20 October 2014

Birthdays
Galadriel Stineman b. 1990 (True Blood, Ben 10: Alien Swarm)
Adam Butcher b. 1988 (Wolves, Mirror Mirror, Hell Hounds, ReGenesis, Super Rupert)
Rose McIver b. 1987 (iZombie, Hercules, Legend of the Seeker, Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Power Rangers R.P.M., Once Upon a Time)
Alona Tal b. 1983 (Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D, Powers, Supernatural, Knight Rider [2009])
Katie Featherston b. 1982 (Paranormal Activity, Psychic Experiment)
Niall Matter b. 1980 (Constantine, Primeval: New World, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Watchmen, Beyond Loch Ness, Stargate: Atlantis)
Sam Witwer b. 1977 (Being Human, Grimm, The Walking Dead, Gamer, Smallville, The Mist, Battlestar Galatica, Star Trek: Enterprise, Angel, Dark Angel)
Sheeri Rappaport b. 1977 (Xena, Little Witches)
Natalie Gregory b. 1975 (The Wizard, Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV])
Kenneth Choi b. 1971 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America: The First Avenger, Heroes, Roswell, Deep Core, Halloweentown)
Snoop Dogg b. 1971 (Hood of Horror, Bones)
William Zabka b. 1965 (Hot Tub Time Machine, Mindstorm, Python, Interceptor Force, To the Ends of Time, The Greatest American Hero)
Viggo Mortensen b. 1958 (Lord of the Rings, The Road, The Prophecy, Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III)
Danny Boyle b.1956 (director, 28 Days Later, A Life Less Ordinary)
Thomas Newman b. 1955 (composer, Side Effects, WALL-E, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Finding Nemo, The Green Mile, Meet Joe Black, Amazing Stories, Otherworld)
Bill Nunn b. 1953 (Spider-Man, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh)
William Russ b. 1950 (Demons, Stargate SG-1, SeaQuest 2032, V, The Right Stuff)
George Harris b. 1949 (Sinbad [2012 TV], Harry Potter, Starhunter, Gulliver’s Travels [1996], Raiders of the Lost Ark, Flash Gordon, Peter Pan [1976 TV])
Alan Ackles b. 1948 (Supernatural, Benji Zax & the Alien Prince)
George Wyner b. 1945 (Touch, Journeyman, Stargate SG-1, Strange World, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Postman, Devil’s Advocate, Quantum Leap, Spaceballs)
Anneke Wills b. 1941 (Doctor Who)
Jerry Orbach b. 1935 died 28 December 2004 (Universal Soldier, Deadly Nightmares, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Michael Dunn b. 1934 died 29 August 1973 (The Mutations, House of the Damned, The Werewolf of Washington, Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Anton Diffring b. 1918 died 20 May 1989 (Doctor Who, The Beast Must Die, Mark of the Devil Part II, Fahrenheit 451, Circus of Horrors, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
John Anderson b. 1922 Died 7 August 1992 (Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Starman [TV], Voyagers!, The Greatest American Hero, Project U.F.O., The Incredible Hulk, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], The Satan Bug, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, My Favorite Martian, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Rex Ingram b. 1895 died 19 September 1969 (A Thousand and One Nights, The Thief of Bagdad)
Bela Lugosi b. 1882 died 16 August 1956 (Plan 9 from Outer Space, Bride of the Monster, Vampire Over London, Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein, Zombies on Broadway, Return of the Ape Man, Return of the Vampire, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, The Ape Man, Night Monster, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Invisible Ghost, Devil Bat, The Human Monster, The Son of Frankenstein, The Invisible Ray, Mark of the Vampire, The Return of Chandu, The Black Cat, Island of Lost Souls, Chandu the Magician, White Zombie, Dracula)

Notes on the Birthday List.
1. The Picture Slot. Plenty of iconic roles to choose from, though from my geezer perspective Viggo Mortensen is the youngest of the iconic actors. Last year, I used Bela Lugosi. Next year I'm really not sure, there are five more good choices to my mind.

2. The Gal at the Door. One of the iconic choices is Anneke Wills, companion on Doctor Who and the oldest living person on the list at only 73 years old. All my best wishes to her.

3. Spot the Canadian! There are a few folks with credits on Canadian produced sci-fi shows, but only one was actually born in Canada. Answer in the comments.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Enormous lasers can do damage in two ways: A continuous beam can cut a hole through nearly any surface and rapid pulses can beat a hole in a target mechanically. The handicap is the enormous amount of energy required. Moreover, using a laser at great distances as planned in the "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative requires astonishing marksmanship. The most practical use would be as an anti-satellite weapon by blinding the satellite's extremely sensitive electronic eyes.


Reality: If governments are messing with one another's satellites, they certainly aren't blabbing to The New York Times. Whenever I read about lasers as weapons, I remember the Gahan Wilson cartoon from ages ago with a mad scientist in the background crumpling up a copy of the Wall Street Journal, while his hunchbacked assistant explains to a visitor "General Electric has beat him out on his death ray and he's simply furious!"

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

This week is all about interrupting or regular schedule, or to use the latest jargon I hate, this week is disruptive.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

 

9 July 2014

 Birthdays
Georgie Henley b. 1995 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Toby Kebbell b. 1982 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Wrath of the Titans, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)
Jamie King b. 1981 (Lost City Raiders, Vampire Diary)
Linda Park b. 1978 (Infestation, Star Trek: Enterprise, Jurassic Park III, Spectres)
Fred Savage b. 1976 (The Wizard, Little Monsters, The Princess Bride, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Boy Who Could Fly)
Scott Grimes b. 1971 (DreamKeeper, Frogs!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Critters 1 & 2, Frog, Twilight Zone [1985])
David O’Hara b. 1965 (Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Wanted, Doomsday)
K. Todd Freeman b. 1965 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], The Dark Knight, Buffy)
Tim Kring b. 1957 (writer/producer, Touch, Heroes)
Tom Hanks b. 1956 (Cloud Atlas, The Polar Express, The Green Mile, From the Earth to the Moon, Apollo 13, Big, Splash, Mazes and Monsters)
Jimmy Smits b. 1955 (Revenge of the Sith, Attack of the Clones, The Tommyknockers)
Kim Hector b. 1953 (The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Chris Cooper b. 1951 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Ray Baker b. 1948 (Heroes, Path of Destruction, Alien Siege, Holes, Area 52, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Tomorrow Man, Freaked, Total Recall [1990], C.H.U.D.)
Dean R. Koontz b. 1945 (author, Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein, Odd Thomas)
Edy Williams b. 1942 (Bad Girls from Mars, Dr. Alien, Lost in Space, Batman, The Brass Bottle, Twilight Zone)
Brian Dennehy b. 1938 (The 4400, Category 6: Day of Destruction, NetForce, Cocoon, Ants)
James Hampton b. 1936 (Superboy, Teen Wolf 1 and 2, Otherworld, The Greatest American Hero, World War III, The Cat from Outer Space)
Susan Cabot b. 1927 died 10 December 1986 (The Wasp Woman, The War of the Satellites, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent)

Now there's a birthday list. A-List movie stars, fabulous babes, Oh That Guys, important writers, you name it. A lot of the big names on the list are better known for work outside genre, though Jimmy Smits in his Star Wars role counts as iconic as does Tom Hanks from Apollo 13. (Longtime readers will know that I count any movie with space travel as genre, even those based on true stories.)

As for Oh That Guys, Brian Dennehy is at the "Hey, it's Abe Vigoda!" level as far as I'm concerned. I was a little surprised James Hampton did genre. I know him best from The Longest Yard and F Troop. (I now have the F Troop theme song stuck in my head. Grr.)

But for all this star power, I go full-on Whedonverse nerd and put K. Todd Freeman as Mr. Trick from Buffy in the Picture Slot. Next year, it's anyone's guess.

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

Movies released
Predators released, 2010
Despicable Me released, 2010

 Predictor: Herman Kahn in the 1972 book Things to Come, published by the Hudson Institute

Prediction: The promise of the laser for military and peaceful purposes will be fully realized by 1985.

Reality: It may be the dark side of popular sci-fi, but death rays have to be listed with flying cars, food in pill form and jetpacks as examples where technology has completely failed to live up to advance billing. Sure, like almost everybody I'd prefer a flying car to a death ray, but that doesn't mean the latter wouldn't come in handy every now and then.

Never to be Forgotten:
Don Matheson 1929-2014 

Don Matheson, best known for his role asMark Wilson on Land of the Giants, died late last month at the age of 84. He was also on the Irwin Allen shows  Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and played a horseman in the 1985 TV version of Alice in Wonderland. Outside of genre, he had a lot of roles on soap operas, a very typical career path for a guy as good looking as Matheson.

Those readers that know my, ahem, special interests might guess I was a fan of Land of the Giants, but for me it was a show filled with missed opportunities, shrinking special effects budgets and generally flat writing. Everybody was always so irritable on the show and not just irritated with obvious irritant Fitzhugh. It should be noted that Matheson wooed and married co-star Deanna Lund and if there had been a third season, there would have been a romance between their characters as well.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's another glimpse into the year 2000 from Dr. Lee de Forest.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!