3 June 2015

Birthdays
Lalaine b. 1987 (Buffy)
Brenden Jefferson b. 1986 (Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century)
Imogen Poots b. 1989 (Fright Night, 28 Weeks Later, V for Vendetta)
Lindsay Hollister b. 1977 (Blubberella)
Jason Jones b. 1973 (Hot Tub Time Machine 2, Phil the Alien, Mutant X, Terminal Invasion)
Patrick Rothfuss b. 1973 (author, The Kingkiller Chronicles)
James Purefoy b. 1964 (John Carter, Camelot, Solomon Kane, Frankenstein [2007, TV], Resident Evil, The Cloning of Joanna May)
Greg Thirloway b. 1961 (NightMan, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Big and Hairy, First Wave, The X Files, Sliders)
Suzie Plakson b. 1958 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beauty and the Beast, My Stepmother is an Alien)
Scott Valentine b. 1958 (Harpies, Black Scorpion, Fallout, Mars, Carnosaur 3: Primal Species, Lois & Clark, The Unborn II, To Sleep with a Vampire, Deadly Nightmares, My Demon Lover, Knight Rider)
Clive Mantle b. 1957 (Game of Thrones, Alien³)
Erland van Lidth b. 1953 died 23 September 1987 (The Running Man)
Melissa Mathison b, 1950 (writer, The Indian in the Cupboard, Twilight Zone: The Movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial)
Robert Z’Dar b. 1950 died 30 March 2015 (La Femme Vampyr, Vampire Blvd., Night Realm, Frogtown II, Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time, The Flash [1991], A Gnome Named Norm, Cherry 2000)
John Rothman b. 1949 (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Enchanted, Dark Matter, Daredevil, From the Earth to the Moon, The Devil’s Advocate, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Ghostbusters)
John Dykstra b. 1947 (special effects, Godzilla, X-Men: First Class, Hancock, Spider-Man I and II, Batman & Robin, Batman Forever, My Stepmother is an Alien, Invaders from Mars, Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], Lifeforce, Firefox, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars: Episode IV, Silent Running)
Penelope Wilton b. 1946 (Doctor Who, Shaun of the Dead, Alice Through the Looking Glass [1998, TV], The Borrowers)
Bill Paterson b 1945 (Outlander, Dirk Gently, Doctor Who, Sea of Souls, Ghostbusters of East Finchley, The Witches, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen)
Frank McRae b. 1942 (One Hell of a Guy, Asteroid [TV], Last Action Hero, Twilight Zone, Wonder Woman)
Edward Winter b. 1937 died 8 March 2001 (Weird Science, Superboy, Mistfits of Science, The Greatest American Hero, Project U.F.O.)
Marion Zimmer Bradley b. 1930 died 25 September 1999 (author, The Mists of Avalon, Darkover)
Tony Curtis b. 1925 died 29 September 2010 (Stargames, Lois & Clark, The Mummy Lives, Lobster Man From Mars, BrainWaves, The Manitou)
Colleen Dewhurst b. 1924 died 22 August 1991 (Twilight Zone [1988], The Boy Who Could Fly, Alice in Wonderland [1983], The Dead Zone)
Patrick Cargill b. 1918 died 23 May 1996 (The Prisoner)
Ellen Corby b. 1911 died 14 April 1999 (Batman, The Gnome-Mobile, Mr. Terrific, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Addams Family, My Living Doll, Visit to a Small Planet, Mighty Joe Young)
Maurice Evans b. 1901 died 12 March 1989 (The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything, The Canterville Ghost, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bewitched, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Body Stealers, Rosemary’s Baby, Planet of the Apes, Batman)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Suzie Plakson (iconic, fabulous, Klingon and Vulcan) and Erland van Lidth (iconic, deceased, lovely singing voice). This year, three of the best candidates were not on camera, the writers Marion Zimmer Bradley and Patrick Rothfuss and special effects wizard John Dykstra, but in the end, I went with Maurice Evans, iconic both as Samantha's dad and as Dr. Zaius.

When you think about who Samantha Stevens' parents were, don't you think she should have had a much more posh accent? Just sayin'.

2. The Canadians amongst us. Greg Thirloway's credit list looks Canadian, but he isn't. The actual Canadians are Jason Jones from The Daily Show and Colleen Dewhurst.

3. Wait... he's dead? While he died very young, I have processed the fact that Erland van Lidth, best know for roles in Stir Crazy and The Running Man, is dead. On the other hand, the death of Edward Winter, best known as Colonel Flagg from M*A*S*H, has not completely sunk in yet for me.

4. Those two did that much genre? Ellen Corby was Grandma Walton. She was also in a lot of genre movies and TV. Colleen Dewhurst was an important stage actress, but she found time for a lot of genre work as well.

5. I missed a Never to be Forgotten. Robert Z'dar died this March. I saw his obit and checked the top of his credit list on imdb.com and decided incorrectly that he hadn't been in anything anyone had seen. That might be true of his late career, but  he was in some well known genre production in the 1980s and deserves a mention. Commenter Zombie Rotten McDonald also points out one of Z'Dar's direct to video efforts Future War got the MST3K treatment.

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

Movie released
X-Men: First Class released, 2011

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction:In the apparatus which will probably be in use during the twentieth century, each subscriber will have a dial carrying on its face the names and numbers of all those with whom he is in the habit of holding communication. This will be his "smaller dial," and beside it will be another, intended for only occasional use, through which, by exercising a little more patience, he may connect himself with any other subscriber whatever.

When the correct number is reached the subscriber is in connection with the person with whom he desires to converse. If, however, the latter should be already engaged, a return impulse causes the bell of the first subscriber to ring.

Reality: Recall that when Sutherland writes this, all calls go through an operator. He is proposing direct dial - the details of which are credited to John von Neumann - and speed dial, which would become common in the 1970s and 1980s.

That's some mighty good thinking, Mr. Sutherland.

Never to be Forgotten: Jim Bailey 1938-2015

Jim Bailey, best known as a female impersonator with a lovely singing voice who did tributes to Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and others, died at the age of 77 this week, (imdb.com gave his birthday as 1948, but Wikipedia gave the date most news outlets are using.) I didn't think he would have any genre credits, but a quick check on imdb.com turned up two films, Vultures and The Day It Came to Earth.

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

The results of the NBA Conference predictions and the predictions for the finals.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

5 April 2015

Birthdays
Lily James b. 1989 (Cinderella [2015], Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Wrath of the Titans)
Marshall Allman b. 1984 (True Blood)
Hayley Atwell b. 1982 (Cinderella [2015], Ant-Man, Avengers, Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America, The Prisoner [2009])
Tom Riley b. 1981 (Doctor Who)
Krista Allen b. 1971 (Alien Presence, Paycheck, Andromeda, Mutant X, Smallville, Charmed, The X-Files, Weird Science [TV], Emmanuelle, Queen of the Galaxy)
Wendy Braun b. 1970 (Children of the X Files, Lost, Evolution, Good vs Evil, The Burning Zone)
Charles Edwin Powell b. 1963 (The 8th Plague, Nightmare Man, Frankenstein and Me, Screamers)
Lana Clarkson b. 1962 died 3 February 2003 (Barbarian Queen, Amazon Women on the Moon, Amazing Stories, Brainstorm, Deathstalker)
Greg Anderson b. 1961 (Stargate, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Outer Limits, The New Addams Family, Millennium, The X-Files)
Lisa Zane b. 1961 (Dinotopia, Monkeybone, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare)
Von Flores b. 1960 (Lost Girl, Never Cry Werewolf, ReGenesis, Starhunter, Earth: Final Conflict, Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms, Johnny 2.0, The Adventures of Sinbad, Johnny Mnemonic, Forever Knight, TekWar, The Hidden Room, My Secret Identity, War of the Worlds)
Mitch Pileggi b. 1952 (Mega Cyclone, Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis, Reaper, The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen, Vampire in Brooklyn, Knight Rider 2000, Alien Nation [TV], Shocker, Return of the Living Dead II)
Larry Franco b. 1949 (producer, 2012, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Batman Begins, Hulk, Jurassic Park III, Sleepy Hollow, Mars Attacks!, Jumanji, Batman Returns, The Rocketeer, They Live, Prince of Darkness, Big Trouble in Little China, Starman, The Thing, Escape from New York)
Jane Asher b. 1946 (The Sarah Jane Adventures, Out of This World, The Quatermass Experiment)
Max Gail b. 1943 (Quantum Leap, Amazing Stories, Tales of the Unexpected, The Aliens Are Coming)
Michael Moriarity b. 1941 (Deadly Skies, Neverwas, The 4400, Taken, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Outer Limits, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Strange World, A Return to Salem’s Lot, It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive, Troll, The Stuff, Q)
Roger Davis b. 1939 (NightMan, Galactica 1980, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Dark Shadows, Twilight Zone)
Virginia Kiser b. 1939 (Max Headroom, Twilight Zone [1987], Dreamscape, Space Raiders, Poltergeist)
Frank Gorshin b. 1933 died 17 May 2005 (The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park, Black Scorpion, Twelve Monkeys, Lois & Clark, The Meteor Man, Monsters, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Legends of the Superheroes, Wonder Woman, Star Trek, Batman, The Munsters, Invasion of the Saucer Men)
Nigel Hawthorne b. 1929 died 26 December 2001 (Demolition Man, Firefox)
Chao Li Chi b. 1927 died 16 October 2010 (The Prestige, Big Trouble in Little China, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Roger Corman b. 1926 (producer, 408 credits on imdb.com and I’ll be damned if I’m typing in all of them)
Robert Q. Lewis b. 1921 died 11 December 1991 (C.H.O.M.P.S., Bewitched)
Robert Bloch b. 1917 died 23 September 1994 (writer, Cthulhu Mythos, Star Trek)
Gregory Peck b. 1916 died 12 June 2003 (The Boys from Brazil, The Omen, Marooned)
Kurt Neumann b. 1908 died 21 August 1958 (director, The Fly, Rocketship X-M)
Bette Davis b. 1908 died 6 October 1989 (Wicked Stepmother, The Watcher in the Woods, Return from Witch Mountain)
Melvyn Douglas b. 1901 died 4 August 1981 (Ghost Story, The Changeling, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, The Vampire Bat)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. This is a very strong list. Previous Picture Slotters are Hayley Atwell and Frank Gorshin, and folks who I consider had iconic roles in genre would include Gregory Peck in The Omen, Mitch Pileggi in The X-Files and Lily James in the new version of Cinderella. I might have even chosen Lana Clarkson from Amazing Stories, both as a present to My People and Our Agenda and a mild Fuck You to David Mamet for his dreadful film that concluded Phil Spector didn't kill her. But instead on an actor, the slot goes to Roger Corman. Like I wrote in the credit lists, I don't have time to type out all the genre credits he's produced, so the least I can do is put up his picture this year.

2. Spot the Canadians. Greg Anderson and Von Flores.

3. Nepotism... or not. Lisa Zane is Billy Zane's older sister, but I'm not sure that made a big difference in her success getting her foot in the door, or vice versa.

4. MST3K. Rocketship X-M is obviously on the list, and checking the Roger Corman productions, I know Attack of the Giant Leeches, Teenage Cave Man, Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent and It Conquered the World. Zombie Rotten McDonald was kind enough to point out Marooned, which I should have remembered.

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

 Out of range prediction. We are supposed to figure out warp drive forty eight years from now and get a visit from the Vulcans. This blog is only concerned with predictions no more than ten years in the future, as I do not feel in any way qualified to talk about the reality of what the world will look like in the second half of this century. Still, I really do think Einstein's theory that light speed is a barrier you can't break is pretty solid.

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in his 1956 book The Door Into Summer

Prediction: Dr. Albrecht reached inside his clothes and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He got one out, waved it briskly in the air, placed it in his mouth and puffed on it; it was lighted. He offered me the pack. “Have one?”

“Oh, no thanks.”

“Go ahead. It won’t hurt you.”

Reality: This prediction is from the part of the story that takes place in 2000. For self-lighting cigarettes, see the film or read the book Barbarians at the Gate. As for cigarettes not hurting you, this may just be a gag - Woody Allen stole it in Sleeper - or it may be Heinlein's libertarian streak rebelling against warnings from the government, not unlike even crazier writer Ayn Rand.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

ESPN puts forward its predictions for the playoff teams this baseball season.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 January 2015

 Birthdays

Beau Mirchoff b. 1989 (The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, I Am Number Four, The Grudge 3)
Julian Morris b. 1983 (Once Upon a Time, Cry_Wolf, Something Wicked)
Ruth Wilson b. 1982 (The Prisoner [2009] )
Liam Hemsworth b. 1990 (The Hunger Games, Knowing)
Jill Wagner b. 1979 (Teen Wolf [2014 TV], Splinter, Stargate: Atlantis, Blade: The Series )
Orlando Bloom b. 1977 (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean)
Michael Pena b. 1976 (Ant-Man, The Martian, Battle Los Angeles, Roswell)
Nicole Eggert b. 1972 (Devil Winds, Amanda and the Alien, Annihilator, The Clan of the Cave Bear, I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later)
John Asher b. 1971 (Space Cowboys, Weird Science [TV], Double Dragon, The Haunted)
Traci Bingham b. 1968 (Black Scorpion, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight)
Patrick Dempsey b. 1966 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Enchanted, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997], Outbreak, The Stuff)
Bill Bailey b. 1965 (Doctor Who, Nanny McPhee Returns, Spaced)
Penelope Ann Miller b. 1964 (Robosapien: Rebooted, The Relic, The Shadow, Tales from the Darkside)
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss b. 1961 (Troll)
Dwight H. Little b. 1956 (director, Sleepy Hollow, From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Tekken, Dollhouse, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, The X Files, Strange World, Millennium, Freddy’s Nightmares, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers)
John McNaughton b. 1950 (director, The Borrower)
Malcolm Story b. 1948 (New Worlds, Jekyll, Star Trap. The Princess Bride)
Richard Moll b. 1943 (Jurassic: Stoned Age, Ghost Shark, Smallville, Evolution, Spiders II: Breeding Ground, Big Monster on Campus, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Weird Science [TV], Galaxis, Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Beanstalk, Highlander [TV], The Munsters Today, Monsters, Wicked Stepmother, Survivor, Ragewar, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Through the Magic Pyramid, Mork & Mindy, Evilspeak, House [1986], Caveman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Carol Cleveland b. 1942 (Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Old Drac, Moon Zero Two)
William B. Davis b. 1938 (Continuum, Singularity Principle, Behemoth, Something Evil Comes, Caprica, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1, The X-Files, Kingdom Hospital, Snakehead Terror, Smallville, Andromeda, Mythquest, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Sliders, Omen IV: The Awakening, It [TV Mini-series], Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Dead Zone)
Billy Gray b. 1938 (The Vampyre Wars, Werewolves on Wheels, Adventures of Superman, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Rip Taylor b. 1935 (Virtual Combat, The Charmings, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Ron Goulart b. 1933 (writer, Flash Gordon, TekWar, Vampirella)
Jon Cypher b. 1932 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The Invaders [1995], RoboCop [TV], Spontaneous Combustion, Probe, Masters of the Universe, Knight Rider, The Greatest American Hero, The Food of the Gods)
Charles Nelson Reilly b. 1931 died 25 May 2007 (Millennium, The X Files, Amazing Stories, Lidsville, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir)
Ian Hendry b. 1931 died 24 December 1984 (Damien: Omen II, Supernatural [1977 TV], Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Theatre of Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, Children of the Damned, Alice Through the Looking Box, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Frances Sternhagen b. 1930 (The Mist, Tales from the Crypt, Communion, Prototype, Outland)
Gregory Walcott b. 1928 (House II: Second Story, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Lost, Gemini Man, The Invisible Man [1975 TV], Plan 9 from Outer Space)
David Sheiner b. 1928 (Automan, Manimal, The Amazing Spider-Man [1978 TV], The Six Million Dollar Man, Planet of the Apes [TV], The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet)
Rosemary Murphy b. 1925 died 5 July 2014 (The Visitor, [1998 TV], The Hand, ‘Way Out)
Gwen Verdon b. 1925 died 18 October 2000 (Cocoon, Damn Yankees!)
Robert Stack b. 1919 died 14 May 2003 (Butt-Ugly Martians, )
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 [1986 and 1960], Octaman, The Giant Claw, Kronos, The Creature Walks Among Us, This Island Earth)
Clark Ashton Smith b. 1893 died 14 August 1961 (author, Hyperborea, The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Today we have a lot of choices. In 2013, when I hadn't done as much research, I went with Liam Hemsworth, who is not as well known as his brother Chris, but still has an important role in The Hunger Games. Last year it was William B. Davis in his most famous role as The Smoking Man. This year I went with Orlando Bloom, and honest to Odin movie star in his iconic role Legolas. If I wanted to go old school, Jeff Morrow was in a lot of 1950s monster movies.

2. Canadian spotted! Sometimes an actor will gain fame in a genre role and get a lot of work on the Canadian sci-fi shows regardless of nationality. As I stated earlier, William B. Davis got famous on The X-Files and then gets a lot more work in Canada. The thing is, he's actually Canadian as well as iconic. Good on ya, Mr. Davis.

3. Fun Facts to know and tell. In The Celluloid Closet, a film about gays on film, they talk about The Sissy Man role, a guy who is never said to be gay directly, but acts in a flamboyant manner. This was popular in the era before homosexuality could even be mentioned on film. We have two great Sissy Men born today, Rip Taylor and the late Charles Nelson Reilly.

On a different note, the arc of some actors' careers is from big budget films and then slipping into smaller budget films or TV, while others start in small budget stuff then catch a big break. On the other hand, we have Gregory Walcott, whose credit list is pretty much in reasonably budgeted TV and films, but also showed up inexplicably in Plan 9 From Outer Space. Go figure. 

4. Hey... no Star Trek! Usually, this happens a few times a month. In October, there were four. We are less than halfway through January and we already have three.

5. MST3K. There may be others, but I know This Island Earth was the movie used in the feature film episode and Rocketship X-M was also an episode, which contain one of my favorite lines "Well, thank you, Mr. White Male Reality!" This was long before mansplaining became a thing. Zombie Rotten McDonald has added Moon Zero Two as well.

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

Predictors: The ESPN group of fourteen pro football experts

Predictions (Reality):

Seattle over Carolina: (14 right, 0 wrong)
New England over Baltimore: (11 right, 3 wrong)
Indianapolis over Denver: (1 right, 13 wrong)
Green Bay over Dallas: (7 right, 7 wrong)

Tally: 33 right, 23 wrong
This week, the experts got the same overall percentage as last week 58.9% right. More than that, they got there in pretty much the same way. There were three games where the consensus was very strong and one of those games was an upset. In the fourth game, there was nearly no consensus, so it made little difference to the overall score which team came out on top, The overall totals of 66-46 puts this group in the 97th percentile of guessers if we assume the odds are even that either team could win, which is not a perfect assumption but good enough for our needs. This compares very well with the baseball experts' guesses for the playoffs, but they stunk the place out because the World Series had two wild card teams, the Giants and the Royals.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1911 to see the predictions for 2011.

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!

26 August 2013

Birthdays
Chris Pine b. 1980 (Star Trek re-boot)
Yvette Vickers b. 1928 died 2010 (Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman, Attack of the Giant Leeches)

Ms. Vickers gets the Picture Slot not only for being The Cute Girl but also for having a more compelling bio that the new Captain Kirk. She was a starlet in Hollywood, she posed for Playboy in 1959, she worked steadily until about 1963. Her last claim to fame is that her body was found mummified in her home in 2011 and it was assumed from the state of decomposition that she might have been there a year before it was found.

Many happy returns to Mr. Pine at least.

 

Prediction: A nuclear powered blimp to advertise the safe uses of atomic energy

Predictor: Mechanix Illustrated, published March 1956

Reality: Using the quote from last week, nuclear energy is safe unless you do something monumentally stupid. A nuclear blimp is monumentally stupid.

Problem #1: It would have to be huge. Dirigibles are lighter than air because of counterbalance and you would need a massive amount of counterbalancing helium to make up for a fully shielded nuclear reactor. It's hard to know how far away the ship below is supposed to be, but making the airship as big as a battleship is probably about right.

Problem #2: High winds. Blimps aren't as weather dependent as old sailing ships used to be, but even keeping something as big as this tethered to the ground in a serious wind storm would be a very risky proposition. The six appendages at the bottom look like pontoons, so if water landings are intended, add "choppy seas" as a related co-problem.

Problem #3: Public relations. The public was nervous about nukes, which were definitely "new fangled" and reeked of Progress! The scientists knew what was best for us and would take us into the bold new future, kicking and screaming if need be. Link this idea to dirigibles, whose most famous public moment was the 1937 crash of the Hindenburg.

These are three very good answers to the question "Why don't we build an Atoms for Peace dirigible?"

Note: this is yet another example of nuclear powered transportation from an article on io9.com that was suggested by regular reader Zombie Rotten McDonald, and so I give thanks to him.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Robert A. Heinlein with a scientific prediction, though he wasn't actually a scientist.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

19 August 2013

Birthdays 
Ahmed Best b. 1973 (Star Wars, voice of J** J** B****)
Jonathan Frakes b. 1952 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Diana Muldaur b. 1938 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Gene Roddenberry b. 1921 died 10/24/1991(Star Trek)

The choice for today's Picture Slot seems pretty cut and dried. Since there is zero chance I would choose the youngest person on the list due to his unfortunate role (not really his fault, always blame the writers and director first), since the other three people on the list are there because of Star Trek, Roddenberry is obviously trump.

Many happy returns to the living.

Movies released
Spy Kids: All The Time In The World In 4D released 2011

Prediction: In 1958, Ford releases the first plans to build a nuclear powered car called the Nucleon.

Reality: Yes! The company that brought you the Edsel and would soon be making both the Maverick and the Pinto was going to make a sporty little two seater with a turbine engine fueled by a nuclear reactor. As you can guess from this mock-up, the engine was in the rear and there was at least two feet of shielding between the nuclear reaction and the passengers.

Also, you can tell this is the 1958 version and not the 1962 because of the fins.

What about a rear end collision? Oh, pish tush, those things NEVER happen.

I suppose I should take this opportunity to say I am not 100% opposed to nuclear energy. It can be made safe and with thorium reactors, the nuclear waste storage problem can be minimized due to recycling. As I read once, nuclear energy is safe unless you do something monumentally stupid.

The Ford Nucleon was monumentally stupid.

Thanks to loyal reader Zombie Rotten McDonald for finding a link to nuclear powered transportation over on io9.com.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Last week, we had Robert A. Heinlein disenfranchising young people. Tomorrow, the young get their revenge on the old.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!