31 July 2015

Birthdays
Alexis Knapp b. 1989 (Vamp U, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)
Sofia Pernas b. 1989 (Age of the Dragons)
Jessica Williams b. 1989 (Hot Tub Time Machine 2)
Charlie Carver b. 1988 (The Leftovers, Teen Wolf [TV])
Raymond Pickard b. 1982 (The Borrowers, The Canterville Ghost)
Eric Lively b. 1981 (The Butterfly Effect 2)
Harry Potter b. 1980 (wizard)
B.J. Novak b. 1979 (Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Andrea Drepaul b. 1979 (Damien, Beauty and the Beast, Warehouse 13)
James Harvey Ward b. 1978 (The Dark Knight Rises, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, No Ordinary Family)
Tressa Thomas b. 1978 (Flatliners)
Jayce Bartok b. 1975 (Spider-Man, Aliens in the Family)
Annie Parisse b. 1975 (Fringe, NYPD 2069, National Treasure)
Michael Klesic b. 1975 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Children of Men, Space Cadets, Multiplicity, Weird Science)
Jodi Ann Paterson b. 1975 (Dude, Where’s My Car?)
Emilia Fox b. 1974 (Merlin, Dorian Gray)
Tami Stronach b. 1972 (The NeverEnding Story)
Allison Barron b. 1972 (Harry and the Hendersons, Quantum Leap, Out of This World, Night of the Demons, A Nightmare of Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge)
Christina Cox b. 1971 (Arrow, Elysium, Stargate: Atlantis, The Chronicles of Riddick, Andromeda, Mutant X, Code Name: Eternity, Earth: Final Conflict, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, First Wave, Forever Knight)
Ben Chaplin b. 1970 (Cinderella, The Water Horse, Dorian Gray, The Return of the Borrowers [TV])
Dean Cain b. 1966 (Supergirl, The Black Hole [2015], Smallville, 10.5: Apocalypse, Lost, Futuresport, Lois & Clark)
Jim True-Frost b. 1966 (666 Park Avenue, Fringe, W.E.I.R.D. World)
Pat Finn b. 1965 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Dude, Where’s My Car?, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
J. K. Rowling b. 1965 (won the 2001 Hugo for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Ian Roberts b. 1965 (Infected, Puppet Master X; Axis Rising, Superman Returns)
Kym Malin b. 1962 (Weird Science)
Wesley Snipes b. 1962 (Blade, Futuresport, Demolition Man)
Greg Travis b. 1958 (Halloween II [2009], Night of the Living Dead 3D, Starship Troopers, Humanoids from the Deep, American Gothic, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures [TV])
Dirk Blocker b. 1957 (The X Files, Quantum Leap, Starman, Poltergeist, Beyond Westworld)
Michael Biehn b. 1956 (Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Planet Terror, The Insatiable, Clockstoppers, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, Asteroid, The Abyss, The Seventh Sign, Aliens, The Terminator, Logan’s Run [TV])
Al Sapienza b. 1956 (Gotham, The Flash [2014], Godzilla [2014 and 1998], The Tomorrow People, Arrow, Fringe, NightMan, Dark Skies, Judge Dredd)
James Read b. 1953 (Charmed, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark)
Barry Van Dyke b. 1951 (Light Years Away, She-Wolf of London, The Canterville Ghost, The Powers of Matthew Star, Galactica 1980, Mork & Mindy, Tabitha, Wonder Woman, Gemini Man)
Lane Davies b. 1950 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Babylon 5: In the Beginning, Lois & Clark)
Richard Griffiths b. 1947 died 28 March 2013 (Harry Potter, Hugo, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Whoops Apocalypse, Superman II)
Geraldine Chaplin b. 1944 (The Forbidden Room, Gulliver’s Travels [TV], Z.P.G.)
Sab Shimono b. 1943 (Ben 10: Race Against Time, Southland Tales, Waterworld, The X-Files, The Shadow, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Max Headroom, Knight Rider)
France Nuyen b. 1939 (Automan, The Six Million Dollar Man, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, Dimension 5)
Geoffrey Lewis b. 1935 died 7 April 2015 (Odyssey 5, The X-Files, The Lawnmower Man, Annihilator, Amazing Stories, Night of the Comet, The Amazing Spider-Man [TV], Salem’s Lot, Mork & Mindy, Quark, The Six Million Dollar Man, Ark II)
Ted Cassidy b. 1932 died 16 January 1979 (Man From Atlantis, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Planet Earth, Genesis II, I Dream of Jeannie, Mr. Terrific, The Addams Family, Jack and the Beanstalk [TV], Star Trek, Batman, Lost in Space)
Don Murray b. 1929 (The Stepford Children, Radioactive Dreams, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes)
Primo Levi b. 1919 died 11 April 1987 (author, The Periodic Table)
Mario Bava b. 1914 died 27 April 1980 (director, Baron Blood, A Bay of Blood, Blood Brides, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, Planet of the Vampires, Caltiki, the Immortal Monster, Lust of the Vampire)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot belonged to J.K. Rowling and Ted Cassidy, both easily defended on iconic status. If I was going modern, both Dean Cain and Wesley Snipes are iconic, but both are also jerks in their own way, Cain one of those Fox News jackasses and Snipes a tax evader. So instead it's the lovely France Nuyen from the original Star Trek and I expect very few complaints from heterosexual males.

2. Spot the Canadians! Andrea Drepaul and Christina Cox are today's northern contingent.

3. Nepotism and Not. Folks who know 1960s America TV will know that Dirk Blocker and Barry Van Dyke count as nepotism, Van Dyke a little more than Blocker. Geraldine Chaplin also counts, but Ben Chaplin is not related to Charlie, just to be clear.

4. Harry Potter turns 35 today. I wonder what model of mini-van he drives.


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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in this 1901 book Anticipations

Prediction:But I believe that these prevailing men of the future, like many of the saner men of to-day, having so formulated their fundamental belief, will presume to no knowledge whatever, will presume to no possibility of knowledge of the real being of God. They will have no positive definition of God at all.

Reality: A lot of science fiction writers got it in their heads that the world would become more like the the folks they hang out with and religion would dwindle away.

Mmmm... not so much.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A new splash illustration goes up tomorrow for the month of August and a few thoughts about those jetpacks and flying cars we were promised.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 June 2015

Birthdays
Kodi Smit-McPhee b. 1996 (X-Men: Apocalypse, Let Me In, The Road, Nightmares & Dreamscapes)
Aaron Taylor-Johnson b. 1990 (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Godzilla, Kick-Ass, The Illusionist)
Josh Brodis b. 1990 (Teen Wolf [TV])
Irina Gorovaia b. 1989 (The Butterfly Effect)
Kat Dennings b. 1986 (Suburban Gothic, Thor)
Mary-Kate Olsen b. 1986 (Beastly)
Phillip Van Dyke b. 1984 (Halloweentown I & II, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997, The Fantastic Four [1994])
Ian Alda b. 1984 (Touch, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)
Chris Evans b. 1981 (Snowpiercer, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Eastwick)
Ethan Embry b. 1978 (Once Upon a Time, The Witches of Oz, Timeline, FreakyLinks, Evolver)
Lisa Vidal b. 1965 (Grimm, American Horror Story, The Event, Star Trek [2009])
Kathy Burke b. 1964 (Doctor Who)
Ally Sheedy b. 1962 (Kyle XY, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Strange Frequency, Short Circuit, WarGames)
Tim Allen b. 1953 (Zoom, Galaxy Quest)
Richard Thomas b. 1951 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, The Invaders [1995 TV], It, Battle Beyond the Stars)
Stellan Skarsgård b. 1951 (Cinderella, Thor, The Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Exorcist: The Beginning, King Arthur [2004], Deep Blue Sea)
Belinda Bauer b. 1950 (Necronomicon: Book of Dead, RoboCop 2, Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann, The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire)
Ann Druyan b. 1949 (writer, Contact)
Simon Callow b. 1949 (Outlander [TV], Doctor Who, Chemical Wedding)
Joe Roth b. 1948 (producer, Maleficent, Oz the Great and Powerful, Snow White and the Huntsman, Alice in Wonderland [2010], Tall Tale)
Whitley Strieber b. 1945 (author, Hunger, The Wolfen, War Day, Communion)
Peter Benson b. 1943 (Merlin [1998 TV], Doctor Who, Hawk the Slayer, Cry of the Banshee)
Malcolm McDowell b. 1943 (The Black Hole [2015], Zombex, Vamps, The Philadephia Experiment [TV], Antiviral, The Book of Eli, Halloween I & II [21st Century], Suck, Heroes, Doomsday, Firestarter II; Rekindled, Island of the Dead, Star Trek: Generations, Lexx, 2103: The Deadly Wake, Tank Girl, Class of 1999, Moon 44, Cat People, Time After Time, A Clockwork Orange)
Sam Groom b. 1938 (Otherworld, The Incredible Hulk, Salvage 1, The Bionic Woman, Time Travelers, The Time Tunnel)
Ralph McQuarrie b. 1929 died 3 March 2012 (production designer, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, E.T., Cocoon)
Paul Lynde b. 1926 died 10 January 1982 (Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, Son of Flubber)
Rex Everhart b. 1920 died 13 March 2000 (Friday the 13th 1 & 2, Superman [1978], ‘Way Out)
Ben Johnson b. 1918 died 8 April 1996 (Cherry 2000, The Swarm, Mighty Joe Young)
Mary Wickes b. 1910 died 22 October 1995 (Tabitha, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Larry Keating b. 1896 died 26 August 1963 (The Incredible Mr. Limpet, When Worlds Collide)
Basil Rathbone b. 1892 died 21 July 1967 (Queen of Blood, Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, The Magic Sword)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Some days are feast and others famine. This one has many choices. Earlier Picture Slotters were Malcolm McDowell and Kat Dennings, and the even with them removed, there are a lot of good choices. Two of my favorite actors on the list, Basil Rathbone and Simon Callow, are not that iconic in genre to my mind. Tim Allen, not a favorite actor of mine, is iconic (and very good) in Galaxy Quest. Others I considered were Paul Lynde from Bewitched and Ally Sheedy from WarGames, but I decided to go with the guy who is the biggest movie star currently, Chris Evans as Captain America.

2. Nepotism FTW. Ian Alda is Robert Alda's grandson and Alan Alda's nephew.

3. Living Canadian Free! I did not find anyone born north of the border today. Go figure.

4. The Guy at the Door. Sam Groom, mainly a TV actor, turns 77 today, and he is the oldest living person on the list and everyone younger than him is alive. As always when this demographic fluke happens, the blog sends out special birthday wishes.

5. MST3K. There may be more than one, but the one I know for sure is The Magic Sword with Basil Rathbone.


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

Movies released
The Incredible Hulk released,  2008
How to Train Your Dragon 2 released, 2014

Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in Utopia 1976, published in 1955

Prediction: Increasingly, man is less interested in the fires of hell than in an electric stove in his home, and the music of the angels in heaven does not sound as clear as a Toscanini-led orchestra.

Reality: Ernst had an insular life among the snooty in New York City. Taken literally, households with electric stoves likely do not outnumber Christian households because a gas stove is a perfectly good option and Jesus has more fans than Toscanini. Taken figuratively, interest in cool gadgets is more widespread than interest in religion.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Speaking of cool gadgets, Robert A. Heinlein will likely have some cool gadget planned for the late 20th Century in his 1957 book The Door Into Summer.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

22 November 2014

Birthdays
Madison Davenport b. 1996 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], The Possession, Jack and the Beanstalk [2010])
Mackenzie Lintz b. 1996 (Under the Dome, The Hunger Games)
Alicia Vigil b. 1995 (Frankenstein Reborn)
Alden Ehrenreich b. 1989 (Supernatural)
Jamie Campbell Bower b. 1988 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Camelot, The Prisoner [2009], Twilight Saga: New Moon)
Scarlett Johansson b. 1984 (Lucy, Under the Skin, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man, The Avengers, The Spirit, The Prestige, The Island, Eight Legged Freaks)
Fiona Glascott b. 1982 (Clone, Jericho, Resident Evil)
Andrew Knott b. 1979 (Frankenstein’s Wedding… Live in Leeds, Police 2020, The Secret Garden)
Leeanna Walsman b. 1979 (Hercules [2005 TV], Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, BeastMaster, Farscape, Thunderstone, Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord)
James Madio b. 1975 (Astronaut: The Last Push, Hook)
Noah Lee Margetts b. 1970 (Batman Begins)
Mark Ruffalo b. 1967 (The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Where the Wild Things Are, Blindness, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Blindness)
Michael K. Williams b. 1966 (The Purge: Anarchy, RoboCop, The Road, The Incredible Hulk [2008])
Nicholas Rowe b. 1966 (Doctor Who: Dreamland, Space Race, Seed of Chucky, The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells, Relic Hunter)
Richard Stanley b. 1966 (director, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Hardware)
Mads Mikkelsen b. 1965 (Clash of the Titans, The Door, Valhalla Rising)
Ken Tremblett b. 1965 (Almost Human, Supernatural, Watchmen, Painkiller Jane, Kyle XY, Andromeda, Dead Like Me, Welcome to Paradox, The X Files)
Kristin Minter b. 1965 (Good vs Evil, Brimstone, Highlander)
Stephen Geoffreys b. 1964 (Moon 44, 976-EVIL, Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone [1986], Fright Night)
Mariel Hemingway b. 1961 (Rise of the Zombies, The Hidden Room, Tales from the Crypt, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Amerika, Creator)
Lenore Zann b. 1959 (Kingdom Hospital, Andromeda, Lexx, Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend, Forever Knight, RoboCop [TV], The Hidden Room, Def-Con 4)
Jamie Lee Curtis b. 1958 (Halloween, Virus, Forever Young, The Fog, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Mackenzie Gray b. 1957 (Bitten, Man of Steel, Once Upon a Time, Fringe, Smallville, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Knights of Bloodsteel, Destination: Infestations, Supernatural, Kyle XY, Merlin’s Apprentice, Stargate: Infinity, Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, Andromeda, Seven Days, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Shepherd I and II, Shadow Zone: The Teacher Ate My Homework, 2103: The Deadly Quake, Replikator, Forever Knight)
Richard Kind b. 1956 (Gotham, Sharknado 2: The Second One, Dark Minions, Stargate: Atlantis, Bewitched [2005], Space: Above and Beyond, Stargate [film])
Margaret Markov b. 1948 (The Sixth Sense)
Tom Conti b. 1941 (The Dark Knight Rises, Atlantis: End of a World, Birth of a Legend, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Roy Thomas b. 1940 (Marvel Comics)
Terry Gilliam b. 1940 (director, The Zero Theorem, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Brothers Grimm, Twelve Monkeys, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Brazil, Time Bandits, Jabberwocky, Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Allen Garfield b. 1939 (The Ninth Gate, The Elf Who Didn’t Believe, Tales from the Darkside, Slither)
Michael Callan b. 1935 (Superboy, Swamp Thing, Knight Rider, Otherworld, Automan, The Bionic Woman, Journey to the Unknown, Mysterious Island [1961])
Robert Vaughn b, 1932 (Witch Academy, Escape to Witch Mountain, Dark Avenger, Transylvania Twist, C.H.U.D.II – Bud the Chud, Deadly Nightmares, Battle Beyond the Stars, Superman III, Doctor Franken, The Lucifer Complex, Starship Invasions, The Mind of Mr. Soames, Men Into Space, Teenage Cave Man)
Rodney Dangerfield b. 1921 died 5 October 2004 (Little Nicky)
Mary Jackson b. 1910 died 10 December 2005 (The Exorcist III, Space, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Bionic Woman, The Invaders, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Lee Patrick b. 1901 died 21 November 1982 (7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Visit to a Small Planet, Topper)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, Scarlett Johansson was the choice and I expect there would have been few complaints if I repeated. She is a real movie star with well known genre roles, and that is also the case with her Avengers co-star Mark Ruffalo. But I went with a picture of Robert Vaughn, maybe not as big a star as his younger birthday sharers, but I wanted to note he is The Guy At The Door, everyone younger is alive and everyone older is dead as he turns 82, and many happy returns. I may not have done Mr. Vaughn a huge favor choosing a picture from Teenage Cave Man, but I actually saw it "for real" as well as enjoying it on Mystery Science Theater 3000 as well. Next year, Mr. Ruffalo has the inside track, but Jamie Lee Curtis or Terry Gilliam will also get consideration. 

2. Spot the Canadians! There are three. Not all that hard to spot, but usually a lot of the Canucks are born after 1970 and today that's not the case. Answers later today.

3. Okay, that's odd. Occasionally, actors will have some porn credits early in their career and switch over to the not-naked-all-the-time part of the business, with Traci Lords as the archetypal example. Not so Stephen Geoffreys, who was in some low budget movies in the 1980s as well as a few guest spots on TV and switched over to gay porn in the 1990s, where he has stayed with few exceptions. Go figure.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, especially Robert Vaughn, today's Guy At The Door, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire released, 2013
Frozen released, 2013
Star Trek: First Contact released, 1996
Back to the Future: Part II released, 1989
  

Predictor: Journalist Edgar W. Howe (1853-1937), predicting the 20th Century in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

Predictions: During the next century, I believe the American people will learn the important lesson that simple and honest living is the goal to which men should bend their energies.

The old races of men were cruel in the name of patriotism and religion. The men who live in 1993 will be just because their conscience and well-being will demand it.

The truth has always been mixed with nonsense. The men who will celebrate the fifth Columbian centennial will have separated the chaff from the wheat. No teacher of nonsense will be encouraged, even should he claim that his object is to do good.

Reality: Sorry, Edgar. Your heart's in the right place, no doubt about that, but dishonesty, cruelty and nonsense are still alive and well. Heck, one of our political parties would shrink down to nothing if it didn't rely on dishonesty, cruelty and nonsense.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's time again for the Sunday nukes.


Join us then.. IN THE FUTURE!

18 November 2014

 Birthdays
Noah Ringer b. 1997 (The Last Airbender, Cowboys & Aliens)
Nick Bateman b. 1986 (Space Janitors, My Babysitter’s a Vampire)
Nathan Kress b. 1982 (Video Game High School)
Jake Abel b. 1987 (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Host, I Am Number Four, Supernatural, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Threshold)
Georgia King b. 1986 (Cockneys vs Zombies, Sinbad [TV], Merlin [TV])
Robert Kazinsky b. 1983 (True Blood, Pacific Rim)
Damon Wayans Jr. b. 1982 (Blankman)
Miranda Raison b. 1977 (Sinbad, Merlin, Doctor Who, Dark Realm)
Steven Pasquale b. 1976 (Coma [2012], Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem)
Chloe Sevigny b. 1974 (American Horror Story, Demonlover)
Goran Kostic b. 1971 (The Last Days on Mars, The Deep [TV 2010], Children of Men)
Peta Wilson b. 1970 (Superman Returns, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Highlander [TV])
Dan Bakkedahl b. 1969 (Gotham, Grimm)
Phil Buckman b. 1969 (An American Werewolf in Paris, Weird Science)
Romany Malco b. 1968 (No Ordinary Family, Gulliver’s Travels [2010], Level 9)
Owen Wilson b. 1968 (Night at the Museum 1 & 2, The Haunting, Breakfast of Champions, Armageddon, Anaconda)
John Campling b. 1966 (616, Narcopolis, The Zombie King, Apocalypse Z, Jack the Giant Killer, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
Tim Guinee b. 1962 (Revolution, Fringe, Iron Man 1 & 2, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Strange World, Level 9, Blade, Brave New World, Vampires)
Nick Chinlund b. 1961 (666 Park Avenue, Grimm, Wyvern, The Chronicles of Riddick, Buffy, The X Files)
Steven Moffat b. 1961 (writer, Doctor Who, Jekyll)
Elizabeth Perkins b. 1960 (From the Earth to the Moon, Big)
John Shepherd b. 1960 (Quantum Leap, Friday the 13th, Part V: A New Beginning)
Shari Shattuck b. 1960 (Babylon 5, Goddess of Love, Freddy’s Nightmares, Knight Rider)
Kevin Nealon b. 1953 (Aliens in the Attic, Little Nicky, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Coneheads)
Alan Moore b. 1953 (author, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, From Hell)
Delroy Lindo b. 1952 (The Core, Devil’s Advocate, Congo, Beauty and the Beast [1987 TV])
Dennis Haskins b. 1950 (The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes, Twilight Zone [1987], Amazing Stories, The Greatest American Hero)
Michael Swanwick b. 1950 (won 1992 Nebula for Stations of the Tide)
Eric Pierpont b. 1950 (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Solar Flare, Surface, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Sliders, Babylon 5, Alien Nation [TV]. Deep Space Nine, Children of the Dark, Star Trek: Next Generation, Time Trax, Beauty and the Beast, Invaders from Mars)
Andrea Marcovicci b. 1948 (Amazing Stories, The Canterville Ghost, The Stuff, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Voyagers!, The Incredible Hulk, The Hand)
Alan Dean Foster b. 1946 (novelizations of Star Trek, Star Wars, Alien, Alien Nation and many more)
Susan Sullivan b. 1942 (Dead Like Me, The Incredible Hulk [1977], Dark Shadows [1967])
David Hemmings b. 1941 died 3 December 2003 (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Tales from the Crypt, Nightmare Classic, Faerie Tale Theatre, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1980 TV], Barbarella)
Brenda Vaccaro b. 1939 (Supergirl, Capricorn One)
Ian McCulloch b. 1939 (Doctor Who, Hammer House of Horror, Zombie Holocaust, Zombie, The Ghoul, I, Monster, It!)
Margaret Atwood b. 1939 (author, The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake)
Max Phipps b. 1939 died 6 August 2000 (Farscape, Sky Pirates, The Return of Captain Invincible, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Thirst, The Cars That Eat People)
John McMartin b. 1929 (Beauty and the Beast [TV])
Alan Shepard b. 1923 died 21 July 1998 (astronaut)
Imogene Coca b. 1908 died 2 June 2001 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], Bewitched, It’s About Time)

Notes on the Birthday List.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Margaret Atwood and this year, when astronauts are trump, we have Alan Shepard, first American in space. There are plenty of choices for next year, though I would say the front runner is Eric Pierpont from the Alien Nation TV show, though I might go with MST3K.

2. What, no Canadians? Yes, it's surprisingly true. I didn't find a single Canadian in this very long list of artists. I'm surprised too.

3. They did genre? There are a lot of actors whose names I know that I didn't know did any genre, but I checked their imdb.com C.V. just in case. The biggest surprises for me were Brenda Vaccaro, Susan Sullivan, Andrea Marcovicci, Delroy Lindo and Kevin Nealon. People can get typecast, sometimes because of ethnicity or being comic actors or "soap opera actors" and never get roles in fantasy or sci-fi. I wasn't surprised by Imogene Coca, definitely a comic actress. I still remember the sitcom It's About Time, though I have made a valiant effort to forget it.

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

Movies released
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 released 2011
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire released 2005
Star Trek: Generations released 1994
Cherry 2000 released 1988

TV show premieres
Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Comedy Central, 1989 

Predictor: FM-2030 in his 1981 article Up-Wing Priorities


Prediction: 21st Century Values. Traditional values have issued from eons of scarcity - hardship -brief lifespans - insularity. Late 20th-century breakthroughs are formatting new environments which spawn new values and ideals. A 21st-century consciousness is surfacing increasingly free of Puritan guilt - shame - cynicism - self-denial.

What does the oldworld psychology of sacrifice mean in the new age of abundance? Entire generations are coming on line who have never known poverty and hardship -for whom abundance and comfort are the norm. The new consciousness views hardship as stunting - wealth as liberating.

What does age-old orientation to suffering mean at a time when medical breakthroughs are screening out physical and mental pain?

What does the work ethic mean in the age of intelligent technology which is taking over more and more of our work? The work ethic now slows down growth. The new Leisure ethic accelerates innovation and progress.

What does competitiveness mean in an age of plenty? Why do we need to know who is best at anything? Why contests? Why winners and losers? Why the Nobel prize the Pulitzer prize the Academy Awards? Systems that pit people against one another are oldworld and manipulative and must be boycotted. Competition saps everyone's energy. To hyperspeed ahead we need complementation of everyone's creativity.

What do religions and spiritualisms which demand child-like submission to deities and "higher authorities" mean at a time when vigorous new generations growing up in permissive open environments accept no authorities as final or absolute? At a time when out cosmic leaps are daily proving there are no permanent constraints - that we are free agents in the universe?

The greatest breakthrough of our age is unfolding in our self image. A new brand of revolutionary is fat emerging - fired up by entirely new dreams. Up-Wingers are not content with civil rights - equal rights - human rights. These freedoms are no longer enough. 


Reality: Let's start with what he gets right, since that is the much shorter list. This is a time of plenty compared to the past.

Now what he gets wrong. The idea that there are no permanent constraints is crap. When it comes to exploring the cosmos, the speed of light is a permanent constraint. Living creatures age and die, and the advances in medicine slow these processes down, but cannot stop them completely. When it comes to distances in space we can actually manage to travel, we have a limit to how much air and water there is.

I will agree with old Frozen Moron-2030 that competition at the levels we practice now is getting in the way of the progress of the species, but we can't just kill off all the billionaires, as iniviting a prospect as that is.

Next week, we get his final flourish, his complete vision of the utopia he thought he deserved. I don't know yet who will replace old FroMo as our Tuesday regular, but that person or persons will be hard pressed to be more entertaining with their mistakes.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

I try to start a new national day of memorial, though I will likely be less successful than even FroMo.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

8 August 2014

Birthdays
Peyton List b. 1986 (The Tomorrow People, Smallville, FlashForward)
Katie Leung b. 1987 (Harry Potter)
Jean Proske b. 1987 (Beauty and the Beast [TV], Vampires Suck)
Tobias Santelmann b. 1980 (Hercules)
Jon Turtletaub b. 1963 (director, National Treasure I, II and III, Jericho, From the Earth to the Moon, Phenomenon)
Suzee Pai b. 1962 (Big Trouble in Little China)
Branscombe Richmond b. 1955 (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Charmed, Tremors [TV], Power Rangers Wild Force, Batman Returns, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast [TV], The Greatest American Hero, Misfits of Science, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Automan, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Don Most b. 1953 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Star Trek: Voyager, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Dark Skies, Sliders, The Munsters Today)
Martin Brest b. 1951 (director, Meet Joe Black)
Keith Carradine b. 1949 (Cowboys & Aliens, The Big Bang Theory, Dollhouse, Star Trek: Enterprise, Perversions of Science, Special Report: Journey to Mars)
Dustin Hoffman b. 1937 (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Sphere, Outbreak, Hook)
Adam Roarke b. 1937 died 27 April 1996 (Star Trek, Return from Witch Mountain, The Six Million Dollar Man, Frogs, Women of the Prehistoric Planet)
Roger Penrose b. 1931 (Physicist, author, White Mars, or, The Mind Set Free)
Terry Nation b. 1930 died 9 March 1977 (writer, Doctor Who, Blake’s 7)
Tom Reese b. 1928 (Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Giants, Twilight Zone)
Richard Anderson b. 1926 (The Stepford Children, Automan, Knight Rider, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Astronaut, Land of the Giants, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, Forbidden Planet, Captain Midnight)
Rory Calhoun b. 1922 died 28 April 1999 (Tales from the Crypt, Hell Comes to Frogtown, The Revenge of Bigfoot, Night of the Lepus)
William Asher b. 1921 died 16 July 2012 (director, I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later, Tabitha, Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
Harry Turner b. 1920 died 11 January 2009 (artist)
Dino De Laurentiis b. 1919 died 10 Nov 2010 (producer, Army of Darkness, King Kong Lives, Maximum Overdrive, Silver Bullet, Cat’s Eye, Dune, Conan the Destroyer, The Dead Zone, Halloween I, II and III, Amityville II, Conan the Barbarian, Flash Gordon, King Kong)
Earl Cameron b. 1917 (Inception, Neverwhere, The Prisoner, Battle Beneath the Earth, Doctor Who, The Andromeda Breakthrough)
Ford Rainey b. 1908 died 25 July 2005 (Amerika, Halloween II, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Outer Limits)
Robert Siodmak b. 1900 died 10 March 1973 (director, Son of Dracula)

Every morning, my research starts at two websites, the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org) and the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). The isfdb lists names chronologically from oldest to youngest, but the imdb lists them by popularity. I don't write down every name from both lists, but today isfdb had Terry Nation listed for a book he wrote, but imdb did not have him in the top 100, which is as far as I usually check. (He was listed in position 102.) I wanted to show him some respect after that slight, so he and his most famous creations the Daleks are in the Picture Slot.

If I were choosing the Picture Slot based on movie stardom, it would be Dustin Hoffman. If I was choosing based on iconic work in genre, Richard Anderson would be the most recognizable face for Americans of a certain age. As a Whedonverse nerd, I might choose Keith Carradine from Dollhouse and if I was in a Fabulous Babe mood, Katie Leung played Harry Potter's first love interest Cho Chang in the movies and Suzee Pai was one of the damsels in distress in Big Trouble in Little China. The other attractive women don't have genre roles as iconic. (Peyton List, for example, played Roger Sterling's second wife on Mad Men.)

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

Predictor: Edgar Cayce

Prediction: A great spiritual leader will be incarnated in 1935 or 1936 and will serve in some manner in 1989 at the age of 54, a reincarnation of St. Martin, patron saint of France.

Reality: Are there any "great spiritual leaders" born in those years? Yes, the Dalai Lama in 1935 and Pope Francis in 1936. Looking online, the year 1989 was not pivotal in either of their lives and neither of them claims to be a reincarnation of St. Martin.

Some may complain that giving Cayce any points here is far too lenient, but he gets credit where he was vague and no credit where he was precise. For poor Edgar, this will count as a tape measure home run, surrounded by a long career of pathetic strikeouts.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We travel back to 1893 for the one-two punch of futurism and facial hair.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

5 July 2014

Birthdays
Ryan Hansen b. 1981 (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Power Rangers Wild Force)
Eva Green b. 1980 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Dark Shadows, Camelot, Perfect Sense, Clone, The Golden Compass)
Jillian Armenante b. 1968 (The Dark Knight Rises, The Guild, Dollhouse, The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Claudia Wells b. 1966 (Starship: Rising, Alien Armageddon, Back to the Future)
Ronald D. Moore b. 1964 (writer, Battlestar Galactica, Carnivale, Roswell, Good vs Evil, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generations)
Pruitt Taylor Vince b. 1960 (True Blood, Beautiful Creatures Mysterious Island, The Walking Dead, Creature, The Cell, The X-Files, Highlander [TV], Quantum Leap, Jacob's Ladder)
Lewis Herthum b. 1956 (Sleepy Hollow, True Blood, Tekken, The Mist, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Tomorrow Man)
Don Stark b. 1954 (John Carter, Stargate SG-1, Dark Skies, Earth Minus Zero, Star Trek: First Contact, Deep Space Nine, Liquid Dreams, Beauty and the Beast [TV], The Charmings, The Twilight Zone [1986])
Huey Lewis b. 1950 (Sphere, Back to the Future)
William Hootkins b. 1948 died 23 October 2005 (The Omega Code, The Island of Dr. Moreau [1996], The Tomorrow People [1994], Batman [1989], Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Haunted Honeymoon, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Flash Gordon, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Twilight's Last Gleaming)
Shirley Knight b. 1936 (VR.5, The Invaders, The Outer Limits)
John Wood b. 1930 died 6 August 2011 (The Little Vampire, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Ladyhawke, WarGames)
Katherine Helmond b. 1928 (True Blood, Brazil, Time Bandits, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Warren Oates b. 1928 died 3 April 1982 (Lost in Space, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone)
Ward Costello b. 1919 died 4 June 2009 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Project X, Firefox, Return to Witch Mountain, Terror from the Year 5000)
Jean Cocteau b. 1889 died 11 October 1963 (writer/director, Beauty and the Beast)

A lot of actors on our list today are best known for roles outside genre, notably Don Stark from That 70s Show, Katherine Helmond from Soap and Warren Oates from Dillinger and Stripes. For iconic in genre, my choice this fifth of July is William Hootkins from the first Star Wars. As much deserved grief as Lucas gets for the silly names in the sequels, the very first movie in the series featured a fat guy cleverly named Porkins and not surprisingly, his fate was to get blowed up, blowed up real good.

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

Predictor: The Reverend John Philip Newman (1826-1899), known popularly as "Grant's Pastor", on the occasion of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in 1893

Prediction: The Methodist Church will maintain its dominant position among American denominations by returning to the Wesley liturgy, but it will not rejoin the Episcopalian Church.

Reality: Newman was right about the splitters not returning to the Episcopalian fold, but missed the whole shrinking of Mainline Protestant influence in the United States that started in the 1960s and continues to this day.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is tomorrow Sunday? Long weekends get my time sense all screwy. But yes, it is Sunday and yes, it's time for another nuclear war.

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!
 

24 May 2014

Birthdays
Naomi Ryan b. 1977 (Doctor Who)
Dash Mihok b. 1974 (Punisher: War Zone, I Am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow)
Greg Berlanti b. 1972 (writer, The Flash, Arrow, The Tomorrow People, Wrath of the Titans, Green Lantern, No Ordinary Family)
John C. Reilly b. 1965 (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Michael Chabon b. 1963 (won 2008 Hugo and Nebula for The Yiddish Policeman’s Union)
Kristin Scott Thomas b. 1960 (The Golden Compass, Code 46, Gulliver’s Travels)
Doug Jones b. 1960 (Hellboy, The Strain, Teen Wolf [TV], Falling Skies, The Watch, Dragon Age: Redemption, Fallout: Nuka Break, The Guild, Legion, Super Capers: The origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion, Quarantine, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Lady in the Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, Doom, Men in Black II, The Time Machine, Side Effects, Alien Hunter, Monkeybone, Buffy, Mystery Men, Bug Buster, Mimic, Tank Girl, Batman Returns, Warriors of Virtue, Galgameth)
Alfred Molina b. 1953 (Spider-Man 2, Ladyhawke, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Nell Campbell b. 1953 (Shock Treatment, The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Jim Broadbent b. 1949 (Cloud Atlas, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Chronicles of Narnia, Comic Relief: Doctor Who – The Curse of Fatal Death, Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Brazil, Time Bandits, Erik the Viking)
Sybill Danning b. 1947 (Virus X, The Lair, Grindhouse, Superboy, The Phantom Empire, Amazon Women on the Moon, Warrior Queen, Howling II: … Your Sister is a Werewolf, V, Hercules [1983], Battle Beyond the Stars, Meteor)
Carmine Infantino b. 1925 died 4 April 2013 (illustrator, DC Comics)
Lilli Palmer b. 1914 died 27 January 1986 (The Boys from Brazil)

Lots of good choices for the Picture Slot. For movie stars, we have John C. Reilly, Alfred Molina, Jim Broadbent and Kristin Scott Thomas, who would also qualify as a fabulous babe, as would all the women on the list. Nell Campbell would also work as for iconic work in Rocky Horror Picture Show as Columbia. But all that woulda, coulda, shoulda stuff was superseded this year by Doug Jones, a tall thin actor who has spent much of his career inside costumes or under a lot of make-up, like this stuff from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Hush as one of The Gentlemen.

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

Movies released
Epic released, 2013

Predictor: Pastor Moncure D. Conway, giving his vision of the future in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Prediction: A new theology must arise. Whatever traditional dogmas it may preserve, it will surrender those that imply divine sanction of Biblical cruelties and of the like in nature. Humanitarian religion is an incarnation like that which once led the suffering world to worship goodness and love on the cross, rather than a loveless omnipotence.

Reality: Okay, let's start with the facial hair. Pretty awesome, right?

Also, the first name Moncure. I'd never heard it before. I thought it was possible that I just don't get out much, but searching on Google only finds guys like Pastor Conway born in the 19th Century. Moncure as a first name has gone the way of the passenger pigeon.

Conway was a very liberal preacher, most noted as an abolitionist. Certainly, liberal theology still exists and he doesn't say it will stand alone. I'm going to give him a passing grade here, out of the goodness of my heart.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Instead of nuclear war, we get a prediction from Philip K. Dick of a wonderful world of robots and leisure... okay, that ends in a nuclear conflagration.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

23 November 2013

Birthdays
Chris Hardwick b. 1971 (host, The Talking Dead)
Oded Fehr b. 1970 (Resident Evil, The Mummy, V, Charmed)
David Rappaport b. 1951 died 2 May 1990 (Time Bandits, The Wizard, The Bride)
Tom Neyman b. 1935 (Manos: The Hands of Fate)
Michael Gough b. 1916 died 17 March 2011 (Batman, Sleepy Hollow, Doctor Who, They Came From Beyond Space, Phantom of the Opera, Horror of Dracula)
John Dehner b. 1915 died 4 February 1992 (The Twilight Zone)
Boris Karloff b. 1887 died 2 February 1969 (Frankenstein, The Mummy)

An all male and all actor list today, with more folks dead than alive. I did have a brief moment of contrariness thinking I might put Tom Neyman from Manos: The Hands of Fate in the Picture Slot, what with Thanksgiving coming up and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day marathon being aired again, but seriously, for this first year,it has to be Karloff. It's an interesting coincidence that the actor Oded Fehr who plays the mummy in the most recent remakes shares a birthday with Karloff.

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

 The Day of the Doctor
This is the 50th anniversary of the first airing of Doctor Who and a special episode is now available, featuring the two most recent Doctors, Matt Smith and David Tennant, and also starring John Hurt as The War Doctor.

I've never been a huge fan of the show. I liked Christopher Eccleston and I like that he really doesn't want to be remembered forever as The Ninth Doctor. Still, my personal feelings aside, it is remarkable how successful this series has been and it's definitely a major part of the genre today.

Congratulations to all concerned.

 

Predictor: Miriam Leslie, author and publisher
A few words about today's predictor. Miriam Leslie had a truly remarkable career for a woman of her era. She married four times, the third time to the publisher Frank Leslie, her employer. She divorced her second husband to marry Leslie in 1874 and on their honeymoon, she met the poet Joaquin Miller and had an affair with him, the main character in his book The One Fair Woman modeled after her.

Frank Leslie went bankrupt in 1877 and died in 1880, and Miriam took over the business and brought it back to profitability, her success much admired by the financial community of the day. When she died in 1914, she willed most of her fortune to the cause of women's suffrage.

Predictions (reality in parentheses):

The world, and more especially the New World, is hastening rapidly toward iconoclasm. Monarchs who used to be worshiped or fear are now only to be laughed at. (Interesting call. It would be another twenty years until the Great War started and five bloody years later, European monarchy would be pretty much over.)

Religion is unfortunately ceasing to be a power in the world. It has become, rather, the recreation of a small portion of the people. (Maybe that was true in the circles Miriam traveled in, but I'd have to rate this a swing and a miss overall.)

Dress, formerly a species of trademark placed by the nations upon their population, is rapidly losing its individuality all over the world. (Gotta count this one as a hit.)

Language is struggling toward universality. Almost anyone can make himself understood almost anywhere. (Sure. If someone pretends they don't speak English, all you have to do is SAY IT LOUDER AND SLOWER.)

In politics the people as a controlling power are coming to the front more or less rapidly in even the oldest empires of earth. And it needs no prophet to foretell that in 1993 the world will have become equalized in every respect, even to dire monotony. (Well, I wouldn't call it monotonous, but the world of 1993 was much more level playing field than it was in 1893.)

The era of woman as a power has commenced. (Not unlike her prediction about the waning of monarchy, it was still more than a generation away, but she certainly saw the direction things were going. You might well say "D'uh!", but you might recall the humorist Bill Nye saying women's suffrage would never happen.)

The "servant problem" is an imminent one, for no one is found to dispute that anarchy in domestic matters is the near result of the present attitude of the domestic official. (Ah, yes, the servant problem. Those lazy, thieving laggards who make life hell for the rich. Not that big a deal now, though I guess it's pretty annoying when they go to the gossip rags and your personal life becomes everybody's bidness.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

On Ray Bradbury's Mars we are up to April 2003, and kids will be kids, having fun, roughhousing and laughing, destroying ancient ruins the Martians left behind.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

6 November 2013

Birthdays
Hero Fiennes-Tiffin b. 1977 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Emma Stone b. 1988 (Zombieland, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Rebecca Romijn b. 1972 (X-Men)
Thandie Newton b. 1972 (2012)
Ethan Hawke b. 1970 (Gattaca)
Kerry Conran b. 1964 (director, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)
Lance Kerwin b. 1960 (Outbreak, Enemy Mine)
Trace Beaulieu b. 1958 (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
Catherine Asaro b. 1955 (won the 2002 Nebula for The Quantum Rose)
Ron Underwood b. 1953 (director, Tremors, Heroes, Mighty Joe Young)
Carolyn Seymour b. 1947 (Space:1999, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek:The Next Generation, Quantum Leap)
Sally Field b. 1946 (The Amazing Spider-Man)
Jonathan Harris b. 1914 died 3 November 2002 (Lost in Space, The Twilight Zone, Battlestar Galactica)

There were certainly several choices for Pretty Girl = Picture Slot, but for iconic faces, it was either Dr. Forrester or Dr. Smith, and I decided to go with the show I actually liked.

Keep sharing the tapes, and many happy returns to all the living on the list.
 

Prediction: On 6 November 2012, Nehemiah Scudder, a former backwoods preacher is elected President of the United States and declares himself First Prophet. No election is held in 2016 and he becomes the first in a line of dictators.

Prediction: From –If This Goes On by Robert A. Heinlein, published 1940

Reality: Nothing like this actually happened, so I might very well have chosen the Ridiculous Bob picture instead, but it's been so long since we heard from Heinlein I wanted to show him some respect. And looking at some of the people who were front runners for the Republican nomination in 2011 and 2012, "former backwoods preacher" would actually be a step up in terms of curriculum vitae.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A prediction from 1966 about the cars of 2016 by Jeane Dixon.

Yes, that Jeane Dixon.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

15 August 2013

Birthdays
Jennifer Lawrence b. 1990 (The Hunger Games, X-Men: First Class)
Ben Affleck b. 1972 (Daredevil)
Matthew Wood b. 1972 (voice of General Grevious)
Anthony Anderson b. 1970 (Transformers)

The Cute Girl = Picture Slot rule is used fairly regularly on this blog, but today I would argue Ms. Lawrence deserves the picture more than the other three because her best known role is in a genre movie. Mr. Wood is a voice actor and his face is not well known, and Affleck and Anderson both have long successful careers with very few roles in sci-fi or fantasy.

Many happy returns to them all.

Prediction: By 1965 it was no longer possible for an ordinary young man to get a living as a minister of any church.

Predictor: H.G. Wells in The Shape of Things to Come, published in 1933

Reality: This is not the first or the last prediction in speculative fiction that religion was on the way out. We've already had a similar prediction from James Blish, though he wrote his in the 1950s and assumed religion's expiration date would be in the 21st Century.

I am a little confused by the phrase "ordinary young man" here. Could "extraordinary young men" get jobs as ministers? Did you need to have webbed fingers or a lovely singing voice? Wells does not make this clear.

Looking one day... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date from 2000 predicted in a movie from 1998.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

30 June 2013

Birthday
Jeri Taylor b. 1938 (Star Trek)

Ms. Taylor was a writer and producer on several Star Trek shows, including The Next Generation and Voyager. She is credited with inventing the Cardassians. (Note: NOT THE KARDASHIANS! She cannot be blamed for them in any way.)

Many happy returns to Ms. Taylor.


Movies released
Twilight Saga: Eclipse released, 2010
Spider-Man 2 released 30 June 2004

Prediction: By 2013, One in ten people is a believer. Eight of the other nine have given up religion as a bad job.

Predictor: James Blish in They Shall Have Stars, published 1956

Reality: Among readers of science fiction, these numbers might be correct. Among humans in general, it's close to the other way around.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Alternate Mondays belong to Popular Mechanics, promising us technological marvels and sometimes even getting them right.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!