19 September 2015

Birthdays
Taylor Geare b. 2001 (Flashforward, Inception)
Katrina Bowden b. 1988 (Piranha 3DD, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil)
Danielle Panabaker b. 1987 (The Flash, Time Lapse, Arrow, Piranha 3DD, Grimm, The Crazies, Sky High)
Kevin Zegers b. 1985 (The Colony, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Vampire, Zoon, Dawn of the Dead, Smallville, Twice in a Lifetime, It Came from the Sky, Nico the Unicorn, Specimen, The X Files)
Lydia Hearst b. 1984 (Cabin Fever: Patient Zero)
Columbus Short b. 1982 (Quarantine, War of the Worlds)
Tanja Reichert b. 1980 (Relic Hunter, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Adam Dunnells b. 1980 (Mega Shark vs. Kolossus, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., No Ordinary Family)
Jeremy Jordan b. 1973 (Storm of the Century)
Sanaa Lathan b. 1971 (Alien vs. Predator, Blade)
Kim Richards b. 1964 (Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No, Race to Witch Mountain, Project U.F.O., Return from Witch Mountain, The Car, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Paul McGuigan b. 1963 (director, Victor Frankenstein, Push)
Cheri Oteri b. 1962 (Southland Tales, Inspector Gadget)
Carolyn McCormick b. 1959 (Spectropia, The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Enemy Mine)
Richard Ridings b. 1958 (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Merlin, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Relic Hunter, Highlander [TV], Red Dwarf, Erik the Viking, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire)
Kevin Hooks b. 1958 (director, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Supernatural, Alphas, Lost, Alien Nation [TV], V; actor, Innerspace )
Rex Smith b. 1955 (The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, Transformations, Faeries Tale Theatre)
David Bamber b. 1954 (Doctor Who)
Allan Havey b. 1954 (The Man in the High Castle, Hancock)
Ernie Sabella b. 1949 (Quantum Leap, Fright Night Part 2)
Jeremy Irons b. 1948 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Color of Magic, Eragon, The Time Machine)
Tanith Lee b. 1947 died 24 May 2015 (writer, Tales of the Flat Earth, Animal Castle)
Randolph Mantooth b. 1945 (Battlestar Galactica, Project U.F.O.)
Mariangela Melato b. 1941 died 11 January 2013 (Flash Gordon)
Lloyd Haynes b. 1934 died 31 December 1986 (The Green Hornet, Batman, Star Trek)
David McCallum b. 1933 (Jeremiah, Team Knight Rider, VR.5, Babylon 5, SeaQuest 2032, The Watcher in the Woods, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein: The True Story, The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War, The Outer Limits)
Antonio Margheriti b. 1930 died 4 Novmeber 2002 (director, Alien from the Deep, Treasure Island in Outer Space, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, Flesh for Frankenstein, Mr. Superinvisible, War of the Planets, Wild, Wild Planet, Assignment: Outer Space)
Kathie Browne b. 1930 died 8 April 2003 (Star Trek, Mr. Terrific, The Brass Bottle, My Favorite Martian)
Mel Stewart b. 1929 died 24 February 2002 (Bride of Re-Animator, Martians Go Home, Dead Heat, The Invisible Woman, Mr. Merlin, The Greatest American Hero, Tabitha)
Adam West b. 1928 (Monster Island, Black Scorpion, An American Vampire Story, Weird Science [TV], The Flash, Doin’ Time on Planet Earth, Zombie Nightmare, Time Warp, Warp Speed, Batman, Bewitched, The Outer Limits, Robinson Crusoe on Mars)
William Hickey b. 1927 died 29 June 1997 (Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, Tales from the Crypt, Between Time and Timbuktu)
Rosemary Harris b. 1927 (Radio Free Albemuth, Spider-Man, The Boys from Brazil)
Damon Knight b. 1922 died 15 April 2002 (writer, To Serve Man)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous Picture Slotters were Adam West and Kathie Brown, and this year's winner is Carolyn McCormick as Minuet, a character that proved the old phrase "Riker will chase anything in a skirt with a pulse" gave him way too much credit, since she was just a holodeck character.

2. Spot the Canadian! Kevin Zegers has the kind of career the Canadian government hoped they would be able to produce when they required a quota of Canadian born on the shows produced in their country.

3. Nepotism FTW. Lydia Hearst is the daughter of Patty Hearst.

4. MST3K. Adam West was in Zombie Nightmare.

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

The Weekly Soapbox: The Swan Song

This will be the last post on this blog. I have enjoyed myself for the past thirty three months putting the lists and predictions together and making my little comments, but my interest has been waning for some time now. I had hoped to make it through the end of the year or at least to make a month long tribute to Back to the Future II, but I just can't find the time right now. I'm teaching more classes than I have for a while, which is very good for my bank account, but a little bit of a challenge in terms of time management. Not doing the blog will save me about an hour a day in research and writing.

I want to thank all the people who read the blog over the past few years and especially those who took the time to leave comments. We all know the standard Internet warning "Don't read the comments!", but in the successful blogs I've written, the main reason I continued them was because I wanted to read what my commenters would have to say. You guys (and gals) have been great.

I also enjoyed learning new things in my research, like today when I read that Patty Hearst's daughter is a supermodel (who knew?), but as much as I enjoy a good Fun Fact to Know and Tell, time constraints mean our little party is coming to an end.
  
Wishing all my readers safe and happy journeys... IN THE FUTURE!

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!

15 September 2015

Birthdays
Matt Shively b. 1990 (Teen Wolf, Paranormal Activity 4)
Chloe Dykstra b. 1988 (The League of S.T.E.A.M., Chaotic Awesome, COPS: Skyrim, Drag Me to Hell, Wizards of Waverly Place, Spider-Man 2)
Chelsea Kane b. 1988 (Wizards of Waverly Pace)
Christian Cooke b. 1987 (Witches of East End, Dark Relics, Demons, Doctor Who)
Ben Woolf b. 1980 died 23 February 2015 (American Horror Story, Insidious)
Amy Davidson b. 1979 (NetherBeast Incorporated)
Dave Annable b. 1979 (666 Park Avenue, Spellbound)
Tom Hardy b. 1977 (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Sucker Punch, A for Andromeda, Minotaur)
Marisa Ramirez b. 1977 (Supernatural, Roswell)
Jonathan Liebesman b. 1976 (director, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], Wrath of the Titans, Battle Los Angeles, Darkness Falls)
Marcus Shirock b. 1975 (Hercules Reborn, Bermuda Tentacles, Android Cop, Angel, Charmed)
Josh Charles b. 1971 (Bird People, After.Life, Muppets from Space)
Danny Nucci b. 1968 (Arrow, Monster Heroes, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone [1986])
Kenneth Hite b. 1965 (writer, Lost in Lovecraft)
Steven R. Monroe b. 1964 (director, End of the World, Jabberwock, Mongolian Death Worm, Ice Twisters, Wyvern, Ogre, Sasquatch Mountain, It Waits)
Philip Paley b. 1963 (Land of the Lost)
Colin McFarlane b. 1961 (Olympus, Hounded, Torchwood, Hyperdrive, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight)
Oren Aviv b. 1961 (National Treasure, RocketMan)
Ed Solomon b. 1960 (writer, Venom, What Planet Are You From?, Men In Black, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
Wendie Jo Sperber b. 1958 died 29 November 2005 (Back to the Future)
Barry Shabaka Henley b. 1954 (Carrie [2013], Flash-Forward, Heroes, Fallen)
Brad Leland b. 1954 (The Leftovers, Hancock)
Sabina Franklin b. 1954 (The Worst Witch, Blakes 7)
Olver Stone b. 1946 (director, The Hand)
Tommy Lee Jones b. 1946 (Captain America, Men In Black, Small Soldiers, Batman Forever)
Shelby Leverington b. 1946 (The Island, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Twilight Zone [1985], Cloak & Dagger)
Roy Brocksmith b. 1945 died 16 December 2001 (Babylon 5, Kull the Conqueror, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Lois & Clark, Good & Evil, Eerie, Indiana, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Arachnophobia, Total Recall, Martians Go Home, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Wizard, Wolfen)
John Reynolds b. 1941 died 16 October 1966 (actor/director, Manos: The Hands of Fate)
Norman Spinrad b. 1940 (writer, Star Trek, Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream)
Henry Darrow b. 1933 (NightMan, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager, Time Trax, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Knight Rider, Beyond the Universe, The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Halloween with the New Addams Family, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man [1975 TV], Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits)
Andree Melly b. 1932 (The Brides of Dracula)
Henry Silva b. 1928 (Cyborg – Il Guerriero d'Acciaio, Escape from the Bronx, Alligator, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Quark, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits)
Jackie Cooper b. 1922 died 3 May 2011 (Superman, The Invisible Man [1975], The Astronaut, Twilight Zone)
Joseph Pevney b. 1911 died 18 May 2008 (director, The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek, The Munsters, Bewitched, Destination Space)
Fay Wray b. 1907 died 8 August 2004 (King Kong, The Vampire Bat, Doctor X)
Tom Conway b. 1904 died 22 April 1967 (The Atomic Submarine, Voodoo Woman, The She-Creature, Bride of the Gorilla, Cat People)
James Fenimore Cooper b. 1789 died 14 September 1851 (The Monikins)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot skewed old school, in 2013 with writer Norman Spinrad and in 2014 with the fabulous Fay Wray. If I wanted to push the blog into the 21st Century, the best choice would be Tom Hardy in the most recent Mad Max, but instead I went with Roy Brocksmith in his role from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I blush to mention that he's one of those "Wait... He's Dead?" folks for me.

2. An unspottable Canadian. Fay Wray is from the Great White North. I had no idea.

3. MST3K. This one's pretty easy, John Reynolds, who died only a little after filming was complete, directed Manos: The Hands of Fate and also played Torgo.

4. Nice same birthday pair. I always like it when two people who are both well known were born on the exact same day, and Oliver Stone and Tommy Lee Jones certainly qualify. 

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 novel The Door Into Summer

Prediction: "IMPORTANT NOTICE! This service automaton DOES NOT understand human speech. It has no understanding at all, being a machine. But for your convenience it has been designed to respond to a list of spoken orders."

Reality: Our pal Bob takes a dim view of The Singularity here, and by 2000 he was still right, machines have no true understanding. It's quite popular in sci-fi now and there are those predicting the reality just around the corner, but as an old school programmer I remain very skeptical.

Never to be Forgotten: Steve Bickel 1951-2015

Film executive Steve Bickel was found dead this week after collapsing on a hiking trip in Portugal. He is mentioned here because he produced the 1980 time travel fantasy Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

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

Another visit from our pal George Sutherland and his book Twentieth Century Inventions.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 September 2015

Birthdays
Robbie Kay b. 1995 (Heroes Reborn, Once Upon a Time, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Pinocchio)
Erin Way b. 1987 (Warehouse 13, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Grimm, Alphas, I (Heart) Vampires)
Carol Anne Watts b. 1987 (Ant-Man, Frankenstein [2015])
Trevor Duke-Moretz b. 1986 (Big Bad Wolf)
Sean Brosnan b. 1983 (U.F.O.)
Robin Chalk b. 1981 (Moon)
Ben Savage b. 1980 (Aliens for Breakfast, Little Monsters)
Elizabeth Weinstein b. 1979 (Supernatural, Arrow, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Smallville, Goblin, Stargate SG-1)
Colin Trevorrow b. 1976 (director, Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed)
Louise Lombard b. 1970 (Grimm, SGU Stargate Universe, Tale of the Mummy)
Jonathan Walker b. 1967 (Continuum, Supernatural, Fringe, The Thing [2011], V [2011], Smallville, Flash Gordon, Stargate SG-1, Land of the Dead, Tracker, The X Files, Cyberjack)
Louis Mandylor b. 1966 (616: Paranormal Incident, The Prometheus Project, Charmed)
Joel Beeson b. 1966 (Death Becomes Her)
Laura Stepp b. 1966 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Spawn)
Alfonso Freeman b. 1959 (Bad Blood I and II)
Isiah Whitlock Jr. b. 1954 (Europa Report, Enchanted, Gremlins 2: The New Batch)
Ann Dusenberry b. 1953 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Taryn Power b. 1953 (The Sea Serpent, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger)
Christine Estabrook b. 1952 (American Horror Story, Spider-Man 2, The X Files)
Raymond O’Connor b. 1952 (Buffy, Babylon 5, Breakfast of Champions, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Dr. Alien, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers)
Jean Smart b. 1951 (Project X)
Bruce Phillips b. 1951 (Legend of the Seeker, Power Rangers R.P.M., Lord of the Rings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Clyde Kusatsu b. 1948 (Dollhouse, Charmed, Babylon 5: Thirdspace, Godzilla [1998], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lois & Clark, ALF, The Powers of Matthew Star, Meteor, Dr. Strange)
Kathleen Lloyd b. 1948 (Babylon 5, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1986], The Incredible Hulk, It Lives Again, The Car, The Sixth Sense)
Frank Marshall b, 1946 (producer, Jurassic World, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, The Sixth Sense, The Indian in the Cupboard, Amazing Stories, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Land Before Time, Arachnophobia, Hook, *batteries not included, Innerspace, Gremlins, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Poltergeist)
Dolly Read b. 1944 (The Kiss of the Vampire)
Richard Kiel b. 1939 died 10 September 2014 (Inspector Gadget, The Princess and the Dwarf, Superboy, Out of this World, Phoenix, Hysterical, Moonraker, The Humanoid, The Incredible Hulk, Land of the Lost, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, My Mother the Car, I Dream of Jeannie, The Human Duplicators, The Twilight Zone, Eegah, The Phantom Planet)
Don Bluth b. 1937 (director, Titan A.E., The Land Before Time, The Secret of NIMH)
Joe E. Tata b. 1936 (Charmed, Wonder Woman, Batman, Batgirl, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, The Outer Limits)
Barbara Bain b. 1931 (Millennium, The Visitor, Space: 1999, My Mother the Car)
Norman Alden b. 1924 died 27 July 2012 (K-PAX, They Live, Small Wonder, Back to the Future, The Greatest American Hero, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Planet of the Apes [TV], Batman, My Favorite Martian)
Scott Brady b. 1924 died 16 April 1985 (Gremlins, The Invisible Man [1975], The Mighty Gorga, Journey to the Center of Time, Destination Inner Space)
Maurice Jarre b. 1924 died 29 March 2009 (composer, Solar Crisis, Ghost, Solarbabies, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Dreamscape, Firefox, The Island at the Top of the World)
Roald Dahl b. 1916 died 23 November 1990 (author, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches)
Roy Engel b. 1913 died 29 December 1980 (Kingdom of the Spiders, The Invaders, My Favorite Martian, The Colossus of New York, Not of This Earth, Indestructible Man, It Came From Beneath the Sea, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Zombies of the Stratosphere, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man from Planet X)
Reta Shaw b. 1912 died 8 January 1982 (Escape to Witch Mountain, Bewitched, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, Mary Poppins)
Mae Questel b. 1908 died 4 January 1998 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Ruth McDevitt b. 1895 died 27 May 1976 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Birds)
Daniel Defoe b.1660 died24 April 1731 (Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World of the Moon)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot belonged to fabulous babe Barbara Bain and Oh That Guy Clyde Kusatsu. I think Richard Kiel may be more iconic than either, but he died just before his birthday last year, so  didn't want to use his picture twice in so short a span.

2. Spot the Canadian! Usually, the Supernatural/Smallville Daily Double is a good sign someone was born north of the border, but it doesn't work perfectly. Elizabeth Weinstein is Canadian, but Jonathan Walker is British.

3. Nepotism FTW. Taryn Power is the daughter of Tyrone. Alonzo Freeman is the son of Morgan. Sean Brosnan is the son of Pierce.

4. MST3K. Picture Slotter Richard Kiel is in two films, The Human Duplicators and Eegah. We also have Roy Engel in The Indestructible Man. There may be others, I'm not sure.

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

The Weekly Soapbox: Global Warming

Just to be clear, I "believe" in global warming and mankind's part in it, much in the same way I "believe" in gravity. The effect of greenhouse gases is settled science and humans burning fossil fuels creates more greenhouse gases.

We've only had a few predictions on the blog about climate change and many of them have been about rising ocean levels, including a crazy high number from Paul Ehrlich, one of the most inaccurate regular predictors this blog has ever published. (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Ray Kurzweil and FM-2030. I did write "one of the most", after all.) I wish we could fix the problem, but I'm not optimistic, and here are the reasons why.

1. Rising ocean levels are the least of our worries. There are some places on earth that now have to deal with rising waters, but they are currently far away from where the majority of people live. I expect the first thing we will notice effecting the lives of millions will be ecosystem changes that have nothing to do with the sea levels. We don't live close enough to nature to feel it when it goes bad - it's going bad in California right now, and all we are asked to do is take shorter showers and not water our lawns - but longer droughts and bigger wildfires in some areas, contrasted with heavier rains in other and temperatures not getting cold enough to put pests into their natural hibernation stage, are likely going to change how we live long before low level islands with lots of people flood. More than that, when these things happen, there will be people around to say it has nothing to do with a changing climate.

2. An enormous industry to pay for bullshit, which has already bought an entire political party. Do I need to name names? Okay, the petroleum industry and the Republicans. We've had scientific evidence that forced the government to limit the use of profitable products like aerosols, DDT and  asbestos, but those industries decided to change the way they did business. Petroleum is acting more like the tobacco industry, probably because their best scientists are telling them in private that there is no clean way to stay in business at the current level. The people lying about global warming are not just using the same tactics as the folks who lied for decades about the health risks of tobacco, in some cases they are the exact same people.

3. Humankind. Even a guy like me with no car is still sucking up energy keeping my computer and refrigerator on, and while I am consciously trying to improve the way I live, I'm not interested in going off the grid and only using the electricity I can create with solar panels and a bicycle generator. I think we can scale back, but I don't know if it will be enough. I'm turning 60 this year, so I will likely miss the worst of it. The generation of my grand-nieces and grand-nephews are probably going to have it very bad indeed.

Cheerful bastid, ain't I?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Taking a look at the predictions for the NFL playoffs from the website fivethirtyeight.com.
  
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!

7 September 2015

Birthdays
Hugh Mitchell b. 1989 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Evan Rachel Wood b.1987 (Westworld, True Blood, S1m0ne, American Gothic)
Alyssa Diaz b. 1985 (Grimm, The Last Ship, The Vampire Diaries, Revolution, Ben 10: Alien Swarm)
Josh Hammond b. 1979 (Lazarus: Day of the Living Dead, Piranha Sharks, Jeepers Creepers II, Alien Arsenal)
Devon Sawa b. 1978 (Creature of Darkness, Final Destination, Idle Hands)

Oliver Hudson b. 1976 (The Breed, 10.5: Apocalypse)
Noah Huntley b. 1974 (Dracula Untold, Snow White and the Huntsman, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 28 Days Later…, The Omega Code 2, Event Horizon)
Alex Kurtzman b. 1973 (writer, Venom, Van Helsing, Sleepy Hollow, Transformers, Star Trek, Fringe, Cowboys & Aliens, The Island, Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Shannon Elizabeth b. 1973 (Night of the Demons, Cursed, Thir13en Ghosts, Good vs Evil)
Tom Everett Scott b. 1970 (Beauty and the Beast, Race to Witch Mountain, Dead Man on Campus, An American Werewolf in Paris)
Monique Gabriela Curnen b. 1970 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Dark Knight, Journeyman, Anamorph, The Lady in the Water, Angel)
Diane Farr b. 1969 (Collision Earth, Roswell)
Angie Everhart b. 1969 (Bigfoot, Bugs, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Bordello of Blood, Last Action Hero)
Toby Jones b. 1967 (Agent Carter, The Hunger Games, Captain America, Snow White and the Huntsman, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, The Mist [2007])
W. Earl Brown b. 1963 (Knights of Baddassdom, American Horror Story, The X Files, Vanilla Sky, Charmed, Angel, Being John Malkovich, Deep Impact, Project: ALF, Vampire in Brooklyn)
Cliff Simon b. 1962 (Stargate)
Christopher Villiers b. 1960 (Triassic Attack, From Time to Time, Doctor Who, Ultraviolet)
Stewart Finlay-McLennan b. 1957 (Lost, National Treasure, E.A.R.T.H. Force)
Mira Furlan b. 1955 (Space Command Redemption, Lost, Babylon 5)
Doug Bradley b. 1954 (A Vampire’s Tale, Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes, Hellraiser, Dominator, Proteus, Nightbreed)
Corbin Bernsen b. 1954 (Vipers, They Are Among Us, Beings, Atomic Twister, Dead Above Ground, Spacejacked, Menno’s Mind, Inhumanoid, Aurora: Operation Intercept, Star Trek: The Next Generation, King Kong [1976])
Michael Emerson b. 1954 (Lost, Saw, The X Files)
Julie Kavner b. 1950 (Click, Revenge of the Stepford Wives)
Susan Blakely b. 1948 (My Mom’s a Werewolf, Twilight Zone [1987], Deadly Nightmares)
Dario Argento b. 1940 (director, The Sandman, Dracula 3D, Phenomena)
John Phillip Law b. 1937 died 13 May 2008 (Alienator, Barbarella, Golden Voyage of Sinbad)
Bruce Gray b. 1936 (Stargate SG-1, Charmed, Star Trek: Enterprise, Cube²: Hypercube, Earth: Final Conflict, Starship Troopers, Babylon 5, RoboCop [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Knight Rider)
Alan Steel b. 1935 died 5 September 2015 (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, Hercules Unchained)
Peter Lawford b. 1923 died 24 December 1984 (Bewitched, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Canterville Ghost)
Anthony Quayle b. 1913 (Holocaust 2000)
Roy Barcroft b. 1902 died 28 November 1969 (Rosemary’s Baby, Destination Inner Space, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, Commando Cody, The Adventures of Superman, Zombies of the Stratosphere, Radar Men from the Moon, The Vampire’s Ghost, Flash Gordon)
George Waggner b. 1894 died 11 December 1984 (director, Batman, The Green Hornet, The Wolf Man, Man Made Monster)
Dr. John William Polidori b. 1795 died 24 August 1821 (author, The Vampyre: A Tale)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Quite a few well-known faces on today's list and in previous years I went with fabulous babes Evan Rachel Wood and Mira Furlan. Sad to say, we will have an obit for a fabulous babe down farther in the post, so instead I went with Doug Bradley as Pinhead from the Hellraiser series. 

2. Spot the Canadian! Only one I could find today, Devon Sawa, does not have a resume full of Canuck sci-fi, which makes him hard to spot.

3. Nepotism FTW. Oliver Hudson is the son of Goldie Hawn. 

4. MST3K. Birthday boy Alana Steel passed away two days ago, and some of his Hercules movies were given the treatment.

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

Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Just as aircraft will be further enhanced by computer assistance, air traffic control will rely more heavily on computers to keep track of the aircraft in the area.

Reality: There are some things from the past that are more than a little terrifying when you sit down to think about them. The technology available for air traffic control even as recently as thirty years ago was archaic. Suffice it to say, this prediction gets full marks.
 

Never to be Forgotten: Judy Carne 1939-2015

A rough day for those of us who grew up on television in the 1960s. Judy Carne, best known for Love on a Rooftop and Laugh-In, died earlier this month in Northampton, where she was born. She was the first wife of Burt Reynolds. She is remembered here for a role on I Dream of Jeannie.

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

Never to be Forgotten: Martin Milner 1931-2015

Adding to the sad nostalgia for folks of a certain age is the death of Martin Milner, best known for Adam-12, Route 66 and The Sweet Smell of Success. His connections to genre include the TV version of RoboCop, The 1960 movie 13 Ghosts, the 1950 TV series On the Threshold of Space and most memorably for me, an episode of the original Twilight Zone.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction from Heinlein's The Door Into Summer.
  
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!

29 August 2015

Birthdays
Nicole Gale Anderson b. 1990 (Beauty and the Beast)
Laura Ashley Samuels b. 1990 (April Apocalypse, In Time, Monster Heroes, Wizards of Waverly Place)
Jay Ryan b. 1981 (Beauty and the Beast, Terra Nova, Legend of the Seeker, Xena, Young Hercules)
Emily Hampshire b. 1981 (12 Monkeys [TV], The Returned, Earthsea, Mutant X, MythQuest, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Earth: Final Conflict)
Jovanna Huguet b. 1980 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Alice, Fringe, Smallville, Blade: The Series, Supernatural)
Dan Harris b. 1979 (writer, Superman Returns, X-Men 2)
John Hensley b. 1977 (Teeth, Witchblade)
Dante Basco b. 1975 (The Chronicle, Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights, Alien Nation: Body and Soul, Hook)
Carla Gugino b. 1971 (San Andreas, Sucker Punch, Race to Witch Mountain, Watchmen, Night at the Museum, Threshold, Sin City, Spy Kids, The One, Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature, Quantum Leap, ALF)
Rebecca De Mornay b. 1959 (The Shining [1997 TV], Beauty and the Beast [1987], Testament)
Michael Jackson b. 1958 died 25 June 2009 (Men in Black II, The Wiz)
Lenny Henry b. 1958 (MirrorMask, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Bernard and the Genie)
Deborah Van Valkenburgh b. 1952 (The Messengers, Touch, The Event, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, Sorcerers, Deep Space Nine, Quantum Leap)
Gottfried John b. 1942 died 1 September 2014 (Millennium, Space Rangers)
Ellen Geer b. 1941 (Supernatural, Charmed, Carnivale, Practical Magic, Phenomenon, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beauty and the Beast, Creator, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Bionic Woman)
Joel Schumacher b. 1939 (director, Batman & Robin, Batman Forever, Flatliners, The Lost Boys, The Incredible Shrinking Woman)
Elliot Gould b. 1938 (Contagion, The Shining [1997 TV], Lois & Clark, Frogs!, Frog, The Twilight Zone [1986], Faerie Tale Theatre, The Devil and Max Devlin)
William Friedkin b. 1935 (director, Bug, Twilight Zone [1985], The Exorcist)
Susan Shaw b. 1929 died 27 November 1978 (Fire Maidens from Outer Space)
Charles Gray b. 1928 died 7 March 2000 (Firestar: First Contact, Tall Tales & Legends, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Beast Must Die, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Dick O’Neill b. 1928 died 17 November 1998 (Timecop, The Incredible Hulk, Wolfen, Wonder Woman, The UFO Incident, Gammera the Invincible)
Richard Attenborough b. 1923 died 24 August 2014 (Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, Jurassic Park, Doctor Doolittle)
Lane Bradford b. 1922 died 7 June 1973 (Land of the Giants, Batman, Lost in Space, My Favorite Martian, The Adventures of Superman, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Zombies of the Stratosphere)
Isobel Sanford b. 1917 died 9 July 2004 (Lois & Clark, Love at First Bite, Bewitched)
Ingrid Bergman b. 1915 died 29 August 1982 (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Barry Sullivan b. 1912 died 6 June 1994 (The Bionic Woman, The Invisible Man [1975], The Sixth Sense, The Immortal, Planet of the Vampires, Pyro… The Thing Without a Face)Lurene Tuttle b. 1907 died 28 May 1986 (Amazing Stories, Testament, The Clonus Horror, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, My Living Doll, The Munsters, Twilight Zone)
George Macready b. 1899 died 2 July 1973 (The Return of Count Yorga, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, The Alligator People, The Monster and the Ape)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The previous Picture Slot actors were Carla Gugino from Watchmen and Charles Gray from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This year it's Richard Attenborough from Jurassic Park. On a personal note, when Attenborough was this age and wore the beard, he looked incredibly like both my father and my father's brother.

2. Spot the Canadians. Only two today, Emily Hampshire and Jovanna Huguet.

3. Nepotism, not so much. Rebecca De Mornay is the biological daughter of talk radio host Wally George, but her parents divorced and she took the name of her step-father. I doubt the relationship opened any doors for her when she was young.

4. Stuff I didn't know. When I go on imdb.com, I'll sometimes click on the page of a very familiar name without knowing if they had any credits I would count. That's how I found that both Isobel Sanford and Ingrid Bergman had genre credits.

5. MST3K. There are a lot today. The ones I know for sure are The Clonus Horror, Rocky Jones, Gammera the Invincible and Fire Maidens from Outer Space.

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

The Weekly Soapbox: Brave New World vs Nineteen Eighty-Four

Over the past few years, I've been reading fiction for pleasure more than I had through most of my adult life. Occasionally, I will pick up a book that is recognized as a classic that I haven't read. Some have been very pleasant discoveries - The Man in the High Castle is probably the best in a while - but more than a few have been bitter disappointments. I can't say I liked either A Wrinkle in Time or Frankenstein, and the most recent classic that does not live up to its reputation for me is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I bought a trade paperback that had extra features at the end, including the reviews at the time - most of them pretty bad - and a letter from Huxley to Orwell congratulating the latter on publishing Nineteen Eighty-Four in a somewhat condescending way, finishing the letter with Huxley's opinion that his book's future was much more likely than Orwell's.

Here's a little spoiler for the rest of this essay: Aldous Huxley was not fit to change George Orwell's typewriter ribbon.

Contest #1: Which book is the better prediction? This is not a fair battle, because Orwell set his future in the 20th Century, while Huxley's is hundreds of years away. More than that, sci-fi sometimes predicts some particular invention or trend, but more often should be viewed as from a more general level, ignoring exact specifics.

Huxley's future: Sex is for recreation and not procreation, all civilized people are grown in jars, given nutrients that either help them grow or stunt their growth and development, producing different classes of workers. There is one part of this future that has come to pass a little bit and that is in vitro fertilization. After the egg is fertilized, it is implanted in a woman's uterus. There is no one grown from fertilized egg to newborn in a bottle and no one is working on the technology. If anything, motherhood is every bit as revered in today's culture as it has ever been and there is no movement to replace it with some other method.

Huxley seems to hate children, which is not uncommon among British writers. Children in Orwell's world are nasty snitches and John Wyndam's The Midwich Cuckoos also present children as a horrifying threat. Outside of genre, there is P.G. Wodehouse, from whom children only exist to be the bane of his protagonists' existence, most especially Bertie Wooster's.

There are sub-themes where Huxley did better: drugs to tranquilize, the glorification of youth culture, the complete triumph of consumerism, but the major underlying theme will only come true in a future I cannot foresee in any way.

Orwell's future: The government is spying on its own citizens incessantly, using technology that everyone is forced to use. Huxley got one tiny part of his prediction right, where Orwell got one detail wrong. We aren't forced to have computers and cell phones, we use them voluntarily.

Let's say that the contest is over here and Orwell has won in a rout. That said, we don't really have Newspeak, though it is a powerful metaphor, and Newspeak is as central to Orwell's story as the method of producing children is to Brave New World. Our governmental agencies aren't as horribly named as the Ministry of Love or the Ministry of Truth, though there are examples that make the Department of Justice, the Department of Education and the National Security Agency look sinister indeed.

Contest #2: Which book is better written? Of course, this is subjective, but I can't be swayed from my opinion that Huxley is a clumsy writer, both terrible as a story teller and pedantic as a user of the language. Brave New World is a slim volume and it should be much slimmer. The first fifth of the book is all exposition about the process from fertilization to "decanting", better known as birth. It's another fifth of the way through before we meet the actual protagonist, known as John or The Savage. There is a character who is supposed to be a talented writer, but when we see his work, it is presented as tired and completely inferior to Shakespeare. Huxley is one of those people that thinks using obscure words will make him look clever. For me, it was just another way I found him annoying.

Yet again, Orwell runs circles around Huxley as a writer. Nineteen Eighty-Four from the beginning is about Winston Smith and his struggle against his society, finding a little corner of his apartment where he can hide from the telescreen. Smith is said to be competent as a writer, and we see the fictional story of a war hero he concocts that is presented in the newspaper as fact.

Without question Nineteen Eighty-Four is grim, but I still found some humor in it. The idea that pop songs and pornography are produced entirely by machines is a clever little turn. As for exposition, Orwell does have his Newspeak expert Syme go on for pages and pages about the structure and future of Newspeak, but even here the long explanation becomes a plot point, as Winston sees Syme's name erased from the Chess Club list after he disappears, becoming an unperson, not for being unorthodox, but for being too intelligent and seeing through the methods used.

Contest #3: Which writer is given more honor in current culture? Is there another 20th Century writer whose name has become an adjective? It is possible I have just forgotten it, but Orwellian is as much a part of the language as Dickensian or Shakespearean. (EDIT: I did forget it. Kafkaesque.) In most ways, Huxley has faded from view, and I think he's earned the obscurity. Brave New World is still a phrase people use, but Huxley lifted that from Shakespeare. I would say the pop culture reference that is still Huxley's claim is that the rock group The Doors took the name from Huxley's drug book The Door of Perception.

In conclusion, if you find yourself hankering to read Brave New World, you are a free agent and have every right to do so. Bit don't say I didn't warn you.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Mary Shelley and Frank Conniff. Who will be iconic enough to join them tomorrow?
  
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!

26 August 2015

Birthdays
Dylan O’Brien b. 1991 (The Maze Runner, Teen Wolf)
Evan Ross b. 1988 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay)
Jennifer Higham b. 1984 (Metamorphosis, Ella Enchanted)
Nanzeen Contractor b. 1982 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Pegasus vs. Chimera, Relic Hunter, Starhunter)
Christina Cindrich b. 1981 (Immortally Yours, Spider-Man 3, 2095)
Chris Pine b. 1980 (Wonder Woman, Z for Zachariah, Into the Woods, Star Trek, Carriers)
Macaulay Culkin b. 1980 (Jacob’s Ladder)
Amanda Schull b. 1978 (12 Monkeys [2014 TV], Grimm)
Mike Colter b. 1976 (Luke Cage, Halo: Nightfall, American Horror Story, Men in Black 3)
Meredith Eaton b. 1974 (Paranormal Activity)
Melissa McCarthy b. 1970 (Ghostbusters)
Jorge Sanz b. 1969 (The Witch Affair, Conan the Barbarian)
Oleg Taktarov b. 1967 (Predators, National Treasure, Rollerball [2002])
Taras Kostyuk b. 1966 (Alien Journey, Arrow, Supernatural, Alien Agenda: Project Grey, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, The Dead Zone, A Wrinkle in Time, Jeremiah, Dark Angel)
Shirley Manson b. 1966 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Ola Ray b. 1960 (Automan)
Brett Cullen b. 1956 (Under the Dome, The Dark Knight Rises, Lost, Pixel Perfect, From the Earth to the Moon, The Omen [1995 TV], Apollo 13, Deep Space Nine, Prehysteria!, V [1985], The Incredible Hulk)
Michael Jeter b. 1952 died 30 March 2003 (Taken, Jurassic Park III, The Green Mile, Waterworld, Zelig)
Jane Merrow b. 1941 (The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, UFO, The Prisoner)
Yvette Vickers b. 1928 died 2010 (Attack of the Giant Leeches, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman)
Ronny Graham b. 1919 died 4 July 1999 (Frogs!, Spaceballs, The Ghost Busters [1975])
Eugene Dow b. 1916 died 11 October 2004 (Night of the Demon)
Jim Davis b. 1909 died 26 April 1981 (The Day Time Ended, Project U.F.O., Satan’s Triangle, The Sixth Sense [1972], Dracula vs. Frankenstein [1971], The Time Tunnel, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, Monster from Green Hell)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Yvette Vickers from the 1950s B-movie and Chris Pine from the new Star Trek. To be honest, there aren't that many iconic roles among the rest of the actors, so I instead decided to go with plugging a future project, Melissa McCarthy in the female version of Ghostbusters. The other choice was Mike Colter, who will be playing Luke Cage in several upcoming projects from Marvel.

2. Spot the Canadian! (Sort of.) Taras Kostyuk was born in the Soviet Union. I'm assuming he emigrated to Canada by his credit list, but I don't have proof online.

3. Nepotism FTW. Both of Chris Pine's parents are actors, Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford. While the nepotism isn't as glaring as Rumer Willis, for example, I'm sure it helped him get the idea in his head that people made a living pretending to be other folks. 

4. Wait... he's dead? I wrote it last year on his birthday and it hasn't quite sunk in. I still haven't filed comic actor Michael Jeter in the dead category.


5. MST3K. The one I know for sure is The Attack of the Giant Leeches.

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: Anything which tends to discount the value of personal bravery and to elevate the tactics of the ambuscade and the sharp-shooting expedition gives, _pro tanto_, an advantage to the meaner-spirited races of mankind, and places them more or less in a position of mastery over those who hold higher racial traditions. The man who will face the risk of being shot in the open generally belongs to a higher type of humanity than he who only shoots from behind cover. Moreover, the nations which have the skill and ingenuity to manufacture new weapons of self-defence belong to a higher class than those which only acquire advanced warlike munitions by purchase. One of the early international movements of the twentieth century will be directed towards the prohibition of the sale of such weapons as magazine-rifles, quick-firing field guns, and torpedoes to any savage or barbarous race.

Reality: Oh dear, and just when I was getting to like Mr. Sutherland so much.

I realize "privilege" is an early 21st Century concept and it's a little historically unfair to apply it to people from the early 20th Century, but the British - especially the English - completely bought into the idea that they looted half the planet fair and square and any dirty natives who fought back were simply bad sports. I single out the English because sometimes the dirty natives were the Scots and the Irish. When he's not talking about war, I really do like Sutherland, but I decided to print this one to give him the "warts and all" treatment. He's not as bad as H.G. Wells, but as they would say on Fox News, he was no angel.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More excessively optimistic thoughts from Utopia 1976.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!