30 June 2015

Birthdays
Angela Sarafyan b. 1983 (Westworld [2015], American Horror Story, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Eastwick, Buffy)
Lizzy Caplan b. 1982 (Hot Tub Time Machine, True Blood, Cloverfield, Smallville)
Aaron Perilo b. 1981 (In Time, True Blood)
Desi Lydic b. 1981 (Stan Helsing, Invasion Iowa)
Rick Gonzalez b. 1979 (Reaper, War of the Worlds, Buffy)
Molly Parker b. 1972 (The Road, The Wicker Man, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Highlander [TV])
Kate Luyben b. 1972 (True Blood, First Wave, harsh Realm, Millennium, The X Files)
Megan Fahlenblock b. 1971 (Haven, Warehouse 13, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Mutant X, Witchblade, The Fifth Quadrant, Relic Hunter)
Chris Conrad b. 1970 (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Derek Haas b. 1970 (writer, Wanted)
Marton Csokas b. 1966 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Alice in Wonderland [2010], AEon Flux, Lord of the Rings, Timeline, Xena, Cleopatra 2525, The Lost World [TV], BeastMaster [TV], Farscape, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Rupert Graves b. 1963 (Doctor Who, V for Vendetta)
Predrag Bjelac b. 1962 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Omen [2006], Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Children of Dune, The Immortal [TV])
Deirdre Lovejoy b. 1962 (American Horror Story)
Rebecca Tilney b. 1960 (The Whispers, True Blood, Lost, Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
Vincent D’Onofrio b. 1959 (Daredevil [2015], Jurassic World, The Cell, The Thirteenth Floor, Men in Black, Strange Days)
David Alan Grier b. 1955 (Bewitched [2005 movie], The X-Files, Jumanji, Blankman, ALF)
Leonard Whiting b. 1950 (Frankenstein: The True Story)
Charlene Polite b. 1943 died 21 June 1999 (Star Trek)
Otto Sander b. 1941 died 12 September 2013 (Wings of Desire)
Jeri Taylor b. 1938 (writer/producer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager)
Nancy Dussault b. 1936 (Lois & Clark, The Munsters Today)
Ted Ross b. 1934 died 3 September 2002 (Amityville II: The Possession, The Wiz)
Clifford David b. 1932 (Signs, The Exorcist III, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
Pat McCormick b. 1927 died 29 July 2005 (Beverly Hills Vamp, Scrooged, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Harvey Vernon b. 1927 died 9 October 1996 (Deep Space Nine, The Twilight Zone [1985], Teen Wolf)
Lena Horne b. 1917 died 9 May 2010 (The Wiz)
Nestor Paiva b. 1905 died 9 September 1966 (They Saved Hitler’s Brain, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, The Addams Family, My Living Doll, The Three Stooges in Orbit, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, World of Giants, The Mole People, Tarantula, Revenge of the Creature, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Mighty Joe Young)
Michael Whalen b. 1902 died 14 April 1974 (Missile to the Moon, The Phantom for 10,000 Leagues, Batman and Robin [1949])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, The Picture Slot was all Star Trek, writer/producer Jeri Taylor from the Next Generation era and actress Charlene Polite, who was on The Cloud Minders from the original series. This year, it's Vincent D'Onofrio from Men in Black.


2. Spot the fabulous Canadians! There are three Canadians on the list today, lovely actresses born in the early 1970s, Molly Parker, Kate Luyben and Megan Fahlenblock.

3. MST3K. There might be others, but the one I know for sure is Revenge of the Creature.

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

Movies released  
Twilight Saga: Eclipse released, 2010
Spider-Man 2 released 30 June 2004

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

Prediction: England will have a population one-tenth its present size.

Reality: Langdon-Davies thought England would have nothing to offer the rest of the world other than being a tourist destination and the population would dwindle. But to dwindle to one tenth of the former size takes some awful catastrophe, like famine or plague or a vicious war, even worse than World War II was to the hardest hit places like Poland and the Soviet Union. Nothing like that has happened to the United Kingdom.

 

Never to be Forgotten: Jack Carter 1923-2015

Jack Carter, a nightclub comedian whose career was at its peak in the era when Ed Sullivan's show was the must-see TV on a Sunday night, died this week, less than seven days after his 92nd birthday. His appearances in genre include  3rd Rock from the Sun, Time Trax, Lois & Clark, They Came From Outer Space, Arena, Amazing Stories, Alligator, Beyond Westworld, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman and Tales of Tomorrow.

Best wishes to the family and friends or Jack Carter. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's a new month, so there will be a new splash illustration.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!  

23 April 2015

Birthdays
Alex Ferris b. 1997 (Eureka, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Smallville, X-Men: The Last Stand, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1)
Dev Patel b. 1990 (The Last Airbender)
Aanastasia Baranova b. 1989 (Z Nation, Apocalypse CA, Rise: Blood Hunter)
Rachel Skarsten b. 1985 (Lost Girl, Beauty and the Beast, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, Birds of Prey)
Jesse Lee Sofer b. 1984 (In Time)
Aaron Hill b. 1983 (Creature, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Isaiah Robinson b. 1983 (Hook)
Jamie King b. 1979 (Sin City, The Spirit)
Joanna Krupa b. 1979 (Planet of the Apes)
Kal Penn b. 1977 (Superman Returns, Son of the Mask, Angel, Sabina, The Teenage Witch, Buffy)
Gabriel Damon b. 1976 (Eerie, Indiana, RoboCop II, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Amazing Stories)
Barry Watson b. 1974 (My Future Boyfriend, Boogeyman, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman [1993])
Sonya Smith b. 1972 (Cyxork 7)
Andrew Kreisberg b. 1971 (writer, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Warehouse 13, Fringe, The Vampire Diaries)
Scott Bairstow b. 1970 (Android Apocalypse, Tuck Everlasting, Harsh Realm, The Postman. The X Files)
Byron Thames b. 1969 (Chronicle, Star Trek: Enterprise, Monsters, Freddy’s Nightmares, The Powers of Matthew Star)
John Hannah b. 1962 (Atlantis [2013], The Mummy, Carnivale, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [2003], The Mummy and spin-offs)
Valerie Bertinelli b. 1960 (Faerie Tale Theatre, C.H.O.M.P.S.)
Mark Caven b. 1960 (Maleficent, I Love Mummy, Red Dwarf, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace)
Tim Blaney b. 1959 (Angel, Men in Black, Short Circuit)
Jan Hooks b. 1957 died 9 October 2014 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Coneheads, Batman Returns, Superman 50th Anniversary, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure)
Caroline Thompson b. 1956 (writer, Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Addams Family, Edward Scissorhands)
Blair Brown b. 1946 (Forever, Fringe, Falling Skies, Dark Shadows [TV movie 2005], Smallville, The Astronaut’s Wife, Space, Altered States, Dracula [TV movie 1973])
Herve Villechaize b. 1943 died 4 September 1993 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Forbidden Zone, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood)
Sheila Gish b. 1942 died 9 March 2005 (Highlander, The Ghostbusters of East Finchley, Worlds Beyond)
Sandra Dee b. 1942 died 20 February 2005 (The Sixth Sense [1972], The Dunwich Horror)
Lee Majors b. 1939 (Lightspeed, Jake 2.0, The Six Million Dollar Man & spin-offs, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land)
Alan Oppenheimer b. 1930 (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Invisible: The Chronicles of Benjamin Knight, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Knight Rider, The Six Million Dollar Man, Westworld, Bewitched, Gamera the Invincible, I Dream of Jeannie)
Janet Blair b. 1921 died 18 February 2007 (The Outer Limits, Burn, Witch, Burn, One Touch of Venus [TV], A Connecticut Yankee, Once Upon a Time)
Simone Simon b. 1910 died 22 February 2005 (Cat People, Curse of the Cat People)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. This is one of those days when not wanting to repeat a previous Picture Slot and only wanting iconic characters becomes difficult. In 2013, when my research methods were very weak, the only name I had on the list was Kal Penn, so he got the slot. In 2014, I found a picture of both Lee Majors and Alan Oppenheimer from The Six Million Dollar Man. While there are some well-known names on the list, for my money the most iconic role other than Lee Majors is the robot Johnny Five from Short Circuit, voiced by Tim Blaney. I usually leave voice actors out, though I do make exceptions on occasion. Blaney happens to be a relative of a former roommate, so that factored into my decision as well.

2. Wait... she's dead? We have a trio of folks born during World War II who are already dead. I remembered that Herve Villechaize was dead. (You will note I don't count Fantasy Island as genre. I was definitely a fan of genre when it came out and I knew it was more like Love Boat than Star Trek.) I really didn't follow Sheila Gish's career very closely. (By the was, she's British and not related to Lillian and Dorothy Gish.) But I certainly know the name Sandra Dee and was completely unaware she died ten years ago.

3. The Canadians, pre-spotted for your convenience. As often happens, though not always, young Canadians are on the shows that have been produced in Canada over the past few decades while older Canadians came to the States and worked here. Alex Ferris and Rachel Skarsten have credit lists that make their nationality clear, Scott Bairstow and Mark Caven, not so much.

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

Predictor: Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), cultural critic, quoted in 1932

Prediction: “[By 1982] Australia will be abandoned to the Japanese by its white inhabitants, who will return to an England capable of supporting by agriculture almost double its present population.”

Reality: Mumford was a cranky bastard who particularly hated cars and what they did to cities. While I guess he should get some small credit for that now, he was absolutely wrong about Australians giving up and equally wrong about the population of England, which grew by 25% from 1932 to 1982, not 100%.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule gives us H.G. Wells on Fridays.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!