7 January 2015

 Birthdays
Liam Aiken b. 1990 (Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Robert Sheehan b. 1988 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Demons Never Die, Misfits, Season of the Witch, Ghostwood)
Haley Bennett b. 1988 (The Hole)
Lyndsy Fonseca b. 1987 (Agent Carter, Kick-Ass 1 &2, Hot Tub Time Machine, Heroes, Phil of the Future)
Brett Dalton b. 1983 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Lauren Cohan b. 1982 (The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural)
Tom Harper b. 1980 (director, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, The Borrowers, Demons )
Merritt Wever b. 1980 (Birdman, Signs)
Reggie Austin b. 1979 (The Omen [2006])
Dustin Diamond b. 1977 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Munsters Today, Purple People Eater)
Tyron Leitso b. 1976 (Wonderfalls, House of the Dead, Dinotopia, Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, Mysterious Ways, First Wave)
Jeremy Renner b. 1971 (The Avengers, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Thor, 28 Weeks Later, Angel)
David Yost b. 1969 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Irrfan Khan b. 1967 (Jurassic World, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Nicolas Cage b. 1964 (Left Behind, National Treasure, Kick-Ass, Ghost Rider, Season of the Witch, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Knowing, Vampire’s Kiss)
Lester Speight b. 1963 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, The Meteor Man)
Mark Allen Shepherd b. 1961 (Deep Space Nine)
Linda Kozlowski b. 1958 (Village of the Damned [1995] )
Robert Longo b. 1953 (director, Johnny Mnemonic)
Erin Gray b. 1950 (Star Trek Continues, The Guild, Ghouls, Nuclear Hurricane, Jason Goes to Hell, Superboy, Deadly Nightmares, The Princess and the Dwarf, Starman [TV], Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Anne Schedeen b. 1949 (ALF, The Incredible Hulk, Project U.F.O., Exo-Man, Embryo, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Steven Williams b. 1949 (Jack the Giant Slayer, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1, The X Files, SeaQuest 2032, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Wizards and Warriors)
Terry Moore b. 1929 (Mansion of Blood, Mighty Joe Young [1949 and 1998], Knight Rider, Death Dimension, Batman)
William Peter Blatty b. 1928 (author, The Exorcist)
Gene L. Coon b. 1924 died 8 July 1973 (writer, Star Trek)
Vincent Gardenia b. 1920 died 9 December 1992 (Little Shop of Horrors [1986], The Twilight Zone, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Charles Addams b. 1912 died 29 September 1988 (cartoonist, The Addams Family)
Alan Napier b. 1903 died 8 August 1988 (Batman, Twilight Zone, Premature Burial, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Island of Lost Women, The Mole People, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Isle of the Dead, The Uninvited, The Invisible Man Returns, Cat People)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot featured Jeremy Renner from The Avengers and Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn on Deep Space Nine. This year, I could have gone old school with Alan Napier as Alfred from Batman or new school with Brett Dalton, agent Grant Ward from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Instead I split the difference and used a picture of Erin Gray as Wilma Deering from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. You might ask: Did her fabulous babe-osity have anything to do with the selection process? Let me answer your question with a question.

How long have you been reading the blog?

2. Faux Canadians and Stealth Canadians. Let me say that while there are many Canadian genre TV shows, the Big Four are Stargate, Supernatual, Smallville and The X-Files. Steven Williams shows up on three out of four, including the recurring role of Mr. X on The X-Files, but he was born in the States. He may have moved and established residence, but I don't have any information to back that up. I suspect he became a well-known face through the role as Mr. X and other shows wanted to hire him after that.  Our actual native-born Canadian is Tyron Leitso, though his credits are not as obviously Canadian.

3. The Guy at the Door. It doesn't happen every day, but it is true of this list. William Peter Blatty is alive, as is everyone younger than he is. Everyone older is dead. When this happens and I point it out, which is something of a jinx I suppose, I also send my best wishes for many happy returns.

Many happy returns to all the living on our list, especially William Peter Blatty, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Predictor: Anonymous writer in the New York World, predicting the year 2011 in 1911

Prediction: John Smith, our bachelor, gladly accepts an invitation to dine with friends. This evening he goes out to the house of Mr. Barrett, a widower who lives among the rhododendrons on the southern slope of Slide Mountain, with his centenarian mother and charming daughter.

As soon as he arrives Miss Barrett cooks the dinner with her own dainty fingers. For neither here nor in the palaces of the banker-princes are there servants any more. The fairy electricity has reduced culinary operations to a series of dainty gestures, very similar to those made by typewriters or pianists. All dishes are prepared in the dining-room, right at the table, by means of glittering precision instruments of copper and nickel.

Reality: For those unfamiliar with New York state geography, Slide Mountain is in the Catskills and John Smith can enjoy an evening there and get home to Manhattan because he has a flying car. As for no one having servants, most notably cooks, that isn't exactly true but the servant population has been reduced considerably. Push button cooking? Sounds like a microwave to me, though most people still have the kitchen and dining room separate from one another.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our regular prediction schedule for a frightening dystopia filmed in 2010 about those bleak future days of 2019.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 December 2014

Birthdays
Raven-Symone b. 1985 (Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Doctor Dolittle)
Xavier Samuel b. 1983 (Frankenstein [2015], Twilight Saga)
Patrick John Fluger b. 1983 (Warehouse 13, The 4400)
Erik A. Williams b. 1979 (The Apocrypha, Teen Wolf, The Big Bang Theory, Rock ‘N Roll Vampire, Zombie Epidemic, The Hunger [TV], The Dark Knight)
Summer Phoenix b. 1978 (The Faculty, Swamp Thing [TV])
Emmanuelle Chiriqui b. 1977 (The Crow: Wicked Prayer, Jake 2.0, Futuresport, Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, The Adventures of Sinbad, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Forever Knight, Harrison Bergeron)
Arnold Pinnock b. 1967 (Beauty and the Beast [2014 TV], Alphas, Lost Girl, Riverworld, Warehouse 13, The Incredible Hulk [2008], Category 6: Day of Destruction, Cypher, Odyssey 5, Relic Hunter, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Total Recall 2070)
Nia Peeples b. 1961 (Lavalantula, Andromeda, The Coven, Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14, Highlander [TV], DeepStar Six)
Kenneth Brannagh b. 1960 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Frankenstein; director, Thor)
David-Paul Grove b. 1958 (Once Upon a Time, Stargate: Atlantis, Supernatural, Andromeda, Elf, The New Addams Family)
Michael Clarke Duncan b. 1957 Died 3 September 2012 (The Last Mimzy, The Island, Sin City, George and the Dragon, Daredevil, The Scorpion King, Planet of the Apes, The Green Mile, Breakfast of Champions, Armageddon, Weird Science [TV])
Susan Dey b. 1952 (Looker)
Fionnula Flanagan b. 1941 (Defiance, Lost, A Christmas Carol [2009], Star Trek: Enterprise/The Next Generation/Deep Space Nine, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Beauty and the Beast [1990 TV], Voyagers!, The Bionic Woman)
Tisha Sterling b. 1944 (Breakfast of Champions, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], The Immortal, Batman[TV], Village of the Giants)
Tommy Kirk b. 1941 (The Education of a Vampire, Billy Frankenstein, Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds, Mars Needs Women, It’s Alive, Village of the Giants, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, Son of Flubber, Babes in Toyland, The Absent Minded Professor, The Shaggy Dog)
Mako b. 1933 died 21 July 2006 (Rise: Blood Hunter, Samurai Jack, Charmed, Bulletproof Monk, Highlander: The Final Dimension, RoboCop 3, Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Greatest American Hero, Voyagers!, The Incredible Hulk, Salvage 1, Wonder Woman, The Island at the Top of the World, The Time Tunnel, The Green Hornet, I Dream of Jeannie)
John Colicos b. 1928 died 6 March 2000 (Star Trek: Original Series/Deep Space Nine, Battlestar Galactica, War of the Worlds [1989 TV], Deadly Nightmares, The Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, The Starlost)
Barbara Nichols b. 1928 died 5 October 1976 (Batman, Twilight Zone)
Jean Byron b. 1925 died 3 February 2006 (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Batman, Invisible Invaders, Jungle Moon Men, The Magnetic Monster)
Harold Gould b. 1923 died 11 September 2010 (Lois & Clark, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, I Dream of Jeannie, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, The Satan Bug, Twilight Zone, The Man from Planet X)
Alexander Courage b. 1919 died 15 may 2008 (composer, Star Trek, Superman IV, Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space)
Hal Baylor b. 1918 died 5 January 1998 (A Boy and his Dog, Planet of the Apes [TV], Star Trek, The Invaders, Batman, My Favorite Martian, The Addams Family, Tobor the Great)
Anne Gwynne b. 1918 died 31 March 2003 (Teenage Monster, House of Frankenstein, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe)
Mary Norton b. 1903 died 29 August 1992 (author, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, The Borrowers)
Moyna MacGill b. 1895 died 25 November 1975 (My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone, Bride of the Gorilla, The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Lots of good choices for iconic folk on today's list, but geezer that I am, I'd say the youngest person here with an iconic genre role is Kenneth Brannagh in Harry Potter. Last year, I had a still of Tisha Sterling and Tommy Kirk together from Village of the Giants because... reasons. This year, it's John Colicos, a terrific Oh That Guy, or is he an Oh That Klingon? Next year, I'm not sure, but two of my favorite Oh That Guy actors, Mako and Michael Clarke Duncan, are the early favorites. I also love Harold Gould, but for me his iconic roles are in The Sting as Kid Twist and Love and Death as Woody Allen's rival.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are two Canadians and two impostors who look somewhat Canadian. See if you can tell the true from the false.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
 
Movie released
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader released, 2010
 

Predictor: Anonymous writer in the New York World, predicting the year 2011 in 1911

Prediction: Night falls upon the excited city. This is only a phrase, for there is no more night except in the rooms where men sleep. When the sun sets, myriads of electric moons make an artificial day as bright as the real, a terrestrial daylight that mounts into the sky and puts the stars to shame. The citizens of New York, mounted upon raid airships, go out with their families for fresh air in the Catskills and the Berkshire Hills, which have become city parks, full of crowds and music.

Reality: Umm... no. Because of the lack of flying cars, an afternoon jaunt to the Catskills or Berkshires in not a good use of time for most New Yorkers, both locations about 140 miles away from the city. Also, there is more light on the streets of most cities than there was 100 years back, but it's from electric street lamps, not artificial satellites whose light would blot out the stars.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We heard the swan song of Lee de Forest, one of many regular predictors who will be retiring in the next few weeks.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

8 October 2014

Birthdays
Bella Thorne b. 1997 (Amityville: The Awakening, Wizards of Waverly Place)
Molly C. Quinn b. 1993 (A Christmas Carol [2009])
Barbara Palvin b. 1993 (Hercules [2014])
Michael Obiora b. 1986 (Doctor Who)
Kristanna Loken b. 1979 (Painkiller Jane, BloodRayne, Terminator 3:The Rise of the Machines, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Sliders, Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark, Aliens in the Family)
Martin Henderson b. 1974 (The Ring)
Matt Damon b. 1970 (Interstellar, The Zero Theorem, Elysium, Contagion, The Adjustment Bureau, The Brothers Grimm, Dogma)
Jeremy Davies b. 1969 (Constantine, Lost, Solaris, Teknolust)
Dylan Neal b. 1969 (Arrow, Haven, Smallville, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Stargate: Atlantis, Vampire Bats, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Relic Hunter, Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Maniac Mansion, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, War of the Worlds [1989 TV])
Emily Proctor b. 1968 (Lois & Clark)
Karyn Parsons b. 1966 (Gulliver’s Travels)
Peter Greene b. 1965 (Earthling, The Mask)
Ardal O’Hanlon b. 1965 (Doctor Who, My Hero)
Igor Jijikine b. 1965 (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Burr Steers b. 1965 (director, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies)
Ian Hart b. 1964 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
Simon Burke b. 1961 (Pitch Black)
Nancy Anne Sakovich b. 1981 (Category 6: Day of Destruction, Relic Hunter, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, The Hidden Room, Beyond Reality)
Brad Greenquist b. 1959 (Heroes, Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate SG-1, Charmed, Deep Space Nine, Conan [1997 TV], Star Trek: Voyager, Pet Sematary, Mutants in Paradise)
Steven Katz b. 1959 (writer, Shadow of the Vampire)
Darrell Hammond b. 1955 (Netherbeast Incorporated, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Michael Dudikoff b. 1954 (Zombie Break Room, Cyberjack, TRON [1982])
Terry Hayes b. 1951 (writer, From Hell, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior)
Sigourney Weaver b. 1949 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes, A Monster Calls, Vamps, The Cabin in the Woods, Avatar, The Village, Galaxy Quest, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Ghostbusters, Alien)
James Harper b. 1948 (Armageddon, The Burning Zone, Deep Space Nine, Quantum Leap, Beauty and the Beast [1989 TV], Freddy’s Nightmares)
William Broyles b. 1944 (writer, The Polar Express, Planet of the Apes (reboot), Apollo 13)
R.L. Stine b. 1943 (writer, Goosebumps)
Chevy Chase b. 1943 (Hot Tub Time Machine, Jack and the Beanstalk [2010], Zoom, Last Action Hero, Memoirs of an Invisible Man)
Sue Randall b. 1935 died 26 October 1984 (My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
James Olson b. 1930 (Amityville II: The Possession, Project U.F.O., Battlestar Galactica [1978], The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Strange New World, The Andromeda Strain, Moon Zero Two)
Frank Herbert b. 1920 died 11 February 1986 (won 1966 Nebula for Dune)
Kirk Alyn b. 1910 died 14 March 1999 (Battlestar Galactica, Superman [1978 and 1948], Beginning of the End, When Worlds Collide)
Rouben Mamoulian b. 1897 died 4 December 1987 (director, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1931])

Last year, the Picture Slot went to Dune, still one of my favorite sci-fi books from my teenage years. This year, it's Sigourney Weaver, who has the triple threat of being an A List movie star with plenty of iconic roles in genre and of course a fabulous babe. Next year's choice is wide open. Matt Damon is to my mind the other major A List star here, but for iconic, I might pick Kristianna Loken from Terminator 3, Ian Hart from the first Harry Potter, James Olson from the original version of The Andromeda Strain or Kirk Alyn from Superman.

Fun trivia from this morning research: Sue Randall is best known as Miss Landers from Leave It To Beaver.

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

Movies released
Demolition Man released, 1993  

Predictor: Anonymous writer in the New York World, writing in March 1911 about the first of February, 2011

Prediction: The great co-operative societies absorbed the small factories and shops long ago. Each has a tower in which all branches of its industry are conducted. It is upon the terrace of one of these that John Smith's aerotaxi sets him don. It is called The Shoe House, for the elegant John Smith is a shoemaker in the morning. The extreme division of fortunes and labor abolished all idlers in this society, where every one takes his share of moderate work that is never tiring and even manual labor is no longer considered degrading.

The workshop is vast. His wall has fifty tiers of cells lighted from the outside - like the cells of a giant dove-cote a thousand feet high. Each cell contains one man or several men, but machinery does everything and the workman is only the intelligence that directs. .

On arriving, Mr. Smith registers his presence and goes to his own compartment, where he sits comfortably  in an arm chair at a table covered with instruments. Mirrors enable him to watch in the space occupied by the machines, which fill the center of the skyscraper from the cellar to the roof. From time to time he touches a spring, interrupts or opens a circuit or sends a message over the telephone, holding in his plump hand (as soft as that of a bureaucrat) the little lever which regulates the movement of a wheel one hundred feet in diameter that automatically performs the work formerly done by a hundred men.

Mr. Smith's every movement is registered by a dynamometer. Another machine registers the number of hours he is at work. These records are transmitted to a central machine which automatically calculates his salary.

When his attention is not immediately necessary he chats with distant persons, listens attentively though the microphone to the lectures of some professor at Columbia or Harvard is giving to his pupils.

The clocks of the city chime noon. The workman's day is over. A few hours have sufficed for a world of workers to produce whatever mankind needs in food, clothes, paper, light, heat, etc. for a day. A slot above his desk opens and John Smith's daily salary falls out. He is free for the rest of the day.
 

Reality: This is a strange mixture of the easy life in the future of The Jetsons with the creepy overtones of constant surveillance found in 1984 or Brazil. The idea that no work is degrading is an echo of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward, the very influential view of the future published in the late 1880s. The "listening to lectures" part is real enough now with YouTube, but most workplaces frown on such multitasking during business hours.

And of course, there's the three to four hour work day.  Hmm... not so much. And then there's the aerotaxi. Regular readers know my feelings about flying cars.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Keeping score on ESPN's baseball expert predictions so far. (Spoiler alert: not good.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

24 September 2014

Birthdays
Nicole Leduc b. 1999 (Jennifer’s Body, Supernatural, Kyle XY)
Spencer Treat Clark b. 1987 (The Last Exorcism Part II, Superheroes, Unbreakable)
Grey Damon b. 1987 (Star-Crossed, American Horror Story, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, True Blood)
Brit Morgan b. 1987 (True Blood, The Middleman)
Jessica Lucas b.1985 (Evil Dead [2013], Cloverfield, 2030 CE, Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge, Seven Days)
Lara Jean Chorostecki b. 1984 (Lost Girl, Beauty and the Beast [2012], Antiviral)
Justin Bruening b. 1979 (Wonder Woman [2011], Knight Rider [2009])
Ian Bohen b. 1976 (Teen Wolf, Beauty and the Beast [2014], The Dark Knight Rises, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Weird Science [TV])
Marc Guggenheim b. 1970 (writer, The Flash, Green Lantern, Arrow, Percy Jackson, FlashForward)
Megan Ward b. 1969 (Dark Skies, Joe’s Apartment, Encino Man, Trancers II)
Kelly Jo Minter b. 1966 (A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, The Lost Boys)
Kieran Mulroney b. 1965 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Seven Days, From the Earth to the Moon, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
John Logan b. 1961 (writer, Hugo, Star Trek: Nemesis)
Kevin Sorbo b. 1958 (Piranha Sharks, The Guild, Paradox, Andromeda, Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Kull)
Brad Bird b. 1957(director, Tomorrowland, The Incredibles, The Iron Giant)
Rick Zumwalt b. 1951 died 19 March 2003 (Timecop, Batman Returns, Rockula, Freddy’s Nightmares, Tales from the Crypt, Werewolf)
Harriet Walter b. 1950 (Fairy Tales, The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns)
Phil Hartman b. 1948 died 28 May 1998 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Small Soldiers, Coneheads)
Ian Stewart b. 1945 (writer, The Science of Discworld)
Kenneth Tigar b. 1942 (The Avengers, Fringe, The X Files, Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, The Flash, ALF, Phantasm II, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Knight Rider, Project U.F.O., Wonder Woman, Man from Atlantis)
Sven-Ole Thorsen b. 1944 (Kull the Conqueror, Last Action Hero, Nemesis, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Running Man, Predator, Red Sonya, Conan the Destroyer, Conan the Barbarian)
Jim Henson b. 1936 died 16 May 1990 (writer, Dinosaurs, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth)
John Brunner b. 1934 (won 1969 Hugo for Stand on Zanzibar)
Arthur Malet b. 1927 died 18 May 2013 (Hook, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time, Wonder Woman, Halloween, Heaven Can Wait, Young Frankenstein, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Munster, Go Home!, Mary Poppins)
Bert I. Gordon b. 1922 (director, Empire of the Ants, The Food of the Gods, Necromancy, Village of the Giants, The Magic Sword, Earth vs. the Spider, War of the Colossal Beast, Attack of the Puppet People, The Amazing Colossal Man, The Cyclops, Beginning of the End, King Dinosaur)
F. Scott Fitzgerald b. 1896 died 21 December 1940 (writer, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Horace Walpole b. 24 September 1717 died 2 March 1797 (author, The Castle of Otranto)

Notes on the birthday list
1. The Picture Slot. I used Jim Henson last year, and deciding not to repeat myself, I have to admit that the most iconic actor in genre born this day is Kevin Sorbo, though I find his politics appalling. He makes the professional atheists look good, and that takes some work. But at near the end of the top 100 birthday list on imdb.com was Bert I. Gordon, a.k.a. Mr. B.I.G., maker of many cheesy films and often interested in making things big, like insects, rats, spiders and people. I was honestly surprised he was still alive at 92, so I chose a poster from one of his films. Those in the know can be certain I did not choose this film at random.

2. The dead. Both Jim Henson and Phil Hartman died way too early, but they don't qualify for "Wait... He's Dead?" status with me because I can't forget they are gone. Rick Zumwalt died young, a big bald wrestler/biker type who I never quite remember from role to role. Arthur Malet, on the other hand, died at 85 last year and he had a lot of great roles over the years. As for the people born before the 20th Century began, I include Fitzgerald because Benjamin Button was made into a film and The Castle of Otranto is considered the first gothic novel.

3. Oh That Guys. Besides the late Arthur Malet, Kenneth Tigar is a quintessential Oh That Guy. Take a look at his pictures and you'll see what I mean. I've seen his work in possibly dozens of movies and TV shows and I never quite put a name with his very recognizable face. (Heck, he played six different roles on Barney Miller and I watched that show all the way to the end.) Sven-Ole Thorsen also has a lot of roles, many of them in Schwarzenegger films. I would guess he's a fellow gym rat.

4. The writers.  If I decided not to go with some movie or TV show, I might use Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar in the Picture Slot next year.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list (even Kevin Sorbo), and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga-Hoole released, 2010  
 

Predictor: Anonymous writer in the New York World, writing in March 1911 about the first of February, 2011

Prediction: What vehicle shall Mr. Smith take to his business? The railway then runs under every street? The moving sidewalk that passes before all the shop fronts? Shall he go on foot over the innumerable bridges which unite at all the building at all heights? He decides upon an aerotaxi, which he can procure from the roof of his apartment building.

The sky resembles the harbor of a great port in which multitudes of vessels are moving in every direction. Aerocabs with polished hoods buzz about like big beetles. The ventripotent Tottenville-Poughkeepsie aerobus passes like a flash in a whirlwind. As it is scarcely 8 o’clock few private airships, with solemn footmen in livery and gauntlets, are seen. But many clerks mounted on old-model, second hand Bierots hasten to their morning work.

Upon a biplane of archaic model, which looks like a flying bureau, they mount a cripple sandwich man, who scatters handbills as he dodges about in the crowd with all the skill of the New York street arab.

The use of balloons has not been abandoned: those cumbrous bladders inflated with flammable gas, those dangerous toys with which our ancestors used to allow themselves to float, not yet knowing how to fly. They are to be seen everywhere but without aeronauts. Reduced in size and always captive, they serve as buoys and marks, bearing the names of the several streets below or of the landing stations. Like baskets, great incandescent electric lights are hung from them to illuminate the air routes at night. And then there are the advertising balloons, launched from the roofs of the great stores like soap bubbles, which float in all directions to announce the great white sale here or the bargains in furniture there.

Mr. Smith mounts a cab which has come to a stop besides the terrace. Off he goes over New York. Some of the small antiquated buildings of the early 20th Century still exist – the Metropolitan Tower, the Public Library and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. But these once magnificent structures are insignificant now in this forest of fifty-story buildings, with their spacious roof terraces, built to last out of steel and cement, proof against fire and earthquakes. These gigantic structures are studios, factories, shops, hotels. Manhattan Island is the heart of the city, It is covered from one end to the other with these buildings in which nothing but business is done, for no one lives on Manhattan any more.

These buildings are tied to each other at almost every story by suspension bridges, which give the city the aspect of fifty cities superimposed, each filled with moving multitudes.

Reality: Boy, this guy sure loves the flowery language. Ventripotent means big bellied. Street arab is archaic for homeless person. Cumbrous is awkward because of size.

Let's start with what he gets right. The skyline of Manhattan now is nothing like the skyline in 1911. Fifty story skyscrapers are not at all uncommon.

And then there's the rest. Air traffic the way he describes it would be an invitation to extinction. Except for stunt pilots like the Blue Angels, most aircraft keep a wide berth of open space around them. He does mention flying cars, and it is the blog's policy not to mention reality and flying cars together, but the space wouldn't be filled up like some great harbor.

People still live in Manhattan. The buildings aren't connected by walkways at every floor. We don't have moving sidewalks everywhere.

It's remarkable how much his picture of the future is like The Jetsons, which was made fifty years after this.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Thursday already and another prediction from Dr. Lee de Forest.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

20 July 2014

 Birthdays
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 (Jurassic World, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Big Bang Theory)
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)
Carlos Saldanha b. 1968 (director, Rio, Ice Age, Robots)
Reed Diamond b. 1967 (Revolution, Dollhouse, Journeyman, Stargate SG-1, Spider-Man 2, The Huntress)
Dean Winters b. 1964 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Frank Whaley b. 1963 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Little Monsters)
Adoni Maropis b. 1963 (Angel, Mortal Kombat: Conquest)
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)
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)
Sally Ann Howes b. 1930 (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
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)

Nice long list, plenty of choices for the Picture Slot. Last year it was Josh Holloway from Lost, certainly iconic, but on this 20th of July I found myself in a Fabulous Babe mood so I used a picture of Diana Rigg from The Avengers. I don't quite count it as genre, which is a strange piece of compartmentalization in my mind. Not unlike Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the show mixed straight drama/adventure stories with some sci-fi elements. Besides her undeniable fabulosity, Ms. Rigg is here for two other reasons.

1. Exact same birthday pair with Natalie Wood.  That's a whole lot of pretty for one day.

2. A matched set for the weekend. If we compare and contrast with yesterday's birthday boy Benedict Cumberbatch, we see that each of them deserves the award from Best British Cheekbones for their respective generations.

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:Sir Philip Gibbs in his book The Day After Tomorrow: What is Going to Happen in the World, published 1928

Prediction: In less than twenty-five years… the motor car will be obsolete, because the aeroplane will run along the ground as well as fly over it.

Reality: Gibbs might call them "aeroplanes that run along the ground", but we know what he means.

Flying Cars HELLZ YEAH!

As regular readers know, I don't like to discuss flying cars and reality together, because this is one of those times when reality is obviously wrong.

Never to be Forgotten: James Garner  1928-2014

Actor James Garner, best known for roles in The Great Escape, Support Your Local Sheriff (Gunfighter) and the TV shows Maverick and The Rockford Files, died on Saturday. He did very little genre work, but we was in the alien abduction film Fire in the Sky. Because I count nearly any movie about space travel as genre, he also has credits in Space Cowboys and Space.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

I've stated it many times, but for me, The OMNI Future Almanac gives me a little lift on Monday mornings.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

25 June 2014

 Birthdays
Scott Terra b. 1987 (Daredevil, Eight Legged Freaks, Charmed)
Megan Burns b. 1986 (28 Days Later)
Busy Philipps b. 1979 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Jason Lewis b. 1971 (Charmed)
John Benjamin Hickey b. 1963 (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Ricky Gervais b. 1961 (The Invention of Lying, Night at the Museum, Stardust)
Erica Gimpel b. 1964 (True Blood, Babylon 5)
Timur Bekmambetov b. 1961 (director, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Wanted, Day Watch, Night Watch)
Paris Themmen b. 1959 (Star Trek: Voyager, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
Michael McShane b. 1955 (Love in the Time of Monsters, Evil Alien Conquerors, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show)
Kene Holliday b. 1949 (The Philadelphia Experiment, The Incredible Hulk)
Roy Marsden b. 1941 (Doctor Who, Mysterious Island, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, Space: 1999)
George Murdoch b. 1930 died 30 April 2012 (Torchwood, Legend of the Phantom Rider, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, The X-Files, Team Knight Rider, Apollo 11, Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II, Lois & Clark, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Small Wonder, The Sword and the Sorceror, Battlestar Galactica [1978], The Invisible Man [TV], The Six Million Dollar Man, The Sixth Sense [TV], Twilight Zone)
June Lockhart b. 1925 (Zombie Hamlet, Super Capers: The origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion, Lost in Space [1998 and 1965], Babylon 5, C.H.U.D.II – Bud the Chud, Amazing Stories , Troll, Strange Invaders, The Greatest American Hero, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Bewitched)
George Orwell b. 1903 died 21 January 1950 (author, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Animal Farm)

Here's the Picture Slot decision in a nutshell. George Murdoch was a great Oh That Guy actor, June Lockhart is both a fabulous babe and played an iconic role on Lost in Space. They were just unlucky to share a birthday with Eric Blair, known to the world as George Orwell. I've had the idea for This Day in Science Fiction since the early 1990s, and when I was scanning books for dates way back in the day, Nineteen Eighty-Four was the only one so well written that I knew I would have to re-read it from cover to cover.

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


Movies released
Rollerball released 1975
Blade Runner released 1982

THREE DAYS OF BLADE RUNNER!

Predictor: Blade Runner, released 1982

Prediction: In 2019, there will be flying cars.

Reality: For the next three days, we will bask in the thoughts of what 2019 was supposed to look like in 1982. For a baby boomer like me, dates 2014 or 2019 should be the future, and of course, we all know the future was supposed to be flying cars and jet packs.  While it is the policy not to speak of reality when flying cars are concerned, let me type two things.

Landing. Energy use.

Let us speak no more of these things.

Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Another aspect of 2019 is discussed, also unlikely to come to pass.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

28 May 2014

Birthdays
Jacob Kogan b. 1995 (The Tomorrow People, Star Trek [reboot])
Carey Mulligan b. 1985 (Never Let Me Go, Doctor Who)
Megalyn Echikunwoke b. 1983 (The 4400, Supernatural, Buffy, Sheena, Creature)
Alexa Davalos b. 1982 (Clash of the Titans, The Mist, The Chronicles of Riddick, Angel)
Monica Keena b. 1979 (Night of the Demons, Freddy vs. Jason, The Devil’s Advocate, Snow White: A Tale of Terror)
Jesse Bradford b. 1979 (Clockstoppers)
Kate Ashfield b. 1972 (Shaun of the Dead)
Glenn Quinn b. 1970 died 3 December 2002 (Angel)
Kylie Minogue b. 1968 (Doctor Who, Street Fighter)
Ashley Laurence b. 1966 (Hellraiser, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Christa Miller b. 1964 (The Andromeda Strain [2008], Clone High)
Julie T. Wallace b. 1961 (Speed Racer, Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible, The Fifth Element, Time Riders)
Townsend Coleman b. 1954 (The Tick)
Sandy Helberg b. 1949 (Mortal Kombat, Spaceballs)
Patricia Quinn b. 1944 (Doctor Who, The Box of Delights, Shock Treatment, Hawk the Slayer, Hammer House of Horror, Beauty and the Beast [TV], The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Zelda Rubenstein b. 1943 died 27 January 2010 (Southland Tales, Wishcraft, Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights, Little Witches, Timemaster, Tales from the Crypt, Teen Witch, Poltergeist)
Shane Rimmer b. 1932 (Dark Shadows [2012], Alien Autopsy, Mee-Shee: The Water Giant, Batman Begins, The War of the Starfighters, Space Truckers, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, Year of the Comet, Space Police, Morons from Outer Space, Space, The Hunger, Superman II, Warlords of the Deep, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Space: 1999, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Rollerball, UFO, Doctor Who)
Ian Fleming b. 1908 died 12 August 1964 (author, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

If the first criterion is iconic roles, today's Picture Slot belongs to Zelda Rubenstein from the Poltergeist series of movies and TV. But for me, today's list highlighted my fickle relationship with voice acting work. I usually do not list voice work done by actors on my list, though I did include the narration of Thriller by Vincent Price yesterday. Townsend Coleman does a lot of voice work, but because of my particular interests, I only list his favorite role of mine as the lead on The Tick. Shane Rimmer is a Canadian Oh That Guy, but Google says he is best known for his voice work on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Thunderbirds Are Go!, which I didn't list. My rules about voice work are in place mostly to keep from typing all morning, but I readily admit that "rules" is a poor description of how I do the selection process when it comes to voice work and "idiosyncratic pickiness" is a more apt description.

And while on the topic of idiosyncratic behavior, I only include Ian Fleming's name since it has been so long since I used the Flying Cars HELLZ YEAH label.

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

 
Movies released
The Day After Tomorrow released 2004

Predictor: T. Baron Russell in A Hundred years Hence, published in 1905

Prediction: Every forward step in medicine serves to save alive some weakling that in a less advanced civilisation would die; and these survivors, possibly propagating their species, will have weak descendants, on whom whatever possibility of disease continues to exist will certainly fasten.

Reality: For a guy who calls himself an optimist, Russell is kind of an asshole sometimes. Getting rid of diseases like TB, polio and the childhood ailments like measles and chicken pox hasn't weakened the gene pool, it's just cut down on the amount of random death and disability from an otherwise healthy population. I'm giving zero points for this creepy old fashioned stuff.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We re-arrange the regular weekly schedule for a birthday boy.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 April 2014

 Birthdays
AJ Michalka b. 1991 (Super 8, Birds of Prey)
Alex Pettyfer b. 1990 (In Time, Beastly, I Am Number Four)
Haley Joel Osment b. 1988 (A.I. Artificial Intellignce, The Sixth Sense)
Jamie Renee Smith b. 1987 (True Blood, VR.5, Dark Skies)
Mandy Moore b. 1984 (Southland Tales)
Ryan Merriman b. 1983 (Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader, Final Destination 3, The Ring Two, Veritas: The Quest, Smallville, Taken, Halloween: Resurrection, Rocket’s Red Glare)
Jamie Chung b. 1983 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Once Upon a Time, Sucker Punch)
Charlie Hunnam b. 1980 (Pacific Rim, Children of Men)Orlando Jones b. 1968 (Sleepy Hollow, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Pushing Daisies, Primeval, The Time Machine, Evolution, Bedazzled)
Brad William Henke b. 1966 (Pacific Rim, Grimm, Lost)
Jeb Stuart Adams b, 1961 (They Live, Once Bitten)
Peter MacNicol b. 1954 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Battleship, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Baby Geniuses, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Addams Family Values, Ghostbusters II, Dragonslayer)
Jim Burns b. 1948 (artist)
Hari Rhodes b. 1932 (The Powers of Matthew Star, Beyond Westworld, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Earth II, The Satan Bug)
Max Von Sydow b. 1929 (Branded, The Wolfman, Solomon Kane, Minority Report, What Dreams May Come, Judge Dredd, Needful Things, Until the End of the World, Dune, The Ice Pirates, Conan the Barbarian, Flash Gordon, The Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Exorcist)Lee Bergere b. 1924 died 321 Jan. 2007 (Time Trackers, Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Star Trek, Mr. Terrific, My Favorite Martian, The Addams Family, The Munsters)
Chuck Connors b. 1921 died 10 November 1992 (Werewolf, Day of Resurrection, The Six Million Dollar Man, Soylent Green, Adventures of Superman [TV])

Last year, the Picture Slot went to Max von Sydow. In terms of iconic roles, only Haley Joel Osment is his match on this list. There are a lot of Pretty Girl = Picture Slot choices, but instead I went with the artist Jim Burns, a very prolific artist of covers for books and magazines. Lee Bergere is one of those hard working actors who make good trivia questions for hardcore trivia geeks, but I wouldn't have recognized his name on imdb.com except that he played Lincoln on an episode of the original Star Trek.

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

In the year 2000!

Predictor: Lee de Forest, "The Father of Radio", predicting the world of 2000 in the 17 January 1960 edition of the Sunday supplement American Weekly.

Prediction: Passenger-carrying helicopters (helibuses) will take you up and over congestion, turning the sky into radar-controlled, multilevel highways which, incidentally, will be much less costly than those on the ground. Inexpensive private airplanes equipped for vertical take-off and landing also will fill the air.

Reality: Dr. de Forest did so well predicting communications breakthroughs, but when it comes to transportation, it's all flying cars and helibuses. I know it's our dream of the future, but the reality is getting airborne and getting back on the ground for short trips eats up a lot of fuel and takes a lot of training. De Forest has a few more predictions about the future of transportation and they all suffer from the twin sins of being run of the mill and completely innaccurate.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Speaking of inaccurate predictions, it's time to hear again from our Friday regular Paul Ehrlich.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

1 February 2014

Birthdays
Lee Thompson Young b. 1984 died 19 August 2013 (Smallville, FlashForward, The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Sara Malakul Lane b. 1983 (Sharktopus, 100 Degrees Below Zero, 12/12/12)
Rachelle Lefevre b. 1979 (Under the Dome, Twilight)
Rutina Wesley b. 1979 (True Blood)
Michael C. Hall b, 1971 (Gamer, Paycheck)
Brandon Lee b. 1965 died 31 March 1993 (The Crow)
Linus Roache b. 1964 (Batman Begins, The Chronicles of Riddick)
Bill Mumy b. 1954 (Lost in Space, Babylon 5, Twilight Zone, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Elisabeth Sladen b. 1946 died 19 April 2011 (Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Bibi Besch b. 1940 died 7 September 1996 (Tremors, The Day After, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
Sherman Hemsley b. 1938 died 24 July 2012 (Lois & Clark, Alice in Wonderland, The Twilight Zone, The Incredible Hulk [TV])
Peter Sallis b. 1921 (Wallace and Gromit)
Andrea King b. 1919 died 22 April 2003 (Red Planet Mars, The Beast with Five Fingers)
George Pal b. 1908 died 2 May 1980 (director, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The Time Machine, tom thumb, Atlantis, the Lost Continent)

This is an unlucky birthday list to be sure. Fourteen names listed and eight are dead, including two actors who never made it to their thirtieth birthdays, Lee Thompson Young and Brandon Lee, and two actresses who died before they were sixty five, Elisabeth Sladen and Bibi Besch.

Last year I had a picture of Bill Mumy from his Lost in Space days and i vowed I'd use a picture of him from Babylon 5 instead.  I make no promise for next year's Picture Slot except that it's someone else's turn.

Predictor: Felix L. Oswald (1845-1906), physician and naturalist, asked to make predictions about 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exposition held in Chicago.

Predictions (reality): A few years ago, Prime Minister William Gladstone predicted the United States would have 600,000,000 inhabitants. There is no reason to believe the population of our present national territory will exceed 300,000,000. (Good call. The Census listed 280,000,000 in 2000.)

Politically our federation of states will comprise Canada and Mexico. (Um... no.)

North of the Tennessee River, Sambo Africanus will vanish as soon as the increase of population brings him in competition with European immigrants. (Racist much?)

On the Rio Grande, the aborigines and Ethiopians may coalsce against the north. Caucasian races and the struggle for supremacy will involve frequent appeals to the arbitrament of force. (I actually cut some stuff worse than this. The guy was a disgusting bigot.)

To conclude with a few miscellaneous predictions: (Please, please, please don't be about race relations.)

The problem of aerial investigation will be solved within the next 20 years. (I'm guess he means heavier than air flight. He gets this right.)

Transcontinental mails will be forwarded by means of pneumatic tubes. (Wow, he gets the math of population growth right AND he mentions pneumatic tubes. Does this make up for his racist horseshit? Not in my book. He's still a scumbag.)

In 1993 millions of houses will be artificially cooled in summer, as they are now heated in winter. (Another point for Oswald. Geez, how I wish he had kept his views on the races to himself. He did pretty well otherwise.)

This month's splash page: The Aeromobil is yet another prototype of a flying car, this one being made in Slovakia. Of course, what we really want is a contraption as easy to use as George Jetson's. This thing looks like it would be bitch to land and the when the front wheels touched, the pilot would be bounced into the top of the transparent cockpit cover and the fenders could easily damage the front tires.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another story of nuclear war to cheer up our Sunday reading.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

21 October 2013

 Birthdays
Charlotte Sullivan b. 1983 (The Colony, Smallville)
Sasha Roiz b. 1973 (The Day After Tomorrow, Grimm, Warehouse 13, Caprica)
Ken Watanabe b. 1959 (Inception, Batman Begins)
Carrie Fisher b. 1956 (Star Wars)
Catherine Hardwicke b. 1955 (director, Twilight)
Everett McGill b. 1945 (Quest for Fire, Dune)
Paula Kelly b. 1943 (Soylent Green, The Andromeda Strain)
Ursula K. LeGuin b. 1929
(won 1970 Nebula and Hugo for The Left Hand of Darkness)
(won 1975 Nebula and Hugo for The Dispossessed)
(won 1991 Nebula for Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea)
(won 2009 Nebula for Powers)
Leonard Rossiter b. 1926 died 5 October 1984 (2001: A Space Odyssey)

For my money, there are two choices for the Picture Slot on this list in terms of importance in the genre, Carrie Fisher and Ursula K. LeGuin. Ms. LeGuin will get the slot next year, but for this first time the blog sees 21 October, it's Leia with the hair buns and a blaster.
 

Five fun facts from 2015!

Prediction: Flying cars!


Predictor: Back to the Future part II, released 22 November 1989

Reality: Oh, get serious, no one cares about reality if we get flying cars. Physics can be such a whiny little bitch sometimes.

For the rest of this week, with a few interruptions for other exact date predictions, we look at some predictions from Back to the Future Part II. There are several incorrect dates reported on the Internet, but the actual date Doc, Marty and Jennifer visit in the future is 21 October 2015. The idea is that the original movie took place in 1985 and Marty and Doc traveled back to 1955, so for symmetry's sake the second trip was thirty years into the future instead of the past.

The plan is to feature Back to the Future Part II this late October, and also next year and in 2015, five facts this year, ten facts next year and fifteen in 2015.  You will also notice the splash art at the top of the blog will be the correct date for the rest of the month.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt this interruption for an exact date from last year, featuring Simon and Garfunkel.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

Bonus post as a link to TOMORROW'S COMIC STRIP.

Technically, this is the Candorville from TOMORROW'S PAPER, so it belongs on this blog more ways than I can count, but I give you a link instead of messing with his copyright. 

22 February 2013

Birthdays
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Dichen Lachman b. 1982

Jeri Ryan b. 1968

Julie Walters b. 1950

That's a Whedonverse/Star Trek/Harry Potter trifecta for ya, you betcha! Some people may disagree with my selection of just a facial portrait of the lovely Ms. Ryan, but so many of the body shots of her as Seven of Nine lack subtlety, if you get my drift.

Many happy returns to all three actresses.

Today's predictions from the 1956 30th Anniversay issue of Amazing Stories come from their contest winner Clarence W. Van Tilburg.  He made a passel of predictions, so instead of spooning them out one by one, I give all of them here with a reality check after each one in italics and parentheses.

Medicine
1. Great strides in mental therapy. "Psi" professions operating on a solid premises. (He means psychiatry and psychology. We definitely have better drug choices and the definitions of mental illness are certainly improving.)
2. Banking of human organs; artificial culture of tissues; universal extension of preventative medicine.  (Good calls.)
3. Life expectancy 88 for women 80 for men in US and many other countries, world average 70. (A little high on all, but in the ballpark. The male-female dichotomy has shrunk instead of expanded.)

World Politics
1. The big four: USA, USSR, China, India, India leader of the Asian Commonwealth from Iran to Malaya. (Bold, but not quite right. In 1956, it still wasn't obvious how well Germany and Japan would in the next fifty years. India is a leader in the developing world to be sure, but there is no Asian Commonwealth.)
2. All Central America coalesced into a single political unit. (Swing and a miss.)

Science, Industry, Technology
1. Maximum work week in US and Canada: 20 hours. (Don't we wish?)
2. Top industry: Leisure. (Not as big as oil or food production.)
3. US and USSR have manned satellites and have reached the Moon. (Yes on the manned satellites, only the US made it to the Moon with a manned expedition.)
4. Seas mined in earnest for rare elements and food. (Certainly more than in 1956, but not as much as many people hoped. Petroleum isn't that rare. Yet.)
5. Desalted sea water used for irrigation and industrial purposes. (Some, but not much.)
6. Direct conversion of sunlight into power and synthesis of food on commercial scales. (Yes on solar power and there are a lot of synthetic ingredients in food.)
7. Atomic power in world-wide use. (Yes.)
8. Long-distance travel almost entirely by air at supersonic speeds. (Yes to almost all, supersonic, not so much.)
9. Privately owned helicopters commonly used, heliports on every large building. (It's close enough to get the Flying Cars HELLZ YEAH label. Regular readers will know how I feel about discussing reality and flying cars in the same sentence.)
10. Plastic glass and light metals common in building construction. (True enough.)
11. Moving sidewalks common. (That's a swing and a miss.)
12. Shortwave cooking common. (We call it microwave. Definitely a hit.)
13. Great increase in telescope range, boundaries of universe still unknown. (Exactly right.)

 Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! More from Amazing Stories, a couple of pointy headed intellectuals take their shot, and one of them gives a description of a vague thing that could just be the Internet.  That's a terrific guess from the vantage point of 1956.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

19 February 2013

What life will be like... in the year 2001!

Predictor: Sid Caesar, host of the TV variety hit Your Show of Shows
The Pocket TV will be so common people will take it for granted...
Einstein's theory of relativity will be understood by every schoolchild because he will see it on his pocket TV in the helicopter on his way to school.

Predictor: John Cameron Swayze, anchorman and spokesman*
No major war between 1956 and 2001...
Light-weight low priced private air transport...
Cities disperse, the slums will disappear...
 
Reality: The modern high end cell phone is kinda sorta like a pocket TV, though streaming a TV program is an expensive way to use one. Transistor radios hit the market in 1955, so the idea of miniaturization is definitely in the public mind. Also in the public mind in the mid 1950s was that "Einstein's theory of relativity" was the most difficult concept ever devised by man. It is not yet a concept understood by schoolchildren.

Swayze was right about no major war. The middle part of the century was big on the idea that cities were intolerable and had to be abolished. We kinda got over that.

 And then we have the helicopter school bus and "light-weight low priced private air transport", which are both roundabout ways to say... Flying Cars HELLZ YEAH!

It is the express policy of this blog never to discuss reality and flying cars at the same time. So it is written and so it shall be. Amen.

* Some younger readers might need more explanation of who John Cameron Swayze was. He was one of the original anchormen for evening news broadcasts, but by the time I was growing up, he was the spokesman for Timex watches, the commercials that brought us the deathless tagline "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking". Wikipedia says that John Cameron Swayze was a sixth cousin to the now more famous Patrick Swayze, both deceased. I'm not as close to my cousins as some other people are, but "sixth cousin" seems a polite way of saying "not really related at all".

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Sure, we start the week with predictions about TV, war, city life and flying cars, but tomorrow we get to what really matters: fashion and baseball.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

7 January 2013

Birthdays

Jeremy Renner b. 1971
Mark Allen Shepherd b. 1961  (Morn on Deep Space Nine)

1967: Flying cars powered by four fan like rotors will be available to the public.

Predictor: the July 1957 issue of Popular Mechanics.

Ahh, doesn't it feel a little better now? The air seems cleaner, food tastes better, the birds are singing in tune.

Flying cars. It's almost like being in love.

For the early part of this year, Monday predictions will belong to the magazines. Most of these magazine predictions will come from Popular Mechanics and Omni. Popular Mechanics is still in print, but Omni is long gone. In 2009, Popular Mechanics published a book of their future predictions made before 1969 titled The Wonderful Future That Never Was.

Here is a link to an Internet slideshow from the book.

Here is a link to the Amazon page where you can buy it. 

I will be scavenging the Omni Future Almanac ruthlessly since it is out of print, but the Popular Mechanics book is in print - available in paperback as well - so all I'm going to do is pull pictures and dates from it and write my own text. If you love antique futurism, you should get a copy of this book for your own bad self. Every time I use a picture, there will be a link to purchase. I haven't been in touch with the authors, I'm doing this on my own because I think it's the right thing to do.

There are also some terrific pictures with no exact date attached to them which I will be using for the monthly splash graphic, the position just under the blog title now occupied by the illustration by Syd Mead, loved by all sentient beings, from the storyboards for Blade Runner. For example, the 1940s "cars of the future" are both fat and sleek at the same time. Great stuff.

Reality: It is the express policy of this blog never to discuss reality and flying cars at the same time. So it is written and so it shall be. Amen.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Robert A. Heinlein boldly tells us of his visions from 1950 about... the year 2000!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!