15 April 2014

Birthdays
Maisie Williams b. 1997 (Game of Thrones)
Emma Watson b. 1990 (Harry Potter, This is the End)
Alice Braga b. 1983 (I Am Legend, Elysium, Predators, Repo Men, Blindness)
Seth Rogen b. 1982 (This is the End, Paul, The Green Hornet, Donnie Darko)
Luke Evans b. 1979 (The Hobbit, Dracula Untold, Immortals, Clash of the Titans [2010])
Richard Whiteside b. 1968 (The Hobbit, Avatar)
Kamala Lopez b. 1964 (Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark, Total Recall)
Thomas F. Wilson b. 1959 (Back to the Future, Zoom, Lois & Clark, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Emma Thompson b. 1959 (Men in Black 3, Harry Potter, Nanny McPhee, I am Legend)
Glenn Shadix b. 1952 died 7 September 2010 (Carnivale, Planet of the Apes [2001], Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Multiplicity, Demolition Man, Beetlejuice)
Sam McMurray b. 1952 (Lake Placid 2, The Tick, Addams Family Values, Hard Time on Planet Earth, C.H.U.D.)
Robert Walker Jr. b. 1940 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Beware! The Blob, Death in Space, The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Star Trek)
Elizabeth Montgomery b. 1933 died 18 May 1995 (Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
Jean Willes b. 1923 died 3 January 1989 (The Munsters, Twilight Zone, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Adventures of Superman, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars)
Michael Ansara b. 1922 died 31 July 2013 (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, I Dream of Jeannie, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, The Time Tunnel, Bewitched, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits)
Hans Conried b. 1917 died 5 January 1982 (The Cat from Outer Space, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Lost in Space, The Monster That Challenged the Word, The Twonky, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.)
John Williams b. 1903 died 5 May 1983 (Battlestar Galactica, Twilight Zone, Visit to a Small Planet)

Let me clear up one thing early. John Williams, the actor born in 1903, is not John Williams the composer, who is very much alive. Williams the actor was a tall distinguished Englishman with a lovely moustache whose best known work is in non-genre films like Sabrina and Dial M for Murder.

As for the Picture Slot... iconic much? The people I count for iconic genre roles on this list are Michael Ansara, Elizabeth Montgomery, Robert Walker Jr. for Star Trek, Emma Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson as Biff in Back to the Future, Emma Watson and the actual person in the Picture Slot, Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark on Game of Thrones. I put this picture of her with Sophie Turner who plays her older sister Sansa to point out an interesting tidbit. These two actresses are one year apart in age, Maisie now 17 and Sophie just turned 18 in February. The characters are supposed to be several years apart.

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

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in The Age of Spiritual Machines, published 1999

Prediction: By 2009, there is increasing interest in massively parallel neural nets, genetic algorithms and other forms of "chaotic" or complexity theory computing.

Reality: It's hard to call this one true or false because it predicts "increasing interest". There has been interest in the field since the 1980s. Going online, I see a hell of a lot of scholarly papers from journals and damn little advertising from companies actually implementing a massively parallel neural net.

The biggest problem I see here is managing the software project that makes this thing work. Once technology becomes the engine of a hugely profitable industry sector, the evolutionary steps tend to be incremental instead of drastic like this one.

This is the last prediction from Kurzweil's book I'll be using. Regular readers will get the distinct impression that I consider Kurzweil a prat, to use a mildly offensive British slang term. Regular reader Lockwood gave a link to a story about futurologists printed in The New Statesman. In it, we discover that Kurzweil got a job at Google based on his books.

I wonder if it would make sense to write a sci-fi story about a planet being run by con men, top to bottom on the food chain. It might read too much like the business section of the newspaper, and competing with newspapers does not sound like the way to make a buck these days.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

T. Baron Russell is back, baby.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

1 April 2014

 Birthdays
Asa Butterfield b. 1997 (Ender’s Game, Hugo, The Wolfman, Merlin [TV], Nanny McPhee Returns)
Sam Huntington b. 1982 (Being Human, Warehouse 13, Superman Returns)
Hannah Spearritt b. 1981 (Primeval, Seed of Chucky)
David Oyelowo b. 1976 (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, A Sound of Thunder)
Alan and Albert Hughes b. 1972 (The Book of Eli, From Hell)
Jane Adams b. 1965 (Poltergeist [2015], Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Carnivale)
Thomas Alfredson b. 1965 (director, Let the Right One In)
James Robinson b. 1963 (writer, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Cyber Bandits)
Tony Guma b. 1962 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Star Trek)
Jennifer Runyon b. 1960 (Carnosaur, Quantum Leap, Space [TV], Ghostbusters)
Ivan G’Vera b. 1959 (The Village, Terminator: Salvation, Alien Nation [TV])
Denise Nickerson b. 1957 (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Dark Shadows)
Barry Sonnenfeld b. 1953 (director, Pushing Daisies, Men in Black, The Addams Family, The Tick)
Annette O’Toole b. 1952 (Smallville, Superman, Cat People, It)
Heather Young b. 1945 (Galactica 1980, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Batman)
Samuel R. Delany b. 1942 (author, won 1967 Nebula for Babel-17, won 1968 Nebula for The Einstein Connection)
Don Steele b. 1936 died 5 August 1997 (Gremlins, Death Race 2000)
Gordon Jump b. 1932 died 22 September 2003 (Hard Time on Planet Earth, Amazing Stories, The Incredible Hulk, The Fury, The Bionic Woman, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Bewitched)
Grace Lee Whitney b. 1930 (Star Trek, Batman, Bewitched, The Outer Limits)
Jonathan Haze b. 1929 (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Terror, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, Not of this Earth, It Conquered the World, The Day the World Ended, Monster from the Ocean Floor)
George Grizzard b. 1928 died 2 October 2007 (Twilight Zone, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Anne McCaffrey b. 1926 (author, Dragonriders of Pern series, The Ship Who… series)

Last year, I put Samuel R. Delany in the Picture Slot, and I was considering Grace Lee Whitney when the list starting coming together during this morning's research. A few other options crossed my mind including Asa Butterfield, the young actor who had title roles in Ender's Game and Hugo, Jonathan Haze, a guy in a whole passel of 1950s monster movies and the original Seymour in The Little Shop of Horrors and the Author Anne McCaffrey. But as you can see, I chose Heather Young, who played the stewardess Betty on Land of the Giants. Sometimes the blog feels like Let's Remember a Star Trek Episode, so I decided to save Grace Lee for next year.

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

Movies released
The Incredible Shrinking Man released 1957  
 

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in his 1999 book The Age of the Spiritual Machines

Prediction: By 2009, research has been initiated on reverse engineering the brain through both destructive and non-invasive scans.

Reality: The brain is still a pretty damned big mystery and we aren't any closer to "reverse engineering" it than we were when Kurzweil wrote this. On Wikipedia, Kurzweil claims 89 out of 108 predictions he made were entirely correct by the end of 2009. An additional 13 were what he calls “essentially correct" (meaning that they were likely to be realized within a few years of 2009), for a total of 102 out of 108.

I'm not listing anything like 108 of his predictions, but his track record is much worse than he lets on. Kind of like Ehrlich's The Population Bomb, Kurzweil gets to keep his reputation because nobody is checking up on him and reporting to the general public.

I should note that I don't consider my readership the general public. From what I can tell, you are far cleverer than that.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's time to hear once again from T. Baron Russell, our optimistic friend from 2005.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

25 March 2014

Birthdays
Seychelle Gabriel b. 1991 (Falling Skies, The Last Airbender, The Spirit)
Kiowa Gordon b. 1990 (Twilight Saga)
Aly Michalka b. 1989 (Phil of the Future)
Sean Faris b. 1982 (Supernatural, Free Runner, The Vampire Diaries, Ghost Machine, Smallville)
Lee Pace b. 1979 (The Hobbit, Guardians of the Galaxy, Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies)
Lark Voorhies b. 1974 (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Small Wonder)
Laz Alonzo b. 1974 (Avatar)
Kari Matchett b. 1970 (Invasion, Plague City: SARS in Toronto, Wonderfalls, Cube, Cube2, Earth: Final Conflict, Poltergeist: The Legacy, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Forever Knight)
Sarah Jessica Parker b. 1965 (Mars Attacks!, Hocus Pocus)
Brenda Strong b. 1960 (Starship Troopers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Craft, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Spaceballs)
Peter O’Brien b. 1960 (Doctor Who, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America, Relic Hunter, The Lost World, Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord, Time Trax)
Bonnie Bedelia b. 1948 (Flowers for Algernon [2000], Needful Things, The Boy Who Could Fly, Salem’s Lot)
Richard O'Brien b. 1942 (Elvira’s Haunted Hills, Dungeons & Dragons, Dark City, Flash Gordon, Shock Treatment, The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
D.C. Fontana b. 1939 (writer, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Logan’s Run [TV], The Six Million Dollar Man)
Sylvia Anderson b. 1937 (writer, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons from Mars, Space:1999, UFO, Joe 90, Stingray, Fireball XL5, Supercar)
James Lovell b. 1928 (astronaut, twice to the moon, never stood on it)
Roberts Blossom b. 1924 died 8 July 2011 (The Twilight Zone[1980s], Tales from the Darkside, Resurrection, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Slaughterhouse-Five)
Patrick Troughton b. 1920 died 28 March 1987 (The Omen, Space: 1999, Doctor Who, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Scars of Dracula, The Gorgon, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)

This year, if I get a birthday of an astronaut, the Picture Slot decision is easy. Last year, I had a picture of D.C. Fontana, true to my Star Trek nerd roots. (If you want a quick explanation of the difference in quality between Star Trek and Space:1999, looking at the work of our two birthday girls D.C. Fontana and Sylvia Anderson gives you a good idea of the lay of the land.) If I ignore the Pretty Girl = Picture Slot criterion, my top two choices for next year will be Richard O'Brien as Riff-Raff and Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor.

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

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in his 1999 book The Age of the Spiritual Machines

Prediction: Computers can recognize their owner's face from a picture or video.

Reality: This prediction takes a little parsing. He writes this in 1999 and facial recognition software had already had some breakthroughs in the late 1990s and improved significantly in the first ten years of this century.

To be precise, the prediction is about computers recognizing their owner's face. This might be a security procedure in some very high tech place where secrecy is at a premium, but it's certainly not an everyday feature of the computers sitting on multiple millions of desks in people's homes and offices. So it is fair to say some computers were able to do this in 2009, but this technology already existing in 1999 when he wrote this. I'm going to say this prediction is about facial recognition becoming an everyday thing a lot of people us, so I call this one a failure.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

T. Baron Russell gets pre-empted by Nate Silver, predicting the outcome of the election in November. People who know me well know how much I love Nate Silver. People who don't know me will find out my true feelings tomorrow.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

18 March 2014

 Birthdays
Lily Collins b. 1989 (The Mortal Instruments, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Mirror Mirror)
Sophia Myles b. 1980 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Moonlight, Outlander, Dracula [2006], Doctor Who, Underworld, From Hell)
Tamer Hassan b. 1968 (Robot Overlords, Dracula, Clash of the Titans, Kick-Ass, Batman Begins)
Thomas Ian Griffith b. 1962 (Timecop: The Berlin Decision, Vampires, Kull the Conqueror, The Guardian [1997])
Richard Biggs b. 1960 died 22 May 2004 (Babylon 5, The Alien Within, Twilight Zone [1986])
Steve Kloves b. 1960 (writer, Harry Potter, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Luc Besson b. 1959 (director, Lucy, The Fifth Element)
Jim Knobeloch b. 1950 (Iron Sky, King Kong)
Brad Dourif b. 1950 (End of the World, Child’s Play, Once Upon a Time, Fringe, Halloween II, The Lord of the Rings, Soulkeeper, Prophecy 3, The Hunger, Alien: Resurrection, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Escape to Witch Mountain, The X Files, Graveyard Shift, The Exorcist III, Dune)
Drew Struzan b. 1947 (illustrator)
Carl Gottlieb b. 1938 (director, Caveman)
John Updike b. 1932 (author, The Witches of Eastwick)
Jack B. Sowards b. 1929 died 8 July 2007 (writer, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
Peter Graves b. 1926 died 14 March 2010 (Addams Family Values, The Invaders, Attack of the Eye Creatures, Beginning of the End, It Conquered the World, Red Planet Mars)
Alexander Leydenfrost b. 1888 died 16 June 1961 (illustrator)

Last year, being loyal to Babylon 5, an excellent 1990s sci-fi series on the brink of being forgotten, I put up a picture of the late Richard Biggs, who played Doc Franklin. This year, besides the several Pretty Girl options, I would say the best known name is Peter Graves, who like his brother James Arness made some 1950s monster movies before getting on the gravy train as a regular in a TV series.

But for me, some of the most interesting names on the list today and not the actors. The Picture Slot goes to a poster from the prolific and iconic illustrator Drew Struzan. Among his genre classics are Back to the Future, Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Thor and the one I chose this morning, Blade Runner. The other illustrator listed Alexander Leydenfrost, has had his work reproduced on this blog as well, and will continue to have it on the anniversary of every You Have Official Permission to Freak the Fuck Out Day.

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

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in the 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines

Prediction: By 2009, cables are disappearing. Computer peripheries use wireless communication.

Reality: This has to be considered partially correct, and I'd say even mostly correct. After 1999, tablet computers make a big splash, though it should be noted that the industry leading iPad wasn't released until 2010. Tablets are pretty much cable free when used, though they do have to recharge. On my laptop, I also have a wireless mouse, though it isn't perfect and goes through batteries more quickly than I would like. But for most desktop computers, the screen, printer and keyboard are still connected to the computer by cable. All things considered, I'd say "are disappearing" makes the prediction true, and "have disappeared" would have made it false.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our regular schedule is interrupted by an exact date, predicting economic collapse and nuclear war.

Fun!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

11 March 2014

Birthdays
Anton Yelchin b. 1989 (Star Trek [reboot], Fright Night, Terminator Salvation)
Daniella Kertesz b. 1989 (World War Z, AfterDeath)
David Andres b. 1981 (Once Upon a Time, The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, Warehouse 13, Heroes, Charmed, The Source)
Johnny Knoxville b. 1971 (Men in Black II)
Terrence Howard b. 1969 (Iron Man)
John Barrowman b. 1967 (Arrow, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Shark Attack 3: Megalodon)
Peter Berg b. 1964 (director, Hancock, Battleship)
Alex Kingston b. 1963 (Arrow, Doctor Who, FlashForward)
Jeffrey Nordling b. 1962 (Arrow, TRON: Legacy, Apollo 11, Time Trax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast)
Elias Koteas b. 1961 (The Last Days on Mars, Let Me In, The Fourth Kind, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Skinwalkers, S1m0ne, Gattaca, The Prophecy, Cyborg 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Fulvio Cecere b. 1960 (The Tomorrow People, Lost Girl, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Watchmen, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Paycheck, Odyssey 5, Smallville, Witchblade, Dark Angel, Earth; Final Conflict, Millennium, Highlander [TV], The X-Files)
Stephen R. Hart b. 1958 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Space Janitors, Oz the Great and Powerful, Lost Girl, Wonderfalls, Resident Evil: Apocalypse)
Rob Paulsen b. 1956 (voice work, The Tick, Samurai Jack, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law)
Douglas Adams b. 1952 died 11 May 2001 (author, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, writer, Doctor Who)
Diane Sherry Case b. 1952 (Superman [1978])
Mark Metcalf b. 1946 (Buffy, Angel, Star Trek: Voyager)
Angelique Pettyjohn b. 1942 died 14 February 1992 (Star Trek, Repo Man, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Batman, Mr. Terrific, The Green Hornet)
Nancy Kovack b. 1935 (The Invisible Man [TV], Marooned, Star Trek, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Jason and the Argonauts)
Albert Salmi b. 1928 died 22 April 1990 (Dragonslayer, Future Cop, Land of the Giants, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone)
Christopher Anvil b. 1925 died 30 November 2009 (author, Federation of Humanity, The Day the Machines Stopped)

This is what good research methods can do. Last year, before I found ways to get better data, this list had two names and now it has nineteen. There are a lot of good choices for the fabulous babe Picture Slot: Alex Kingston from Doctor Who, Diane Sherry Case was Lana Lang in the Christopher Reeve version of Superman, Nancy Kovack and Angelique Pettyjohn had their moments in the spotlight in the original Star Trek. As a Whedonverse nerd, Mark Metcalf played The Master, the big bad in the first season of Buffy.

But seriously, I gave the Picture Slot to the late Douglas Adams because his work is the most iconic by far of anyone on this list. And he made me laugh.

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

Movies released
Robots released 2005
 
 

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in The Age of Spiritual Machines, published 1999

Prediction: By 2009, most books will be read on screens rather than paper.

Reality: Close, but no cigar. I think we can argue that most reading is done on screens now and probably has been since e-mail became ubiquitous, but book sales still outpace e-books, so stipulating books makes this prediction incorrect.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More early 20th Century optimism from our pal in London T. Baron Russell.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

4 March 2014

Birthdays
Bill Milner b. 1995 (X-Men: First Class)
Margo Harshman b. 1986 (The Big Bang Theory, Journeyman, Rise: Blood Hunter)
Jessica Heap b. 1983 (Battle Los Angeles, Journey to Promethea, Mutants)
Len Wiseman b. 1973 (director, Sleepy Hollow [TV], Underworld, Total Recall [2012])
Paul W. S. Anderson b. 1965 (director, Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Soldier, Resident Evil, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Death Race)
Daniel Roebuck b. 1963 (The Walking Dead, John Dies at the End, Grimm, Jack and the Beanstalk [2010], Lost, Woke Up Dead, Halloween [2007], Bubba Ho-Tep, The Invisible Man [TV], Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: Next Generation, Project X, Cavegirl)
Steven Weber b. 1961 (Eve of Destruction, Falling Skies, Timecode, The Shining [TV], Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Frank Novak b. 1945 (Watchmen, Charmed, Angel, The X-Files, Independence Day, Watchers III, Carnosaur, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Quantum Leap)
Adrian Lyne b. 1941 (director, Jacob’s Ladder)
Paula Prentiss b. 1938 (Saturday the 14th, Mr and Mrs. Dracula [TV], The Stepford Wives)
William Alland b. 1916 died 11 November 1997 (writer/producer, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, The Deadly Mantis)
George Gamow b. 1904 died 20 August 1968 (author, Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland, One, Two, Three… Infinity)

Some days are loaded to the top with choices for the Picture Slot and other days... not so much. There are several women who meet the Pretty Girl = Picture Slot criterion, Steven Weber is a legitimate TV star, there are a few Oh That Guy actors, but nobody really jumped out at me. When searching imdb.com, the most iconic person I found was the actor who originally played Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but this is a sci fi and fantasy blog, and not all horror films have fantasy elements. So we get the poster from The Deadly Mantis, one of the many giant bug movies made in the 1950s and aired repeatedly on TV in the 1960s, when I first got hooked on sci-fi.

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

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in the 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines

Prediction: By 2009, autonomous nanoengineered machines have been demonstrated and include their own computational controls.

Reality: Much in the way The OMNI Future Almanac over-stated the usefulness of biotech, Kurzweil is way too much in love with nanotech. Looking online, nanotechnology is to this day long on promise and short on performance. There have been some successes in the nanomaterials field, but nanobots are still sci-fi five years after Kurzweil's predicted date. I give him a big goose egg on this one.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Wednesday belongs to T. Baron Russell, our Edwardian gentleman futurist from London, gazing into the future from 1905.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

25 February 2014

 Birthdays
Isabelle Fuhrman b. 1997 (The Hunger Games)
James and Oliver Phelps b. 1986 (Harry Potter)
Tara Wilson b. 1982 (Almost Human, Lost Girl, Smallville, V, Tin Man, Supernatural, The Butterfly Effect, Eastwick)
Anson Mount b. 1973 (Dollhouse, Lost, Smallville)
Sean Astin b. 1971 (The Strain, Cabin Fever: Patient Zero, Alphas, Lord of the Rings, Click, Jeremiah, Perversions of Science, Harrison Bergeron, Encino Man)
Tea Leoni b. 1966 (Jurassic Park III, The X-Files, Deep Impact)
Alexis Denisof b. 1966 (Grimm, H+, The Avengers, Dollhouse, Angel, Buffy, Highlander [TV])
Neil Jordan b. 1950 (director, The Company of Wolves, High Spirits, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles)
Bernard Bresslaw b. 1934 died 11 June 1993 (Krull, Hawk the Slayer, Jabberwocky, Doctor Who, Blood of the Vampire)
Michael Fairman b. 1934 (Firefly, The X-Files, Quantum Leap, The Powers of Matthew Star, World War III)
Anthony Burgess b. 1917 died 22 November 1993 (Author, A Clockwork Orange)

Last year, I had Alexis Denisof in the Picture Slot because I'm a Whedonverse nerd. For iconic roles, I'd say the list is Denisov, Sean Astin and the Phelps Twins, pictured here. If I was going for an Oh That Guy actors, Michael Fairman would be a good choice. He was a Scientologist but quit in 2011 and I wish him all the best with that. All the women qualify on the Pretty Girl = Picture Slot criterion, though I can't say any of them have an iconic role in genre. The last good choice to my mind would be the author Anthony Burgess.

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

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in his 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines

Prediction: By 2009, personal worn computers provide monitoring of body functions, automated identity and directions for navigation. Computer displays built into eyeglasses for augmented reality are used.

Reality: Kurzweil did see where the technology was going. "Fitbit Classic" was available in 2008 and clipped on to a belt or on the hip of trousers, but it's making the news more now largely because the truly "worn computer" causes rashes in many users. The augmented reality glasses sounds like Google Glass, which made its debut in 2013 and will be available for sale in 2014. I would say Kurzweil gets a hot for the first half of this prediction and a half hit for being about five years too early with the second half.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

T. Baron Russell gives us another glimpse into the 21st Century from his viewpoint in 1905.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

18 February 2014

 Birthdays
Tammy Macintosh b. 1970 (Farscape)
Molly Ringwald b. 1968 (The Stand, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone)
John Travolta b. 1954 (The Punisher, Battlefield Earth, Phenomenon, The Devil’s Rain)
Andrea Dromm b. 1941 (Star Trek)
Sinead Cusack b. 1948 (Wrath of the Titans, The Deep [TV], V for Vendetta)
Gahan Wilson b. 1930 (illustrator, Graveside Manner, I Paint What I See)
Allan Melvin b. 1923 died 17 January 2008 (My Favorite Martian, Lost in Space)
Jack Palance b. 1919 died 10 November 2006 (Batman [1989], Cyborg 2, Gor and Gor II, Hawk the Slayer, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Shape of Things to Come, Bram Stoker’s Dracula [TV])
Angelo Rossitto b. 1908 died 21 September 1991 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Galaxina, Jason of Star Command, Invasion of the Saucer Men)

Several names on the list today are much better known for roles outside of genre, including Molly Ringwald, John Travolta and Jack Palance. Allan Melvin is not quite as famous as the other three, but he's best known for roles on Sgt. Bilko, The Brady Bunch and All in the Family. If I was going for Pretty Girl = Picture Slot, Andrea Dromm's one shot part as Yeoman Smith on the first episode of Star Trek would be a good choice. (She started as a model, made two movies and the Star Trek, then left the business.) I could go with a Gahan Wilson cartoon, since I'm a big fan of his work. But as often happens, I look for iconic roles and Angelo Rossitto from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome as Master (riding on top of the mute giant Blaster) certainly qualifies.

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

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in the 1999 book The Age of the Spiritual Machines

 Prediction: By 2009, three-dimensional chips are commonly used.

Reality: There is a principle in computer design called Moore's Law, which predicts that chips will get smaller, shrinking by about half the size every year and a half to two years. Smaller chips are faster and computer power increases as the chips shrink. Eventually, chips will be limited by the size of molecules, which can't get any smaller.

Kurzweil predicted that as this size limit approached, chip manufacturers would change from flat two dimensional chip designs to chips stacked very close together in three dimensions. Chip makers are still trying for this, but right now they are only in the prototype stage. There are lots of bugs to be worked out, most daunting being defects causing low yield and heat build-up.

Kurzweil gets a big swing and a miss on this one.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! 

We go back to 1905 for the educated guesses of our cheerful Edwardian pal T. Baron Russell.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

12 February 2014

 Birthdays
Enver Gjokaj b. 1980 (Marvel’s the Avengers, Dollhouse, Witches of East End, The Walking Dead)
Christina Ricci b. 1980 (After.Life, Speed Racer, The Gathering, Sleepy Hollow [movie], Casper, Addams Family, Addams Family Values)
Darren Aronofsky b. 1969 (director, The Fountain, Pi)
Josh Brolin b. 1968 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Men in Black 3, Jonah Hex, Planet Terror, Hollow Man, Mimic)
Raphael Sbarge b. 1964 (Once Upon a Time, Heroes, Dollhouse, Dark Skies, Independence Day, Star Trek: Voyager, SeaQuest 2032, Carnosaur, Quantum Leap)
John Michael Higgins b. 1963 (Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Evan Almighty, Blade: Trinity, Bicentennial Man, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], Weird Science [TV], Vampire’s Kiss)
Zach Grenier b. 1954 (RoboCop [2014], Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Star Trek: Enterprise, The X Files)
Simon MacCorkindale b. 1952 died 14 October 2010 (Earth: Final Conflict, Poltergeist: The Legacy [TV], Manimal, The Quatermass Conclusion)
Michael Ironside b. 1950 (Ice Soldiers, Meltdown on the Ice Planet, X-Men: First Class, Smallville, Lake Placid 3, Terminator Salvation, Mutants, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Ignition, Mindstorm, Starship Troopers, SeaQuest 2032, Highlander II: the Quickening, Total Recall, Watchers, V, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Scanners)
Ray Kurzweil b. 1948 (author, The Age of Spiritual Machines, The Singularity is Near)
Maud Adams b. 1945 (Rollerball)
Richard Lynch b. 1940 died 19 June 2012 (Halloween [2007], Charmed, Highlander [TV], Necromicon: Book of Dead, Star Trek: Next Generation, Super Force, Alligator II: the Mutation, Invasion Force, Manimal, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Bionic Woman)
Joe Don Baker b. 1936 (Mars Attacks!, Congo)
Lincoln Kilpatrick b. 1931 died 18 May 2004 (Fortress, The Greatest American Hero, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man, Soylent Green The Omega Man)
Lorne Greene b. 1919 died 11 September 1987 (Battlestar Galactica)

A long and varied list today. If I was a total Joss Whedon nerd (and I'm close, but not quite) I'd probably have a picture of Enver Gjokaj from Dollhouse up. If I was looking for the biggest movie star today, I'd have Josh Brolin in the Picture Slot. It's an easy argument to have a picture of Lorne Greene from the original Battlestar Galactica, but I decided to go with Michael Ironside from the gloriously cheesy Starship Troopers.

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

Prediction: On Feb. 12 1997, Americans destroy two Iranian missile emplacements on Iran’s revolution Day.

Predictor: Shadows of Steel by Dale Brown, published 1996

Reality: Brown makes a big plot point of the fact that attacking the Iranians on their Revolution Day is going to make them really mad, like they would probably just an act of war slide if it was any other day. (Of course, in Brown books we are totally the good guys and this attack was in retaliation to Iranian provocation.)

Except... Revolution Day in 1997 was on February 11.

Oopsie.

To be fair, if you want to know about the cool features of any American fighter aircraft, Dale Brown is your go-to guy. If you want to change the Gregorian Calendar dates to Islamic and vice versa, you might want to look it up online instead.

Never to be Forgotten: Christopher Barry 1925-2014

Doctor Who fans are mourning the passing of Christopher Barry, who directed over forty episodes of the show from 1963 to 1979, a time span in which four actors played the Doctor, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. You can read more about his work here.

Best wishes to the family, friends and fans of Christopher Barry. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The swan song from Isaac Asimov's 1964 prediction list. (sniff.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

11 February 2014

Birthdays
Taylor Lautner b. 1992 (Twilight, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D)
Natalie Dormer b. 1982 (The Hunger Games – Mockingjay, Game of Thrones, Captain America)
Dru Viergever b. 1981 (The Colony, Survival of the Dead)
Jennifer Aniston b. 1969 (Quantum Leap, The Iron Giant, Bruce Almighty)
Wesley Strick b. 1954 (writer, Arachnophobia, Wolf, Doom, A Nightmare on Elm Street[2010])
Paul Norell b. 1952 (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, Power Rangers, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
Sonny Landham b. 1941 (2090, Predator)
Tina Louise b. 1934 (The Stepford Wives, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby)
Conrad Janis b. 1928 (Bad Blood, V, Mork & Mindy, Quark, My Favorite Martian)
Leslie Nielsen b. 1926 died 28 November 2010 (Superhero Movie, 2001:A Space Travesty, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Tales of Tomorrow, Forbidden Planet)
Sidney Sheldon b. 1917 died 30 January 2007 (writer, The Twilight Zone [1986], I Dream of Jeannie)

 Last's year the Picture Slot was Taylor Lautner from Twilight, this year it's Natalie Dormer from Game of Thrones. I was in the mood for a fabulous babe picture and the other two candidates, Jennifer Aniston and Tina Loiuse, are much better known for their work outside the genre. It I decide to go with somebody else next year, Leslie Neilsen from Forbidden Planet is the only other actor with an iconic genre role on the list.

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

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in the 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines

Prediction: By 2009, people will use personal computers the size of rings, pins, credit cards and books.

Reality: The largest size here, the size of a book, was definitely true when the tablet computers came out, but the other sizes are too small even today. There are objects this small with some very fancy electronics inside them, but the average person wouldn't think of them as "computers". It's no longer the chips that limit the size of the computer, but the input and output devices, most notably a keyboard big enough for typing or texting and a screen big enough to see. While cell phones aren't exactly personal computers, they are getting pretty damn close these days. It still remains to be seen if the wrist worn phones will be a success or not. We are now five years beyond the date of Kurzweil's predictions, with many yet to come true.

Looking one day... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date from Dale Brown that isn't all that exact.

How can this be? Join us tomorrow to find out... IN THE FUTURE!

4 February 2014

 Birthdays
Brandy Ledford b. 1969 (Stargate, Andromeda, Smallville, The Invisible Man, Demolition Man)
Jenette Goldstein b. 1960 (Star Trek: Generations, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Max Headroom, Aliens)
Mitchell Kosterman b. 1958 (Stargate SG-1, Smallville, Dark Angel, The X-Files, Sliders)
John Schuck b. 1940 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek VI, Star Trek IV, Holmes and Yoyo)
George A. Romero b, 1940 (director, Survival of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead)
Gary Conway b. 1936 (Land of the Giants, I was a Teenage Frankenstein, The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent)
Russell Hoban b. 1925 died 13 December 2011 (author, Riddley Walker)
William Phipps b. 1922 (Twilight Zone, Cat-Women of the Moon, War of the Worlds[1953], Invaders from Mars)

George A. Romero likely counts as The Big Name on today's birthday list, though I do have a soft spot for Russell Hoban as a writer. I could have gone with Gary Conway from Land of the Giants in the Picture Slot, but instead it's Jenette Goldstein in her first role on film in Aliens as the tough and buff Private Vasquez.

Many happy returns of the day to all the living on the list, and to Russell Hoban, thanks for all the memories.

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in the 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines

Prediction: By 2009, people can talk to their computer to give commands.

Reality: This one was fairly accurate, though I would say it depends on what people define as "their computer". Voice commands to a music list existed in 2009, but I'm not sure most people would think of a music database as "their computer". On the other hand, everyone would count Siri as "talking to a computer" and that app was released in 2011.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tomorrow, our weekly schedule is interrupted by the exact date of a virus coming to Earth from outer space.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

28 January 2014

Birthdays
Elijah Wood b. 1981 (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Sin City, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Spy Kids, The Faculty, Deep Impact, Back to the Future Part II)
Ty Olsson b. 1974 (Nerds and Monsters, Supernatural, Twilight, Arrow, Falling Skies, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Eureka, V, 2012, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Flash Gordon [TV], Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, X-Men 2, Jeremiah, Dark Angel, Lake Placid, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], The X-Files)
Melody Perkins b. 1974 (Power Rangers, Planet of the Apes, Charmed)
Lee Ingleby b. 1976 (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Kathryn Morris b. 1969 (Paycheck, Minority Report, A.I Artificial Intelligence, Xena: Warrior Princess, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Frank Darabont b. 1959 (writer/director, The Green Mile, The Walking Dead)
Harley Jane Kozak b. 1957 (Stargate SG-1, Dark Planet, Arachnophobia)
John Beck b. 1943 (Dark Planet, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Audrey Rose, Sleeper, Cyborg 2087, Rollerball, The Time Machine [1978])
Lewis Wilson b. 1920 died 9 August 2000 (Batman [1943])

Last year, Elijah Wood had the Picture Slot and he certainly deserves it, since his best known work is as the star of a genre blockbuster. I could have gone with Frank Darabont since The Walking Dead is so popular. I could have a picture of Lewis Wilson as the very first Batman on film. Ty Olsson has a huge number of credits, but he has the 21st Century advantage of being born in Canada, where a lot of sci-fi TV is filmed nowadays and contracts stipulate a certain number of local actors. This year, I decided to go with John Beck playing Moonpie, James Caan's wingman in the 1975 version of Rollerball for several strong reasons.

1. The character's name was Moonpie!
2. Rollerball is supposed to be set in 2018, so it is definitely apropos for this blog, more so than Tolkien.
3. Moonpie was supposed to be secondary compared to Jonathan, but I never believed for a second James Caan could take John Beck in a fight, fair or otherwise.
4. 1970s Pornstache. There were bigger stars with 1970s pornstaches, (Elliot Gould and Tom Selleck come to mind, as do some actual pornstars) but John Beck rocked his pretty hard. Maybe this should have been reason #1. Let's just call it reasons #4 through #20 and leave it at that.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the late Lewis Wilson, thanks for being a pioneer.
 

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in his 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines,

Prediction: By 2009, a $1000 personal computer can perform about a trillion calculations per second.

Reality: When he writes "calculation per second", this is usually translated to "floating point operation per second", shortened to "flops". The PS3 in 2010 was at the $500 price point and was at about 250 billion flops. The PS4 broke the trillion flop barrier in 2013 for the requested price point.

Things Kurzweil predicted aren't impossible, but he's very early with most of them. His vision of 2009 looks a lot like 2014 actually is, though some of his predictions are still in the future. He expected technology to go about half again as fast as it actually did.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

As usual, we go back on Wednesdays to 1905. Let's see if T. Baron Russell can spot Kurzweil 94 years but be more accurate.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

21 January 2014

Birthdays
Booboo Stewart b. 1994 (Twilight Saga, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft)
Izabella Miko b. 1981 (Clash of the Titans)
Svetlana Khodchenkova b. 1983 (The Wolverine)
Ken Leung b. 1970 (Lost, X_Men: The Last Stand, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence)
Michael Wincott b. 1958 (Alien: Resurrection, The Crow)
Geena Davis b. 1956 (Transylvania 6-5000, The Fly, Beetlejuice, Earth Girls Are Easy, Stuart Little)
Steve Reeves b. 1926 died 1 May 2000 (Hercules, Hercules Unchained, The Thief of Baghdad, Goliath and the Barbarians)
Telly Savalas b. 1922 died 22 January 1994 (The Twilight Zone, Capricorn One)

A short list today and the older actors on the list have more star power than the younger names. Geena Davis gets the Picture Slot this year, though next year it might be Steve Reeves. Telly Savalas did almost no work in genre films or TV, but because of my age and tastes, anyone who showed up even once starring on an original Twilight Zone episode with get their birthday noted here.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, and to Steve Reeves and Telly Savalas, thanks for all the memories.

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil in The Age of Spiritual Machines, published in 1999

Prediction: By 2009, intelligent roads and driverless cars will be in use, mostly on highways.

Reality: Kurzweil is tech-savvy, so his predictions are not impossible but usually premature. According to Wikipedia, driverless trucks were being used in mining operations last decade, but even now fifteen years out from his prediction, we are still a long way away from driverless cars on the freeways. I can understand how young people in technology today can have a libertarian streak in them, looking upon government as an unnecessary intrusion on innovation. In this case, even if driverless cars are ten times or one hundred times safer than humans, that would mean the number of accidents might be reduced from ten million a year to a million or one hundred thousand a year. That is still a heck of a lot of lawsuits.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Wednesdays mean a visit from our man on the spot in 1905, T. Baron Russell, boldly looking one hundred years ahead.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 January 2014

Birthdays
Kevin Durand b. 1974 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Resident Evil: Retribution, I Am Number Four, Lost, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Andromeda, Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1)
Jason Bateman b. 1969 (Hancock, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium)
Emily Watson b. 1967 (Equilibrium)
Kerri Green b. 1967 (The Goonies)
Mark Addy b. 1964 (Game of Thrones, Around the World in 80 Days, The Time Machine, Atlantis[TV])
Steven Soderbergh b. 1963 (director, Solaris, Contagion)
Lawrence Kasdan b. 1949 (writer, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Dreamcatcher)
Carl Weathers b. 1948 (Predator, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Marjoe Gortner b. 1944 (Food of the Gods, Starcrash)
Holland Taylor b. 1943 (Spy Kids, The Truman Show)
Faye Dunaway b. 1941 (The Handmaid’s Tale, Supergirl)
Tom Tryon b. 1926 died 4 September 1991 (I Married a Monster From Outer Space)
Guy Williams b. 1924 died 30 April 1989 (Lost in Space, Captain Sindbad, I Was a Teenage Werewolf)
Hugh Lofting b. 1886 died 26 September 1947 (author, Doctor Dolittle)

There were other choices, but the trailer for season four just came out and I finished the fifth book A Dance With Dragons a few weeks back, so who can blame me for being in a Game of Thrones mood. The British comic actor Mark Addy played Robert Baratheon, First of His Name, a bad king but a great drunk, philanderer and cuckold. (Should I have said "spoiler alert"?) For next year, I'm not sure who gets the Picture Slot, but Guy Williams has to be the early favorite.

I shouldn't give away my trade secrets, but when I see names on imdb.com, it's not enough that they were in some genre film or TV show but that are near the top of the bill. Tom Tryon, both an author and one heck of a handsome guy, gets on the list for one movie because he is one of the newlyweds in I Married a Monster From Outer Space. I'll be a sport this time and refrain from telling you if he was the I Married part or the Monster From Outer Space part.

You're welcome.

 

Predictor: Ray Kurzweil from his 1999 book The Age of Spiritual Machines

Prediction: In 2009, most text will be created using speech recognition technology.

Reality: Following a tip from Zombie Rotten McDonald in a comment thread, I hunted down a list of predictions for 2009 from Ray Kurzweil, my new regular Tuesday prediction guy for the next few months. I read a statement on his Wikipedia where he claimed that all his predictions save one came true, and the one he got wrong was made in jest.

I don't know how to break this to you, Mr. Kurzweil, but... I'm a tougher grader than you are. This isn't even true today and it sure wasn't the case in 2009. This counts as a big fat goose egg. You are 0 for 1.

If anyone tells you Ray Kurzweil is as good a futurist as he was a synthesizer maker, tell them the guy who writes This Day in Science Fiction calls bullshit on that claim and can back it up chapter and verse.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our Wednesday regular T. Baron Russell gets pre-empted by a prediction from one of his contemporaries writing fiction courtesy of the collection Steampunk Prime.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!