24 June 2015

Birthdays
Nicole Munoz b. 1994 (Defiance, Once Upon a Time, Scarecrow, Chupacabra vs. the Alamo, Tooth Fairy, The Last Mimzy, Supernatural, Fantastic Four, Jeremiah, Stargate Atlantis)
Kaitlin Cullum b. 1986 (Galaxy Quest)
Lotte Verbeek b. 1982 (Outlander [TV])
Sarai Givaty b. 1982 (The Legend of Hercules)
Joanna Kulig b. 1982 (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters)
Minka Kelly b. 1980 (Almost Human)
Liane Balaban b. 1980 (Supernatural, Alphas)
Mindy Kaling b. 1979 (This is the End, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian)
Carla Gallo b. 1975 (Carnivale)
Charles Venn b. 1973 (The Dark Knight)
Jensen Daggett b. 1969 (Asteroid, Project: ALF, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
Iain Glen b. 1961 (Game of Thrones, Kick-Ass 2, Doctor Who, Resident Evil, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
Dan Gilroy b. 1959 (writer, Stan Lee’s Annihilator, Real Steel, Freejack)
Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister b. 1958 (The Lazarus Papers, Super Capers: The Origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion, Monster Ark, The Dark Knight, Saul of the Mole Men, Vegas Vampires, Dracula 3000, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Fifth Element, The Meteor Man, Universal Soldier)
Joe Penny b. 1956 (Reign of the Gargoyles, Threshold, The Twilight Zone [1986], Tucker’s Witch)
Michael Reid MacKay b. 1953 (X-Men 2, Batman & Robin, Sleepwalkers, The Monster Squad)
Mercedes Lackey b. 1950 (author, Valdemar, The Ship Who Searched)
Nancy Allen b. 1950 (My Apocalypse, RoboCop, Poltergeist III, The Philadelphia Experiment, Strange Invaders, Carrie)
Peter Weller b. 1947 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Fringe, Star Trek: Enterprise, Odyssey 5, Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, Screamers, RoboCop. Leviathan, Buckaroo Banzai)
George Sanford Brown b. 1943 (Team Knight Rider, Colossus: The Forbin Project)
Carol Byron b. 1937 (Dimension 5, The Addams Family, Twilight Zone)
Paul L. Smith b. 1936 died 25 April 2012 (Gor, Haunted Honeymoon, Red Sonja, Dune, Wonder Woman)
Robert Downey Sr. b. 1935 (From Other Worlds, Twilight Zone [1985])
Jack Carter b. 1923 (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, Tales of Tomorrow)
Al Molinaro b. 1919 (It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!, Bewitched)
Sir Fred Hoyle b. 1915 died 20 August 2001 (scientist/author, A for Andromeda, The Molecule Men)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. There are three actors who have had the Picture Slot on this list, 'Tiny' Lister and Peter Weller on previous June 24th and Iain Glen one year when I had his birthday on the wrong date. As usual, I try not to repeat myself and go with something iconic, so this year it's Nancy Allen from Robo Cop, having a chat with the pre-cyborg version of Peter Weller. (Aside: I always wonder if people in a movie together find out they share a birthday.) My second choice would have been the late Paul L. Smith as the Beast Rabban in Dune.

2. Spot the Canadians! Our Canucks today are Liane Balaban and Nicole Munoz, both have showed up on Supernatural, which is not a proof of Canadian citizenship but a strong hint instead.

3. No nepotism here. The aforementioned Ms. Balaban is no relation to Bob Balaban. Robert Downey Sr. is nowhere near as famous as his son, but I don't see him begging the kid for small roles in movies where his son is the star, so I'm not going to make any nepotism claim there.

4. Wait... they're alive? We have two guys in their nineties on the list today, Jack Carter and Al Molinaro. I had no idea they were still around and good on them.

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

Movies released
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen released, 2009
Spaceballs released, 1987

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: The call to awake in the morning will, in cities and towns, be made by wireless telegraphy, which will also be used for the purpose of regulating the domestic clocks, so that if desired any suitable form of clock alarm may be used with the most perfect confidence… The clock controlled by wireless telegraphy will doubtless undergo a rapid development from the time when it is first introduced.

Reality: Wireless telegraphy is the name Sutherland uses for radio. The radio alarm clock was not exactly what he was proposing, but I'll still give him points. As for clocks that can be remotely regulated, this was a clever idea that really took off in the 21st Century. The clocks inside computers used to run slow almost always, but now the Internet can send a pulse to make them the most reliable time keeping device in the house.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our regular schedule for a prediction of immortality that really sounds like it would suck.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

12 April 2015

Birthdays
Peter DaCunha b. 2003 (The Listener, Alphas) Saoirse Ronan b. 1994 ( The Host [2013])
Brooklyn Decker b. 1987 (Battleship)
Diana Marshall-Green b. 1980 (Infestation) Jennifer Morrison b. 1979 (Once Upon a Time, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek [2009], The Chronicle, The Zeros)
Claire Danes b. 1979 (Stardust, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Princess Mononoke)
Amy Kerr b. 1979 (Haven, Outlander, Lexx)
Jared Turner b. 1978 (The Almighty Johnsons, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, 30 Days of Night) Jade Calegory b. 1976 (Alien Nation, Mac and Me)
Marley Shelton b. 1974 (The Lottery, Grindhouse, Dark Shadows [2005 TV], Sin City, Pleasantville, Warriors of Virtue, Hercules in the Underworld)
Christina Moore b. 1973 (True Blood, The Burning Zone)
Amr Waked b. 1973 (Lucy)
Shannen Doherty b. 1971 (Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys, Witchslayer Gretl, Charmed, Category 7: The End of the World, Voyagers!)
Nicholas Brendon b. 1971 (Coherence, Robot Ninja and Gay Guy, Buffy, Demon Island, Psycho Beach Party, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest)
Kelly Donovan b. 1971 (Buffy)
Tracy Vilar b. 1968 (K-PAX)
Michael Wiseman b. 1967 (The X-Files, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek: Voyager, Perversions of Science, Predator 2)
Mark Camacho b. 1964 (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Punisher: War Zone, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, 10.5: Apocalypse, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, The Hunger, Space Cases, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde)
Magda Szubanski b. 1961 (The Golden Compass, Son of the Mask, Farscape, Babe, The Genie from Down Under)
Jay Baker b. 1961 (Deep Space Nine, The Incredible Hulk Returns)
Tracy Torme b. 1959 (writer, Carnivale, Odyssey 5, Sliders, Star Trek: the Next Generation)
Tom Noonan b. 1951 (12 Monkeys [2015], The Leftovers, Eight Legged Freaks, The Astronaut’s Wife, The X-Files, Early Edition, Last Action Hero, RoboCop 2, The Monster Squad, Wolfen)
David Cassidy b. 1950 (The Flash)
Tom Clancy b. 1947 died 1 Oct 2013 (author, Tom Clancy’s Net Force, The Sum of All Fears)
Ed O’Neill b, 1946 (The 10th Kingdom, W.E.I.R.D. World)
Charles Napier b. 1936 died 5 October 2011 (One Eyed Monster, The 4400, Dinocroc, Alien Species, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Lois & Clark, Frogtown II, Future Zone, Alien from the Deep, The Incredible Hulk, Deep Space, Star Trek)
Alvin Sargent b. 1927 (screenwriter, Spider-Man 2 and 3)
Walt Gorney b. 1912 died 5 March 2004 (Friday the 13th 1 & 2, Day of the Animals, King Kong [1976])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Slot has been filled by Charles Napier in his role from Star Trek and Nicholas Brendon and his twin Brendon Donovan. If those two are removed, I'd say the next most iconic is Shannen Doherty from Charmed, but I do not care for the woman for many reasons, including the rumors of her nastiness on the set, her unfortunate politics and my view that she's not a very good actress. So instead we get Claire Danes from Stardust because I invoke the The First Rule of Blogging, which is You're Not the Boss of Me.

2. Canadians spotted! Not that easy to find on one's own, Peter daCunha, Amy Kerr and Mark Camacho were all born North of the Border.

3. Nepotism FTW. David Cassidy is the son of Jack Cassidy, but Shirley Jones is his stepmother, not his biological mother. As commenter James Marshall VI kindly pointed out, Tracy Torme is the son of singer Mel Torme, so he has to count as well.

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

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

Prediction: The torturing clang of an alarm clock went off. I shut the sadistic thing off and thanked God they had got rid of such horrible devices by 2001.

Reality: Some people still wake up to an alarm that has to be turned off, whether a buzz or a beep. To give Heinlein some credit, very few alarm clocks in the 21st Century actually have the old fashioned clanging bells that were standard before digital clocks became the norm.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Monday rolls around and that means another dip into the OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... INTO THE FUTURE!