3 November 2014

Birthdays
Gemma Ward b. 1987 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
Antonia Thomas b. 1986 (The Hybrid, The Misfits)
Daniele Watts b. 1985 (The Bloody Indulgent)
Gino Anthony Pesi b. 1980 (Grimm, The Vampire Diaries, Battle Los Angeles)
Adam Faraizl b. 1977 (It, RoboCop 2)
Dylan Moran b. 1971 (Shaun of the Dead)
Debbie Rochon b. 1968 (239 credits, every last one of them low budget crap)
Marjean Holden b. 1964 (BeastMaster [TV], Ghosts of Mars, Crusade, Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, Vampires, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Deep Space Nine, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Tales from the Crypt, Philadelphia Experiment II, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
Dolph Lundgren b. 1957 (Battle of the Damned, In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, Universal Soldier, Retrograde, Bridge of Dragons, Johnny Mnemonic, The Punisher, Masters of the Universe)
Gary Ross b. 1956 (director, The Hunger Games, Pleasantville)
Kevin Murphy b. 1956 (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
Kathy Kinney b. 1954 (Lois & Clark, Arachnophobia, Scrooged)
Kate Capshaw b. 1953 (SpaceCamp, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dreamscape)
Dennis Miller b. 1953 (Bordello of Blood)
Roseanne Barr b. 1952 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare)
Mike Evans b. 1949 died 14 December 2006 (Far Out Space Nuts)
Tom Savini b. 1946 (Inhuman Resources, The Dead Matter, Diary of the Dead, Planet Terror, Forest of the Damned, Land of the Dead, Unearthed, Dawn of the Dead, Sheena, From Dusk Till Dawn, Innocent Blood, Heartstopper, Creepshow 2, The Boy Who Loved Trolls, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Creepshow, Knightriders, Friday the 13th, Dawn of the Dead)
Aneta Corsaut b. 1933 died 6 November 1995 (The Blob)
Jeremy Brett b. 1933 died 12 September 1995 (Galactica 1980, The Incredible Hulk, Supernatural [1977 TV], The Champions, Beauty and the Beast [1961 TV])
Ken Berry b. 1933 (Small Wonder, The Cat from Outer Space, Hello Down There)
Lois Smith b. 1930 (True Blood, Minority Report, ‘Way Out)
Larry Gelman b. 1930 (Weird Science [TV], Amazing Stories, Dreamscape, Mork & Mindy, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie)
Claudia Barrett b. 1929 (Robot Monster)
Osamu Tezuka b. 1928 died 9 February 1989 (writer, Astro Boy, Metropolis)
Robert Quarry b. 1925 died 20 February 2009 (Droid Gunner, Mind Twister, Teenage Exorcist, Evil Spirits, Spirits, Alienator, Beverly Hills Vamp, Warlords, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Lost Saucer, Far Out Space Nuts, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, The Return of Count Yorga, Count Yorga, Vampire)
Leonard Stone b. 1923 died 2 November 2011 (The Invisible Man [2001 TV], Bigfoot and Wildboy, The Next Step Beyond, Gemini Man, The Six Million Dollar Man, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Soylent Green, Land of the Giants, Lost in Space, The Invaders, The Outer Limits)
Charles Bronson b. 1921 died 30 August 2003 (Twilight Zone, House of Wax)
Bert Freed b. 1919 died 2 August 1994 (Knight Rider, Salvage 1, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], The Green Hornet, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Munsters, The Outer Limits, Invaders from Mars)
Ignatius Donnelly b. 1831 died 1 January 1901 (author, Caesar’s Column, Atlantis: The Antediluvian World)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Okay. Charles Bronson is the movie star and he was on the original Twilight Zone series, Dolph Lundrgen is the genre star, Leonard Stone is my favorite Oh That Guy here and if I was in a mood for a fabulous babe, Kate Capshaw in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the most iconic. But last year I went with Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka's famous creation and this year I chose Kevin Murphy from MST3K, because... that's how I roll.
 
2. Oy, Debbie Rochon. It is my curse that I recognized her name immediately on imdb.com. My memory may be slipping, but in this case it is not slipping fast enough. If I was presenting proof there is a terrible drug epidemic in the United States, my first argument would be that Troma Films is still in business, which means there must be enough idiot stoners still watching this crap that they can keep filming it. Debbie Rochon is in fact Canadian, the only one on the list today, but she makes her living in this cut rate junk made in the U.S.A. When I'm on imdb.com, I don't count short films or direct to video, and even with that, Debbie Rochon probably still has about 100 credits. There was no way I was going to type them all in.  

There, I said it and I'm not taking it back.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, even Debbie Rochon and Dennis Miller, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

 

Predictor: Sinclair Lewis in It Can’t Happen Here, published 1935

Prediction: November 3, 1936: Senator Berzelius “Buzz” Windrip is elected President of the United States and quickly institutes an oppressive regime.

Reality: So many people believe they are being oppressed now, it doesn't really matter who is president, does it? There have always been the goofball libertarians who believe any tax is theft, but now they get elected regularly. Likewise the climate change deniers who are certain global warming is a socialist hoax. On the left, you have the people afraid of government spying, corporate control of the food supply, America at constant war... the list of ways people are being oppressed is almost as long as the list of people who think they are oppressed.

Oy, such a headache.

Looking one day... INTO THE FUTURE!

Enough whining about current events! It's time to mock FM-2030 again!   

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

23 October 2014

Birthdays
Taylor Spreitler b. 1993 (Category 5)
Brett DelBuono b. 1992 (Let Me In)
Sophie Oda b. 1991 (The Big Bang Theory)
Amandia Stenberg b. 1998 (Sleepy Hollow, The Hunger Games)
Jessica Stroup b. 1986 (Ted, True Blood, Reaper, The Hills Have Eyes II, Vampire Bats)
Briana Evigan b. 1986 (S. Darko)
Masiela Lusha b. 1985 (Dragonfyre, Blood: The Last Vampire)
Bradley Pierce b. 1982 (Star Trek: Voyager, Doom Runners, The Borrowers, Jumanji, Lois & Clark)
Olatunde Osunsanmi b. 1977 (director, Dark Moon, Falling Skies, The Fourth Kind)
Ryan Reynolds b. 1976 (R.I.P.D., Ted, Green Lantern, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Amityville Horror, Blade: Trinity, Big Monster on Campus, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The X Files)
Kate del Castillo b. 1972 (Grimm)
Grant Imahara b. 1970 (Star Trek Continues, Caper, Team Unicorn, Eureka, The League of S.T.E.A.M., The Guild)
Steve Wilder b. 1970 (Iron Man 3, Charmed, The Journey: Absolution)
Brooke Theiss b. 1969 (Catwoman, They Came from Outer Space, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master)
Travis Davis b. 1968 died 12 October 2009 (The Big Bang Theory, Friday the 13th [2009], The Chronicle, Space Marines)
Eric Shanower b. 1963 (writer, The Oz universe)
Beatie Edney b. 1962 (Highlander: Endgame, Highlander)
Sam Raimi b. 1959 (director, Oz the Great and Powerful, Drag Me to Hell, Spider-Man 1, 2& 3, Army of Darkness, Darkman, Evil Dead II, The Evil Dead; producer, Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Legend of the Seeker)
‘Weird Al’ Yankovic b. 1959 (Halloween 2 [2009], Amazing Stories)
Dwight Yoakum b. 1956 (Under the Dome, Roswell)
Graeme Revell b. 1955 (composer, Gotham, Riddick, AEon Flux, The Fog, Sin City, Pitch Black, Grindhouse, Freddy vs. Jason, Daredevil, Lara Croft, Red Planet, Dune, Titan A.E., Bride of Chucky, The Crow: City of Angels, From Dusk Till Dawn, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Tank Girl, Until the End of the World, Child’s Play 2)
Ang Lee b. 1954 (director, Hulk)
Ira Steven Behr b. 1953 (producer, Outlander, Alphas, The 4400, Dark Angel, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Michael Rupert b. 1951 (A Boy and His Dog)
Jason Bostwick b. 1943 (Mutant Species, Future Zone, My Science Project, TRON, Shazam!)
Michael Crichton b. 1942 died 4 November 2008 (writer, Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, Sphere, Congo, Runaway, Looker, Coma, Westworld)
Stanley Anderson b. 1939 (S1m0ne, Roswell, Spider-Man, The X Files, Armageddon, The Shining [1997 TV], RoboCop 3)
Philip Kaufman b. 1936 (director, Invasion of the Body Snatchers[1978], writer, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Right Stuff)
Diana Dors b. 1931 died 4 May 1984 (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1980 TV], Hammer House of Horror, Theatre of Blood, The Amazing Mr. Blunden)
Ted Manson b. 1926 died 1 June 2008 (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Larry Ward b. 1924 died 2/15/1985 (voice of Jabba the Hutt and Greedo, both uncredited)
Frank Sutton b. 1923 died 28 June 1974 (The Satan Bug, The Twilight Zone, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet)
Harold P. Warren b. 1923 died 26 December 1985 (actor/writer/director, Manos: The Hands of Fate)
Coleen Gray b. 1922 (The Sixth Sense, The Phantom Planet, The Leech Woman, The Vampire)
James Daly b. 1918 died 3 July 1978 (Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
Hayden Rorke b.1910 died 19 August 1987 (Wonder Woman, I Dream of Jeannie, Twilight Zone)
Una O’Connor b. 1880 died 4 February 1959 (The Canterville Ghost, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year I had Greedo from Star Wars in honor of the late Larry Ward. This year it's the title shot from "Manos", The Hands of Fate, with Joel and the bots in the foreground, in honor of the film maker, the late Harold P. Warren. This was not the worst movie MST3K ever made fun of, but it's probably in the top ten. If you question whether MST3K should count as iconic, please don't bring it up in the comments. I've always thought so highly of you and this would spoil it.

As for next year, I might go with Ryan Reynolds from one of the big budget stinkers he's made, but it's more likely to be one of the now deceased actors and a role from 1960s TV, like James Daly or Hayden Rorke.

2. I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascal you. I am truly glad Michael Crichton is dead. I enjoyed his not very scientific thrillers like The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, but late in life he became a strident climate change denier. It was a very disappointing end to his career and I got the feeling the only way he was going to stop embarrassing himself was to die.

He did. I'm glad. I wrote it and I'm not taking it back.

3. Spot the Canadian. Not super obvious, but I think some will get it anyway.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories, with the exception of Michael Chrichton.
 

Five fun facts from 2015!

Predictor: Back to the Future, Part II released 22 March 1989

Prediction: Lawyers are abolished! (Click on picture for larger readable version.

Reality: Back to the Future, Part II is an action comedy and the idea of lawyers being abolished is played as a joke and to speed up the plot. Similarly, the hand held roofie was an easy way to write an extra character out of several scenes where the writers didn't see how to use her.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Back to the Future prediction.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

11 October 2014

 Birthdays
Helen Colliander b. 2000 (Being Human)
Dante Palminteri b. 1995 (Sharknado 2: The Second One)
Michelle Trachtenberg b. 1985 (Buffy, Meego)
Bradley James b. 1983 (Merlin)
Kristy Wu b. 1982 (Return to Halloweentown, Buffy, Future Tense)
Doona Bae b. 1979 (Sense8, Cloud Atlas, Doomsday Book, The Host, The Ring Virus)
Trevor Donovan b. 1978 (Surrogates)
Matt Bomer b.1977 (Space Station 76, Winter’s Tale, In Time, Relic Hunter)
Emily Deschanel b. 1976 (Spider-Man 2, Rose Red)
Holly Fields b. 1976 (Charmed, Seedpeople, The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake, The Munsters Today, ALF, Communion, Quantum Leap)
Kane Kosugi b. 1974 (Godzilla: Final Wars, Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero)
Claudia Black b. 1972 (Haven, Stargate SG-1, The Dresden Files, Moonlight, Farscape, Queen of the Damned, Xena, BeastMaster [TV], Pitch Black, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Amazon High)
Constance Zimmer b. 1970 (FreakyLinks, The X Files, Babylon 5)
Stephen Moyer b. 1969 (True Blood, Priest, Ultraviolet)
Lennie James b. 1965 (The Walking Dead, The Prisoner [2009 TV], Jericho, Lost in Space [1998])
Luke Perry b. 1965 (Supernova, Jeremiah, Clone High, The Fifth Element, Invasion, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1992 movie])
Sean Patrick Flanery b. 1965 (Scavengers, Phantom, The Devil’s Carnival, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Savage Planet, Demon Hunter, Charmed, Stargate SG-1)
Michael J. Nelson b. 1964 (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
Nicola Bryant b. 1960 (Doctor Who)
Eric Keenleyside b. 1957 (Once Upon a Time, Godzilla [2014], Supernatural, Fringe, Stargate SG-1, Kingdom Hospital, Phenomenon II, Smallville, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The X Files, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Cloned, Highland [TV], Bordello of Blood, The Twilight Zone [1989], War of the Worlds)
Dawn French b. 1957 (Psychoville, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Stephen Spinella b. 1956 (Heroes, Virtuosity)
Tim Choate b. 1954 died 24 September 2004 (Babylon 5, The Charmings, Tales from the Darkside, Def-Con 4, Ghost Story)
David Morse b. 1953 (Horns, World War Z, Hearts in Atlantis, The Green Mile, Contact, Twelve Monkeys, The Langoliers, SeaQuest 2032, Tales from the Crypt, Prototype)
Catlin Adams b. 1950 (Underworld: Awakening)
Caroline John b. 1940 died 5 June 2012 (Doctor Who)
Ron Liebman b. 1937 (Slaughterhouse-Five)
Robert Patten b. 1925 died 29 December 2001 (Project U.F.O., Wonder Woman, Westworld, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Frederick Kerr b. 1858 died 3 May 1933 (Frankenstein [1931])

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Wow. that's a lot of choices of people with iconic roles. Last year, Michelle Trachtenberg from Buffy. This year, I could easily have chosen Stephen Moyer from True Blood, Michael J. Nelson from MST3K, Lennie James from The Walking Dead, Luke Perry from Jeremiah, Tim Choate as Zathras from Babylon 5 or one of the two Doctor Who companions, Caroline John or Nicola Bryant. I'd also include several roles from David Morse as candidates and just because I love The Host so much, I might use a picture of the Korean actress Doona Bae.

But of course, you aren't looking at any of them. I chose Claudia Black as Aeryn Sun from Farscape. When it comes to muscle tone, cleavage and a very large gun, I'd give Ms. Black my vote, possibly even over any of the actresses who played Sarah Connor, and that is some serious competition.

2. Hey... no Star Trek! For the first time in a long time, I did not find a single actor whose birthday is October 11 who had a credited role on any of the jillion iterations of Star Trek that have been made over the past half century. That's really unusual and it gets its own label starting today.

3. The curse that is Babylon 5. Four actors on that show whose names were in the opening credits - Richard Biggs, Andreas Katsulas, Jeff Conaway and Michael O'Hare - died and the oldest of them made it to 60. Tim Choate was not an opening credits actor, but Zathras was a recurring role. He died at 49. Compare this to the cast of Deep Space Nine that aired at about the same time. As far as I know, everyone from the opening credits cast is still alive, as well they should be.

4. Spot the Canadian! I think it's pretty easy today. Answer in the comments.

5. Wait... born 1858? Not a typo. Frederick Kerr played Baron Frankenstein, the doctor's father in the 1931 version.

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

Predictor: Joaquin Miller (1839-1913), poet and playwright, predicting the 20th Century in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

Further introduction: Miller's name survives to this day, though his reputation is in tatters. Two of his contemporaries, Ambrose Bierce and Bret Harte, championed his work "though not enthusiastically" as is written on his Wikipedia page. He was a tireless self-promoter and had some success when he went to England, where society saw him as an amusing rough spun curiosity. Many people who comment about him are ready to say he had almost no acquaintance with the truth.

Still, that's some 19th Century facial hair. I mean, I haven't seen anyone in the baseball playoffs this year with a beard that intense, and that is saying something.


Predictions (realities): We will cut off the foreign vote, the ignorant vote and the verdant vote. (Guy sound like a Republican if you count libtards as the "the ignorant vote". This one gets a zero.)

States should send their oldest and wisest men to govern as senator, unencumbered by the noisy and dirty area of electioneering. (Again, there's some Republican bullshit running around that senate seats shouldn't have to be decided by popular vote. This guy is losing ground and fast.)

We will build new cities on beautiful sites, as men now build hotels, emptying the unclean and preserving the healthful and new. Whereabouts I do not know, but all the world is going to town. Machinery has emancipated man from the fields.  (Here he scores a few points. A big change did come in the 20th Century in terms of the urban/rural ratio. As for new towns built like hotels, that describes Tahoe and Vegas well enough.)

With large fortunes, some day we will require the bulk of the rich man's money, when he is done with it of course, to build national parks to give back to the nation which helped him get hold of it. (This would require a Death Tax. As we know - because the children of Sam Walton made it abundantly clear - Death Taxes Are Bad.)

As for literature, we cannot improve on the Bible, the Arabian Tales or Shakespeare. The sensational newspapers will disappear. (People do still write and literature moves forward. Sensational papers still survive.)

As for discoveries, Truly it seems that some new Columbus must launch his airships on the great high seas and gulf streams that surge and roll above us. (It's not clear if "airships" should mean balloons are heavier than air flight, but in either case, air travel certainly is one of the big differences between the 19th and 20th Centuries, so points for this one.)

Who now alive will be best remembered? Edison, of course. (Good choice, though Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell and Queen Victoria might get some votes as well.)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another nice quiet Sunday, relaxing and reading about nuclear conflagration.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

15 September 2014

 Birthdays
Matt Shively b. 1990 (Teen Wolf, Paranormal Activity 4)
Chloe Dykstra b. 1988 (COPS: Skyrim, Drag Me to Hell, Wizards of Waverly Place, Spider-Man 2)
Jonathan Liebesman b. 1976 (director, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], Wrath of the Titans, Battle Los Angeles, Darkness Falls)
Tom Hardy b. 1977 (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Sucker Punch, A for Andromeda, Minotaur)
Marcus Shirock b. 1975 (Hercules Reborn, Bermuda Tentacles, Android Cop, Angel, Charmed)
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 (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)
Sabina Franklin b. 1954 (The Worst Witch, Blakes 7)
John Reynolds b. 1941 died 16 October 1966 (Manos: The Hands of Fate)
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)
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)
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 on the birthday list.
1. The stars. Tom Hardy and Tommy Lee Jones are movies stars as we speak, but we should also note that Jackie Cooper was the biggest child star in the world before Shirley Temple came along and he parlayed that into a long and successful career.

2. The Picture Slot. Fay Wray, the original scream queen. Certainly iconic, obviously a fabulous babe. I don't even mind being called a geezer for choosing her, and a dirty old geezer at that. We shouldn't forget Fay Wray.

3. The Oh That Guys. I have to admit a little confusion between Henry Silva and Henry Darrow. Silva has the Mediterranean last name, but Darrow was the Latin Lover in the 1960s. Darrow is classically handsome, while Silva reminds me of the Tom Waits lyric "My friends say I'm ugly, I got a masculine face." Also, Silva had the lead role in a movie titled Johnny Cool. How cool is that? (Rhetorical question. Obviously extremely cool.)

4. Die young much? John Reynolds played Torgo in Manos: The Hands of Fate and died shortly after in his twenties. (Because I'm an MST3K fan, I consider Torgo iconic.) Wendy Jo Sperber was in her forties, Roy Brocksmith (definitely an Oh That Chubby Guy) was in his fifties. Tom Conway was in his early sixties, but that wasn't that rare back in the mid-century.

5. Die old much? In contrast, both Joseph Pevney and Fay Wray were 96 when they died. That's extra innings for anyone who isn't a tortoise.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Pulsed electromagnetic therapy will be widely used for repairing broken bones, burns and bedsores. There is research that makes it hopeful that it might cure cancer, heal damaged nerves and increasing the rate of learning.

Reality: Used more in Europe than in the United States, the main uses are for bone repair and trauma, with some hope it may be useful in treatment of depression. As for cancer, repairing nerves and speeding up learning, the Wikipedia article makes no mention of these uses.

Never to be Forgotten:
Angus Lennie 1930-2014

Scottish actor Angus Lennie, best known to audiences both in the U.S. and the U.K. as Ives the Mole in The Great Escape, died yesterday in a nursing home. He also had several roles on long-running TV shows in Britain including Monarch of the Glen, but he is remembered here for roles on Doctor Who, Project Luna, One of our Dinosaurs is Missing and the TV version of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, in which he played Mr. Tumnus.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Ah, Tuesdays! That happy day each week when we take out FM-2030's frozen corpse and kick it around for a few hours. Good times.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

30 August 2014

Birthdays
Jessica Henwick b. 1992 (Game of Thrones)
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)
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 (American Horror Story, Fantastic Four, No Ordinary Family, Rise: Blood Hunter, Soldier)
Nelson Ascencio b. 1964 (The Hunger Games, Paul, Birds of Prey)
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])
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)
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)

Last year, the Picture Slot belonged to Frank Conniff because I'm a big MST3K fan. This year it's a picture of Mary Shelley, whose novel has inspired hundreds of adaptations and variations on the theme on film and TV. Next year is anyone's guess, though Jessica Henwick is an early front runner. She plays one of the Sand Snakes, characters who will be introduced in the next season of Game of Thrones.

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

Predictor: Past Tense, episode from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, first aired 2 January 1995

Prediction: Capt. Sisko and other crew members travel back in time to San Francisco August 30, 2024. In the next few days, the riots in the Sanctuary district - the place in the city where the homeless are warehoused - will have widespread political repercussions. The events are named the Bell Riots, for Gabriel Bell, the leader who was able to minimize violence and guarantee the safety of the hostages.

Reality: This story line was pushed about thirty years into the future and we are now about two thirds of the way to 2024. We don't "warehouse" the homeless yet, and in San Francisco, I can't imagine the city could talk real estate developers anywhere inside the city limits to agree to give up their valuable property for such a scheme.

Thanks to my friend and reader Art Velasquez for reminding me about this story line.
 

Never to be Forgotten: 
Norma McCarty 1920-2014
Once again, the news travels slowly about some obituaries, and such is the case for Norma McCarty, the widow of Ed Wood Jr. Ms. McCarty died in June of this year but I only saw her obituary this week.

She has a total of three roles listed on imdb.com. She was an extra on several episodes of The Adventures of Superman and Perry Mason, and she played the stewardess Edith in her husband's best known work, Plan 9 From Outer Space. In the 1980s, Michael and Harry Medved declared it was "the worst movie ever made" and it became notorious. As a fan of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, I can think of plenty of low budget films just as inept and some that are much harder to watch, Red Zone Cuba, Tormented and Manos: The Hands of Fate to name just three. There are also many very bad movies made with budgets hundreds if not thousands of times greater. But if it were not for the Medved's pompous claim, Ed Wood could easily have stayed as obscure as many other low budget auteurs from the 1950s and 1960s, and the name of his widow would not be worth a mention.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

You know what we haven't had in ever so long? A good old nuclear holocaust. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

21 August 2014

 Birthdays
Maxim Knight b. 1999 (Falling Skies)
Hayden Panettiere b. 1989 (Heroes)
Robert Knox b. 1989 died 24 May 2008 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Laura Haddock b. 1985 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Rage of the Yeti, Captain America: The First Avenger)
Nathan Jones b. 1969 (Mad Max: Fury Road, Conan the Barbarian [2011], Doom Runners)
Carrie-Anne Moss b. 1967 (The Matrix, Red Planet, Forever Knight)
Kim Catrall b. 1956 (Modern Vampires, Invasion, Split Second, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Big Trouble in Little China, City Limits, Mannequin, Tucker’s Witch, The Incredible Hulk, Logan’s Run [TV])
Walter Williamson b. 1946 (The Omega Code, Babylon 5)
Basil Poledouris b. 1945 died 8 November 2006 (composer, Starship Troopers, RoboCop 3, RoboCop, Cherry 2000, Amerika, Twilight Zone [1985], Conan the Barbarian, Tintorera: Killer Shark)
Loretta Devine b. 1949 (Supernatural)
Peter Weir b. 1944 (director, The Truman Show, The Cars That Eat People)
Clarence Williams III b. 1939 (Deep Space Nine)
Wilt Chamberlain b. 1936 died 12 October 1999 (Conan the Destroyer)
Tony Steedman b. 1927 died 4 February 2001 (Babylon 5, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Beauty and the Beast, The Charmings)
Anthony Boucher b. 1911 died 29 April 1968 (editor, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

A list of random thoughts about today's list.

1. Last year it was Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix, this year it's Kim Catrall from Big Trouble in Little China. Long before Kim Catrall was mocked mercilessly for her role on Sex and the City, she was mocked mercilessly on Mystery Science Theater 3000.  Dr. Forester introduced City Limits with the line "This week's experiment is City Limits, with James Earl Jones in one of the worst movies he ever made and Kim Catrall in one of the best movies she ever made." That still makes me laugh.

2. The people with just one role. All the reasons are different. Maxim Knight is just a kid and who knows where his career will go. Hayden Panettiere hasn't gone back to genre since Heroes. Poor Robert Knox was killed in a bar brawl four days after his last scene was shot. Wilt Chamberlain only played a role other than himself in one movie. And then there's Loretta Devine and Clarence Williams III, each of them with over 100 credits and only one in sci-fi, not counting voice work. A lot of hard working black actors don't get cast in sci-fi or fantasy and they aren't the only ethnic group treated this way. If an Italian-American actor gets cast as a mobster, that's pretty much how his or her entire career will go. It's much the same for Hispanic actors who play gang members.

3. Die young much? Of the deceased on today's list, Only Tony Steedman (Socrates in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) lived to see 70. When I was hunting names on isfdb.org this morning, I saw the illustrator Aubrey Beardsley was on their list, but I didn't include him. He died at 25. To think of the accomplishments of people dying that young is both impressive and depressing.

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

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


Prediction: The atom and electron will be your doctor's servants. Electronic ""brains,"" for instance, will store knowledge of every symptom of every disease, making instantly available to physicians everywhere up-to-the-minute scientific findings which they could never hope to keep abreast of.

Reality: This is some good thinking on de Forest's part and it is 100% accurate. He couldn't be expected to know that computers would be most used for storing pictures of adorable cats and porn, but to grade him down for that would be completely unfair.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The Picture Slot will be a tip of the hat to My People and Our Agenda, he wrote somewhat cryptically. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

20 February 2014

Birthdays
Miles Teller b. 1987 (Divergent, Fantastic Four [2014])
Lauren Ambrose b. 1978 (Torchwood, Psycho Beach Party)
Ophelie Winter b. 1974 (2001: A Space Travesty)
Kimberly Davies b. 1973 (Psycho Beach Party)
Lily Taylor b. 1967 (Almost Human, The Conjuring, Hemlock Grove, The Haunting, The X-Files)
David Herman b. 1967 (Futurama, Dude, Where’s My Car, Idiocracy, Angel)
Ron Eldard b. 1965 (Super 8, Deep Impact, Drop Dead Fred)
Willie Garson b. 1964 (Stargate SG-1, What Planet Are You From?, The X-Files, Being John Malkovich, Star Trek: Voyager, Buffy, Mars Attacks!, Quantum Leap, Repossessed)
Rodney Rowland b. 1964 (American Horror Story, FlashForward, Charmed, Angel, The Sixth Day, Dark Angel, The X-Files, Space: Above and Beyond)
French Stewart b. 1964 (Rise of the Zombies, Stargate, Clockstoppers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Charmed)
Joel Hodgson b. 1960 (Mystery Science Theater 3000, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves)
Anthony Stewart Head b. 1954 (Dominion, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Warehouse 13, Merlin, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Doctor Who, Buffy, VR.5, Highlander [TV])
Jennifer O’Neill b. 1948 (Poltergeist: The Legacy [TV], Scanners)
Peter Strauss b. 1947 (Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone)
Brion James b. 1945 died 7 August 1999 (Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills, The Fifth Element, Cyberjack, Highlander [TV], M.A.N.T.I.S., Knight Rider 2010, Future Shock, Time Runner, Nemesis, Mutator, Cherry 2000, Annihilator, Blade Runner, Galactica 1980, The Incredible Hulk [TV])
Marj Dusay b. 1936 (Galactica 1980, Star Trek)
Richard Matheson b. 1926 died 23 June 2013 (author, I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man, What Dreams May Come)
Robert Altman b. 1925 died 20 November 2006 (director, Quintet)
Pierre Boulle b. 1912 died 30 January 1994 (author, Planet of the Apes)
Malcolm Atterbury b. 1907 died 16 August 1992 (Twilight Zone, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Gale Gordon b. 1906 died 30 June 1995 (The Thirty Foot Bride of Candy Rock)

Now that's a birthday list. There are a bunch of people more famous for work outside genre like Gale Gordon, Robert Altman, Jennifer O'Neill, Peter Strauss and Willie Garson, and several people with only one of two credits total. But there are so many people who count as iconic it was hard to choose. If it was just based on my own fanboy tendencies, it would have been a coin flip between Joel Hodgson from MST3K and Anthony Stewart Head from Buffy. Other perfectly understandable choices would have been French Stewart from 3rd Rock or the writer Richard Matheson. But instead I chose a still of Brion James from Blade Runner, yet another great Oh That Guy actor who is no longer with us. His role in The Fifth Element would also have been very recognizable.

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

Predictor: The Bay Area Rapid Transit designers from 1956

Prediction: The BART system as it was envisioned if all nine Bay Area counties had joined.

Reality: Here's the website I nicked the prediction map from.

As for reality, the only counties that bought in originally were San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa. For non-locals, that means most of the East Bay and the city limits of San Francisco. Now the system moves slightly into San Mateo county just south of San Francisco and there's always plans to extend it south to San Jose, which would mean Santa Clara County. There are no plans currently to connect the northwestern counties like Marin, Napa, Sonoma or Solano.

Still, I really love looking at the original dream.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

There are still a few Wired Long Bets to report on, and tomorrow's has already passed its date of prediction.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

13 January 2014

Birthdays
Liam Hemsworth b. 1990 (The Hunger Games, Knowing)
Orlando Bloom b. 1977 (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean)
Patrick Dempsey b. 1966 (Transformers, Enchanted, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997], Outbreak)
Bill Bailey b. 1965 (Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Spaced, Nanny McPhee)
Richard Moll b. 1943 (Smallville, Galaxis, Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Highlander [TV], Wicked Stepmother, House [1986], Caveman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
William B. Davis b. 1938 (Continuum, Caprica, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1, The X-Files, Smallville, Andromeda, It (TV Mini-series))
Billy Gray b. 1938 (The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Ron Goulart b. 1933 (writer, Flash Gordon, TekWar, Vampirella)
Gregory Walcott b. 1928 (Plan 9 from Outer Space)
Osa Massen b. 1916 died 2 January 2006 (Rocketship X-M, Cry of the Werewolf)
Jeff Morrow b. 1907 died 26 December 1993 (Twilight Zone, Octaman, This Island Earth, The Giant Claw, Kronos, The Creature Walks Among Us)
Clark Ashton Smith b. 1893 died 14 August 1961 (author, Hyperborea, The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis)

Plenty of choices for the Picture Slot today, but I don't have to justify using The Smoking Man this year. He's plenty iconic.

Explanation of a few names is in order. Poor Gregory Walcott had a long career mainly in Westerns, but he is top bill in Plan 9 from Outer Space, so he's here. Lovely Osa Massen only did two genre roles, but one of them was immortalized on Mystery Science Theater 3000 with one of my favorite riffs from Joel Hodgson "Well, thank you, Mister White Male Reality!" Bill Bailey is a British comedian, Richard Moll was Bull Shannon on Night Court, Billy Gray was Bud on Father Knows Best, Jeff Morrow got stuck in multiple 1950s monster movies, Ron Goulart is the ghost writer of William Shatner's TekWar, and Clark Ashton Smith, who was an artist and sculptor as well as a writer, is considered one of the "big three" of the pulp magazine Weird Tales, along with H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, and to the dead, please don't rise from the grave, and yes, I'm talking to you, Clark Ashton Smith!

 

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: By 1994, perfection of the room-temperature superconducting chip will make possible the first wristwatch computer with a larger capacity than a 64K memory. The device will be able to handle all the computing functions of a tabletop home microcomputers. Instead of depending on typed input or a video screen, the device will accept and impart information through vocal instructions in English.

Reality: I've been running into a lot of predictions about wearable technology in my research, but this one thought it would be here much earlier than most. (I'm not counting Dick Tracy, since we didn't get exact dates.) Of course, we now have ads for wrist phones playing on TV nearly non-stop, so this prediction is off by two decades.

I did have to smile at "a larger capacity than a 64K memory". And I'm personally holding out for a phone that accepts instructions in Klingon. I don't want just any goofball hacking into it.

Back to reality for a moment, the wrist phones look cool in the ads, but what is their actual advantage over the phones available now? It's obvious the screen is way smaller and where exactly is the input? I'm now a grumpy old fart and no longer an early adopter, but I'm smelling the faintest whiff of Segway on this latest tech wave. I've been wrong before, but we will see a year from now whether the wrist phones and Google glass and the other first generation "wearable tech" really catches on or this is "ooh, virtual reality!" all over again.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tuesdays for the next few months will belong to predictions about 2009 from Ray Kurzweil's 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 November 2013

Birthdays
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin b. 1977 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Emma Stone b. 1988 (Zombieland, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Rebecca Romijn b. 1972 (X-Men)
Thandie Newton b. 1972 (2012)
Ethan Hawke b. 1970 (Gattaca)
Kerry Conran b. 1964 (director, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)
Lance Kerwin b. 1960 (Outbreak, Enemy Mine)
Trace Beaulieu b. 1958 (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
Catherine Asaro b. 1955 (won the 2002 Nebula for The Quantum Rose)
Ron Underwood b. 1953 (director, Tremors, Heroes, Mighty Joe Young)
Carolyn Seymour b. 1947 (Space:1999, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek:The Next Generation, Quantum Leap)
Sally Field b. 1946 (The Amazing Spider-Man)
Jonathan Harris b. 1914 died 3 November 2002 (Lost in Space, The Twilight Zone, Battlestar Galactica)

There were certainly several choices for Pretty Girl = Picture Slot, but for iconic faces, it was either Dr. Forrester or Dr. Smith, and I decided to go with the show I actually liked.

Keep sharing the tapes, and many happy returns to all the living on the list.
 

Prediction: On 6 November 2012, Nehemiah Scudder, a former backwoods preacher is elected President of the United States and declares himself First Prophet. No election is held in 2016 and he becomes the first in a line of dictators.

Prediction: From –If This Goes On by Robert A. Heinlein, published 1940

Reality: Nothing like this actually happened, so I might very well have chosen the Ridiculous Bob picture instead, but it's been so long since we heard from Heinlein I wanted to show him some respect. And looking at some of the people who were front runners for the Republican nomination in 2011 and 2012, "former backwoods preacher" would actually be a step up in terms of curriculum vitae.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A prediction from 1966 about the cars of 2016 by Jeane Dixon.

Yes, that Jeane Dixon.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

3 November 2013

 Birthdays
Dolph Lundgren b. 1957 (Universal Soldier, Johnny Mnemonic, Masters of the Universe)
Gary Ross b. 1956 (director, The Hunger Games, Pleasantville)
Kevin Murphy b. 1956 (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
Kate Capshaw b. 1953 (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Dreamscape)
Aneta Corsaut b. 1933 died 6 November 1995 (The Blob)
Lois Smith b. 1930 (True Blood)
Claudia Barrett b. 1929 (Robot Monster)
Osamu Tezuka b. 1928 died 9 February 1989 (writer, Astro Boy, Metropolis)
Robert Quarry b. 1925 died 20 February 2009 (Count Yorga, Vampire)
Leonard Stone b. 1923 died 2 November 2011 (Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, Soylent Green, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)
Ignatius Donnelly b. 1831 died 1 January 1901 (author, Caesar’s Column, Atlantis: The Antediluvian World)

It's a little unusual to have a list this long and the youngest person on it is in his fifties, but that's today's list.  I could easily have put Tom Servo in the Picture Slot or Dolph Lundgren. If I was in a puckish mood, I might have put Claudia Barrett being carried away by the guy in the gorilla suit with a space helmet, but I decided on Astro Boy instead.

I have discussed Ignatius Donnelly before, the writer of the anti-Semitic futuristic story Caesar's Column. Looking up names on the Internet Speculative Fiction Database this morning, they listed his book on Atlantis in "non-fiction". He made up Atlantis. We should be allowed to call a hoax that is now 131 years old a hoax.

Just sayin'.

Best wishes to all the living on the list.  

Predictor: Ray Bradbury in The Martian Chronicles,  published as a book in 1950

Prediction: In August 2002, Tomas Gomez, a worker newly arrived on Mars, has a strange meeting across time with a Martian. They disagree about whether the Martian is in the past or the future. Both of them are going to parties.

Reality: Yet again, Bradbury shows why the Hard SF crowd looked down their noses at him. Right now, I'm reading Rushdie's memoir Joseph Anton, and Rushdie is definitely of the view that writing is about sentences. It's obvious that Bradbury felt the same way.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Switching up the line-up a little this week to get another prediction about 2014 from Isaac Asimov in 1964.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

15 October 2013

Birthdays
Dominic West b. 1969 (300, Punisher: War Zone)
Tanya Roberts b. 1955 (Beastmaster, Sheena)
Virginia Leith b. 1932 (The Brain That Wouldn’t Die)
Mark Lenard b. 1924 died 11/22/1996 (Star Trek)

I was very close to having Virginia Leith in her iconic starring role in The Brain That Wouldn't Die in the Picture Slot, but I had to go with Mark Lenard, at least for this first year. Besides playing Sarek multiple times, he also is one of the few actors to play three different alien species on Star Trek, a Vulcan, a Romulan and a Klingon.

Many happy returns to the living on this list.

In the Year 2000!

Prediction:  October 15: Muster Day. All able bodied 21 year olds are called into the workforce and all 45 year olds are allowed to retire

Predictor: Looking Backward:2000-1887, Edward Bellamy, published 1888

Reality: Ah yes, retirement at 45, a chance to enjoy a few good years in peace before you died from the influenza or tuberculosis. I'm actually only being a little bleak here, as a 45 year old in 1890 was expected to live average to about 70. Now, if a man makes it to 45, the average life expectancy is to make it to 80.

Bellamy wrote about a socialist utopia that took place without any violent struggle. It seems unbelievable to us, but we should recall Mr. Bellamy never had the chance to listen to AM talk radio or read Ayn Rand, so he was oblivious to how vehement the opposition to his ideas would remain.

Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another exact date, this time for the start of a bold mission into interstellar space in 1997 that doesn't turn out so well. 

Join us then...  IN THE FUTURE!

11 October 2013

Birthdays
Michelle Trachtenberg b. 1985 (Buffy)
Matt Bomer b. 1977 (In Time)
Claudia Black b. 1972 (Farscape, Pitch Black)
Stephen Moyer b. 1969 (True Blood)
Michael J. Nelson (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
Tim Choate (Babylon 5) b. 1954 died 24 September 2004
David Morse b. 1953 (Contact, World War Z)

An all actor list of birthdays, and most of these actors are best known for TV work. Once again, we have a Babylon 5 actor who died before the age of 60. Tim Choate played Zathras and his character was not mentioned in the main credits. The other four late actors, Andreas Katsulas, Jeff Conaway, Michael O'Hare and Richard Biggs, were main credit actors.

And so I repeat, a very unlucky show. More than that, it's hard to find it in re-runs or streaming online, so for a younger generation it's considered obscure. That's a shame. It was one of the first sci-fi shows with a long story arc, and it made the Star Trek franchise step up it's game.

Well, that's enough ruing the fate of a 1990s TV show. Many happy returns of the day to the living actors on the list.
 

Songs of the Future!

Prediction: 
The machine that we built
Would never save us that's what they say
That's why they ain't comin' with us today
And they also said it's impossible
For a man to live and breathe underwater…

Predictor: Jimi Hendrix, from the song 1983... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be), recorded in 1968

Reality: Wait. Jimi Hendrix is going to become Ethel Merman? That's... disturbing.

Wait. Scratch that. Misunderstanding. My bad.

They said it was impossible for a man to live and breathe underwater in 1968 and 45 years later... well, they are still saying it.

Nice guitar solo, though.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tomorrow, we will hear another voice from 1893 predict the 20th Century, this time looking at the possibility for a truly American theater experience.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

15 September 2013

Norman Spinrad

Birthdays
Jonathan Liebesman b. 1976 (director, Battle Los Angeles)
Tom Hardy b. 1977 (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception)
Kenneth Hite b. 1965 (Lost in Lovecraft)
Colin McFarlane b. 1961 (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight)
Ed Solomon b. 1960 (writer, Men In Black)
John Reynolds b. 1941 died 16 October 1966 (Manos: The Hands of Fate)
Tommy Lee Jones b. 1946 (Men In Black, Captain America)
Norman Spinrad (Star Trek, Bug Jack Barron, The Iron Dream)
Henry Darrow b. 1933 (Star Trek, Babylon 5)
Jackie Cooper b. 1922 died 3 May 2011 (Superman)
James Fenimore Cooper b. 1789 died 14 September 1851 (The Monikins)

Eleven birthdays today, no fabulous babes, nearly equally split between actors and writers/directors. I nearly went with poor John Reynolds in the Picture Slot, whose only role on film was as Torgo in Manos: The Hands of Fate. He died at 25 the same year the film was made, and movie is best known to fans of the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Instead, today's picture is of Norman Spinrad, because I still recall fondly his book The Iron Dream. The conceit of the story was that it was written by a young Adolph Hitler and for me, the story lived up to the premise.

I was also surprised to find James Fenimore Cooper's name on the list at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. His story The Monikins is about intelligent monkeys who can speak and the trip to their homeland.

Many happy returns of the day to the living.

Prediction: The Third Martian Expedition lands on the red planet in the month of April, 2000. They find a small town in the style of the early 20th Century Midwest, populated with family members of the crew.

Predictor: Ray Bradbury in The Martian Chronicles, published in 1950

Reality: Small town Midwestern life from the early 20th Century is often portrayed by Bradbury as idyllic bordering on paradise, but just as often there is some aspect that acts like the serpent in Eden. Long story short, the Third Expedition does not survive.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date for nuclear annihilation taken from a TV movie.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

30 August 2013

Birthdays
Cameron Diaz b. 1972 (Shrek, The Mask, The Green Hornet)
Michael Chiklis b. 1963 (Fantastic Four, No Ordinary Family)
Mark Strong b. 1963 (Kick-Ass, Stardust)
Frank Conniff b. 1958 (Mystery Science Theater 3000, Invader ZIM)

The predictable Picture Slot choice would be fabulous babe Cameron Diaz, but I decided to throw the change-up today and go with the actor/writer whose work I most admire, Frank Conniff, known to the true nerds as TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He also worked on Invader ZIM, one of my favorite cartoons of the 21st Century, right up there with The Venture Brothers.

Many happy returns of the day to everyone on the list.

 

Prediction: People will go on scenic rides in the country without ever leaving their homes

Predictor: French postcards printed between 1900 and 1910

Reality: This is comparable to the German chocolate postcard of an entire city block being moved by train. This is only a single house, so this is closer to the reality of the big mobile homes, though the wheels are ridiculously small. Also, I imagine having a fire going and smoke coming out of the chimney has to break some codes.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another Song of the Future, once again from David Bowie.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!