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!

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!

24 July 2015

Birthdays
Emily Bett Rickards b. 1991 (The Flash, Arrow, Soldiers of the Apocalypse)
Daveigh Chase b. 1990 (S. Darko, Donnie Darko, The Ring, Charmed, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Jeffrey Zubernis b. 1987 (The Sixth Sense)
Mara Wilson b. 1987 (A Simple Wish)
Kyle Morris b. 1984 (Fear Force Five, The Forbidden Dimensions, Night of the Living Dead 3D: Re-Animation)
Anna Paquin b. 1982 (X-Men, True Blood)
Elisabeth Moss b. 1982 (Invasion, Escape to Witch Mountain [1995])
Trevor Matthews b. 1982 (Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer)
Summer Glau b. 1981 (Arrow, Knights of Badassdom, Alphas, The Big Bang Theory, Mammoth, Angel, Dollhouse, Serenity, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The 4400)
Rose Byrne b. 1979 (X-Men: First Class, 28 Weeks Later, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones)
Laura Fraser b. 1976 (Forever, Vanilla Sky, Neverwhere)
Chad Christ b. 1974 (Gattaca)
Jennifer Lopez b. 1969 (The Cell, Anaconda)
Rick Fox b. 1969 (Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, The Guild, Big Bang Theory, Dollhouse)
Kristin Chenoweth b. 1968 (Bewitched [2005])
Paul Ben-Victor b. 1965 (Daredevil, The Invisible Man [2002], Red Scorpion 2, The X-Files)
Doug Liman b. 1965 (director, Edge of Tomorrow, Jumper)
James Anthony Cotton b. 1956 (Phenomenon)
Janit Baldwin b. 1953 (The Powers of Matthew Star, Phantom of the Paradise)
Fiona Reid b. 1951 (Haven, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Puppets Who Kill, Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins)
Lynda Carter b. 1951 (Smallville, Sky High, Wonder Woman)
Jim Kouf b. 1951 (writer, Grimm, National Treasure, Angel, The Boogens)
Michael Richards b. 1949 (Coneheads, Whoops Apocalypse, Transylvania 6-5000, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Robert Hays b. 1947 (Sharknado 2: The Second One, Superhero Movie, Starman [TV], Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare, Cat’s Eye, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything, Wonder Woman)
Linda Harrison b. 1945 (Planet of the Apes [2001 and 1968], Cocoon, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Batman)
Chris Sarandon b. 1942 (Charmed, Perversions of Science, The Vampyre Wars, Bordello of Blood, Deep Space Nine, Shatterbrain, Frankenstein [1987], The Princess Bride, Fright Night [1985])
Dan Hedaya b. 1940 (Gotham, Alien: Resurrection, The Addams Family [1991], The Twilight Zone [1985], Buckaroo Banzai, Earthlings, The Hunger)
Mark Goddard b. 1936 (Soupernatural, Lost in Space [1998 and 1965], Strange Invaders)
Ruth Buzzi b. 1936 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Out of This World, They Came from Outer Space, The Munsters Today, My Mom’s a Werewolf, Legends of the Superheroes, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, The Lost Saucer)
John D. MacDonald b. 1916 died 28 December 1986 (author, The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything)
Shelia Florance b. 1916 died 12 October 1991 (Mad Max)
Sydney Bromley b. 1909 died 14 August 1987 (The NeverEnding Story, Dragonslayer, An American Werewolf in London, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Prehistoric Women, Night Creatures, Quatermass and the Pit, Quatermass II, Nineteen Eighty-Four [1954 British version])
Stuart Randall b. 1909 died 22 June 1988 (Indestructible Man, Adventures of Superman)
Lord Dunsany b. 1878 died 25 October 1957 (author, The Gods of Pegana)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Okay, fabulous babes. I have not been intentionally ignoring fabulous babes for the Picture Slot, but I have had only one all month, which is a ridiculously low number. In previous years, the Slot went to the fabulous Lynda Carter and the fabulous Summer Glau, and if I want the most iconic people on the list excluding these two worthies, I'd say it's a contest between Mark Goddard from Lost in Space, Linda Harrison from Planet of the Apes and today's winner Anna Paquin, who has two advantages over Goddard and Harrison, one being a 21st Century pick and the other being she's the actual star of the show.

And, oh yeah, fabulous.

2. Four Canadians, three unspottable. The youngest person on our list today, Emily Bett Rickards, is born north of the border and is featured on two genre shows shot in Canada. Trevor Matthews has only one credit, so it's hard to spot from such minimal evidence. The other two Canadians were born there and moved away at a young age, Anna Paquin and Rick Fox. I know who both of them are, but had no idea they were Canucks. Go figure.

3. The Guy and Gal at the Door, and what I learned today. Today's list has no one who died young and a twenty year gap between a living pair born in 1936 and a dead pair born in 1916. This makes Mark Goddard and Ruth Buzzi the Guy and Gal at the Door. I've had Goddard on the list for a while, but today I clicked on Ms. Buzzi's page just for a lark. I'm a little amazed at how much work she did in genre, and this doesn't even include her voice acting work.

4. MST3K. Stuart Randall appeared in Indestructible Man.

5. Hey... no Star Trek! For only the second time this month, we have a day with no Star Trek birthdays. 

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, especially Ruth Buzzi and Mark Goddard, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

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

Prediction: Moreover, before Germany can unify to the East she must fight the Russian, and to unify to the West she must fight the French and perhaps the English, and she may have to fight a combination of these powers. I think the military strength of France is enormously underrated… And France will not fight alone. She will fight for Switzerland or Luxembourg, or the mouth of the Rhine. She will fight with the gravity of remembered humiliations, with the whole awakened Slav-race at the back of her antagonist, and very probably with the support of the English-speaking peoples.

Reality: The opinion of the French as bad-asses sounds ridiculous in the 21st Century, but they were bad-asses in the 19th Century and it took two world wars to erase that view. Wells should get some credit for seeing that Germany was going to fight on multiple fronts.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Welcome to the first prediction free weekend, but a few thoughts about the end of petroleum.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

12 July 2015

 Birthdays
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt b. 2008 (Maleficent)
Erik Per Sullivan b. 1991 (Wendigo, Armageddon)
Phoebe Tonkin b. 1989 (The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle, H2O: Just Add Water)
Melissa O’Neil b. 1988 (Dark Matter)
Mikaela Hoover b. 1984 (Zombie Basement, Guardians of the Galaxy)
Natalie Martinez b. 1984 (Self/less, Under the Dome, Death Race)
Walter Perez b. 1982 (The Avengers)
Kristen Connolly b. 1980 (The Whispers, The Cabin in the Woods, The Happening)
Michelle Rodriguez b. 1978 (Resident Evil: Retribution, Battle Los Angeles, Lost, Avatar, BloodRayne, Resident Evil)
Topher Grace b. 1978 (Interstellar, Predators, Spider-Man 3)
Steve Howey b. 1977 (Stan Helsing, Ctrl)
Anna Friel b. 1976 (Neverland [TV], Land of the Lost [2009], Pushing Daisies, Bathory: Countess of Blood)
Phil Lord b. 1975 (writer/director, The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Clone High)
Jaason Simmons b. 1970 (Sharknado, Frankenstein & the Werewolf Reborn!, Frankenstein Reborn!)
Byung-hun Lee b. 1970 (Terminator: Genisys, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
Tamsin Greig b. 1966 (Doctor Who, Neverwhere, Shaun of the Dead)
Charlie Murphy b. 1959 (Frankenhood, Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe, Night at the Museum)
Mel Harris b. 1956 (Stargate SG-1)
Jamey Sheridan b. 1951 (Arrow, The Stand)
Cheryl Ladd b. 1951 (Charmed, Millennium, The Fantastic Journey)
Brian Grazer b. 1951 (writer, Splash)
Jay Thomas b. 1948 (Horrorween, Dragonfly, C.H.U.D.)
Edwin Neal b. 1945 (Halloween: Harvest of Souls 1985, Power Rangers, Knight Rider 2000, Future-Kill)
Denise Nicholas b. 1944 (Ghost Dad, Blacula)
Bill Cosby b. 1937 (The Meteor Man, Ghost Dad, Journey Back to Oz [TV])
Gordon Pinsent b. 1930 (Relic Hunter, Ray Bradbury Theatre, Blacula, Colossus: The Forbin Project)
Kathy Staff b. 1928 died 13 December 2008 (Mary Reilly)
James Gunn b. 1923 (writer, The Immortal, This Fortress World)
Buckminster Fuller b. 1895 died 1 July 1983 (inventor)
Cheerio Meredith b. 1890 died 25 December 1964 (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The Three Stooges in Orbit)
Edgar Stehli b. 1884 died 25 July 1973 (Seconds, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, Twilight Zone, 4D Man)
Tod Browning b. 1880 died 6 October 1962 (director, The Devil-Doll, Mark of the Vampire, Dracula [1933])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Michelle Rodriguez from Lost and Jamey Sheridan from The Stand. This year, I decided to remind folks that 51 years, Time magazine wanted to let its readers known that Bucky Fuller was the future. Living in their future, I would have to say... not so much.

2. Spot the Canadians! There is little likelihood you can spot the Canadians from the credit lists today. Melissa O'Neill has only one credit and Gordon Pinsent has some Canuck-fi credits, but he's old enough to have work before his home and native land had its production boom.

3. Nepotism FTW. Vivienne Jolie-Pitt is in her one movie playing a scene opposite her mom. Charlie Murphy is the brother of Eddie Murphy and that definitely was how he got his start, though now he best known for Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories.

4. Hey... no Star Trek! I can promise we will NOT be using this label tomorrow.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, except for the guy who needs to be shipped off to Monster Island, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.


Movies released
Pacific Rim released, 2013
The Cabin in the Woods released, 2012

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

Prediction: At the dental-supply house I bought ten kilograms of gold, isotope 197, in the form of fourteen-gauge wire. I paid $86.10 a kilo for it.

Reality: This scene takes place in 2000, when gold was selling for $9,000 per kg.There's missing a numerical prediction and there's missing by two orders of magnitude. Ouch.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

For me, the great comfort of Mondays is knowing the OMNI Future Almanac is waiting for me.
 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

20 June 2015

Birthdays
Hulk released 2003
Jadin Gould b. 1998 (Man of Steel, Battle Los Angeles)
Claudia Lee b. 1996 (Kick-Ass 2)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse b. 1989 (Kick-Ass, This is the End, Fright Night)
Shefali Chowdhury b. 1988 (Harry Potter)
Dreama Walker b. 1986 (Vamperifica, The Invention of Lying)
Collings Pennie b. 1985 (In Time)
Jobeth Wagner b. 1985 (True Blood, Hancock)
Kate Kelton b. 1978 (Haven, Growth)
Ronnie Gene Blevins b. 1977 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., True Blood, The Dark Knight Rises, A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
Tom Wlaschiha b. 1973 (Game of Thrones, The Sarah Jane Chronicles)
Josh Lucas b. 1971 (Space Warriors, Hulk)
Raymond Olubawale b. 1970 (Resident Evil)
Robert Rodriguez b. 1968 (director, Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn, Planet Terror, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D, Spy Kids, The Faculty)
Nicole Kidman b. 1967 (How to Talk to Girls at Parties, The Golden Compass, The Invasion, Bewitched [2005 movie], The Stepford Wives, The Others, Practical Magic, Batman Forever)
Chuck Wagner b. 1958 (Into the Woods, The Sisterhood, America 3000, Automan)
Miles O’ Keefe b. 1954 (Waxwork, Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Ator the Fighting Eagle)
John Goodman b. 1952 (Speed Racer, The Borrowers, Fallen, Arachnophobia, C.H.U.D.)
Don Mantooth b. 1952 (Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica [1979], Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Candy Clark b. 1947 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie], The Blob [1988], Starman [TV], Amityville 3D, Q, The Man Who Fell to Earth)
Oliver Cotton b. 1944 (Penny Dreadful, The Dark Knight Rises, Beowulf [1999], Space Precinct, Space; 1999)
John McCook b. 1944 (David’s Dinosaur, Amazing Stories. Once Upon a Brothers Grimm)
John Mahoney b. 1940 (3rd Rock from the Sun, The Manhattan Project)
Wendy Craig b. 1934 (Out of the Unknown)
Brett Halsey b. 1933 (TekWar, Forever Knight, Automan, Knight Rider, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Bionic Woman, Revenge of the Creature)
Danny Aiello b. 1933 (The Stuff)
James Tolkan b. 1931 (Early Edition, Robo Warriors, Back to the Future, Masters of the Universe, Iceman, WarGames, Wolfen, The Amityville Horror, The Werewolf of Washington)
Olympia Dukakis b. 1931 (The Librarian)
Bonnie Bartlett b. 1929 (Firefly, Stargate SG-1, SeaQuest 2032, The Wizard, V, Salem’s Lot)
Martin Landau b. 1928 (Sleepy Hollow [1999 movie], The Adventures of Pinocchio, The X-Files, The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, The Twilight Zone [1985, 1964, 1959], The Return, Meteor, The Fall of the House of Usher, Space: 1999, The Outer Limits)
Robb White b. 1909 died 24 November 1990 (writer, Thirteen Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Robert Rodriguez and Nicole Kidman. This year, it was a toss-up between Martin Landau and today's winner, Tom Wlaschiha, who playes the Faceless Man Jaqen H'ghar on Game of Thrones.


2. Hey, no Star Trek! Star Trek is far and away the most common label on the blog, but some days there are no Trek artists are celebrating birthdays. So far this month, it's happened about once a week.

3. MST3K. I know Revenge of the Creature got the treatment, there may be others.

4. Spot the Canadian! Kate Kelton is our lone Canadian today and she's hard to spot.

5. The Guy at the Door. Regular readers will know I feel somewhat awkward pointing out this demographic quirk when it happens, but today I can put a positive spin on it, or at least I think I can. Martin Landau is the oldest living person on the list and everyone younger than him is also alive. This includes a bunch of actors in their 80s, some of the best known names on the list. There is a nineteen year gap between Mr. Landau and the next oldest person, the writer Robb White, and it is completely unreasonable to expect Mr. White would live to be 106. So in terms of good news, no one on our list died young and the oldest person happens to be Martin Landau, to whom the blog extends its best wishes for him to enjoy many more happy, healthy years. 

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

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

Prediction: Radio and television will no doubt continue to be part of effortless imbibing, but the difficulty of supplying over five billion new words a year to fill our demanding may well create a competitive disability.

Reality: The lion's share of Mr. Ernst's predictions are about uses of leisure time, and he believes Americans will have much more with a new 30 hour work week. More than that, he believes Americans will use the extra time in morally and physically uplifting ways, and he does not consider being in an audience uplifting. He gets some points for predicting the entertainment industry may effectively run out of things to say, but does not make the further prediction that movies and TV would make so many remakes and people would still watch them.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Sunday belongs to Robert A. Heinlein's The Door Into Summer, whose predictions are mostly about technological advances in the last half of the 20th Century.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 June 2015

Birthdays
Daryl Sabara b. 1992 (Zombie Basement, After the Dark, John Carter, Wizards of Waverly Place, Spy Kids, Roswell)
Evan Sabara b. 1992 (Spy Kids)
Lucy Hale b. 1989 (Supernatural, Wizards of Waverly Place, Bionic Woman [2007])
Kevin McHale b. 1988 (True Blood)
Torrance Coombs b. 1983 (Haven, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica)
Chauncey Leopoldi b. 1981 (Shadow Zone: The Undead Express, Casper)
Daniel Newman b. 1981 (The Dark Knight Rises, The Vampire Diaries, Heroes, Children of the Corn [TV], The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Surface)
Rochelle Davis b. 1980 (The Crow)
Pascale Hutton b. 1979 (Once Upon a Time, Continuum, Fringe, Sanctuary, Behemoth, Supernatural, The 4400, Smallville, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Stargate: Atlantis, Fantastic Four, Dead Like Me, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed)
David Kopp b. 1978 (Blade: The Series, Freddy vs. Jason, Stargate SG-1, Mysterious Ways, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show)
Alexandra Castillo b. 1971 (Warehouse 13, Fringe, 2012, Mutant X, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Sixth Day)
Sophiya Haque b. 1971 died 16 January 2013 (Wanted, Fairy Tales)
Lara Wickes b. 1969 (Demon Island, The Hunger, Total Recall 2070, Big Wolf on Campus)
Traylor Howard b. 1966 (Son of the Mask, Lois & Clark)
James Gurney b. 1958 (author, Dinotopia)
Will Patton b. 1954 (Falling Skies, The Fourth Kind, The Punisher, The Mothman Prophecies, Armageddon, The Postman, VR.5, The Puppet Masters)
Jeremy Sinden b. 1950 died 29 May 1996 (Star Wars)
Harry Turtledove b. 1949 (author, The Guns of the South, Agent of Byzantium)
Antony Sher b. 1949 (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Wolfman, Erik the Viking, Superman II)
Joe Grifasi b. 1944 (Early Edition, Batman Forever, Splash)
Ben Davidson b. 1940 died 2 July 2012 (Conan the Barbarian)
Jack Bannon b. 1940 (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invaders)
Marla Gibbs b. 1931 (The Meteor Man)
Sam Wanamaker b. 1919 died 18 December 1993 (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, The Day the Fish Came Out, The Outer Limits [1964])
Gene Barry b. 1919 died 9 December 2009 (War of the Worlds [2005 and 1953], Twilight Zone [1987], The 27th Day)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, The Picture slot went to the late Jeremy Sinden from Star Wars and Iain Glen, whose birthday I got wrong in 2013. This year, we have Gene Barry in his most famous genre role as Dr. Clayton Forrester (heh.) in The War of the Worlds.

2. Nepotism, not a win. One twin goes up, one twin goes down. Daryl Sabara has a career of sorts, Evan not so much. While Daryl was on of the stars of the Spy Kids franchise, Evan played "Creepy Kid" in the 3D installment.

3. Spot the Canadians! Lara Wickes is not easy to spot, but all four of the Canadians born after 1970 I think can be sussed out. See what you can do.

4. Hey, no Star Trek! Star Trek is the most popular label by a very wide margin, but every once in a while we get a day with no birthdays from that franchise. Today is the second such day this month.

5. What constitutes dying young? Football player/actor Ben Davidson was 72 when he died three years ago. Nowadays, that's younger than average for Americans. Star Wars actor Jeremy Sinden and Bollywood lovely Sophiya Haque both died in their forties from cancer. No question that constitutes dying young.

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

Movies released
Man of Steel released, 2013
X-Men released 2001

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

Prediction: They made the predictable fuss about taking a cat into the room and an autobellhop is not responsive to bribes – hardly an improvement.

Reality: Bob was pretty sure any job he considered beneath him was going to be done by a machine by 2000. We are automating a lot of jobs, but not quite as many as Heinlein thought we would.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Monday again, and another dip into that reliable source The OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

4 June 2015

Birthdays
Jeremy Becerra b. 1996 (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials)
Kathryn Prescott b. 1991 (Being Human)
Oona Chaplin b. 1986 (Game of Thrones)
Kerem Brusin b. 1987 (Sharktopus)
Amelia Warner b. 1982 (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, AEon Flux)
T.J. Miller b. 1981 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Gulliver’s Travels. Cloverfield)
Tim Rozon b. 1976 (Being Human, Lost Girl)
Angelina Jolie b. 1975 (Maleficent, Wanted, Beowulf, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lara Croft, Cyborg 2)
Theo Rossi b. 1975 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cloverfield, Jericho, Lost)
James Callis b. 1971 (Narcopolis, Caper, Arrow, Eureka, Merlin, FlashForward, Battlestar Galactica, Merlin and the Book of Beasts, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Arabian Nights [TV])
Noah Wyle b. 1971 (The Librarians, Falling Skies, Lab Rats, The Librarian, Donnie Darko, Guinevere)
Scott Wolf b. 1968 (V, Double Dragon)
Sean Pertwee b. 1964 (Gotham, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, U.F.O., Camelot, Mutant Chronicles, Equilibrium, Tale of the Mummy, Event Horizon)
Lindsay Frost b. 1962 (Lost, The Ring, SeaQuest 2032, Monolith)
Julie White b. 1961 (Transformers, The Astronaut Farmer, War of the Worlds)
Sue Hodge b. 1957 (Brazil)
Keith David b. 1956 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Touch, Cloud Atlas, Gamer, Superhero Movie, The Chronicles of Riddick, Pitch Black, Armageddon, Volcano, They Live, The Thing)
Parker Stevenson b. 1952 (Legend of the Seeker, Legion, Not of This Earth)
David Yip b. 1951 (Re-Evolution, Spirit Warriors, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Quatermass, Doctor Who)
Wendy Pini b. 1951 (artist, Elfquest)
David Collings b. 1940 (Doctor Who, Blakes 7, UFO, Scrooge)
Bruce Dern b. 1936 (The Hole, The Astronaut Farmer, World Gone Wild, Space, Silent Running, The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, The Outer Limits)
Geoffrey Palmer b. 1927 (Doctor Who [2007 and 1970], Peter Pan, Alice Through the Looking Glass)
Ken Clark b. 1927 died 1 June 2009 (Invasion, 12 to the Moon, Attack of the Giant Leeches, On the Threshold of Space)
Judith Malina b. 1926 died 10 April 2015 (The Addams Family [1991], The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man)
Dennis Weaver b. 1924 died 24 February 2006 (Twilight Zone)
Howard Culver b. 1918 died 4 August 1984 (Halloween II, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Swarm, Project U.F.O., Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Twilight Zone, Space Patrol)
Clara Blandick b. 1880 died 15 April 1962 (The Wizard of Oz)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Geezer that I am, the Picture Slot is often given to folks in roles from the 20th Century, but all three Picture Slotters for the 4th of June have roles in 21st Century productions: James Callis from Battlestar Galactica, Oona Chaplin from Game of Thrones and today's winner, Angelina Jolie from the Lara Croft films. As should be obvious, both the young ladies are also fabulous babes.

2. Spot the Canadian! If I told you there was but one Canadian on our list today and that person was born after 1970, would that be enough information? Let's find out.

3. Nepotism FTW. Oona Chaplin is the daughter of Geraldine Chaplin, the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin and the great granddaughter of Eugene O'Neill. Angelina Jolie is the daughter of Jon Voight. Sean Pertwee is the son of is the son of Jon Pertwee.

4. A belated Never to be Forgotten. The actress Judith Malina died this April and should have gotten a Never to be Forgotten shout out. Consider this my apology.

5. The Guy at the Door. Because Judith Malina is gone, the oldest living person on the list is British Oh That Guy Geoffrey Palmer and everyone younger than him is also still with us. This demographic oddity means special wishes for many happy returns to Mr. Palmer.

6.  MST3K. The one I know for sure is Attack of the Giant Leeches with the late Ken Clark.


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

Movies released
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban released, 2004
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan released, 1982

Were it not for these movie releases, we would have had no mention of either Star Trek or Harry Potter.

Predictor: The NBA experts at ESPN

Prediction: The median picks for the Conference Finals were the Warriors in 5 and the Cavaliers in 6. They got the Warriors exactly for 10 points, but picked the Cavaliers in 4, so they are only awarded 8 points. The score is now 103 of 140 possible points, which is 73.6%. In a math class, that would be worth a C, but in a guessing game that should be 50-50, this is actually a sign the experts know what they are doing, or more accurately, there weren't a lot of big upsets.

Reality: In the Finals, 65.2% of the experts like the Warriors and the median pick is the Warriors in 6.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Fridays mean a dip into Anticipations by H.G. Wells, a book that is not well known, which is a boon for Wells' posthumous reputation.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

24 May 2015

Birthdays
Gina Sarno b. 1989 (The Avengers)
Ricky Mabe b. 1983 (Ghost Ghirls, This Is the End, Nightmare Man, Big Wolf on Campus, Frankenstein and Me)
Naomi Ryan b. 1977 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Who)
Will Sasso b. 1975 (Southland Tales, The X Files, Sliders, Doctor Who, The Odyssey [1994 TV])
Dash Mihok b. 1974 (Gotham, Punisher: War Zone, I Am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow)
Greg Berlanti b. 1972 (writer, The Flash, Arrow, The Tomorrow People, Wrath of the Titans, Green Lantern, No Ordinary Family)
Garett Maggart b. 1969 (Vampire)
Dana Ashbrook b, 1967 (Welcome to Paradox, Charmed, W.E.I.R.D. World, The Hidden Room, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Ghost Dad, Return of the Living Dead II, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!)
John C. Reilly b. 1965 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dark Water)
Michael Chabon b. 1963 (won 2008 Hugo and Nebula for The Yiddish Policeman’s Union)
Kristin Scott Thomas b. 1960 (The Golden Compass, Code 46, Gulliver’s Travels)
Doug Jones b. 1960 (The Flash [2015], Arrow [2015], Hellboy, The Strain, Teen Wolf [TV], Falling Skies, The Watch, Dragon Age: Redemption, Fallout: Nuka Break, The Guild, Legion, Super Capers: The Origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion, Quarantine, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Lady in the Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, Doom, Men in Black II, The Time Machine, Side Effects, Alien Hunter, Monkeybone, Buffy, Mystery Men, Bug Buster, Mimic, Tank Girl, Batman Returns, Warriors of Virtue, Galgameth)
Alfred Molina b. 1953 (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Spider-Man 2, Species, Ladyhawke, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Nell Campbell b. 1953 (Shock Treatment, The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Jim Broadbent b. 1949 (Cloud Atlas, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Chronicles of Narnia, Comic Relief: Doctor Who – The Curse of Fatal Death, Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Brazil, Time Bandits, Erik the Viking)
James Cosmo b. 1948 (Game of Thrones, Flashforward, The Color of Magic, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrome, The 10th Kingdom, Super Gran, Highlander)
Sybill Danning b. 1947 (Virus X, The Lair, Grindhouse, Superboy, The Phantom Empire, Amazon Women on the Moon, Warrior Queen, Howling II: … Your Sister is a Werewolf, V, Hercules [1983], Battle Beyond the Stars, Meteor)
Gary Burghoff b. 1943 (Wonder Woman)
Tommy Chong b. 1938 (Evil Bong, Sliders)
Mai Zetterling b. 1925 died 17 March 1994 (The Witches, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Carmine Infantino b. 1925 died 4 April 2013 (illustrator, DC Comics)
Lilli Palmer b. 1914 died 27 January 1986 (The Boys from Brazil)
Willis Bouchey b. 1907 died 27 September 1977 (The Munsters, My Mother the Car, Twilight Zone, Panic in Year Zero!, Them!, Red Planet Mars)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Doug Jones from Hellboy and Alfred Molina from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This year, I decided on Nell Campbell as Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of several excellent possible choices.

2. The hard to spot Canadians. No one has one of those obvious resumes today, but we do have three people born north of the border, Tommy Chong, Will Sasso and Ricky Mabe.

3. Sorry, sweetie, I'm going with last year's numbers. Last year when I was compiling the list I added both Sybill Danning and Jim Broadbent and I remarked to a friend that Ms. Danning was two years older than Mr. Broadbent. Ms. Danning was never a star, but I lusted after her back in the 1980s. (As much as I enjoy his work, I must admit I have never lusted after Mr. Broadbent.) This year on both imdb.com and Wikipedia, Ms. Danning's year of birth is list as 1952, magically trimming five years off her age. Her first role was in a German soft porn film in 1968. It possible that she lied about her age, making herself 21 instead of 16 when that was filmed and now she is correcting that fib. The other possibility is that she'd rather be 63 now instead of 68. Whichever it is, I'm going with last year's numbers.

4. The Guy at the Bong... I mean, Door. This is one of those lists with major gaps in ages. The oldest living person is Tommy Chong at 77. The next people on the list were born 13 years before him and both are dead. This makes Tommy Chong the Guy at the Door, the cutoff between the living and the dead on today's list. As always, special birthday wishes to the person who has this random demographic distinction.

5. Wait... they did genre? I clicked on Gary Burghoff's name on imdb.com because I recognized it, not knowing he had a guest starring role on Wonder Woman. I was likewise unaware of Tommy Chong's roles in Evil Bong and Sliders.

6. Hey... no Star Trek! In April, every day had a birthday of someone who was on one of the many incarnations of Star Trek. In May, there have now been four days without any Trek reference. Go figure.

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

Movie released
Epic released, 2013

 

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in The Door Into Summer, serialized in 1956, published in hardcover in 1957.

Prediction: I was surprised as anyone when it turned out we had divisions stashed away at Thule and other places no one suspected. It has been known since the ‘30s that the human body could be chilled until it slowed down to almost nothing. But it had been a parlor trick or a last-resort therapy, until the Six Weeks War.

Reality: A few "predictions" here and a change of what was supposed to have happened in the past from Heinlein's point of view in the late 1950s. Let's take them separately.

1. People can be frozen and thawed and the technology has been around since the 1930s.  Umm... no. It's vital to the plot of Heinlein's exciting adventure, but there isn't any technology like this even today.

2. There was a big nuclear war sometime between 1956 and 1970. Also, no, thank goodness. As I have written many times, fear of nuclear war was a huge part of life in the late 20th Century, but this years marks the 70th anniversary of the last time a nuke was used during warfare. Nukes were used twice, three days apart in August of 1945. That means the "no nuclear war" streak is currently at 25,490 days and counting. I do not say this to claim that there will never be another nuclear weapon used as a weapon of war, but when measured on a human scale, seventy years is a long time.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is tomorrow Monday already? This means another dip into The OMNI Future Almanac. (I'll also give you the heads up that it's Towel Day, just in case you forgot.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 May 2015

 Birthdays
Riley Griffiths b. 1997 (Super 8)
Miranda Cosgrove b. 1993 (Smallville)
Sasha Spielberg b. 1990 (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Tara Thompson b. 1988 (My Super Ex-Girlfriend)
Amber Wallace b. 1987 (The Vampire Diaries)
Amber Tamblyn b. 1983 (Babylon Fields, The Grudge 2, Buffy, The Ring)
Jim Howick b. 1979 (Hellboy)
David Blakeley b. 1978 (Malice in Wonderland)
Ada Nicodemou b. 1977 (Beastmaster [TV], The Matrix)
Indira Varma b. 1973 (Game of Thrones, Torchwood, Sci-Fright)
Gabriel Mann b. 1972 (Legend of the Seeker, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, Carnivale)
Sofia Coppola b. 1971 (Star Wars: Episode I – The Title that Shall Not Be Mentioned. Faerie Tale Theatre)
Natasha Ryan b. 1970 (The Entity, The Day Time Ended, The Amityville Horror, Kingdom of the Spiders)
Neil and Adrian Rayment b. 1970 (Intergalactic Combat, The Matrix Reloaded)
Cate Blanchett b. 1969 (Cinderella, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Danny Huston b. 1962 (Frankenstein [2015], American Horror Story, Wrath of the Titans, Clash of the Titans, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Children of Men)
Tim Roth b. 1961 (The Incredible Hulk, Planet of the Apes, Metamorphosis)
Brett Leonard b. 1959 (director, Highlander: The Source, Man-Thing, Virtuosity, The Lawnmower Man)
Leilani Jones b. 1957 (Universal Soldier)
Robert G. Tapert b. 1955 (writer, Alien Apocalypse, Xena, Cleopatra 2525, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, producer Darkman, Evil Dead)
Robert Zemeckis b. 1951 (writer/director, Back to the Future, The Polar Express, Bordello of Blood, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Mark Blum b. 1950 (Fringe)
Tamara Dobson b. 1947 died 2 October 2006 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Jason of Star Command)
Joseph Zito b. 1946 (director, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter)
Yutte Stensgaard b. 1946 (Lust for a Vampire)
Francesca Annis b. 1945 (Tales from the Crypt, Dune [1984], Krull)
George Lucas b. 1944 (writer/director, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Willow, THX-1138)
Veruschka b. 1939 (The Bride)
Sian Phillips b. 1933 (Cinderella [TV, 2000], Alice Through the Looking Glass [TV], The Borrowers, The Snow Spider, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Dune, Clash of the Titans)
Laszlo Kovacs b. 1933 died 22 July 2007 (cinematographer, Multiplicity, Ghostbusters, Slither, Blood of Dracula’s Castle)
Richard Deacon b. 1921 died 8 August 1984 (Piranha, The Lost Saucer, Hans Christian Anderson, I Dream of Jeannie, The Gnome-Mobile, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Twilight Zone, My Favorite Martian, The Birds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, This Island Earth, Invaders form Mars)
June Duprez b. 1918 died 30 October 1984 (The Thief of Bagdad)
James Flavin b. 1906 died 23 April 1976 (The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, One Touch of Venus, King Kong)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with Cate Blanchett and Indira Varma. If I was going for most iconic, it should be George Lucas, but he fills me with ambivalence these days, so I continued in the fabulous babe mode with Francesca Annis from Dune.

2. No Canadians or Star Trek, but so much nepotism. No Star Trek yet again today, the second time this week. Also, I didn't find any genre based Canadians listed on imdb.com for today. To make up for that, we have lots and lots of nepotism, Sasha Spielberg, Amber Tamblyn, Sofia Coppola and Danny Huston. You could argue Sian Phillips counts as nepotism as Peter O'Toole's wife, but I say no, this was two working actors meeting and getting married. I loved her work as Livia on I, Claudius so much, still one of the great casts in TV history. No nepotism there in my book.

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

Predictor:Woldemar Kampfert in Outlook magazine, 28 June 1913

Prediction: “Over cities… the aerial sentry will be found. A thousand aeroplanes flying to the opera must be kept in line and each allowed to alight upon the roof of the auditorium in its proper turn.”

Reality: I re-use this old French postcard for Kampfert's prediction and note there was a German postcard that also had a lot of air traffic close enough to be in hailing distance. I give the postcard makers some slack because I think they were working before the Wright Brothers, but Kampfert is writing in 1913 and should have some understanding of how hard a plane is to land. No points awarded here.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Once more it's H.G. Wells. Will he write something awful? That will be revealed tomorrow.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

11 May 2015

Birthdays
Sabrina Carpenter b. 1999 (Horns)
Cory Monteith b. 1982 died 13 July 2013 (Flash Gordon [TV], Kyle XY [TV], Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, Stargate SG-1, Smallville, Supernatural)
Jonathan Jackson b. 1982 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Riding the Bullet, Tuck Everlasting)
Austin O’Brien b. 1981 (Lawnmower Man 1 and 2, Apollo 13, Prehysteria!, Last Action Hero)
Warren Brown b. 1978 (The Dark Knight Rises)
Brian Caspe b. 1975 (The Martian, Wanted, Hellboy, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)
Aaron Pearl b. 1972 (Godzilla [2014], Man of Steel, Supernatural, Stonehenge Apocalypse, Fringe, Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, The Dead Zone [TV], X-Men: The Last Stand, Battlestar Galactica, Bloodsuckers, Dead Like Me, Stargate SG-1, Smallville, X-Men 2, Atomic Train, Escape from Mars, Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, Highlander [TV], Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Nicky Katt b. 1970 (The Dark Knight, Grindhouse, Sin City, Batman & Robin, Kindred: The Embraced, Strange Days, Knight Rider 2010, Martians Go Home, V, Gremlins, Voyagers!)
Phillip DeVona b. 1970 (Powers, Extant, Revolution , The Walking Dead, Quarantine 2: Terminal, The Vampire Diaries, Premonition)
Thomas Downey b. 1969 (The Burning Dead, Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan, Dracula’s Curse, Frankenstein Reborn)
Jeffrey Donovan b. 1968 (Extinction, Threshold, Witchblade, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Millennium)
Katie Wagner b. 1964 (Charmed, Black Scorpion)
Tim Blake Nelson b. 1964 (The Fantastic Four [2015], The Incredible Hulk, The Astronaut Farmer, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Minority Report)
Natasha Richardson b. 1963 died 18 March 2009 (The Handmaid’s Tale, Gothic)
Vince Grant b. 1961 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Touch, Star Trek: Enterprise, Timequest, Brave New World, Dracula: Dead and Loving It)
Shohreh Aghsashloo b. 1952 (Grimm, FlashForward, X-Men: The Last Stand)
Frances Fisher b. 1952 (Resurrection, Touch, Torchwood, Eureka, The X-Files, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman [1993])
Pam Ferris b. 1948 (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Doug McClure b. 1935 died 5 February 1995 (Out of this World, Superboy, Automan, Manimal, Firebird 2015 AD, Humanoids from the Deep, Warlords of the Deep, At the Earth’s Core, Twilight Zone)
Andre Gregory b. 1934 (Demolition Man, Alice in Wonderland [1983 TV])
Bernard Fox b. 1927 (The Mummy, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie)
Frank Thring b. 1926 died 29 December 1994 (The Marsupials: The Howling III, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
Denver Pyle b. 1920 died 25 December 1997 (Escape from Witch Mountain, Return to Witch Mountain, The Twilight Zone, Commando Cody)
Doodles Weaver b. 1911 died 17 January 1983 (Earthbound, Bigfoot, Land of the Giants, Batman, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, Superman [1948])
Phil Silvers b. 1911 died 1 November 1985 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Damn Yankees [TV], A Thousand and One Nights)
Kent Taylor b. 1907 died 11 April 1987 (Land of the Giants, Brain of Blood, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Day Mars Invaded Earth, The Crawling Hand, The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues)

Notes from the birthday list
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Tim Blake Nelson in 2013, when the list was very short, and Bernard Fox ans Dr. Bombay from Bewitched. I love Nelson's work, but I don't think he's iconic in genre. (He is iconic in O Brother Where Art Thou?) This year, I went with Natasha Richardson from The Handmaid's Tale, and I do think the poster is iconic. Also, she's a fabulous babe, so that helps, too.

2. Wait... he's alive? We have several people who died either very young like Cory Monteith, to much too young like Nastaha Richardson to younger than he should have like Doug McClure, but I was not surprised when I clicked on their imdb credit pages to fin they were dead. On the other hand, I'm still a little stunned that Bernard Fox is still alive, especially since so many from the Bewitched cast are gone already. Good on ya, Mr. Fox, and many happy returns.

3. Nepotism, wins and not so much. Natasha Richardson's parents are Tony Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave. That had to give her early career a boost. Katie Wagner is the daughter of Robert Wagner and Marion Marshall, but she barely has a career at all, only eight credits.

4. MST3K. There may be others, but I'm sure about The Crawling Hand.

5.  Hey... No Star Trek! It's been ten days since our last Star Trek free birthday list. That's actually pretty quick turnaround.

6. Spot the Canadian. Cory Monteith is hard to spot, given his short career and starring role on a TV show not made in Canada. Our other Canuck's identity is left as an exercise for the reader.

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

Movies released
Class of 1999 released, 1990

See below.

 Predictor:Class of 1999, released 11 May 1990

Prediction: Robot teachers replace the staff of an unruly school in 1999.

Reality: Crime has gone down a lot over the past few decades, but fear of crime stays relatively steady. As a teacher, I am not all that worried that robotic killbots are going to take my job. On the other hand, the killbots in the GOP would be glad to get rid of teachers (and our unions) and replacement by non-killer robots is still a possibility.

Never to be Forgotten: Elizabeth Wilson 1921-2015

Character actress Elizabeth Wilson, whose career in front of the camera spanned from 1946 to 2012, died this weekend at the age of 94. She was well regarded on both stage and screen, showing up in a lot of big budget productions like Notorious, Picnic, The Graduate, Quiz Show and The Birds, she also worked in smaller budget movies and TV as well. Besides The Birds, here genre roles include Special Report: Journey to Mars, The Addams Family [1991], Tucker's Witch, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and Dark Shadows, [pictured here], the vampire soap opera made on a shoestring budget back in the 1960s.

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


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our weekly schedule once again for a prediction of a military coup in the United States.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

1 May 2015

Birthdays
Ariel Gade b. 1997 (Meteor, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Invasion)
Caitlin Stasey b. 1990 (I, Frankenstein)
Nicholas Braun b. 1988 (The Watch, Brave New World, Sky High)
Emilia Clarke b. 1987 (Terminator: Genesis, Game of Thrones, Triassic Attack)
Jamie Dornan b. 1982 (Once Upon a Time)
James Badge Dale b. 1978 (World War Z, Iron Man 3)
Darius McCrary b. 1976 (Transformers, Vampires: Los Muertos)
Violante Placido b. 1976 (Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance)
Jodhi May b. 1975 (Game of Thrones, The Turn of the Screw)
Julie Benz b. 1972 (Defiance, No Ordinary Family, Supernatural, Locusts: The 8th Plague, Taken, Angel, Buffy, Roswell, Darkdrive, Sliders)
Bailey Chase b. 1972 (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Awake, Dark Metropolis, Buffy, Charmed)
Kendrick Cross b. 1971 (Insurgent, Under the Dome, Witches of East End, Iron Man 3, Teen Wolf [TV])
Carrie Stevens b. 1969 (Birdemic 2: The Resurrection, Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Black Scorpion, Weird Science [TV])
Todd Eric Andrews b. 1966 (Big Bang Theory, Zapped Again!)
John Diehl b. 1950 (Almost Human, Singularity Principle, Jericho, Jurassic Park III, The X-Files, Stargate, The Dark Side of the Moon, Beauty and the Beast [TV], Escape from New York)
Dann Florek b. 1950 (From the Earth to the Moon, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Free Spirit, Angel Heart)
Douglas Barr b. 1949 (Spaced Invaders, Superboy, The Wizard, The Unseen)
Joanna Lumley b. 1946 (Ella Enchanted, James and the Giant Peach, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, The House That Dripped Blood)
Stephen Macht b. 1942 (Sliders, Millennium, The Legend of Galgameth, Babylon 5, Trancers, Deep Space Nine, Highlander [TV], The Monster Squad, Galaxina, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Sharon Spelman b. 1942 (The Blob [1988], The Stepford Children, Amazing Stories)
Joy Harmon b. 1940 (Village of the Giants, Bewitched, Batman)
Terry Southern b. 1924 died 29 October 1995 (writer, Barbarella)
Dan O’ Herlihy b. 1919 died 17 February 2005 (VR5, RoboCop 1 & 2, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Last Starfighter, Halloween III: The Season of the Witch, Death Ray 2000, Battlestar Galactica, The Bionic Woman, The People, Invasion U.S.A.)
Glenn Ford b. 1916 died 30 August 2006 (Day of Resurrection, Superman, The Visitor)
Louie Nye b. 1913 died 9 October 2005 (Alice in Wonderland [1985], The Munsters, Zotz!)
Henry Koster b. 1905 died 21 September 1988 (director, Harvey)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Emilia Clarke and Julie Benz. Continuing in the fabulous babe mode, this year it's Joy Harmon from Village of the Giants. I have shown restraint not using her picture previously, but the movie is notable on this blog because it got the MST3K treatment, and by chance, much increased by the sixteen year gap between Ms. Harmon and the next oldest person on the list, she is The Gal at the Door today. As if I needed a reason, special birthday wishes for Joy Harmon on her 75th birthday.

2. Unspottable Canadian. Canadians are spottable by showing up on the genre TV shows of the past few decades. That is not the career path of Canadian Glenn Ford, since he was born way too early to be part of that scene.

3. Hey... no Star Trek! When I typed this label, it felt like a while since we had a birthday list devoid of folks from Star Trek, and I was right. The last Trek free list was in the middle of March. These things happen just not that often.

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

Movies released
X-Men Origins: Wolverine released, 2009
  

 Predictor: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, first aired in 1979

Prediction: In May 1987, Captain William Anthony “Buck” Rogers aboard the Ranger 3 is put into suspended animation, only to awaken in 2491.

Reality: People are getting frozen and nobody has shut down these businesses yet, even though no one is close to solving the "thawing them back out" problem.

This month's splash illustration: It was by no means the greatest of the 1950s sci-fi movies, but the giant rat spider from The Angry Red Planet was one of the scariest monsters from all those films, or at least that's how I felt as a pre-teen. I don't know if seeing this picture is going to bring back any nightmares now. I guess I have about a month to find out, right?

Looking one day ahead... IN THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule is interrupted for a prediction by James Tiptree Jr.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 March 2015

 Birthdays
Ansel Elgort b. 1994 (Allegiant, Insurgent, Divergent, Carrie)
Demetrius Joyette b. 1993 (Carrie [2013], Wonderfalls)
Jamie Bell b. 1986 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Jumper, Snowpiercer, Jumper, King Kong [2005])
Mercedes McNab b. 1980 (Supernatural, Angel, Buffy, Escape from Atlantis, The Fantastic Four [1994], The Addams Family, Harry and the Hendersons [TV])
Chris Klein b. 1979 (Rollerball [2002])
Daniel Gillies b. 1976 (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, True Blood, Spider-Man 2, Jeremiah, Cleopatra 2525, Young Hercules)
Corey Stoll b. 1976 (Ant-Man, The Strain, Charmed)
Ernesto Cantu b. 1975 (Extinction, World War Z)
Grace Park b. 1974 (Battlestar Galactica, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, Stargate SG-1, Dark Angel, The Immortal)
Veronica Gray b. 1974 (La Femme Vampir, Batman & Robin)
Meredith Salenger b. 1970 (Race to Witch Mountain, My Apocalypse, Werewolf in a Women’s Prison, Lake Placid, Buffy, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Village of the Damned [1995], Tales from the Crypt, )
James Frain b. 1968 (Agent Carter, Intruders [2014], Sleepy Hollow, Grimm, Tron Legacy, True Blood, FlashForward, Dark Relic, Fringe, Invasion, Threshold, Tales from the Crypt, Loch Ness)
Kevin Williamson b. 1965 (writer, The Vampire Diaries, The Faculty)
Kiana Tom b. 1965 (Universal Soldier: The Return, Cyber Bandits)
Laila Robbins b. 1959 (Witchblade)
Season Hubley b. 1951 (Humanoids From the Deep, The Twilight Zone [1985], Escape form New York)
Billy Crystal b. 1948 (Which Witch?, Tooth Fairy, The Princess Bride, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Steve Kanaly b. 1946 (Scorpio One, Twilight Zone [1989], Time Express, The Bionic Woman, The Terminal Man)
Tim Rossovich b. 1946 (Harry and the Hendersons [TV], ALF, Knight Rider, Automan, Voyagers!, Looker, Wonder Woman)
Anita Morris b. 1943 died 2 March 1994 (Eerie, Indiana, Tales from the Crypt, Martians Go Home)
Wolfgang Petersen b. 1941 (director, The Neverending Story, Enemy Mine, Outbreak)
Raymond J. Barry b. 1939 (The 100, LA Apocalypse, Lost, The X Files, Flubber [1997], Tales from the Crypt)
Eugene Cernan b. 1934 (astronaut)
Michael Caine b. 1933 (The Last Witch Hunter, Interstellar, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Inception, Children of Men, The Prestige, Bewitched [2005], 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997], The Muppet Christmas Carol, Jekyll & Hyde [TV], The Hand, The Swarm, The Magus)
Skip Young b. 1930 died 17 March 1993 (Lobster Man from Mars, Earth vs the Spider)
Arch Johnson b. 1922 died 9 October 1997 (Wonder Woman, The Invisible Man [1975], Bewitched, Land of the Giants, The Invaders, The Munsters, Twilight Zone)
Dennis Patrick b. 1918 died 13 October 2002 (Twilight Zone [1987], The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, The Time Travelers)
Albert Einstein b. 1979 died 18 April 1955 (physicist)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to astronaut Eugene Cernan and Mercedes McNab from Buffy and Angel. The contenders this year were Albert Einstein, Michael Caine, Billy Crystal and the winner, Grace Park from Battlestar Galactica.

Wait, the fabulous babe won? That's just weird, I tell ya. 

2. Spot the Canadians! Besides being a fabulous babe, Grace Park was raised in Canada, though not born there. True natives on the list are Daniel Gillies, Mercedes McNab and Demetrius Joyette.

3. Hey... no Star Trek! Yet again, we have a day without any Star Trek actors. Just one of those things

4. MST3K. Skip young was in Earth vs the Spider.

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

Predictor: Octavus Cohen (1860-1927), music and drama critic.

Prediction: Shakespeare will still be in vogue, but the popular concoctions of today will be forgotten. Regional theater will be strong and the two great cities for drama will be San Francisco and Chicago. Few performers will have incomes commensurate with Sarah Bernhardt or Adelina Patti. America will produce composers the equal of Beethoven and dramatists equal to Sheridan and Goldsmith, though no equal to Shakespeare shall ever live.

Reasonably well-to-do men will have telephotes in their home and be able to watch performances from anywhere in the city live in the comfort of his own home. Refreshments at the theatre will be dispensed by machines.

Reality: Okay, here's a guy going out on a limb. His "telephote" is our television, so he gets full points there. Machines for refreshment, another good call.

As for the first paragraph, he's right about Shakespeare still being at the top of the heap, and as for late 19th Century entertainment other than Gilbert and Sullivan, almost all the rest is lost. New York outshines Chicago still and the desert city of Los Angeles is more important than San Francisco. (I should probably refrain from cracks about "desert cities". We in Oakland are probably about two years away from being a desert city ourselves.) We have loads of entertainers making Sarah Bernhardt money or better. I don't think any 20th Century classical composer stands equal to Beethoven in the public consciousness, but we do have playwrights much better known than Sheridan and Goldsmith.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More of Heinlein's guesses about 1970 and 2000 from his vantage point in the late 1950s.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

10 March 2015

Birthdays
Emily Osment b. 1992 (Spy Kids 2 and 3, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Olivia Wilde b. 1984 (The Lazarus Effect, Her, TRON: Legacy, In Time, Cowboys & Aliens)
Rafe Spall b. 1983 (The World’s End, Life of Pi, Earthbound, Prometheus, Grindhouse, Dracula [TV], Shaun of the Dead)
Holly Winnard b. 1981 (The Battle for Earth, Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!, Hoodoo for Voodoo)
Edi Gathegi b. 1979 (Beauty and the Beast [2013], X-Men: First Class, Twilight)
Tara Cardinal b. 1978 (Relatively Super, Legend of the Red Reaper, Alien Rising, Apocalypse Z, Bite Nite, Robodoc, It’s Supernatural)
Bree Turner b. 1977 (Grimm, Duel on Planet Z)
Jon Hamm b. 1971 (Sucker Punch, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Charmed, Space Cowboys)
Paget Brewster b. 1969 (The Venture Brothers, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Cyxork 7, Star Patrol)
Jasmine Guy b. 1962 (Dead Like Me, The Vampire Diaries, Lois & Clark)
Andre Johnson b. 1961 (Age of Dinosaurs, 100 Degrees Below Zero, Spider-Man, Blade)
Scott Frank b. 1960 (writer, The Wolverine, Minority Report)
Sharon Stone b. 1958 (Catwoman, Sphere, Total Recall, Beyond the Stars, Badlands 2005)
Shannon Tweed b. 1957 (Homeboys in Outer Space, Deadly Nightmares)
Robert Llewellyn b. 1956 (Red Dwarf, MirrorMask)
Katherine Houghton b. 1945 (The Last Airbender)
Richard Gant b. 1944 (Charmed, Smallville, Godzilla [1998], Babylon 5, Lois & Clark, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)
Bruce Joel Rubin b. 1943 (writer, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Last Mimzy, Deep Impact, Jacob’s Ladder, Ghost, Deadly Friend, Brainstorm)
Chuck Norris b. 1940 (Hellbound)
David Watson b. 1940 died 5 October 2014 (Project U.F.O., The Bionic Woman, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Time Tunnel)
Venetia Stevenson b. 1938 (The City of the Dead)
Pamela Mason b. 1916 died 29 June 1996 (Wonder Woman, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Warner Anderson b. 1911 died 26 August 1976 (The Immortal, Destination Moon)
Richard Haydn b. 1905 died 25 April 1985 (Young Frankenstein, Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
Sam Jaffe b. 1891 died 24 March 1984 (Battle Beyond the Stars, The Bionic Woman, Batman, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Lost Horizon)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was awarded to the fabulous Olivia Wilde and Robert Llewellyn from Red Dwarf. Without the, there are a few well-known names - Chuck Norris, Sharon Stone, Jon Hamm - but I don't consider them genre iconic. We do have some great Oh That Guys, including our oldest Sam Jaffe and Richard Haydn, but I decided to skew a little younger and use Richard Gant in his role from Babylon 5.

2. Hey, no Star Trek... two days in a row. Yesterday, I wrote how rare a day without Star Trek actors is. Now we have two in a row. But using this to prove Star Trek really isn't a big deal over the past half century is like cherry picking data to say climate change isn't real. Star Trek is a big damn deal in genre.

3. One Canadian, hard to spot. Shannon Tweed was born north of the border, but isn't a regular in the genre TV business.

4. Nepotism aplenty. Some of these are just a matter of being related and not actual nepotism, but in any case, there's a bunch today. Listing oldest to youngest:

Pamela Mason was James Mason's wife. She worked with him on several projects, though I have no idea how she decided doing The Navy vs. the Night Monsters was a good idea.

Venetia Stevenson was married to Russ Tamblyn, then Don Everly. This is more a case of fabulous babe being in the circle of famous people and marrying one of them.

Katherine Houghton was Katherine Hepburn's niece and was cast in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. I count this as nepotism for sure.

Shannon Tweed is the mother of Gene Simmon's children. See Venetia Stevenson for the explanation, though no marriage was actually involved.

Rafe Spall is the son of Timothy Spall, which couldn't hurt in British show business.

Emily Osment is Haley Joel Osment's sister. I consider this more a case of same stage parents instead of actual nepotism.

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

Movie released
Mission to Mars released, 2000 
 

Predictor: W. Warren Wagar in the 1991 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction:In 2000, forces under nominal U.N. command fighting for the major industrialized nations and their corporate sponsors were fighting a pitched battle to achieve the final solution of the “South Asian” problem. Early in the year, Pakistan had launched two small nuclear missiles against India.

The world was not entirely at peace until October 2000, when Russia, Ukraine and Belarus finally became associate members of the European Community.


Reality: This is the last of the predictions I'm going to use from Professor Wagar's book. Two of his basic ideas are correct,  that capitalism was going to go hog wild once the Eastern Bloc was no longer communist and that trouble in the Muslim world was going to be important, but when it comes to actual historical facts, Wagar is way off. Next week, we will get a new regular feature on Tuesdays.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

What did the future of technology look like in 1901. Our pal George Sutherland tells us.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

31 January 2015

 Birthdays
Lily Mo Sheen b. 1999 (Underworld: Evolution, Click)
Joel Courtney b. 1996 (Super 8)
Justin Timberlake b. 1981 (In Time, Shrek the Third, Southland Tales)
Bobby Moynihan b. 1978 (The Brass Teapot, The Invention of Lying)
Kerry Washington b. 1977 (Fantastic Four, Wonderfalls)
Kevin Christy b. 1977 (Race to Witch Mountain, Heroes, Knight Rider [2008], Neverland, Seven Days, Buffy, Dude, Where’s My Car?)
Paul Scheer b. 1976 (Piranha 3D)
Anna Silk b. 1974 (Lost Girl, Earth Storm, Anonymous Rex, Puppets Who Kill, Mutant X)
Portia de Rossi b. 1973 (Mockingbird Lane, Cursed)
Patricia Velasquez b. 1971 (Almighty Thor, Mindhunters, The Mummy, Beowulf)
Eric Walker b. 1970 (And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird, The Ewok Adventure)
Minnie Driver b. 1970 (Peter Pan Live!, The Deep [2010], Ella Enchanted, The X Files, Princess Mononoke)
Dexter Fletcher b. 1966 (The Coven [2015], Cockneys vs Zombies, Kick-Ass, Stardust, Doom)
Cindy Ambuehl b. 1965 (Meteor, Charmed, Dark Breed, Weird Science [TV], Strange Luck, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead)
Grant Morrison b. 1960 (writer, All Star Superman, Batman R.I.P., New X-Men)
Anthony LaPaglia b. 1959 (Tales from the Crypt, The Twilight Zone [1986], Amazing Stories)
Robert Grubb b. 1950 (Salem’s Lot, Mad Max Beyond Thunder dome)
Carol Hawkins b. 1949 (Blakes 7, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, The Body Stealers)
Jonathan Banks b. 1947 (Millennium Man, Harvey [1996 TV], SeaQuest 2032, Tales from the Crypt, Highlander [TV], Deep Space Nine, Freejack, Otherworld, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, The Invisible Woman)
Glynn Turman b. 1947 (Revolution, Super 8, FlashForward, Millennium, Freddy’s Nightmares, Gremlins, Manimal, The Twilight Zone [1985], The Greatest American Hero)
Connie Booth b. 1944 (The Tomorrow People, High Spirits, Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Jessica Walter b. 1941 (Big Bang Theory, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Babylon 5, Vampire, Dr. Strange [1978], Wonder Woman, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], The Immortal)
Stuart Margolin b. 1940 (Strange Frequency, I Was a Teenage Faust, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Futureworld, Land of the Giants, Bewitched, Women of the Prehistoric Planet)
Suzanne Pleshette b. 1937 died 19 January 2008 (Spirited Away, The Invaders, The Birds)
James Franciscus b. 1934 died 8 July 1991 (When Time Ran Out…, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Marooned, The Valley of Gwangi, Twilight Zone)
Jean Simmons b. 1929 died 22 January 2010 (Howl’s Moving Castle, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dark Shadows [1991])
Jean Speegle Howard b. 1927 died 2 September 2000 (Buffy, Meego, Lois & Clark, Homeboys in Outer Space, Apollo 13, Scrooged, Cocoon)
William R. Sylvester b. 1922 died 25 January 1995 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man, Gemini Man, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Devil Doll, Gorgo)
John Agar b. 1921 died 7 April 2002 (The Naked Monster, The Twilight Zone [1986], King Kong [1976], Zontar: The Thing from Venus, Women of the Prehistoric Planet, Journey to the Seventh Planet, Destination Space, Invisible Invaders, Attack of the Puppet People, Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, The Brain from Planet Arous, The Mole People, Tarantula, Revenge of the Creature, The Rocket Man, The Magic Carpet)
Eddie Byrne b. 1911 died 21 August 1981 (Star Wars: Episode IV, The Mummy [1959], Island of Terror)
Percy Helton b. 1894 died 11 September 1971 (Land of the Giants, Batman [TV], The Green Hornet, Twilight Zone, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Adventures of Superman)

 Notes from the birthday list.
The Picture Spot the Canadian! In previous years, the Picture Slot was handed to Justin Timberlake and Percy Helton, a great Oh That Guy. I thought about having a picture of John Agar, star of many 1950s sci-fi films, but I decided instead to use a publicity still of Anna Silk, star of the Canadian genre show Lost Girl, who happens to be both a fabulous babe and the only native-born Canadian on our list today.

Wait... they're dead? and The Guy at the Door.  The oldest living person on today's list is Stuart Margolin, best known as Angel from The Rockford Files, and everyone younger than him is also alive, which makes him The Guy at the Door. I'm embarrassed to write it, but I hadn't quite processed that any of the next four oldest people on the list - Suzanne Pleshette, James Franciscus, Jean Simmons and Jean Speegle Howard - had died. While the first three were genuine TV and movie stars, Ms. Howard was the mom of Ron Howard and did most of her acting work in small roles after she turned 60. Her husband Rance is still alive.


MST3K. There are a lot of movies that got the Two Robots and a Janitor treatment on today's list, including Women of the Prehistoric Planet, The Mole People and Marooned. There may be others I that don't recall, but Zombie Rotten McDonald stepped up and we add Gorgo, Revenge of the Creature and Devil Doll.

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

Predictor: Junius Henri Browne (1833-1902), journalist, predicting what 1993 will look like in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

Prediction: Socialism will grow in the United States in a modified form... There will be more equality in education, position and fortune... There will be no attempt to enforce total abstinence... Criminals will less severely punished and their number will have materially diminished... The law will be simplified... Religion will be little taught and have little influence... The principles of medicine will be much better understood... businesses will be conducted harmoniously, with employers and workers sharing in the profits... Women will win the right to vote... American literature will stand at the head of English literature.

Reality: Well, this guy wasn't asking for much, was he? I would say he was right about socialism (Social Security), medicine and women getting the vote. Depending on the year in question, there was more equality of position than they knew in the 1890s, but that's heading in the opposite direction right now. Is American literature is ahead of the Brits? I think that is a debatable point, it's certainly advanced from what it was in the 19th Century. He was wrong about forced abstinence, though we got over it, universal profit sharing and the lessened influence of religion.

This guy looks like a milquetoast, right? Browne's most famous achievement was escaping from a Confederate prisoner of war camp and traveling 400 miles to re-join the fight. Are you more impressed with him now? Yeah, me too. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our regular schedule for a prediction of some computer mogul trying to take over the Internet.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!