28 August 2015

Birthdays
Quvenzhane Wallis b. 2003 (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Kyle Massey b. 1991 (Gotham)
Katie Findlay b. 1990 (After the Dark, Continuum, Crash Site, SGU Stargate Universe, Fringe)
Armie Hammer b. 1986 (Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, Mirror Mirror, 2081, Reaper)
Sarah Roemer b. 1984 (The Event, The Grudge 2)
Carly Pope b. 1980 (The Tomorrow People, Elysium, Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, The 4400, 10.5: Apocalypse, Jake 2.0, NightMan)
Kelly Overton b. 1978 (True Blood, Beauty and the Beast [2012], Tekken, The Ring Two)
Amber Sainsbury b. 1978 (Fairy Tales, 30 Days of Night, Hex, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Nick E. Tarabay b. 1975 (Arrow, Believe, Star Trek Into Darkness)
Eugene Byrd b. 1975 (True Blood, American Horror Story, Eureka, Night Stalker [2006])
Kristin Booth b. 1974 (Orphan Black, Supernatural, ReGenesis, Total Recall 2070)
J. August Richards b. 1973 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow, Warehouse 13, The 4400, Angel, Sliders, Space: Above and Beyond)
Stephanie Belding b. 1971 (Lost Girl, Eureka, Watchmen, Reaper, Earth: Final Conflict, eXistenZ)
Daniel Goddard b. 1971 (Immortally Yours, Dream Warrior, BeastMaster)
Jack Black b. 1969 (Ghost Ghirls, Gulliver’s Travels, King Kong, The X-Files, Waterworld, The Neverending Story III, Demolition Man)
Jason Priestley b. 1969 (Haven, Day of the Triffids [2009], Termination Point, Jeremiah, Quantum Leap)
Billy Boyd b. 1968 (Space Milkshake, The Witches of Oz, Glenn, the Flying Robot, Lord of the Rings, Seed of Chucky, Urban Ghost Story)
Amanda Tapping b. 1965 (Supernatural, Stargate, Space Milkshake, Sanctuary, Earthsea, The X Files, Flash Forward, Forever Knight)
Dermot Keaney b. 1964 (Atlantis [TV], Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Strange)
Melissa Rosenberg b. 1962 (writer, Twilight)
David Fincher b. 1962 (director, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alien³)
Jennifer Coolidge b. 1961 (Click, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Not of this Earth)
Emma Samms b. 1960 (The Little Unicorn, Humanoids from the Deep, Tales from the Crypt, Lois & Clark, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Arabian Adventure)
Brian Thompson b. 1959 (Flight of the Living Dead, Star Trek: Enterprise, Epoch: Evolution, Charmed, Birds of Prey, The X Files, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Buffy, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, DragonHeart, Deep Space Nine, Weird Science, Kindred: The Embraced, Hercules, Star Trek: Generations, Doctor Mordred, Superboy, Alien Nation [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation, Fright Night Part 2, Werewolf, Knight Rider, Otherworld, The Terminator)
John Allen Nelson b. 1959 (Knight Rider, Seven Days, Quantum Leap, Killer Klowns from Outer Space)
Daniel Stern b. 1957 (SeaQuest 2032, Little Monsters, Leviathan, C.H.U.D.)
Rick Rossovich b. 1957 (Legend of the Lost Tomb, Black Scorpion, Future Shock, Tales from the Crypt, The Terminator)
Luis Guzman b. 1956 (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Rise of the Damned, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, SeaQuest 2032, Innocent Blood, *batteries not included)
Vonda N. McIntyre b. 1948 (won 1979 Hugo and Nebula for Dreamsnake, won 1998 Nebula for The Moon and the Sun)
Alice Playten b. 1947 died 25 June 2011 (Pioneer 12, Legend, Disco Beaver from Outer Space, The Lost Saucer)
David Soul b. 1943 (Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, Deadly Nightmares, World War III, Salem’s Lot, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie)
Ken Jenkins b. 1940 (The X Files, Sliders, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Abyss, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Donald O’Connor b. 1925 died 27 September 2003 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 and 1983], The Bionic Woman, The Wonders of Aladdin)
Nancy Kulp b. 1921 died 3 February 1991 (Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone, Moon Pilot)
Jack Kirby b. 1917 died 6 February 1994 (artist, Marvel and DC comics)
Jack Vance b. 1916 died 23 May 2013 (author, The Dying Earth, Big Planet)
Simon Oakland b. 1915 died 29 August 1983 (Tucker’s Witch, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Starlost, Captain Nice, The Satan Bug, The Outer Limits, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Morris Ankrum b. 1897 died 2 September 1964 (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, From the Earth to the Moon, Giant from the Unknown, Beginning of the End, The Giant Claw, Kronos, Zombies of Mora Tau, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Invaders from Mars, Red Planet Mars, Rocketship X-M)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I used Jack Kirby and J. August Richards. There were several options for today - David Soul from Star Trek, Brian Thompson from any of a number of roles, Billy Boyd from Lord of the Rings, Jack Black from King Kong - but I decided to go with Quvenzhane Wallis facing off with the Auroch from the end of Beasts of the Southern Wild.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are six today: Katie Findlay, Carly Pope, Kristin Booth, Stephanie Belding, Jason Priestley and Amanda Tapping.

3. Wait... she's dead? Alice Playten was a comic actress who did a lot of voice work. I remember her from Martin Mull's first album and from National Lampoon's Lemmings. I still haven't quite processed that she is dead.

4. MST3K. Morris Ankrum spent most of his career in Westerns, but he also made a lot of 1950s sci-fi, so many of them I saw when I was a kid watching TV in the 1960. Two of his movies got the Best Brains treatment, Beginning of the End and Rocketship X-M.

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

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

Prediction:  How will the New Republic treat the inferior races? How will it deal with the black? how will it deal with the yellow man? how will it tackle that alleged termite in the civilized woodwork, the Jew? Certainly not as races at all. It will aim to establish, and it will at last, though probably only after a second century has passed, establish a world-state with a common language and a common rule. All over the world its roads, its standards, its laws, and its apparatus of control will run. It will, I have said, make the multiplication of those who fall behind a certain standard of social efficiency unpleasant and difficult, and it will have cast aside any coddling laws to save adult men from themselves. It will tolerate no dark corners where the people of the Abyss may fester, no vast diffused slums of peasant proprietors, no stagnant plague-preserves. Whatever men may come into its efficient citizenship it will let come--white, black, red, or brown; the efficiency will be the test. And the Jew also it will treat as any other man. It is said that the Jew is incurably a parasite on the apparatus of credit. If there are parasites on the apparatus of credit, that is a reason for the legislative cleaning of the apparatus of credit, but it is no reason for the special treatment of the Jew. If the Jew has a certain incurable tendency to social parasitism, and we make social parasitism impossible, we shall abolish the Jew, and if he has not, there is no need to abolish the Jew. We are much more likely to find we have abolished the Caucasian solicitor.

Reality: Wells is listed as a socialist, but this version of race relations sounds a lot like the conservative argument for "color-blindness", which means other races, if lucky, can eventually become honorary white people.

So yet again, we find H.G. Wells is a scumbag.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

This month, I read Brave New World for the first time and I will give a book report. The ghost of Aldous Huxley will not be pleased.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 August 2015

Birthdays
Garrett Ryan b. 1999 (Insidious, Teen Wolf, Oculis, Heroes)
Cassi Thomson b. 1993 (Left Behind, Grave Halloween)
Mila Kunis b. 1983 (Jupiter Ascending, Oz the Great and Powerful, Ted, The Book of Eli, Piranha)
Nick Holmes b. 1981 (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Zack Whedon b. 1979 (writer, Fringe, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog)
Christopher Gorham b. 1974 (Once Upon a Time, Jake 2.0, Odyssey 5, Buffy)
Raoul Bova b. 1971 (AvP: Alien vs Predator)
Michelle Lintel b. 1969 (Battle Planet, Black Scorpion)
Catherine Bell b. 1968 (The Good Witch, Threshold, The Triangle, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Alien Nation: Body and Soul)
Ben Bass b. 1968 (Dead Like Me, Jeremiah, Strange Frequency, The Lone Gunmen, The 6th Day, Stargate SG-1, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The Hunger, Bride of Chucky, Forever Knight)
Adrian Lester b. 1968 (Merlin [2009], Doomsday, Being Human, Afterlife, Day After Tomorrow, Jason and the Argonauts [2000 TV])
Halle Berry b. 1966 (Extant, X-Men, Cloud Atlas, Catwoman, They Came from Outer Space [TV])
Brannon Braga b. 1965 (writer, Salem, Terra Nova, FlashForward, Threshold, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Cristi Conaway b. 1964 (Timecop, The Advanced Guard, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, Batman Returns)
Andrew Kevin Walker b. 1964 (writer, The Wolfman, Sleepy Hollow [film], Perversions of Science)
Emmanuelle Beart b. 1963 (Date with an Angel)
David Aaron Baker b. 1963 (The Leftovers, Revolution, Beauty and the Beast [2014])
Marcia Gay Hardin b. 1959 (The Invisible, Space Cowboys, Flubber, Superman 50th Anniversary)
Tony Moran b. 1957 (American Poltergeist, Halloween)
Greg Bradford b. 1955 (Zapped!)
James Horner b. 1953 died 22 June 2015 (composer, Star Trek New Voyages, The Amazing Spider-Man, Shoestring Space Opera, Avatar, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Bicentennial Man, Mighty Joe Young, Deep Impact, Jumanji, Apollo 13, Casper, The Rocketeer, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Cocoon, Willow, *batteries not included, Aliens, Amazing Stories, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Brainstorm, Krull, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Wolfen, The Hand, Battle Beyond the Stars, Humanoids from the Deep)
Carl Lumbly b. 1951 (Hope: The Last Paladin, Battlestar Galactica, Strange World, M.A.N.T.I.S., The X Files, SeaQuest 2032, Buckaroo Banzai, Lifepod, Caveman)
Jim Wynorski b. 1950 (director, so much cheap crap I’m a little ashamed I know who he is)
Lou Wagner b. 1948 (Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The UFO Incident, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Beneath of the Planet of the Apes, Pufnstuf, Hello Down There, Planet of the Apes, Lost in Space)
Susan Saint James b. 1946 (Love at First Bite)
Antonio Fargas b. 1946 (Heroes, Good vs Evil, Homeboys in Outer Space, Firestarter, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Wim Wenders b. 1945 (director, Until the End of the World, Wings of Desire)
Steve Martin b. 1945 (Little Shop of Horrors, The Man with Two Brains)
Robert Viharo b. 1942 (The Evil, Dark Shadows)
Alexei Panshin b. 1940 (winner of 1969 Nebula for Rite of Passage)
Candace Hilligoss b. 1935 (The Curse of the Living Corpse, Carnival of Souls)
Alice Ghostley b. 1924 died 21 September 2007 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Small Wonder, Bewitched, Captain Nice)
Angela Clarke b. 1909 died 16 December 2010 (The Outer Limits, House of Wax)
 Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Halle Berry and Mila Kunis, both iconic, both fabulous. This year, I felt it was a contest between two artists I love turning 70 today, Steve Martin and Wim Wenders. Wings of Desire won.

2. Nepotism FTW. Zach Whedon was willing to start at the ground floor, but it did help that his brother Joss was running the show.

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

Movies released.
District 9 released, 2009

I still remember walking home from this movie, polishing the Big Ugly Stick. I really, really hated it.

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

Prediction: The law that dominates the future is glaringly plain. A people must develop and consolidate its educated efficient classes or be beaten in war and give way upon all points where its interests conflict with the interests of more capable people. It must foster and accelerate that natural segregation, which has been discussed in the third and fourth chapters of these "Anticipations," or perish. The war of the coming time will really be won in schools and colleges and universities, wherever men write and read and talk together. The nation that produces in the near future the largest proportional development of educated and intelligent engineers and agriculturists, of doctors, schoolmasters, professional soldiers, and intellectually active people of all sorts; the nation that most resolutely picks over, educates, sterilizes, exports, or poisons its People of the Abyss; the nation that succeeds most subtly in checking gambling and the moral decay of women and homes that gambling inevitably entails; the nation that by wise interventions, death duties and the like, contrives to expropriate and extinguish incompetent rich families while leaving individual ambitions free; the nation, in a word, that turns the greatest proportion of its irresponsible adiposity into social muscle, will certainly be the nation that will be the most powerful in warfare as in peace, will certainly be the ascendant or dominant nation before the year 2000.

Reality: It's pretty much a given that any time Wells uses the phrase "People of the Abyss", I get an overwhelming desire to dig up his grave and punch him in his smug British nose. There has been an advantage in the 20th and 21st Centuries for the technologically superior, of course, but there have been a lot of wars won by the people who refused to give up. In the year 2000, after industrialized nations got over their propensity to fight wars directly against one another, the two dominant nations were the United States and China, not because of intellectual or moral superiority, but instead a willingness to produce wealth in different but definitely ruthless ways. 
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

On the Saturday Soapbox, looking at the predictions of overpopulation.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

7 August 2015

Birthdays
Liam James b. 1996 (Fringe, 2012, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem)
Francesca Eastwood b. 1993 (Kids vs Monsters, Heroes Reborn)
Katherine Press b. 1988 (Captain America: The First Avenger)
Abbie Cornish b. 1982 (RoboCop, Sucker Punch, Limitless)
Brit Marling b. 1982 (I Origins, Another Earth)
Cirroc Lofton b. 1978 (Invasion, Deep Space Nine)
Alexandre Aja b. 1978 (director, Horns, Piranha 3D, The Hills Have Eyes [2006])
Charlize Theron b. 1975 (Mad Max: Fury Road, Prometheus, The Road, Hancock, Aeon Flux, The Astronaut’s Wife, The Devil’s Advocate, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest)
Hans Matheson b. 1975 (Clash of the Titans, The Mists of Avalon)
Michael Shannon b. 1974 (Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, Jonah Hex, Bug, Vanilla Sky, Early Edition, Chain Reaction, Groundhog Day)
Greg Serano b. 1972 (Agent Carter, LA Apocalypse, Doomed Planet, Terminator Salvation, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Postman)
Sydney Penny b. 1971 (Hyper Sapiens: People from Another Star, Twilight Zone [1986])
Paula Jean Hixson b. 1968 (Being Human, Source Code)
Charlotte Lewis b. 1967 (Highlander: The Raven, Embrace of the Vampire, The Golden Child)
Harold Perrineau b. 1963 (Constantine, Lost, Demons, 28 Weeks Later, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded)
Ramon Estevez b. 1963 (Alligator II: The Mutation, The Dead Zone)
Brian Conley b. 1961 (Equilibrium, Cinderella: The Shoe Must Go On)
David Duchovny b. 1960 (The X Files, Evolution, Space: Above and Beyond)
Shannon Cochran b. 1958 (Fringe, Star Trek: Nemesis, The Ring, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Paul Dini b. 1957 (writer, a whole lot of TV cartoon shows)
Wayne Knight b. 1955 (Torchwood, Punisher: War Zone, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Space Jam, Jurassic Park, The Day After)
Caroline Aaron b. 1952 (What Planet Are You From?, Edward Scissorhands, The Brother from Another Planet)
Alexei Sayle b. 1952 (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Solarbabies, Doctor Who, Whoops Apocalypse)
Graeme Blundell b. 1945 (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith)
David Rasche b. 1944 (Men in Black 3, Bigfoot: The Unforgettable Encounter, Wicked Stepmother)
John Glover b. 1944 (Agent Carter, Smallville, Heroes, Brimstone, Batman & Robin, Deep Space Nine, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, RoboCop 2, Scrooged, Twilight Zone [1986], The Incredible Shrinking Woman)
Tobin Bell b. 1942 (Saw, Revelations, Charmed, The X Files, Strange World, Stargate SG-1, Mann & Machine, Alien Nation)
Sue Lloyd b. 1939 died 20 October 2011 (U.F.O., Super Gran)
Steve Ihnat b. 1934 died 12 May 1972 (Star Trek, Countdown, I Dream of Jeannie, The Outer Limits, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Jerry Pournelle b. 1933 (author, The Mote in God’s Eye, The Man-Kzin Wars, Lucifer’s Hammer)
Edward Hardwicke b. 1932 died 16 May 2011 (She [2001], Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, Venom, Supernatural [1977 TV mini-series], H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Michael Masters b. 1929 died 2 December 2003 (Knight Rider, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Sixth Sense [1972], The Immortal)
Adrian Ricard b. 1924 (I, Robot, Lois & Clark, The Man with Two Brains, Gemini Man)
Jane Adams b. 1918 died 21 May 2014 (Adventures of Superman, Batman and Robin [1949], The Brute Man, House of Dracula)
Billie Burke b. 1884 died 14 May 1970 (The Wizard of Oz, Topper [1937])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went fabulous with Charlize Theron and Billie Burke. We have some good Oh That Guy actors and some regulars from genre TV as well as important guest stars, but I decided to go with David Duchovny, who was actually a star of a show I think is important enough to have its own label, The X Files.

2. Spot the Canadian! The youngest person on the list - Liam James - was born north of the border. Hard to tell that just looking at his credits.

3. Nepotism FTW. I will not hem and haw about Francesca Eastwood or Ramon Estevez. Classic nepotism careers.

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

Movie released
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra released, 2009

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

Prediction: And for the rest, those swarms of black, and brown, and dirty-white, and yellow people, who do not come into the new needs of efficiency? Well, the world is a world, not a charitable institution, and I take it they will have to go. The whole tenor and meaning of the world, as I see it, is that they have to go. So far as they fail to develop sane, vigorous, and distinctive personalities for the great world of the future, it is their portion to die out and disappear.

Reality: Well obviously, if the people in those lands the British rape and pillage can't learn to steal everything not nailed down and act like it's God's plan, there is no place for them in the shiny new future.

Many commenters including myself have a soft spot for Time After Time, the 1979 movie where Malcolm McDowell plays young H.G.Wells as an adorable nerd with a time machine who falls in love with the equally adorable Mary Steenburgen. Reading Anticipations has put a damper on my love for that movie not unlike the steady stream of news over the past few months has made it hard to enjoy The Cosby Show.

Would I rather go back to happy ignorance or be stuck with the messy, ugly truth? What I'd rather do is live in a world when H.G. Wells and Bill Cosby aren't scumbags, but since that's not an option, I'd rather know the truth because I'm a grown-up.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Up on the soapbox on Saturday, feeling bad about part of the future we didn't get, or rather, we had for a while but let it slip away.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

28 July 2015

Birthdays
Hannah Lochner b. 1993 (Dawn of the Dead, Terminal Invasion)
Dustin Milligan b. 1985 (Demonic, Shark Night 3D, Supernatural, The Butterfly Effect 2, Slither, Andromeda, Dead Like Me)
Eliza Swenson b. 1982 (The Penny Dreadful Picture Show, The Witches of Oz, Dragon, Pocahauntus, Dracula’s Curse, Satanic, King of the Lost World, The Beast of Bray Road, Frankenstein Reborn )
Billy Aaron Brown b. 1981 (Attack of the Sabretooth, Jeepers Creepers II)
Mark Vande Brake b. 1980 (Willow)
Gabriel Pimentel b. 1979 (InAlienable, Beer Money)
Chris Andrew Ciulla b. 1975 (Caper, Unearthed, Southland Tales)
Elizabeth Berkley b. 1972 (S. Darko, Threshold, Control Factor, Perversions of Science, Frog)
Alexis Arquette b. 1969 (Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy, Alien Nation [TV])
Rachel Blakely b. 1968 (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Lost World, Xena)
Carlos Jacott b. 1967 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Firefly, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Angel, Being John Malkovich, Buffy)
Lori Loughlin b. 1964 (Eastwick, Birds of Prey, Amityville 3-D)
Michael Hitchcock b. 1958 (Super 8, Serenity, Bug)
Deborah Voorhees b. 1961 (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning)
Luca Barbareschi b. 1956 (Cannibal Holocaust)
Dey Young b. 1955 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, The X Files, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Freddy’s Nightmares, Not Quite Human II, The Running Man, Spaceballs, Strange Invaders)
Nina Axelrod b. 1955 (Critters 3, Brainstorm, Time Walker)
Bruce Abbott b. 1954 (Black Scorpion, Bride of Re-Animator, Beauty and the Beast [TV], Re-Animator, Interzone, The Last Starfighter)
Tony Carroll b. 1950 died March 2007 (Masters of the Universe, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Hercules in New York)
Georgia Engel b. 1948 (Mork & Mindy)
Sally Struthers b. 1947 (Monster Heroes, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Alice in Wonderland [1985])
Linda Kelsey b. 1946 (The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Twilight Zone [1987], The Picture of Dorian Gray [1973 TV])
Frances Lee McCain b. 1944 (Back to the Future, Gremlins)
Phil Proctor b. 1940 (Freddy’s Nightmares, Lobster Man from Mars, The Twilight Zone [1985])
Charles Cyphers b. 1939 (Buffy, Sliders, SeaQuest 2032, Lois & Clark, Halloween I and II, Escape from New York, The Fog, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Isis)
Darryl Hickman b. 1931 (Beauty and the Beast [1987 TV], Looker, The Tingler)
David Brown b. 1916 died 1 February 2010 (producer, Deep Impact, Cocoon, Ssssss)
Laird Cregar b. 1913 died 9 December 1944 (Heaven Can Wait [1943])
Ann Doran b. 1911 died 19 September 2000 (Twilight Zone [1987], Project U.F.O., Bewitched, The Brass Bottle, It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Adventures of Superman)
Rudy Vallee b. 1901 died 3 July 1986 (Batman)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Remember on Sunday when the birthday list was loaded down with household names and actors with iconic roles? Well... this list isn't, to be blunt.

In 2013, before I learned a good research method, I had no one on the birthday list. Last year, I used the fabulous Rachel Blakely, who was a regular on the series The Lost World. This year, I considered Carlos Jacott and Michael Hitchcock because I'm a Whedonverse nerd or Ann Doran because she is an Oh That Gal with over 300 credits on imdb.com, but in the end I decided on Rudy Vallee playing one of the truly forgettable Batman villains, Marmaduke Ffogg. I chose him because Vallee was an asshole.

Let me explain.

A lot of living people maintain their own imdb.com pages, but of course the dead can't do that, and every once in a while you'll find a page where the biography leads with how much the cast and crew hated working with the featured artist. I saw it with Ken Maynard, a cowboy star of the 1920s and 1930s - he didn't have any genre credits, not surprisingly - and I saw it today with Vallee, though I had heard rumors about him before.

Image is everything in show business, as Bill Cosby is learning the hard way. There are some famously disagreeable people who are no longer being protected by their publicists - Chevy Chase and Vince Vaughan are two well-known names - and there are others who nasty nature seems related to drugs - Randy Quaid and his wife, Crispin Glover, the list goes on. I worked at Lucas Film Games when I was younger and hung out with the official Skywalker Ranch photographer, who had many juicy stories about well-known folks, including stories about people hating to work with Raquel Welch and Julia Roberts. I hope these lovely women have improved their outlook on life, since this gossip in nearly a quarter century old now.

Hey! I just squeezed three real paragraphs our of a lousy Picture Slot choice. How often does that happen?

2. Spot the Canadians! Our Canucks today are the two youngest on the list,  Hannah Lochner and Dustin Milligan.

3. Nepotism FTW. Darryl Hickman and Dwight Hickman were brothers, I usually don't count that unless its a Ron Howard/Clint Howard situation. Alexis Arquette is part of the Arquette dynasty, starting with granddad Cliff and continuing with her dad Lewis.

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: Crime will be considered a disease after 1985 and will cease to exist by 2000.

Reality: Did Langdon-Davies ever get tired of being wrong? He lived until 1971, so he saw a lot of his prophecies turn to crap, but he didn't live long enough to see this one fail, and fail it did.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We get another visit from our sensible friend George Sutherland and his book Twentieth Century Inventions.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

19 June 2015

Birthdays

Atticus Shaffer b. 1998 (The Unborn, Hancock)
Paul Dano b. 1984 (Looper, Cowboys & Aliens)
Aidan Turner b. 1983 (The Hobbit, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Being Human)
Lauren Lee Smith b. 1980 (Ascension, Ring of Fire [TV], Blade: The Series, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Mutant X, Dark Angel)
Zoe Saldana b. 1978 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Rosemary’s Baby [2014 TV], Star Trek, Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Ryan Hurst b. 1976 (Taken, The Postman)
Hugh Dancy b. 1975 (Ella Enchanted, Relic Hunter)
Bumper Robinson b. 1974 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Deep Space Nine, Enemy Mine)
Chelah Horsdal b. 1973 (Arrow, The Cabin in the Woods, Supernatural, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Iron Invader, Stargate, Eureka, Alien Trespass, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica, X-Men: The Last Stand, Smallville, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Andromeda)
Robin Tunney b. 1972 (End of Days, Supernova, The Craft, Frogs!)
Alan Van Sprang b. 1971 (Beauty and the Beast [2015], Immortals, Survival of the Dead, ReGenesis, Diary of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Starhunter, Mutant X, Earth: Final Conflict, Highlander: The Raven)
Chris Larkin b. 1967 (Doctor Who, Mysterious Island [2005 TV], Highlander [TV])
Mia Sara b. 1967 (Dorothy and the Witches of Oz, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Birds of Prey, Lost in Oz, Jack and the Beanstalk: The True Story, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997 TV], Timecop, Time Trax, Legend)
Samuel West b. 1966 (The Frankenstein Chronicles, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Eternal Law, Dark Relic, Van Helsing, Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time, Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader [1989 TV])
Kelly Reno b. 1966 (Amazing Stories)
Sadie Frost b. 1965 (Dracula [1992])
Andrew Lauer b. 1965 (Iron Man 3, Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer, King of the Lost World, Screamers)
Sean Marshall b. 1965 (Pete’s Dragon)
Kathleen Turner b. 1954 (Cinderella [2000 TV], Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Man with Two Brains)
Virginia Hey b. 1952 (Alien Armageddon, Farscape, The Return of Captain invincible, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior)
Phylicia Rashad b. 1948 (Gods Behaving Badly)
Salman Rushdie b. 1947 (author, Midnight’s Children, Haroun and the Sea of Stories)
Steve Ryan b. 1947 died 3 September 2007 (The X-Files, D.A.R.Y.L.)
Rosalba Neri b. 1939 (Lady Frankenstein)
Derren Nesbitt b. 1935 (UFO)
Pier Angeli b. 1932 died10 September 1971 (Octaman)
Diana Sowle b. 1930 (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
Gena Rowlands b. 1930 (Parts per Billion, The Skeleton Key, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Robert Fyfe b. 1925 (Cloud Atlas, Xtro)
Louis Jourdan b. 1921 (Swamp Thing, Count Dracula [1977 TV])
Pat Buttram b. 1915 died 8 January 1994 (Back to the Future Part III, Knight Rider, The Munsters)
Julius Schwartz b. 1915 died 8 February 2004 (editor, DC Comics)
Harry Lauter b. 1915 died 30 October 1990 (Superbeast, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Land of the Giants, The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Green Hornet, Batman: The Movie, My Favorite Martian, Earth vs. Flying Saucers, The Werewolf, Creature with the Atom Brain, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Captain Midnight, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
George Voskovec b. 1905 died 1 July 1981 (Somewhere in Time)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I gave the Picture Slot to fabulous babe Zoe Saldana and fabulous babe Virginia Hey. Sensing a pattern yet? This year, it's Mia Sara, probably best known for Ferris Bueller's Day Off, here in a still from Legend.

2. Spot the Canadians! Three Canadians today, all somewhat spottable: Alan Van Sprang, Chela Horsdal and Lauren Lee Smith.

3. Wait... they're dead? The lovely Pier Angeli died very young back in the 1970s, so I've had over forty years to register the fact, but it hasn't sunk in yet.  I've had about eight years to find out Steve Ryan is dead, but today is the first I've heard of it to the best of my knowledge. His best known role was as J. Walter Weatherman on Arrested Development, the one armed guy George Bluth uses to teach his kids lessons. I had no idea he was gone and it's like writing a Never to be Forgotten post.

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

Movie released
Jason and the Argonauts released, 1963

Fifty two years ago and still one of the most memorable times I have ever spent in a movie theatre.

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

Prediction: It has become apparent that whole masses of human population are, as a whole, inferior in their claim upon the future, to other masses, that they cannot be given opportunities or trusted with power as the superior peoples are trusted, that their characteristic weaknesses are contagious and detrimental in the civilizing fabric, and that their range of incapacity tempts and demoralizes the strong. To give them equality is to sink to their level, to protect and cherish them is to be swamped in their fecundity.

Reality: I am repeating a passage from Anticipations today because it reminds me of the horror we saw unfold in Charleston. To be fair, Wells isn't exactly racist. He doesn't want to kill all the blacks or Jews, but if someone does meet his definition of "inferior", then death or sterilization is the best thing for them. Wells is more of a proud cultural bigot, casually condemning nationalities like the Irish and the Russians.

I re-broadcast this horrible passage again today because it really is in the same vein as the beliefs of the vile young man Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at a church in South Carolina. I would also compare this young man to Timothy McVeigh. Of course, Wells didn't kill multiple people, but all of three of these scumbags thought they were trying to educate us, teach us the hard lesson that to make the world a better place, huge numbers of people have to be killed. Wells didn't need to kill people to get the public's attention. He had a publisher glad to broadcast his awful theories. Roof and McVeigh thought of themselves as scholars, people who had studied why a race war was necessary.

I don't think Roof and McVeigh are mentally disturbed. They are evil. Wells backed away from a lot of the worst of his pronouncements as writers and critics tore his book apart, but the evil certainly had a hold of him for a while. 

How does this evil grow? In Roof's case, he lives in a state where the Confederate flag flies over the seat of government. He is soaking in evil and made an effort to learn more evil on his own. Here in California, a man named Byron Williams was convicted of attempted murder of four Highway Patrol officers in a 2010 shootout. Williams was stopped on his way to kill people at The Tides Foundation, a liberal nonprofit repeatedly attacked by Glenn Beck, another self-proclaimed scholar. Had he not driven in a dangerous manner, he likely would have arrived at the destination where the people he wanted to kill were working.

I cannot fairly compare Wells to Roof or McVeigh, but he can be compared to Beck. In the so-called marketplace of ideas, we let some horrible scumbags peddle their wares. For most of us, this stuff can be ignored or mocked, but what they write and say give aid and comfort to the enemies of our shared humanity. They are the wind under evil wings.

Here endeth the lesson.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

However silly, scolding and overly optimistic Morris L. Ernst could be, I'm confident tomorrow's prediction will not advocate racial or ethnic cleansing.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

12 June 2015

Birthdays
Cody Horn b. 1988 (Demonic)
Abbey Lee b. 1987 (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Luke Youngblood b. 1986 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone)
Dave Franco b. 1985 (Other Space, Warm Bodies, Fright Night)
Jeremy Howard b. 1981 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Haunted Mansion, Buffy, Men in Black II, Galaxy Quest)
Kenzo Lee b. 1980 (Extant, Monarch of the Moon)
Richard Ayoade b. 1977 (The IT Crowd, The Watch, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace)
Jason Mewes b. 1974 (Zombie Hamlet, Netherbeast Incorporated, Dogma)
Rick Hoffman b. 1970 (Knight Rider [2009], Battleship, The Day After Tomorrow, What Planet Are You From?)
Gordon Michael Woolvert b. 1970 (Supernatural, Andromeda, Sliders, Mysterious Island, Forever Knight, Maniac Mansion, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future)
Sarah Trigger b. 1968 (Pet Sematary II, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey)
Frances O’Connor b. 1967 (Once Upon a Time, Timeline, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Bedazzled [2000])
Cathy Tyson b. 1965 (The Serpent and the Rainbow)
Paula Marshall b. 1964 (Haunted Hathaways, W.E.I.R.D. World, Warlock: The Armageddon, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, Superboy, The Flash [1990])
Patrice Martinez b. 1963 (Beetlejuice)
Tim DeKay b. 1963 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Monster Ark, The 4400, Carnivale, Invasion, SeaQuest 2032)
Eamonn Walker b. 1962 (Unbreakable)
Paul Schulze b. 1962 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Roswell)
Scott Thompson b. 1959 (Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, Star Trek: Voyager, Millennium)
Jenilee Harrison b. 1958 (They Came from Outer Space)
Timothy Busfield b. 1957 (Sleepy Hollow, Revolution, Terminal Error, Lois and Clark)
Ella Joyce b, 1954 (Bubba Ho-Tep, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Gary Farmer b. 1953 (Mutant X, Forever Knight, Route 666, The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon)
Roger Aaron Brown b. 1949 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Supernatural, Dark Skies, Galaxis, RoboCop 2, Alien Nation, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Near Dark, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Incredible Hulk)
Len Wein b. 1948 (writer, Swamp Thing)
Jim Nabors b. 1930 (Knight Rider, The Lost Saucer, The Addams Family Fun House)
Alberto De Martino b. 1929 died 2 June 2015 (writer, Holocaust 2000, Hercules vs. the Giant Warriors)
Henry Slesar b. 1927 died 2 April 2002 (author, 20 Million Miles to Earth)
Jim Siedow b. 1920 died 20 November 2003 (Amazing Stories)
Uta Hagen b. 1919 died 14 January 2004 (The Twilight Zone [1986], The Boys from Brazil)
Irwin Allen b. 1916 died 2 November 1991 (producer/writer/director, Aliens from Another Planet, The Swarm, City Beneath the Sea, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Lost World)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The list today has a lot of well-known actors, just not well-known for genre. In 2013, before I learned a good research method, I had no birthdays on 12 June and the Picture Slot when to an exact day prediction about Irwin Allen's Land of the Giants. In 2014, I decided to use Irwin Allen's picture. This year, I decided to go with Abby Lee from Mad Max: Fury Road. I don't think she's iconic, but in my defense, she IS fabulous and her name is at the top of the popularity list on imbd.com among all the birthday folk.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are three today. Gary Farmer is a First Nations actor born north of the border, Scott Thompson got his first fame on the Canadian show Kids in the Hall and Gordon Michael Woolvert has a very Canadian looking resume, as well he should.

3. Nepotism more or less. Dave Franco is James Franco's less known brother.

4. A Missed Never to be Forgotten. I did not see the obit for writer Alberto De Martino earlier this month, but he wrote in genre and deserved a mention. My bad.

5. The Guy at the Door. Had Mr. Martino survived, he would have been the Guy at the Door. As it is, the oldest person on our list is Jim Nabors, now 85. As always, special birthday wishes to The Guy at the Door.

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

Movie released
This is the End released, 2013

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his book Anticipations

Prediction: The Russia of to-day is indeed very little more than a vast breeding-ground for an illiterate peasantry, and the forecasts of its future greatness entirely ignore that dwindling significance of mere numbers in warfare which is the clear and necessary consequence of mechanical advance.

Reality: Ah, another bracing look into the mind of Herbert George Wells, British bigot! He was absolutely convinced warfare would be all about cool gadgets in the 20th Century, and he certainly gets at least partial credit there, but as we have seen time and again, war is about breaking a country's will to fight. The Soviet Union in WW II had "mere numbers" and approximately 20 million of them died in that war and they did not surrender. Even the Germans didn't have an answer for that.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction from Utopia 1976, probably loaded with optimism and short on accuracy.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

24 April 2015

Birthdays
Angelica Jopling b. 1997 (Kick-Ass 2)
Larramie Doc Shaw b. 1992 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Jack Quaid b. 1992 (The Hunger Games)
Tahyna Tozzi b. 1986 (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
Courtney Draper b. 1985 (Buffy, Stepsister from Planet Weird)
Austin Nichols b. 1980 (The Walking Dead, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Surface, The Day After Tomorrow, Sliders)
Matthew Steer b. 1978 (Cinderella, SuperBob, Outlander)
Rebecca Mader b. 1977 (Once Upon a Time, Warehouse 13, Iron Man 3, Fringe, Alphas, No Ordinary Family, Lost)
Eric Balfour b. 1977 (Haven, No Ordinary Family, Skyline, Dinoshark, Rise of the Gargoyles, The Chronicle, Buffy)
Noah Danby b. 1974 (Bitten, Hemlock Grove, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and the Death Lamp, Riddick, Lost Girl, Warehouse 13, Eureka, Painkiller Jane, Stargate SG-1, Alien Incursion, Smallville, The 4400, Andromeda, Mutant X, Witchblade, Relic Hunter, Lexx)
Eric Kripke b. 1974 (writer, Supernatural, Revolution, Boogeyman)
Derek Luke b. 1974 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Captain America: The First Avenger)
Damon Lindelof b. 1973 (writer, Tomorrowland, The Leftovers, World War Z, Prometheus, Star Trek Into Darkness, Lost)
Dean Armstrong b. 1973 (Alphas, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter, Haven, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Earth: Final Conflict)
Melinda Clarke b. 1969 (The Vampire Diaries, Reaper, Firefly, Tremors [TV], Charmed, Star Trek: Enterprise, Spawn, Sliders, Xena, Return of the Living Dead III)
Rory McCann b. 1969 (Game of Thrones, Season of the Witch, Clash of the Titians, Beowulf & Grendel, Solomon Kane)
Aiden Gillen b. 1968 (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Game of Thrones, The Dark Knight Rises)
Stacy Haiduk b. 1968 (True Blood, Heroes, The Attack of the Sabertooth, The X-Files, Charmed, Kindred: The Embraced, SeaQuest 2032, Superboy)
Djimon Hounsou b. 1964 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Push, Eragon, The Island, Constantine, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Stargate)
Jason Salkey b. 1962 (The Fifth Element)
Glenn Morshower b. 1959 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Revolution, After Earth, Transformers, X-Men: First Class, Dollhouse, Charmed, The Island, Category 6: Day of Destruction, Star Trek: Enterprise, Buffy, Strange World, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Godzilla [1998], Millennium, The X-Files, Dark Skies, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap)
Eric Bogosian b. 1953 (Blade: Trinity, Twilight Zone [1985], Tales from the Darkside)
Steven Lisberger b. 1951 (writer, TRON)
Michael Parks b. 1940 (Tusk, Grindhouse, From Dusk Till Dawn, Sorceress, SeaQuest 2032, War of the Worlds [1989 TV])
Jill Ireland b. 1936 died 18 May 1990 (Star Trek, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Shirley MacLaine b. 1934 (Bewitched [2005])
Richard Donner b. 1930 (director, Timeline, Scrooged, Superman, The Omen, Ladyhawke, The Sixth Sense [TV], It’s About Time, Twilight Zone)
Bruce Kirby b. 1928 (Tucker’s Witch, The Greatest American Hero, Holmes and Yo-Yo, I Dream of Jeannie)
J.D. Cannon b. 1922 died 20 May 2005 (Beyond Witch Mountain, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
William Castle b. 1914 died 31 May 1977 (director, Zotz!, 13 Ghosts, The Tingler, House on Haunted Hill)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. We are in Game of Thronesseason now, so it's not surprising that the first two Picture Slotters on this list were Rory McCann and Aiden Gillen. There were several candidates I considered. Stacy Haiduk was Lana Lang on the Superboy show way back when and Glenn Morshower it a very recognizable Oh That Guy, often an Oh That Military Guy. But instead I went with Djimon Hounsou as Korath from Guardians of the Galaxy. Hounsou tells a story of his son, who is obsessed with comic books, telling his dad he wished he were lighter skinned because he wanted to be Spider-Man. Here's hoping the younger Hounsou grows up in a world where comic books are more diverse.

2. Nepotism FTW. Jack Quaid is Dennis Quaid's son and that counts for sure. Bruce Kirby is Bruno Kirby's dad, which doesn't count as much.

3. Spot the Canadians! There are two, both born in the 1970s. See if you can spot them.

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

 

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

Prediction: Military recruiting among the working classes--or, more properly speaking, among the People of the Abyss--will have dwindled to the vanishing point; people who are no good for peace purposes are not likely to be any good in such a grave and complicated business as modern war.

Reality: Welcome back to H.G. Wells, snob, bigot and scumbag! Some of his predictions are merely right or wrong, but then we get these reminders of his vicious nature. Not only is this horribly bigoted, it was also incorrect. Armies are still filled with folks who have no better economic option.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's our second Saturday in the company of Morris L. Ernst and his cheerful view of the future in Utopia 1976. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

21 February 2015

Birthdays
Sophie Turner b. 1996 (X-Men: Apocalypse, Mary Shelley’s Monster, Game of Thrones)
Corbin Bleu b. 1989 (Galaxy Quest, Mystery Men)
Scout Taylor-Compton b. 1989 (Halloween I & II [2007 & 2009], Charmed)
Ashley Greene b. 1987 (Twilight Saga, Radio Free Albemuth)
Ellen Page b. 1987 (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Inception, X-Men: The Last Stand, ReGenesis)
Burgess Abernethy b. 1987 (H2O: Just Add Water, BeastMaster)
Tuppence Middleton b. 198 7 (Jupiter Ascending, Sense8, Sinbad [TV])
Jennifer Love Hewitt b. 1979 (A Christmas Carol: A Musical, Munchie)
Travis Schiffner b. 1976 (Jeepers Creepers II)
Christopher Yost b. 1973 (writer, Thor: The Dark World, Max Steel)
William Baldwin b. 1963 (Virus, Flatliners)
Christopher Atkins b. 1961 (Dark Realm, Dracula Rising)
Kim Coates b. 1958 (Mutant World, Robosapien: Rebooted, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Smallville, The Dresden Files, Skinwalkers, Thoughtcrimes, Earth: Final Conflict, Battlefield Earth, NightMan, Total Recall 2070, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Waterworld, RoboCop [TV], Innocent Blood, Dracula: the Series, Red Blooded American Girl, War of the Worlds [TV])
Kelsey Grammer b. 1955 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, X-Men, A Christmas Carol: The Musical, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
William Petersen b. 1953 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Twilight Zone [1986])
Christine Ebersole b. 1953 (American Horror Story, My Favorite Martian [1999], Ghost Dad, Mac and Me)
Mimi Kuzyk b. 1952 (The Day After Tomorrow, The Time Shifters, Total Recall 2070, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Seaquest 2032, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Quantum Leap)
Larry Drake b. 1950 (Gryphon, Firefly, Stargate SG-1, Timequest, Star Trek: Voyager, Prey, Darkman I and II)
Frank Brunner b. 1949 (illustrator)
Anthony Daniels b. 1946 (Star Wars, I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle)
Alan Rickman b. 1946 (Harry Potter, Galaxy Quest, Alice in Wonderland [2010], The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Dogma, Truly Madly Deeply)
Kitty Winn b. 1944 (The Exorcist I and II)
Richard Beymer b. 1939 (The X-Files, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Gary Lockwood b. 1937 (2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, Dark Skies, Superboy, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Earth II, The Magic Sword)
Rue McClanahan b. 1934 died 3 June 2010 (Wonderfalls, Starship Troopers, The Wickedest Witch, Small & Frye, Topper [TV movie])
George Mitchell b. 1905 died 18 January 1972 (The Andromeda Strain, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone, Invasion of the Animal People)
Celia Lovsky b. 1897 died 12 October 1979 (Soylent Green, Star Trek, Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. This is a very good birthday list. I didn't know about that careers of everyone listed here before I did my morning research, but I did know a heck of a lot of them. Previous Picture Slotters are Celia Lovsky as T'Pau and Alan Rickman as Snape, though I might have used Rickman as Alexander Dane instead and it would still be iconic. That still leaves a bunch of great choices, including Gary Lockwood from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ellen Page from X-Men and of course Anthony Daniels as C-3P0. I'm somewhat embarrassed for not choosing Mr. Daniels, but instead we have a picture of Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark because I am jonesing for new Game of Thrones this time of year and I am a huge sucker for tall redheads with high cheekbones.

Sue me. (Seriously, if Mr. Daniels wants to sue, I'm willing to come to a settlement.)

2. The Canadians amongst us. You might have been able to guess Kim Coates, a scary looking Oh That Guy, was Canadian, but there's a lot of work in movies and not all of them produced in Canada. The other two Canucks are much harder to spot. Mimi Kuzyk is mainly a TV actress and got her first big break on Hill Street Blues, though some might say her first big break was getting out of the frozen hellhole known as Winnipeg. Ellen Page is a movie star and good on her, so she's not waiting around for a guest shot on Supernatural.

3. Nepotism... not so much. Tuppence Middleton. Strange first name, oddly familiar last name. She is British, but not related to Kate Middleton. Corbin Bleu is a working actor, as is his dad David Reivers. I would venture to say he is not trading off his father's fame because his father isn't a household name.

4. The Guy at the Door and MST3K. Regular readers will know I feel a little awkward pointing it out when a list has an age cut-off between the living and the dead, but it just means that no one died particularly young or no one alive is remarkably old. Today, it means Gary Lockwood is The Guy at the Door, the oldest living person on this somewhat random list of artists and everyone younger than him is still with us. I feel bad when the person who has this designation is iconic and I don't use them, but yet again, let me point out a tall redhead with high cheekbones as my defense. Mr. Lockwood was also in The Magic Sword, which means we get to use the MST3K label today.

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

Predictor: Ignatius Donnelly (1831-1901), politician and author, making predictions about 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

Prediction: It is very evident that the time is not far distant when the people will repossess themselves of the iron highways... If the state is justified in taking charge of the mails, it is equally justified in taking change of the this aerial communication carried on the wings of the lightning... Gold and silver will be overthrown by an international paper money which all the wealth of the world would back up and sustain legal tender among all nations. This paper money would be increased in precise ratio to the increase in population or wealth of the world. 

Reality: We have already been introduced to Mr. Donnelly through his novel Caesar's Column, a racist rip-off of Edward Bellamy's big speculative hit Looking Backward: 2000-1888. In that, Donnelly advances the picture of a future ruined by rich Jews and a revolution just as bad because Jews run that, too.

I just gleaned the predictions from Donnelly's very long four pages of puffery. Honestly, this guy takes five minutes to clear his throat. He is wrong about the government takeover of the railroads and telegraphs. They were allowed to grow, but they have been overtaken and their monopolies brought down to earth by other technologies that would have been very hard to guess in 1893. As for going off the gold and silver standards, he gets that right, but we don't truly have a single international money system just yet. As for his "increase by precise ratio", is it tied to wealth or population? This reminds me John Von Neumann's great quote "There is no point in being precise when you don't know what you are talking about."

Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Another futuristic guess from our pal Robert A. Heinlein.


Join us then...  IN THE FUTURE!

20 February 2015

Birthdays
Rihanna b. 1988 (This Is The End, Battleship)
Miles Teller b. 1987 (Insurgent, Divergent, Fantastic Four [2014])
Cortney Palm b. 1987 (The Purge: Anarchy, Demon Legacy, Zombeavers, Alien Rising, Alice in Wonderland [2010])
Danielle Benton b. 1985 (The Eschatrilogy: Book of the Dead, Sucker Punch, Supernatural)
Bronson Webb b. 1983 (Pirates of the Caribbean, Game of Thrones, The Dark Knight, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Majandra Delfino b. 1981 (Ultra, Roswell)
Lauren Ambrose b. 1978 (Torchwood, Psycho Beach Party)
Ophelie Winter b. 1974 (2001: A Space Travesty)
Kimberly Davies b. 1973 (The Invisible Man [2001], Psycho Beach Party)
Peter James Smith b. 1971 (Serenity, Dead Man on Campus)
Angelica Lisk-Hahn b. 1969 (Lost Girl, Warehouse 13, Jumper, Odyssey 5, Earth: Final Conflict)
Lily Taylor b. 1967 (Gotham, Almost Human, The Conjuring, Hemlock Grove, The Haunting, The X-Files)
David Herman b. 1967 (Futurama, Dude, Where’s My Car, Idiocracy, Angel)
Cindy Crawford b. 1966 (Wizards of Waverly Place, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Ron Eldard b. 1965 (Super 8, Deep Impact, Drop Dead Fred)
Kimiko Gelman b. 1966 (The Hunger Games, Minority Report, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Willie Garson b. 1964 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Zoom, Taken [TV], Stargate SG-1, What Planet Are You From?, The X-Files, Being John Malkovich, Star Trek: Voyager, Buffy, VR.5, Mars Attacks!, Quantum Leap, Repossessed, Groundhog Day, Brain Dead)
Rodney Rowland b. 1964 (American Horror Story, FlashForward, Charmed, Angel, The Sixth Day, Seven Days, Dark Angel, Welcome to Paradox, The X-Files, Space: Above and Beyond)
French Stewart b. 1964 (Rise of the Zombies, Stargate, Clockstoppers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Charmed, Space: Above and Beyond)
Dwayne McDuffie b. 1962 died 21 February 2011 (producer, Justice League, Ben 10)
Imogen Stubbs b. 1961 (Erik the Viking)
Joel Hodgson b. 1960 (Mystery Science Theater 3000, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves)
Anthony Stewart Head b. 1954 (Dominion, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Warehouse 13, Merlin, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Doctor Who, Buffy, VR.5, Highlander [TV])
Edward Albert b. 1951 died 22 September 2006 (Power Rangers Time Force, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Conan, Demon Keeper, Space Marines, Sorceress, Time Trax, Deep Space Nine, The Girl from Mars, Beauty and the Beast [1990], Deadly Nightmares, Galaxy of Terror)
Jennifer O’Neill b. 1948 (Time Changers, Poltergeist: The Legacy [TV], Scanners)
Peter Strauss b. 1947 (Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone)
Sandy Duncan b. 1946 (The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Brion James b. 1945 died 7 August 1999 (Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills, The Fifth Element, Cyberjack, Highlander [TV], M.A.N.T.I.S., Knight Rider 2010, Future Shock, Time Runner, Nemesis, Mutator, Cherry 2000, Annihilator, Blade Runner, Galactica 1980, The Incredible Hulk [TV])
Marj Dusay b. 1936 (Galactica 1980, The Bionic Woman, The Immortal, Star Trek)
Larry Hovis b. 1936 died 9 September 2003 (Holmes & Yo-Yo, My Living Doll)
Richard Matheson b. 1926 died 23 June 2013 (author, I Am Legend, The Shrinking Man, What Dreams May Come)
Robert Altman b. 1925 died 20 November 2006 (director, Quintet)
Pierre Boulle b. 1912 died 30 January 1994 (author, Planet of the Apes)
Malcolm Atterbury b. 1907 died 16 August 1992 (Twilight Zone, The Birds, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Gale Gordon b. 1906 died 30 June 1995 (The Thirty Foot Bride of Candy Rock)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. We have a lot of famous names here today and plenty of choices for iconic work. Previous Picture Slotters were Pierre Boulle for Planet of the Apes and Brion James for Blade Runner. Other people I consider iconic in genre here are Richard Matheson, Anthony Stewart Head from Buffy and French Stewart from 3rd Rock from the Sun, but the Picture Slot goes to Joel Hodgson, originator of one of the greatest ideas in comedy history, making fun of cheesy movies, TV and short films. Happy 55th birthday, Mr. Hodgson. I'm a big fan.

2. Spot the Canadians! Danielle Benton's country of birth isn't super obvious from her credit list, but actress/stunt person Angelica Lisk-Hahn is a little easier to spot.

3. Nepotism FT... Wait, he'd dead? Edward Albert is the son of Eddie Albert. He's not the only person on the list to die young, but I had been able to file the rest of them in the deceased category. I had no knowledge of his death until I clicked on his imdb.com page this morning. As commenter Zombie Rotten McDonald noted, that's one of the things that kinda sucks about reading this blog, and it also kinda sucks when writing it, too.


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

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

Prediction: It has become apparent that whole masses of human population are, as a whole, inferior in their claim upon the future, to other masses, that they cannot be given opportunities or trusted with power as the superior peoples are trusted, that their characteristic weaknesses are contagious and detrimental in the civilizing fabric, and that their range of incapacity tempts and demoralizes the strong. To give them equality is to sink to their level, to protect and cherish them is to be swamped in their fecundity.

Reality: As I promised in yesterday's teaser, we get another visit from H.G. Wells, scumbag bigot raised in the midst of the greatest empire the world has ever known, which is a nice way of saying the society of the worst fucking thieves in history. This is more "white man's burden" nonsense and it was extremely common in his day. As regular readers already know, I don't consider that a very good excuse. In his defense, he only gets to the really creepy stuff in Chapter Nine and a lot of the book is about more about technology.

Still... scumbag.

Never to be Forgotten: Alan Howard 1937-2015. Reading Sir Patrick Stewart on Twitter, I found out yesterday that British actor Alan Howard died earlier this month. Howard was one of the top Shakespearean actors of his generation, though not quite as well known to American audiences as fellow contemporaries of the Royal Shakespeare Company like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan and Derek Jacobi. In his time at RSC, he played all the Shakespearean kings. On film and TV, he was in Foyle's War, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Oxford Blues, The Heroes of Telemark and The Americanization of Emily. Posessor of a lovely voice, he also was much in demand as a reader in the audiobook industry and is remembered here as The Voice of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings movies.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Alan Howard. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

1893 calls once again and we will hear from a predictor (and scumbag) who has showed up in the prediction section before.

Also, no exciting facial hair.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

19 February 2015

Birthdays
Victoria Justice b. 1993 (The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, The Troop)
Kalli Thorne b. 1992 (Chillerama)
Aree Davis b. 1991 (The Haunted Mansion, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue)
Luke Pasqualino b. 1989 (Snowpiercer, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome)
Sam Reid b. 1987 (Astronaut Wives Club)
Ophelia Lovibond b. 1986 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World)
Haylie Duff b. 1985 (Addams Family Reunion)
Arielle Kebbel b. 1985 (The After, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Vampires, Suck, The Grudge 2, Aquamarine)
Josh Trank b. 1985 (director, Chronicle, Fantastic Four [2015])
Brian Kubach b. 1983 (Piranha 3D, Wizards of Waverly Place)
Mika Nakashima b. 1983 (Resident Evil)
Daniel Spink b. 1979 (The Butterfly Effect 1 & 3)
Caroline Chikezie b. 1974 (Supernatural, Torchwood, Eragon, AEon Flux)
Bellamy Young b. 1970 (Last Day on Earth, Supernatural, Knight Rider [2009], The X Files)
Benicio Del Toro b. 1967 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: The Dark World, The Wolfman, Sin City, Tales from the Crypt)
Justine Bateman b. 1966 (Lois & Clark, Tales from the Darkside)
Kathleen Beller b. 1965 (Time Trackers, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Jessica Tuck b. 1963 (Grimm, True Blood, Super 8, FlashForward, Surface, Batman Forever, Lois & Clark, The Visitor [1997 TV])
Ray Winstone b. 1957 (Snow White and the Huntsman, Elfie Hopkins: Cannibal Hunter, Hugo, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Devil’s Tomb, Beowulf, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Ghostbusters of East Finchley, Space Precinct)
Jeff Daniels b. 1955 (Looper, My Favorite Martian [1999], Pleasantville, Grand Tour: Disaster in Time, The Butcher’s Wife, Arachnophobia, Purple Rose of Cairo)
Stephen Nichols b. 1951 (Witchboard, House [1986], Wizards and Warriors)
Big John Studd b. 1948 died 20 March 1995 (Hyperspace, Beauty and the Beast)
John Bloom b. 1944 died 15 January 1999 (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Harry and the Hendersons, The Hills Have Eyes II, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant)
Gwen Taylor b. 1939 (Space: 1999)
David Margulies b. 1937 (Ghostbusters I and II, Tales from the Darkside)
John Frankenheimer b. 1930 died 6 July 2002 (director, The Island of Dr. Moreau [1996], Prophecy, Seconds)
Lee Marvin b. 1924 died 29 August 1987 (Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot had Lee Marvin from The Twilight Zone and Jessica Tuck from True Blood. Possible choices for today include Jeff Daniels from Pleasantville or The Purple Rose of Cairo or Ray Winstone from Beowulf, but instead I chose Benicio Del Toro from Guardians of the Galaxy. Before Guardians, I don't consider any of his roles iconic, but this movie is not just a hit, I think it will continue to be remembered fondly, unlike some movies about transforming robots I could mention.

2. Nepotism FTW, sorta. Haylie Duff is the older sister of Hilary Duff. Hilary Duff's career was at its high point with Lizzie McGuire over a decade ago.

3. No Canadians and just barely Star Trek. No actors on our list were born in Canada today and there is just one Star Trek credit, the late John Bloom in Star Trek VI. Bloom was a very tall guy, well over seven foot, and worked as an accountant until low budget filmmaker Al Adamson talked him into playing Frankenstein's Monster in Dracula vs. Frankenstein. He died at the age of 54; dying at relatively young ages is not uncommon for the very tall. 

4. Speaking of dying young... Big John Studd might sound like a porn star, but it was the stage name of wrestler John William Minton. A few years back, I looked into the sometimes repeated statistic that the average life expectancy of pro football players was 55 years old. This claim is nonsense. On the other hand, pro wrestlers from the Steroid Era, which is the heyday of Hulk Hogan until today, have shown a tendency to die young. People who say wrestling is fake are right if their point is the winners of matches are known in advance, but the guys in the ring are doing live action stunts that can cause real injuries. The combination of performance enhancing drugs and painkillers can cause both physical problems and lead to severe depression. Other contact sports like boxing and mixed martial arts don't show problems quite as severe.

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

Predictor: Grover Cleveland, former President of the United States, speaking in 1905.

Prediction: Sensible and responsible women do not want the vote. The relative positions to be assumed by man and woman in the working out of your civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence than our own.

Reality: When I went to school, we barely learned anything about the presidents who aren't on Mt. Rushmore. Cleveland was a Democrat and he had two non-consecutive terms. In his era, the Democrats were a conservative party and the Republicans had the radicals in terms of equal rights for all. He was against the temperance movement as well as the suffragettes, which isn't surprising since those two reforms went hand in hand. As a history teacher one told me, the 18th and 19th Amendments taken together were an attempt to outlaw bad husbands.

Cleveland believed in responsibility, but only up to a point. He fathered an illegitimate child. He didn't marry the woman, but he did pay child support. Like the conservatives of today, he was against the government protecting people's rights to vote, especially black people. In 1894, he signed the repeal of the Enforcement Act of 1871, which protected the voting rights of former slaves. Blacks would not have federal support of their franchise again until 1964, and it would not have happened except for Republican votes thwarting the actions of conservative Democrats of the time. Democrats as conservative as the Dixiecrat wing of my childhood are rare, and honorable Republicans are effectively extinct. In honor of Cleveland, I am using the "scumbag" label today.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We will hear from another turn of the century scumbucket, H.G. Wells.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

30 January 2015

Birthdays
Danielle Campbell b. 1995 (The Originals)
Jake Thomas b. 1990 (Dinocroc, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Cell, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Rob Pinkston b. 1988 (The Sasquatch Gang)
Ashley Bucille b. 1986 (Phenomenon)
Michael Barra b. 1986 (The Amazing Spider-Man)
Wilmer Valderrama b. 1980 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Awake, Wizards of Waverly Place, Chadam, The Dead One)
Margot Finley b. 1980 (First Wave, The Odyssey [1994 TV], Power Pack)
Christian Bale b. 1974 (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Terminator Salvation, The Prestige, Equilibrium, Reign of Fire, Mio in the Land of Faraway)
Olivia Colman b. 1974 (Doctor Who)
Darren Boyd b. 1971 (The World’s End, ReGenesis)
Tony Maudsley b. 1968 (Day of the Triffids [TV], Being Human, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sleepy Hollow [1999])
Thomas McCarthy b. 1966 (2012)
Wayne Wilderson b. 1966 (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Monkeybone, Crusade, Independence Day)
Julie McCullough b. 1965 (Sharknado, 2012: Ice Age, The Blob [1988], Black Scorpion. Relic Hunter, Harry and the Hendersons [TV], The Munsters Today, Superboy, The Blob, Max Headroom)
Alex Hyde-White b. 1959 (Mars, The Alien Within, Babylon 5, M.A.N.T.I.S., The Fantastic Four [1994], Voyagers!, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Battlestar Galactica [1978])
Ann Dowd b 1956 (The Leftovers, The X Files)
Rab Affleck b. 1953 (Doctor Who, Stardust)
Charles S. Dutton b. 1951 (Android Cop, Alien3, American Horror Story, Legion, Threshold, Gothika, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Mimic, Cat’s Eye)
Gregory Benford b. 1941 (won 1981 Nebula for Timescape)
George Barr b. 1937 (illustator)
Vanessa Redgrave b. 1937 (The Day of the Triffids [2009], Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, Deep Impact, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Richard Brautigan b. 1935 died 14 September 1984 (author, In Watermelon Sugar, The Hawkline Monster)
Tammy Grimes b. 1934 (The Stuff, The Borrowers)
Gino Conforti b. 1932 (Harry and the Hendersons [TV], Small Wonder, Through the Magic Pyramid, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Time Express)
Read Morgan b. 1931 (Back to the Future, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Voyagers!, The Munsters’ Revenge, Meteor, Time After Time, The Car, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Sleeper, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], Octaman, The Immortal, The Beach Girls and the Monster, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Gene Hackman b. 1930 (Superman I, II & IV, Young Frankenstein, Marooned, The Invaders)
Dorothy Malone b. 1925 (The Being, The Day Time Ended)
Michael Anderson b. 1920 (director, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997 TV], Millennium [1989], The Martian Chronicles, Logan’s Run, 1984 [1956])
David Opatoshu b. 1918 died 30 April 1996 (Alien Nation, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Salvage 1, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man [1975 TV], Star Trek, Mr. Terrific, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
David Wayne b, 1914 died 9 February 1995 (It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman, The Andromeda Strain, Batman [TV], Twilight Zone)
John Ireland b. 1914 died 21 March 1992 (Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, War of the Worlds [TV], Deadly Nightmares, Miami Golem, The Incubus, The Shape of Things to Come [1979], Planet of the Apes [TV])
Hugh Marlowe b. 1911 died 2 May 1982 (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Earth vs. Flying Saucers, World Without End)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In earlier years, I went old school and used Hugh Marlowe, then went (relatively) new school and used Christian Bale. Why David Opatashu this year? Well, if I hadn't found him among the birthday boy and girls on imdb.com, this would have been yet another "Hey,... No Star Trek!" day.

2. Okay, how about Gene Hackman? Gene Hackman would have been an excellent choice, either as Lex Luthor or the blind monk from Young Frankenstein, one of my favorite cameo appearances of all time. He is also the reason we will have the MST3K label today, because he was in Marooned. I should also note that Hackman has not made a movie since 2004. Of course, it should be noted that was when he was 74. Some actors work until they die, but there is no unwritten rule that says they have to. I hope Mr. Hackman is relaxing and enjoying himself. Also, he's only the third oldest person alive on today's list at 85. Dorothy Malone turns 90 and director Michael Anderson turns 95 and both of them retired quite a while back as well, though neither was a star as big as Hackman. Best wishes to all three.

3. The strange case of Hugh Marlowe. Back in the day, actors were often either in the big budget movies or the small budget movies. Some started big then got trapped in small budget stuff, others started humbly and then hit the big time. Marlowe took work wherever he could get it. For a sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still was as prestigious as it got in the 1950s, but that isn't the case with World Without End or the Harryhausen movie Earth vs. Flying Saucers. He was also in big budget films like Twelve O'Clock High, All About Eve and Seven Days in May, some before his sci-fi work and some after. Hugh did the work and Hugh cashed the check. Good on ya, Mr. Marlowe.

4. Old and lazy Canadians. John Ireland was born in Canada and he gets a few roles late in his career in productions shot in his homeland, but they aren't the shows we've come to think of as telltale marks of Canadian citizenship. Margot Finley has just 11 credits on imdb.com, which is not a very busy career, so it's hard to tell she's Canadian as well. 

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

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

Prediction: I imagine also the plea and proof that a grave criminal is also insane will be regarded by them [the citizens of the future] not as a reason for mercy, but as an added reason for death. I do not see how they can think otherwise on the principles they will profess.

They will naturally regard the modest suicide of incurably melancholy, or diseased or helpless persons as a high and courageous act of duty rather than a crime.

Reality: Over the next few weeks, I want to dispel the notion that Wells was even remotely like that nice guy Malcolm McDowell played in Time After Time. While he called himself a socialist, many of the the quotes from the last chapter of this book would put him on the reactionary and bigoted end of the political spectrum today. It should be noted that conservatives would gladly endorse killing criminals regardless of mental capacity, most would not be pro-suicide, at least not those who would want votes from evangelicals.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back again to 1893, though people hoping for bold facial hair will be sorely disappointed.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

29 January 2015

Birthdays
Taylor McPherson b. 1993 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, The Walking Dead, The Vampire Diaries)
Drew Tyler Bell b. 1986 (The Middleman, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, Jake 2.0, Jeepers Creepers II)
Isabel Lucas b. 1985 (Immortals, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Daybreakers)
Jason James Richter b. 1980 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Laserhawk, The Neverending Story III)
Andrew Keegan b. 1979 (Teenage Caveman, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Independence Day)
Justin Hartley b. 1977 (Smallville)
Sara Gilbert b. 1975 (The Big Bang Theory)
Sharif Atkins b. 1975 (Guardians of the Galaxy, The 4400)
Kelly Packard b. 1975 (Little Bigfoot, And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird)
Heather Graham b. 1970 (Horns, From Hell, Lost in Space [1998])
Sam Trammell b. 1969 (True Blood, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Anonymous Rex)
Bobbie Phillips b. 1968 (EvilBreed: The Legend of Samhain, Seven Days, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Chameleon I and II, Carnival of Souls, Stargate SG-1, The X-Files, TC 2000, The Came from Outer Space)
Michael Ferris b. 1961 (writer, Terminator Salvation, Terminator 3, The Net, Catwoman) 
Judy Norton b. 1958 (Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft, Stargate: SG-1, Millennium)
Terry Kinney b. 1954 (Being Human, Boyd Snatchers)
Paul Fusco b. 1953 (writer/actor, ALF)
Ann Jillian b. 1950 (Twilight Zone)
Marc Singer b. 1948 (Arrow, V [2011 and 1983], Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], Highlander [TV], Beastmaster [2002, 1996 and 1982], Droid Gunner, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Dead Space, Twilight Zone [1988], Planet of the Apes [TV])
Tom Selleck b. 1945 (Runaway, Coma [1978])
Robert Random b. 1943 (Vampire at Midnight, Time Walker, Village of the Giants)
Katharine Ross b. 1940 (Donnie Darko, The Final Countdown, The Stepford Wives)
Paddy Chayefsky b. 1923 died 1 August 1981 (author, Altered States)
Donald Murphy b. 1918 died 19 May 2008 (Frankenstein’s Daughter)
Alan Marshal b. 1916 died 13 July 1961 (House on Haunted Hill)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. I often don't list voice work for actors, not because I don't think it's important but just to avoid typing all day with some folks. For actors in front of a camera, 300 credits is very rare, but that many credits is all too common for voice actors. This is not the case for Paul Fusco, the writer, puppeteer and voice behind ALF. Pretty much his whole career has revolved around this one character he created. In previous years, the Picture Slot was given to Marc Singer as The Beastmaster. This year, I also considered Sam Trammell from True Blood and Katherine Ross from The Stepford Wives.

2. Canadians that walk among us. We have a few actors who worked on Canadian sci-fi, Justin Hartley on Smallville and Bobbie Phillips on Stargate and The X-Files, but neither of them was born north of the border. No, today's Canadians are Marc Singer and Robert Random, at least a generation older than our typical Canucks and with credit lists that do not give their nationality away.

3. The Gal at the Door. Once again, we have a birthday list with a big gap between the oldest living person on the list, the lovely Katherine Ross and the most recently born person who is dead, the screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. Since I feel guilty about bringing up this fact in a morbid way, I also give special best wishes to Miss Ross, one of the prettiest actresses on film in her heyday.


4. Hey... no Star Trek! I came up with this label because I thought it was going to be a rare event. It has been very common this January. Go figure.

5. MST3K. Robert Random was one of the giant teenagers in Village of the Giants, one of many movies I saw even before the Best Brains guys gave it the treatment.

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

Predictor: Adolf Hitler

Predictions:
"The United States will not be a threat to us for decades – not in 1945 but at the earliest 1970 or 1980."
Hitler to Soviet President Molotov, 12 November 1940

"The Russians are finished. They have nothing left to throw against us."
Hitler, July 1941, one month in to the offensive against the Soviet Union

Reality: Some give Hitler great credit as a military strategist based on the early victories in WW II, but these two statements are the most famous examples of his arrogant underestimation of the forces allied against him. Americans are taught in school that "we" won WW II. If you look at the numbers, the United States does deserve the lion's share of the credit for the victory over imperial Japan, but in Europe, the Eastern Front was a much bloodier and more expensive undertaking than Hitler taking and subsequently losing France and the Low Countries. There is no overestimating how important D-Day was, but if the Russians really had been finished in 1941, the Western allies would have been much more hard pressed to defeat a German army fighting only on a single front.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another prediction from H.G. Wells that Hitler would have agreed with.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!