10 September 2015

Birthdays
Elyse Levesque b. 1985 (The Originals, SGU Stargate Universe, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Smallville, Flash Gordon, 2030 CE, MythQuest)
Harry Treadaway b. 1984 (Penny Dreadful [2014], Cockneys vs Zombies)
Luke Treadaway b. 1984 (Clash of the Titans)
Lindsay Maxwell b. 1981 (Supernatural, Hair of the Sasquatch, The Butterfly Effect 2, Deep Evil, Stargate SG-1, Seven Days)
Kyle Bornheimer b. 1975 (Agent Carter, Jericho)
Sebastian Gutierrez b. 1974 (writer, The Eye, Rise: Blood Hunter, Gothika, Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature)
Sarah Danielle Goldberg Madison b. 1974 died 27 September 2014 (Savage Planet, Jurassic Park III)
Ryan Phillippe b. 1974 (Invader, Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare)
James Duval b. 1972 (Lazarus, Hercules Reborn, Evilution, Frog-g-g!, Donnie Darko, Independence Day)
Tim Plester b. 1970 (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Kick-Ass)
Johnathon Schaech b. 1969 (Sleepy Hollow [TV], Star-Crossed, The Legend of Hercules, Quarantine)
Jay Laga’aia b. 1963 (Daybreakers, Legend of the Seeker, Star Wars: Episodes II and II, Xena, Mysterious Island)
Colin Firth b. 1960 (Dorian Gray, A Christmas Carol [2009], Nanny McPhee)
Jim Meskimen b. 1959 (Big Bang Theory, Battlefield Earth, Seven Days, Team Knight Rider, The Journey of Allen Strange, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Apollo 13)
Stacey Nelkin b. 1959 (Fringe, Twilight Zone [1986], Halloween III: Season of the Witch)
Chris Columbus b. 1958 (director, Pixels, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Bicentennial Man)
Jim Jackman b. 1957 (Zombthology, My Stepmother Is an Alien, Spaceballs)
Kate Burton b. 1957 (Extant, Revolution, Grimm, Big Trouble in Little China, Alice in Wonderland [1983])
Fred Olen Ray b. 1954 (director, 135 films, some under the pseudonym Nicholas Medina, most direct to video, either bad sci-fi or soft-core porn, none worth watching)
Clark Johnson b. 1954 (666 Park Avenue, Re-Generation, Forever Knight, Murder in Space, Mazes and Monsters)
Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson b. 1954 (Sci-Fighter, Virtual Combat, Batman Forever, Cyber Tracker, Future Kick)
Stuart Milligan b. 1953 (Doctor Who, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Whoops Apocalypse, Outland)
Amy Irving b. 1953 (Zero Hour, Tuck Everlasting, Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics [1994], Rumplestiltskin, The Fury, Carrie)
Harry Groener b. 1951 (Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Star Trek: Enterprise, Buffy, Roswell, The Day the World Ended, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Charmed, Sleepwalkers, Star Trek: Voyager, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Judy Geeson b. 1948 (Charmed, Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion, Star Trek: Voyager, Horror Planet, Star Maidens, Space: 1999)
Bo Goldman b. 1932 (screenwriter, Meet Joe Black)
Philip Baker Hall b. 1931 (The Amityville Horror [2005], 3rd Rock from the Sun, Roswell, M.A.N.T.I.S., Ghostbusters II, The Goddess of Love, Man from Atlantis)
Gwen Watford b. 1927 died 6 February 1994 (Doomwatch, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Edmond O’Brien b. 1915 died 9 May 1985 (Fantastic Voyage, Moon Pilot, 1984 [1956])
Robert Wise b. 1914 died 14 September 2005 (director, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Andromeda Strain, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Curse of the Cat People)
Bessie Love b. 1898 died 26 April 1986 (The Hunger, Vampyres, My Partner the Ghost, Battle Beneath the Earth, The Andromeda Breakthrough, The Lost World [1925])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to director Robert Wise and actor Harry Groener for his role on Buffy. While we have a few movie stars, I think the list is light on iconic stars in genre, so I went with Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith in the American movie version of 1984.

WHICH IS NOT ICONIC BECAUSE THE MOVE SUCKED EGGS!

I do this today as a warning. The American versions of 1984, on TV with Eddie Albert and on the big screen with Edmond O'Brien, are just awful. The British versions, on TV in the 1950s with Peter Cushing and the movie from 1984 with John Hurt, actually understand Orwell's point. 

2. Spot the Canadians! We have two today. Elyse Levesque and Lindsay Maxwell.

3. Nepotism FTW.  Kate Burton is Richard Burton's daughter. It had to make a difference early in her career.

4. Awesome nickname, still not quite iconic in genre. Don "The Dragon" Wilson is iconic in martial arts, not so much on sci-fi and fantasy films.

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

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

Prediction: The low estimate of the world’s population in 2000 is three billion.

Reality: This is a crazy number. The world population crossed three billion before 1960 and was over six billion in 2000. The only thing that would have done this is a truly horrific World War III and we have avoided that so far, though Glenn Beck tells me it's just around the corner.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We are running low on predictions from H.G. Wells' Anticipations, which suits me just fine because I lost patience with his scumbaggery quite some time ago.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

15 August 2015

Birthdays
Jennifer Lawrence b. 1990 (X-Men, Hunger Games)
Emily Kinney b. 1985 (The Flash, Forever, The Walking Dead)
Clinton Aaron b. 1984 (Left Behind, The Appearing)
Natasha Henstridge b. 1974 (Beauty and the Beast [2015], The Secret Circle, Impact, Ghosts of Mars, Jason and the Argonauts [TV 2000], Species I, II & III, Homeboys from Outer Space)
Ben Affleck b. 1972 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Paycheck, Daredevil, Dogma, Armageddon, Phantoms, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie])
Anthony Anderson b. 1970 (Transformers, Alien Avengers)
Debra Messing b. 1968 (The Mothman Prophecies, Prey)
Michael Berresse b. 1964 (Meet Dave, A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
Andy Forrest b. 1963 (The Future, Carnivale)
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu b. 1963 (writer, Birdman)
David Zayas b. 1962 (Gotham, Grimm, Skyline, Angel)
Zeljko Ivanek b. 1957 (12 Monkeys [TV], True Blood, Revolution, The Event, Heroes, Lost, From the Earth to the Moon, The X-Files)
Tess Harper b. 1950 (Early Edition, The Hidden Room, Twilight Zone [1986], Amityville 3-D, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land)
Ann Ryerson b. 1949 (Constantine [2005], Minority Report, Friday the 13th Part VI)
Jill Haworth b. 1945 died 3 January 2011 (The Mutations, Horror on Snape Island, Horror House, It!, The Outer Limits)
Nigel Terry b. 1945 died 20 April 2015 (Doctor Who, Highlander [TV], Excalibur)
Barbara Bouchet b. 1943 (Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Lou Perryman b. 1941 died 1 April 2009 (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Poltergeist)
Michael J. Reynolds b. 1939 (Moonshot, Lexx, Earth: Final Conflict, The Lifeforce Experiment, Twilight Zone [1989], Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Plague, The Neptune Factor)
Pat Priest b. 1936 (The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, Bewitched, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Mike Henry b. 1936 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Soylent Green)
Abby Dalton b. 1935 (Cyber Tracker, Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent)
Jim Dale b. 1935 (Unidentified Flying Oddball, Pete’s Dragon)
Lori Nelson b. 1933 (The Naked Monster, Day the World Ended, Revenge of the Creature)
Janice Rule b. 1931 died 17 October 2003 (The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Twilight Zone, Bell, Book and Candle)
Nicolas Roeg b. 1928 (director, The Witches, The Man Who Fell to Earth)
Mike Connors b. 1925 (Earthlings, Voodoo Woman, The Day the World Ended)
Vincent Beck b. 1924 died 24 July 1984 (The Invisible Man [1975], The Bamboo Saucer, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)
Elizabeth Kerr b. 1912 died 13 January 2000 (Mork & Mindy, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Signe Hasso b. 1910 died 7 June 2002 (The Green Hornet, The Outer Limits)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went fabulous (and iconic) with Jennifer Lawrence from The Hunger Games and Natasha Henstridge from Species. If I were going to choose a guy instead this year, I could choose Nigel Terry from Excalibur, but he got a picture when he died a few months back. Using Ben Affleck from Daredevil or Vincent Beck from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians would just be cruel, so the best choices for continuing the fabulosity theme are Abby Dalton from Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent, Pat Priest as Marilyn Munster, Barbara Bouchet as one of the legion of babes Kirk seduced on Star Trek and today's winner, Emily Kinney from The Walking Dead.

2. Wait... he's alive? Years ago, I did a blog on the headlines from the supermarket tabloids and they put a lot of celebrities from the 1960s on the cover with warnings they would be dead soon. They predicted Mike Connors was not long for this world five years ago. This is in keeping with their usual accuracy, which is pretty damned awful. Mike Connors turns 90 and best wishes to him. On a non-genre note, Rose Marie turns 92, though I didn't find a credit for her.

3. MST3K. We've got a mess o' stuff today. I've already mentioned the movies that Abby Dalton and Vincent Beck were in, but there's also Revenge of the Creature with Lori Nelson.

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

Movie released
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension released, 1984

The Weekly Soapbox: Overpopulation

We have had a lot of predictions about population and the majority of them are really about overpopulation or methods that will be used to stop overpopulation.

There are a lot of scary ways to present the numbers. For example, if we start at 1925 and move by 30 year increments, it looks like this.

1925: Just under 2 billion
1955: Just under 3 billion
1985: Just under 5 billion
2015: Just over 7 billion

It may be hard to see any hope in these numbers, but the rate of increase slowed down in the 1960s and is still decreasing. Guys like Paul Ehrlich made their reputation predicting mass starvation as the third world norm, but the percentage of people living in danger of food scarcity has decreased dramatically in the past fifty years.

The true cost of massive number of humans is environmental degradation, which includes our contribution to climate change. Like with overpopulation, we are showing only a minor political will to try to solve the problem. Will climate change be "not as bad as predicted"? Or is it a problem so big, we can't even see the events that will impact us before rising sea levels make a significant change in where humans can live and work?

In something of an ironic twist, the Catholic Church - which made efforts to control overpopulation difficult - is now one of the strongest voices to speak out about capitalism's degradation of the environment, most notably since Pope Francis has been installed.

I usually don't make exact predictions, but when my students are my age in the second half of this century, I think things will be significantly worse than they are now for the majority of people unless serious action is taken soon by governments around the globe.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Sunday's are birthday list only. It's Julie Newmar's special day, but I've already used her in The Picture Slot. Oh, how I rue the "no repeats" rule. Who will it be instead?
  
Fin out one day from now... IN THE FUTURE!

16 June 2015

Birthdays
Madisen Hill b. 1993 (The Last Man on Earth)
Nathan Parsons b. 1988 (The Originals, True Blood)
Abby Elliott b. 1987 (Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Debora Nascimento b. 1985 (The Incredible Hulk)
Missy Peregrym b. 1982 (Cybergeddon, Reaper, Heroes, Smallville, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, Dark Angel)
Dan Cade b. 1981 (Automata, Sinbad [2012], Intergalactic Combat, The Eliminator)
Sibel Kekilli b. 1980 (Game of Thrones)
Daniel Bruhl b. 1978 (Captain America: Civil War)
Tom Lenk b. 1976 (Witches of East End, The Cabin in the Woods, The Guild, Transformers, Angel, Buffy)
Fred Koehler b. 1975 (Grimm, Torchwood, Lost, Death Race, Journeyman, Taken, Charmed, FreakyLinks)
Joseph May b. 1974 (Dracula [TV], Revolution [TV movie], Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Stargate: Atlantis, Dead Like Me, Resident Evil, Bugs)
Eddie Cibrian b. 1973 (Invasion, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
John Cho b. 1972 (Sleepy Hollow [TV], Star Trek, Total Recall [2012], FlashForward, Solaris, Earth vs. the Spider, Evolution)
Clifton Collins Jr. b 1970 (Transcendence, Pacific Rim, The Event, Star Trek, The Flash [1990], Freddy’s Nightmares)
Arnold Vosloo b. 1962 (Grimm, G.I. Joe, Fire & Ice, Odysseus: Voyage to the Underworld, Endangered Species, The Mummy, Strange World, Progeny, American Gothic [TV], Darkman II and III, Steel Dawn, Gor)
James M. Connor b. 1960 (Watchmen, Meet Dave, Buffy, The X-Files, Futureworld)
John Franklin b. 1959 (Star Trek: Voyager, Tammy and the T-Rex, Addams Family, Beauty and the Beast, Children of the Corn)
Peter Vaughn-Clark b. 1957 (The Tomorrow People)
Laurie Metcalf b. 1955 (Big Bang Theory, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Making Mr. Right)
Bjorn Sunquist b. 1948 (Ragnarok, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Dead Snow)
Brian Protheroe b. 1944 (Highlander [TV], Superman)
Joan Van Ark b, 1943 (Wonder Woman, Quark, The Last Dinosaur, The Six Million Dollar Man, Frogs)
Suzan Farmer b. 1942 (Blakes 7, UFO, Dracula: Prince of Darkness, Monster of Terror)
Carole Ann Ford b. 1940 (Doctor Who, Day of the Triffids)
Lee Paul b. 1939 (Deadly Friend, Wonder Woman, The Island at the Top of the World)
Joyce Carol Oates b. 1938 (author, American Gothic Stories, Zombie)
Charles B. Pierce b. 1938 died 5 March 2010 (director, The Legend of Boggy Creek)
Michael Culver b. 1938 (The Empire Strikes Back, Space: 1999)
Bill Cobbs b. 1934 (Vampires in Venice, Oz the Great and Powerful, Star Trek: Enterprise, Lost, Demolition Man, The Brother from Another Planet)
Christopher Cary b. 1930 died 1 April 2000 (Watchers, Voyagers!, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Lifepod, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Wonder Woman, Planet Earth, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Batman)
Ramon Bieri b. 1929 died 27 May 2001 (Knight Rider, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Amazing Spider-Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Andromeda Strain)
Faith Domergue b. 1924 died 4 April 1999 (Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, It Came from Beneath the Sea, This Island Earth)
Phil Chambers b. 1916 died 16 January 1993 (The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Twilight Zone, The Mole People)
Anthony Sharp b. 1915 died 23 July 1984 (Gawain and the Green Knight, A Clockwork Orange, No Blade of Grass, The Andromeda Breakthrough)
Ilona Massey b. 1910 died 20 August 1974 (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man)
Jack Albertson b. 1907 died 25 November 1981 (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, It’s About Time, Twilight Zone)
Barry Norton b. 1905 died 24 August 1956 (The She-Creature, Rocketship X-M, Zombies on Broadway, Dracula [1931 Spanish version])
Murray Leinster b. 1896 died 8 June 1975 (author, Exploration Team, A Logic Named Joe)
Stan Laurel b. 1890 died 23 February 1965 (A-Haunting We Will Go, Babes in Toyland)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In the past two years, the Picture Slot went to Sibel Kekilli from Game of Thrones. Not wanting to repeat myself but still in a fabulous babe mood, this year it's Faith Domergue, the actress "under contract" to Howard Hughes, if you get my drift. For me, the biggest movie star here is Stan Laurel, but the best choices for iconic in my book are Jack Albertson in Willy Wonka, Carole Ann Ford in Doctor Who, Tom Lenk from Buffy, Arnold Vosloo from The Mummy and John Cho from Star Trek.

2. Spot the Canadian! Only one today, Missy Peregrym, not that hard to spot.

3. MST3K. Several choices today. The ones I know are The Mole People, Rocketship X-M and This Island Earth. Zombie Rotten McDonald points out The She-Creature and The Legend of Boggy Creek II also got riffed.

4. You learn something new every day... if you aren't careful. Barry Norton was an extra throughout his career, but in 1931 he was Juan Harker in the Spanish language version of Dracula, made in the U.S. and released just a few weeks after the Bela Lugosi version. Barry Norton is a pretty WASP-y sounding name, but he was born in Buenos Aires and was fluent in Spanish. I didn't know any part of this an hour ago.

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

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

Prediction: By 2000, every community will have adopted a planned birth-rate and population will be kept at a fixed level by state-controlled contraception, abortion and sterilization.

Reality: The fear of overpopulation has existed for quite a while, but it became most fashionable in the 1960s and after, so Langdon-Davies is a little ahead of his time here, though completely wrong. Forced population control only took place in Commie countries, the ones Commie Langdon-Davies might approve of.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit with our sensible pal George Sutherland.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 May 2015

Birthdays
Atticus Mitchell b. 1993 (The Colony, My Babysitter’s a Vampire)
Thomas Brodie Sangster b. 1990 (The Maze Runner, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Nanny McPhee)
Megan Fox b. 1986 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jonah Hex, Jennifer’s Body, Transformers)
Stanislav Ianevski b. 1985 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Tien You Chui b. 1983 (Contagion)
Joseph Morgan b. 1981 (The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Immortals, Hex)
Jim Sturgess b. 1978 (Cloud Atlas)
Chris Ackerman b. 1978 (Elektra)
Lynn Collins b. 1977 (John Carter, X-Men: Origins, True Blood, Bug)
Melanie Lynsky b. 1977 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Rose Red, The Frighteners)
Sean Carrigan b. 1974 (John Carter, The Event, Heroes)
Tori Spelling b. 1973 (Smallville, Cthulhu)
Eha Urbsalu b. 1972 (Men in Black 3, Early Edition)
David Boreanaz b. 1969 (Buffy, Angel, The Crow: Wicked Prayer)
Tracey Gold b. 1969 (Arachnoquake, Solar Flare, The Dead Zone, Beyond Witch Mountain)
Brian F. O’Byrne b. 1967 (Flashforward)
Ramon Tikaram b. 1967 (Jupiter Ascending, Vampire Academy, Game of Thrones, Primeval, Speed Racer)
Scott Reeves b. 1966 (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, The Munsters Today)
Vincent Regan b. 1965 (Atlantis, Snow White and the Huntsman, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Clash of the Titans, Black Knight, Invasion: Earth)
Solveig Dommartin b. 1961 died 11 January 2007 (Until the End of the World, Wings of Desire)
Kevin McDonald b. 1961 (Dead Before Dawn 3D, Invader ZIM, Sky High, Galaxy Quest, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy)
Bruce Norris b. 1960 (The Sixth Sense)
Mare Winningham b. 1959 (Geostorm, American Horror Story, Under the Dome, Mirror Mirror, Torchwood, Twilight Zone, Threshold)
Debra Winger b. 1955 (E.T., Wonder Woman)
Pierce Brosnan b. 1953 (The World’s End, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Mars Attacks!, The Lawnmower Man)
Allan Wasserman b. 1952 (Monster Heroes, Big)
Laurette Spang b. 1951 (Battlestar Galactica, Man from Atlantis, Project U.F.O., Gemini Man, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Bill Smitrovich b. 1947 (The Last Ship, Ted, Iron Man, The Event, Millennium, Independence Day, The Phantom, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Splash)
Danny Trejo b. 1944 (Cyborg X, Juarez 2045, The Burning Dead, Rise of the Zombies, Spy Kids, Stargate: Atlantis, Halloween [2007], The X-Files, From Dusk Till Dawn, Anaconda)
Yvonne Craig b. 1937 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Holmes and Yo-Yo, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, Batman, My Favorite Martian, Mars Needs Women, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Jack Dodson b. 1931 died 16 September 1994 (Mork & Mindy, Munster Go Home!)
Harry Carey Jr. b 1921 died 27 December 2012 (The Exorcist III, Back to the Future III, Cherry 2000, Gremlins, Billy the Kid vs. Dracula)
Liberace b. 1919 died 4 February 1987 (Batman)
Barry Atwater b. 1918 died 24 May 1978 (The Night Stalker, Star Trek, The Invaders, Bewitched, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
George Gaynes b. 1917 (Sliders, The Fantastic Four [1994], Altered States, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Henry Fonda b. 1905 died 12 August 1982 (Meteor, The Swarm, Tentacles)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. All right, this is a heck of a list. Earlier Picture Slotters were Thomas Brodie Sangster from Game of Thrones and Lynn Collins from John Carter, he's iconic and she's really pretty. While the list has some honest to Odin movie stars like Pierce Brosnan and Henry Fonda, I had four excellent choices who are iconic in genre.

A. David Boreanaz as Angel.
B. The late Solveig Dommartin from Wings of Desire. The shots of her on the trapeze make her one of the most beautiful women in film history. Not kidding about this.
C. Danny Trejo, because he's Danny FUCKING Trejo!
D. Yvonne Craig, either from Star Trek or Batman.

I typed =randinbetween(1,4) in Excel. Yvonne Craig won.

2. Spot the Canadians! Atticus Mitchell's resume makes it hard to tell. Kevin McDonald you should know.

3. Nepotism FTW. Tori Spelling. I've already said too much.

4. Happy birthday, not a typo. I was surprised last year when I say George Gaynes turned 97 and I'm just as surprised and happy that he turned 98. Good on ya, Mr. Gaynes!

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

Movies released
Shrek released, 2001
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones released, 2002
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian released, 2008
Star Trek Into Darkness released, 2013
Godzilla released, 2014

We are getting to that time of year when a lot of summer blockbusters are released.
 

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

Prediction: The population of the United States in 1976 will be 190,000,000.

Reality: It was actually 216,000,000 in 1976, up from 166,000,000 in 1955 when he made the prediction. I have no idea how he lowballed this so badly. The increase from 1935 to 1955 was about 40,000,000, but he was guessing the next twenty years would only see about a 24,000,000 person increase.The average yearly growth rate would have been 0.6% for his number to make sense; it was actually 1.3%.

In his defense (sort of), he was trained as a lawyer and I know several lawyers who are very clever people but who suck eggs at math.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule is interrupted for a prediction about the Atlantic hurricane season.

Join us then... INTO THE FUTURE!
 

26 April 2015

Birthdays
Channing Tatum b. 1980 (X-Men: Apocalypse, Jupiter Ascending, This is the End, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, War of the Worlds)
Jordana Brewster b. 1980 (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: The Beginning, The Faculty)
Marnette Patterson b. 1980 (Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Charmed, Supernatural, 3rd Rock from the Sun, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5)
Klara Issova b. 1979 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Children of Dune, Dune)
Stana Katic b. 1978 (The Spirit, Heroes, The Librarian: The Curse of the Jade Chalice)
Tom Welling b. 1977 (Smallville, The Fog)
Brandon Slagle b. 1977 (Dead Sea, Entity, Biohazard: Patient Zero, Area 51 Confidential)
Jason Earles b. 1977 (Phil of the Future, National Treasure)
McKenzie Westmore b. 1977 (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Insurrection, Weird Science [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Emily Booth b. 1976 (Grindhouse, Evil Aliens, Event Horizon)
Ivana Milicevic b. 1974 (Eastwick, Fallen, Dark Shadows [2005 TV movie], Frankenstein [2004 TV movie], Paycheck, Charmed, Buffy, Vanilla Sky, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste b. 1967 (Edge of Tomorrow, RoboCop [2014], The Cell)
Jet Li b. 1963 (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Forbidden Kingdom, The One)
Debra Wilson b. 1962 (Avatar, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Joan Chen b. 1961 (Fringe, Cyber Wars, The Outer Limits [1998], Judge Dredd)
Giancarlo Esposito b. 1958 (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Revolution, Once Upon a Time, Xenophobia, NYPD 2069, Monkeybone, Stardust [1998], Creature, The Hunger, The Tomorrow Man, The Brother from Another Planet)
Ron Donachie b. 1956 (Atlantis, Game of Thrones, The Deep [TV], Doctor Who, Starhunter [TV])
Andy Secombe b. 1953 (Star Wars: Episodes I and II, Star Cops, Aladdin and the Forty Thieves)
Erwin Stoff b. 1951 (producer, The Day the Earth Stood Still [2008], A Scanner Darkly, Constantine, The Matrix, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey)
Warren Clarke b. 1947 died 12 November 2014 (Firefox, Hawk the Slayer, A Clockwork Orange)
Carol Burnett b. 1933 (Twilight Zone)
Stafford Repp b. 1918 died 5 November 1974 (Batman [TV], I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Vic Perrin b. 1916 died 4 July 1989 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Project U.F.O., Wonder Woman, Land of the Giants, The Invaders, Star Trek, Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Adventures of Superman, The Twonky)
H.L. Gold b. 1914 died 21 February 1996 (editor, Galaxy Science Fiction 1950-1961)
A.E. van Vogt b. 1912 died 26 January 2000 (author, The World of Null-A, The Book of Ptath, The Voyage of the Space Beagle)
Ethel Griffies b. 1878 died 9 September 1975 (The Birds, It Happened Tomorrow)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In 2012, I had a picture of Watto from the Star Wars movie that must not be named, a CGI character voiced by Andy Secombe. In 2014, It was Ron Donachie from Game of Thrones. I had every intention of putting up a picture of Tom Welling from Smallville, but the career of Vic Perrin captured my interest. The picture is from Star Trek; he's the leader of the planet that won't let either the Enterprise of the "normal" universe or the Spock-with-a-beard universe mine their dilithium crystals. While I consider any major guest star role on the original Star Trek iconic, Perrin also did a lot of voiceover, most notably the narration on the original Outer Limits. While I am of the opinion that The Outer Limits was a pale imitation of The Twilight Zone, that line "We control the horizontal, we control the vertical" is every bit as good as "You're traveling through another dimension." Vic Perrin had an interesting career and deserves to be remembered.

2. Nepotism of an unusual kind. McKenzie Westmore is the daughter of a make-up artist. Robert De Niro came to the home of the of the artist to work on make-up for Raging Bull and got along famously with McKenzie, then three years old. De Niro decided she should play his daughter in the film. An unusual first break in the business.

3. Spot the Canadian and Not a Canadian. Stana Katic is Canadian. Tom Welling is not. Some of the Canadian genre show do have native born stars, but not all of them.

4. Carol Burnett? My current method for searching imdb.com is to click on the first ten names of the top 100 no matter what, then only grab people from positions 11 to 100 if I know they did something or if I think they might have. Carol Burnett was in the top 10, and with her career she certainly deserves it. She was in three different versions of Once Upon a Mattress twice as the princess and a more recent turn as the queen, but the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea has very little fantasy element to it. On the other hand, I forgot she was on an episode of the original Twilight Zone. That always merits inclusion on the list.

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

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

Prediction: In 2000, there were seven million people in Great Los Angeles.

Reality: In the city proper, there were about 3.7 million in 2000. In the region, there were about 16.4 million, so Heinlein's off by about a factor of two whichever geographical area he meant, probably the second one.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Those three little words... OMNI Future Almanac. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

23 December 2014

Birthdays
Conor Carroll b. 1998 (Ender’s Game)
Spencer Daniels b. 1992 (Star Trek [2009], The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Adnan Haskovic b. 1984 (Snowpiercer)
Summer Altice b. 1979 (Chillerama, The Scorpion King)
Estella Warren b. 1978 (Beauty and the Beast [2009], Planet of the Apes)
Josh Cowdery b. 1978 (Godzilla [2014], Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel’s The Avengers)
Corey Haim b. 1971 died 10 March 2010 (Merlin [1998 TV], Watchers, The Lost Boys, Silver Bullet)
Martha Byrne b. 1969 (Anna to the Infinite Power)
Joan Severence b. 1958 (American Horror Story, Black Scorpion I and II, Tales from the Crypt, Deadly Nightmares, Max Headroom)
Nej Adamson b. 1958 (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Doctor Who)
Stefan Arngrim b. 1955 (Arrow, Fringe, Supernatural, V [2009], Flash Gordon [TV], Battlestar Galactica: Razor, The Fog. Earthsea, Dead Like Me, Seven Days, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Strange Days, Highlander [TV], Fear No Evil, Land of the Giants)
Cheryl Howard b. 1953 (Apollo 13, Willow, Splash)
Susan Lucci b. 1946 (Ebbie)
Charles Herbert b. 1948 (Twilight Zone, 13 Ghosts, Men Into Space, The Fly, The Colossus of New York, The Monster That Challenged the World)
Harry Shearer b. 1943 (Seven Days, Godzilla [1998], ALF, The Right Stuff, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars)
Peter Medak b. 1937 (director, Carnivale, Species II, Beauty and the Beast [1987], Faerie Tale Theatre, Twilight Zone [1986], Otherworld, The Changeling, Space: 1999)
James Stacy b. 1936 (Something Wicked This Way Comes)
Frederic Forrest b. 1936 (It Lives Again, Dark Shadows [1970])
Ronnie Schell b. 1931 (Soupernatural, Phil of the Future, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Mork & Mindy, Love at First Bite)
Harry Guardino b. 1925 died 17 July 1995 (Wonder Woman, Future Cop, The Outer Limits)
Alan North b. 1920 died 19 January 2000 (Highlander, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Robert McCall b. 1919 died 26 February 2010 (artist, LIFE magazine, 2001: A Space Odyssey)
James Gregory b. 1911 died 16 September 2002 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Twilight Zone)
Maurice Denham b. 1909 died 24 July 2002 (Doctor Who, Countess Dracula, Blood Beast from Outer Space)
Arthur Dudley Vinton b. 1852 died 12 September 1906 (author, Looking Further Backward)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was an illustration of Robert McCall's from one of the 2001: A Space Odyssey posters. This year, it's Estella Warren from the reboot of Planet of the Apes because... purdy. Next year, I think it will be either Stefan Arngrim from Land of the Giants or James Gregory from Star Trek or maybe Corey Haim from The Lost Boys. 

2. What's with all the child actors? The two youngest on the list, Conor Carrol and Spencer Daniels, both worked as child actors not surprisingly, but so did Stefan Arngrim, Charles Herbert and to my surprise, Harry Shearer.

3. Canadians spotted! All three Canadians on the list have already been mentioned, Estella Warren, the late Corey Haim and Stefan Arngrim from Land of the Giants, who has made a successful career for himself, the only one that has strong Canadian genre tendencies.

4. Fun facts to know and tell. Cheryl Howard is Ron Howard's sister, a family that believes deeply in nepotism, as did the Bridges under father Lloyd's tutelage. Susan Lucci's one genre credit is a gender switch of Scrooge. Arthur Dudley Vinton wrote an "answer" novel to Edward Bellamy's very popular 1888 novel Looking Backward. We will be seeing some of his predictions in the new year. Ronnie Schell is a San Francisco Bay Area native who billed himself in the 1960s as "America's slowest rising comedian". He got a regular role on Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. and kept working steadily ever since, both in front of the camera and in voice work.


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

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

Prediction: The world's population will reach six billion in 1998 and seven billion in 2011.

Reality: The dates for these milestones given from the sources found online were 1999 for six billion and 2012 for seven. I won't quibble here, that's very good work.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another interruption of the weekly schedule for a prediction of creepy happenings in Australia.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

21 November 2014

Birthdays
Jena Malone b. 1984 (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Sucker Punch, Donnie Darko, Contact)
Lindsey Haun b. 1984 (True Blood, Star Trek: Voyager, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Village of the Damned)
Lisa McAllister b. 1980 (Robocroc, The Dark Knight, Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes, Sea of Souls)
Jimmi Simpson b. 1975 (Knights of Badassdom, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Virtuality, Carnivale, Rose Red)
Rain Phoenix b. 1972 (Amazing Stories)
Tamara Gorski b. 1968 (Man with the Screaming Brain, Witchblade, Haven, Angel, Earth: Final Conflict, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Forever Knight, Highland [TV], The Lost World [1992], My Secret Identity, Dracula: The Series [1991])
Alexander Siddig b. 1965 (Game of Thrones, Atlantis, Primeval, Clash of the Titans, Merlin, Doomsday, Reign of Fire, Deep Space Nine)
Bill Oberst Jr. b. 1965 (Werewolf Rising, Circus of the Dead, The Black Water Vampire, Aliens of the West, Krampus: The Christmas Devil, Death Valley [TV], Wonderland [2011], True Blood)
Nicollette Sheridan b. 1963 (Virus [1995])
Brian McNamara b. 1960 (Grimm, Star Trek: Voyager, Prey, NightMan, Sliders, Time Trax, Arachnophobia, Earth Star Voyager, Short Circuit)
Cherry Jones b. 1956 (The Village, Signs)
Timothy Stack b. 1956 (The Flash, Tales from the Crypt, ALF, Martians Go Home, Starman [TV])
Cynthia Rhodes b. 1956 (Runaway)
Deborah Shelton b. 1948 (Witchy Ways, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II)
Goldie Hawn b. 1945 (Death Becomes Her)
Harold Ramis b. 1944 died 24 February 2014 (writer, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, Bedazzled)
Al Matthews b. 1942 (The Fifth Element, Aliens, Superman III, Omen III: The Final Conflict)
Michael Cavanaugh b. 1942 (FlashForward, Carnivale, Epoch, The Haunting, The Burning Zone [TV], Lois & Clark, The X Files, Dark Shadows [1991], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Starman [TV], Amazing Stories)
Juliet Mills b. 1941 (Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Wonder Woman, Demon, Demon)
John Hough b. 1941 (director, The Watcher in the Woods, Incubus, Return from Witch Mountain, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Legend of Hell House)
Rick Lenz b. 1939 (Automan, The Greatest American Hero, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Jeannot Szwarc b. 1939 (director, Supernatural, Almost Human, Fringe, Smallville, Heroes, The Twilight Zone [1986], Supergirl, Somewhere in Time, Bug, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Robert Drivas b. 1938 died 29 June 1986 (The Illustrated Man)
Marlo Thomas b. 1937 (My Favorite Martian)
Gus Trikonis b. 1937 (director, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, SeaQuest 2032, Quantum Leap, The Flash [1991], Beauty and the Beast, Twilight Zone [1986], The Evil)
Ingrid Pitt b. 1937 died 23 November 2010 (Minotaur, Underworld, Doctor Who, The Wicker Man, The House That Dripped Blood, Countess Dracula, The Vampire Lovers, The Omegans)
Laurence Luckinbill b. 1934 (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
Joseph Campanella b. 1924 (Star Trek: Voyager, Good vs Evil, Lois & Clark, Beauty and the Beast [1989], Superboy, Earthbound, Meteor, Ben, The Sixth Sense [1972], Captain Nice, The Invaders)
Christopher Tolkien b. 1924 (author, The Complete History of Middle-Earth)
Helen Horton b. 1923 died 2009 (Polterguests, Superman III, Phase IV)
Ralph Meeker b. 1920 died 5 August 1988 (The Alpha Incident, The Food of the Gods, The Night Stalker, The Green Hornet, The Outer Limits)
Isaac Bashevis Singer b. 1902 died 24 July 1991 (author, The Golem, The Black Wedding, Satan in Goray)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was Alexander Siddig, and I would argue that when it comes to iconic genre roles, he's hard to beat. Not wanting to repeat, I could have gone with Harold Ramis from Ghostbusters, but I already did that when he died this year, or maybe Laurence Luckinbill from Star Trek V or if I was looking to attract the young people, Jena Malone has done some well known stuff. But as you can see, I was in an old school fabulous babe mood for the first time this week and chose Ingrid Pitt, Hammer Studios favorite female vampire. Complaints can be included in the comments, where they will be noted and logged... and frankly, ignored.


2. One role? Really? There were a lot of names on imdb.com that I recognized and decided to search and exactly one genre role showed up, sometimes in very substantial careers. I will admit that I knew what I was looking for with Laurence Luckinbill, Goldie Hawn and Cynthia Rhodes. I was just guessing with Robert Drivas, Marlo Thomas, Nicolette Sheridan and Rain Phoenix, but one role showed up and they are on the list.

3. Wait... he's dead? Wait... he's alive? Robert Drivas is best known for his role in Cool Hand Luke, one of the great trivia cast lists of all time. I didn't know he was gone. On the other hand, I didn't know Joseph Campanella was still with us and turned 90 this year. Many happy returns, Mr. Campanella!

4 A slightly camouflaged Canadian. Tamara Gorski showed up on a lot of 20th Century Canadian genre shows, but she also was on Angel and went to New Zealand to be on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, with one more special nod to Joseph Campanella, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.


Movies released
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, released 2014
Rise of the Guardians, released 2012
Twilight, released 2008

Predictor: H. G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: So far as London, St. Petersburg, and Berlin go, it seems fairly safe to assume that they will go well over twenty millions; and that New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago will probably, and Hankow almost certainly, reach forty millions.

Reality: I love a population prediction, it makes the checking so easy. Young Herbert's crystal ball was completely off on every one of these and always on the way too high side.

London 8.3 mil
St. Petersburg 4.9 mil
Berlin 3.5 mil
New York 19.8 mil
Philadelphia 6.0 mil
Chicago 9.5 mil
Hankow (one of three cities now merged into Wuhan) 10.2 mil

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 and I have to admit, while we get the uncomfortable clothes, the predictions and facial hair are frankly disappointing.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

16 October 2014

Birthdays
Jack Salvatore Jr. b. 1989 (Donnie Darko, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Trevor Blumas b. 1984 (Warehouse 13, Earth: Virtual Mom, Final Conflict)
Caterina Scorsone b. 1981 (Alice [2009 TV], Flash Forward)
Brea Grant b. 1981 (The Guild, A Good Knight’s Quest, Halloween II, Heroes, Battle Planet)
Daniel Kountz b. 1978 (Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Kellie Martin b. 1975 (SeaQuest 2032, Matinee, Doin’ Time on Planet Earth)
Terri J. Vaughn b. 1969 (Black Scorpion, Carnosaur 3)
Ron Rogge b. 1968 (The Man in the High Castle, A Zombie Next Door, Power Rangers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Todd Stashwick b. 1968 (Gotham, The Originals, Teen Wolf [2014 TV], Warehouse 13, Revolution, Heroes, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Supernatural, The Middleman, Star Trek: Enterprise, Dark Angel, Buffy, Angel)
Randall Batinkoff b. 1968 (Touch, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Stepford Children)
Pamela Bach-Hasselhoff b. 1963 (Superboy, Knight Rider, Otherworld)
Flea b. 1962 (Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, Back to the Future: Part II & III, Stranded)
Tim Robbins b. 1958 (Green Lantern, Zathura: A Space Adventure, War of the Worlds, Mission to Mars, Code 46, Jacob’s Ladder, Erik the Viking, Howard the Duck, Amazing Stories, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Martha Smith b. 1952 (They Came from Outer Space, Swamp Thing, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Daniel Gerroll b. 1951 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Mann & Machine, Drop Dead Fred)
David Greenwalt b. 1949 (writer, Buffy, Angel, Eureka, Grimm, Surface, Jake 2.0, The X Files)
Guy Siner b. 1947 (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Bug, Star Trek: Enterprise, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, Babylon 5, Doctor Who)
Suzanne Somers b. 1946 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Ants)
Christopher Mitchum b. 1943 (Lycanthrope, Aftershock, The Serpent Warriors, The Day Time Ended, Bigfoot)
Barry Corbin b. 1940 (Ben 10: Alien Swarm, Wyvern, Alien Express, Race to Space, Timequest, Virus [TV], Critters 2, Tall Tales & Legends, The Twilight Zone, My Science Project, Tucker’s Witch, WarGames)
Angela Lansbury b. 1925 (Nanny McPhee, The Company of Wolves, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Michael Conrad b. 1925 died 22 November 1983 (The Incredible Hulk, Time Express, The Six Million Dollar Man, Planet of the Apes, Scream Blacula Scream, The Immortal, Lost in Space, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Alice Pearce b. 1917 died 3 March 1966 (Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
Maidie Norman b. 1912 died 2 May 1998 (Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Incredible Hulk, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Twilight Zone)
Anthony Nicholls b. 1902 died 22 February 1977 (The Omen, Space: 1999)
Oscar Wilde b. 1854 died 30 November 1900 (author, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Canterville Ghost)

Notes on the birthday list
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was Tim Robbins, one of the few actual movie stars on the list, though his best known roles aren't in genre. This year it's Alice Pearce in her most famous role as the original Gladys Kravitz, who died during the run of Bewitched. While it's not genre, Michael Conrad met a similar fate on Hill Street Blues. Next year's choice is up in the air, though if I'm in an Oh That Guy mood, Barry Corbin is certainly a familiar face.

2. Spot the Canadians and Not the Canadian.  Two of our younger actors, Trevor Blumas and
Caterina Scorsone, were born in Canada, but they don't have the very long C.V.s we have come to expect from our neighbors to the north. Todd Stashwick, who shows up both in Canadian and American produced TV shows, was not born in Canada.

3. The Gal at the Door. I hate to be morbid, but we have another list where all the dead are at the bottom and all the living are above, and the oldest living birthday girl is Angela Lansbury.

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

 

In the Year 2000!
 
Predictor: Lee de Forest, "The Father of Radio", predicting the world of 2000 in the 17 January 1960 edition of the Sunday supplement American Weekly.


Prediction: Striking developments in irrigation and flood control, more efficient use of solar energy, electronic acceleration of germination and growth, and revolutionary chemical and biological discoveries will expand mankind's food resources so that famine will be eliminated-despite immense population increases.

Reality: Okay, this is pretty darned good. The electronic acceleration of germination and growth isn't a major factor, but the conventional wisdom back in the second half of the 20th Century was that overpopulation was going to trigger massive starvation. (Remember Dr. Paul Ehrlich?) Here, de Forest says yes, there will be large population growth but food technology will keep up with it. He went a little far saying "famine will be eliminated", but a half century later, the percentage of the world that experiences food shortages is much smaller than in was in 1960.

In any case, he beats Paul Ehrlich. If I had my way, Paul Ehrlich would be beaten on a regular basis, at least metaphorically.

Never to be Forgotten: Elizabeth Peña 1959-2014

I wrote earlier that I hate to be morbid, and I feel this keenly announcing the death of Elizabeth
Peña. Like Jan Hooks earlier this week, I knew and liked Peña's work in many films and like Ms. Hooks, Ms. Peña was born after I was. My favorite film she was in is probably John Sayles' Lone Star, but she is remembered here for roles in Strangeland, It Came from Outer Space II, The Invaders, Jacob’s Ladder and *batteries not included. I don't list all voice work when giving credits, but Ms. Peña was also the voice of Mirage in The Incredibles.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Elizabeth Peña, from a heartsick fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Friday gives us another clumsy attempt at predicting the future from The Experts Speak.
 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 July 2014

 Birthdays
Michelle Morgan b. 1981 (Stargate: Atlantis, Diary of the Dead, Fire Serpent)
Jayma Mays b. 1979 (Heroes)
Corey Feldman b. 1971 (Zombex, The Zombie King, Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys, Dark Realm, The Toxic Avenger IV, Sliders, The Lost Boys, Friday the 13th, Gremlins, Time After Time)
Will Ferrell b. 1967 (Land of the Lost [2009], Bewitched [2005])
Daryl Mitchell b. 1965 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Galaxy Quest)
Phoebe Cates b. 1963 (Drop Dead Fred, Gremlins 1 and 2)
Faye Grant b. 1957 (The Omen IV: The Awakening, V, Voyager from the Unknown, Voyagers!, The Incredible Hulk, The Greatest American Hero)
Jerry Doyle b. 1956 (Storm Watch, Sliders, Babylon 5)
Ann Turkel b. 1946 (The Hunger [TV], RoboCop [TV], Highlander [TV], Deep Space, Worlds Beyond, Knight Rider, Death Ray 2000, Humanoids from the Deep)
Richard LeParmentier b. 1946 died 15 April 2013 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Superman II, Space: 1999, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Rollerball [1975], The People That Time Forgot)
Barnard Hughes b. 1916 died 11 July 2006 (The Lost Boys, TRON, Mr. Merlin, The UFO Incident, The Borrowers, Dark Shadows [TV], ‘Way Out)
Sonny Tufts b. 1911 died 4 June 1970 (Cat-Women of the Moon)
Mary Philbin b. 1902 died 7 May 1993 (The Phantom of the Opera [1925])

An abbreviated birthday list today and three of the performers have only one genre credit each. Last year I had Jerry Doyle in the Picture Slot, mainly because I'm still a fan of Babylon 5, but I decided to switch things up this year and go with Phoebe Cates. Of course the Fabulous Babe factor is part of the reason, but this is also my first opportunity to have a garish Japanese magazine cover featured on the blog.

Tell me how I can resist that one-two combination?

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

Movies released
Inception released, 2010
I, Robot released 16 July 2004

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

Prediction: Population growth is not accelerating, but slowing down and may even be topping out, although probably not before 1985.

Reality: Kahn was right about the growth rate slowing by 1972, but we still haven't come down to zero population growth, which would be necessary for the population itself to "top out". It's still a little hard for me to wrap my head around it, but the world population has doubled since I was in grade school back in the 1960s, from 3.5 billion to 7 billion.

According to the Wikipedia page which gives the world population in five year increments from 1950 to 2010, The biggest percentage jump was from 1960 to 1965, when the world population went up 11.84%. The good news is the five year growth rates have been falling fairly consistently. The bad news is the rate from 2005 to 2010 jumped up to 8.03%, a lot more than the 6.33% growth from 2000 to 2005. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date for a nuclear attack interrupts the regular schedule.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

29 June 2014

 Birthdays
Addison Timlin b. 1991 (Zero Hour)
Christopher Egan b. 1984 (Dominion, Gothica [TV], Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale [TV], Resident Evil: Extinction, Eragon)
Lily Rabe b. 1982 (American Horror Story)
Sharon Lemelin b. 1979 (Being Human, Zombie Hamlet, Anonymous Rex)
Zuleikha Robinson b. 1977 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Lost, The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen)
Travis Richey b. 1977 (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy, Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Cry of the Winged Serpent)
Sharon Conley b. 1971 (The Hunger Games, Green Lantern)
Ilan Mitchell-Smith b. 1969 (Superboy, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Weird Science)
Aleks Paunovic b. 1969 (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Once Upon a Time, Chupacabra vs. the Alamo, Eve of Destruction, Mortal Combat: Legacy, Smallville, Supernatural, Caprica, Stargate: Atlantis, Bionic Woman, Flash Gordon, Battlestar Galactica, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, Eureka, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Mutant X, Andromeda, Stargate SG-1, Jeremiah, Nostradamus, Roswell: The Aliens Attack)
Judith Hoag b. 1968 (Grimm, I am Number Four, Halloweentown, Carnivale, The X-Files, Strange World, Armageddon, The Burning Zone, Quantum Leap, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [1990])
Melora Hardin b. 1967 (Zombie Hamlet, Timecop, Things That Go Bump, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, Mann & Machine, The Rocketeer)
Amanda Donohoe b. 1962 (Starship Trooper 3: Marauder, The Atlantis Conspiracy, Stardust, A Knight in Camelot, The Hidden Room, The Lair of the White Worm)
Sharon Lawrence b. 1961 (The After, Nuclear Family, Atomic Twister, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Star Trek: Voyager)
Maria Conchita Alonzo b. 1957 (Dark Moon Rising, The Dead One, Predator 2, Vampire’s Kiss, The Running Man, Knight Rider)
Michael Whelan b. 1950 (Illustrator)
Fred Grandy b. 1948 (Monster Squad, Death Race 2000)
Brian Herbert b. 1947 (Author, Dune universe)
Michael Carter b. 1947 (The Illusionist, The Cloning of Joanna May, Return of the Jedi, An American Werewolf in London, Doctor Who)
Gary Busey b. 1944 (Mansion of Blood, Piranha 3DD, The Gingerdead Man, The Huntress, Jacob Two Two meets The Hooded Fang, Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms, Predator 2, Silver Bullet)
Soon-Tek Oh b. 1943 (Seven Days, Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, Time Trax, Highlander [TV], The Final Countdown, Logan’s Run [TV], The Invaders)
Corey Allen b. 1934 died 27 June 2010 (director, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Otherworld, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Dick Martin b. 1927 died 14 February 1990 (illustrator, Oz books)
Ray Harryhausen b. 1920 died 5 May 2013 (visual effects, Clash of the Titans, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Valley of Gwangi, One Million Years B.C., First Men in the Moon, Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 20 Million Miles to Earth, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Mighty Joe Young)
Antoine de Saint-Exupery b. 1900 died 31 July 1944 (author, The Little Prince)

Last year, the Picture Slot went to Ray Harryhausen and in terms of importance to the genre, he could get the Picture Slot every June 29th with very little debate. But just for a switch I have put up an illustration by Dick Martin, whose work will always be connected with the original Oz books written by L. Frank Baum. No disrespect to the actors on the list, but my third choice would an illustration from The Little Prince.

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

Movies released
Ted released 2012
Transformers: Dark of the Moon released 2011
War of the Worlds released 2005

Predictor: Erastus Wiman (1834-1904), Canadian entrepreneur, making predictions in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exposition held in Chicago.

Prediction: Let me look 50 years into the future instead of 100. By the 1940s, the population of this continent will be between 150,000,000 and 200,000,000. Without expansion, a "land hunger" will set in, and there must be expansion. Canada will afford that room.

Reality: Well, howdy, manifest destiny! Wiman actually overshot the population numbers that existed in 1940, About 130,000,000 in the U.S. and another 11,000,000 in Canada. His estimates might have been reached if not for World War I and the great flu epidemic of 1918. Of course, we are now over 300,000,000 people in the U.S. and we still haven't annexed Canada.

Yet.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

That perfect pick me up for the start of a new week, another prediction from OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

15 June 2014

Birthdays
Ray Santiago b. 1984 (Touch, In Time)
Elizabeth Reaser b. 1975 (Twilight)
Neil Patrick Harris b. 1973 (Beastly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Starship Troopers, Quantum Leap, Purple People Eater)
Greg Vaughan (Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Charmed, Buffy)
Jake Busey b. 1971 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Charmed, Jeremiah, Starship Troopers, Contact, The Frighteners)
Courtney Cox b. 1964 (Bedtime Stories, Zoom, Cocoon: The Return, Misfits of Science, Masters of the Universe)
Helen Hunt b. 1963 (Trancers, Project X, The Bionic Woman, Ark II)
Jim Belushi b. 1954 (The Tick, Retroactive, Last Action Hero, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, Little Shop of Horrors)
Neal Adams b. 1941 (artist)
William Newman b. 1934 (The Tick, Angel, VR.5, The Stand, The Craft, Leprechaun, Eerie, Indiana, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Silver Bullet)
Victor Lundin b. 1930 died 29 June 2013 (Babylon 5, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek, Robinson Crusoe on Mars)

Given how big a Whedonverse geek I am, NPH as Dr. Horrible is a very easy choice for the Picture Slot. In future, I might use Jake Busey or the Oh That Guy William Newman, but I'd say second choice is more likely to be some artwork by Neal Adams, still one of my favorite comic book artists of all time. The only person on the list who is dead is Victor Lundin, who used to bill himself at Trek conventions as "the first Klingon." This is a bit of a stretch. While he is in the cast of Errand of Mercy, the first episode where Klingons are shown, his character is named Lieutenant, which shows how much care went into the writing. The Klingon commander in the episode is John Colicos and he's the guy who deserves the title more.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to Victor Lundin, you glory stealing old ham, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer released 2007
Batman Begins released 2005
  

Predictor: The Eleventh Commandment by Lester del Rey, published 1962

Prediction: After an accidental nuclear holocaust devastated the Earth in 1993 (an explosion occurring during an attempt at disarmament was misinterpreted as an attack), the Russian Mars colony and the American lunar colony joined forces. Two hundred years later, a Martian exile finds that much of Earth is dominated by the American Catholic Eclectic Church, which fanatically enforces the "Eleventh Commandment": "Be fruitful and multiply." Although the planet is safe from the danger of nuclear weapons, since they are banned, it is grossly overpopulated. In the end the protagonist sees that such wild breeding is necessary so that the gene pool damaged by the earlier holocaust will recover, and a new, stronger race can emerge.

Reality: As is often the case, the description of the plot of the stories involving nukes is nicked from Paul Brian's great website. Fear of nukes is born in the 1940s, but it continued as a strong cultural terror for decades afterwards. Besides the Cuban Missile Crisis, there were about 70 nuclear bombs tested in 1962 and 170 in 1963. The fear of the inevitability of nuclear war someday was a rational a thought as assuming a big quake in California or a terrible hurricane in Florida. It just felt like a matter of time.

Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the last atomic bombs dropped in a war, and while I don't want to jinx it, nuclear confrontation no longer seems inevitable. As for overpopulation, numbers that everyone feared like 5 billion and 6 billion and 7 billion were passed without causing an immediate die-off or wars fought over scarcity of resources. As usual, reality is a more subtle writer than most humans. We may be headed for trouble, but the size, shape and source of that trouble is not what the sci-fi novels were afraid of for the most part.

Oh, and by the way, happy Father's Day to all you indiscriminate breeders out there. ;^)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Words I am always happy to type: OMNI Future Almanac,

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

16 May 2014

 Birthdays
Thomas Brodie Sangster b. 1990 (The Maze Runner, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Nanny McPhee)
Megan Fox b. 1986 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jonah Hex, Jennifer’s Body, Transformers)
Stanislav Ianevski b. 1985 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Joseph Morgan b. 1981 (The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Immortals, Hex)
Lynn Collins b. 1977 (John Carter, X-Men: Origins, True Blood, Bug)
Melanie Lynsky b. 1977 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Rose Red, The Frighteners)
David Boreanaz b. 1969 (Buffy, Angel, The Crow: Wicked Prayer)
Solveig Dommartin b. 1961 died 11 January 2007 (Until the End of the World, Wings of Desire)
Bruce Norris b. 1960 (The Sixth Sense)
Mare Winningham b. 1959 (American Horror Story, Under the Dome, Mirror Mirror, Torchwood, Twilight Zone, Threshold)
Debra Winger b. 1955 (Wonder Woman)
Pierce Brosnan b. 1953 (The World’s End, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Mars Attacks!, The Lawnmower Man)
Laurette Spang b. 1951 (Battlestar Galactica, Man from Atlantis, Project U.F.O., Gemini Man, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Bill Smitrovich b. 1947 (Ted, Iron Man, The Event, Millennium, Independence Day, The Phantom, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Splash)
Danny Trejo b. 1944 (Rise of the Zombies, Spy Kids, Stargate: Atlantis, Halloween [2007]The X-Files, From Dusk Till Dawn, Anaconda)
Yvonne Craig b. 1937 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Holmes and Yo-Yo, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, Batman, Mars Needs Women, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Harry Carey Jr. b 1921 died 27 December 2012 (The Exorcist III, Back to the Future III, Cherry 2000, Gremlins, Billy the Kid vs. Dracula)
Barry Atwater b. 1918 died 24 May 1978 (Star Trek, The Invaders, Bewitched, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
George Gaynes b. 1917 (Sliders, The Fantastic Four [1994], Altered States, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Henry Fonda b. 1905 died 12 August 1982 (Meteor, The Swarm, Tentacles)

Quite often when doing research for the birthdays, I really don't know the work of the younger folks on the list, but that's not the case for the youngest, Thomas Brodie Sangster as Jojen Reed on Game of Thrones. This list has movie and TV stars, Oh That Guys and plenty of fabulous babes. Last year in the picture slot was Lynn Collins from John Carter, who looks like a million bucks in new shiny bills, but if I were asked for my number one choice for babedom on this list, Solveig Dommartin as the acrobat in Wings of Desire is one of the most beautiful women on film ever.

The other big surprise for me is that George Gaynes, better known for Punky Brewster, Tootsie and the Police Academy movies is still alive! Good on ya, Mr. Gaynes!

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

Movies released
Shrek released, 2001
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones released, 2002
The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian released, 2008
Star Trek Into Darkness released, 2013

Predictor: Dr. Paul R Ehrlich in the 1968 book The Population Bomb

Prediction: By 1980, there will be 200,000,000 more people in India and there will not be enough food for them.

Reality: Here's a sentence I haven't typed before.

This prediction by Paul Ehrlich is in the ballpark.

From the sources I can find dealing with the year by year population increase in India from 1968 to 1980, the population rose by about 170,000,000. If he was rounding to the nearest hundred million, he's got it right. Score one for Stanford.

Just to be clear, there are still three more from Ehrlich before he steps off the stage, and all of those are completely crazy wrong, much like the seven I've published previously. As much fun as I made of Heinlein, regular readers will recall there was Sensible Bob as well as Ridiculous Bob. A single case of Sensible Ehrlich is not enough to merit a special category.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 and one of the rare sets of predictions from a woman.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

9 May 2014

Birthdays
Chris Zylka b. 1985 (The Amazing Spider-Man, Piranha 3DD, Shark Night 3D)
Rosario Dawson b. 1979 (Sin City, Parts Per Billion, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Grindhouse, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Men in Black 2)
Karl Thanning b. 1977 (Dredd, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Doomsday, The Triangle, Supernova, Cavegirl)
Megumi Odaka b. 1972 (Godzilla vs. Destroyah, Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mecagodzilla, Gojira vs. Mosura, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Princess from the Moon)
Hudson Leick b. 1969 (Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Knight Rider 2010)
John Corbett b. 1961 (The Sky’s on Fire, The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy, The Visitor [TV series], Volcano)
Chuck Russell b. 1958 (director, The Scorpion King, The Mask, The Blob, A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors)
Lorena Gale b. 1958 died 21 June 2009 (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Battlestar Galactica, Bionic Woman [2007], The 4400, Slither, Supernatural, Neverwas, Fantastic Four, The Chronicles of Riddick, 10.5, Kingdom Hospital, The Butterfly Effect, Smallville, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Halloween: Resurrection, Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1, Runaway Virus, Zenon; Girl of the 21st Century, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The X-Files, Millennium, Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14, M.A.N.T.I.S., Highlander, The Fly II)
Tessa Peake-Jones b. 1957 (Doctor Who, The Lost World, The Demon Headmaster)
Kevin Peter Hall b. 1955 died 10 April 1991 (Highway to Hell, Harry and the Hendersons [TV and movie], Predator, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Misfits of Science, Monster in the Closet, Mazes and Monsters, Without Warning, Prophecy)
Anthony Higgins b. 1947 (Malice in Wonderland, The Bride, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Vampire Circus, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Virginia Wetherell b. 1943 (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Demons of the Mind, A Clockwork Orange, Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Doctor Who)
Albert Finney b. 1936 (Big Fish, Breakfast of Champions, Looker, Wolfen)
William M. Marston b. 1893 died 2 May 1947 (writer, Wonder Woman)
J.M. Barrie b. 1860 died 19 June 1937 (author, Peter Pan)

Quite a list today. The creators of Peter Pan and Wonder Woman, one of my favorite actors in Albert Finney, a couple of fabulous babes in Hudson Leick and Rosario Dawson (last year's Picture Slot choice), but the names that caught my attention are two people who were born about the same time I was who are now dead. The first is the very tall Kevin Peter Hall, who spent a lot of his career in costumes in movies including Predator, Harry and the Hendersons and Prophecy. And secondly and in the Picture Slot, Lorena Gale, whose career qualifies her as an Oh That Gal, somewhat rarer than Oh That Guys, pictured here from Battlestar Galactica, the role for which she said she was most recognized.

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

Predictor: Dr. Paul Ehrlich in the 1968 book The Population Bomb

Prediction:
Scenario #3:
1974: U.S. stops sending food to India, Egypt and other countries beyond hope
1985: Major dieback is over, developed nations use famine relief with population control to get population back to 2 billion in 2025 and 1.5 billion in 2100.

Reality: At least this one didn't involve nukes. There has been no major dieback and while it's still possible, the thing that makes his book so ridiculous in hindsight is how certain he was that 3.5 billion people had to be unsustainable.

The good news about population is that now that infant mortality rates are decreasing, so are birth rates around the world and the rate of increase is definitely slowing.  The bad news isn't world hunger so much as the overuse of other resources, most notably fossil fuels, the cause of horrible pollution in places like China and nasty environmental accidents worldwide, and of course, adding to the CO2 levels that cause climate change.

The real problem with global warming is not that it's so immediate but instead that it is so gradual. This is exactly the sort of problem humans don't solve well.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our regular weekly rotation with an exact for the start of a nuclear war.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

21 April 2014

Birthdays
Frank Dillane b. 1991 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Robbie Amell b. 1988 (The Tomorrow People, Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins [TV])
James McAvoy b. 1979 (X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: First Class, Wanted, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Children of Dune)
Dominic Zamprogna b. 1979 (2012, Smallville, Flash Gordon, Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica, Blade: The Series, Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis, Odyssey 5, MythQuest, Tales from the Cryptkeeper)
Brian White b. 1975 (Beauty and the Beast [2013], Cabin in the Woods, Moonlight)
Charlie O’Connell b. 1975 (Zombie Family, DateaHuman.com, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, Dude, Where’s My Car, Sliders, The Magician)
Jennifer Blanc b. 1974 (Malignant, Zombie Family, My Apocalypse, Dark Angel)
Sandy Jobin-Bevans b. 1972 (Run Robot Run, ReGenesis, Dawn of the Dead, PSI Factor: Tales of the Paranormal)
Joel de la Fuente b. 1969 (Hemlock Grove, The Adjustment Bureau, From Other Worlds, Space: Above and Beyond)
Kate Vernon b. 1961 (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: Voyager, Kindred: The Embraced)
Andie MacDowell b. 1958 (Muppets from Space, Multiplicity, Groundhog Day)
James Morrison b. 1954 (The X-Files, Seven Days, Prey, Millennium, Space: Above and Beyond, White Dwarf, Quantum Leap, Monsters, Werewolf, Automan)
George DiCenzo b. 1940 died 9 August 2010 (M.A.N.T.I.S., The Exorcist III, Back to the Future, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Space Academy, Dark Shadows [1970])
Reni Santoni b. 1939 (Quantum Leap, Manimal)
Charles Grodin b. 1935 (The Incredible Shrinking Woman, King Kong [1976], Rosemary’s Baby)
Silvana Mangano b. 1930 died 16 December 1989 (Dune, The Flying Saucer)
Gilbert Taylor b. 1914 died 23 August 2013 (cinematographer, Flash Gordon, Dracula, Star Wars, The Omen)

If I wanted to go with an Oh That Guy actor, I have several choices, but if we restrict to movie stars with iconic genre roles, James McAvoy is the logical choice. Frank Dillane played the young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and the next most iconic actor in genre would likely be Kate Vernon from Battlestar Galactica, who had the Picture Slot last year. I was also considering a shot from a Gilbert Taylor film, but I used one in his obituary piece last August. 

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

 

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

In the year 2000!

Prediction: (reality in parentheses, according to Wikipedia) The ten most populous countries in 2000

1. China 1,189,600 (1,242,6000)
2. India 1,036,700 (1,040,000,000)
3. USSR 311,800,000 (Russia ranks 6th at 147,000,000)
4. United States 260,400,000 (3rd at 281,400,000)
5. Indonesia 221,600,000 (4th at 206,300,000)
6. Brazil 212,500,000 (5th at 170,000,000)
7. Bangladesh 153,300,000 (8th at 130,000,000)
8. Nigeria 148,900,000 (10th at 110,000,000)
9. Pakistan 145,000,000 (7th at 140,000,000)
10. Mexico 132,300,000 (11th at 97,000,000)

Comment: All in all, not such a bad list. They missed Japan in 9th place, but they were put in 11th instead, not so far off. They also couldn't predict the fall of the Soviet Union, so we will give them a pass on that one. They undershot the U.S. population by 21 million (8% under) and overshoot a lot of the developing world, most notably Brazil (25% over), Nigeria (35% over) and Mexico (36% over).

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The blog has put Ray Kurzweil to bed, so we'll meet our new Tuesday regular tomorrow. Exciting!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

21 March 2014

 Birthdays
Scott Eastwood b. 1986 (Texas Chainsaw 3D)
Joseph Mawle b. 1974 (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Game of Thrones, Merlin[2009])
Vanessa Branch b. 1973 (Pirates of the Caribbean, Lost, The Invisible Man [TV], Star Trek: Voyager, The Cell)
Jaye Davidson b. 1968 (Stargate)
Karyn Kusama b. 1968 (director, Jennifer’s Body, Aeon Flux)
Greg Ellis b. 1968 (The Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek [reboot], Beowulf, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The X-Files)
Matthew Broderick b. 1962 (Inspector Gadget, Godzilla [1998], Project X, WarGames, Ladyhawke)
Kassie Wesley DePaiva b. 1961 (Time Trax, Evil Dead II)
Sabrina Le Beauf b. 1958 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Gary Oldman b. 1958 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, RoboCop, The Dark Knight Rises, Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Lost in Space [movie], The Fifth Element, Dracula)
Timothy Dalton b. 1944 (Doctor Who, Hercules [TV], Flash Gordon)
Al Williamson b. 1931 died 12 June 2010 (illustrator, Flash Gordon)
Gustav Frohlich b. 1902 died 22 December 1987 (Metropolis)

Today's Picture Slot is about me jonesing for more Game of Thrones, so much so that I'll put in a picture of Benjen Stark, though Ned's brother who took the black but hasn't been seen much recently. Not a lucky family I can safely say.

Gary Oldman got the Picture last year. For me, the most unusual tidbit from this list is that Sabrina Le Beauf, the oldest Cosby kid and Oldman are exactly the same age. I would not have guessed that.

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

Predictor: Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich in his 1968 book The Population Bomb

Prediction (reality in brackets): Ehrlich predicts how long it will take some third world nations to double in population.

The understated
Kenya: 24 (1968-1986 18 years)
Nigeria: 28 (1974-2000 26 years)

The slightly overstated
Indonesia: 31 (1972-2010 38 years)
Philippines: 20 (1973-2001 28 years)
Brazil: 22 (1964-1995 31 years)

The massively overstated
Turkey: 24 (1967-2004 37 years)
El Salvador: 19 (1962-2002 40 years)

More reality: Ehrlich is supposed to be an expert, a professor from Stanford who you would expect to dot all the j's and cross all the x's. But whenever actual numbers find their way into his book, he's quite often way off. His overall premise was that mass starvation was just around the corner, but we have had our great population increase, which is now slowing down, without a major die-off. If the greater numbers appear to have any major effect in the world today, it's much more about the consumption of fossil fuels than it is about the food supply, or at least that's how it looks today.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A humorist whose name is obscured by the passing of time predicts the 20th Century from 1893.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!