11 August 2015

Birthdays
Tyne Stecklein b. 1988 (True Blood)
Jemima West b. 1987 (The Mortal Instruments)
Chris Hemsworth b. 1983 (Avengers, Thor, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Cabin in the Woods, Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness, Guinevere Jones)
Drew Nelson b. 1979 (The Strain, Lost Girl, Fringe, Supernatural, Smallville, Earth: Final Conflict)
Lynn Adrianna b. 1979 (Chronicles of the Dead, Her)
Anna Gunn b. 1968 (NYPD 2069, Sleepwalkers, Quantum Leap)
Collin Chou b. 1967 (The Forbidden Kingdom, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded)
Embeth Davidtz b. 1965 (Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2, Europa Report, Thir13en Ghosts, Bicentennial Man, Fallen, Army of Darkness, Mutator)
Viola Davis b. 1965 (Ender’s Game, The Andromeda Strain [2008], Threshold, Solaris)
Miguel A. Nunez Jr. b. 1964 (The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Scooby-Doo, W.E.I.R.D. World, Carnosaur 2, Babylon 5, Lois & Clark, Twilight Zone [1985], The Return of the Living Dead, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Automan)
Elya Baskin b. 1950 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Heroes, Spider-Man 2 & 3, The Invisible Man, VR.5, Quantum Leap, DeepStar Six, 2010)
Adam LeFevre b. 1950 (The Leftovers, The Invasion, Storm of the Century)
Stuart Gordon b. 1947 (director, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Space Truckers, Robot Jox, Dolls, From Beyond, Re-Animator)
Ian McDiarmid b. 1944 (Utopia, Star Wars I, II, III, V & VI, Sleepy Hollow [1999], Dragonslayer)
Laurel Goodwin b. 1942 (Star Trek)
Stuart Rosenberg b. 1927 died 15 March 2007 (director, The Amityville Horror, Twilight Zone)
Charles Cooper b. 1926 died 29 November 2013 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Men Into Space)
Mike Douglas b. 1925 died 11 August 2006 (The Incredible Shrinking Woman)
Arlene Dahl b. 1925 (Journey to the Center of the Earth)
Lloyd Nolan b. 1902 died 27 September 1985 (The Outer Limits)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. It's a short list today and the iconic choices are few. I have no problem justifying the previous choices, Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Ian McDarmid as Palpatine, and with them gone, I think the next most iconic is Embeth Davidtz from Army of Darkness.

And she's purdy.


2. Spot the Canadian. Experienced spotters should have no trouble identifying our lone Canuck today.

3. Not really nepotism. Chris Hemsworth is better known than his brother Liam, but I don't know how many doors opened for either due to this blood relation.

4. Is he a jinx? I blush to note that Ian McDiarmid was in every Star Wars movie except for A New Hope, also known in some circles as The Good One. (I'm keen on Empire as well, though I admit some cheesy aspects.)

5. And since I'm already blushing... Yesterday I said Rhonda Fleming and Maureen O'Hara were the prettiest redheads ever and today is the 90th birthday of Miss Arlene Dahl, a very pretty redhead as well. I do wish Miss Dahl many happy returns, but as Gene Hackman said in Hoosiers "That's my team out on the court."

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

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

Prediction: The highbrow art of our day will have no future save as a historic curiosity, since it has sacrificed everything to a misguided individualism.

Reality: There is more to the book than what I have used, but this is the last of Langdon-Davies' main predictions. I would say highbrow art- has waned in popularity since the 1930s, but it's too much to say there is no future, especially when he said it. Between 1936 and now, there were a lot of classical musicians, opera singers, ballet dancers of both genders, fine artists, playwrights and novelists who were major cultural figures, though I would say that number is dwindling today.   

Never to be Forgotten:  Gerald S. O’Loughlin 1921-2015

American character actor Gerald S. O'Loughlin has died at the age of 93. He was an Oh That Guy, but it might be more accurate to say he was an Oh That Officer for as often as he played cops and military men. (The picture is taken from the series The Rookies, where he was a regular.) For genre roles, he was in The Secret Kingdom, Automan, The Powers of Matthew Star, Twilight’s Last Gleaming and The Green Hornet.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Gerald S. O'Loughlin, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Wednesday means another visit from our sensible friend George Sutherland.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

31 August 2013

Birthdays
Marc Webb b. 1974 (Director, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Zack Ward b. 1970 (Transformers, Dollhouse)
Jack Thompson b. 1940 (Star Wars episode II: Attack of the Clones)
Richard Basehart b. 1914 died 17 September 1984 (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)


Many happy returns to the living on our list today. I gave the Picture Slot to the late Richard Basehart because Gypsy on Mystery Science Theater 3000 had a big crush on him.

Songs of the Future!

Prediction:
Toll the bell, pay the private eye
All's well, 20th Century dies.

Predictor: David Bowie, I Have Not Been to Oxford Town, from the album Outside, released 26 September 1995

Reality: The predictions are not really in the lyrics as much as they are in the liner notes. The premise is that many ritual murders will occur at the end of the 20th Century and art critics will be brought in, not to solve the crime but instead to decide whether or not the murder should be considered art.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Sundays belong to The Martian Chronicles for the next few months, and tomorrow the first men set foot on the Red Planet.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

16 April 2013

Birthdays
Sean Maher b. 1975
Jay O. Sanders b. 1953

Mr. Maher's best known role in genre is as Simon Tam on Firefly. He is also cast in Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, which will be released in late June. Mr. Sanders has a long career, his best known work in genre films being Green Lantern and The Day After Tomorrow. Many happy returns to both.

Films released
Kick-Ass, released 2010

Prediction: The cult of the phony in art will disappear. So-called "modern art" will be discussed only by psychiatrists.

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in 1950


Reality: Yesterday, I wrote that I'd try to dig up an accurate prediction by Heinlein.

Well... I tried. I have some more stuff of his in the book Expanded Universe that I haven't completely researched yet, but as of now, everything else I have of his is dead flat wrong.

To say something kind about Grumpy Old Bob, he was generally an optimist. He has many predictions that things he didn't like very much would go away in the future, and modern art and psychiatry are just two of them.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
 
Wednesday is John Elfreth Watkins Day, or at least will be until the middle of this year. As much as I love him, tomorrow's prediction falls as flat as Ridiculous Bob did today. 
 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!