22 August 2015

Birthdays
Dakota Goyo b. 1999 (Dark Skies, Real Steel, Thor, Ultra)
Dannielle Lozeau b. 1987 (Werewolf Rising, The Bell Witch Haunting, The Devil Girl of Devonshire, Legion, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pretty Dead Things)
Jorge Diaz b. 1983 (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, True Blood)
Jennifer Finnigan b. 1979 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Big Wolf on Campus)
Brandon Quintin Adams b. 1979 (The Burning Zone, Ghost in the Machine, Quantum Leap)
James Corden b. 1978 (Into the Woods, Doctor Who, Gulliver’s Travels, Vampire Killers, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story)
Rodrigo Santoro b. 1975 (Westworld, Lost)
Cindy Valentine Leone b. 1975 (Teen Witch)
Kristen Wiig b. 1973 (Ghostbusters, The Martian, Paul)
Heidi Lenhart b. 1973 (Crocodile 2: Death Swamp, The Burning Zone)
Richard Armitage b. 1971 (The Hobbit, Captain America: The First Avenger, Star Wars: Episode I – Yes, Yes That One Again)
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje b. 1967 (Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World, The Thing [2011], G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Lost, The Mummy Returns, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [2001])
Ty Burrell b. 1967 (The Incredible Hulk [2008], National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Dawn of the Dead, Evolution)
Pamella D’Pella b. 1967 (Alien Nation: Millennium, Beauty and the Beast, ALF)
Alfred Gough b. 1967 (writer, Smallville, I Am Number Four, Spider-Man 2, Timecop)
Courtney Gains b. 1965 (Mimesis, Alien Encounter, Halloween [2007], Charmed, Superboy, Starman [TV], Misfits of Science, Back to the Future, Children of the Corn)
Andrew Wilson b. 1964 (Idiocracy, Merlin: The Return)
Lara Harris b. 1962 (American Horror Story, Demolition Man, Monsters)
Mark Williams b. 1959 (Doctor Who, Being Human, Harry Potter, Frankenstein’s Wedding… Live in Leeds, Stardust, The Borrowers, Red Dwarf)
Holly Hawkins b. 1959 (True Blood, Alice in Wonderland)
Colm Feore b. 1958 (Gotham, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Beauty and the Beast [2014 TV], Revolution, Thor, Battlestar Galactica, The Chronicles of Riddick, Storm of the Century, Creature [1998 TV], Forever Knight, Beyond Reality, War of the Worlds [TV])
Cindy Williams b. 1947 (Lois & Clark, UFOria, The Creature Wasn’t Nice, Beware! The Blob)
Valerie Harper b. 1939 (My Future Boyfriend)
Sylva Koscina b. 1933 died 26 December 1994 (The House of Exorcism, Uncle Was a Vampire, Hercules Unchained, Hercules)
John Lupton b. 1928 died 3 November 1993 (Shazam!, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter)
Honor Blackman b. 1925 (Cockneys vs Zombies, Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, Tale of the Mummy, Doctor Who, Jason and the Argonauts, H. G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Ray Bradbury b. 1920 died 5 June 2012 (author, Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles)
Alma Beltran b. 1919 died 9 June 2007 (Ghost, Knight Rider, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Cecil Kellaway b. 1893 died 28 February 1973 (Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone, Zotz!, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Harvey, The Luck of the Irish, I Married a Witch, The Invisible Man Returns)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Honor Blackman and Ray Bradbury, the previous two Picture Slotters, certainly count as iconic, but I could be accused of going old school, since they are both older than I am and their fame is from the 20th Century. This year, I go with Mark Williams, who is younger than I am and his fame is mostly from Harry Potter, a 21st Century product. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Richard Armitrage were other considered options.

2. Spot the Canadians! Dakota Goyo, Jennifer Finnigan and Cindy Valentine Leone.

3. I'm bad at guessing women's ages. As I wrote in my Yvonne Craig tribute, I thought she was a few years older than my older brother when she was just five years younger than my mom. Going the other direction, Melody Patterson, who also died this week but had no genre roles, was on F Troop and she was still in high school; I would have thought she was five to ten years older. And then we have Honor Blackman, still alive thank goodness, who was just shy of 40 when she had her two most famous roles here in the states in Jason and the Argonauts and Goldfinger. I would have guessed all those incorrectly.

4. MST3K. The lovely Sylva Koscina played Iole opposite the hunky Steve Reeves in both Hercules and Hercules Unchained.

5. Hey... no Star Trek! This was a long streak between Star Trek free days, the last one being on July 24.

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

Movie released
1990: The Bronx Warriors released, 1982

The Weekly Soapbox: Nuclear war

It's a very good time to note that the last time a nuclear bomb was used against an enemy was 70 years ago as of this month. Back then, the United States was involved in a costly and deadly war and we were the only ones with the bomb. We dropped two and the Japanese surrendered.

A few years later, we weren't the only ones with the bomb and the great fear of the second half of the Twentieth Century was born. If you read Command and Control, you'll see there were several accidents that might have resulted in nuclear explosions, but I must admit as I read it I thought it showed the multiple safeguards actually worked pretty well. There was also the Cuban missile crisis and several false alarms on both sides, but the scorecard is still clear: since nuclear weapons have been the property of more than one nation, they haven't been used.

Predictions of nuclear war are extremely common in movies and literature and even today, the spectre of nuclear terrorism is used to keep us afraid enough to keep up our truly insane defense spending. I for one, don't think the world is quite that dangerous, but I fully admit I could be suffering from confirmation bias. If something awful happens and I'm still alive, I will admit my error, but it would likely mean that I am wrong and Glenn Beck is right, and I really do seriously think that is awfully damned unlikely.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another lazy Sunday with just a birthday list. Could we have a Canadian (gasp!) in the Picture Slot? Signs point to yes.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

23 July 2015

Birthdays

Daniel Radcliffe b. 1989 (Victor Frankenstein [2015], Horns, Harry Potter)
Pippa Bennett-Warner b. 1988 (Doctor Who)
Reece Ritchie b. 1986 (Hercules [2014], Atlantis: End of the World, Birth of a Legend, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, 10,000 BC)
Paul Wesley b. 1982 (The Vampire Diaries, Fallen, Smallville, Minority Report)
Tom Mison b. 1982 (Sleepy Hollow)
Kathryn Hahn b. 1974 (Tomorrowland, The Last Mimzy)
Stephanie March b. 1974 (The Invention of Lying, Early Edition)
Charisma Carpenter b. 1970 (Haunted High, Supernatural, Legend of the Seeker, Charmed, Angel, Buffy, Strange Frequency)
Marlon Wayans b. 1972 (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Dungeons & Dragons)
Bill Chott b. 1969 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Invader ZIM, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Galaxy Quest, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Shawn Levy b. 1968 (director, Night at the Museum, Real Steel, First Wave, The Journey of Allen Strange)
Philip Seymour Hoffman b. 1967 died 2 February 2014 (Hunger Games, The Invention of Lying)
Eriq La Salle b. 1962 (Under the Dome, Mega Fault, Quantum Leap, Jacob’s Ladder)
Rob Stewart b. 1961 (Dark Matter, Defiance, Beauty and the Beast [2013], Lost Girl, The Good Witch, ReGenesis, Jake 2.0, The Adventures of Sinbad, Highlander)
Woody Harrelson b. 1961 (The Hunger Games, 2012, Zombieland, A Scanner Darkly)
Diane Robin b. 1956 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Brimstone, The Relic, RoboCop)
Edie McClurg b. 1951 (Flubber [1997], Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Homeboys in Outer Space, A.J.’s Time Travelers, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Small Wonder, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Incredible Hulk, Carrie)
Belinda Montgomery b. 1950 (TRON: Legacy, Man from Atlantis, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Larry Manetti b. 1947 (Monster Makers, Quantum Leap, Swamp Thing, Tales from the Darkside, Battlestar Galactica)
Marianne Gordon b. 1946 (The Being, Rosemary’s Baby, Mr. Terrific)
Ronny Cox b. 1938 (Age of Dinosaurs, Stargate SG-1, Deep Blue Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, Time Trax, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain America [1990], Total Recall, Martians Go Home, RoboCop)
C.M. Kornbluth b. 1923 died 21 March 1958 (author, The Space Merchants [with Frederik Pohl])
Virgil Finlay b. 1914 died 18 January 1971 (artist)
Julie Mitchum b. 1914 died 21 February 2003 (House on Haunted Hill)
Coral Browne b. 1913 died 29 May 1991 (Dreamchild, Time Express, Theatre of Blood)
Michael Wilding b. 1912 died 8 July 1979 (Frankenstein: The True Story)
Arthur Treacher b. 1894 died 14 December 1975 (Mary Poppins)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Not surprisingly, the Picture Slot in 2013 went to Daniel Radcliffe, the most iconic actor on the list by a bunch. In 2014, I went with an illustration from Virgil Findlay, one of the great sci-fi and fantasy illustrators from the Golden Age of magazine illustration. This year, it's Tom Mison, Ichabod Crane from TV's version of Sleepy Hollow. While not as iconic as the other gentlemen, it should be noted that he is famous for work he is doing right damn now, which cannot be said for Radcliffe or Findlay.

2. Spot the Canadians! Today's three Canadians are all born before 1970. Actor Rob Stewart has that certain Canadian whiff on his resume, actress Belinda Montgomery does not. Director Shawn Levy does a lot of work south of the border and he garners hate from fans at levels to rival Joel Schumacher. I barely knew who this guy was before this morning.

3. Nepotism more or less. Julie Mitchum was the older sister of Robert Mitchum. His career hit the heights, hers didn't. Coral Browne got plenty of work on stage and screen, but most of her genre work is due to her husband Vincent Price.

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

Predictor: Dean Ing in Wild Country, published 1985

Prediction: The third volume in the Ted Quantill trilogy (the first volume is Systemic Shock, the second Single Combat). In 2006 Ring cities have been built around ruined metropolises. Essentially a crime adventure story involving heroin smuggling and the development of a matter synthesizer. Little is said about the nuclear war.

Reality: My source The Experts Speak has dried up, but it did give a good run and pointed to John Langdon-Davies and Morris L. Ernst, so no regret there. The new Thursday regular is a familar one, the nuclear holocaust database of Professor Paul Brians. Much like The Experts Speak, the "reality" section will be "Umm... no." This is not a problem as far as I'm concerned. Predictions with dates before 2020 that can be verified or falsified are the meat of this blog, and I'm glad to find them anywhere I can.

 Never to be Forgotten: Al Checco 1925-2015 A week ago I reported on British character actor Aubrey Morris passing away, and Al Checco is now the fifth familiar (or semi-familiar) face to die in that span of time. He had 95 credits on imdb.com from the 1950s to the 2000s, mostly but not all on TV. The genre credits are Knight Rider, Pete’s Dragon, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Far Out Space Nuts, The Terminal Man, The Reluctant Astronaut, Batman, Mr. Terrific, The Munsters, The Incredible Mr. Limpet and Tales of Tomorrow.

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

BLOG NEWS! Today is my 1,000th post. For a blogger, that's not an enormous number, but I have to admit to a certain pride.

Make that pride and trepidation.

As I said up in the prediction section, this blog lives on predictions that can be verified or falsified, and I am running out. I'd like to make it to the end of the year, so my new policy is just birthday, no predictions on the weekends. I do have a source that is going to help me get through November easily, but getting to November is the tough task. I don't like repeating prediction for the most part, but I might bring back one early predictor (hint for the regulars: man-crush) just to get the blog to the end of November, or better still, the end of the year. Beyond that, I make no promises. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More early 20th Century cheese from H.G. Wells.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

28 June 2015

Birthdays
Kare Hedebrant b. 1995 (Real Humans, Let the Right One In)
Nicholas Purcell b. 1990 (Surrogates)
Felicia Day b. 1979 (Supernatural, The Guild, Eureka, Red: Werewolf Hunter, The Legend of Neil, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Buffy)
Camille Gauty b. 1978 (The Vampire Diaries)
Jeff Geddis b. 1975 (Monster Island, Odyssey 5, Jason X, Earth: Final Conflict)
Carsten Bjornlund b. 1973 (The Thing)
Alessandro Nivola b. 1972 (The Eye, Jurassic Park III)
Aileen Quinn b. 1971 (The Frog Prince)
Steve Burton b. 1970 (Taken, Manimal)
Ayelet Zurer b. 1969 (Daredevil, Man of Steel, Touch, Halo 4: Forward Into Dawn)
Gil Bellows b. 1967 (Falling Skies, Extraterrestrial, Sanctuary, Goblin, FlashForward, Smallville, Infected, Final Days of Planet Earth, Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature, Snow White: A Tale of Terror)
John Cusack b. 1966 (Cell [2014], Hot Tub Time Machine, 2012, 1408, Being John Malkovich)
Mary Stuart Masterson b. 1966 (Touch, The Postman, Amazing Stories, The Stepford Wives [1975])
Sara Stewart b. 1966 (Wizards vs. Aliens, The Prisoner [2009], Demons, Batman Begins, Doctor Who, Space Island One)
Christopher Doohan b. 1959 (Star Trek Continues, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek, Star Trek: the Motion Picture)
Alice Krige b. 1954 (Thor: The Dark World, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Solomon Kane, Children of Dune, Dinotopia, Star Trek: Voyager, Welcome to Paradox, Twilight of the Ice Nymphs, Star Trek: First Contact, Sleepwalkers, The Hidden Room, Ghost Story)
Raffaella De Laurentiis b. 1954 (producer, The Forbidden Kingdom, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Kull the Conqueror, DragonHeart, Dune, Conan the Destroyer, Conan the Barbarian)
Lalla Ward b. 1951 (Doctor Who, Vampire Circus)
David Gautreaux b. 1951 (The Event, Threshold, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Man from Atlantis)
Kathy Bates b. 1948 (American Horror Story, Alice, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Golden Compass, Dragonfly, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Stand, My Best Friend is a Vampire, The Morning After)
Bruce Davison b. 1946 (Bigfoot, Return of the Killer Shrews, Earth’s Final Hours, Lost, Knight Rider [2009], The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar Galactica, Kingdom Hospital, X-Men, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Hunger [TV], Star Trek: Voyager, Harry and the Hendersons [TV[, Amazing Stories, V, The Astronauts, The Lathe of Heaven, Willard)
Robert Asprin b. 1946 died 22 May 2008 (author, Myth Adventures, Thieves’ World)
Gilda Radner b. 1946 died 20 May 1989 (Haunted Honeymoon, Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins, Jack: A Flash Fantasy)
John Byner b. 1938 (Robodoc, Wishmaster, Munchie Strikes Back, Friday’s Curse, Transylvania 6-5000)
Pat Morita b. 1932 died 24 November 2005 (Earth Minus Zero, Timemaster, Space Rangers, Harry and the Hendersons [TV], The Munsters Today, Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], Slapstick (Of Another Kind), Full Moon High, The Incredible Hulk, Man from Atlantis)
Don Dubbins b. 1928 died 17 August 1991 (Starman [TV], The Incredible Hulk, Project U.F.O., I Dream of Jeannie, The Illustrated Man, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone, Men Into Space, From the Earth to the Moon)
Mel Brooks b. 1926 (Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Spaceballs, Young Frankenstein)
Maxine Stuart b. 1918 died 6 June 2013 (The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list. 
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Felicia Day and Alice Krige, if I wanted to continue with the fabulous babe theme, I could have chosen Lalla Ward from Doctor Who, but instead it's the oldest living person on our list, Mel Brooks as Yogurt from Spaceballs. To be clear, he is not The Guy at the Door because several people younger than he is are already gone.

2. Wait... he's dead? I've processed the deaths of Gilda Radner and Pat Morita, but somehow I still haven't put author Robert Asprin in the deceased file.

3. Spot the Canadians (and Nepotism FTW.) Jeff Geddis and Gil Bellows were both born north of the border and their resumes show some trace, but Christopher Doohan is both Canadian and an  obvious beneficiary of nepotism.

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

Movie released
Superman Returns released 2006

 

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in his novel The Door Into Summer

Prediction: (Mr. Powell) picked up his phone and said, “Opal, get me Dr. Berquist.” I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, for he turned on the privacy guard. But after a while he put down the instrument and smiled as if a rich uncle had died. “Good news, sir! I had overlooked momentarily the fact that the first successful experiments (of suspended animation) were made on cats. The techniques and critical factors for cats are fully established. In fact there is a cat at the Naval Research Laboratory in Annapolis which is and has been for more than twenty years alive in hypothermia.”

“Wasn’t NRL wiped out when they got Washington?”

“Just the surface buildings, sir, not the deep vaults.”

Reality: There are three predictions in this passage, all of them false. Suspended animation does not work on humans, it does not work on cats and there was no catastrophic nuclear war between 1957 and 1970, or indeed a nuclear war of any kind.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

One more Monday and another prediction from The OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

25 April 2015

Birthdays
Allisyn Ashley Arm b. 1996 (Meet Dave)
Katherine Wallace b. 1990 (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
Sara Paxton b. 1988 (The Innkeepers, Shark Night 3D, Wizards of Waverly Place, Return to Halloweetown, The Ruby Princess Runs Away, Soldier)
Jonathan Bailey b. 1988 (Doctor Who, Five Children and It, Alice Through the Looking Glass [1998 TV])
Heather Sossaman b. 1987 (Fairy Tales, 10.0 The Big One, Buffy)
Daniel Sharman b. 1986 (The Originals, Teen Wolf, Immortals)
Rik Young b. 1978 (Beowulf, Charmed, Children of Dune)
Ben Uttley b. 1978 (Captain America: The First Avenger, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)
Marguerite Moreau b. 1977 (Lost, Smallville, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, Queen of the Damned, Mighty Joe Young [1998], 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Emily Bergl b. 1975 (Warehouse 13, Star Trek: Enterprise, Taken, The Rage: Carrie 2)
Jason Lee b. 1970 (Dreamcatcher, Vanilla Sky, Dogma, Perversions of Science)
Gina Torres b. 1969 (The Vampire Diaries, FlashForward, Serenity, Firefly, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded, Angel, Cleopatra 2525, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Hank Azaria b. 1964 (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Mystery Men, Godzilla [1998], Tales from the Crypt)
Daniel Kash b. 1959 (Manhattan Undying, Bitten, The Strain, Orphan Black, RoboCop [2014], Alphas, Lost Girl, Repo Men, The Dresden Files, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, Diary of the Dead, Mutant X, Veritas: The Quest, Total Recall 2070, Virus, RoboCop [TV], Forever Knight, Nightbreed, War of the Worlds [TV], Aliens)
Clarissa Burt b. 1959 (The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter)
George Spartels b. 1954 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
Ron Clements b. 1953 (director, The Princess and the Frog, Treasure Planet, Hercules, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid)
Peter Jurasik b. 1950 (Quantum Apocalypse, Sliders, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Babylon 5, TRON[1982])
Jeffrey DeMunn b. 1947 (The Walking Dead, The Mist, The X-Files, RocketMan, Phenomenon, The Blob [1988], Twilight Zone [1985], Resurrection)
Talia Shire b. 1946 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star, Prophecy, The Dunwich Horror)
Al Pacino b. 1940 (Angels in America, S1m0ne, The Devil’s Advocate)
Denny Miller b. 1934 died 9 September 2014 (Werewolf, Knight Rider, V, Voyagers!, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Incredible Hulk, Beyond Westworld, Battlestar Galactica. Dr, Scorpion, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Island at the Top of the World, I Dream of Jeannie)
Paul Mazursky b. 1930 died 30 June 2014 (actor, Twilight Zone)
Kay E. Kuter b. 1925 died 12 November 2003 (Charmed, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The X-Files, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beauty and the Beast, V, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Last Starfighter, Far Out Space Nuts, I Dream of Jeannie, The Outer Limits, The Mole People)
Davy Kaye b. 1916 died 3 February 1998 (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1972], Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Russ Conway b. 1913 died 12 January 2009 (The Space-Watch Murders, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, The Time Tunnel, The Munsters, The War of the Worlds, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Flight to Mars, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man)
Paul Curran b. 1913 died 1 December 1986 (Jabberwocky)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was handed to Gina Torres from Firefly and Peter Jurasik from Babylon 5. Not wanting to repeat myself and looking for iconic roles, the guy from the most popular show should be Jeffrey DeMunn from The Walking Dead, but invoking The First Law of Blogging ("You're Not the Boss of me!"), I went with Hank Azaria as The Blue Raja from Mystery Men.

2. Nepotism FTW. Talia Shire is the sister of Francis Ford Copolla. When one sibling is notably more famous than the other and also gave the less famous sibling a big break, I definitely count it as nepotism.

3. Two Canadians, one dead, one spottable. Russ Conway's career took place long before producing shows in Canada was a big industry. The other Canadian has a credit list that makes him easy to spot.

4. The Guy at the Door.  Every day I make these lists and I check for the oldest living person. If no one younger than him (or her) is dead, that person in The Guy (or Gal) at the Door. Today it's Al Pacino, who is only 75. As always when there is someone At the Door, I send special best wishes for a long and healthy life to that person.


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

Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in his 1955 book Utopia 1976

Prediction: The atom will not be employed to murder civilizations.

Reality: Most of the predictions in Ernst's book are extensions of his main thesis that Americans will have a 30 hour work week by 1976 and all the wonderful and morally uplifting things people will do with the extra time. Given his flawed thesis, many of the predictions also go awry, but this one stands on its own and (knock wood) we've gone sixty years and it's still the case.

Yay, correct optimism!

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another trip into the late 20th Century courtesy of Robert A. Heinlein's 1956 book The Door Into Summer. 


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

15 March 2015

Birthdays
Anna Shaffer b. 1992 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince)
Jai Courtney b. 1986 (Suicide Squad, Terminator Genisys, Insurgent, Divergent, I, Frankenstein)
Eva Amurri Martino b. 1985 (Animals)
Kellan Lutz b. 1985 (The Legend of Hercules, Twilight, A Nightmare on Elm Street [2010], Heroes)
Sean Biggerstaff b. 1983 (Harry Potter)
Pollyanna McIntosh b. 1979 (Tales of Halloween, Land of the Lost [2009], Bats: Human Harvest)
Brian Tee b. 1977 (Jurassic World, Roswell FM, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Grimm, Beauty and the Beast [2013], Mortal Kombat: Legacy, The Wolverine, Red Shift, Jericho, The Chronicle [TV], Buffy, The Invisible Man)
Will I. Am b. 1975 (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
Tak Sakaguchi b. 1975 (Mutant Girls Squad, Samurai Zombie, Godzilla: Final Wars, Aragami, Versus)
Anne Bedian b. 1972 (Meteor, Lost, Android Apocalypse, The Hunger [2000])
J. Brennan Smith b. 1970 (Testament)
Kim Raver b. 1969 (Revolution, Night at the Museum)
Sean Bridgers b. 1968 (True Blood, American Gothic, Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice)
Chris Bruno b. 1966 (Jack the Reaper, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Grendel)
Robin Malcolm b. 1965 (The Lord of the Rings, Boogeyman)
Renny Harlin b. 1959 (director, The Legend of Hercules, The Covenants, The Exorcist: The Beginning, T.R.A.X., Deep Blue Sea, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4)
Joaquim de Almeida b. 1957 (Revolution, Once Upon a Time, Robosapien: Rebooted)
Craig Wasson b. 1954 (Sasquatch Mountain, The Tomorrow Man, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Trapped in Space, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Tales from the Darkside)
Brad Blaisdell b. 1949 (Birds of Prey, Angel, Inspector Gadget, Deep Space Nine, Dark Skies, Evolver, Small Wonder, World War III)
David Cronenberg b. 1943 (director, eXistenZ, Naked Lunch, The Fly, The Dead Zone, Videodrome, Scanners, The Brood, Rabid, They Came from Within)
Judd Hirsch b. 1935 (Forever, Sharknado 2, Warehouse 13, Independence Day)
Lawrence Tierney b. 1919 died 26 February 2002 (Armageddon, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Runestone, Wizards of the Demon Sword, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Offspring, Tales from the Darkside, Exorcism at Midnight)
Joe E. Ross b. 1914 died 13 August 1982 (The Ghost Busters [1975], The Lost Saucer, Batman, It’s About Time)
J. Pat O’Malley b. 1904 died 27 February 1985 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Willard, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman, Bewitched, Mary Poppins, Twilight Zone, Son of Flubber, Alice in Wonderland [1955 TV] )

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot skewed young with Kellan Lutz from Twilight and Sean Biggerstaff from Harry Potter. This year, it's the influential Canadian horror/sci-fi director David Cronenberg, who I would argue is the most important person on the list in terms of the genre.

2. The other Canadian. Ann Bedian was born north of the border. Her credit list does not make that completely clear.

3. The Guy at the Door. Judd Hirsch turns 80 today and he is still working, bless him, but he's the oldest guy on the list and everyone younger is still alive, which makes him The Guy at the Door. Of course, this just means no one died tragically young and there is a 16 year gap between him and the next oldest guy, the famously irritable Lawrence Tierney.

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

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in the 1956 book The Door Into Summer

Prediction: When the Cold War boiled over, I was a sergeant-technician at Sanda Weapons Center in New Mexico, stuffing atoms into atom bombs and planning what I would do when my time was up. The day Sandia disappeared I was down in Dallas… (and) the fallout on that was toward Oklahoma City.

Reality: Heinlein writes this in 1956, when the idea of a shootin' war with the Russkies was considered inevitable by a lot of folks. Lucky for us, it never happened. It probably wouldn't be the "la-de-da, life goes on" blip that Heinlein makes it out to be.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Welcome to the working week, as Elvis Costello wrote. We hope another peek into The OMNI Future Almanac might thrill you, we know it won't kill you.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 March 2015

Birthdays
Emily Osment b. 1992 (Spy Kids 2 and 3, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Olivia Wilde b. 1984 (The Lazarus Effect, Her, TRON: Legacy, In Time, Cowboys & Aliens)
Rafe Spall b. 1983 (The World’s End, Life of Pi, Earthbound, Prometheus, Grindhouse, Dracula [TV], Shaun of the Dead)
Holly Winnard b. 1981 (The Battle for Earth, Zombies! Zombies! Zombies!, Hoodoo for Voodoo)
Edi Gathegi b. 1979 (Beauty and the Beast [2013], X-Men: First Class, Twilight)
Tara Cardinal b. 1978 (Relatively Super, Legend of the Red Reaper, Alien Rising, Apocalypse Z, Bite Nite, Robodoc, It’s Supernatural)
Bree Turner b. 1977 (Grimm, Duel on Planet Z)
Jon Hamm b. 1971 (Sucker Punch, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Charmed, Space Cowboys)
Paget Brewster b. 1969 (The Venture Brothers, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Cyxork 7, Star Patrol)
Jasmine Guy b. 1962 (Dead Like Me, The Vampire Diaries, Lois & Clark)
Andre Johnson b. 1961 (Age of Dinosaurs, 100 Degrees Below Zero, Spider-Man, Blade)
Scott Frank b. 1960 (writer, The Wolverine, Minority Report)
Sharon Stone b. 1958 (Catwoman, Sphere, Total Recall, Beyond the Stars, Badlands 2005)
Shannon Tweed b. 1957 (Homeboys in Outer Space, Deadly Nightmares)
Robert Llewellyn b. 1956 (Red Dwarf, MirrorMask)
Katherine Houghton b. 1945 (The Last Airbender)
Richard Gant b. 1944 (Charmed, Smallville, Godzilla [1998], Babylon 5, Lois & Clark, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday)
Bruce Joel Rubin b. 1943 (writer, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Last Mimzy, Deep Impact, Jacob’s Ladder, Ghost, Deadly Friend, Brainstorm)
Chuck Norris b. 1940 (Hellbound)
David Watson b. 1940 died 5 October 2014 (Project U.F.O., The Bionic Woman, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Time Tunnel)
Venetia Stevenson b. 1938 (The City of the Dead)
Pamela Mason b. 1916 died 29 June 1996 (Wonder Woman, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Warner Anderson b. 1911 died 26 August 1976 (The Immortal, Destination Moon)
Richard Haydn b. 1905 died 25 April 1985 (Young Frankenstein, Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
Sam Jaffe b. 1891 died 24 March 1984 (Battle Beyond the Stars, The Bionic Woman, Batman, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Lost Horizon)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was awarded to the fabulous Olivia Wilde and Robert Llewellyn from Red Dwarf. Without the, there are a few well-known names - Chuck Norris, Sharon Stone, Jon Hamm - but I don't consider them genre iconic. We do have some great Oh That Guys, including our oldest Sam Jaffe and Richard Haydn, but I decided to skew a little younger and use Richard Gant in his role from Babylon 5.

2. Hey, no Star Trek... two days in a row. Yesterday, I wrote how rare a day without Star Trek actors is. Now we have two in a row. But using this to prove Star Trek really isn't a big deal over the past half century is like cherry picking data to say climate change isn't real. Star Trek is a big damn deal in genre.

3. One Canadian, hard to spot. Shannon Tweed was born north of the border, but isn't a regular in the genre TV business.

4. Nepotism aplenty. Some of these are just a matter of being related and not actual nepotism, but in any case, there's a bunch today. Listing oldest to youngest:

Pamela Mason was James Mason's wife. She worked with him on several projects, though I have no idea how she decided doing The Navy vs. the Night Monsters was a good idea.

Venetia Stevenson was married to Russ Tamblyn, then Don Everly. This is more a case of fabulous babe being in the circle of famous people and marrying one of them.

Katherine Houghton was Katherine Hepburn's niece and was cast in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. I count this as nepotism for sure.

Shannon Tweed is the mother of Gene Simmon's children. See Venetia Stevenson for the explanation, though no marriage was actually involved.

Rafe Spall is the son of Timothy Spall, which couldn't hurt in British show business.

Emily Osment is Haley Joel Osment's sister. I consider this more a case of same stage parents instead of actual nepotism.

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

Movie released
Mission to Mars released, 2000 
 

Predictor: W. Warren Wagar in the 1991 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction:In 2000, forces under nominal U.N. command fighting for the major industrialized nations and their corporate sponsors were fighting a pitched battle to achieve the final solution of the “South Asian” problem. Early in the year, Pakistan had launched two small nuclear missiles against India.

The world was not entirely at peace until October 2000, when Russia, Ukraine and Belarus finally became associate members of the European Community.


Reality: This is the last of the predictions I'm going to use from Professor Wagar's book. Two of his basic ideas are correct,  that capitalism was going to go hog wild once the Eastern Bloc was no longer communist and that trouble in the Muslim world was going to be important, but when it comes to actual historical facts, Wagar is way off. Next week, we will get a new regular feature on Tuesdays.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

What did the future of technology look like in 1901. Our pal George Sutherland tells us.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

28 December 2014

Birthdays
Mackenzie Rosman b. 1989 (Ghost Shark, Fading of the Cries, The Tomb)
Andrew Jenkins b. 1988 (Supernatural, Stormworld, Zombie Punch)
Thomas Dekker b. 1987 (Chromeskull: Laid to Rest 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street [2010], Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Heroes, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Star Trek: Generations, Village of the Damned, Star Trek: Voyager)
Hannah Toiton b. 1987 (Penny Dreadful, Sinbad, The Lost Future, Genie in the House)
Adam Gregory b. 1987 (Dystopia: 2013, 17 Again, The Wizards of Waverly Place)
Beau Garrett b. 1982 (TRON: Legacy, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Unearthed)
Sienna Miller b. 1981 (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Stardust)
Vanessa Ferlito b. 1980 (Spider-Man 2)
Bree Williamson b. 1979 (Haven, Mutant X, Odyssey 5, Earth: Final Conflict)
Noomi Rapace b. 1979 (Prometheus 1 and 2)
Joe Manganiello b. 1976 (True Blood, Spider-Man 1 and 3)
Brendan Hines b. 1976 (The Middleman, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Angel)
Seth Meyers b. 1973 (Journey to the Center of the Earth)
Elaine Hendrix b. 1970 (Kids vs. Monsters, Futurestates, The Chronicle, The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas)
Josephine Byrnes b. 1966 (The Matrix Reloaded, The Lost World [2001 TV], Thunderstone)
Terri Garber b. 1960 (SnakeHead Swamp, Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone [1988])
Phil Abrams b. 1959 (The Big Bang Theory, Lost, The Island, Birds of Prey, Roswell, The X-Files)
Denzel Washington b. 1954 (The Book of Eli, Virtuosity, Heart Condition)
Dame Maggie Smith b. 1934 (Harry Potter, Nanny McPhee Returns, From Time to Time, The Secret Garden, Hook, Clash of the Titans)
Nichelle Nichols b. 1933 (The Cabonauts, Heroes, Surge of Power, Good vs Evil, The Adventures of Captain Zoom in Outer Space, Star Trek, The Supernaturals)
Martin Milner b. 1931 (RoboCop [TV], 13 Ghosts, Twilight Zone, On the Threshold of Space)
Pamela Duncan b. 1924 died 11 November 2005 (The Undead, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger)
Andrew Duggan b. 1923 died 15 May 1988 (A Return to Salem’s Lot, Frankenstein Island, Wonder Woman, A Fire in the Sky, The Time Machine [1978 TV Movie], The Bionic Woman, It Lives Again, Project U.F.O., It’s Alive, The Invaders, The Incredible Mr. Limpet)
Stan Lee b. 1922 (Marvel Comics)
Kim Chan b. 1917 died 5 October 2008 (The Fifth Element, Robot in the Family)
Charles Maxwell b. 1913 died 7 August 1993 (Star Trek, My Favorite Martian, World of Giants, Adventures of Superman)
Lew Ayres b. 1908 died 30 December 1996 (Donovan’s Brain, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Questor Tapes, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Damien: Omen II, Battlestar Galactica)
F.W. Murnau b. 1888 died 11 March 1931 (director, Nosferatu)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Yesterday, I whined that there weren't a lot of iconic people whose birthday was two days after Christmas. I'm not whining today. Last year used Nichelle Nichols, absolutely iconic and a fabulous babe to boot and none could say nay. (Fun fact to know and tell: At 16, she was a singer with the Duke Ellington orchestra.) This year, I give a tip of the hat to the oldest living birthday boy here, Stan Lee, now 92 and looking pretty darned good. As for next year, I would argue Dame Maggie Smith from Harry Potter is the most iconic person I haven't used yet, but that means shutting out A-list movie star Denzel Washington. The list also has two great Oh That Guys, Andrew Duggan and Lew Ayres. I wouldn't be adverse to using a poster of Nosferatu to honor F.W. Murnau and among the younger folk,  I'd say Joe Manganiello from True Blood is most iconic.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are two. I give the hint that they are both born after 1975.

 Best wishes to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
 

Predictor: Leonard Fischer in Let Out the Beast, published in 1950 by News Stand Library, Toronto.

Prediction: In 1963 a worldwide drought causes a famine, leading to a nuclear war in 1965 between the superstates of Americanada and Europasia. The novel focuses almost exclusively on a reporter and his fiance, struggling to survive in the devastated urban landscape. As the title indicates, the book's theme is the gradual emergence of the bestial nature of the protagonist as civilization crumbles. Beginning as a decent, heroic defender of pure womanhood, he evolves into the notorious leader of a marauding tribe devoted to rape and pillage. After his first wife dies (he later acquires five), he turns savage and is hunted down by an armed expedition seeking to reestablish civilization. At the end of the novel he is depicted as apelike. The narrative does not conclude with his death, however. Even this relentlessly grim tale ends on a hopeful note by depicting a peace loving group led by a kindly old guru, the reporter's former editor, who used to write bloodthirsty editorials advocating war.

Reality: Ooh, we could play Spot the Canadian publisher, but I gave too much of a spoiler. Why don't we ever have post-apocalyptic heaven-holes, places where folks figure out they can live together and be decent to one another? Ah, well, such is life.

As regular readers will know when the plot summaries are this detailed, I nicked this prediction from Professor Paul Brians great nuclear holocaust database. I still have plenty more of his work, but I'm going give the blog a little rest from the weekly doom and gloom, though I will be bringing it back by and by. As of next Sunday, we will have a new Sunday regular predictor who is, in fact, a previous regular everyone will recognize.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Monday yet again, and I get the treat of dipping into the OMNI Future Almanac to see what they thought life in the early 21st Century would look like.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

14 December 2014

Birthdays
Max Topplin b. 1989 (Carrie [2013], Dead Before Dawn 3D, Please Kill Mr. Know It All, Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Haven, Fringe, The Incredible Hulk [2008])
Vanessa Hudgens b. 1988 (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Sucker Punch, Beastly)
Joe Rokicki b. 1985 (Jack Frost)
Sophie Monk b. 1979 (Click, Monster!)
Patrick O’Brien Dempsey b. 1978 (Thor)
Martin Christopher b. 1977 (Fringe, Sanctuary, Stargate, Supernatural, Painkiller Jane, Eureka, Night at the Museum)
KaDee Strickland b. 1975 (The Grudge, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, The Stepford Wives [2004], The Sixth Sense [1999])
Thuy Trang b. 1973 died 3 September 2001 (The Crow: City of Angels, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Miranda Hart b. 1972 (Hyperdrive)
Michael Stoyanov b. 1970 (Space Station 76, The Dark Knight, Mom and Dad Save the World, Quantum Leap, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Archie Kao b. 1969 (The Hill Have Eyes II, Power Rangers Lost Galaxy)
Natascha McElhone b. 1969 (The Truman Show, Solaris, Feardotcom)
Ted Raimi b. 1965 (Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader, Legend of the Seeker, Supernatural, Planet Raptor, Spider-Man, The Man with the Screaming Brain, Odyssey 5, Invader ZIM, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Apollo 11 [TV], American Gothic, SeaQuest 2032, Army of Darkness, Candyman, Darkman, ALF, Alien Nation, Evil Dead I and II, Shocker)
Peter Murnik b. 1965 (Touch, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Armageddon, Quantum Leap)
Rebecca Gibney b. 1964 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Salem’s Lot [2004], Farscape, The Lost World, Sabrina, Down Under, Time Trax)
Don Franklin b. 1960 (Journeyman, Seven Days, Asteroid, SeaQuest 2032, Somewhere in Time)
Debbie Lee Carrington b. 1959 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mighty Joe Young [1998], Perversions of Science, Men in Black, Mom and Dad Save the World, Batman Returns, Total Recall, Spaced Invaders, Harry and the Hendersons, Howard the Duck, Invaders From Mars, Amazing Stories, Earthlings, Return of the Jedi)
Celia Weston b. 1951 (American Horror Story, Under the Dome, The Invasion, The Village, Hulk, K-PAX)
Paul Zaloom b. 1951 (Beakman’s World)
Vicki Michelle b. 1950 (C.O.O.L.I.O. Time Travel Gangster, Queen Kong, Space: 1999, Virgin Witch)
Dee Wallace b. 1948 (Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard, Grimm, Robocroc, My Stepbrother is a Vampire!?!, Aliens from Uranus, Warehouse 13, Soupernatural, The House of the Devil, Halloween [2007], Abominable, The Frighteners, Alligator II: The Mutation, Critters, The Twilight Zone [1985], Cujo, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Howling, Man from Atlantis, The Hills Have Eyes, The Stepford Wives)
Lynn Marie Stewart b. 1946 (Here Come the Munsters, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse)
Patty Duke b. 1946 (Amityville: The Evil Escapes, Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], Journey to the Unknown, 4D Man)
Stewart Brand b. 1938 (writer, Space Colonies, The Media Lab)
Lee Remick b. 1935 died 2 July 1991 (Faerie Tale Theatre, The Medusa Touch, The Omen, Damn Yankees! [1967 TV Movie])
Lewis Arquette b. 1935 died 10 February 2001 (Little Nicky, Babylon 5, SeaQuest 2032, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman [1993], Tales from the Crypt, Quantum Leap, ALF, The Incredible Hulk, Man From Atlantis)
George Furth b. 1932 died 11 August 2008 (The Munsters Today, The Man with Two Brains, Megaforce, Sleeper, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman)
Joe Brooks b. 1923 died 5 December 2007 (Gremlins, Exo-Man, The Six Million Dollar Man, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Munsters)
Elyse Knox b. 1917 died 15 February 2012 (The Mummy’s Tomb)
Laurence Naismith b. 1908 died 5 June 1992 (Scrooge [1970], The Valley of Gwangi, The Invaders, Camelot, Jason and the Argonauts, Village of the Damned, Vampire Over London)
Frances Bavier b. 1902 died 6 December 1986 (The Day the Earth Stood Still)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, I had a picture of Natascha McElhone because... purdy. This year I'd like to give props to Dee Wallace, also purdy and the owner of a remarkable career. She has 211 credits on imdb.com and only a handful are voice work. She did have a few years as a regular on a few TV shows, but none of them were long lasting hits. It's not impossible for an actress to start working in her twenties and keep working into her sixties, but most who have accomplished that became stars like Meryl Streep or Bernadette Peters. Dee Wallace has done it the hard way, role by role, sometimes in big budget stuff, sometimes in small. Good on ya, Dee.

Next year, I can't say who will be in the Picture Slot. If I'm in an Oh That Guy mood, Ted Raimi is possible, if I want another fabulous babe I might sneak in Vanessa Hudgens from the quickly forgotten Sucker Punch, or I might go Oh That Girl and fabulous babe with Debbie Lee Carrington, one of the best known little person actresses.


2. Wait... she's dead? I had Lee Remick's name on last year's list but I failed to mark down that she died over twenty years ago. If I ever knew it - and I'm an obit fan, so I should have known it - the fact completely slipped my mind.

3. Spot the Canadians! There are two. I'll give the hint that both were born after 1975. Good luck.

4. Hey... no Star Trek! It does happen, but not that often. In just over two months of noting the Star Trek free days, this is the seventh.

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

Movies released
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey released, 2012
I Am Legend released, 2007
King Kong released, 2005

 

Predictor: Philip K. Dick in Breakfast at Twilight, published first in the July 1954 issue of Amazing Stories

Prediction: A family has been bounced forward in time seven years to 1980 to a U.S. devastated by a nuclear war and invaded by Russian troops. The holocaust has gradually evolved out of a series of conflicts beginning with the Korean War. Russian robot-controlled bombardments are systematically destroying the entire country. When the family's house is bombed they are bounced back into their own time, but realize it is futile to warn their disbelieving contemporaries of the war they know is coming.

Reality: Once again, the vast majority of nuclear war stories I have found come from Paul Brians' great database and I thank him yet again.All I will add to the synopsis Professor Brians wrote is that as usual, PKD loves to play around with questions about the natural of reality.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Monday, another dip into the gift that keeps on giving, The OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

7 December 2014

Birthdays
Emily Browning b. 1988 (The Host, Sucker Punch, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Caleb Landry Jones b. 1989 (Antiviral, X-Men: First Class, The Last Exorcism)
Nicholas Hoult b. 1989 (X-Men: Apocalypse, Equals, Mad Max: Fury Road, Warm Bodies, Jack the Giant Slayer, X-Men: First Class, Clash of the Titans)
Jack Huston b. 1982 (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Twilight: Eclipse, Eastwick, Outlander)
Jennifer Carpenter b. 1979 (Quarantine, The Exorcism of Emily Rose)
Shiri Appleby b. 1978 (Roswell, Xena)
Kristofer Hivju b. 1978 (Game of Thrones, After Earth, The Thing [2011])
Mark Duplass b. 1976 (Safety Not Guaranteed)
Christa Campbell b. 1972 (Automata, Spiders, Hyenas, Day of the Dead, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, The Black Hole [2006 TV], Mansquito, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Danny Hassel b. 1967 (Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5)
C. Thomas Howell b. 1966 (Grimm, Category 5, Bigfoot Wars, Revolution, Alphas, The Amazing Spider-Man, Mutant Zombie Vampires in the Hood, The Thirst: Blood War, Torchwood, Kindred: The Embraced, Deadly Nightmares, E.T.)
Jeffrey Wright b. 1965 (Westworld [2015], The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 and 2, Only Lovers Left Alive, Source Code, The Invasion, Lady in the Water, Angels in America)
Patrick Fabian b. 1964 (Snow 2: Brain Freeze, FreakyLinks, Cupid, Timecop, Xena, StarTrek: Voyager)
Jennifer Calvert b. 1963 (Merlin’s Apprentice, Earthsea, Stargate SG-1, Mysterious Ways, Proteus, Red Dwarf)
Priscilla Barnes b. 1958 (The Invisible Man, Good vs Evil, Witch Academy, Lords of the Deep, The Time Machine [1978 TV], Wonder Woman)
Mark Rolston b. 1956 (April Apocalypse, Touch, Supernatural, Reaper, Star Trek: Enterprise, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Dark Angel, Angel, The X Files, From the Earth to the Moon, Humanoids from the Deep, Lois & Clark, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Tales from the Crypt, RoboCop 2, Aliens)
Julie Halston b. 1954 (Addams Family Values)
Tom Waits b. 1949 (The Book of Eli, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Mystery Men, Dracula, Wolfen)
Wendy Padbury b. 1947 (Doctor Who, The Blood on Satan’s Claw)
W.D. Richter b. 1945 (screenwriter, Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1978], Dracula [1979], Big Trouble in Little China, Needful Things, Slither; director, Buckaroo Banzai)
Kenneth Colley b. 1937 (Relic Hunter, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Jabberwocky, A for Andromeda)
Ellen Burstyn b. 1932 (Interstellar, Resurrection [1980], The Time Tunnel)
Johnny Duncan b. 1923 (Plan 9 from Outer Space, Batman and Robin [1949])
Ted Knight b. 1923 died 26 August 1986 (Ghost Busters [1975 TV], The Immortal, The Invaders, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Hurd Hatfield b. 1917 died 26 December 1998 (Amazing Stories, Knight Rider, Between Time and Timbuktu, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Leigh Brackett b. 1915 died 17 March 1978 (screenwriter, The Empire Strikes Back)
Eli Wallach b. 1915 died 24 June 2014 (Tales of the Unexpected, Batman, Shirley Temple’s Storybook)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. There are four artists on the list I well and truly love, and maybe just maybe they will get a chance at the Picture Slot in 2015. Since Angels in America is labeled correctly as fantasy on imdb.com, I might put Jeffrey Wright in. It's more of a stretch to put in Tom Waits, but his turn as Renfield in Copolla's Dracula might be considered. Leigh Brackett wrote westerns and sci-fi back in the pulp era, but she is best known for writing the wise cracking dames in Howard Hawks movies, and her last work was as co-writer of The Empire Strikes Back, the episode that creates almost all the cool back story of Star Wars. The last of my favorites is Eli Wallach, who died earlier this year, who is iconic in the Mister Freeze costume from Batman. But I couldn't chose between these people and gave the slot to petite Wendy Padbury, who played the Doctor's companion back in the late 1980s. (I should add that among the younger crowd, Nicholas Hoult from X-Men and Kristofer Hivju from Game of Thrones also count as iconic in my book.

2. Spot the Canadian! There's one real one and one pretender. See if you can sort it out.

3. The Guy at the Door. Johnny Duncan, who played the Boy Wonder in the 1949 Batman and Robin, was in the Picture Slot last year on his 90th birthday. The good news is he's here to celebrate his 91st, so good on ya, Mr. Duncan. Everybody younger than him is still alive and everyone older isn't, including his birthday sharer Ted Knight, who did a lot more genre than I would have imagined.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, most especially to Mr. Johnny Duncan, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Movie released
Star Trek: The Motion Picture released, 1979

It needs to be said by an actual eyewitness. This movie wasn't any good and I should know, since I saw it twice. In my defense, I was young and fans like me wanted to see it desperately, which we did. In its defense, I think it was better than the first Batman movie with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson ten years later, another movie I saw twice and do not remember fondly.

  

Predictor: Yates, W. R. in Diasporah, published by Baen, 1985

Prediction: In 1997 the Arab countries and Iran launch a surprise nuclear attack against Israel, which retaliates. More such nuclear conflicts lead to a world government headed by the United Nations, which monopolizes atomic weapons, and attacks both New York and Moscow with them when they break the peace. Jews surviving in space colonies build what seems at first to be a superweapon, but what turns out to be an interstellar ship capable of taking them to a new home.

Reality: Longtime readers will know this is the place where I thank Paul Brians for his very extensive database. The problems I have with this prediction, which of course didn't pan out, are twofold. Firstly, getting the Arab countries and Iran to agree on anything is doubtful, even agreeing on blowing up Israel. Secondly, it's unlikely for multiple countries on that list to have nukes and thirdly, there's no way the U.N. gets that kind of power as long as Alex Jones is around to warn us about them.

And the reptile people, naturally.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our regular weekly schedule is interrupted by a prediction from a mini-series.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

23 November 2014

Birthdays
Lucas Grabeel b. 1984 (I Kissed a Vampire, Halloweentown High)
Ricky White b. 1981 (The 100)
Kelly Brook b. 1979 (Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Piranha 3D, Fishtales, Smallville)
Lateef Crowder b. 1977 (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Tekken, The Book of Eli, Heroes)
Lisa Arch b. 1971 (Charmed, The X Files)
Chris Hardwick b. 1971 (Video Game High School, The Talking Dead, Halloween II, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
Oded Fehr b. 1970 (Resident Evil, V, The Mummy, Charmed)
Salli Richardson-Whitfield b. 1967 (Eureka, I Am Legend, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Stargate SG-1, Deep Space Nine, Space Rangers)
Brennan Brown b. 1968 (Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow)
Vincent Cassel b. 1966 (Beauty and the Beast [2014 France])
Don Frye b. 1965 (Godzilla: Final Wars)
Maxwell Caulfield b. 1959 (Nightmare City 2035, Oblivion 2: Backlash, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, The Supernaturals, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Dominique Dunne b. 1959 died 4 November 1982 (Poltergeist)
Sue Giosa b. 1953 (After the Wizard, Beauty and the Beast [1988 TV], America 3000)
Carl Gabriel Yorke b. 1952 (Sliders, Apollo 13, Ghost in the Machine)
David Rappaport b. 1951 died 2 May 1990 (The Wizard, Amazing Stories, Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Bride, Time Bandits)
Peter Maloney b. 1944 (Gotham, K-PAX, Thinner, Robot in the Family, The Thing [1982], Revenge of the Stepford Wives, The Amityville Horror)
Susan Anspach b. 1942 (Deadly Nightmares, Space, The Devil and Max Devlin)
Franco Nero b. 1941 (Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, Deadly Nightmares, The War of the Planets)
Steve Landesberg b. 1936 died 20 December 2010 (Harry and the Hendersons)
Tom Neyman b. 1935 (Manos: The Hands of Fate)
Robert Towne b. 1934 (writer, Orca, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Outer Limits)
Robert Easton b. 1930 died 16 December 2011 (Horrorween, Lost, Needful Things, Pet Sematary II, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered County, The Bionic Woman, The Giant Spider Invasion, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Touch of Satan, My Mother the Car, Lost in Space, The Munsters, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Neanderthal Man, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Adventures of Superman)
Paul Richards b. 1924 died 10 December 1974 (Beneath the Planet of the Apes, ‘Way Out, The Unknown Terror)
Paula Raymond b. 1924 died 31 December 2003 (Blood of Dracula’s Castle, Hand of Death, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
John Newland b. 1917 died 10 January 2000 (director, Star Trek)
Michael Gough b. 1916 died 17 March 2011 (Batman, Sleepy Hollow [1999 film], The Little Vampire, A Christmas Carol [1984 TV], Doctor Who, Blakes 7, The Boys from Brazil, Moonbase 3, Trog, Alice in Wonderland [1966 TV], Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, They Came From Beyond Space, Phantom of the Opera, Horror of Dracula, The Man in the White Suit)
John Dehner b. 1915 died 4 February 1992 (Creator, The Right Stuff, The Boys from Brazil, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Day of the Dolphin, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, Captain Nice, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Twilight Zone, Aladdin and his Lamp)
Ellen Drew b. 1915 died 3 December 2003 (Isle of the Dead)
Victor Jory b. 1902 died 12 February 1982 (Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, The Green Hornet, Cat-Women of the Moon, The Shadow [1940 serial])
Boris Karloff b. 1887 died 2 February 1969 (Alien Terror, Isle of the Snake People, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Monster of Terror, The Comedy of Terrors, Black Sabbath, The Terror, The Raven, Corridors of Blood, Frankenstein – 1970, Voodoo Island, The Island Monster, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, Isle of the Dead, The Body Snatcher, House of Frankenstein, The Boogie Man Will Get You, The Ape, The Son of Frankenstein, The Walking Dead, The Invisible Ray, The Raven, Bride of Frankenstein, The Black Cat, The Mask of Fu Manchu, The Mummy, Frankenstein)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Boris Karloff and he's iconic enough I could have said he gets the Picture Slot for every November 23rd, but being a huge Twilight Zone fan, I instead went with the great Oh That Guy John Dehner, standing across the bar from Stanley Adams in the episode Mr. Garrity and the Graves. Dehner has 285 credits on imdb.com. I admit my geezerhood, but it would be hard for me to put any of the living actors today in the Picture Slot next year, with the possible exception of Tom Neyman, who played The Master in "Manos": The Hands of Fate. I wish I could come up with an excuse to use a picture of Kelly Brook because... purdy, but not iconic in genre.

2. Wait... he's dead? Steve Landesberg. I did not get the memo. Except for Jack Soo, most of the cast from Barney Miller is still alive, including Abe Vigoda. This one definitely surprised me this morning.

3. Wait... he wrote genre? Robert Towne was one of the great screenwriters of the 1970s (Chinatown, Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait), but he also wrote genre back in the 1960s. I didn't know that until this morning.

4. Living Canadian free. No Canadians to spot today. It's rare, but it happens.

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

Predictor: Peter Dagmar in The Sands of Time, published 1963

Prediction: In this time-travel story, people from the future seek to destroy a supercomputer which was built by the surviving crews aboard nuclear submarines in the wake of a devastating global firestorm caused by nuclear war in 2016. A reactor disaster of 2015 is also mentioned.

Reality: Wait, they go back to destroy a supercomputer that was built after the war, but they don't try to stop the war itself? Weird priorities.

As usual, I learned about this prediction from Paul Brians great nuclear fiction database, and once again I thank him.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

How about a fabulous babe from Star Trek in the Picture Slot? The proposal is passed by proclamation.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

9 November 2014

Birthdays
Analeigh Tipton b. 1988 (Lucy, Warm Bodies, The Green Hornet [2011], The Big Bang Theory)
Vanessa Lachey b. 1980 (Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer)
Scottie Thompson b. 1981 (Skyline, Star Trek [2009 movie])
Cory Hardrict b. 1979 (Transcendence, Warm Bodies, Battle Los Angeles, Heroes, Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave, Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis, Creature Unknown, Angel)
Nick Lachey b. 1973 (Rise: Blood Hunter, Bewitched, Charmed)
Allison Court b. 1973 (Haven, The Twilight Zone [1989])
Gabrielle Miller b. 1973 (Lost Girl, Alienated, Jake 2.0, Jeremiah, The Immortal, The First Wave, the New Addams Family, Welcome to Paradox, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Stargate SG-1, The X-Files, Sliders, Highlander, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Eric Dane b. 1972 (The Last Ship, X-Men; The Last Stand, Charmed)
Jason Antoon b. 1971 (No Ordinary Family, Vamped Out, The Lost Room, Minority Report)
Lori Lively b. 1966 (I Kissed a Vampire, Sandman, Free Enterprise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Disaster in Time, Dead Space, Night of the Creeps)
Robert Duncan McNeill b. 1964 (Infested, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Master of the Universe, Twilight Zone [1985])
Teryl Rothery b. 1962 (Arrow, R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour, Caprica, Alice [2009 TV], Smallville, Kyle XY, Eureka, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Dead Like Me, Jeremiah, Threshold [2003 TV movie], Sabrina the Teenage Witch in Friends Forever, So Weird, Warriors of Virtue, The X-Files, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Karen Dotrice b. 1955 (Voyagers!, The Gnome-Mobile, Mary Poppins)
Lou Ferrigno b. 1951 (Star Trek Continues, The Avengers, Soupernatural, The Incredible Hulk [2008 movie and 1982 TV], Hulk [2003], Black Scorpion, Conan, Frogtown II, Sinbad of the Seven Seas, The Adventures of Hercules II, Hercules)
Robert David Hall b. 1947 (Starship Troopers, Mann & Machine)
Charles Robinson b. 1945 (Charmed, Carnivale, Beowulf, Project: ALF)
Carl Sagan b.1934 died 20 December 1996 (author, Contact)
Louise Troy b. 1933 died 5 May 1994 (Ghostbusters II)
Robert Gillespie b. 1933 (At the Earth’s Core, Doomwatch, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed)
Severn Darden b. 1929 died 27 May 1995 (Beauty and the Beast [1989 TV], Faerie Tale Theatre, Saturday the 14th, Beyond Westworld, Salvage 1, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Ghost Busters [1975 TV], Wonder Woman, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Werewolves on Wheels, I Dream of Jeannie)
Alan Caillou b. 1914 died 1 October 2006 (The Ice Pirates, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Quark, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Questor Tapes, Journey to the Center of the Earth [1959])
Robert Douglas b. 1909 died 11 January 1999 (director, Man from Atlantis, Future Cop, Shazam!, The Immortal, The Invaders, Lost in Space)
Ed Wynn b. 1886 died 19 June 1966 (The Gnome-Mobile, Mary Poppins, Twilight Zone, Son of Flubber, Babes in Toyland, the Absent Minded Professor, Cinderfella, Miracle on 34th Street [1959 TV movie])

Today, the Picture Slot decision is trimmed down to just a few. Last year, it was Carl Sagan. This year, it's Robert Duncan McNeil from Star Trek: Voyager, the youngest person on the list to have what I consider an iconic role. Next year, it's Lou Ferrigno all hulked out or Ed Wynn from Twilight Zone on Mary Poppins.

There are three Canadians to spot, but one I think is too tricky because of so few roles. I'll give you Allison Court, the other two should take no clues from me whatsoever. Answer in the comments by noon Pacific time.

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

Predictor: Hawksley, Humphrey and Simon Holberton in Dragon Strike: The Millennium War, published 1997 in London.

Prediction: In February 2001, China seizes the Paracel and Spratley Islands in the South China Sea in an attempt to secure rich oil fields, and then begins to move on the Philippines and threaten Japan's trade routes. Fierce resistance from Vietnam, backed by France, proves surprisingly effective. When Japan's attempt to call on the U.S. for help is rejected, partly because racist Americans have little sympathy for them, the Japanese reveal that they have been building nuclear weapons for some time, and explode one underground to demonstrate their willingness to defend themselves against China. The reactions of all the nuclear nations are discussed in this work, unusual in dealing with proliferation. As part of a complex chain of escalation, the Chinese send nuclear-armed submarines against the U.S., allowing one to be discovered the better to use the second as a threat. The relative helplessness of missile defences against sub-based missiles is discussed. The last quarter of the novel features a good deal of nuclear brinksmanship, with detailed discussion of the inadequacy and futility of civil defence in both the U.S. and Britain. Though an actual nuclear exchange is finally averted, China then attempts to invade Taiwan, but is repelled successfully, thanks to U.S.-supplied arms and fierce resistance. More scenario than novel, complete with endnotes, a timeline, and an index, characters in this book are lucky if they have names--personalities are out of the question. The narrative reads like a set of war-gaming instructions, punctuated by detailed commentary on the state of the relevant stock exchanges (U.S. interests are represented by the price-per-share of Boeing). The Japanese exchange is being cleverly manipulated by the Chinese to yield them huge returns at the end of the war so that even though China has been forced to retreat and has gained none of its obvious war aims, it has earned so much through financial wizardry that it is able to finance a superior military which will be able to threaten the world more seriously next time. None of the countries involved seems to have any regulatory mechanisms in place to prevent their open markets from being used as weapons of war. The novel almost suggests that the entire war has been a feint to conceal this financial coup.

Reality: Regular readers will known that a prediction that has so many spoilers from a book comes from Professor Paul Brians' great nuclear holocaust fiction website, and once again I thank him for it. One of Dale Brown's predictions also included the Chinese taking over the Spratley Islands in one of his slightly futuristic war novels. Invading Taiwan has not been mentioned yet.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Monday, another dip into the OMNI Future Almanac, the early bright spot in my Monday mornings.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 October 2014

Birthdays
Nicholas Elia b. 1997 (Eureka, Supernatural, Speed Racer, White Noise)
Josh Hutcherson b. 1992 (The Hunger Games, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Bridge to Terabithia, Zathura: A Space Adventure)
Eleanor Columbus b. 1989 (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Tyler Blackburn b. 1986 (Brave New World)
Marcus T. Paulk b. 1986 (The Nightmare Room, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Dion Johnstone b. 1975 (Defiance, The X Files: I Want to Believe, The Core, Stargate SG-1, Jeremiah, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show)
Kate Beahan b. 1974 (The Matrix Revolutions, Farscape, Strange Planet)
Kirk Cameron b. 1970 (Left Behind, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land, Beyond Witch Mountain)
Hugh Jackman b. 1968 (Pan, X-Men, The Prestige, Van Helsing, Real Steel)
Mark Donovan b. 1968 (The World’s End, Shaun of the Dead, Cyberon)
Jonathan Crombie b. 1966 (Earth : Final Conflict, Deadly Nightmares)
Dave Legeno b. 1963 died 6 July 2014 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Snow White and the Huntsman, Batman Begins)
JoAnn Willette b. 1963 (Tales from the Darkside, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1986], A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Real Genius)
Deborah Foreman b. 1962 (Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Lobster Man from Mars, Destroyer, Waxwork)
Carlos Bernard b. 1962 (Ghost Storm, Alien Raiders, 10.5: Apocalypse, Babylon 5: A Call to Arms, NightMan)
Richard Genelle b. 1961 died 30 December 2008 (Power Rangers)
Hiroyki Sanada b. 1960 (Extant, Helix, The Wolverine. Lost, Ringu, Super Electric Bioman, Message from Outer Space)
Julie Bell b. 1958 (illustrator)
Michael Bofshever b. 1953 (Roswell, Star Trek: Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, True Blood)
Susan Anton b. 1950 (Out of This World, Quantum Leap, Making Mr. Right)
Randy Stuart b.1924 died 20 July 1996 (The Incredible Shrinking Man)
Lock Martin b. 1916 died 19 January 1959 (Invaders from Mars, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Aleister Crowley b. 1875 died 1 December 1947 (author, Atlantis, the Lost Continent)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Hugh Jackman, the one A-List movie star with a birthday today and this year it's Lock Martin, the big guy who was in the Gort suit in the original The Day the Earth Stood Still. Listed at over seven and a half feet tall, Martin had a lot of the health problems often associated with being very tall, including problems with the joints. Moving around in the suit was very difficult for him and carrying another human was out of the question. When Gort carries Patricia Neal in one scene and Michael Rennie in another, the weight of those actors was supported by wires. It should be noted that two of the most famous tall actors, Ted Cassidy and Richard Kiel, were "only" an inch or two over seven foot and not as frail, capable at their peak of doing at least some of their own stunts, like the knife fight in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Kiel's fight scenes in the James Bond films.

As for next year, if I decide not to go back to Hugh Jackman, the most iconic roles left are young Josh Hutcherson in The Hunger Games and the lovely Randy Stuart in The Incredible Shrinking Man.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are three today, one with a lot of roles and rather obvious, the others with less but still with tell-tale resumes.  

3. The guy I just don't like. Kirk Cameron, way too proud of being an ignoramus. While I don't accept any religion's definition of God, I'm not keen on the people known as "the new atheists", notably Sam Harris, Bill Maher and Richard Dawkins. (Stephen Fry is an atheist as well, but somehow he is nicer about it.) On the other hand, the anti-atheists like Kirk Cameron and Kevin Sorbo are just embarrassingly dumb and vicious.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list (with one exception) and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

 

Predictor: Ruchir Joshi in The Last Jet Engine Laugh, published in 2001 by Flamingo, London.

Prediction: As part of the futuristic frame-story of this complex novel about an Indian photographer it is mentioned in passing that in 2012 a terrorist nuclear bomb destroyed South Bombay, prompting a rogue Indian missile to retaliate with a bomb against Karachi. Both sides have been forced into nuclear disarmament by international pressures, but continue their conflict by conventional means.

Reality: Yet again, thanks to Professor Paul Brians for his exhaustive compendium of nuclear war fiction.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

As usual, this blog welcomes you to the working week with a selection from the 1980s classic The OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

7 October 2014

Birthdays
Jake McLaughlin b. 1982 (Super 8, Heroes, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Cloverfield)
Edison Chen b. 1980 (The Dark Knight, The Grudge 2)
Shawn Ashmore b. 1979 (X-Men, Fringe, The Day, Smallville, Earthsea, Wolf Girl, The Outer Limits, Earth: Final Conflict, Flash Forward, The Ray Bradbury Theatre)
Aaron Ashmore b. 1979 (Smallville, Warehouse 13, Lost Girl)
Tony Way b. 1978 (Doctor Who, Edge of Tomorrow, Game of Thrones, Fairy Tales)
Joe Cobden b. 1978 (Source Code, Devil, I Heart Doomsday, Blindness, The Day After Tomorrow)
Brandon Quinn b. 1977 (The Vampire Diaries, Knight Rider [2008], Charmed, The Nightmare Room, Big Wolf on Campus)
Jamie Hector b. 1975 (The Strain, Heroes, Jericho)
Sabrina Grdevich b. 1970 (Jeremiah, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Total Recall 2070, starThe Adventures of Sinbad)
Warrington Gillette b. 1960 (Friday the 13th Part 2, Timewalker)
Dylan Baker b. 1959 (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Cell, The Invisible Man [TV movie 1998], From the Earth to the Moon)
Judy Landers b. 1958 (Out of This World, Dr, Alien, ALF, Knight Rider, Deadly Nightmares, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Frank Deal b. 1958 (Gotham, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Fringe)
Rosalyn Landor b. 1958 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Arthur the King, Hammer House of Horror)
James Van Patten b. 1956 (Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, Hyper Space, Shazam!)
Tom McBride b. 1952 died 24 September 1995 (Friday the 13th Part 2)
Howard Chaykin b. 1950 (writer/illustrator, American Flagg!)
Austin Stoker b. 1943 (Time Walker, The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, Gemini Man, Battle for the Planet of the Apes)
Joseph Sirola b. 1929 (Wonder Woman, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Green Hornet)

A list where everyone is still alive. Yay! The list was almost Star Trek free, but it did include Rosalyn Landor who played Breanna Odell on Next Generation, one of the many female companions of that hound dog Riker. She was also on Rumpole of the Bailey and now does a lot of voice work. Brown eyes, auburn hair, nice accent. It might be she reminded me a little of Diana Rigg, but whatever it was, she certainly made an impression.

Many happy returns to all.


Movies released
Fail-Safe released, 1964
 

 Predictor: Fail-Safe by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, published 1962

Prediction: 1967: A Vindicator bomber wing, led by Group Commander Grady, is flying over the Bering Strait when an attack code number appears on the fail-safe box.

Reality: The fear of nuclear war was a part of daily life for most of the second half of the 20th Century, and the mid-1960s after the Cuban Missile Crisis was likely the peak of it, especially with the success of big budget movies like Fail-Safe and Dr. Strangelove. As we are all aware, we did not have toe-to-toe nuclear confrontation with the Russkis in 1967, one of the many lucky events that makes it possible for me to write this blog. It should be noted that the creepy cocktail party intellectual who is all in favor of nuclear war and played by Walter Matthau is actually based in part on Herman Kahn, one of our regular if not accurate predictors.

 Never to be Forgotten: 
Sarah Danielle Goldberg 1974-2014
I recently saw the obituary for Chicago stage actress Sarah Danielle Goldberg, who was usually listed as Sarah Danielle Madison in film credits. Her family said in the obit that she died of natural causes, but that raises more questions than it answers when the deceased just turned 40. She was in Savage Planet and Jurassic Park III


Best wishes to the family and friends of Sarah Danielle Goldberg, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Never to be Forgotten:
Geoffrey Holder 1930-2014

Geoffrey Holder, who is best remember by Americans of a certain age from the 7-Up commercials that lauded the advantages of the Un-Cola, has died at the age of 84. He worked as a dancer and choreographer, but in recent decades most of his work has been as narrator, taking advantage of his truly lovely voice. (As a baritone, I am deeply jealous of the best basses.) He is remembered here for his on-screen work in Ghost of a Chance, John Grin’s Christmas, his role as the Cheshire Cat in the 1983 Broadway revival of Alice in Wonderland and Doctor Dolittle [1967].

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We get another exciting installment of what life in 2011 New York would look like as imagined in 1911.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!