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!

  

6 May 2015

 Birthdays
Dominic Scott Kay b. 1996 (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. They Call Him Sasquatch, Power Rangers Wild Force, Minority Report)
Naomi Scott b. 1993 (The Martian, Terra Nova)
Freddie Boath b. 1991 (The Mummy Returns)
Mark Daugherty b. 1989 (The Amazing Spider-Man, No Ordinary Family)
Tyler Hynes b. 1986 (Warehouse 13, Immortals, Tales from the Neverending Story)
Adrianne Palicki b. 1983 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, GI. Joe: Retaliation, Wonder Woman, Supernatural, The Robinsons: Lost in Space, Smallville)
Gabourney Sidibe b. 1983 (American Horror Story)
Will Blagrove b. 1981 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Powers, Divergent)
Kyle Cassie b. 1976 (Fringe, Andromeda, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Jake 2.0, Stargate SG-1, Nightman)
Kavan Smith b. 1970 (Supernatural, Almost Human, Eureka, Red: Werewolf Hunter, Stargate [TV], The 4400, Battlestar Galactica, Blade: The Series, The Time Tunnel [2006], Jeremiah, Smallville, Mission to Mars, Escape from Mars, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Buffy)
Venesa Talor b. 1970 (Demonicus, Femalien 1 and 2)
Robert Floyd b. 1967 (Dark Angel, Sliders, Godzilla [1998])
Baxter Churchville b. 1966 (director, Champions of the Deep)
Leslie Hope b. 1965 (The Strain, Revolution, RoboCop: Prime Directives, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Early Edition, SeaQuest 2032)
Lars Mikkelsen b. 1964 (Danny’s Doomsday, The Island of Lost Souls)
Dana Hill b. 1964 died 15 July 1996 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Mork & Mindy)
George Clooney b. 1961 (Tomorrowland, Gravity, Spy Kids, Batman & Robin, From Dusk Till Dawn, Return to Horror High)
Carlos Lauchu b. 1961 (The Silencers [1996], Stargate)
Anne Parillaud b. 1960 (Innocent Blood)
Roma Downey b. 1960 (Hercules and the Amazon Women)
Michael O’Hare b. 1952 died 28 September 2012 (Babylon 5, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, C.H.U.D.)
Gregg Henry b. 1952 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dollhouse, Slither [2006], Star Trek: Enterprise, Firefly, Star Trek: Insurrection, M.A.N.T.I.S., Werewolf [TV])
Paul Linke b. 1948 (K-PAX, Smart House, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, The Flash [1990], Space Rage)
Alan Dale b. 1947 (Dominion, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Once Upon a Time, Beauty and the Beast [TV movie], Lost, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Star Trek: Nemesis, The X-Files, The Lost World [TV], Space: Above and Beyond, Time Trax)
Richard Eyer b. 1945 (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Invisible Boy, Invasion U.S.A.)
Hilary Heath b. 1945 (Space: 1999, Cry of the Banshee, Witchfinder General, The Prisoner)
Joanna Dunham b. 1936 died 25 November 2014 (Space: 1999, The House That Dripped Blood, H. G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Jack Sharkey b. 1931 died 28 September 1992 (author, Ultimatum in 2050 A.D.)
Gordon C. Davies b. 1923 died 1994 (artist)
Orson Welles b, 1915 died 10 October 1985 (writer/actor, Necromancy, War of the Worlds [radio])
Stewart Granger b. 1913 died 16 August 1993 (The Wizard, Hell Hunters)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to the late Michael O'Hare from Babylon 5 and the artwork of Gordon C. Davies, who painted a lot of sci-fi book covers with spaceships back in the day. While I considered Adrianne Palicki in the Wonder Woman costume, it's hard to call it iconic since the show never aired. Instead, it's the one A-List star among today's birthday boys and girls, George Clooney from Gravity. Using a still from his Batman movie would have just been cruel.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are four today, Leslie Hope, Kavan Smith (not a typo), Kyle Cassie and Tyler Hines.

3. Nepotism... not so much. George Clooney is the nephew of Rosemary Clooney. He says she told him things about the ins and outs of show biz, but I don't how many doors the kinship opened for him.

4. Wait... I know they are dead. Dana Hill died very young and Michael O'Hare died at a relatively young age, but in their cases, my once reliable brain is still reliable and I remember they are gone.

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


Movie released
Thor released, 2011  

In the 21st Century, early May is all about the Marvel Studios releases.

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: To a very large extent the automobile will be rather a feeder to the railway than a rival to it; and all sorts of by-roads and country lanes will be improved and adapted so as to admit of residents running into their stations by their own motor-cars and then completing their journeys by rail. But when this point has been reached, and when fairly smooth tracks adapted for automobile and cycling traffic have been laid down all over the country, a very interesting question will crop up having reference to the practicability of converting these tracks into highways combining the capabilities both of roads and of railways.

Reality: Certainly not full credit on this one. The auto is a feeder to railways, but it is also most certainly a rival or more to the point, a rival who won the day.

Looking one day ahead... INTO 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!

28 January 2015

Birthdays
Ariel Winter b. 1998 (Speed Racer, Jericho)
Will Poulter b. 1993 (The Maze Runner, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Calum Worthy b. 1991 (Caprica, Stormworld, Smallville, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Stargate: Atlantis, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Mysterious Ways)
Alexandra Krosney b. 1988 (iZombie, Lost)
Elijah Wood b. 1981 (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Sin City, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Spy Kids, The Faculty, Deep Impact, Back to the Future Part II)
Rosamund Pike b. 1979 (The World’s End, Wrath of the Titans, Surrogates, Doom)
Crystal Dawne b. 1977 (War of the Worlds)
Lee Ingleby b. 1976 (Sinbad [2012 TV], Being Human, First Men in the Moon [2010 TV], Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Ty Olsson b. 1974 (Nerds and Monsters, Supernatural, Twilight, Arrow, Falling Skies, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Eureka, V, 2012, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Flash Gordon [TV], Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, X-Men 2, Jeremiah, Dark Angel, Lake Placid, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], The X-Files)
Melody Perkins b. 1974 (Power Rangers, Planet of the Apes, Charmed, NightMan)
Gillian Vigman b. 1972 (Supernatural, Dragonfly)
Ashley Artus b. 1971 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Tales from the Crypt, Judge Dredd)
Kathryn Morris b. 1969 (Paycheck, Minority Report, A.I Artificial Intelligence, Hell Swarm, Xena: Warrior Princess, Poltergeist: The Legacy, W.E.I.R.D. World)
Lynda Boyd b. 1965 (Supernatural, Hot Tub Time Machine, Sanctuary, Smallville, Level 9, Mysterious Ways, Mission to Mars, So Weird, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Millennium, The X Files, Highlander [TV])
Keith Hamilton Cobb b. 1962 (Andromeda, BeastMaster [2000 TV], Total Recall 2070)
Frank Darabont b. 1959 (writer/director, The Walking Dead, The Green Mile, The Mist, Frankenstein [1994], Tales from the Crypt, The Fly II, The Blob [1988], A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors)
Harley Jane Kozak b. 1957 (Stargate SG-1, Dark Planet, The Android Affair, The Hidden Room, Arachnophobia)
Susan Howard b. 1944 (The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], The Immortal, Land of the Giants, I Dream of Jeannie, Star Trek)
John Beck b. 1943 (Dark Planet, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Audrey Rose, Sleeper, Cyborg 2087, Rollerball, The Time Machine [1978])
Lewis Wilson b. 1920 died 9 August 2000 (Batman [1943])
John Banner b. 1919 died 28 January 1973 (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Adventures of Superman, Topper [1955], Rocky Jones, Space Ranger)

Notes on the birthday list. 
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was given to Elijah Wood, clearly iconic as Frodo, and John Beck, iconic to a geezer like me as Moonpie from Rollerball. (While his iconic status in genre may be debatable, Beck is undeniably in the 1970s Porn-stache Hall of Fame.) With those two off the list, the choice is not as easy. John Banner is likely the best known face other than Elijah Wood, but he is known as Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes, which isn't genre. Lewis Wilson was Batman in the 1943 serial, so he was a possibility, but I went with Susan Howard, best known for her role on Dallas, in her one appearance on the original Star Trek as a Klingon officer. I could also have gone with a poster of The Walking Dead to honor Frank Darabont, but this week has been short on fabulous babes.

2. Canuck Swarm! Oh so many Canadians, though one, Crystal Dawne, has done so little work her resume does not give her nationality away. As for the others, just appearing on Supernatural is not enough, and Gillian Vigman is in fact born in New Jersey. But showing up on both Smallville and Supernatural is usually a dead giveaway, and in fact all the actors here with those credits - Lynda Boyd, Ty Olsson and Calum Worthy - were born in The Great White North.

3. The Guy at the Door. Every birthday list has its quirks, and today's demographic oddness is the long stretch between the late Lewis Wilson, born in 1920, and the next youngest person, John Beck born in 1943. Moonpie is the oldest person on today's list who is still alive, which makes him The Guy at the Door at the tender age of 72. I always feel a little morbid pointing this out, and I always give a special best birthday wish to anyone who has this odd distinction.

4. MST3K, thanks to ZRMcD for spotting it. The TV series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger had a few episodes lumped together into Crash of the Moons, which got the Best Brains treatment, so John Banner's participation means we use the label, and thanks to Zombie Rotten McDonald for pointing it out.

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

 

Predictor: George Sutherland in the 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions: A Forecast

Prediction: The petroleum engine, as applied to the automobile, does its work in a series of jerks which provide for the unequal degrees of power required to cope with the unevenness of a road. As against this, however, there are certain grave defects, due mainly to the use of highly inflammable oils vaporized at high temperatures; and these have impressed a large proportion of engineers with a belief that, in the long run, either electricity or steam will win the day.

Reality: Longtime readers will know that I form strong opinions about our regular predictors. Some I love, most notably my man crush John Elfreth Watkins, and others I dislike, including Ray Kurzweil and the unlamented FM-2030, a.k.a. FroMo, short for Frozen Moron.

About some things Sutherland will be very prescient and on other occasions, such as today, he will be dead wrong. I will never make fun of Sutherland. He was a serious, well informed engineer and understood what was the state of the art in 1901. He thinks in terms of evolutionary steps and his errors in prediction stem from an inability or possibly an unwillingness to see many revolutionary developments that are just a few years away.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another clunker from The Experts Speak.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!