, but I wasn't on camera.

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

Predictor: Edgar Cayce 1877-1945, "the sleeping prophet"

Prediction: Atlantis will rise again, in 1968 or 1969, near Bimini

Reality: Welcome our new Friday regular, Edgar Cayce! No, he really doesn't count as "science fiction", but regular readers will know all I really want are predictions with dates on them that can be confirmed or disproven. You might think he is going to stink the place out, and this first one is crap, but let me say this for him.

He's better than Ray Kurzweil, though his supporters are just as blind to his faults.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

1893 beckons once more.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!