18 September 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17 September 2015

Birthdays
Daniel Huttlestone b. 1999 (Into the Woods)
Ella Purnell b. 1996 (Maleficent, Kick-Ass 2, Intruders)
Augustus Prew b. 1987 (Kick-Ass 2)
Neill Blomkamp b. 1979 (director, Chappie, Elysium, District 9)
Bobby Lee b. 1972 (Paul)
Ian Whyte b. 1971 (Hercules, Game of Thrones, Clash of the Titans, Prometheus, Solomon Kane, Dragonball: Evolution, Aliens vs. Predator 1 & 2, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Malik Yoba b. 1967 (Alphas)
Tracy Dali b. 1966 (Paranormal Movie, Space Girls in Beverly Hills, The Scorpion King Encino Man, Back to the Future Part II)
Bryan Singer b. 1965 (director, X-Men, Jack the Giant Slayer, Mockingbird Lane, Superman Returns)
Kyle Chandler b. 1965 (Super 8, The Day the Earth Stood Still [2008], King Kong [2005], Freddy’s Nightmares, Early Edition)
James Urbaniak b. 1963 (Agent Carter, Teen Wolf [TV], Futuremanity, The Venture Brothers, Futurestates, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
William Shockley b. 1963 (Reaper, Quantum Leap, Alien Nation [TV], Freddy’s Nightmares, RoboCop)
Dustin Nguyen b. 1962 (VR.5, SeaQuest 2032, Highlander [TV], Earth Angel)
Paul Feig b. 1962 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Zombie High)
Keith Cooke b. 1959 (Mortal Combat: Annihilation)
Aaron Lustig b. 1956 (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Day After Tomorrow, Charmed, Star Trek: Enterprise, Bedazzled, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Brimstone, The Relic, Pinocchio’s Revenge, Star Trek: Voyager, The Shadow, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Quantum Leap, Edward Scissorhands, Darkman, ALF, Alien Nation [TV], Ghostbusters II)
Tim Burd b. 1955 (Saw II through IV, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Mutant X, Odyssey 5, TekWar, Deadly Nightmares)
Cassandra Peterson b. 1951 (Elvira)
John Ritter b. 1948 died 11 September 2003 (Terror Tract, It Came From the Sky, Buffy, It, Americathon)
Bruce Spence b. 1945 (I, Frankenstein, The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Legend of the Seeker, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Peter Pan [2003], The Matrix Revolutions, Farscape, Queen of the Damned, BeastMaster [TV], Dark City, The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas, Halfway across the Galaxy and Turn Left, Hercules Returns, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, The Cars That Eat People)
Paul Benedict b. 1938 died 1 December 2008 (Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman[1993], the Twilight Zone [1987], The Addams Family, The Man With Two Brains)
Pat Crowley b. 1933 (Charmed, The Twilight Zone)
Anne Bancroft b. 1931 died 6 June 2005 (Dracula: Dead and Loving It)
David Huddleston b. 1930 (Jericho, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Capricorn One, The Sixth Sense [TV], Bewitched)
Roddy McDowall b. 1928 died 3 October 1998 (The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo, The Alien Within, Quantum Leap, Earth Angel, Doin’ Time on Planet Earth, Fright Night 1 and 2, The Wizard, Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], Small & Frye, The Martian Chronicles, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Thief of Baghdad [1978 TV], Wonder Woman, The Cat from Outer Space, Laserblast, The Fantastic Journey, Embryo, Planet of the Apes [4 movies and the TV show], Journey to the Unknown, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Topper Returns [TV movie], It!, The Invaders, Batman, Twilight Zone)
Ib Melchoir b. 1917 died 14 March 2015 (writer, Death Race, Planet of the Vampires, The Outer Limits, The Time Travelers, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Angry Red Planet, Men Into Space, Reptilitcus)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with James Urbaniak from The Venture Bros. and Bruce Spence from Dark City. This year it's Roddy McDowall from The Twilight Zone. On a personal note, when my mom was young she used to model in the Bay Area and sometimes when a Hollywood star was in town without a dinner date, models would be asked to "escort", a much less smutty job back in the day. Roddy McDowall was visiting San Francisco and my mom had dinner with him. She had no idea he was gay, but he was very charming and made her feel part of the conversation. To this day, I will never hear a word spoken against Roddy McDowall, a lovely gentleman with manners. From what I've heard, MGM did great work training their stars in public relations, and McDowall was also a natural at it.

2. Nepotism FTW. John Ritter is now more famous than his father Tex Ritter, but the elder was a big damn deal when Westerns were the most important genre in Hollywood.

3. Spot the Canadian! I would say Tim Burd is only semi-spottable.

4. MST3K. Roddy McDowall was in Laserblast.

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

Predictor: Morris Ernst in the 1955 book Utopia 1976

Prediction: By 1976, the weather control business will be controlled by the federal government. We will not only predict to tornado but prick it to death. We will place rain where it is needed and move it from acres and people where it is unwelcome.

Reality: This is of course wrong, but it lets me use my favorite twin labels "Humans to nature: Be our bitch" and "Nature to humans: BITCH PLEASE".
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

H.G. Wells gets something right in 1901, but it's not as big a deal in the rest of the 20th Century.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 September 2015

Birthdays
Colin Ford b. 1996 (Under the Dome, Revolution, Supernatural, Jack and the Beanstalk, Journeyman, Smallville)
Alexia Fast b. 1992 (Supernatural, Tin Man, The 4400)
Alfie Allen b. 1986 (Game of Thrones)
Emmy Rossum b. 1986 (Comet, Dragonball: Evolution, The Day After Tomorrow)
Marty Adams b. 1981 (Hemlock Grove, Orphan Black, Dead Before Dawn 3D, Lost Girl, Repo Men, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Saw IV)
Ben McKenzie b. 1978 (Gotham)
Grace McEhlhinney b. 1974 (The Babadook)
Paul Walker b. 1973 died 30 November 2013 (Pleasantville, Tammy and the T-Rex, Timeline, Programmed to Kill, Monster in the Closet)
Gideon Emery b. 1972 (Daredevil, Grimm, Teen Wolf, True Blood, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)
James Frey b. 1969 (author, I Am Number Four)
Louis C.K. (The Invention of Lying)
Darren E. Burrows b. 1966 (The Lone Gunmen, The X Files, Class of 1999, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Ramon Franco b. 1963 (Resident Evil: Extinction, The X Files, NightMan)
Amy Yasbeck b. 1962 (Dracula: Dead and Loving It, The Mask, Quantum Leap, Splash, Too, Werewolf, House: The Second Story)
Robert John Burke b. 1960 (Limitless, Witchblade, From the Earth to the Moon, Thinner, RoboCop 3)
Gregg Edelman b. 1958 (Spider-Man 2, The Manhattan Project)
Hans Zimmer b. 1957 (composer, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Amazing Spider-Man 2, Man of Steel, Rise of the Undead, Batman Begins, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Rango, Inception, The Ring, Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, Space Rangers)
Peter Scolari b. 1955 (Gotham, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, From the Earth to the Moon, Lois & Clark, Ticks, The Twilight Zone [1988])
Joe Pantoliano b. 1951 (Sense8, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Roswell, The Matrix, Congo, Robot in the Family, Highlander [TV], Tales from the Crypt, Deadly Nightmares, Amazing Stories)
Christopher Neame b. 1947 (Star Trek: Enterprise, The Invisible Man [TV], Seven Days, The Apocalypse Watch, Sliders, Earth 2, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, The Flash, Superboy, Ghostbusters II, Beauty and the Beast, Bloodstone, Blakes 7, Dracula A.D. 1972, Lust for a Vampire, No Blade of Grass)
Milo Manara b. 1945 (artist)
Anne Helm b. 1938 (Amazing Stories, The Magic Sword)
Bill McKinney b. 1931 died 1 December 2011 (Hellborn, The Green Mile, It Came from Outer Space II, Back to the Future Part III, Galactica 1980, Strange New World, I Dream of Jeannie)
Ian Holm b. 1931 (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Day After Tomorrow, Simon Magus, eXistenZ, Alice Through the Looking Glass [TV 1998], The Fifth Element, Loch Ness, Frankenstein [1994], The Borrowers, Dreamchild, Brazil, Time Bandits, Alien, The Lost Boys [TV 1978])
Freddie Jones b. 1927 (Neverwhere, Dune, Firestarter, Krull, Firefox, Space:1999, Son of Dracula, Alice Through the Looking Glass [TV 1973], Old Drac, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed)
Stanislaw Lem b. 1921 died 27 March 2006 (author, Solaris, The Futurological Congress)
Edward Binns b.1916 died 4 December 1990 (Captain Nice, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone)
Mary Stewart b. 1916 died 9 May 2014 (author, The Merlin Trilogy)
Desmond Llewelyn b. 1914 died 19 December 1999 (Merlin [1993], Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1980 TV], Moonraker, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Curse of the Werewolf, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Walter B. Gibson a.k.a. Maxwell Grant a.k.a. Edward S. Sullivan b. 1897 (writer, The Shadow, The Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Excluding Alfie Allen from Game of Thrones and author Stanislaw Lem because they've already been in the Picture Slot, there are still plenty of good choices, including Joe Pantoliano from The Matrix and Ben McKenzie from Gotham, but I went with a somewhat gruesome photo of Ian Holm (is a ripped up android truly gruesome?) just as a reminder of how good the cast for the original Alien truly was.

2. Spot the Canadians and MST3K. Three of our youngest actors - Colin Ford, Alexia Fast and  Marty Adams - have Canadian looking resumes, but Colin Ford was born south of the border. Ann Helm does not have a Canadian looking resume, in large part because he career started before the Canadian genre boom, but she was in The Magic Sword, so we have an MST3K movie on today's list.

3. Wait... he's alive? They don't look that much alike when they are younger, but Freddie Jones and the late Aubrey Morris did look very similar (to me at least) when they got older, and I definitely have mixed them up more than once. Freddie Jones is also the father of actor Toby Jones, a fact I didn't know until this morning. Best birthday wishes, sir.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tomorrow I will get on The Weekly Soapbox.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 September 2015

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

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

WHICH IS NOT ICONIC BECAUSE THE MOVE SUCKED EGGS!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5 September 2015

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

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

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

Nepotism FTW. Dweezil Zappa.

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

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

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

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

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

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

1 September 2015

Birthdays
Zendaya b. 1996 (Zapped [2014])
Michael Adamthwaite b. 1981 (The 100, Strange Empire, Nerds and Monsters, Arrow, Horns, Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Fringe, Sucker Punch, Behemoth, Riverworld, Twilight: New Moon, Smallville, Reaper, Watchmen, Flash Gordon [TV], Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Dead Like Me, 10.5, Stargate SG-1, Jeremiah)
Lara Pulver b. 1980 (Edge of Tomorrow, True Blood)
Camille Chen b. 1979 (Grimm, American Horror Story, Touch, Meteor [TV], Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over)
Justice Leak b. 1979 (The Vampire Diaries, Powers, Insurgent, Supergirl)
Adrienne Wilkinson b. 1977 (Star Trek: Renegades, Nobility, Charmed, Angel, Xena)
Jenae Altschwager b. 1976 (Alien Ecstasy, She Alien, Alien Sex Files 3, Click, The Island)
Scott Speedman b. 1975 (Underworld: Evolution, Underworld)
Burn Gorman b. 1974 (The Man in the High Castle, Forever, Game of Thrones, Pacific Rim, The Dark Knight Rises, Torchwood)
Jhonen Vasquez b. 1974 (Invader ZIM)
Maury Sterling b. 1971 (Extant, Coherence, Dollhouse, Charmed, Star Trek: Enterprise, Angel, Dark Skies, Outbreak)
Ricardo Chavira b. 1971 (Warehouse 13, Piranha 3D)
Padma Lakshmi b. 1970 (Star Trek: Enterprise)
Zak Penn b. 1968 (writer, Pacific Rim 2, Alphas, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men: The Last Stand, Elektra, X-Men 2)
James Nguyen b. 1966 (writer, Birdemic 1 and 2)
Michelle Meyrink b. 1962 (Nice Girls Don’t Explode, Real Genius)
Joe Jusko b. 1959 (artist, Marvel Comics)
Sachi Parker b. 1956 (Eerie, Indiana, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation [TV], Scrooged, Back to the Future)
James Rebhorn b. 1948 died 21 March 2014 (Coma [2012], The Adventures of Pluto Nash, From the Earth to the Moon, Independence Day, Cat’s Eye)
Susan Backlinie b. 1946 (Quark)
Venita Wolf b. 1945 died 22 November 2014 (Star Trek)
Beau Starr b. 1944 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Final Days of Planet Earth, The 4400, Earth: Final Conflict, Relic Hunter, Total Recall 2070, Halloween 4 and 5, V, Knight Rider, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Zitto Kazann b. 1944 (The X Files, Angel, Charmed, Buffy, Sliders, Waterworld, The Flash, Werewolf [TV], Automan, Tucker’s Witch, Knight Rider, The Greatest American Hero, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Don Stroud b. 1943 (Little Bigfoot, Babylon 5, The Alien Within, Carnosaur 2, Cyber Seeker, Frogtown II, Quantum Leap, Super Force, Hyper Space, The Powers of Matthew Star, The Incredible Hulk, The Amityville Horror)
C. J. Cherryh b. 1942 (won 1982 Hugo for Downbelow Station and 1989 Hugo for Cyteen)
Judy Levitt b. 1940 (InAlienable, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Moontrap, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Lily Tomlin b. 1939 (The X Files, The Incredible Shrinking Woman)
Ron O’Neal b. 1937 died 14 January 2004 (Hyper Space, Beauty and the Beast [1987], Knight Rider, The Greatest American Hero, The Final Countdown, Brave New World)
Anne Ramsey b. 1929 died 11 August 1988 (Scrooged, Doctor Hackenstein, ALF, Deadly Friend, Knight Rider, Wonder Woman)
George Maharis b. 1928 (Superboy, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Logan’s Run [TV], Bionic Woman, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, Death in Space, Journey to the Unknown, The Satan Bug)
Yvonne De Carlo b. 1922 died 8 January 2007 (American Gothic, The Munsters)
Vittorio Gassman b. 1922 died 29 June 2000 (Quintet)
Richard Farnsworth b. 1920 died 6 October 2000 (Space Rage, Resurrection, Strange New World, Mighty Joe Young)
Betty Blythe b. 1893 died 7 April 1972 (She [1925])
Edgar Rice Burroughs b. 1875 died 19 March 1950 (author, John Carter)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The previous Picture Slotters were Yvonne De Carlo and Edgar Rice Burroughs. This year, it goes to Venita Wolf from the Star Trek episode The Squire of Gothos. I consider major guest roles on Star Trek to be iconic almost always and she's a fabulous babe as well, but the third reason she is getting a mention is that she died last year and it escaped my attention. She should have had a send-off.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Venita Wolf, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

2. Spot the Canadians! Did you know Yvonne De Carlo was from the Great White North? I didn't. We also have Michelle Meyrink, Scott Speedman and Michael Adamthwaite. Of all of these actors, only Adamthwaite's credit list gives away his nation of origin.

3. Nepotism FTW. Sachi Parker is Shirley MacLaine's daughter.

4. Okay... WTF? Justice Leak? This is a Washington scandal, not an actual person's name.

5. Stealth MST3K. Our Picture Slotter Venita Wolf was also in Catalina Caper, not genre but it did get the best Brains treatment.

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

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in his 1957 book The Door Into Summer

Prediction: I found that a helicopter bus was due to leave for the center of the city in twenty-five minutes.

Reality: Local public transit that flies... not so much. Heinlein thought it would be here by the year 2000.
 

 This month's splash illustration: This month, I took a section from the cover of one of Frank Miller's Dark Knight series, probably the most influential version of Batman to this day.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We take a look at the Atlantic hurricane season at the halfway mark in the season.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

30 August 2015

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

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

'Cos she's purdy.

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

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

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

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

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

28 August 2015

Birthdays
Quvenzhane Wallis b. 2003 (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Kyle Massey b. 1991 (Gotham)
Katie Findlay b. 1990 (After the Dark, Continuum, Crash Site, SGU Stargate Universe, Fringe)
Armie Hammer b. 1986 (Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, Mirror Mirror, 2081, Reaper)
Sarah Roemer b. 1984 (The Event, The Grudge 2)
Carly Pope b. 1980 (The Tomorrow People, Elysium, Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, The 4400, 10.5: Apocalypse, Jake 2.0, NightMan)
Kelly Overton b. 1978 (True Blood, Beauty and the Beast [2012], Tekken, The Ring Two)
Amber Sainsbury b. 1978 (Fairy Tales, 30 Days of Night, Hex, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Nick E. Tarabay b. 1975 (Arrow, Believe, Star Trek Into Darkness)
Eugene Byrd b. 1975 (True Blood, American Horror Story, Eureka, Night Stalker [2006])
Kristin Booth b. 1974 (Orphan Black, Supernatural, ReGenesis, Total Recall 2070)
J. August Richards b. 1973 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow, Warehouse 13, The 4400, Angel, Sliders, Space: Above and Beyond)
Stephanie Belding b. 1971 (Lost Girl, Eureka, Watchmen, Reaper, Earth: Final Conflict, eXistenZ)
Daniel Goddard b. 1971 (Immortally Yours, Dream Warrior, BeastMaster)
Jack Black b. 1969 (Ghost Ghirls, Gulliver’s Travels, King Kong, The X-Files, Waterworld, The Neverending Story III, Demolition Man)
Jason Priestley b. 1969 (Haven, Day of the Triffids [2009], Termination Point, Jeremiah, Quantum Leap)
Billy Boyd b. 1968 (Space Milkshake, The Witches of Oz, Glenn, the Flying Robot, Lord of the Rings, Seed of Chucky, Urban Ghost Story)
Amanda Tapping b. 1965 (Supernatural, Stargate, Space Milkshake, Sanctuary, Earthsea, The X Files, Flash Forward, Forever Knight)
Dermot Keaney b. 1964 (Atlantis [TV], Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Strange)
Melissa Rosenberg b. 1962 (writer, Twilight)
David Fincher b. 1962 (director, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alien³)
Jennifer Coolidge b. 1961 (Click, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Not of this Earth)
Emma Samms b. 1960 (The Little Unicorn, Humanoids from the Deep, Tales from the Crypt, Lois & Clark, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Arabian Adventure)
Brian Thompson b. 1959 (Flight of the Living Dead, Star Trek: Enterprise, Epoch: Evolution, Charmed, Birds of Prey, The X Files, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Buffy, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, DragonHeart, Deep Space Nine, Weird Science, Kindred: The Embraced, Hercules, Star Trek: Generations, Doctor Mordred, Superboy, Alien Nation [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation, Fright Night Part 2, Werewolf, Knight Rider, Otherworld, The Terminator)
John Allen Nelson b. 1959 (Knight Rider, Seven Days, Quantum Leap, Killer Klowns from Outer Space)
Daniel Stern b. 1957 (SeaQuest 2032, Little Monsters, Leviathan, C.H.U.D.)
Rick Rossovich b. 1957 (Legend of the Lost Tomb, Black Scorpion, Future Shock, Tales from the Crypt, The Terminator)
Luis Guzman b. 1956 (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Rise of the Damned, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, SeaQuest 2032, Innocent Blood, *batteries not included)
Vonda N. McIntyre b. 1948 (won 1979 Hugo and Nebula for Dreamsnake, won 1998 Nebula for The Moon and the Sun)
Alice Playten b. 1947 died 25 June 2011 (Pioneer 12, Legend, Disco Beaver from Outer Space, The Lost Saucer)
David Soul b. 1943 (Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, Deadly Nightmares, World War III, Salem’s Lot, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie)
Ken Jenkins b. 1940 (The X Files, Sliders, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Abyss, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Donald O’Connor b. 1925 died 27 September 2003 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 and 1983], The Bionic Woman, The Wonders of Aladdin)
Nancy Kulp b. 1921 died 3 February 1991 (Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone, Moon Pilot)
Jack Kirby b. 1917 died 6 February 1994 (artist, Marvel and DC comics)
Jack Vance b. 1916 died 23 May 2013 (author, The Dying Earth, Big Planet)
Simon Oakland b. 1915 died 29 August 1983 (Tucker’s Witch, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Starlost, Captain Nice, The Satan Bug, The Outer Limits, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Morris Ankrum b. 1897 died 2 September 1964 (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, From the Earth to the Moon, Giant from the Unknown, Beginning of the End, The Giant Claw, Kronos, Zombies of Mora Tau, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Invaders from Mars, Red Planet Mars, Rocketship X-M)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I used Jack Kirby and J. August Richards. There were several options for today - David Soul from Star Trek, Brian Thompson from any of a number of roles, Billy Boyd from Lord of the Rings, Jack Black from King Kong - but I decided to go with Quvenzhane Wallis facing off with the Auroch from the end of Beasts of the Southern Wild.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are six today: Katie Findlay, Carly Pope, Kristin Booth, Stephanie Belding, Jason Priestley and Amanda Tapping.

3. Wait... she's dead? Alice Playten was a comic actress who did a lot of voice work. I remember her from Martin Mull's first album and from National Lampoon's Lemmings. I still haven't quite processed that she is dead.

4. MST3K. Morris Ankrum spent most of his career in Westerns, but he also made a lot of 1950s sci-fi, so many of them I saw when I was a kid watching TV in the 1960. Two of his movies got the Best Brains treatment, Beginning of the End and Rocketship X-M.

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

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

Prediction:  How will the New Republic treat the inferior races? How will it deal with the black? how will it deal with the yellow man? how will it tackle that alleged termite in the civilized woodwork, the Jew? Certainly not as races at all. It will aim to establish, and it will at last, though probably only after a second century has passed, establish a world-state with a common language and a common rule. All over the world its roads, its standards, its laws, and its apparatus of control will run. It will, I have said, make the multiplication of those who fall behind a certain standard of social efficiency unpleasant and difficult, and it will have cast aside any coddling laws to save adult men from themselves. It will tolerate no dark corners where the people of the Abyss may fester, no vast diffused slums of peasant proprietors, no stagnant plague-preserves. Whatever men may come into its efficient citizenship it will let come--white, black, red, or brown; the efficiency will be the test. And the Jew also it will treat as any other man. It is said that the Jew is incurably a parasite on the apparatus of credit. If there are parasites on the apparatus of credit, that is a reason for the legislative cleaning of the apparatus of credit, but it is no reason for the special treatment of the Jew. If the Jew has a certain incurable tendency to social parasitism, and we make social parasitism impossible, we shall abolish the Jew, and if he has not, there is no need to abolish the Jew. We are much more likely to find we have abolished the Caucasian solicitor.

Reality: Wells is listed as a socialist, but this version of race relations sounds a lot like the conservative argument for "color-blindness", which means other races, if lucky, can eventually become honorary white people.

So yet again, we find H.G. Wells is a scumbag.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

This month, I read Brave New World for the first time and I will give a book report. The ghost of Aldous Huxley will not be pleased.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

22 August 2015

Birthdays
Dakota Goyo b. 1999 (Dark Skies, Real Steel, Thor, Ultra)
Dannielle Lozeau b. 1987 (Werewolf Rising, The Bell Witch Haunting, The Devil Girl of Devonshire, Legion, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pretty Dead Things)
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 (Westworld, Lost)
Cindy Valentine Leone b. 1975 (Teen Witch)
Kristen Wiig b. 1973 (Ghostbusters, The Martian, 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 (Game of Thrones, 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)
Alfred Gough b. 1967 (writer, Smallville, I Am Number Four, Spider-Man 2, Timecop)
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 (Gotham, 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])
Cindy Williams b. 1947 (Lois & Clark, UFOria, The Creature Wasn’t Nice, Beware! The Blob)
Valerie Harper b. 1939 (My Future Boyfriend)
Sylva Koscina b. 1933 died 26 December 1994 (The House of Exorcism, Uncle Was a Vampire, Hercules Unchained, Hercules)
John Lupton b. 1928 died 3 November 1993 (Shazam!, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter)
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)
Alma Beltran b. 1919 died 9 June 2007 (Ghost, Knight Rider, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
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)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Honor Blackman and Ray Bradbury, the previous two Picture Slotters, certainly count as iconic, but I could be accused of going old school, since they are both older than I am and their fame is from the 20th Century. This year, I go with Mark Williams, who is younger than I am and his fame is mostly from Harry Potter, a 21st Century product. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Richard Armitrage were other considered options.

2. Spot the Canadians! Dakota Goyo, Jennifer Finnigan and Cindy Valentine Leone.

3. I'm bad at guessing women's ages. As I wrote in my Yvonne Craig tribute, I thought she was a few years older than my older brother when she was just five years younger than my mom. Going the other direction, Melody Patterson, who also died this week but had no genre roles, was on F Troop and she was still in high school; I would have thought she was five to ten years older. And then we have Honor Blackman, still alive thank goodness, who was just shy of 40 when she had her two most famous roles here in the states in Jason and the Argonauts and Goldfinger. I would have guessed all those incorrectly.

4. MST3K. The lovely Sylva Koscina played Iole opposite the hunky Steve Reeves in both Hercules and Hercules Unchained.

5. Hey... no Star Trek! This was a long streak between Star Trek free days, the last one being on July 24.

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

Movie released
1990: The Bronx Warriors released, 1982

The Weekly Soapbox: Nuclear war

It's a very good time to note that the last time a nuclear bomb was used against an enemy was 70 years ago as of this month. Back then, the United States was involved in a costly and deadly war and we were the only ones with the bomb. We dropped two and the Japanese surrendered.

A few years later, we weren't the only ones with the bomb and the great fear of the second half of the Twentieth Century was born. If you read Command and Control, you'll see there were several accidents that might have resulted in nuclear explosions, but I must admit as I read it I thought it showed the multiple safeguards actually worked pretty well. There was also the Cuban missile crisis and several false alarms on both sides, but the scorecard is still clear: since nuclear weapons have been the property of more than one nation, they haven't been used.

Predictions of nuclear war are extremely common in movies and literature and even today, the spectre of nuclear terrorism is used to keep us afraid enough to keep up our truly insane defense spending. I for one, don't think the world is quite that dangerous, but I fully admit I could be suffering from confirmation bias. If something awful happens and I'm still alive, I will admit my error, but it would likely mean that I am wrong and Glenn Beck is right, and I really do seriously think that is awfully damned unlikely.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another lazy Sunday with just a birthday list. Could we have a Canadian (gasp!) in the Picture Slot? Signs point to yes.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 August 2015

Birthdays
Cameron Monaghan b. 1993 (Amityville, Gotham, Vampire Academy, Fringe, Click, Threshold)
Evanna Lynch b. 1991 (Sinbad, Harry Potter)
Kevin G. Schmidt b. 1988 (The Butterfly Effect, Taken)
Arden Cho b. 1985 (Teen Wolf, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid)
Agnes Brucker b. 1985 (The Returned, Once Upon a Time, Venom)
Todd Haberkorn b. 1982 (Star Trek Continues, Warehouse 13)
Cam Gigandet b. 1982 (Priest, Pandorum, The Unborn, Twilight)
George Stults b. 1975 (Hydra, Night Skies)
Donovan Leitch Jr. b. 1967 (The Blob)
Andy Milder b. 1965 (Transformers, Star Trek: Voyager, Good vs Evil, Armageddon, From the Earth to the Moon, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Apollo 13)
William Salyers b. 1964 (Bedazzled)
Christine Cavanaugh b. 1963 died 22 December 2014 (Dexter’s Laboratory, The X-Files, Babe)
Steve Carell b. 1962 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Bewitched [2005])
Elpidia Carillo b. 1961 (Solaris, Predator 1 and 2)
Timothy Hutton b. 1960 (The Last Mimzy, Iceman)
Angela Bassett b. 1958 (American Horror Story, Green Lantern, Supernova, Contact, Strange Days, Vampire in Brooklyn, Innocent Blood, Critters 4, The Flash, Alien Nation [TV])
Laura Innes b. 1957 (Warehouse 13, Awake, The Event, Deep Impact, The Fury)
Jeff Perry b. 1955 (Fringe, Invasion, Lost, American Gothic, The Flash)
Josh Clark b. 1955 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Heroes, Star Trek: Voyager, The Invisible Man, Babylon 5, Millennium, Big, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
James Cameron b. 1954 (director, Avatar, Dark Angel, Terminator 2:Judgment Day, The Abyss, Aliens, The Terminator, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning)
Reginald VelJohnson b. 1952 (Ghostbusters, Wolfen)
Marshall Manesh b. (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The X Files, Kazaam)
Lesley Ann Warren b. 1946 (Wolf Girl, Faerie Tale Theatre, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!)
Bob Balaban b. 1945 (Lady in the Water, Amazing Stories, 2010, Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
Sharon Baird b. 1943 (Ratboy, Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Pufnstuf)
Maurice Hurley b. 1939 died 25 February 2015 (writer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Firebird 2015 AD)
Carole Shelley b. 1939 (Bewitched [2005], Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1956])
Anita Gillette b. 1936 (Pinocchio [1968 TV])
Donnie Dunagan b. 1934 (Son of Frankenstein)
Sir John Standing b. 1934 (Game of Thrones, V for Vendetta, Lexx, Gulliver’s Travels, Eerie, Indiana, Space: 1999)
Julie Newmar b. 1933 (Oblivion 1 and 2, Deep Space, The Powers of Matthew Star, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Jason of Star Command, The Bionic Woman, Monster Squad, Bewitched, Star Trek, Batman, My Living Doll, Twilight Zone)
Robert Culp b. 1930 died 24 March 2010 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Conan [TV], Lois & Clark, The Greatest American Hero, The Outer Limits, Now is Tomorrow)
Ann Blyth b. 1928 (Twilight Zone, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid)
Lois Nettleton b. 1927 died 18 January 2008 (Babylon 5, The Flash, The Munsters Today, The Bamboo Saucer, Twilight Zone, Captain Video)
Fess Parker b. 1924 died 18 March 2010 (Them!)
Mae Clarke b. 1910 died 29 April 1992 (Batman, Frankenstein)
Glenn Strange b. 1899 died 20 September 1973 (Space Patrol, Master Minds, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, House of Dracula, House of Frankenstein, The Monster Maker, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mad Monster, Flash Gordon)
Hugo Gernsback b. 1884 died 19 August 1967 (editor, Amazing Stories, Wonder Stories)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went a little old school with the fabulous Julie Newmar and really old school with Hugo Gernsback. Using the no repeats rule, there were three people I considered: Glenn Strange, the little known actor who took over the role of Frankenstein's monster when Boris Karloff wearied of it, the director James Cameron and the winner, Evanna Lynch, best known as Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series


2. Spot the Canadian! James Cameron is Canadian. I've always thought of Canadians as relatively nice and modest people. Maybe they keep that reputation by exporting (or is it deporting?) braggarts like Cameron.

3. Nepotism FTW. Timothy Hutton is the son of actor Jim Hutton. The son's career has eclipse the father's, but I expect it helped early on. Donovan Leitch Jr. is the son of Donovan Leitch Sr. While I'm not sure how much a musician counts as a nepotistic advantage in a career on film, it should be noted his sister Ione Skye also has a career.


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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Monday = OMNI Future Almanac, my steady and reliable source of predictions since the blog began.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 August 2015

Birthdays
Cara Delevingne b. 1992 (Suicide Squad, Pan)
Keith Stanfield b. 1991 (The Purge: Anarchy)
Leah Pipes b. 1988 (The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Angel)
Electra and Elise Avellan b. 1986 (Grindhouse)
Charlotte Salt b. 1985 (Beowulf)
Natalie Mendoza b. 1981 (Code 46, BeastMaster [2000 TV], Farscape)
Dominique Swain b. 1980 (Journeyman)
Maggie Lawson b. 1980 (Gamer, Smallville, Pleasantville, Meego)
Casey Affleck b. 1975 (Interstellar)
Rebecca Gayheart b. 1971 (Dead Like Me, Invasion, Sliders, Earth 2)
Yvette Nicole Brown b. 1971 (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Repo Men, The Island)
Michael Ian Black b. 1971 (Reaper)
Ellory Elkayem b. 1970 (director, Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave, Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis, Eight Legged Freaks, They Nest)
Katherine Kendall b. 1969 (Southland Tales, Firefly)
Andras Jones b. 1968 (The Attic Expeditions, Alien Nation [TV], A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama)
Brett Sexton b. 1967 (Surface, Birds of Prey, Vanilla Sky, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The X Files, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Angel)
Peter Krause b. 1965 (Beastly, The Lost Room, The Truman Show, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Bruce Greenwood b. 1956 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek, Super 8, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Mee-Shee: The Water Giant, I, Robot, The Core, Sleepwalkers [TV], Deadly Nightmares [TV])
Sam J. Jones b. 1954 (Ted, Flash Gordon [2007 TV and 1980], Black Scorpion, Stargate SG-1, Earth Minus Zero)
Ray Abruzzo b. 1954 (The Burning Zone, Lois & Clark)
Jim Beaver b. 1950 (Revolution, Supernatural, Tremors [TV], Star Trek: Enterprise, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The X Files, Lois & Clark)
Bruce Solomon b. 1944 (Night of the Creeps, Twilight Zone [1986])
Dana Ivey b. 1941 (Addams Family Values, The Addams Family, Explorers)
Oliver Ford Davies b. 1939 (Game of Thrones, Star Wars: Episodes I, II and III, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, The Cloning of Joanna May, Moonbase 3)
George Hamilton b. 1939 (The Little Unicorn, Love at First Bite)
Carol Eve Rossen b. 1937 (Mr. Merlin, The Fury, The Stepford Wives, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
Michael Coles b. 1936 died 26 April 2005 (The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Dracula A.D. 1972, Doctor Who and the Daleks)
Elizabeth Shepherd b. 1936 (The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Poltergeist: The Legacy, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Damien: Omen II, The Tomb of Ligeia)
William Goldman b. 1931 (screenwriter, Dreamcatcher, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, The Princess Bride, The Stepford Wives)
John Bluthal b. 1929 (Dark City, The Fifth Element, Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns, Leaping Leprechauns, Superman III, The Return of Captain Invincible, The Flying Sorcerer)
Dan Curtis b. 1927 died 27 March 2006 (writer, Dark Shadows, Frankenstein [1973 TV])
Ralph Nelson b. 1916 died 21 December 1987 (director, Charly, Twilight Zone)
Richard L. Bare b. 1913 (director, Twilight Zone)
Jane Wyatt b. 1910 died 20 October 2006 (Amityville: The Evil Escapes, Starman [TV], Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Gemini Man, Star Trek)
Oskar Homolka b. 1898 died 28 January 1978 (The Invisible Man [1976 TV], The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The Invisible Woman)
Marion Lorne b. 1883 died 9 May 1968 (Bewitched)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon and Jane Wyatt as Spock's mom. Excluding those two, the most iconic genre actor is likely Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara from Bewitched. After that, I'd likely put Oliver Ford Davies, Maester Cressen in one episode of Game of Thrones and the unfortunately named Sio Bibble from the Star Wars prequels. (The story goes that George Lucas let his kids name characters in the sequels, which explains Mace Windu and Count Dooku. Nothing and no one will ever explain J**-J** B**ks to my satisfaction, and I might have to smack anyone who tries.) But I decided instead to honor one of my favorite screenwriters of all time, William Goldman. I can love movies for a lot of reasons, but when I was a kid, my first love was snappy dialogue, and The Princess Bride has as many quotable lines as Casablanca or All About Eve or Dr. Strangelove.

2. Canadian pre-spotted for your protection. Bruce Greenwood's career has taken him south of the border many times, with only a few Canadian genre shows to his name.

3. Nepotism more or less. Casey Affleck is Ben Affleck's kid brother and he does show up in some productions where Ben is one of the guys in charge - Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone being the most notable - but Casey gets plenty of work on his own, so I'm not going to give this post the Nepotism FTW label.

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

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1902 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: One pound of good coal will evaporate nine pounds of water, equal to about 250 cubic inches, this doing 250 foot-tons of work. But Niagara performs the same amount of work at infinitely less cost.

Reality: As a mathematician, I quibble with "infinitely less cost", but this is still an interesting point of cost analysis. It's not like renewables are a brand spanking new idea, though we now understand costs to the environment as well. I am somewhat optimistic that we can wean ourselves off of fossil fuels, but longtime readers will know I'm unmovable commie scum deeply versed in Alinsky style treachery and deceit. (In all serious, if someone quotes Alinsky these days, you know it's someone off the deep end of the conservative side of the pool.)
 

Never to be Forgotten: Herbert Wise 1924-2015

Director Herbert Wise has died at the age of 90. he was born in Austria, but was part of the Kindertransport system that took European Jewish children and sent them to Britain. He did a lot of work on British TV and the highlight of his career for me is directing all twelve episodes of I, Claudius, still one of the highlights in the history of television. He is remembered he for the British TV version of The Woman in Black - recently redone with Daniel Radcliffe - and The Tenth Kingdom. 

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Thursday means a visit from Morris Ernst and his overly optimistic book from the 1950 entitled Utopia 1976.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

8 August 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Weekly Soapbox: Pneumatic tubes

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

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

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

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

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

6 August 2015

Birthdays
Romola Garai b. 1982 (The Last Days on Mars)
Karl Davies b. 1982 (Game of Thrones)
Adrianne Curry b. 1982 (Light Years Away)
Marisa Miller b. 1978 (R.I.P.D.)
Jennifer Lyons b. 1977 (Professor Creepy’s Scream Party, The Amazing Spider-Man, Return of the Killer Shrews, Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman)
Melissa George b. 1976 (Gothica [TV], 30 Days of Night, The Amityville Horror, Charmed, Dark City)
Soleil Moon Frye b. 1976 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Piranhas)
Jason Rogel b. 1976 (Swamp Shark, The Quick and the Undead)
Ever Carradine b. 1974 (Supernatural, Eureka, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Vera Farmiga b. 1973 (Source Code, Neverwas, Snow White: The Fairest of Them All)
Paolo Bacigalupi b. 1972 (won 2010 Hugo and Nebula for The Windup Girl)
Jason O’Mara b. 1972 (Terra Nova, Resident Evil: Extinction, Eastwick, Space Truckers)
Merrin Dungey b. 1971 (Once Upon a Time, Beyond, Good vs Evil, Deep Impact, Babylon 5)
M Night Shyamalan b. 1970 (director, After Earth, The Last Airbender, The Happening, The Lady in the Water, The Village, Signs, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense)
Alan Cox b. 1970 (The Odyssey)
Michelle Yeoh b. 1962 (Babylon A.D., The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)
Leland Orser b.1960 (Revolution, Touch, Star Trek: Enterprise, Daredevil, Alien: Resurrection, Star Trek: Voyager, Invader, Escape from L. A., Deep Space Nine, The X Files, Eerie, Indiana)
Ian R. MacLeod b. 1956 (author, The Great Wheel, The Summer Isles)
Stepfanie Kramer b. 1956 (The Man with Two Brains, The Secret Empire)
Kevin Jarre b. 1954 died 3 April 2001 (writer, The Mummy)
Catherine Hicks b. 1951 (Child’s Play, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Tucker’s Witch)
Jack Klaff b. 1951 (Red Dwarf, Whoops Apocalypse, Space: 1999, Star Wars)
Dorian Harewood b. 1950 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Kyle XY, Stargate SG-1, Earth: Final Conflict, Time Trax, Solar Crisis, Amerika, Desire, the Vampire, Looker)
Michael Anderson Jr. b. 1943 (Highlander [TV], The Martian Chronicles, Logan’s Run, Land of the Giants)
Louise Sorel b. 1940 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Incredible Hulk, The Curse of Dracula, Star Trek)
Paul Bartel b. 1938 died 13 May 2000 (Good vs Evil, Escape from L.A., Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Amazing Stories, Munchies, Heartbeeps, Death Race 2000)
Peter Bonerz b. 1938 (director, ALF; actor The Addams Family)
Barbara Windsor b. 1937 (Alice in Wonderland [2010], Doctor Who, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Piers Anthony b. 1934 (author, Xanth)
Norman Barthold b. 1928 died 28 May 1994 (Capricorn One, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Westworld, My Favorite Martian)
Frank Finlay b. 1926 (Merlin [2008], The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, Lifeforce, A Christmas Carol, The Thief of Baghdad [1978 TV], Count Dracula, The Deadly Bees, Target Luna)
Robert Mitchum b. 1917 died 1 July 1997 (Scrooged)
Lucille Ball b. 1911 died 26 April 1989 (The Magic Carpet)
Charles Crichton b. 1910 died 14 September 1999 (director, Alien Attack, Space: 1999, The Day After Tomorrow [1976 TV movie])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with fabulous babes who fell for Capt. Kirk, Louise Sorel and Catherine Hicks, and this year I go with Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, a novel I read earlier this year.

2. Nepotism FTW. As you might guess, Ever Carradine is from the Carradine clan, daughter of Robert.

3. MST3K. The one I know for sure is The Deadly Bees with Frank Finlay

4. Today's surprises. I checked on Lucille Ball and Robert Mitchum expecting nothing, but she had one early in her career and he had one late.


5. Living Canadian free! One of those strange days.

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

Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in Utopia 1976, published in 1955

Prediction: As for water usage, with weather and rain control, the amount of water we need for irrigation will be what we make of it.

Reality: Controlling the weather is not quite as popular a prediction as flying cars or moving sidewalks, but this is definitely not the first prediction.

It doesn't make the prediction correct, but Mr. Ernst might be happy to know he's got company in his mistaken view.

Never to be Forgotten: George Cole 1925-2015
British actor George Cole, known best in his country as the star of a TV show Minder, has died at the age of 90. He is pictured here as the young Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. His other genre credits include Mary Reilly, UFO and The Vampire Lovers.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Once again, I will the writings of the young H.G. Wells to ruin that charming view some of us had of him when Malcolm McDowell played Wells all those years ago.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

1 August 2015

Birthdays
Alakina Mann b. 1990 (The Others)
Sasha Jackson b. 1988 (Dominion, Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader, The Witches of Oz)
Max Carver b. 1988 (The Leftovers, Teen Wolf, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn)
Monserrat Lombard b. 1982 (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Hyperdrive)
Miracle Laurie b. 1981 (100,000 Zombie Heads, Dollhouse)
Jason Momoa b. 1979 (Aquaman, Game of Thrones, Conan the Barbarian [2011], Stargate: Atlantis)
Burton Perez b. 1977 (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
Annett Culp b. 1975 (BloodRayne: The Third Reich, Blubberella, Babylon 5: In the Beginning)
Kris Holden-Ried b. 1973 (The Listener, Lost Girl, Underworld: Awakening, Habitat)
Charles Malik Whitfield b. 1972 (Sleepy Hollow, Warehouse 13, Supernatural, Seven Days)
Jennifer Gareis b. 1970 (The 6th Day)
Cameron Rhodes b. 1967 (Power Rangers, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Xena)
Sam Mendes b. 1965 (producer, Penny Dreadful)
Melanie Shatner b. 1964 (Perversions of Science, TekWar, La Mansion de los Cthulhu, The Alien Within, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek)
John Carroll Lynch b. 1963 (Ted 2, American Horror Story, Paul, Carnivale, Star Trek: Voyager, From the Earth to the Moon)
Thomas Jay Ryan b. 1962 (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Teknolust)
Mark McCracken b. 1960 (Where the Wild Things Are, Matinee, Swamp Thing)
Adrian Dunbar b. 1958 (The Quatermass Experiment [2005 TV])
Taylor Negron b. 1957 died 10 January 2015 (Vamps, Wizards of Waverly Place, Good vs Evil, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Lewis Smith b. 1956 (Avalon: Beyond the Abyss, Beauty and the Beast, Badlands 2005, The Man Who Fell to Earth [TV], Buckaroo Banzai)
Annabel Jankel b. 1955 (director, Super Mario Bros., Max Headroom)
Suze Lanier-Bramlett b. 1947 (The Hills Have Eyes, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl)
David Calder b. 1946 (Utopia, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Mists of Avalon, Jason and the Argonauts [2000 TV], Star Cops, Superman)
Andrew G. Vajna b. 1944 (producer, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Judge Dredd, Jacob’s Ladder, Total Recall)
Giancarlo Giannini b. 1942 (Dracula [2002], Dune [2000 TV], Mimic)
Terry Kiser b. 1939 (The Huntress, Lois & Clark, Tammi and the T-Rex, Incredi-Girl, Mannequin: On the Move, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Knight Rider, Automan, Manimal, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land, Looker, Gemini Man, The Invisible Man)
Ian Hogg b. 1937 (Doctor Who)
Dom DeLuise b. 1933 died 4 May 2009 (Stargate SG-1, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, 3rd Rock from the Sun, SeaQuest 2032, Spaceballs, Haunted Honeymoon, Amazing Stories, The Munsters)
Geoffrey Holder b. 1930 died 5 October 2014 (Ghost of a Chance, John Grin’s Christmas, Alice in Wonderland [1983], Doctor Dolittle [1967])
Michael Sinelnikoff b. 1928 (The Lost World, TekWar)
Paul Lambert b. 1922 died 27 April 1997 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Automan, Planet of the Apes, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Men Into Space)
Arthur Hill b. 1922 died 22 October 2006 (Tales of the Unexpected, Prototype, Tomorrow’s Child, Revenge of the Stepford Wives [TV], Futureworld, The Andromeda Strain, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
J. Lee Thompson b. 1914 died 30 August 2002 (director, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes)
Henry Jones b. 1912 died 17 May 1999 (Arachnophobia, Project U.F.O., The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Girl with Something Extra, Project X, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Bewitched, Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with my fabulous babe/Whedonverse nerd instincts with Miracle Laurie and showed my Oh That Guy street cred with Henry Jones, who has 206 credits on imdb.com, but it seems like so many more. This year, it's Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo, definitely iconic.

2. Spot the Canadians. Kris Holden-Ried had a featured role on Lost Girl and yes, he is also Canadian. Arthur Hill was born in 1922, so he worked most of his career before the Canadian production boom.

3. Nepotism, obvs. Melanie Shatner. I've already written too much.

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

Movies released
Guardians of the Galaxy released, 2014
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor released, 2008
The Omega Man released 1971

I'm not sure if Marvel knew it had a hit with Guardians of the Galaxy. Releasing a movie in the beginning of August is very late for a summer blockbuster, the biggest of which often open in the spring, from early May to mid-June.

The Weekly Soapbox: Jetpacks
I started this blog because I'm old enough to think of the 21st Century as the future. If you look back forty or fifty years, the changes are really quite stunning, but the cliche complaints are "Hey, where's my flying car?" or "Hey, where's my jetpack?"

In 2011, Neil Gaiman wrote a silly little short story titled And Weep, Like Alexander about a fellow who was an uninventor, looking at the world and realizing some technology didn't make our lives any better, so he would go backwards in time and make sure some gadgets were not invented. The personal jetpack certainly deserves to be uninvented.

Let us stipulate that jetpacks look cool as hell.  There was a guy with the jetpack at Disneyland, there's James Bond, for pity's sake. Both of those very enticing examples give away the problem.

Jetpacks are for show. They are a special effect, not an actual practical mode of transportation. They are loud, they are expensive to buy, to fuel and to maintain, they have numerous safety issues that range in significance from hazardous to fatal. Even more than a flying car, it looks like the ultimate expression of freedom - personal flight - but where you could go is actually very limited, mainly because how how much fuel it burns. More than that, even if it could get you from Point A to Point B and those two places were more than a few hundred yards apart. where it lands it has to be stored, fueled and maintained.

Flying cars have almost all the same problems, but personal jetpacks are in fact much, much worse.
  

This month's splash illustration: BBC produced a seven-part series of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, based on the 2004 novel by Susanna Clarke. I liked both the book and the TV show very much and was sorry to see it get so little attention in the nerd circles I am in. A generally positive review in The New York Times stated that seven hours is not quite enough for a 1,000 page novel, which is certainly true, and because they left so much out the show didn't quite hold together, which I disagree with completely.

If you like long novels, pick up the book. If you like British period pieces, give the TV show a chance. It deserves more recognition than it got.

Never to be Forgotten: Roddy Piper 1954-2015 Canadian born Roddy Piper was a remarkable set of contradictions. He was always the bad guy in his wrestling career - they are known as "heels" - but every story about him was that he was a nice guy and the outpouring of love for him upon his death from a heart attack at 61 is nothing short of remarkable. His time in wrestling is well-known as The Steroid Era, but Piper didn't look the part. Barely six foot and built like a normal, in shape person, he was the foil for a lot of huge over-inflated opponents, most notably Hulk Hogan. He is remembered on this blog for his starring role in John Carpenter's very strange They Live, a low-budget sci-fi film that is a scathing indictment of consumerist culture. Carpenter verifies that Piper's most famous line in the film is an ad-lib, his statement before a massive gunfight, "I came to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum." He also starred in Hell Comes to Frogtown - thanks to Zombie Rotten McDonald for jogging my memory on this - and apeared in a few Canadian production genre shows, including Alien Opponent, RoboCop, Highlander and Superboy.

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

Another lazy Sunday with just a birthday list.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!