16 July 2015

Birthdays
Taryn Southern b. 1986 (Battle Los Angeles)
Calum Gittins b. 1986 (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)
Rosa Salazar b. 1985 (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, American Horror Story)
Michelle Morgan b. 1981 (Supernatural, Dominant Gene, Stargate: Atlantis, Diary of the Dead, Fire Serpent)
Jayma Mays b. 1979 (Heroes)
Corey Feldman b. 1971 (Zombex, The Zombie King, Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys, Dark Realm, The Toxic Avenger IV, Sliders, The Lost Boys, Friday the 13th, Gremlins, Time After Time)
Will Ferrell b. 1967 (Land of the Lost [2009], Bewitched [2005])
Daryl Mitchell b. 1965 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Galaxy Quest)
Phoebe Cates b. 1963 (Drop Dead Fred, Gremlins 1 and 2)
Faye Grant b. 1957 (The Omen IV: The Awakening, V, Voyager from the Unknown, Voyagers!, The Incredible Hulk, The Greatest American Hero)
Jerry Doyle b. 1956 (Storm Watch, Sliders, Babylon 5)
Ruben Blades b. 1948 (Fear the Walking Dead, The X Files, Preator 2)
Ann Turkel b. 1946 (The Hunger [TV], RoboCop [TV], Highlander [TV], Deep Space, Worlds Beyond, Knight Rider, Death Ray 2000, Humanoids from the Deep)
Richard LeParmentier b. 1946 died 15 April 2013 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Superman II, Space: 1999, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Rollerball [1975], The People That Time Forgot)
Jeremy Spenser b. 1937 (Fahrenheit 451, Beauty and the Beast [1952)
Barnard Hughes b. 1916 died 11 July 2006 (The Lost Boys, TRON, Mr. Merlin, The UFO Incident, The Borrowers, Dark Shadows [TV], ‘Way Out)
Sonny Tufts b. 1911 died 4 June 1970 (Cat-Women of the Moon)
Mary Philbin b. 1902 died 7 May 1993 (The Phantom of the Opera [1925])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Will Ferrell is the big star on the list, but he is not iconic in genre, so the Picture Slot has gone in previous years to Jerry Doyle from Babylon 5 and to Pheobe Cates from Drop Dead Fred. This year it goes to the late Richard LeParmentier as the choked General Motti from Star Wars. My favorite meme from this picture is Peter Cushing getting a thought bubble reading "Drama queen!"

2. Spot the Canadian! Yet again, I think the hint that there is only one makes our Canadian spottable my the well-informed public, which certainly describes my loyal readers.

3. Hey, no Star Trek! it is somehow fitting that a shot from a Star Wars film (who are we kidding? THE Star Wars film) is in the Picture Slot on a day when Star Trek has zero love.

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

Movies released
Inception released, 2010
I, Robot released, 2004
 

 Predictor: Andrew Carnegie in 1900, quoted in The Experts Speak

Prediction: To kill a man will be considered as disgusting in the Twentieth Century as we in this day consider it disgusting to eat one.

Reality: In his day, Andrew Carnegie was probably in the top 1% of the top 1% of the top 1%, which is to say one in a million when it comes to being crazy rich, but this is a noble sentiment, even if it is flat out wrong.

Never to be Forgotten: Aubrey Morris 1926-2015 Veteran British character actor Aubrey Morris, shown here in a publicity still from The Prisoner, had died at the age of 89. I have to admit that when an actor plays a very ill person like Morris did in Deadwood last decade, my brain decides he is gone, which wasn't true until today. Besides The Prisoner, Aubrey appeared in genre productions including Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature, The Others, Legend of the Mummy, Bordello of Blood, Babylon 5, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast, Lifeforce, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy [TV], Space: 1999, A Clockwork Orange and Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another corker from H.G. Wells.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

9 July 2015

Birthdays
Georgie Henley b. 1995 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Toby Kebbell b. 1982 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Wrath of the Titans, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)
Jamie King b. 1981 (Lost City Raiders, Vampire Diary)
Linda Park b. 1978 (Infestation, Star Trek: Enterprise, Jurassic Park III, Spectres)
Fred Savage b. 1976 (The Wizard, Little Monsters, The Princess Bride, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Boy Who Could Fly)
Enrique Murciano b. 1973 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 666 Park Avenue, Star Trek: Enterprise)
Scott Grimes b. 1971 (DreamKeeper, Frogs!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Critters 1 & 2, Frog, Twilight Zone [1985])
David O’Hara b. 1965 (Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Wanted, Doomsday)
K. Todd Freeman b. 1965 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], The Dark Knight, Buffy)
Kevin Nash b. 1959 (Almighty Thor [TV], Genesis [TV movie]. The Punisher, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Swamp Thing [TV], Super Force, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze)
Tim Kring b. 1957 (writer/producer, Touch, Heroes)
Kelly McGillis b. 1957 (Z Nation)
Philip Martin Brown b. 1956 (Sleepy Hollow [movie])
Tom Hanks b. 1956 (Cloud Atlas, The Polar Express, The Green Mile, From the Earth to the Moon, Apollo 13, Big, Splash, Mazes and Monsters)
Jimmy Smits b. 1955 (Revenge of the Sith, Attack of the Clones, The Tommyknockers)
Kim Hector b. 1953 (The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Chris Cooper b. 1951 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Ray Baker b. 1948 (Heroes, Path of Destruction, Alien Siege, Holes, Area 52, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Tomorrow Man, Freaked, Total Recall [1990], C.H.U.D.)
O.J. Simpson b. 1947 (Capricorn One)
Dean R. Koontz b. 1945 (author, Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein, Odd Thomas)
Soledad Miranda b. 1943 died 18 August 1970 (Vampiros Lesbos, Count Dracula [1970], Pyro… The Thing Without a Face)
Edy Williams b. 1942 (Bad Girls from Mars, Dr. Alien, Lost in Space, Batman, The Brass Bottle, Twilight Zone)
Richard Roundtree b. 1942 (Knight Rider [2009], Speed Racer, Heroes, Vegas Vampires, Blade: The Series, Painkiller Jane, Theodore Rex, Beauty and the Beast [1989])
Brian Dennehy b. 1938 (The 4400, Category 6: Day of Destruction, NetForce, Cocoon, Ants)
James Hampton b. 1936 (Superboy, Teen Wolf 1 and 2, Otherworld, The Greatest American Hero, World War III, The Cat from Outer Space)
Vince Edwards b. 1928 died 11 March 1996 (Andy Colby’s Incredible Adventure, Return to Horror High, Tales from the Darkside, Space Raiders, Knight Rider)
Martin Garner b. 1927 died 28 September 2001 (Alien Nation [TV], Tales from the Crypt, Beauty and the Beast, Twilight Zone: The Movie)
Ed Ames b. 1927 (The Starlost)
Susan Cabot b. 1927 died 10 December 1986 (The Wasp Woman, The War of the Satellites, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot.The previous folk in the Picture Sot were Linda Park, the double threat of being fabulous and a regular on a Star Trek series, even if it was Enterprise, and K.Todd Freeman, Mr. Trick on Buffy. Regular readers will know that being a movie star is not the quickest way into The Picture Slot, and the biggest star here is Tom Hanks. I like Tom Hanks and he is a local boy. A friend of mine from my Atari days went to high school with Hanks. Hanks saw Jason and the Argonauts at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland and he loved it and so did I. We may have been in the same audience. I would even say his roles in The Green Mile and Apollo 13 are iconic.

But I ask you: In any of his genre films, did he have a line as good as "Is this a kissing book?" No, he did not so the Picture Slot goes to Fred Savage.

I am willing to listen to counter-arguments for Hanks or any of several others, but you should recall the First Rule of Blogging ("You aren't the boss of me!") may be invoked.

2. O.J. Simpson? Really? Yeah, I had to. I saw his name and already knew he was in Capricorn One, so he was a shoo-in.

3. Living Canadian free! No Canadians found today, the second time this week.

4. MST3K. I know The Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent for sure and I think that's all we've got. 


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

Movies released 
Predators released, 2010
Despicable Me released, 2010

Predictor: Alexander Hamilton in 1787, commenting on the newly finished Constitution of the United States, quoted in The Experts Speak.

Prediction: “A shilly-shally thing of milk and water, which could not last.”

Reality: Treasury secretary Jack Lew has his heart set on putting a woman on the $10 instead of the $20, so I thought I'd give Hamilton a little blog love. It's easy to say he's wrong and the Constitution did last, but it only lasted because we say it's lasted. If some bold racist from the South said they were going to count black folks as 3/5 of people when redistricting, strict constructionists would have to take their side if they really meant what they said, but they won't because their alleged reasons are so much jiggery-pokery.

And if you want to mark the murder of the Constitution, though we decided not to bury the corpse, leaving us with some sort of zombie founding document, consider when the Supreme Court told asshole Andrew Jackson (lionized by the Democratic Party) he couldn't mess with the Cherokee but he did anyway, citing the fact the Supreme Court didn't have an army to back up what it wrote.

So I'm giving Hamilton half credit here. Yes, it lasted, but he's right that it was shilly-shally.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Can H.G. Wells ever get full marks on a prediction ever again from this blog? Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

2 July 2015

Birthdays
Margot Robbie b. 1990 (Z for Zachariah, About Time)
Ashley Tisdale b. 1985 (Charmed, Donnie Darko)
Vanessa Lee Chester b. 1984 (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)
Owain Yeoman b. 1978 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Yancy Butler b. 1970 (Kick-Ass, Lake Placid, Wolvesbayne, Basilisk: The Serpent King, Witchblade, Ravager, Perversions of Science, Mann & Machine)
Terry Rossio b. 1960 (writer, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, Small Soldiers, Godzilla, The Puppet Masters)
Jerry Hall b. 1956 (Vampire in Brooklyn, Freejack, Batman [1989])
Andrew Divoff b. 1955 (Lost, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Rage, Dr, Rage, Wishmaster, Conan [1997 TV], Highlander [TV], Xtro 3, Mac and Me, The Twilight Zone [1986], Misfits of Science)
Wendy Schaal b. 1954 (The X-Files, Small Soldiers, Star Trek: Voyager, *batteries not included, Innerspace, Amazing Stories, Knight Rider)
Elisabeth Brooks b. 1951 died 7 September 1997 (Deep Space, The Howling, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Nancy Stephens b. 1949 (Dark Skies, Halloween I and II, Escape form New York)
Saul Rubinek b. 1948 (Warehouse 13, Eureka, Lost, Stargate SG-1, The Android Affair, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Ron Silver b. 1946 died 15 March 2009 (Xenophobia, Timecop, Lifepod)
Kenneth McMillan b. 1932 died 8 January 1989 (Cat’s Eye, Dune, Heartbeeps, Salem’s Lot, The Stepford Wives, Dark Shadows [TV])
Robert Ito b. 1931 (MythQuest, Star Trek: Voyager, The Omega Code, The X-Files, Highlander [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Buckaroo Banzai, Rollerball, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Terminal Man, Soylent Green, Dimension 5, Women of the Prehistoric Planet)
Brock Peters b. 1927 died 23 August 2005 (Deep Space Nine, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Alligator II: The Mutation, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Battlestar Galactica [1979], The Bionic Woman)
Hannes Bok b. 1914 died 11 April 1964 (artist)
Hermann Hesse b. 1877 died 9 August 1962 (author, Steppenwolf, The Glass Bead Game)

1. The Picture Slot. Today's list has a lot more Oh That Guys than movie stars. In previous years the Picture Slot was given to artist Hannes Bok and writer Terry Rossio. This year it goes, to Saul Rubinek, an Oh That Guy whose work I've always liked, pictured as the collect Kivas Fajo from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

2. Wait... he's dead? Still not completely used to the fact that Ron Silver is dead.

3. Nepotism FTW. Wendy Schaal is the daughter of Richard Schaal.

4. A Canadian walks amongst us. Robert Ito's career started long before the big boom in Canadian TV and movie production.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
 
Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines released 2003
Hancock released, 2008

I know some folks are excited for a new Terminator movie, but I terminated by Terminator activities after the second one.

Predictor: Richard Nixon, 15 October 1965

Prediction: If the United States gives up in Vietnam, the Pacific Ocean will become a Red Sea.

Reality: Well, we lost in Vietnam about 40 years ago now and the Commies still haven't pushed us out of the Pacific. One of the things about the future I find disappointing, maybe even more than the lack of flying cars and jetpacks, is how completely off the table any discussion of reducing the military budget is in the United States, even though the list of big victories after World War II consists of Grenada and the first Gulf War.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Will tomorrow bring us H.G. Wells the futurist, H.G. Wells the warmonger or H.G. Wells the creepy guy?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

11 June 2015

Birthdays
Ivana Baquero b. 1994 (The Shannara Chronicles, Pan’s Labyrinth, Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt)
Eugene Simon b. 1992 (House of Anubis, Game of Thrones)
Claire Holt b. 1988 (The Vampire Diaries, H2O: Just Add Water)
Shia LeBeouf b. 1986 (Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I, Robot, The Nightmare Room, The X Files)
Joshua Jackson b. 1978 (Fringe, Muppets from Space, Magic in the Water)
Jane Goldman b. 1979 (screenwriter, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust)
Jade Carter b. 1976 (Buffy)
Robby Kiger b. 1973 (The Monster Squad, Children of the Corn, The Greatest American Hero)
Peter Dinklage b. 1969 (Pixels, Game of Thrones, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Knights of Badassdom, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Ultra, Elf)
Clare Carey b. 1967 (Jericho, Stargate SG-1, Charmed, The Invisible Man [2000 TV], Them, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Zombie High)
Pamela Gidley b. 1965 (The Little Vampire, Cherry 2000)
Hugh O’Gorman b. 1965 (The 10th Kingdom)
Hugh Laurie b. 1959 (Tomorrowland [2015], Stuart Little, The Borrowers, The Crystal Cube)
Peter Bergman b. 1953 (The Tick)
Sherman Howard b. 1949 (The Mummy: Secrets of the Medjai, Invader ZIM, Star Trek: Voyager, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Retroactive, The Burning Zone, Deep Space Nine, Sliders, SeaQuest 2032, The Stand, Space Rangers, Superboy, Good & Evil, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, ALF, Dark Angel, Freddy’s Nightmares, Max Headroom, Day of the Dead )
Nicholas Young b. 1949 (The Tomorrow People [2013 and 1979], Space: 1999)
Paul Lynch b. 1946 (director, So Weird, Sliders, Xena, Poltergiest: The Legacy, RoboCop [TV], Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dark Shadows [1991], Twilight Zone [1980s], Beauty and the Beast [1987], Voyagers!, Humongous)
Adrienne Barbeau b. 1945 (Carnivale, The Chronicle, Deep Space Nine, Sliders, Weird Science, Burial of the Rats, Babylon 5, Twilight Zone, Creepshow, Swamp Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog)
Jordan Rhodes b. 1939 (Battlestar Galactica, The Terminal Man, Wonder Woman, The Night Stalker)
Christina Crawford b. 1939 (The Sixth Sense)
Chad Everett b. 1937 died 24 July 2012 (Supernatural, When Time Expires)
Gene Wilder b. 1933 (Alice in Wonderland [1999 TV], Haunted Honeymoon, Young Frankenstein, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
Ed Bishop b. 1932 died 8 June 2005 (Highlander [TV], Whoops Apocalypse, Saturn 3, 1990, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, The Day After Tomorrow [1976], UFO, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Battle Beneath the Earth, The Mouse on the Moon)
John Bromfield b. 1922 died 18 September 2005 (Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, Revenge of the Creature)
Robert Hutton b. 1920 died 7 August 1994 (Trog, They Came from Beyond Space, The Vulture, The Slime People, Invisible Invaders, The Colossus of New York)
Richard Todd b. 1919 died 3 December 2009 (Doctor Who)
Buddy Baer b. 1915 died 18 July 1986 (Giant from the Unknown, Adventures of Superman, Jack and the Beanstalk [1952])
Dudley Manlove b. 1914 died 17 April 1996 (The Creation of the Humanoids, Plan 9 from Outer Space)
Gerald Mohr b. 1914 died 9 November 1968 (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Men Into Space, The Angry Red Planet, Invasion U.S.A.)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. I usually make Game of Thrones trump during its season, so Peter Dinklage has had the Picture Slot twice, but in 2015, my main rule is not to repeat the Picture Slot except in very special cases. While there are some names and faces you may recognize on the list today, I would argue that other than Dinklage as Tyrion, the most iconic is Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein or in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

2. Spot the Canadians! Joshua Jackson and Jade Carter were both born north of the border, but there credit lists don't make that clear.

3. Nepotism FTW. Buddy Baer is the brother of Max Baer, I'm not sure it counts. Robert Hutton is kin to the Hutton family fortune, I'm sure it doesn't count. Christina Crawford is Joan Crawford's adopted daughter, fuck yes it counts.

4. Wait... he's dead? I have not completely processed that Chad Everett is dead.

5. MST3K. I may have missed some, but I know The Slime People and Revenge of the Creature were used on the show. Regular commenter Zombie Rotten McDonald points out Invasion U.S.A. counts as well.

6. Too many labels. There is a limit of 200 characters in the label list, so I had to throw out Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Battlestar Galactica, noting that our prediction is about democracy and pointing out that Joseph Kennedy was a scumbag.

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

Predictor: Joseph Kennedy, ambassador to Great Britain in November 1940

Prediction: "Democracy is finished in England."

Reality: This was the sentence that lost Kennedy his job as ambassador. Being a very outspoken anti-Semite was acceptable, but this crossed a line. Not only was he a flaming asshole, but he was also dead wrong. If Fox News had existed back then, he could have been a regular contributor. As it is, he'll just have to be happy being a millionaire many times over and father of a political dynasty that now appears to have faded into nothing.

Never to be Forgotten: Ron Moody 1924-2015

The British actor Ron Moody died today at the age of 91. Best known as Fagin in Oliver!, he is remembered here for roles in A Ghost in Monte Carlo, Into the Labyrinth, Unidentified Flying Oddball, Legend of the Werewolf, The Mouse on the Moon, Alice Through the Looking Box and A Kid in King Arthur's Court.  This picture with Margaret Rutherford is from The Mouse on the Moon.

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

Never to be Forgotten: Sir Christopher Lee 1922-2015

Sir Christopher Lee, a legend in genre films, has died at the age of 93. Younger viewers will likely know him best from the Star Wars prequels and The Lord of the Rings films, but his reputation in horror films was made in the Hammer Studios films, often co-starring Peter Cushing. The list here on the blog of genre films for Sir Christopher may not be quite complete, but it included The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Dark Shadows [2012], Hugo, The Season of the Witch, Alice in Wonderland, Star Wars, The Golden Compass, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sleepy Hollow [movie], Tale of the Mummy, The Odyssey [TV], The Tomorrow People, Curse III: Blood Sacrifice, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Howling II:… Your Sister is a Werewolf, The Return of Captain Invincible, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Return from Witch Mountain, Starship Invasions, The End of the World, Dracula and Son, To the Devil a Daughter, Space: 1999, The Wicker Man, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Poor Devil, The Creeping Flesh, Dark Places, Horror Express, Dracula A.D. 1972, I Monster, The House that Dripped Blood, Scars of Dracula, Taste the Blood of Dracula, Count Dracula, Scream and Scream Again, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, Blood Fiend, Island of the Burning Damned, Psycho-Circus, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, The Skull, She, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, The Gorgon, Castle of the Living Dead, Crypt of the Vampire, Hercules in the Haunted World, Scream of Fear, The Hands of Orlac, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, The Mummy, Horror of Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein.


Best wishes to the family and friends of Sir Christopher Lee, from a heartsick fan. He is never to be forgotten.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

H.G. Wells from Anticipations. Will it be a "normal" prediction, merely right or wrong, or will it be one of his "special" predictions, which are super creepy?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

28 May 2015

Birthdays

Cameron Boyce b. 1999 (Mirrors)
Jacob Kogan b. 1995 (The Tomorrow People, Star Trek [reboot])
Carey Mulligan b. 1985 (Never Let Me Go, Doctor Who)
Megalyn Echikunwoke b. 1983 (The 4400, Supernatural, Buffy, Creature)
Alexa Davalos b. 1982 (The Man in the High Castle, Clash of the Titans, The Mist, The Chronicles of Riddick, Angel)
Monica Keena b. 1979 (Night of the Demons, Freddy vs. Jason, The Devil’s Advocate, Snow White: A Tale of Terror)
Jesse Bradford b. 1979 (Clockstoppers)
Jake Johnson b. 1978 (Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed, Flashforward)
Christian Alvart b. 1974 (director, Pandorum)
Kate Ashfield b. 1972 (Shaun of the Dead)
Glenn Quinn b. 1970 died 3 December 2002 (Angel)
Kylie Minogue b. 1968 (Doctor Who, Street Fighter)
Ashley Laurence b. 1966 (Hellraiser, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Alon Aboutboul b. 1965 (The Dark Knight Rises, Fringe)
Christa Miller b. 1964 (The Andromeda Strain [2008], Clone High)
Brandon Cruz b. 1962 (The Incredible Hulk)
Julie T. Wallace b. 1961 (Speed Racer, Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible, The Fifth Element, Time Riders)
Townsend Coleman b. 1954 (The Tick)
Kevin Van Hentenryck b. 1953 (Basket Case)
Sandy Helberg b. 1949 (Mortal Kombat, Spaceballs, Knight Rider, Terror in the Wax Museum)
Patricia Quinn b. 1944 (Doctor Who, The Box of Delights, Shock Treatment, Hawk the Slayer, Hammer House of Horror, Beauty and the Beast [TV], The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Sondra Locke b. 1944 (Amazing Stories, Planet of the Apes [TV], Willard)
Zelda Rubenstein b. 1943 died 27 January 2010 (Southland Tales, Wishcraft, Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights, Little Witches, Timemaster, Tales from the Crypt, Teen Witch, Poltergeist)
Robert Biheller b. 1938 (Fire in the Sky, The Invaders, Batman, Twilight Zone)
Shane Rimmer b. 1932 (Dark Shadows [2012], Alien Autopsy, Mee-Shee: The Water Giant, Batman Begins, The War of the Starfighters, Space Truckers, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court, Year of the Comet, Space Police, Morons from Outer Space, Space, The Hunger, Superman II, Warlords of the Deep, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Space: 1999, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Rollerball, UFO, Doctor Who)
Thora Hird b. 1911 died 15 March 2003 (The Quatermass Experiment)
Ian Fleming b. 1908 died 12 August 1964 (author, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

Notes on the birthday list1. The Picture Slot. Today's list doesn't have a lot of big stars, Carey Mulligan is probably the biggest, but they are more than a few I consider iconic. In previous years I used Zelda Rubenstein from Poltergeist and Alexa Davalos from Angel. For 2015, I had to choose between two of my nerdy enthusiasms, either going with Glenn Quinn from the first season of Angel, satisfying my Whedonverse nerdiness, or go with the winner, a picture from the early 1990s cartoon The Tick, which was voiced by Townsend Coleman. In a blending of my nerdy loves, The Tick's creator Ben Edlund later worked for Joss Whedon.

2. A Canadian walks amongst us. Shane Rimmer was born north of the border, but his credit list begins long before the existence of the Canadian genre film and TV industry.

3. Not really nepotism. Sandy Helberg is the father of Simon Helberg. The elder Helberg is not a big star, but it's easy to speculate that his kids could see a career in show business was possible since Dad did it for a living.

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


Movie released
The Day After Tomorrow released 2004

Predictor:  Wilbur Wright to his brother Orville, 1901, quoted in The Experts Speak

Prediction: “Man will not fly for 50 years.”

Reality: A few weeks back, there was a prediction for H.G. Wells that put practical heavier-than-air travel existing around 1950, making him look like a twit. This prediction shows that he was in pretty good company, though there is no chance Wells knew anything about these guys. (Orville's the one with the mustache; if they had their hats off, you'd see Wilbur was the balder of the two.) Instead of 50 years, Wilbur and Orville would have a plane flying (sort of) by the end of 1903 and made important progress towards making flight practical in the years that followed.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

While today's prediction helped make H.G. Wells look less silly, he gets another prediction published tomorrow, so there's a good chance he will make himself look more silly once again. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

14 May 2015

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

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

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

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

Predictor:Woldemar Kampfert in Outlook magazine, 28 June 1913

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

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

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

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

7 May 2015

 Birthdays
Destiny Whitlock b. 2001 (Tooth Fairy)
Maxwell Perry Cotton b. 2000 (Elysium, Radio Free Ablemuth)
Alexander Ludwig b. 1992 (The Hunger Games, Race to Witch Mountain, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising)
Roxane Hayward b. 1991 (Dominion)
Brandon Jones b. 1988 (Supernatural)
Robbie Jarvis b. 1986 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Genie in the House)
Val Tasso b. 1977 (Wolf People, Charmed)
Arnold Chun b. 1976 (The Man in the High Castle, The Big Bang Theory, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Carrie Henn b. 1976 (Aliens)
Breckin Meyer b. 1974 (Heroes, Escape from L.A., The Craft, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare)
Ivan Sergei b. 1971 (Vamps, Warehouse 13, Charmed, 10.5, Kindred: The Embraced, Bionic Ever After)
Tracy Lords b. 1968 (Black Mask 2: City of Masks, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, D.R.E.A.M. Team, Blade, Virtuosity, Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II, Highlander [TV], The Tommyknockers, Super Force, Not of This Earth)
Patrick Read Johnson b. 1962 (director, When Good Ghouls Go Bad, Spaced Invaders)
David Franklin b. 1962 (Farscape, Xena: Warrior Princess, The Matrix Reloaded, Time Trax)
Ned Bellamy b. 1957 (Resurrection, Under the Dome, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Twilight, Being John Malkovich, Starman [TV], Twilight Zone [1986], The Greatest American Hero)
John Fleck b. 1951 (True Blood, The World, Star Trek: Enterprise, Carnivale, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Modern Vampires, Millennium, Waterworld, Lois & Clark, Babylon 5: The Gathering, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mutant on the Bounty, Max Headroom, Howard the Duck, Hard Rock Zombies)
Randall “Tex” Cobb b. 1950 (The X-Files, Highlander [TV])
Marilyn Burns b. 1949 died 4 August 2014 (Eaten Alive, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Lee de Broux b. 1941 (The Day the World Ended, Mars, The X-Files, Quantum Leap, Pumpkinhead, RoboCop, Max Headroom, Voyager from the Unknown, The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, The Terminal Man)
Roger Perry b. 1933 (Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Thing with Two Heads, The Return of Count Yorga, Count Yorga, Vampire, The Invaders, Star Trek, The Munsters)
Gene Wolfe b. 1931 (won Nebula for The Claw of the Conciliator)
Albert Band b. 1924 died 14 June 2002 (director, Prehysteria!, Robot Wars, Ghoulies II, Dracula’s Dog, Hercules and the Princess of Troy)
Anne Baxter b. 1923 died 12 December 1985 (Batman)
Darren McGavin b. 1922 died 25 February 2006 (The X-Files, Millennium, Captain America[1990], Firebird 2015 AD, The Martian Chronicles, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Six Million Dollar Man, Mission Mars)
David Tomlinson b. 1917 died 24 June 2000 (Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mary Poppins)
Ishiro Honda b. 1911 died 28 February 1983 (director, Godzilla [1977], Mecha Godzilla, Ultraman Returns, Godzilla’s Revenge, Yog: Monster from Space, Latitude Zero, Destroy All Monsters, King Kong Escapes, The War of the Gargantuas, Invasion of the Astro Monster, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Ghidorah, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Atrtagon, Matango, Varan, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Gorath, Mothra, Battle in Outer Space, The H-Man, The Mysterians, Rodan, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Godzilla [1954])
Valentine Dyall b. 1908 died 24 June 1985 (Doctor Who, Blakes 7, The Haunting, Stranger from Space)
Val Newton b. 1904 died 14 March 1951 (producer, Isle of the Dead, Cat People, The Curse of the Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Carrie Henn, the little girl from Aliens, and the cover from Gene Wolfe's Nebula winner The Claw of the Conciliator. This year, I considered Oh That Guy John Fleck, but instead went with Darren McGavin as Kolchak.

2. Spot the Canadian! Only one today and hard to spot: Alexander Ludwig.

3. Living MST3K free. Ishiro Honda directed a passel of Japanese giant monster movies, but none of them got the MST3K treatment, oddly enough. I couldn't find any other movies from any of our other credit lists either.

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


Movie released
Iron Man 2 released, 2010

Predictor: Business Week, Jan. 17, 195, re-published in The Experts Speak, 1984

Prediction: Though import car sales could hit 425,000 in 1959, they may never go that high again.

Reality: It's hard for non-geezers to remember how strong a grip American car manufacturers had on the domestic market back in the day. The authors of The Experts Speak thought this was funny enough to mock back in 1984, which is now 31 years ago. Suffice it to say, this prediction scores no points.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Fridays belong to H.G. Wells and his 1902 book Anticipations.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

  

23 April 2015

Birthdays
Alex Ferris b. 1997 (Eureka, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Smallville, X-Men: The Last Stand, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1)
Dev Patel b. 1990 (The Last Airbender)
Aanastasia Baranova b. 1989 (Z Nation, Apocalypse CA, Rise: Blood Hunter)
Rachel Skarsten b. 1985 (Lost Girl, Beauty and the Beast, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, Birds of Prey)
Jesse Lee Sofer b. 1984 (In Time)
Aaron Hill b. 1983 (Creature, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Isaiah Robinson b. 1983 (Hook)
Jamie King b. 1979 (Sin City, The Spirit)
Joanna Krupa b. 1979 (Planet of the Apes)
Kal Penn b. 1977 (Superman Returns, Son of the Mask, Angel, Sabina, The Teenage Witch, Buffy)
Gabriel Damon b. 1976 (Eerie, Indiana, RoboCop II, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Amazing Stories)
Barry Watson b. 1974 (My Future Boyfriend, Boogeyman, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman [1993])
Sonya Smith b. 1972 (Cyxork 7)
Andrew Kreisberg b. 1971 (writer, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, Warehouse 13, Fringe, The Vampire Diaries)
Scott Bairstow b. 1970 (Android Apocalypse, Tuck Everlasting, Harsh Realm, The Postman. The X Files)
Byron Thames b. 1969 (Chronicle, Star Trek: Enterprise, Monsters, Freddy’s Nightmares, The Powers of Matthew Star)
John Hannah b. 1962 (Atlantis [2013], The Mummy, Carnivale, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [2003], The Mummy and spin-offs)
Valerie Bertinelli b. 1960 (Faerie Tale Theatre, C.H.O.M.P.S.)
Mark Caven b. 1960 (Maleficent, I Love Mummy, Red Dwarf, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace)
Tim Blaney b. 1959 (Angel, Men in Black, Short Circuit)
Jan Hooks b. 1957 died 9 October 2014 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Coneheads, Batman Returns, Superman 50th Anniversary, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure)
Caroline Thompson b. 1956 (writer, Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Addams Family, Edward Scissorhands)
Blair Brown b. 1946 (Forever, Fringe, Falling Skies, Dark Shadows [TV movie 2005], Smallville, The Astronaut’s Wife, Space, Altered States, Dracula [TV movie 1973])
Herve Villechaize b. 1943 died 4 September 1993 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Forbidden Zone, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood)
Sheila Gish b. 1942 died 9 March 2005 (Highlander, The Ghostbusters of East Finchley, Worlds Beyond)
Sandra Dee b. 1942 died 20 February 2005 (The Sixth Sense [1972], The Dunwich Horror)
Lee Majors b. 1939 (Lightspeed, Jake 2.0, The Six Million Dollar Man & spin-offs, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land)
Alan Oppenheimer b. 1930 (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Invisible: The Chronicles of Benjamin Knight, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Knight Rider, The Six Million Dollar Man, Westworld, Bewitched, Gamera the Invincible, I Dream of Jeannie)
Janet Blair b. 1921 died 18 February 2007 (The Outer Limits, Burn, Witch, Burn, One Touch of Venus [TV], A Connecticut Yankee, Once Upon a Time)
Simone Simon b. 1910 died 22 February 2005 (Cat People, Curse of the Cat People)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. This is one of those days when not wanting to repeat a previous Picture Slot and only wanting iconic characters becomes difficult. In 2013, when my research methods were very weak, the only name I had on the list was Kal Penn, so he got the slot. In 2014, I found a picture of both Lee Majors and Alan Oppenheimer from The Six Million Dollar Man. While there are some well-known names on the list, for my money the most iconic role other than Lee Majors is the robot Johnny Five from Short Circuit, voiced by Tim Blaney. I usually leave voice actors out, though I do make exceptions on occasion. Blaney happens to be a relative of a former roommate, so that factored into my decision as well.

2. Wait... she's dead? We have a trio of folks born during World War II who are already dead. I remembered that Herve Villechaize was dead. (You will note I don't count Fantasy Island as genre. I was definitely a fan of genre when it came out and I knew it was more like Love Boat than Star Trek.) I really didn't follow Sheila Gish's career very closely. (By the was, she's British and not related to Lillian and Dorothy Gish.) But I certainly know the name Sandra Dee and was completely unaware she died ten years ago.

3. The Canadians, pre-spotted for your convenience. As often happens, though not always, young Canadians are on the shows that have been produced in Canada over the past few decades while older Canadians came to the States and worked here. Alex Ferris and Rachel Skarsten have credit lists that make their nationality clear, Scott Bairstow and Mark Caven, not so much.

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

Predictor: Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), cultural critic, quoted in 1932

Prediction: “[By 1982] Australia will be abandoned to the Japanese by its white inhabitants, who will return to an England capable of supporting by agriculture almost double its present population.”

Reality: Mumford was a cranky bastard who particularly hated cars and what they did to cities. While I guess he should get some small credit for that now, he was absolutely wrong about Australians giving up and equally wrong about the population of England, which grew by 25% from 1932 to 1982, not 100%.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule gives us H.G. Wells on Fridays.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

2 April 2015

Birthdays
Jesse Plemons b. 1988 (Battleship, Paul)
Shawn Roberts b. 1984 (Resident Evil, The Tomorrow People, Feed the Gods, A Little Bit Zombie, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Supernatural, Flash Gordon [TV], Jumper, Diary of the Dead, Skinwalkers, Land of the Dead, Starhunter, Earth: Final Conflict, X-Men, Goosebumps)
Bethany Joy Lenz b. 1981 (Charmed, Thinner)
Lindy Booth b. 1979 (The Librarians, Supernatural, Kick-Ass 2, Warehouse 13, Category 7: The End of the World, The 4400, Dawn of the Dead, Star Hunter [TV], Odyssey 5, Mutant X, Earth: Final Conflict, Eerie Indiana: The Other Dimension)
Michael Fassbinder b. 1977 (Prometheus, X-Men, Jonah Hex, Hex [TV])
Adam Goldberg b. 1976 (writer, Aliens in the Attic, How to Train Your Dragon, Area 52, Voltron Force, The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz)
Jenn MacLean-Angus b. 1976 (The Flash [2015], Continuum, Supernatural)
Adam Rodriguez b. 1975 (Category 7: The End of the World, Roswell)
Pedro Pascal b. 1975 (Bloodsucking Bastards, Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman, The Adjustment Bureau, Earth vs. the Spider [2001 TV], Buffy, Good vs Evil)
Jamison Newlander b. 1970 (The Lost Boys, The Blob)
Phil Grieve b. 1966 (Bridge to Terabithia, King Kong [2005], Lord of the Rings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Jana Marie Hupp b. 1964 (Independence Day, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Splash, Too)
Clark Gregg b. 1962 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Avengers, Thor, Iron Man, A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
Kevin Bernhardt b, 1961 (Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, Superboy)
Christopher Meloni b. 1961 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Man of Steel, True Blood, Carriers, Target Earth, Twelve Monkeys)
Allan Corduner b. 1950 (Utopia [2014 TV], Mr. Nobody)
Pamela Reed b. 1949 (Jericho, The Clan of the Cave Bear, The Right Stuff)
Ron Palillo b. 1949 died 14 August 2012 (Trees 2: The Root of All Evil, Hellgate, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI, The Invisible Woman)
Joan D. Vinge b. 1948 (won 1981 Hugo for The Snow Queen)
Linda Hunt b. 1945 (Carnivale, Dragonfly, Third Stone from the Sun, Space Rangers [TV], Dune)
Roshan Seth b. 1942 (Street Fighter, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
Cynthia Lynn b. 1936 died 10 March 2014 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Mr. Terrific)
Sharon Acker b. 1935 (Knight Rider, The Powers of Matthew Star, Threshold, The Incredible Hulk, Galactica 1980, Star Trek)
Brian Glover b. 1934 died 24 July 1977 (Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Alien³, Doctor Who, The Company of Wolves, An American Werewolf in London)
H. B. Haggerty b. 1925 died 27 January 2004 (The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Far Out Space Nuts)
Gloria Henry b. 1923 (Doin’ Time on Planet Earth)
Dabs Greer b. 1917 died 28 April 2007 (Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Werewolf [TV], Starman [TV], The Greatest American Hero, Shazam! [TV], The Invaders, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Adventures of Superman, The Vampire, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, House of Wax)
Sir Alec Guinness b. 1914 died 5 August 2000 (Star Wars, Scrooge, The Man in the White Suit)
Buddy Ebsen b. 1908 died 6 July 2003 (Twilight Zone, The Wizard of Oz)
Hans Christian Anderson b. 1805 died 4 August 1875 (Fairy Tales)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In 2013 and 2014, it was Sir Alec Guinness in the Picture Slot. This year, I want to repeat myself as little as possible and there were several actors I considered: Linda Hunt in Dune, Clark Gregg from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Pedro Pascal from Game of Thrones and the winner, Michael Fassbender as Magneto.

2. Spot the Canadians. There are four Canadian born actors on today's list. Sharon Acker's career was too early to take advantage of the Canuck sci-fi industry of the past few decades, but the other three are younger and their credit lists give significant clues. See if you can find them.

3. Wait... he's dead? Ron Palillo from Welcome Back, Kotter. I didn't get the memo and he died very young.

4. Wait... she's alive? Gloria Henry played Alice Mitchell on Dennis the Menace. I didn't know she was still around.

5. Fun facts to know and tell. I knew Buddy Ebsen was slated to play The Tin Man but the make-up made him sick. You can still hear his voice when the group sings We're Off to See the Wizard. The rest of the singing part is Jack Haley's voice, including If I Only Had a Heart.

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

Movie released
Clash of the Titans released, 2010
 

Predictor: Thomas Alva Edison in 1910, quoted in The Experts Speak.

Prediction: “In 15 years, more electricity will be sold for electric vehicles than for light.”

Reality: According to Wikipedia, in 1900 the top fuel source for cars was steam at 40%, electric at 38% and gasoline at 22%. The great drawbacks of electric cars was top speed (about 20 mph) and the range they could travel, but the ride was nice and smooth and they could start up easily on cold mornings, a big advantage over steam engines that could take 45 minutes to warm up. At the time Edison makes this prediction, electric cars are hitting their peak popularity and would wane into almost complete disuse, though with new technology they could make a comeback in the 21st Century.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Friday, so we'll hear from H.G. Wells.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

19 March 2015

 Birthdays
Kelly Vint b. 1982 (Space Jam, Stargate)
Abby Brammell b. 1979 (Bird of Prey)
Virginia Williams b. 1978 (Journeyman)
Jorma Taccone b. 1977 (The Watch, Land of the Lost)
Rachel Blanchard b. 1976 (The Rage: Carrie 2, Deadly Nightmares, War of the Worlds [TV])
Matthew Leitch b. 1975 (The Dark Knight, Below)
Dalton James b. 1971 (Encino Man)
Connor Trinneer b. 1969 (Unbelievable!, Star Runners, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Stargate: Atlantis, Star Trek: Enterprise, FreakyLinks, Sliders)
Woody Schultz b. 1968 (Avatar, Beowulf, Alien Hunter, Angel)
Jake Weber b. 1964 (Dawn of the Dead, Wendigo, Meet Joe Black, American Gothic)
Geoffrey Lower b. 1963 (Quantum Leap, Hook)
Bruce Willis b. 1955 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Looper, Surrogates, Planet Terror, The Astronaut Farmer, Sin City, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, Breakfast of Champions, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, Twelve Monkeys, Death Becomes Her, The Twilight Zone [1985])
Harvey Weinstein b. 1952 (producer, Halloween, Knight Rider, The Crow, Sin City, The Amityville Horror, Vampire Academy, Dark Skies, Escape for Planet Earth, Piranha 3D, Apollo 18, Spy Kids, The Mist, Planet Terror, The Prophecy, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D, Ella Enchanted, Lord of the Rings, Dracula 2000, The Prophecy, The Crow, The Faculty, Mimic)
Ron Clinton Smith b. 1951 (Coma [2012], The Mist)
Dermot Crowley b. 1947 (HG Wells: War with the World, Return of the Jedi)
Glenn Close b. 1947 (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Stepford Wives [2004], Mars Attacks!, Mary Reilly, Hook)
Ursula Andress b. 1936 (The Cave of the Golden Rose, Manimal, Clash of the Titans [1981], She)
Renee Taylor b. 1933 (Lois & Clark, Tales from the Darkside)
Phyllis Newman b. 1933 (Mannequin)
Philip Roth b. 1933 (author, The Plot Against America)
Jan Shepard b. 1928 (Land of the Giants, Attack of the Giant Leeches)
Patrick McGoohan b. 1928 died 13 January 2009 (Hysteria, The Phantom, Baby: The Secret of the Lost Legend, Scanners, The Prisoner)
Tige Andrews b. 1920 died 27 January 2007 (Mistfits of Science, Tucker’s Witch, Star Trek)
Eric Christmas b. 1916 died 22 July 2000 (The X Files, Eerie, Indiana, ALF, Misfits of Science, The Philadelphia Experiment, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, The Andromeda Strain, Mr. Scrooge)
Fred Clark b. 1914 (I Dream of Jeannie, The Addams Family, Dr, Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, Zotz!, Twilight Zone, Visit to a Small Planet)
Kent Smith b. 1907 died 23 April 1985 (Wonder Woman, Lost Horizon [1973], The Cat Creature, The Invaders, The Outer Limits, Moon Pilot, Cat People)
Roy Roberts b. 1906 died 28 May 1975 (Bewitched, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Twilight Zone, Topper [1954], House of Wax)
Sir Richard F. Burton b. 1821 died 20 October 1890 (translator, The Book of the Thousand and One Arabian Knights, Tales of Hindu Devilry)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the slot went to Connor Trineer from my least favorite Star Trek show and Patrick McGoohan from my favorite summer replacement for the Jackie Gleason Show. (Seriously, there is almost no way to explain how odd The Prisoner was on 1960s TV.) For this year, I considered it a three way race between Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element, Ursula Andress in She and the winner, Glenn Close from Guardians of the Galaxy. The tie breaker was which movie I liked the most.

2. The Gal at the Door and MST3K. Everyone younger than Jan Shepard is still alive and everyone older is gone. Technically, we don't if Ms. Shepard or Patrick McGoohan was born first back in 1928, but this does make her The Gal at the Door. Ms. Shepard's heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, when she made genre productions for which she is noted here as well as a couple of movies with Elvis. She has been married to actor Ray Boyle since 1954 and they are both still with us, so good on ya, lovebirds! Also, she's in Attack of the Giant Leeches, a movie that got the MST3K treatment.

3.  One hard to spot Canadian. Rachel Blanchard was born north of the border. War of the Worlds was a Canadian TV production from last century, but it's not as obvious a sign of Canadian content as more recent shows like Smallville or Supernatural.

4. Nepotism? Not here. The British singer Donovan's last name is Leitch and he has kids who went into show biz. Matthew Leitch is British, but he isn't related.

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

Predictor: Colonel John W. Thomason Jr, United States Marine Corps, November 1937, quoted in The Experts Speak

Prediction: “It is not possible… to concentrate enough military planes with military loads over a modern city to destroy it.”

Reality: Compare this to Billy Mitchell in 1925, predicting the Japanese would attack us by air in the Pacific, probably in Hawaii and the Philippines with the attack happening on a Sunday. When Mitchell says this, the technology really doesn't exist yet to make the attack possible. On the other hand, Thomason is making this prediction when the Flying Fortress was already in production and the B-25 was being tested. There were also major bombers being produced by the British and the Germans by 1937.

Clearly, there was a big disagreement in the military on the importance of air power and Thomason was on the losing side.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit with H.G. Wells.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

12 March 2015

 Birthdays
Will Cuddy b. 1992 (Grimm)
Jaimie Alexander b. 1984 (Thor, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ultradome, Kyle XY)
Samm Levine b. 1982 (Warehouse 13 , Vamped Out)
Aaron Farb b. 1982 (Powers, Revolution, Grimm)
Dave Eggers b. 1970 (screenwriter, Where the Wild Things Are)
Aaron Eckhart b. 1968 (I, Frankenstein, Battle Los Angeles, The Dark Knight, Neverwas, Paycheck, The Core, Aliens in the Family)
Tanveer K. Atwal (The Matrix Revolutions)
Titus Welliver b. 1961 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Touch, Grimm, Lost, Supernatural, Jericho, Star Trek: Voyager, Total Recall 2070 [TV], Kindred: The Embraced, The X-Files, Tales from the Crypt)
Courtney B. Vance b. 1960 (Final Destination 5, FlashForward, Space Cowboys, )
Jason Beghe b. 1960 (X-Men: First Class, The X-Files, Quantum Leap, Alien Nation [TV])
Chris Sanders b. 1960 (writer, The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast)
Lesley Manville b. 1956 (Maleficent, An Adventure in Space and Time, A Christmas Carol [2009])
Caren Kaye b. 1951 (Teen Witch, Out of This World, Amazing Stories, Monster Squad)
Laura Waterbury b. 12 March 1947 died 25 September 2013 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Mac and Me, Innerspace, the Twilight Zone [1985])
Liza Minnelli b. 1946 (Faerie Tale Theatre)
Jim Sharman b. 1945 (director, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Shock Treatment)
Gudrun Ure b. 1926 (The 10th Kingdom, Super Gran)
Harry Harrison b. 1925 died 15 August 2012 (author, Bill the Galactic Hero, The Stainless Steel Rat, Make Room! Make Room!)
Frank Campanella b. 1919 died 30 December 2006 (Salvage 1, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Captain Video)
Frank Overton b. 1918 died 24 April 1967 (Star Trek, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
Takashi Shimura b. 1905 died 11 February 1982 (Godzilla [1977 and 1954], Kwaidan, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Mothra, The Mysterians, Godzilla, King of the Monsters, Godzilla Raids Again )
Alfred Abel b. 1879 died 3 December 1937 (Metropolis)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was given to the lovely Jaimie Alexander from Thor and the handsome Frank Overton from Star Trek. There are some well-known faces born this day who still have careers, but I decided to go old school and have a picture of Takashi Shimura as the paleontologist from the original Godzilla. In the United States in the 1950s, it was the rare genre movie that had a budget big enough to attract A-List actors, but Shimura was definitely A-List in Japan. He was one of Kurosawa's favorite actors and had the role as the leader of The Seven Samurai, the role Yul Brynner took on in the American remake The Magnificent Seven. While he does have eight roles in genre films, imdb.com lists 233 credits from the 1930s to the 1980s. He was a movie star and he was a good one.

2. Nepotism FTW. Frank Campanella was Joseph Campanella's older brother, I'm not sure how much either influenced the other's career. Liza Minnelli, on the other hand, I have no problem saying her career started with nepotism, but I also have no problem saying she made the best of it. I mean, she ain't Lorna Luft.

3. Living Canadian free. It happens occasionally and this is one of those occasions. My trip to imdb.com turned up zero folks born north of the border this day.

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

Movie released 
The Andromeda Strain released, 1971

Predictor: Leo Cherne, editor-publisher of Research Institute of America in 1955, qutoed in The Experts Speak

Prediction: By 1965, the deluxe open-road car will probably be 20 feet long, powered by a gas turbine, little brother to the jet turbine.

Reality: Well, by 1966, there was maybe one car that fit that description, though not in the real world. 20 feet long is a whole lotta car and I don't know of any production vehicles that used gas turbines. In the late 1960s there was a turbine car that qualified for the Indianapolis 500, but the technology didn't catch on.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to H. G. Wells and his 1902 book Anticipations.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

5 March 2015

 Birthdays
Jake Lloyd b. 1989 (Star Wars-Episode I: Don’t Make Me Type the Name, Apollo 11)
Tania Saulnier b. 1982 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Slither, Supernatural, Smallville, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Hanna Alstrom b. 1981 (Real Humans)
Samantha Thomson b. 1981 (Primer)
Jolene Blalock b. 1975 (Legend of the Seeker, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate SG-1, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Good vs Evil)
Riki Lindhome b. 1979 (Big Bang Theory, Heroes, Buffy)
Kevin Cotteleer b. 1975 (Agent Carter, The Event, Men in Black II)
Eva Mendes b. 1974 (The Spirit, Holy Motors, Ghost Rider, Mortal Kombat: Conquest [TV])
Matt Lucas b. 1974 (Alice in Wonderland [2010], Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, The Wind in the Willows [2006], Shaun of the Dead, Captain V)
Lisa Robin Kelly b. 1970 died 15 August 2013 (Charmed, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The X Files)
Paul Blackthorne b. 1969 (Arrow, Warehouse 13, A Christmas Carol [2009], The Dresden Files)
David Palffy b. 1969 (Blade: The Series, Bloodsuckers, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Jeremiah, House of the Dead, Replicant, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, The New Addams Family, NightMan, Millennium, The X Files)
John Fawcett b. 1968 (director, Orphan Black, Bitten, Lost Girl, The Dresden Files, Blade: The Series, Mutant X, Xena, Ginger Snaps, Space Cases)
Aasif Mandvi b. 1966 (The Last Airbender, Jericho, Spider-Man 2)
Jonathan Penner b. 1962 (The Tick, Coneheads)
David Fury b. 1959 (writer/actor, Fringe Terra Nova, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, Lost, Angel, Buffy)
Talia Balsam b. 1959 (Early Edition, Tales from the Darkside, The Supernaturals)
Adriana Barraza b. 1956 (The Strain, Thor, Drag Me to Hell)
Penn Jillette b. 1955 (Babylon 5, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, VR.5, Lois & Clark)
Michael Warren b. 1946 (Buffy, Sliders, Invasion [1997 TV movie], Early Edition, Time Trax, Tales from the Darkside)
Murray Head b. 1946 (Gawain and the Green Knight)
Samantha Eggar b. 1939 (The Astronaut’s Wife, Mann & Machine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Demonoid: Messenger of Death, The Brood, Doctor Doolittle [1967])
Fred Williamson b. 1938 (Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption, Knight Rider [2009], Vegas Vampires, From Dusk Till Dawn, Warriors of the Wasteland, Warriors of the Lost World, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Star Trek)
Dean Stockwell b. 1936 (The Dunwich Horror [1970 and 2009], Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: Enterprise, Phenomenon: The Lost Archives, CQ, They Nest, Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights, The Langoliers, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone [1989 and 1962], Dune, The Boy with Green Hair)
Dawn Richard b. 1936 (I Was a Teenage Werewolf)
Paul Sand b. 1935 (Sliders, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The X Files, Eerie, Indiana, Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone [1987], The Legend of Sleepy Hollow [1980], Wonder Woman, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, Bewitched)
James Sikking b. 1934 (Morons from Outer Space, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Outland, Capricorn One, The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, Man From Atlantis, The Terminal Man, Six Million Dollar Man, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, The Invaders, My Favorite Martian, The Outer Limits)
Nicholas Smith b. 1934 (The Ghouls, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde [1973 TV], The Champions, Doctor Who, Pathfinders to Mars)
Jack Cassidy b. 1927 died 12 December 1976 (Bewitched)
James Noble b. 1922 (Elidor, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Virginia Christine b. 1920 died 24 July 1996 (The Invaders, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, Twilight Zone, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Adventures of Superman, The Mummy’s Curse)
Ursula Reit b. 1914 died 9 November 1998 (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
Rex Harrison b. 1908 died 2 June 1990 (Doctor Dolittle [1967], The Ghost and Mrs. Muir [1947], Blithe Spirit)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years i used Dean Stockwell and Jolene Blalock. Since I am trying not to repeat myself, as much as I hate the movie, I have to admit Jake Lloyd as Anakin is iconic. Other names are well known, but I'm going with this guy this year.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are three. They are spottable. Knock yourself out.

3. Nepotism or not? Talia Balsam, Roger Sterling's wive on Mad Men, is Martin Balsam's daughter. Murray Head is the older brother of Anthony Stewart Head. Jack Cassidy was married to Shirley Jones and is the father of David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy. I'm not sure how much of a help to their careers these family relationships were.

4. Gone too soon. Speaking of Jack Cassidy, he died in a fire in his apartment, assumed to be started by a dropped cigarette. Lisa Robin Kelly, best know as the older sister on That's 70s Show, died in rehab.

5. Wait... he's alive? James Noble is best known as the governor on Benson. I clicked on his name on imdb.com because I recognized his picture and decided to check his credits. He played the governor on Benson. I was surprised both at how old he was and that he was still alive. Good on ya , Mr. Noble and many happy returns.

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

Predictor: The New York Times, 5 November, 1932, the Saturday before Election Day

Prediction: The re-election of President Hoover with at least 270 votes in the electoral college, four in excess of a majority, is predicted in a statistical study of vote percentages in several states, based on a poll taken by the Hearst publications.

Reality: FDR won the electoral college 472 to 59, and the popular vote by 7,000,000 when the total votes were less than 40,000,000. In other words, this one wasn't close. Modern methods should avoid this kind of screw-up, but Gallup in 2012 were sure the turnout would be more like the midterm in 2010 than the general election in 2008 and predicted Romney over Obama. Then again, Obama beat Romney, he didn't obliterate him, and better polling companies than Gallup had Obama leading all the way.

Seriously, not many companies go from the gold standard to crap and survive, but that description fits Gallup to a tee these days. If there weren't people who want to be lied to, Gallup would dry up and blow away.


 Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another dip into H.G. Wells' book Anticipations.

Join is then... IN THE FUTURE!

  

26 February 2015

Birthdays
Taylor Dooley b. 1993 (Monster Night, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D)
Max Lloyd-Jones b. 1991 (iZombie, Teen Wolf [2014], Supernatural)
Teresa Palmer b. 1986 (Parts Per Billion, Warm Bodies, I Am Number Four, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Grudge 2)
Shiloh Fernandez b. 1985 (Evil Dead, Red Riding Hood, Deadgirl, Jericho)
James Wan b. 1977 (director, Insidious, The Conjuring, Dead Silence, Saw)
Drew Goddard b. 1975 (writer, Daredevil [2015 TV], World War Z, The Cabin in the Woods, Cloverfield, Lost, Angel, Buffy)
Meeno Peluce b. 1970 (Manimal, Voyagers!, World War III, The Amityville Horror, The Incredible Hulk)
Ed Quinn b. 1968 (Eureka, Behemoth, True Blood, House of the Dead 2)
Ross Partridge b. 1968 (The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Quantum Leap, The Flash [1991 TV])
Jennifer Grant b. 1966 (Time Trax)
Marc Dacascos b. 1964 (Mortal Kombat: Legacy [TV], Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight, Wolvesbayne, Stargate: Atlantis, Solar Attack, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven [TV], The Island of Dr, Moreau, Tales from the Crypt, The Flash [1990 TV])
Chase Masterson b. 1963 (The Flash [2015], Manticore, Creature Unknown, Terminal Invasion, Deep Space Nine, Digital Man, Sliders)
Greg Germann b. 1958 (Eureka, Child’s Play 2)
Jonathan Schmock b. 1956 (Big Bang Theory, Star Trek: Enterprise. They Came from Outer Space [TV], ALF)
Barbara Niven b. 1953 (Charmed, I Married a Monster, Humanoids from the Deep)
Marta Kristen b. 1945 (Lost in Space [1998 and 1965], Battle Beyond the Stars, Project U.F.O.)
Bill Duke b. 1943 (director, Twilight Zone [1987], Starman [TV]; actor, Battledogs, X-Men: The Last Stand, Battlestar Galactica, Predator)
Tony Selby b. 1938 (Cockneys vs Zombies, Doctor Who, Superman, Witchfinder General)
Cliff Osmond b. 1937 died 22 December 2012 (Knight Rider, The Invisible Man [1975], The Six Million Dollar Man, Invasion of the Bee Girls, Land of the Giants, Batman, My Living Doll, Twilight Zone)
Jane Wagner b. 1935 (writer, The Incredible Shrinking Woman)
Godfrey Cambridge b. 1933 died 29 November 1976 (Beware! The Blob)
Lawrence Montaigne b. 1931 (Escape to Witch Mountain, Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Batman, The Time Tunnel)
Tony Randall b. 1920 died 17 May 2004 (The Seven Faces of Dr, Lao, The Brass Bottle)
Mason Adams b. 1919 died 26 April 2005 (From the Earth to the Moon, Not of this Earth, Toy Soldiers, Omen III: The Final Conflict, Revenge of the Stepford Wives)
Theodore Sturgeon b 1918 died 8 may 1985 (writer, More Than Human, Amok Time)
Robert Alda b. 1914 died 3 May 1986 (Beyond Westworld, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, The Amazing Spider-Man [1978], The Invisible Man [1975])
Dane Clark b. 1912 died 11 February 1998 (The Twilight Zone)
Dub Taylor b. 1907 died 3 October 1994 (Back to the Future III, Starman [1987 TV], Creature from Black Lake, Mr. Terrific, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone, Them!)
William Frawley b. 1887 died 3 March 1966 (My Living Doll, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. A lot of well known names on today's list, especially in the crowd born before World War II, but for iconic in genre, my top three would be Marta Kristen from Lost in Space, who had the Picture Slot last year, Lawrence Montaigne as Stonn from Amok Time and Chase Masterson as the Bajoran dabo girl Leeta. And somehow I chose the fabulous babe. What an odd coincidence.

2. Nepotism, definitely and maybe. The nepotism today is definitely old school, though one case is stronger than the others. Jennifer Grant is the daughter of Dyan Cannon and Cary Grant. Barbara Niven had a career as an actress when she married David Niven, Jr., so I don't know how much the name helped. Robert Alda is the dad of Alan Alda, but he had a career long before Alan did. The only dad I can think of who I would definitely count as a beneficiary of nepotism is Rance Howard.

3. Stuff you learn when you do research. On imdb.com, every blurb gives one production the actor/writer/director/whatever was associated with. Sometimes those productions are genre and I obviously put them on the list, unless it turns out to be direct to video. Other actors are familiar names to me and I check them just to make sure. For example, today I clicked on Jackie Gleason and he had no genre work I could find. On the other hand, I added William Frawley, Dub Taylor, Robert Alda, Mason Adams and Godfrey Cambridge without knowing for sure they did any genre when I clicked on their names.

4. Spot the British Canadian! Max Lloyd-Jones was born in England, but moved to Vancouver to find work. If I was a young actor today, I'd certainly consider that possibility.

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

Predictor: Richard Nixon on 15 October 1965

Prediction: If the United States gives up in Vietnam, the Pacific Ocean will become a Red Sea.

Reality: There was a lot of doom and gloom predicted about what failure in Vietnam would mean, but much of it, like this Nixon quote, was remarkably overblown. We lost and the world didn't collapse. Maybe it wasn't as strategically important as we were lead to believe.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We hear again from H.G. Wells, though we'll leave the racist crap alone for a week.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

12 February 2015

Birthdays
Sam Webb b. 1997 (Transcendence, Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer)
Jennifer Stone b. 1993 (Deadtime Stories, Wizards of Waverly Place)
Afshan Azad b. 1988 (Harry Potter)
Anna Hopkins b. 1987 (Lost Girl, Arrow, Stephen King’s Dead Zone)
Clare-Hope Ashitey b. 1987 (Children of Men)
Valorie Curry b. 1986 (Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2)
Sam Kennard b. 1982 (The Dark Knight Rises)
Enver Gjokaj b. 1980 (Agent Carter, Extant, Witches of East End, The Walking Dead, Marvel’s The Avengers, Dollhouse)
Christina Ricci b. 1980 (After.Life, Speed Racer, The Gathering, Sleepy Hollow [movie], Casper, Addams Family, Addams Family Values)
Sarah Lancaster b. 1980 (Witches of East End, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Jesse Spencer b. 1979 (Time Trax)
Michael Bower b. 1975 (Wishcraft, Dark Angel, Evolution, Dude, Where’s My Car?, The X Files, Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, Weird Science [TV], Tales from the Crypt)
Lisa Brenner b. 1974 (The Librarian)
Darren Aronofsky b. 1969 (director, The Fountain, Pi)
Josh Brolin b. 1968 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Men in Black 3, Jonah Hex, Planet Terror, Hollow Man, Mimic)
Lochlyn Munro b. 1966 (Tomorrowland, Arrow, Lost Girl, Mysterious Island [2012], Infection: The Invasion Begins, Xtinction: Predator X, Smallville, Andromeda, Dead Like Me, Freddy vs. Jason, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Dracula 2000, Charmed, Welcome to Paradox, Dead Man on Campus, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Sliders, Highlander [TV], Needful Things, The Girl from Mars)
David Joseph Steinberg b. 1965 died 16 March 2010 (Transylmania, Charmed, Willow)
Alex Meneses b. 1965 (Amanda and the Alien)
Christine Elise b. 1965 (Charmed, Escape from Mars, Body Snatchers, Child’s Play 2)
Raphael Sbarge b. 1964 (Once Upon a Time, No Ordinary Family, Heroes, Dollhouse, Journeyman, Threshold, Charmed, Dark Skies, Independence Day, Star Trek: Voyager, SeaQuest 2032, Carnosaur, The Hidden II, Quantum Leap, Monsters, Werewolf, My Science Project)
John Michael Higgins b. 1963 (Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Blade: Trinity, Bicentennial Man, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], From the Earth to the Moon, Weird Science [TV], Vampire’s Kiss)
Sigrid Thornton b. 1959 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Trapped in Space)
Fraser Clarke Heston b. 1955 (director, Needful Things)
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 (Relic Hunter, Dark Realm, The Dinosaur Hunter, Earth: Final Conflict, Poltergeist: The Legacy [TV], Wing Commander, NightMan, Manimal, The Sword and the Sorceror, Hammer House of Horror, Quatermass)
Larry Joshua b. 1952 (Lost, Spider-Man, The X Files, Conan, War of the Worlds [TV])
Michael Ironside b. 1950 (Turbo Kid, Extraterrestrial, 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)
Robin Thomas Grossman b. 1949 (Pacific Rim, Clockstoppers, Halloweentown I & II)
Ray Kurzweil b. 1948 (author, The Age of Spiritual Machines, The Singularity is Near)
Maud Adams b. 1945 (Rollerball)
David Seltzer b. 1940 (screenwriter, Prophecy, The Omen, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Hellstrom Chronicle)
Richard Lynch b. 1940 died 19 June 2012 (The Lords of Salem, Halloween [2007], Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy, The Mummy’s Kiss, Charmed, Highlander [TV], Necromicon: Book of Dead, Star Trek: Next Generation, Merlin, Super Force, Alligator II: the Mutation, Invasion Force, Manimal, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Phoenix, Werewolf, The Barbarians, Automan, Battlestar Galactica, Vampire, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Bionic Woman)
Ralph Bates b. 1940 died 27 March 1991 (Moonbase 3, Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Lust for a Vampire, The Horror of Frankenstein, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Joe Don Baker b. 1936 (Mars Attacks!, Congo, Leonard Part 6)
Paul Shenar b. 1936 died 11 October 1989 (Logan’s Run [TV], Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, Gemini Man, The Invisible Man [TV])
Annette Crosbie b. 1934 (Into the Woods, Doctor Who, Hawk the Slayer, The Slipper and the Rose)
Lincoln Kilpatrick b. 1932 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)
H.M. Wynant b. 1927 (The Lost Skeleton Returns Again, Trail of the Screaming Forehead, SeaQuest 2032, Solar Crisis, Earthbound, Future Cop, The Six Million Dollar Man, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Batman, Twilight Zone, Men Into Space)
Forrest Tucker b. 1919 died 25 October 1986 (The Bionic Woman, The Ghost Busters [TV], The Crawling Eye, The Cosmic Monster, The Abominable Snowman)
Lorne Greene b. 1915 died 11 September 1987 (Battlestar Galactica)
Wallace Ford b. 1898 died 11 June 1966 (Harvey, The Ape Man, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Hand)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. A long list today and several names stand out. I used Michael Ironside from Starship Troopers in the Picture Slot previously, but there are plenty of good choices, so no repeats this year. From oldest to youngest, the best candidates are Lorne Greene from Battlestar Galactica, Simon McCorkindale from Manimal, Enver Gjokaj from several of his TV shows and Clare-Hope Ashitey as the pregnant woman from Children of Men, but instead I went with Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams. She has grown into an attractive woman, so I have no qualms about using the fabulous babe label here.

2. Nepotism FTW. Josh Brolin has been in so many big budget productions, he no longer has to be introduced as James Brolin's kid. Fraser Clarke Heston on the other hand... he's still Charlton Heston's son and without much chance of equaling or eclipsing his dad's career.

3. A list honeycombed with Canadians. Lochlyn Munro has a very typical Canadian resume, Anna Hopkins is a little harder to detect. But unless you make a hobby of knowing who was born in Canada, you wouldn't be able to guess Lorne Greene and Michael Ironside.

4. MST3K. The Crawling Eye with Forrest Tucker was the very first movie that got the MST3K treatment. While it's not a genre production, Joe Don Baker in Mitchell is a very well-known episode.

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

Predictor: David Sarnoff, chairman of RCA, 1955

Prediction: “I do not hesitate to forecast that atomic batteries will be commonplace long before 1980. It can be taken for granted that before that date, ships, aircraft, locomotives and even automobiles will be atomically fueled.”

Reality: The first nuclear powered submarine was launched in 1954 and the whole Atoms for Peace thing was in full swing when Sarnoff made this prediction. The 1970s did see the start of nuclear powered aircraft carriers, but other than governmental customers, atomic power for moving vehicles didn't pan out.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit from H.G. Wells with a prediction that doesn't make him look like a racist scumbag.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!