28 August 2015

Birthdays
Quvenzhane Wallis b. 2003 (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Kyle Massey b. 1991 (Gotham)
Katie Findlay b. 1990 (After the Dark, Continuum, Crash Site, SGU Stargate Universe, Fringe)
Armie Hammer b. 1986 (Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, Mirror Mirror, 2081, Reaper)
Sarah Roemer b. 1984 (The Event, The Grudge 2)
Carly Pope b. 1980 (The Tomorrow People, Elysium, Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, The 4400, 10.5: Apocalypse, Jake 2.0, NightMan)
Kelly Overton b. 1978 (True Blood, Beauty and the Beast [2012], Tekken, The Ring Two)
Amber Sainsbury b. 1978 (Fairy Tales, 30 Days of Night, Hex, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Nick E. Tarabay b. 1975 (Arrow, Believe, Star Trek Into Darkness)
Eugene Byrd b. 1975 (True Blood, American Horror Story, Eureka, Night Stalker [2006])
Kristin Booth b. 1974 (Orphan Black, Supernatural, ReGenesis, Total Recall 2070)
J. August Richards b. 1973 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow, Warehouse 13, The 4400, Angel, Sliders, Space: Above and Beyond)
Stephanie Belding b. 1971 (Lost Girl, Eureka, Watchmen, Reaper, Earth: Final Conflict, eXistenZ)
Daniel Goddard b. 1971 (Immortally Yours, Dream Warrior, BeastMaster)
Jack Black b. 1969 (Ghost Ghirls, Gulliver’s Travels, King Kong, The X-Files, Waterworld, The Neverending Story III, Demolition Man)
Jason Priestley b. 1969 (Haven, Day of the Triffids [2009], Termination Point, Jeremiah, Quantum Leap)
Billy Boyd b. 1968 (Space Milkshake, The Witches of Oz, Glenn, the Flying Robot, Lord of the Rings, Seed of Chucky, Urban Ghost Story)
Amanda Tapping b. 1965 (Supernatural, Stargate, Space Milkshake, Sanctuary, Earthsea, The X Files, Flash Forward, Forever Knight)
Dermot Keaney b. 1964 (Atlantis [TV], Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Strange)
Melissa Rosenberg b. 1962 (writer, Twilight)
David Fincher b. 1962 (director, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alien³)
Jennifer Coolidge b. 1961 (Click, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Not of this Earth)
Emma Samms b. 1960 (The Little Unicorn, Humanoids from the Deep, Tales from the Crypt, Lois & Clark, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Arabian Adventure)
Brian Thompson b. 1959 (Flight of the Living Dead, Star Trek: Enterprise, Epoch: Evolution, Charmed, Birds of Prey, The X Files, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Buffy, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, DragonHeart, Deep Space Nine, Weird Science, Kindred: The Embraced, Hercules, Star Trek: Generations, Doctor Mordred, Superboy, Alien Nation [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation, Fright Night Part 2, Werewolf, Knight Rider, Otherworld, The Terminator)
John Allen Nelson b. 1959 (Knight Rider, Seven Days, Quantum Leap, Killer Klowns from Outer Space)
Daniel Stern b. 1957 (SeaQuest 2032, Little Monsters, Leviathan, C.H.U.D.)
Rick Rossovich b. 1957 (Legend of the Lost Tomb, Black Scorpion, Future Shock, Tales from the Crypt, The Terminator)
Luis Guzman b. 1956 (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Rise of the Damned, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, SeaQuest 2032, Innocent Blood, *batteries not included)
Vonda N. McIntyre b. 1948 (won 1979 Hugo and Nebula for Dreamsnake, won 1998 Nebula for The Moon and the Sun)
Alice Playten b. 1947 died 25 June 2011 (Pioneer 12, Legend, Disco Beaver from Outer Space, The Lost Saucer)
David Soul b. 1943 (Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, Deadly Nightmares, World War III, Salem’s Lot, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie)
Ken Jenkins b. 1940 (The X Files, Sliders, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Abyss, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Donald O’Connor b. 1925 died 27 September 2003 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 and 1983], The Bionic Woman, The Wonders of Aladdin)
Nancy Kulp b. 1921 died 3 February 1991 (Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone, Moon Pilot)
Jack Kirby b. 1917 died 6 February 1994 (artist, Marvel and DC comics)
Jack Vance b. 1916 died 23 May 2013 (author, The Dying Earth, Big Planet)
Simon Oakland b. 1915 died 29 August 1983 (Tucker’s Witch, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Starlost, Captain Nice, The Satan Bug, The Outer Limits, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Morris Ankrum b. 1897 died 2 September 1964 (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, From the Earth to the Moon, Giant from the Unknown, Beginning of the End, The Giant Claw, Kronos, Zombies of Mora Tau, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Invaders from Mars, Red Planet Mars, Rocketship X-M)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I used Jack Kirby and J. August Richards. There were several options for today - David Soul from Star Trek, Brian Thompson from any of a number of roles, Billy Boyd from Lord of the Rings, Jack Black from King Kong - but I decided to go with Quvenzhane Wallis facing off with the Auroch from the end of Beasts of the Southern Wild.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are six today: Katie Findlay, Carly Pope, Kristin Booth, Stephanie Belding, Jason Priestley and Amanda Tapping.

3. Wait... she's dead? Alice Playten was a comic actress who did a lot of voice work. I remember her from Martin Mull's first album and from National Lampoon's Lemmings. I still haven't quite processed that she is dead.

4. MST3K. Morris Ankrum spent most of his career in Westerns, but he also made a lot of 1950s sci-fi, so many of them I saw when I was a kid watching TV in the 1960. Two of his movies got the Best Brains treatment, Beginning of the End and Rocketship X-M.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1901 book Anticipations

Prediction:  How will the New Republic treat the inferior races? How will it deal with the black? how will it deal with the yellow man? how will it tackle that alleged termite in the civilized woodwork, the Jew? Certainly not as races at all. It will aim to establish, and it will at last, though probably only after a second century has passed, establish a world-state with a common language and a common rule. All over the world its roads, its standards, its laws, and its apparatus of control will run. It will, I have said, make the multiplication of those who fall behind a certain standard of social efficiency unpleasant and difficult, and it will have cast aside any coddling laws to save adult men from themselves. It will tolerate no dark corners where the people of the Abyss may fester, no vast diffused slums of peasant proprietors, no stagnant plague-preserves. Whatever men may come into its efficient citizenship it will let come--white, black, red, or brown; the efficiency will be the test. And the Jew also it will treat as any other man. It is said that the Jew is incurably a parasite on the apparatus of credit. If there are parasites on the apparatus of credit, that is a reason for the legislative cleaning of the apparatus of credit, but it is no reason for the special treatment of the Jew. If the Jew has a certain incurable tendency to social parasitism, and we make social parasitism impossible, we shall abolish the Jew, and if he has not, there is no need to abolish the Jew. We are much more likely to find we have abolished the Caucasian solicitor.

Reality: Wells is listed as a socialist, but this version of race relations sounds a lot like the conservative argument for "color-blindness", which means other races, if lucky, can eventually become honorary white people.

So yet again, we find H.G. Wells is a scumbag.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

This month, I read Brave New World for the first time and I will give a book report. The ghost of Aldous Huxley will not be pleased.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 August 2015

Birthdays
Cameron Monaghan b. 1993 (Amityville, Gotham, Vampire Academy, Fringe, Click, Threshold)
Evanna Lynch b. 1991 (Sinbad, Harry Potter)
Kevin G. Schmidt b. 1988 (The Butterfly Effect, Taken)
Arden Cho b. 1985 (Teen Wolf, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid)
Agnes Brucker b. 1985 (The Returned, Once Upon a Time, Venom)
Todd Haberkorn b. 1982 (Star Trek Continues, Warehouse 13)
Cam Gigandet b. 1982 (Priest, Pandorum, The Unborn, Twilight)
George Stults b. 1975 (Hydra, Night Skies)
Donovan Leitch Jr. b. 1967 (The Blob)
Andy Milder b. 1965 (Transformers, Star Trek: Voyager, Good vs Evil, Armageddon, From the Earth to the Moon, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Apollo 13)
William Salyers b. 1964 (Bedazzled)
Christine Cavanaugh b. 1963 died 22 December 2014 (Dexter’s Laboratory, The X-Files, Babe)
Steve Carell b. 1962 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Bewitched [2005])
Elpidia Carillo b. 1961 (Solaris, Predator 1 and 2)
Timothy Hutton b. 1960 (The Last Mimzy, Iceman)
Angela Bassett b. 1958 (American Horror Story, Green Lantern, Supernova, Contact, Strange Days, Vampire in Brooklyn, Innocent Blood, Critters 4, The Flash, Alien Nation [TV])
Laura Innes b. 1957 (Warehouse 13, Awake, The Event, Deep Impact, The Fury)
Jeff Perry b. 1955 (Fringe, Invasion, Lost, American Gothic, The Flash)
Josh Clark b. 1955 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Heroes, Star Trek: Voyager, The Invisible Man, Babylon 5, Millennium, Big, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
James Cameron b. 1954 (director, Avatar, Dark Angel, Terminator 2:Judgment Day, The Abyss, Aliens, The Terminator, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning)
Reginald VelJohnson b. 1952 (Ghostbusters, Wolfen)
Marshall Manesh b. (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The X Files, Kazaam)
Lesley Ann Warren b. 1946 (Wolf Girl, Faerie Tale Theatre, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!)
Bob Balaban b. 1945 (Lady in the Water, Amazing Stories, 2010, Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
Sharon Baird b. 1943 (Ratboy, Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Pufnstuf)
Maurice Hurley b. 1939 died 25 February 2015 (writer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Firebird 2015 AD)
Carole Shelley b. 1939 (Bewitched [2005], Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1956])
Anita Gillette b. 1936 (Pinocchio [1968 TV])
Donnie Dunagan b. 1934 (Son of Frankenstein)
Sir John Standing b. 1934 (Game of Thrones, V for Vendetta, Lexx, Gulliver’s Travels, Eerie, Indiana, Space: 1999)
Julie Newmar b. 1933 (Oblivion 1 and 2, Deep Space, The Powers of Matthew Star, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Jason of Star Command, The Bionic Woman, Monster Squad, Bewitched, Star Trek, Batman, My Living Doll, Twilight Zone)
Robert Culp b. 1930 died 24 March 2010 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Conan [TV], Lois & Clark, The Greatest American Hero, The Outer Limits, Now is Tomorrow)
Ann Blyth b. 1928 (Twilight Zone, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid)
Lois Nettleton b. 1927 died 18 January 2008 (Babylon 5, The Flash, The Munsters Today, The Bamboo Saucer, Twilight Zone, Captain Video)
Fess Parker b. 1924 died 18 March 2010 (Them!)
Mae Clarke b. 1910 died 29 April 1992 (Batman, Frankenstein)
Glenn Strange b. 1899 died 20 September 1973 (Space Patrol, Master Minds, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, House of Dracula, House of Frankenstein, The Monster Maker, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mad Monster, Flash Gordon)
Hugo Gernsback b. 1884 died 19 August 1967 (editor, Amazing Stories, Wonder Stories)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went a little old school with the fabulous Julie Newmar and really old school with Hugo Gernsback. Using the no repeats rule, there were three people I considered: Glenn Strange, the little known actor who took over the role of Frankenstein's monster when Boris Karloff wearied of it, the director James Cameron and the winner, Evanna Lynch, best known as Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series


2. Spot the Canadian! James Cameron is Canadian. I've always thought of Canadians as relatively nice and modest people. Maybe they keep that reputation by exporting (or is it deporting?) braggarts like Cameron.

3. Nepotism FTW. Timothy Hutton is the son of actor Jim Hutton. The son's career has eclipse the father's, but I expect it helped early on. Donovan Leitch Jr. is the son of Donovan Leitch Sr. While I'm not sure how much a musician counts as a nepotistic advantage in a career on film, it should be noted his sister Ione Skye also has a career.


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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Monday = OMNI Future Almanac, my steady and reliable source of predictions since the blog began.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

9 August 2015

Birthdays
Bill Skarsgard b. 1990 (Hemlock Grove)
Adelaide Kane b. 1990 (Teen Wolf, The Purge, Power Rangers R.P.M.)
Anna Kendrick b. 1985 (Into the Woods, Twilight Saga)
Ashley Johnson b. 1983 (The Avengers, Dollhouse, Roswell, Lloyd in Space)
Daniel Henshall b. 1982 (The Babadook)
Alexia Fairbrother b. 1980 (Witches of East End, Continuum, Supernatural, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)
Rhona Mitra b. 1976 (The Last Ship, SGU Stargate Universe, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Doomsday, Hollow Man, Beowulf, Ghostbusters of East Finchley)
James Lafazanos b. 1976 (12 Monkeys [TV], The Time Traveler’s Wife, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis)
Jessica Capshaw b. 1976 (Minority Report)
Anjali Jay b. 1975 (The Age of Adaline, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Continuum, Supernatural)
Nicola Stapleton b. 1974 (Urban Ghost Story, Simon and the Witch, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel)
Kevin McKidd b. 1973 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Journeyman, The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns)
Liz Vassey b. 1972 (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, The Tick, The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Superboy)
Ryan Bollman b. 1972 (Star Trek: Voyager, Good vs Evil, The Neverending Story III, Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, Small Wonder, Starman [TV])
Thomas Lennon b. 1970 (actor, The Dark Knight Rises, Hot Tub Time Machine; writer, Battle of the Smithsonian)
McG b. 1968 (director, Terminator Salvation)
Eric Bana b. 1968 (The Time Traveler’s Wife, Star Trek [2009], Hulk)
Gillian Anderson b. 1968 (Robot Overlords, The X Files)
Josh Cox b. 1965 (Revolution, Thor, A.I. Assault, Babylon 5, Sliders, Quantum Leap, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Amanda Bearse b. 1958 (Here Come the Munsters, Fright Night)
Melanie Griffith b. 1957 (Cherry 2000)
Adam Nimoy b. 1956 (director, The Invisible Man [TV], Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Early Edition, Sliders, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
John Varley b. 1947 (author, Eight Worlds, Gaean, Slow Apocalypse)
Sam Elliott b. 1944 (Hulk, Frogs, Land of the Giants)
David Steinberg b. 1942 (director, Twilight Zone [1985])
Burton Gilliam b. 1938 (Sliders, Weird Science [TV], The Terror Within II, Back to the Future Part III, Knight Rider, The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite)
Dick Anthony Williams b. 1934 died 16 February 2012 (The X Files, Edward Scissorhands, Space, The Powers of Matthew Star, Omen III: The Final Conflict, Brave New World, Man from Atlantis)
Daniel Keyes b. 1927 died 15 June 2014 (Won 1960 Hugo for the short story Flowers for Algernon and the 1967 Nebula for the novel length version)
John Stevenson b. 1923 died 15 May 2015 (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invaders)
Robert Aldrich b. 1918 died 5 December 1983 (director, Twilight’s Last Gleaming)
Leo Genn b. 1905 died 26 January 1978 (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [TV movie 1968], The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse)
P.L. Travers b. 1899 died 23 April 1996 (author, Mary Poppins)
Kathleen Lockhart b. 1894 died 17 February 1978 (A Christmas Carol [1938])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Today has a fabulous babe vibe for me. Previous Picture Slotters were Gillian Anderson - the most obvious choice - and Liz Vassey from the live action version of The Tick. While there are some recognizable actors on the list, I'm going with Anna Kendrick as Cinderella for two strong reasons, she's fabulous and I'm a huge Sondheim nerd.

2. Spot the Canadians! Knowing David Steinberg is Canadian is trivia knowledge and not spottable from this list. James Lafazanos is more spottable and was born north of the border, while Alexia Fairtbrother and Anjali Jay were born elsewhere and moved to Canada, which seems like a fairly obvious career choice nowadays.

3. Nepotism FTW. There's a lot today. Bill Skarsgard is Stellan's son and Alexander's baby brother, Jessica Capshaw is Kate's daughter and Spielberg's step-daughter, I don't have to tell you who Adam Nimoy's dad is, and Melanie Griffith is Tippi Hedren's daughter. You would think being Tippi's kid would be a really good lesson as to why you did not want to be an actress, but I guess the lesson Melanie learned was that her mom was unlucky to get her career ruined by Hitchcock, which was certainly true.

4. The Guy at the Door. The oldest living person on the list today is Burton Gilliam and everyone younger than him is still alive, so he's The Guy at the Door. He did a lot of westerns and has kind of a goofy grin; his best known role is probably in Blazing Saddles.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We will hear from Robert A. Heinlein and his guesses about the inventions of the late 20th Century.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

25 July 2015

Birthdays
Mason Cook b. 2000 (Mockingbird Lane, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D)
Preston Bailey b. 2000 (Children of the Corn [2009])
Andrew Caldwell b. 1989 (Transformers)
Linsey Godfrey b. 1988 (Altergeist, Wizards of Waverly Place, Surface)
Michael Welch b. 1987 (Z Nation, Twilight, Grimm, Day of the Dead, Stargate SG-1, Birds of Prey, The Invisible Man, The X-Files, Star Trek: Insurrection)
Kevin Buttimer b. 1987 (Ant-Man)
Shantel VanSanten b. 1985 (The Messengers, The Flash, Something Wicked, Beauty and the Beast [2013])
James Lafferty b. 1985 (Oculus, S. Darko)
Jay R. Ferguson b. 1974 (No Ordinary Family, Surface)
Jason Marin b. 1974 (Back to the Future)
Aaron Craven b. 1974 (The Flash, The Age of Adaline, 100,000 Zombie Heads, Supernatural, Continuum, Fringe, Smallville, Alien Trespass, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Stargate: Atlantis, Kyle XY, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone)
Michael C. Williams b. 1973 (The Objective, Altered, The Blair Witch Project)
David Denman b. 1973 (After Earth, Angel, The X-Files)
Miriam Shor b. 1971 (Bedazzled)
D.B. Woodside b. 1969 (Buffy)
Matt LeBlanc b. 1967 (Lost in Space [1998])
Elke Jeinsen b. 1966 (Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV)
Illeana Douglas b. 1965 (Mega Shark vs. Kolossus, The Coven, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Strange Frequency)
Iman b. 1955 (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Lynne Frederick b. 1954 died 27 April 1994 (Space: 1999, The Canterville Ghost, Phase IV, Vampire Circus, No Blade of Grass)
Nina Thomas b. 1952 (Doctor Who)
Janet Margolin b. 1943 died 17 December 1993 (Ghostbusters II, Planet Earth)
Pilar Seurat b. 1938 died 2 June 2001 (Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Todd Armstrong b. 1937 died 17 November 1992 (The Greatest American Hero, Jason and the Argonauts)
Paul Collins b. 1937 (The Breed, The Invisible Man [2000], Dead man on Campus, Deep Space Nine, Quantum Leap)
August Schellenberg b. 1936 died 15 August 2013 (SGU Stargate Universe, Mysterious Ways, So Weird, Friday’s Curse, Deadly Nightmares)
Barbara Harris b. 1935 (Nice Girls Don’t Explode)
Ken Swofford b. 1933 (Max Headroom, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Girl with Something Extra, The Andromeda Strain, The Intruders, Shadow on the Land)
Al Adamson b. 1929 died 2 August 1995 (Death Dimension, Doctor Dracula, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Brain of Blood, Horror of the Blood Monsters, Blood of Dracula’s Castle)
Jerry Paris b. 1925 died 31 March 1986 (director, The Munsters)
Estelle Getty b. 1923 died 22 July 2008 (Mannequin)
Woody Strode b. 1914 died 31 December 1994 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Kingdom of the Spiders, Batman)
Jack Gilford b. 1908 died 2 June 1990 (Cocoon, Anna to the Infinite Power, Caveman)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot, with extra "Wait... he's dead?" goodness. This is not a list weighed down with A-List stars. In previous years, I went full Whedonverse nerd with David Denman (the demon Skip from Angel) and D.B. Woodside, the hunky last principal of Sunnydale High on Buffy. This year, I go with Todd Armstrong, the star of Jason and the Argonauts, a movie I still love dearly. Starring in this movie did nothing for his career and he was upset that his voice was dubbed over after the fact. I don't blame him. I just found his name on imdb.com this year and I had not been cc:ed on the memo that he was dead.

This makes me sad.


2. Spot the Canadians! We have two Canucks today, both somewhat spottable. Most folks who benefit form the Canadian genre production boom are born after 1970, which is true of Aaron Craven, but we also see some of those credits on First Nations actor August Schellenberg, who died a couple years back.

3. My favorite actors on the list, or Welcome to Geezers Anonymous. Jack Gilford was a great comic actor, Woody Strode was probably the best known African-American actor in the Westerns. Strode worked with both John Ford and Sergio Leone, and that is plenty good enough for me.

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

Movie released
Lucy released, 2014

The Weekly Soapbox: The End of Oil.

Instead of predictions on Saturday, because I am running low, instead I will write a little opinion piece on things that have have been predicted. The End of Oil has only shown up a few times on the blog, once from OMNI Future Almanac, once from Utopia 1976 and John Elfreth Watkins foresaw the end of coal. All the dates have come and gone - 2010, 1976 and 2000 - and we still have petroleum based fuel running the world.

OMNI Future Almanac's call wasn't a surprise. It was published in 1982 and Peak Oil was already an idea people were batting about. Utopia 1976 was written in 1955 and Watkins made his predictions in 1900, so they are more surprising. Why hasn't the sky fallen yet?

I found many graphs similar to the one shown here that credit "natural gas liquids" and "unconventional oil" as the main stop-gap, and both of those rely heavily on fracking.

You might assume from my generally leftist leanings that I will now say "Boo! Fracking!", but I honestly haven't made up my mind. I know there are bad things that have happened at fracking sites, but I don't know how common they are. I'd like to find a neutral site where I could find good data, but I haven't found that yet.

This is the real world. There are always trade-offs. It's important to understand what they are. 

I could just see who is lined up on both sides and decide to go with the folks I like, but I got suckered into the anti-vax point of view by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on The Daily Show last decade, so I no longer think that is good enough.

The pro-fracking types think of themselves as The Sensible People - and yes, I'm looking at you Joe Nocera - but they are keen on writing "if there is environmental damage, the companies should be made to clean it up."

Yes, they should. Also, people should not cheat on their spouses or taxes, shouldn't litter or have their phones on at the movies or the theatre.

But people do those things. And what's worse, polluting companies pay a shitload of money to lawyers to make sure they don't have to clean up their messes.

There are things getting better in the world, usually slowly, but there are also things getting slowly worse. If the people getting screwed finally realize they can afford pitchforks and torches, I will likely sympathize with their cause. The Sensible People will likely complain of their burns or their pitchfork wounds and I will listen politely, but then I will say "Perhaps this is a good time to look at what both sides have done wrong."

Okay, I'm off the soapbox for a week.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The first slow Sunday, with only a birthday list. In previous years, the 26th of July Picture Slot has belonged to fabulous babes. Will the streak continue?

Signs point to yes.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 July 2015

 Birthdays
Leo Howard b. 1997 (Conan the Barbarian [2011], G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
Matt Weinberg b. 1990 (FreakyLinks, X-Men)
Colton Haynes b. 1988 (San Andreas, Arrow, Teen Wolf)
Steven R. McQueen b. 1988 (The Vampire Diaries, Piranha 3D, Minutemen, Threshold)
Chris Sheffield b. 1988 (The Last Ship, The Maze Runner, Transformers: Dark of the Moon)
Michael Mando b. 1981 (Orphan Black, The Colony, Lost Girl)
Fran Kranz b. 1981 (Bloodsucking Bastards, The Cabin in the Woods, Dollhouse, The Village, Donnie Darko)
Ashley Scott n. 1977 (Jericho, Lost, Birds of Prey, Dark Angel, A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
Ken Jeong b. 1969 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Vampires Suck)
Robert Gant b. 1968 (The Tomorrow People)
Peter Buchman b. 1967 (writer, Eragon, Jurassic Park III)
David X. Cohen b. 1966 (writer/producer, Futurama)
Kenny Johnson b. 1963 (Smallville, The Huntress, Blade, Sliders, The Burning Zone)
Michael Jace b. 1962 (Planet of the Apes [2001], Strange Days, Deep Space Nine)
Lance E. Nichols b. 1955 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Left Behind, American Horror Story, The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, Creature, Swamp Shark, Green Lantern, Benjamin Button, Charmed, Buffy, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, The Invisible Man, K-PAX, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Alien Nation [TV], Project X, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1985])
Gil Birmingham b. 1953 (Twilight, NightMan, Buffy, House II)
Rosemary Dunsmore b. 1952 (Orphan Black, Red: Werewolf Hunter, Lost Girl, ReGenesis, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Last Exit to Earth, RoboCop [TV], Total Recall [1990], Beauty and the Beast [1989 TV], Twilight Zone [1988])
Cheech Marin b. 1946 (Lost, Planet Terror, Spy Kids, From Dusk Till Dawn, Ghostbusters II)
Harrison Ford b. 1942 (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Age of Adaline, Ender’s Game, Cowboys & Aliens, Blade Runner)
Robert Forster b. 1941 (Heroes, Dragon Wars: D-War, Alligator, The Black Hole)
Sir Patrick Stewart b. 1940 (X-Men, The Wolverine, Ted, Star Trek, Lifeforce, Dune, Excalibur)
David Westburg b. 1940 (The Amazing Captain Nemo, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, Logan’s Run, Genesis II, Blacula)
Bob Crane b. 1929 died 29 June 1978 (Twilight Zone)
Rene Laloux b. 1929 died 14 March 2004 (director, Gandahar, Time Masters, Fantastic Planet)
Sidney Blackmer b. 1895 died 6 October 1973 (Rosemary’s Baby, The Outer Limits)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot(s). July 13th is one of those fairly easy decisions. You can argue for someone other than Sir Patrick Stewart or Harrison Ford, but I'm not listening. This year, I put them both up. These guys not only represent the two pillars of modern on-screen sci-fi, Star Trek and Star Wars, but they also have other iconic genre roles and successful careers even if you don't count their genre stuff. Nobody else here comes close.

2. Spot the Canadians! Usually, the Supernatural/Smallville daily double tells us we've got Canadians, but today it's the Orphan Black/Lost Girl pairing. Michael Mando and Rosemary Dunsmore are our pals from north of the border.

3. The Guys at the Door. The oldest living guys on the list just turned 75, the aforementioned Sir Patrick Stewart and the hard working David Westburg. While that is way too young to be The Guys at the Door, that's how this randomness works sometimes.

4. Nepotism more of less. Steven R. McQueen is the grandson of Coolest Person Ever Steve McQueen, but he was born eight years after his grand-dad died, so I don't know if it should count as nepotism.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, especially Sir Patrick Stewart and David Westburg, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac, published in 1982.

Prediction: The most visible educational development of the 1980s will be the widespread introduction of automated teaching devices that marry the medium of the videodisc to the microcomputer. Such systems will permit massive amounts of audio-visual information to be introduced to students at their own rate of learning.

Reality: Picking the laserdisc as the way of the future in 1982 is just as obvious as can be and dead fucking wrong at the same time. If I'm being generous, it's not unlike people thinking the pneumatic tube would be ubiquitous or our sensible friend George Sutherland thinking the internal combustion engine had too many drawbacks to ever be fixed.

But I'm not being generous. I love pneumatic tubes and George Sutherland's mistake are always forgiven, while laserdiscs in particular are complete junk in my book and I have bad memories of Philips deciding (briefly) they were going to enforce the patents they held on the CD-ROM. I'm glad the Internet swept that nonsense away, most especially Philips' blackmail threat.  

Looking on day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

How are you fixed for Commie predictions? Well, even if you are topped off, we get another one tomorrow from John Langdon-Davies, Commie!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

30 June 2015

Birthdays
Angela Sarafyan b. 1983 (Westworld [2015], American Horror Story, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Eastwick, Buffy)
Lizzy Caplan b. 1982 (Hot Tub Time Machine, True Blood, Cloverfield, Smallville)
Aaron Perilo b. 1981 (In Time, True Blood)
Desi Lydic b. 1981 (Stan Helsing, Invasion Iowa)
Rick Gonzalez b. 1979 (Reaper, War of the Worlds, Buffy)
Molly Parker b. 1972 (The Road, The Wicker Man, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Highlander [TV])
Kate Luyben b. 1972 (True Blood, First Wave, harsh Realm, Millennium, The X Files)
Megan Fahlenblock b. 1971 (Haven, Warehouse 13, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Mutant X, Witchblade, The Fifth Quadrant, Relic Hunter)
Chris Conrad b. 1970 (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Derek Haas b. 1970 (writer, Wanted)
Marton Csokas b. 1966 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Alice in Wonderland [2010], AEon Flux, Lord of the Rings, Timeline, Xena, Cleopatra 2525, The Lost World [TV], BeastMaster [TV], Farscape, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Rupert Graves b. 1963 (Doctor Who, V for Vendetta)
Predrag Bjelac b. 1962 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Omen [2006], Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Children of Dune, The Immortal [TV])
Deirdre Lovejoy b. 1962 (American Horror Story)
Rebecca Tilney b. 1960 (The Whispers, True Blood, Lost, Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
Vincent D’Onofrio b. 1959 (Daredevil [2015], Jurassic World, The Cell, The Thirteenth Floor, Men in Black, Strange Days)
David Alan Grier b. 1955 (Bewitched [2005 movie], The X-Files, Jumanji, Blankman, ALF)
Leonard Whiting b. 1950 (Frankenstein: The True Story)
Charlene Polite b. 1943 died 21 June 1999 (Star Trek)
Otto Sander b. 1941 died 12 September 2013 (Wings of Desire)
Jeri Taylor b. 1938 (writer/producer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager)
Nancy Dussault b. 1936 (Lois & Clark, The Munsters Today)
Ted Ross b. 1934 died 3 September 2002 (Amityville II: The Possession, The Wiz)
Clifford David b. 1932 (Signs, The Exorcist III, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
Pat McCormick b. 1927 died 29 July 2005 (Beverly Hills Vamp, Scrooged, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Harvey Vernon b. 1927 died 9 October 1996 (Deep Space Nine, The Twilight Zone [1985], Teen Wolf)
Lena Horne b. 1917 died 9 May 2010 (The Wiz)
Nestor Paiva b. 1905 died 9 September 1966 (They Saved Hitler’s Brain, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, The Addams Family, My Living Doll, The Three Stooges in Orbit, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, World of Giants, The Mole People, Tarantula, Revenge of the Creature, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Mighty Joe Young)
Michael Whalen b. 1902 died 14 April 1974 (Missile to the Moon, The Phantom for 10,000 Leagues, Batman and Robin [1949])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, The Picture Slot was all Star Trek, writer/producer Jeri Taylor from the Next Generation era and actress Charlene Polite, who was on The Cloud Minders from the original series. This year, it's Vincent D'Onofrio from Men in Black.


2. Spot the fabulous Canadians! There are three Canadians on the list today, lovely actresses born in the early 1970s, Molly Parker, Kate Luyben and Megan Fahlenblock.

3. MST3K. There might be others, but the one I know for sure is Revenge of the Creature.

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

Movies released  
Twilight Saga: Eclipse released, 2010
Spider-Man 2 released 30 June 2004

Predictor: John Langdon-Davies in his 1936 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction: England will have a population one-tenth its present size.

Reality: Langdon-Davies thought England would have nothing to offer the rest of the world other than being a tourist destination and the population would dwindle. But to dwindle to one tenth of the former size takes some awful catastrophe, like famine or plague or a vicious war, even worse than World War II was to the hardest hit places like Poland and the Soviet Union. Nothing like that has happened to the United Kingdom.

 

Never to be Forgotten: Jack Carter 1923-2015

Jack Carter, a nightclub comedian whose career was at its peak in the era when Ed Sullivan's show was the must-see TV on a Sunday night, died this week, less than seven days after his 92nd birthday. His appearances in genre include  3rd Rock from the Sun, Time Trax, Lois & Clark, They Came From Outer Space, Arena, Amazing Stories, Alligator, Beyond Westworld, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman and Tales of Tomorrow.

Best wishes to the family and friends or Jack Carter. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's a new month, so there will be a new splash illustration.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!  

22 June 2015

Birthdays
Portia Doubleday b. 1988 (Her, Carrie [2013], Legend of the Mummy)
Joe Dempsie b. 1987 (Game of Thrones, Merlin, Doctor Who)
Douglas Smith b. 1985 (Terminator Genisys, Antiviral, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The X-Files)
Lindsay Ridgeway b. 1985 (Star Trek: Voyager)
Amanda Brooks b. 1981 (Chillerama, Dragon Wars: D-War)
Stephanie Jacobsen b. 1980 (Star-Crossed, Quantum Apocalypse, The Devil’s Tomb, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar Galactica, Farscape)
Jeff Hephner b. 1975 (Interstellar)
Sarah Edmonson b. 1977 (Continuum, Fringe, The Dead Zone, Andromeda, Stargate SG-1, Vampire High)
Donald Faison b. 1974 (Kick-Ass 2, Skyline, Clone High, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch)
Benz Antoine b. 1972 (Death Race, Gothika, Seven Days, Strange World, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, NightMan, Stargate SG-1, Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, Millennium)
Mary Lynn Rajskub b. 1971 (Safety Not Guaranteed, Dude, Where’s My Car?)
Laila Rouass b. 1971 (Conan the Barbarian [2011], The Sarah Jane Adventures, Primeval)
Michael Trucco b. 1970 (V [2010], Meteor Storm, Battlestar Galactica, The Big Bang Theory, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Charmed)
Paula Irvine b. 1968 (Phantasm I, II and III, Doin’ Time on Planet Earth)
James McCauley b. 1966 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, True Blood, I am Legend)
Uwe Boll b. 1965 (director, Blubberella, Seed, BloodRayne, House of the Dead)
J.J. Cohen b. 1965 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Back to the Future, 976-EVIL, V [1985], Amazing Stories)
Amy Brenneman b. 1964 (The Leftovers, Casper)
Heidi Kozak b. 1963 (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Twilight Zone [1987])
Catherine Disher b. 1960 (Good Witch, Forever Knight, War of the Worlds [TV])
Bruce Campbell b. 1958 (Ash vs. Evil Dead, Oz the Great and Powerful, Spider-Man, Alien Apocalypse, Sky High, Man with the Screaming Brain, Terminal Invasion, Bubba Ho-Tep, Timequest, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, The X-Files, Weird Science [TV], Assault on Dome 4, Escape from L.A., American Gothic, Lois & Clark, Congo, Army of Darkness, Mindwarp, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Darkman, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Moontrap, The Evil Dead I and II)
John Murray b. 1958 (Scrooged)
Tim Russ b. 1956 (Star Trek: Voyager, Asteroid vs. Earth, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [2006], Star Trek: Generations, SeaQuest2032, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Journey to the Center of the Earth [1993], Eve of Destruction, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast, The Twilight Zone, Spaceballs, Timestalkers, Starman [TV], Amazing Stories)
Chris Lemmon b. 1954 (My Dog the Space Traveler, Wishmaster)
Graham Greene b. 1952 (Defiance, Twilight Saga, Phil the Alien, Big Wolf on Campus, The Green Mile, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Meryl Streep b. 1949 (Into the Woods, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Defending Your Life, Death Becomes Her, Alice at the Palace)
Lindsay Wagner b. 1949 (Warehouse 13, Alphas, A Light in the Forest, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
David L. Lander b. 1947 (Zoom, Black Scorpion, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, The Tick, Homeboys in Outer Space, Freddy’s Nightmares, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Octavia E. Butler b. 1947 died 24 February 2006 (won 2000 Nebula for Parable of the Talents)
Murphy Dunne b. 1942 (Deadly Swarm, The Mothman Prophecies, Faerie Tale Theatre, Twilight Zone [1985], Space)
Michael Lerner b. 1941 (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Kingdom Hospital, My Favorite Martian [1999], Tale of the Mummy, Godzilla [1998], Tales from the Crypt, Omen IV: The Awakening, Amazing Stories, Strange Invaders, Threshold, Wonder Woman)
Kris Kristofferson b. 1936 (Blade, Planet of the Apes, NetForce, Millennium)
Amrish Puri b. 1932 died 12 January 2005 (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
Prunella Scales b. 1932 (Wolf, The Boys from Brazil)
Ralph Waite b. 1928 died 13 February 2014 (Carnivale, Timequest, Time Trax)
Richard Eastham b. 1916 died 10 July 2005 (Galactica 1980, Salvage 1, Wonder Woman, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Invaders)
H. Rider Haggard b. 1856 died 14 May 1925 (author, She)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slotters were Bruce Campbell and Nebula award winner Octavia E. Butler. There are several good choices even with those two worthies excluded, the best known of whom is clearly Meryl Streep. But in terms of iconic roles in genre, Ms. Streep is probably just on par with her exact same birthday girl Lindsay Wagner. If I was going for the youngest iconic actor, I would have chosen Joe Dempsie as Gendry in Game of Thrones, but the Slot went to Tim Russ as Tuvok, the first black actor to play a recurring role as a Vulcan in the Star Trek universe.

2. Spot the Canadians!  There are five today and as often happens, it's easier to spot the younger ones, though not always. Native American actor Graham Greene would more properly be called a First Nations Canadian, but much of his career took place south of the border. Catherine Disher's resume shows some Canadian tendencies, but not as much as Benz Antoine's or Sarah Edmondson's. And then there's our youngest Canadian Douglas Smith, who does more movie work than Canuck-fi TV shows, so is just as hard to spot as Mr. Greene. Thanks to Art Velasquez for pointing out my earlier error excluding Smith.


3. Nepotism FTW. Two guys born in the 1950s have famous relatives who likely helped their careers. Chris Lemmon is Jack Lemmon's son and John Murray is the least well known of Bill Murray's siblings.

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

Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Unmanned aircraft will be used for freight delivery, most especially to remote regions. Using advanced robotic technology not yet available, they will be controlled from the point of origin and unload cargo automatically.

Reality: This one gets full marks since no exact date was given nor was size of the drone specified. The OMNI Future Almanac was not shy about discussing military applications, but none were mentioned in this case, which has to count as an oversight.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's the regular Tuesday schedule, so we get another Commie prediction from John Langdon-Davies, Commie.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

15 June 2015

Birthdays
Rachel Covey b. 1998 (Enchanted)
Ray Santiago b. 1984 (Ash vs. Evil Dead, Suburban Gothic, Touch, In Time)
Elizabeth Reaser b. 1975 (Twilight)
Neil Patrick Harris b. 1973 (American Horror Story, Beastly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Starship Troopers, Quantum Leap, Purple People Eater)
Greg Vaughan b. 1973 (Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Charmed, Buffy)
Poppy Montgomery b. 1972 (Dead Man on Campus, Tammy and the T-Rex)
Jake Busey b. 1971 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Charmed, Jeremiah, Starship Troopers, Contact, The Frighteners)
Ice Cube b. 1969 (Ghosts of Mars)
Courtney Cox b. 1964 (Bedtime Stories, Zoom, Cocoon: The Return, Misfits of Science, Masters of the Universe)
Helen Hunt b. 1963 (Trancers I and II, Project X, The Bionic Woman, Ark II)
Robin Curtis b. 1956 (Space: Above and Beyond, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek III and IV, Knight Rider)
Polly Draper b. 1955 (The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Deadly Nightmares, Tales from the Darkside)
Jim Belushi b. 1954 (The Tick, Retroactive, Last Action Hero, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, Little Shop of Horrors)
Jim Varney b. 1949 died 10 February 2000 (Wilder Napalm, Dr, Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam)
Rick Rosenthal b. 1949 (director, Beauty and the Beast [2013], Haven, Smallville, Flash Gordon [2007 TV], The Dresden Files, Buffy, Witchblade, Halloween: Resurrection, Early Edition, The Witches of Eastwick [TV], Halloween II)
Nicola Pagett b. 1945 (Frankenstein: The True Story)
Joy Bang b. 1945 (Messiah of Evil, Night of the Cobra Woman)
Neal Adams b. 1941 (artist)
William Newman b. 1934 died 27 May 2015 (The Tick, Angel, VR.5, The Craft, The Stand, Leprechaun, Eerie, Indiana, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Silver Bullet)
Victor Lundin b. 1930 died 29 June 2013 (Babylon 5, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek, Robinson Crusoe on Mars)
Herschell Gordon Lewis b. 1929 (director, Monster a Go-Go)
Richard Derr b. 1918 died 8 May 1992 (Automan, Project U.F.O., Star Trek, The Outer Limits, The Invisible Avenger, When Worlds Collide)
Henry Slate b. 1910 died 11 August 1996 (The Cat from Outer Space, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Pete’s Dragon)
James Robertson Justice b. 1907 died 2 July 1975 (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Spirits of the Dead, The Face of Fu Manchu)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was given to Elizabeth Reaser from Twilight and Neil Patrick Harris from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. This year it goes to Robin Curtis, who took the role of Lt. Saavik away from Kirstie Alley in Star Trek III & IV.

2. Living Canadian Free! Director Rick Rosenthal has a slightly Canadian air to his resume, but he was born here and has never emigrated to the best of my knowledge.

3. MST3K. The one I know for sure is Monster A Go-Go, directed by gore master Herschell Gordon Lewis but not credited to him. Even he had standards, apparently.

4. Brush with greatness and Nepotism FTW. Polly Draper is best known for her work on thirtysomething. I worked at Activision with her younger sister Becky, who I think was the prettier of the two. (Picture Ali McGraw, but 5'11". Certainly made an impression on me.) Their father William Draper was one of the venture capitalists who started Activision, which I'm sure helped Becky get that first step into the door.

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

 Movies released
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer released, 2007
Batman Begins released, 2005

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: The Caspian and Aral Seas have begun to dry up because the rivers that once flowed into them are being used for irrigation. But the Soviets have the answer: just bring in new water by changing the flow of the Ob and Yenesi rivers and run them through 3,000 kilometers of canals. Environmentalists predict disaster.

Reality: Okay, let's review the truth so far. The Caspian Sea is really big and not dried up. The Aral Sea is just big and it has dried up. The Soviets talked big, but they couldn't back it up. The Ob and Yenesi still flow into the Arctic.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's a Tuesday and barring an interruption, we hear from our grumpy Commie pal John Langdon-Davies.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

7 June 2015

Birthdays
Jordan Fry b. 1993 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Michael Cera b. 1988 (This is the End, Frequency, My Best Friend is an Alien)
Cathy Baron b. 1982 (In Time, Planet Terror)
Larisa Oleynik b. 1981 (Extant, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
John Edward Lee b. 1981 (Terminator Genisys, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2)
Virginie Le Brun b. 1980 (I, Frankenstein)
Anna Torv b. 1979 (Fringe, Frankenstein [TV, 2007])
Bill Hader b. 1978 (Her, The Venture Brothers, Men in Black 3, Paul, Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian)
Eric Weiner b. 1977 (Serenity)
Karl Urban b. 1972 (The Wonder, Almost Human, Walking With Dinosaurs 3D, Riddick, Star Trek, Dredd, Doom, The Chronicles of Riddick, Lord of the Rings, Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Danielle Petty b. 1970 (Zombie Nation)
Dean DeBlois b. 1970 (writer/director, Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon)
Anthony Simcoe b. 1969 (Farscape, BeastMaster [TV], The Lost World [TV])
Francis Magee b. 1969 (Outlander, Game of Thrones, Amphibious Creature of the Deep)
Adam Buxton b. 1969 (Stardust)
Sarah Parish b. 1968 (Atlantis, Doctor Who, Merlin)
Judie Aronson b. 1964 (Deep Core, Weird Science, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Simon Day b. 1962 (The Incredible Adventures of Professor Braestawm, Pixelface, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Space Race)
Tarik Ergin b. 1961 (Star Trek: Voyager)
Bill Prady b. 1960 (producer, The Big Bang Theory)
Mark Ryan b. 1956 (Transformers, The Prestige, Conan [TV])
Nancy Spielberg b. 1956 (Horrorween)
William Forsythe b. 1955 (Inkubus, Halloween [2007], SharkMan, MorphMan, Mysterious Ways, Virtuosity)
Robert Trebor b. 1953 (Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Universal Soldier, My Demon Lover, The Purple Rose of Cairo)
Colleen Camp b. 1953 (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Last Action Hero, Tales from the Crypt, Wicked Stepmother, D.A.R.Y.L., Man from Atlantis, Isis, Battle for the Planet of the Apes)
Tammy Marihugh b. 1952 (Twilight Zone, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm)
Liam Neeson b. 1952 (Ted 2, The Dark Knight Rises, Battleship, Wrath of the Titans, The Chronicles of Narnia, Clash of the Titans, Batman Begins, Star Wars I: The One We Don’t Mention, Darkman, Krull, Excalibur)
Pamela Susan Shoop b. 1948 (Knight Rider, Halloween II [1981], Galactica 1980, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Incredible Hulk, Empire of the Ants, Wonder Woman, Gemini Man)
Michael Pennington b. 1943 (Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible, Return of the Jedi, The Witches of Pendle)
Ronald Pickup b. 1940 (Atlantis, Young Dracula, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Supernova, Doctor Who)
Mike Pratt b. 1931 died 10 July 1976 (Shado, UFO, The Champions, Out of This World)
Reg Park b. 1928 died 22 November 2007 (Hercules the Avenger, Hercules, Prisoner of Evil, Samson in King Solomon’s Mines, Hercules in the Haunted World, Hercules and the Captive Women)
Jessica Tandy b. 1909 died 11 September 1994 (*batteries not included, Cocoon)
Hope Summers b. 1896 died 22 June 1979 (The Girl with Something Extra, Bewitched, Rosemary’s Baby, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, My Living Doll, The Return of Dracula)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous folks in the Picture Slot were Anthony Simcoe for Farscape and Liam Neeson from Clash of the Titans, one of his many iconic roles in genre. While Neeson is the biggest movie star here, Karl Urban is also an actor with several iconic genre roles and the one I chose was as Bones in the Star Trek reboot.

2. The assimilated Canadians. Our two folk born north of the border today have no roles in Canuck genre, so I would note ask you to spot them. They are actor Michael Cera and writer/director Dean DeBlois.

3. Nepotism FTW. Nancy Spielberg is the sister of Steven Spielberg and definitely counts. There are some folk here married to actors like Liam Neeson to Miranda Richardson and Jessica Tandy to Hume Cronyn, but I don't count marriage among equals as nepotism.

4. The Guy at the Door. It happened again, the odd demographic coincidence that all the dead are listed beneath all the living and in this case, British actor Ronald Pickup is the oldest living person on the list at 75, which is fairly young for this particular and somewhat morbid honor. As always, special birthday wishes go out to he Guy at the Door.

5. MST3K. Reg Park was a bodybuilding actor in the Italian Hercules films, including Hercules and the Captive Women, which was lampooned on MST3K. Park's other claim to fame is as the trainer and mentor of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in the 1957 book The Door into Summer

Prediction: Well, I was paid $21 a day (in 2000) and it kept me eating.

Reality: Our hero goes to sleep in 1970 and wakes up in 2000, where he has a very limited job skill set. Heinlein has admitted he had a problem with understanding cost of living increases, and since this would translate to $2.62 an hour, that is too low compared to the national minimum wage in 2000 of $5.15. (When Heinlein wrote the book, the minimum wage was $1.00 an hour.) If we cut Heinlein some slack and try to turn $2.12 in 1957 money into the roughly equal value in 2000, that would be closer to $16.75 an hour, which is also way off.

No points for Bob this week.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Monday rolls around again and it time for OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

4 June 2015

Birthdays
Jeremy Becerra b. 1996 (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials)
Kathryn Prescott b. 1991 (Being Human)
Oona Chaplin b. 1986 (Game of Thrones)
Kerem Brusin b. 1987 (Sharktopus)
Amelia Warner b. 1982 (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, AEon Flux)
T.J. Miller b. 1981 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Gulliver’s Travels. Cloverfield)
Tim Rozon b. 1976 (Being Human, Lost Girl)
Angelina Jolie b. 1975 (Maleficent, Wanted, Beowulf, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lara Croft, Cyborg 2)
Theo Rossi b. 1975 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cloverfield, Jericho, Lost)
James Callis b. 1971 (Narcopolis, Caper, Arrow, Eureka, Merlin, FlashForward, Battlestar Galactica, Merlin and the Book of Beasts, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Arabian Nights [TV])
Noah Wyle b. 1971 (The Librarians, Falling Skies, Lab Rats, The Librarian, Donnie Darko, Guinevere)
Scott Wolf b. 1968 (V, Double Dragon)
Sean Pertwee b. 1964 (Gotham, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, U.F.O., Camelot, Mutant Chronicles, Equilibrium, Tale of the Mummy, Event Horizon)
Lindsay Frost b. 1962 (Lost, The Ring, SeaQuest 2032, Monolith)
Julie White b. 1961 (Transformers, The Astronaut Farmer, War of the Worlds)
Sue Hodge b. 1957 (Brazil)
Keith David b. 1956 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Touch, Cloud Atlas, Gamer, Superhero Movie, The Chronicles of Riddick, Pitch Black, Armageddon, Volcano, They Live, The Thing)
Parker Stevenson b. 1952 (Legend of the Seeker, Legion, Not of This Earth)
David Yip b. 1951 (Re-Evolution, Spirit Warriors, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Quatermass, Doctor Who)
Wendy Pini b. 1951 (artist, Elfquest)
David Collings b. 1940 (Doctor Who, Blakes 7, UFO, Scrooge)
Bruce Dern b. 1936 (The Hole, The Astronaut Farmer, World Gone Wild, Space, Silent Running, The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, The Outer Limits)
Geoffrey Palmer b. 1927 (Doctor Who [2007 and 1970], Peter Pan, Alice Through the Looking Glass)
Ken Clark b. 1927 died 1 June 2009 (Invasion, 12 to the Moon, Attack of the Giant Leeches, On the Threshold of Space)
Judith Malina b. 1926 died 10 April 2015 (The Addams Family [1991], The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man)
Dennis Weaver b. 1924 died 24 February 2006 (Twilight Zone)
Howard Culver b. 1918 died 4 August 1984 (Halloween II, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Swarm, Project U.F.O., Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Twilight Zone, Space Patrol)
Clara Blandick b. 1880 died 15 April 1962 (The Wizard of Oz)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Geezer that I am, the Picture Slot is often given to folks in roles from the 20th Century, but all three Picture Slotters for the 4th of June have roles in 21st Century productions: James Callis from Battlestar Galactica, Oona Chaplin from Game of Thrones and today's winner, Angelina Jolie from the Lara Croft films. As should be obvious, both the young ladies are also fabulous babes.

2. Spot the Canadian! If I told you there was but one Canadian on our list today and that person was born after 1970, would that be enough information? Let's find out.

3. Nepotism FTW. Oona Chaplin is the daughter of Geraldine Chaplin, the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin and the great granddaughter of Eugene O'Neill. Angelina Jolie is the daughter of Jon Voight. Sean Pertwee is the son of is the son of Jon Pertwee.

4. A belated Never to be Forgotten. The actress Judith Malina died this April and should have gotten a Never to be Forgotten shout out. Consider this my apology.

5. The Guy at the Door. Because Judith Malina is gone, the oldest living person on the list is British Oh That Guy Geoffrey Palmer and everyone younger than him is also still with us. This demographic oddity means special wishes for many happy returns to Mr. Palmer.

6.  MST3K. The one I know for sure is Attack of the Giant Leeches with the late Ken Clark.


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

Movies released
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban released, 2004
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan released, 1982

Were it not for these movie releases, we would have had no mention of either Star Trek or Harry Potter.

Predictor: The NBA experts at ESPN

Prediction: The median picks for the Conference Finals were the Warriors in 5 and the Cavaliers in 6. They got the Warriors exactly for 10 points, but picked the Cavaliers in 4, so they are only awarded 8 points. The score is now 103 of 140 possible points, which is 73.6%. In a math class, that would be worth a C, but in a guessing game that should be 50-50, this is actually a sign the experts know what they are doing, or more accurately, there weren't a lot of big upsets.

Reality: In the Finals, 65.2% of the experts like the Warriors and the median pick is the Warriors in 6.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Fridays mean a dip into Anticipations by H.G. Wells, a book that is not well known, which is a boon for Wells' posthumous reputation.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

29 May 2015

Birthdays
Paloma Kwiatowski b. 1994 (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters)
Maika Monroe b. 1993 (The Fifth Wave, It Follows, Flying Monkeys, Bad Blood)
Gregg Sulkin b. 1992 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Avalon High, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Man on the Moon [TV])
Riley Keough b. 1989 (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Matthew Waters b. 1989 (Peter Pan [2003])
Dylan Postl b. 1986 (Leprechaun: Origins)
Ben Mansfield b. 1983 (Primeval, Mr. Nobody)
Anita Briem b. 1982 (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Doctor Who)
Mark Hapka b. 1982 (Parallels, Altergeist)
Elyas M’Barek b. 1982 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones)
Justin Chon b. 1981 (Twilight, Innocent Blood, Detention of the Dead)
Chris Violette b. 1981 (Bitten, Lost Girl, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, Diary of the Dead, Power Rangers S.P.D.)
Adam Brown b. 1980 (The Hobbit)
Yusuke Iseya b. 1976 (Blindness)
Steve Cardenas b. 1974 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Carlton Wilborn b. 1964 (Demolition Man)
John D. LeMay b. 1962 (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Friday’s Curse, The Twilight Zone [1986])
Neil Crone b. 1960 (The Strain, Warehouse 13, Cube³: Hypercube, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, RoboCop[TV], Mt Secret identity)
Adrian Paul b. 1959 (Alien Outpost, Abominable Snowman, Eyeborgs, Highlander, Charmed, Relic Hunter, The Breed, Dark Shadows [1991], War of the Worlds [TV], Masque of the Red Death, Beauty and the Beast)
Rupert Everett b. 1959 (Stardust, Inspector Gadget, Arthur the King )
Wayne Duvall b. 1958 (Gotham, The Leftovers, Threshold, Evolution, Seven Days, Timecop, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Apollo 13, The X-Files)
Annette Bening b. 1958 (What Planet Are You From?, In Dreams, Mars Attacks!)
Ted Levine b. 1957 (Banshee Chapter, The Hills Have Eyes, Evolution, From the Earth to the Moon)
Tony Randel b. 1956 (director, Hybrids, Power Rangers in Space, Ticks, Hellbound: Hellraiser II)
Cotter Smith b. 1949 (Forever, Revolution, 666 Park Avenue, Invasion, X-Men 2, Invader [1996], The Twilight Zone [1986])
Robert Axelrod b. 1949 (Bite Me, Power Rangers Time Force, The Blob [1988], Alien Private Eye, Alice in Wonderland [1985])
Nick Mancuso b. 1948 (The Entity, Rise of the Gargoyles, Saurian, Mutant X, Total Recall 2070, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension)
Anthony Geary b. 1947 (Project U.F.O., The Amazing Captain Nemo, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Julie Cobb b. 1947 (Lois & Clark, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Defending Your Life, Starman [TV], Tucker’s Witch, Brave New World [TV], Salem’s Lot, The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek)
Helmut Berger b. 1944 (Dorian Gray, The Witches)
Kevin Conway b. 1942 (Black Knight, Dark Angel, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Lathe of Heaven, Slaughterhouse-Five)
Nanette Newman b. 1934 (The Stepford Wives, Captain Nemo and the Underwater City)
Paul R. Ehrlich b. 1932 (author, The Population Bomb)
Frederick Jaeger b. 1928 died 18 June 2004 (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Doctor Who, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing)
Clifton James b. 1921 (Monsters, Superman II, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Werewolf of Washington)
Iris Adrian b. 1912 died 17 September 1994 (Alice Through the Looking Glass [1966 TV], The Munsters, Mighty Joe Young)
Sebastian Shaw b. 1905 died 23 December 1994 (Return of the Jedi)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In 2013, I used a picture of Sebastian Shaw, the original ghost of Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, somewhat iconic as a reminder of how George Lucas messed with his own creation. In 2014, I used Paul R Ehrlich, only iconic for being revealed as a jackass on this blog with his wildly incorrect The Population Bomb. As for the rest of the list, we have a few folks who are stars (Anthony Geary on the soaps, Rupert Everett and Annette Bening on film), but when it comes to iconic, I have to fall back on my favorite Star Trek guest role, so the Picture Slot goes to Kevin Conway as Kahless the Unforgettable.

2. Canadians, pre-spotted for your convenience. There are four Canadians today. Young Paloma Kwiatowski is unspottable from her single credit. Chris Violette, Neil Crone and Nick Mancuso have a few credits in Canuck genre each, but their nation of origin is not completely obvious, so I spotted them for you.

3. Wait... he's alive? Clifton James turns 94 today and good on him. He's played Southerners, usually lawmen, since I was in knee pants, best known for Cool Hand Luke and The Man with the Golden Gun. He's got a few genre credits, so he's on today's list.

4. Nepotism FTW. Julie Cobb is the daughter of Lee J. Cobb.

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

Movie released 
Up released, 2009

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his book Anticipations, published 1901

Prediction: In our imaginary twentieth century State, organized primarily for war, this tendency to differentiate a non-combatant mass in the fighting State will certainly not be respected, the State will be organized as a whole to fight as a whole, it will have triumphantly asserted the universal duty of its citizens. The military force will be a much ampler organization than the "army" of to-day, it will be not simply the fists but the body and brain of the land. The whole apparatus, the whole staff engaged in internal communication, for example, may conceivably not be State property and a State service, but if it is not it will assuredly be as a whole organized as a volunteer force, that may instantly become a part of the machinery of defense or aggression at the outbreak of war.

Reality: This is not a bad description of the nations up through the Second World War. As for "organized primarily for war", that description now only best fits the United States, with our defense budget dwarfing the rest of the world. It's not a sustainable position and it is not pleasant to think of what will happen when the unsustainable finally collapses.

I know. I'm a right cheery bastard.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule is interrupted for a prediction from a movie released twenty five years ago.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

17 May 2015

Birthdays
Leven Ramblin b. 1990 (The Tomorrow People, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Hunger Games, The Wizards of Waverly Place, The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Nikki Reed b. 1988 (Twilight)
Karrueche Tran b. 1988 (3 Headed Shark Attack, The Fright Night Files)
Erin Richards b. 1986 (Gotham, The Quiet Ones, Merlin, Being Human)
Tahj Mowry b. 1986 (Star Trek: Voyager)
Amy Gumenick b. 1986 (Arrow, Grimm, No Ordinary Family, Supernatural)
Derek Hough b. 1985 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
Matthew McGrory b. 1973 died 9 August 2005 (The Devil’s Rejects, Constantine, Planet of the Pitts, Charmed, Big Fish, Men in Black II)
Richard Leacock b. 1968 (Starfall, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Ultra, Stargate SG-1, Lake Placid, The X-Files, Highlander, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Hill Harper b. 1966 (Limitless [2015], Parts Per Billon, Stonehenge Apocalypse, The 4400, Steel, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Paige Turco b. 1965 (The 100, American Gothic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II and III)
David Eigenberg b. 1964 (Robosapien: Rebooted, The 4400, The Mothman Prophecies)
Dawn Dunlap b. 1963 (Barbarian Queen, Forbidden World)
Bruce Thomas b. 1961 (Kyle XY, Star Trek: Enterprise, Army of Darkness)
Paul Whitehouse b. 1958 (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Whip Hubley b. 1957 (Charmed, Black Scorpion II: Aftershock, Species, Babylon 5, Coneheads)
Bill Paxton b. 1955 (Edge of Tomorrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Colony, Spy Kids, Mighty Joe Young, Apollo 13, Predator 2, Near Dark, Aliens, Weird Science, The Terminator)
Peter Hinwood b. 1946 (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Al White b. 1942 (Leprechaun 2, Tales from the Crypt, Back to the Future II, The Greatest American Hero, The Munsters’ Revenge, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman)
Grace Zabriskie b. 1941 (The Grudge, Charmed, They Crawl, Armageddon, Galaxy of Terror)
Peter Gerety b. 1940 (War of the Worlds, K-PAX, Wolf)
Dennis Hopper b. 1936 died 29 May 2010 (Land of the Dead, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Space Truckers, Waterworld, My Science Project, The Time Tunnel, Twilight Zone)
Ralph Wright b. 1908 died 31 December 1983 (writer, Maleficent, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Peter Pan)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. A shorter list than usual today and none of our usual extra comment events apply. We have no Canadians, no nepotism, no movies from MST3K, no one whose death hasn't registered in my unreliable brain. (Matthew McGrory was very tall at 7'6" and died young as the very tall sometimes do, but when I see his name I know he's gone.) Earlier Picture Slot winners were the lovely Nikki Reed from Twilight and the hunky Peter Hinwood from Rocky Horror. Not wanting to repeat earlier winners, the choice came down to the two best known names, Bill Paxton and Dennis Hopper, and I chose a picture of Hopper from Waterworld. I am of the opinion that Waterworld, which had its problems in production, is actually watchable and is unfairly lumped in with the famous messes like Heaven's Gate and Ishtar. Then again, I didn't hate John Carter, so these opinions may have something to do with the aforementioned unreliable brain.

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

Predictors: Michael Mann, Michael Kozar and Sonya Miller

Prediction: The number of named storms in this year's Atlantic hurricane season (1 June to 1 December) will be be 7.5 +/- 2.7, which is to say 5 to 10 with 8 the most likely.

Reality: In 2013 and 2014, Mann, Kozar and Miller got the correct number within their margin of error. Last year, their best guess was 9 and the actual number was 8. in 2013, they guessed 16 when there were 14 named storms. Their predictions over the past decade have been fairly accurate, except in 2012 when they predicted 11 named storms and there were actually 19.  The blog will check back in early December to see how the prediction panned out.

 Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Monday rolls around and we once again will look at a predictions from 1982's OMNI Future Almanac.


Join us then...  IN THE FUTURE!

13 May 2015

Birthdays
Debby Ryan b. 1993 (Wizards of Waverly Place)
Candace Accola b. 1987 (The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Deadgirl)
Robert Pattinson b. 1986 (Twilight Saga, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Iwan Rheon b. 1985 (Game of Thrones, Misfits)
Samantha Morton b. 1977 (John Carter, Code 46, Minority Report)
Brian Smith b. 1977 (Big Bang Theory, The Wolfpack of Reseda)
Neil Hopkins b. 1977 (Lost, Witches of East End, Grimm, True Blood, Skyline, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The 4400, The Net 2.0, The Cabinet of Dr, Caligari [2005], Charmed, Birds of Prey)
Christopher Ralph b. 1977 (Warehouse 13)
Brian Geraghty b. 1975 (True Blood)
Bridgett Riley b. 1973 (Space Truckers, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Fana Mokoena b. 1971 (World War Z)
Imogen Boorman b. 1971 (Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Dreamchild, The Tripods)
Shon Greenblatt b. 1967 (Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown)
Wanda Acuna b. 1966 (House of Frankenstein [1997 TV], Encino Man)
Stephen Colbert b. 1964 (Monsters vs. Aliens, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, The Venture Bros.)
Siobhan Fallon b. 1961 (Men in Black)
Anthony Ray Parker b. 1958 (Xena, The Matrix, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Koji Suzuki b. 1957 (writer, The Ring)
Mark Heap b. 1957 (The World’s End, Misfits, Stardust, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Zlatko Buric b. 1953 (2012)
Joe Johnston b. 1950 (director, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Wolfman, Jurassic Park III, Jumanji, The Rocketeer, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids)
Zoe Wanamaker b. 1949 (Doctor Who, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
Franklyn Ajaye b. 1949 (The Bionic Woman)
Stephen R. Donaldson b. 1947 (author, Thomas Covenant series)
Tim Pigott-Smith b. 1946 (Alice in Wonderland [2010], V for Vendetta, Clash of the Titans, Doctor Who)
Marv Wolfman b. 1946 (author, Blade)
Sam Anderson b. 1945 (Grimm, Lost, The Chronicle, Angel, NetForce, The X-Files, From the Earth to the Moon, Millennium, The Puppet Masters, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Alien Nation, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Charmings, Critters 2)
Senta Berger b. 1941 (When Women Had Tails)
Harvey Keitel b. 1939 (National Treasure, Little Nicky, From Dusk Till Dawn, Saturn 3, Dark Shadows)
Buck Taylor b. 1938 (Cowboys & Aliens, The Mist, Starman [TV], Timestalkers, My Favorite Martian)
Milton Johns b. 1938 (Knight School, The X Files, Stanley’s Dragon, Super Gran, The Empire Strikes Back, Doctor Who)
Zohra Lampert b. 1937 (The Exorcist III, Knight Rider, The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything, The Girl with Something Extra)
Beverly Owen b. 1937 (The Munsters)
Roger Zelazny b. 1937 died 6/14/1995 (won 1966 Hugo for … And Call Me Conrad and1968 Hugo for Lord of Light)
Bea Arthur b. 1922 died 25 April 2009 (Futurama, The Star Wars Holiday Special)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In earlier years, The Picture slot went to Roger Zelazny and Robert Pattinson. This year it goes to Iwan Rheon as the dreadful Ramsay Snow, later Ramsay Bolton.

2. The Gals at the Door. The cutoff year between life and death on this list is 1937. Roger Zelazny is gone, but Beverly Owen and Zohra Lampert are still alive. As always when this quirk of the lists occurs, a special wish for many happy returns to both women.

3. One Canadian with one genre credit. Christopher Ralph's Canadian identity is impossible to spot just because he was on Warehouse 13.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, notably Beverly Owen and Zohra Lampert, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Predictor:Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey, published 1962

Prediction: In 1971, The United States goes to war in Iran.

Reality: Notice it reads "in Iran" and not "with Iran". In 1962, most people thought that if we would have a war, it would be with the Russkies. Of course, they did not invade Iran and if they had when the Shah was alive, we probably would have tried to drive them out.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to the usual weekly schedule and a prediction from The Experts Speak. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 May 2015

Birthdays
Emily VanCamp b. 1986 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Ring Two, All Souls)
Domhnall Gleeson b. 1983 (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, About Time, Dredd, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 1 and 2)
Rami Malek b. 1981 (Night at the Museum, Twilight: Breaking Dawn)
Malin Akerman b. 1978 (Watchmen, The Invasion, Witchblade, Relic Hunter, Earth: Final Conflict)
Mackenzie Astin b. 1973 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Elf-Man, Lost, Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human, Harrison Bergeron, I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later)
Forbes March b. 1973 (Mutant X)
Christian Campbell b. 1972 (Haven, Supernatural, Warehouse 13, Jeremiah, TekWar)
Samantha Mathis b. 1970 (The Strain, Under the Dome, Lost, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Salem’s Lot, The Punisher, The Mists of Avalon, Super Mario Bros.)
Catherine Tate b. 1968 (SuperBob, Doctor Who, Gulliver’s Travels)
Stephen Baldwin b. 1966 (2047: Sights of Death, Harpies, Dark Storm, Earthstorm)
Anthony Brandon Wong b. 1965 (The Matrix, Xena, Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord)
Tiffany Helm b. 1964 (Freddy’s Nightmares, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning)
Gavin Hood b. 1963 (director, X-Men Origins Wolverine, Ender’s Game)
Vanessa Williams b. 1963 [The other one] (Knight Rider [2009], Total Recall 2070, Candyman)
Emilio Estevez b. 1962 (Freejack, Repo Man, Maximum Overdrive)
April Grace b. 1962 (American Horror Story, Fringe, I am Legend, Lost, The Lost Room, Constantine, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Bruce McCulloch b. 1961 (Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy)
Lar Park-Lincoln b. 1961 (Space: Above and Beyond, Friday the 13thPart VII: The New Blood, House II: The Second Story, )
Ving Rhames b. 1959 (Piranha 3D & 3DD, Zombie Apocalypse, Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead)
Kim Greist b. 1958 (The X-Files, Last Exit to Earth, Duplicates, Roswell, Brazil, C.H.U.D.)
Jennifer Hetrick b. 1958 (Sliders, Buffy, Perversions of Science, Dark Skies, The X-Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine)
Bruce Boxleitner b. 1950 (TRON, TRON: Legacy, 51, Heroes, Babylon 5, Pandemic, King of the Lost World, Snakehead Terror, Contagion)
Gabriel Byrne b. 1950 (Vampire Academy, End of Days, Gothic, Excalibur)
Lindsay Crouse b. 1948 (FlashForward, Buffy, Progeny, Millennium, The Indian in the Cupboard, Communion, Iceman)
Richard Riehle b. 1948 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Chillerama, The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu, Halloween II, The Man from Earth, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Buffy, Tremors [TV], Time Changer, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Mighty Joe Young, Perversions of Science, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap)
Sara Kestelman b. 1944 (Invasion: Earth, Zardoz)
Luana Anders b. 1938 died 21 July 1996 (The Outer Limits)
George Carlin b. 1937 died 2008 (Dogma, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure)
Susan Hampshire b. 1937 (The Andromeda Breakthrough)
Oscar Beregi Jr. b. 1918 died 1 November 1976 (Young Frankenstein, Batman, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Twilight Zone)
Thorley Walters b. 1913 died 6 July 1991 (The People That Time Forgot, Vampire Circus, Trog, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, Frankenstein Created Woman, Dracula” Prince of Darkness, The Earth Dies Screaming)
Wilfred Hyde-White b. 1903 died 6 May 1991 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Battlestar Galactica [1978], Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Malin Akerman from Watchmen and Kim Griest from Brazil. I could have continued with the fabulous babe theme with Jennifer Hetrick, but I decided instead to use Bruce Boxleitner from Babylon 5

2. A boatload of Canadians. There are five today: Bruce McColloch, Christian Campbell, Forbes March, Malin Akerman and Emily VanCamp.

3. A boatload of nepotism. Some are well known. Emilio Estevez is the son of Martin Sheen, Mackenzie Astin is the son of John Astin and Patty Duke. You could count Stephen Baldwin as one of the lesser Baldwin brother, and on this point I am of two minds. But the other two I didn't know before today. Domhnall Gleeson is the son of Brendan Gleeson and Samantha Mathis is the daughter of Bibi Besch.

4. No, it's MY name! There are two women in show biz named Vanessa Williams, both born in 1963. The one who was Miss America for a hot minute is not this one, and she has sometimes been billed as Vanessa L. Williams. The one who turns 52 today has never been billed as anything but Vanessa Williams. I thought it was a hard and fast rule in the Screen Actors Guild for one to have a name change, but apparently not.

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

Predictor: Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey published 1962

Prediction: USMC Col. Martin “Jiggs” Casey first becomes aware of a plot for a military coup of the United States government, the code being sent as bets in a pool for the Preakness Stakes, being run on Saturday, 18 May 1975.

Reality: The book doesn't give an actual year, but it does give the dates and days of the week, so it could take place in 1969, 1975 or 1980. There is another predicted event that does have a dates and will be presented tomorrow that knocks out 1969.

As for a military coup, the United States military budget is more than the budgets of the next fifteen countries combined. Why bother?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another break in the weekly schedule from Seven Days in May.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!