14 September 2015

Birthdays
Jessica Brown Findlay b. 1989 (Victor Frankenstein [2015], Winter’s Tale, Labyrinth [2012 TV])
Jesse James b. 1989 (Jumper, The Amityville Horror [2005], The Butterfly Effect, Angel, The X Files)
Andre de Vanny b. 1984 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Wicked Science, Hercules [2005 TV], Salem’s Lot)
Kristen Renton b. 1982 (Ghouls)
Mark Wells b. 1980 (Narnia, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow)
J.L. Reate b. 1979 (The Golden Child)
Brian Klugman b. 1975 (actor, Cloverfield, Good vs Evil, Wishmaster; writer, TRON: Legacy)
Christopher McCulloch [a.k.a. Jackson Publick] b. 1971 (Venture Brothers, The Tick)
Andrew Lincoln b. 1973 (The Walking Dead, Moonshot)
Kimberly Williams-Paisley b. 1971 (The Tenth Kingdom)
Pat Healy b. 1971 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Night Stalker [2006], Star Trek: Enterprise, Charmed, Angel)
Robert Ben Garant b. 1970 (Night at the Museum)
Niall Greig Fulton b. 1970 (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Cloud Atlas, Doctor Who)
Joon-ho Bong b. 1969 (director, Snowpiercer, The Host)
Tyler Perry b. 1969 (Star Trek)
Dan Cortese b. 1967 (Locusts: The 8th Plague, Demolition Man)
K.C. Martel b. 1967 (E.T., The Munsters’ Revenge, The Amityville Horror, Wonder Woman)
Michelle Stafford b. 1965 (Charmed, Vampires Anonymous)
Stephen Dunham b. 1964 died 14 September 2012 (Paranormal Activity 4, The Chronicle, The Mummy)
Radames Pera b. 1960 (Starman [TV], Project U.F.O., The Six Million Dollar Man, Shazam!)
Melissa Leo b. 1960 (Oblivion)
Callum Keith Rennie b. 1960 (Alphas, FlashForward, Battlestar Galactica, The X Files: I Want to Believe, Tin Man, Bionic Woman, The Invisible, Smallville, Supernatural, Blade: Trinity, Kingdom Hospital, The Butterfly Effect, Paycheck, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Mutant X, Dark Angel, Strange World, eXistenZ, Highlander [TV], Forever Knight, Timecop)
Haviland Morris b. 1959 (Aliens in the Family, Gremlins 2: The New Batch)
Mary Crosby b. 1959 (Deep Space Nine, Lois & Clark, Freddy’s Nightmares, The Ice Pirates, Automan)
Kirk Baltz b. 1959 (Birds of Prey, Level 9, Seven Days, NetForce)
Michael Bollner b. 1958 (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)
Robert Wisdom b. 1953 (12 Monkeys [TV], The Dark Knight Rises, Supernatural, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Mighty Joe Young, Invader)
Howard Deutch b. 1950 (director, The Strain, True Blood, American Horror Story, Warehouse 13)
Sam Neill b. 1947 (The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box, Daybreakers, Merlin’s Apprentice, Sci Fi Inside: ‘The Triangle’, Bicentennial Man, Merlin [1998 TV], Event Horizon, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, Jurassic Park, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Amerika, Omen III: The Final Conflict)
Rowena Morrill b. 1944 (graphic artist)
Nicol Williamson b. 1936 died 16 December 2011 (Spawn, The Exorcist III, Return to Oz, Venom, Excalibur)
Walter Koenig b. 1936 (Star Trek, InAlienable, Babylon 5, Moontrap, The Questor Tapes, The Starlost)
Harve Presnell b. 1933 died 30 June 2009 (Charmed, From the Earth to the Moon, Lois & Clark, Star Trek: Voyager)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with 21st Century works for the Picture Slot, Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead and Jackson Publick from The Venture Bros., with a picture of Hank Venture. But if I made this just about being iconic, Walter Koenig from Star Trek is hard to beat.

2. Spot the Canadians! K.C. Martel did a lot of work as a kid, not that much filmed in Canada. Callum Keith Rennie was born in the U.K., but moved to Canada when young. He has a very Canadian looking resume.

3. Nepotism FTW. Brian Klugman was the nephew of Jack Klugman, not sure how much that counts. Mary Crosby was Bing Crosby's kid from his second marriage. That certainly counts.

4. "and... he was an asshole." It's interesting to read biographies on imdb.com that cannot hide an actor's character flaws. With some folks like cowboy star Ken Maynard and singer Rudy Vallee, the assholishness is the main story. With Nicol Williamson, the writer wants to remind us first that he was really good and then, well yeah... he was an asshole.

5. Worse than The Guy at the Door. 1936 would be the cut-off point between the living and the dead on this list if it was not for Stephen Dunham, who died on his 48th birthday three years ago. Good looking guy, pretty wife... quite a shock.

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

Predictor: Power rankings for the 2015 National Football League season.

Prediction:

AFC East: New England
AFC North: Baltimore
AFC South: Indianapolis
AFC West: Denver
Wild cards: Pittsburgh, Miami*

NFC East: Dallas
NFC North: Green Bay
NFC South: New Orleans*
NFC West: Seattle
Wild cards: Detroit, Philadelphia*


Reality: Most power rankings online are really a lot like the rankings from the end of the last season. The only changes predicted in the playoff line up are the Dolphins replacing the Bengals in the AFC, New Orleans winning the sucky NFC South instead of Carolina and Philadelphia getting the wild card instead of the Cardinals.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Once again, a look at the inventions of the late 20th Century from Robert A. Heinlein in the mid 1950s.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 July 2015

Birthdays
Robert Naylor b. 1996 (Helix, Being Human, Immortals, Stephen King's Dead Zone, Race to Mars)
Gregory Smith b. 1983 (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, A Wrinkle in Time, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Small Soldiers, Meego, M.A.N.T.I.S., Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns, Leapin' Leprechauns, Highlander [TV])
Paula LaBaredas b. 1982 (Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader, Camel Spiders, Paul)
Eva Green b. 1980 (Penny Dreadful, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Dark Shadows, Camelot, Perfect Sense, Clone, The Golden Compass)
Kevin Hart b. 1979 (This is the End, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire)
Adam Busch b. 1978 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Point Pleasant, Buffy)
Symba b. 1970 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Deep Space Nine, Sliders, Star Trek: Voyager)
Brian Van Holt b. 1969 (Ascension, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Threshold)
Brian Posehn b. 1966 (The Big Bang Theory, Knights of Badassdom, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Undead or Alive: A Zombedy)
Mark Mitchinson b. 1966 (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Power Rangers, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Legend of the Seeker)
Casey Sander b. 1956 (The Big Bang Theory, Buffy, Quantum Leap, Predator II, Spaced Invaders, V)
Allyce Beasley b. 1954 (Gotham, Rumplestiltskin, The Tommyknockers, Superboy, ALF)
Jennifer Savidge b. 1952 (Evolution, FreakyLinks, Deep Space Nine, House of Frankenstein [TV], Lois & Clark)
Geoffrey Rush b. 1951 (Pirates of the Caribbean, House on Haunted Hill [1999], Mystery Men)
Geraldine James b. 1950 ( Robot Overlords, Alice in Wonderland [2010], Fairy Tales, Hex)
John Byrne b. 1950 (writer/artist, Marvel Comics, DC Comics)
Shelley Hack b. 1947 (Tales from the Crypt, Troll, SeaQuest 2032, Time After Time)
Gloria Gifford b. 1946 (Halloween II, The Incredible Hulk)
Sylvester Stallone b. 1946 (Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Judge Dredd, Demolition Man, Death Race 2000)
Fred Dryer b. 1946 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Relic Hunter)
Burt Ward b. 1945 (Star Quest, Homeboys in Outer Space, Beach Babes from Beyond, Cyber-C.H.I.C., Batman)
Ahna Capri b. 1944 died 19 August 2010 (Man from Atlantis, Piranha, The Ivaders)
Rosemary Forsyth b. 1943 (Ghosts of Mars, Star Trek: Voyager, The Incredible Hulk)
Ned Beatty b. 1937 (Gulliver's Travels [1996], Replikator, Purple People Eater, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Superman I and II, Exorcist II: The Heretic)
Janet Leigh b. 1927 died 3 October 2004 (Halloween H20, The Twilight Zone [1989], Starman, The Fog, Night of the Lepus, Hello Down There)
Merv Griffin b. 1925 died 12 August 2007 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], Slapstick (of Another Kind), The Man with Two Brains, The Girl with Something Extra, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
William Schallert b. 1922 (True Blood, Lois and Clark, Deep Space Nine, Matinee, Quantum Leap, Innerspace, The Twilight Zone [1986 and 1960], Gremlins, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Hangar 18, Legends of the Superheroes, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Land of the Giants, Bewitched, Star Trek, Men Into Space, The Monolith Monsters, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Commando Cody, Tobor the Great, Them!, Invasion U.S.A., The Man from Planet X, Mighty Joe Young)
Nancy Reagan b. 1921 (Donovan's Brain, The Next Voice You Hear)
Sebastian Cabot b. 1918 died 22 August 1977 (Miracle on 34th Street [1973 TV Movie], The Time Machine, The Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previously, the Picture Slot went to Oh That Guy extraordinary William Schallert, who turns 93 today and good on him. When it comes to movie stars, Geoffrey Rush and Sly Stallone are the biggest names here and for TV stars iconic in genre, Burt Ward as Robin is an excellent choice. But I was in a fabulous babe mood and selected Eva Green, the star of the current show Penny Dreadful.

2. Spot the Canadians! The younger Canadians are spottable, Robert Naylor and Gregory Smith, have Canadian looking credit lists. Rosemary Forsyth, the oldest Canadian celebrating a birthday today, is not spottable.

3. Yes, they're still alive. I'm not surprised about our two nonagenarians today. I saw William Schallert on True Blood  a few years back and I knew I hadn't seen his obit yet and I hope that is true for some time to come. I had my tabloid blog years ago and they always had Nancy Reagan on death's door, but she is still with us as well.

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

Predictor: The ESPN panel of baseball experts predict the playoff teams for major league baseball before the season starts.

Predictions (reality):
A.L East: Boston (5th in division)
A.L. Central: Cleveland (4th in division)
Detroit for wild card (3rd in division 6th in wild card race)
A.L. West: Seattle (4th in division)
Anaheim for wild card (currently top wild card team)

N.L East: Washington (1st)
Miami for wild card (4th in division, 9th in wild card race)
N.L. Central: St. Louis (1st)
Pittsburgh for wild card (currently top wild card team)
N.L. West: Los Angeles (1st)
  
Comments: Halfway through the season, the National League is much more predictable than the American. The only oversold team in the National are the wild card Marlins, who are well under .500 right now, while in the American, every prediction division winner is under .500 with lots of teams to climb over to get to the playoffs. We will of course check in again when the season is over and let the experts pick the playoffs, which they sucked at last year because two wild card teams played for the World Series, a hard outcome to predict. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

John Langdon-Davies is back, getting lots of stuff wrong.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

4 June 2015

Birthdays
Jeremy Becerra b. 1996 (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials)
Kathryn Prescott b. 1991 (Being Human)
Oona Chaplin b. 1986 (Game of Thrones)
Kerem Brusin b. 1987 (Sharktopus)
Amelia Warner b. 1982 (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, AEon Flux)
T.J. Miller b. 1981 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Gulliver’s Travels. Cloverfield)
Tim Rozon b. 1976 (Being Human, Lost Girl)
Angelina Jolie b. 1975 (Maleficent, Wanted, Beowulf, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Lara Croft, Cyborg 2)
Theo Rossi b. 1975 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cloverfield, Jericho, Lost)
James Callis b. 1971 (Narcopolis, Caper, Arrow, Eureka, Merlin, FlashForward, Battlestar Galactica, Merlin and the Book of Beasts, Jason and the Argonauts [TV], Arabian Nights [TV])
Noah Wyle b. 1971 (The Librarians, Falling Skies, Lab Rats, The Librarian, Donnie Darko, Guinevere)
Scott Wolf b. 1968 (V, Double Dragon)
Sean Pertwee b. 1964 (Gotham, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, U.F.O., Camelot, Mutant Chronicles, Equilibrium, Tale of the Mummy, Event Horizon)
Lindsay Frost b. 1962 (Lost, The Ring, SeaQuest 2032, Monolith)
Julie White b. 1961 (Transformers, The Astronaut Farmer, War of the Worlds)
Sue Hodge b. 1957 (Brazil)
Keith David b. 1956 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Touch, Cloud Atlas, Gamer, Superhero Movie, The Chronicles of Riddick, Pitch Black, Armageddon, Volcano, They Live, The Thing)
Parker Stevenson b. 1952 (Legend of the Seeker, Legion, Not of This Earth)
David Yip b. 1951 (Re-Evolution, Spirit Warriors, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Quatermass, Doctor Who)
Wendy Pini b. 1951 (artist, Elfquest)
David Collings b. 1940 (Doctor Who, Blakes 7, UFO, Scrooge)
Bruce Dern b. 1936 (The Hole, The Astronaut Farmer, World Gone Wild, Space, Silent Running, The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, The Immortal, Land of the Giants, The Outer Limits)
Geoffrey Palmer b. 1927 (Doctor Who [2007 and 1970], Peter Pan, Alice Through the Looking Glass)
Ken Clark b. 1927 died 1 June 2009 (Invasion, 12 to the Moon, Attack of the Giant Leeches, On the Threshold of Space)
Judith Malina b. 1926 died 10 April 2015 (The Addams Family [1991], The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man)
Dennis Weaver b. 1924 died 24 February 2006 (Twilight Zone)
Howard Culver b. 1918 died 4 August 1984 (Halloween II, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Swarm, Project U.F.O., Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Twilight Zone, Space Patrol)
Clara Blandick b. 1880 died 15 April 1962 (The Wizard of Oz)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Geezer that I am, the Picture Slot is often given to folks in roles from the 20th Century, but all three Picture Slotters for the 4th of June have roles in 21st Century productions: James Callis from Battlestar Galactica, Oona Chaplin from Game of Thrones and today's winner, Angelina Jolie from the Lara Croft films. As should be obvious, both the young ladies are also fabulous babes.

2. Spot the Canadian! If I told you there was but one Canadian on our list today and that person was born after 1970, would that be enough information? Let's find out.

3. Nepotism FTW. Oona Chaplin is the daughter of Geraldine Chaplin, the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin and the great granddaughter of Eugene O'Neill. Angelina Jolie is the daughter of Jon Voight. Sean Pertwee is the son of is the son of Jon Pertwee.

4. A belated Never to be Forgotten. The actress Judith Malina died this April and should have gotten a Never to be Forgotten shout out. Consider this my apology.

5. The Guy at the Door. Because Judith Malina is gone, the oldest living person on the list is British Oh That Guy Geoffrey Palmer and everyone younger than him is also still with us. This demographic oddity means special wishes for many happy returns to Mr. Palmer.

6.  MST3K. The one I know for sure is Attack of the Giant Leeches with the late Ken Clark.


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

Movies released
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban released, 2004
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan released, 1982

Were it not for these movie releases, we would have had no mention of either Star Trek or Harry Potter.

Predictor: The NBA experts at ESPN

Prediction: The median picks for the Conference Finals were the Warriors in 5 and the Cavaliers in 6. They got the Warriors exactly for 10 points, but picked the Cavaliers in 4, so they are only awarded 8 points. The score is now 103 of 140 possible points, which is 73.6%. In a math class, that would be worth a C, but in a guessing game that should be 50-50, this is actually a sign the experts know what they are doing, or more accurately, there weren't a lot of big upsets.

Reality: In the Finals, 65.2% of the experts like the Warriors and the median pick is the Warriors in 6.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Fridays mean a dip into Anticipations by H.G. Wells, a book that is not well known, which is a boon for Wells' posthumous reputation.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

25 May 2015

Birthdays
Markiss McFadden b. 1986 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon)
Esme Bianco b. 1982 (Game of Thrones, Chemical Wedding)
Brandy Kopp b. 1982 (Goblin, Smallville, Supernatural, Stargate: Atlantis, The 4400, The Butterfly Effect, Strange Frequency)
Kick Gurry b. 1978 (Jupiter Ascending, Edge of Tomorrow, Cybergeddon, Speed Racer)
Cillian Murphy b. 1976 (Transcendence, Batman, In Time, TRON: Legacy, Inception, 28 Days Later...)
Ethan Suplee b. 1976 (Rise of the Zombies, No Ordinary Family, The Butterfly Effect, Evolution, Tales from the Crypt)
Erinn Hayes b. 1976 (The Watch)
Eli Craig b. 1972 (director, Zombieland [TV], Tucker & Dale vs. Evil)
Olivia Spencer b. 1970 (Insurgent, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Halloween II, Dollhouse, Big Bang Theory, Wizards of Waverly Place, Spider-Man, The Chronicle, What Planet Are You From?, Being John Malkovich, The X-Files)
Neil Marshall b. 1970 (director, Game of Thrones, Constantine, Doomsday, The Descent)
Michael Benyaer b. 1970 (The Flash [2014], The Polterguys, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen, Bionic Woman [2007], Eureka, Smallville, Dark Angel, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
Jamie Kennedy b. 1970 (Bermuda Tentacles, Eureka, Reaper, Son of the Mask, Strange Frequency, Perversions of Science, V. R. Troopers)
Anne Heche b. 1969 (Toxic Skies, Volcano)
Matthew Borlenghi b. 1967 (A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, Cannibal Hookers)
Poppy Z. Brite b. 1967 (writer, The Crow, Lost Souls)
Andrew Fiscella b. 1966 (A Nightmare on Elm Street [2010], Quarantine)
Ray Stevenson b. 1964 (Insurgent, Divergent, Thor, The Book of Eli, Punisher: War Zone, G.I. Joe: Retaliation)
Connie Sellecca b. 1955 (Doomsday Rock, The Greatest American Hero, Beyond Westworld, Captain America II: Death Too Soon)
Bob Gale b. 1951 (writer, Back to the Future, Bordello of Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Joe Unger b. 1949 (Carnivale, Night of the Scarecrow, Twilight Zone [1987], UFOria, A Nightmare on Elm Street)
Barry Windsor-Smith b. 1949 (artist, Dr. Strange, Conan the Barbarian)
Karen Valentine b.1947 (Twilight Zone [1989], America 2100, It’s About Time)
Hersha Parady b. 1945 (Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star)
Frank Oz b. 1944 (actor, Star Wars, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Muppets from Space, Labyrinth; director, The Dark Crystal, Little Shop of Horrors, The Indian in the Cupboard, The Stepford Wives [2004])
Sir Ian McKellen b. 1939 (Beauty and the Beast, The Hobbit, X-Men, Lord of the Rings, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, Doctor Who, The Prisoner (reboot), The Golden Compass, Stardust, Neverwas, The Shadow, Last Action Hero, The Keep)
Dixie Carter b. 1939 died 10 April 2010 (The Greatest American Hero)
David Burke b. 1934 (Space Precinct, The Champions)Sarah Marshall b. 1933 died 18 January 2014 (Twilight Zone, Star Trek)
Roger Bowen b. 1932 died 16 February 1996 (Zapped!)
Ann Robinson b. 1929 (War of the Worlds [2005], War of the Worlds (TV), Rocky Jones: Space Ranger, The War of the Worlds [1953])
Claude Akins b. 1926 died 27 January 1994 (Eerie, Indiana, Monster in the Closet, Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo, Tentacles, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Twilight Zone, Adventures of Superman)
Syd Heylen b. 1922 died 4 December 1996 (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior)
Henry Calvin b. 1918 died 6 October 1975 (Babes in Toyland)
Miles Malleson b. 1888 died 15 March 1969 (First Men in the Moon, The Brides of Dracula, Horror of Dracula, A Christmas Carol [1951], The Man in the White Suit, The Thief of Bagdad)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Sir Ian McKellan and the fabulous Esme Bianco. Not wanting to repeat myself, my top choices were the artist Barry Windsor-Smith, the actor Cillian Murphy and the winner, Frank Oz, the great puppeteer who makes us believe Yoda isn't just a goofy rubber mask with a guy's hand stuck in it. Besides being Mr. Oz's birthday, you'll see a movie was released 32 years ago that also makes this a very fitting choice.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are two Canadians on the list today. The only clue I will give is that both are under 50 years old. Knock yourself out.

3. Wait... they were in genre? The actors whose names I clicked on today without knowing they had genre roles were Roger Bowen from the movie version of MASH, Dixie Carter from Designing Women and Karen Valentine from Room 222.

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

Movies released
MIB 3 released, 2012
Back to the Future: Part III released, 1990
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi released, 1983
Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope released, 1977
 

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Before the close of the century, baseballs will be dyed orange or yellow to increase visibility. Aluminum bats will be allowed in major league baseball.

Reality: It's hard to strike out on just two swings at two pitches, but these predictions did just that. Charlie O. Finley was big on changing the color of the ball, but he never got any other owners to agree. As for aluminum bats, the speed of a solid line drive hit off of one of these bats can be lethal to infielders, especially for first basemen, third basemen and pitchers. The aluminum bat is being phased out of college ball for just this reason.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another pessimistic guess from John Langdon-Davies in 1936.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

19 May 2015

 Birthdays
Elinor Tomlinson b. 1992 (Deadly Code, Jack the Giant Slayer, The Lost Future, Alice in Wonderland [2010], The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Lily Cole b. 1988 (The Zero Theorem, Snow White and the Huntsman, Doctor Who)
Catherine Haena Kim b. 1984 (Voodoo Possession)
Erika Jordan a.k.a. Yasmin Yeganeh b. 1982 (Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, Avalance Sharks, Piranhaconda )
Drew Fuller b. 1980 (Charmed, Vampire Clan)
Terence Yin b. 1975 (Zombie Fight Club, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life)
Claudia Karvan b. 1972 (Daybreakers, Aquamarine, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Farscape, The Lost World [TV], Strange Planet)
Amanda De Cadenet b. 1972 (The Hunger [TV])
Geraldine Somerville b. 1967 (Automata, Harry Potter)
Polly Walker b. 1966 (John Carter, Warehouse 13, Caprica, Clash of the Titans [2010])
Sean Whalen b. 1964 (Constantine, All Superheroes Must Die, Lost, Wizards of Waverly Place, Halloween II [2009], Star Trek: Enterprise, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Men in Black, Lois & Clark, Waterworld, Tammy and the T-Rex, Batman Returns)
Gregory Poirier b. 1961 (writer, National Treasure: Book of Secrets)
Dave Florek b. 1953 (Priest, Ghostbusters II)
Robert Harper b. 1951 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Creepshow)
Bruce Jarchow b. 1948 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Weird Science [TV], Meego, Outbreak, The Puppet Masters, Time Trax, Ghost, Scrooged, Big, Somewhere in Time)
Grace Jones b. 1946 (Wolf Girl, BeastMaster [TV], Cyber Bandits, Vamp, Conan the Destroyer)
Andre the Giant b. 1946 died 27 January 1993 (The Princess Bride, Conan the Destroyer, The Greatest American Hero, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Peter Mayhew b. 1944 (Star Wars, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Dark Towers)
Nora Ephron b. 1941 died 26 June 2012 (writer/director, Bewitched [2005])
James Fox b. 1939 (Utopia [2013], Merlin, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Doctor Who: Shada, Gulliver’s Travels [1996], The Road to 1984)
Pat Roach b. 1937 died 17 July 2004 (Starhunter, Kull the Conqueror, Space Precinct, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Willow, Red Sonja, Conan the Destroyer, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Clash of the Titans, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Unidentified Flying Oddball)
David Hartman b. 1935 (The Island at the Top of the World)
James Greene b. 1931 (Doctor Who, Merlin, Dracula [2006 TV], Dinotopia, From Hell, 1990)
Bruce Bilson b. 1928 (director, The Flash [1991], They Came from Outer Space, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Powers of Matthew Star, Quark, Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bewitched)
David McLean b. 1922 died 12 October 1995 (Deathsport, Kingdom of the Spiders, The Andromeda Strain, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Renee Asherson b. 1915 died 30 October 2014 (The Others, Theatre of Blood, The Day the Earth Caught Fire)
Bruce Bennett b. 1906 died 25 February 2007 (The Clones, The Alligator People, The Cosmic Man)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. This may have something to do with me being a geezer, but I consider three people born in the 1940s as the actors with iconic roles and I have already used two of them. They are Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, Andre the Giant as Fezzik and this year's Picture Slotter, Grace Jones as Zula. Stories from the set say she didn't really understand the idea of pulling punches and seriously messed up some of the stuntmen.

2. Not really nepotism. James Fox is the brother of Edward Fox. Dave Florek is the brother of Dann Florek. Neither of these situations is comparable to Sly Stallone/Frank Stallone or Ron Howard/Clint Howard.

3. Centenarians famous for something else. Herman Brix was a silver medalist in shot put at the 1928 Olympics. He became an actor under contract with Warner Bros. and changed his name to Bruce Bennett. He was in several of Humphrey Bogart's movies, including The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and played Tarzan in the serials before Johnny Weissmuller took over the role and became a star. He also lived to be 100. Good on ya, Mr. Bennett.

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


Movies released
Star Wars: Episode I – The One We Don’t Like Much released, 1999  
Shrek 2 released 2004
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith released, 2005

Predictors: The panel of basketball experts at ESPN

Predictions, results and new predictions:
Second round predictions (actual results in parentheses)
Hawks in 7 (Hawks in 6)
Cavaliers in 7 (Cavaliers in 6)
Warriors in 5 (Warriors in 6)
Clippers in 6 (Rockets in 7)

The points scored here, 27 of a possible 40, brings the overall grade to 85 of a possible 120 or 70.8%. If this were a math class, that would be just barely passing, but in predicting supposedly 50-50 events, 70% is actually pretty good. The predictions for the next two series are the Cavaliers in six and the Warriors in five.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to the weekly schedule and our sensible pal George Sutherland.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

18 May 2015

Birthdays
Spencer Breslin b. 1992 (The Happening, Zoom, Wonderfalls)
Luke Kleintank b. 1990 (The Man in the High Castle, No Ordinary Family)
Tabrett Bethell b. 1982 (Legend of the Seeker)
Emmy Robbin b. 1982 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Planet Terror, Sin City)
Eric West b. 1982 (World War Z)
Allen Leech b. 1981 (Primeval)
Matt Long b. 1980 (Helix, Ghost Rider)
Jenn Gotzon b. 1979 (Dragon Day, Hulk)
Saskia Mulder b. 1973 (The Descent)
Cynthia Preston b. 1968 (Ascension, Lost Girl, Carrie [2013], Haven, Andromeda, Relic Hunter, Total Recall 2070, The X-Files)
Nathaniel Parker b. 1962 (Merlin, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Stardust)
Karel Roden b. 1962 (Frankenstein’s Army, Hellboy, Blade II)
Thomas Byrd b. 1960 (Alien Nation [TV], Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Chow Yun-Fat b. 1955 (The Monkey King, Dragonball: Evolution, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End)
Patrick St. Esprit b. 1954 (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Revolution, Super 8, Journeyman, Tremors [TV], The X Files, Angel, Crusade, Beauty and the Beast [1989 TV], Knight Rider)
Gail Strickland b. 1947 (My Apocalypse, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star, Starflight: The Plane that Couldn’t Land, Dark Shadows)
Hugh Keays-Byrne b. 1947 (Mad Max: Fury Road, Farscape, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Badlands 2005, Mad Max)
Andreas Katsulas b. 1946 died 2 February 2006 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Babylon 5, Millennium, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Death of the Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation [TV], Communion, Max Headroom)
Miriam Margolyes b. 1941 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Merlin, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Phoenix and the Carpet, Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, Morons from Outer Space)
Diane McBain b. 1941 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Knight Rider, Land of the Giants, Batman)
Dwayne Hickman b. 1934 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Dr, Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, Mighty Joe Young, The Boy with Green Hair)
Robert Morse b. 1931 (Here Come the Munsters, Twilight Zone [1985])
Fred Saberhagen b. 1930 died 29 June 2007 (author, Berserker series, Earth’s End)
Pernell Roberts b. 1928 died 24 January 2010 (Man from Atlantis, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Liam Sullivan b. 1923 died 19 April 1998 (Misfits of Science, Logan’s Run [TV], Star Trek, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone, The Magic Sword)
Bill Macy b. 1922 (Millennium, Starman [TV], Tales from the Darkside)
James Donald b. 1917 died 3 August 1993 (Five Million Miles to Earth)
Frank Capra b. 1897 died 3 September 1991 (director, It’s a Wonderful Life)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Andreas Katsulas from Babylon 5, certainly iconic, and Tabrett Bethell from Legend of the Seeker, maybe not as iconic but certainly a fabulous babe. This year it's the late Liam Sullivan from the Plato's Stepchildren episode of the original Star Trek. I'm geezer enough to think any major guest starring role on TOS is iconic. It should also be noted Mr. Sullivan was in The Magic Sword, which got the MST3K treatment.

2. Canadian spotted! Cynthia Preston was born north of the border and she has several roles on genre TV shows produced in Canada.

3. Siblings spotted! Dwayne Hickman is the younger brother of Darryl Hickman. Saskia Mulder is the younger sister of top model Karen Mulder. Spencer Breslin is the older brother of Abigail Breslin. I don't count any of these relationship as actual nepotism, though the Mulder sisters might qualify, given how much more famous Karen is compared to Saskia.

4. Wait... he's alive? I clicked on Bill Macy's name this morning during research, not knowing if he had any genre credits and kinda sorta thinking he wasn't with us any more. Well, he has genre credits and he's still alive at 93. Good on ya, Mr. Macy!

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

Movies released
Shrek the Third released, 2007
Battleship released, 2012

 Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: The only major record in track and field that will likely never be broken is Bob Beamon's remarkable 1968 long jump of 29' 2.5", 8.90 meters using the metric system.

Reality: Beamon jumped nearly two feet farther than any human being had ever jumped before and just for extra drama, he did it at the Mexico City Olympics, by far the biggest world stage for track and field. That said, the record was in fact broken by Mike Powell in 1991with 29' 4.25" or 8.95 meters, in a track meet in Tokyo.

Never to be Forgotten: John Stevenson 1923-2015 Mark Evanier, possibly my favorite writer about show business, wrote a piece on his blog about the death of actor John Stevenson, who died on Friday night after a long battle with Alzheimer's. In the 1960s, he started doing voice work and that became his main source of income from that point on, but he did appear in front of the camera in The Invaders and The Six Million Dollar Man. Longtime readers will know that I often don't include voice work in the credits for people's birthday mentions, not because I think it's not important but because I would be typing for hours with some actor's credits. Of all Stevenson's many credits, the three I consider most culturally significant without regard to genre are Mr. Slate on The Flintstones, Dr. Benton Quest on Jonny Quest and the narrator on the 1960s version of Dragnet.

Best wishes to all the family and friends of John Stevenson, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A report on the predictions from the second round of the NBA playoffs and the predictions for the third round, the conference finals.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

4 May 2015

Birthdays
Alexander Gould b. 1994 (Supernatural, Dark Shadows [2005 TV movie], The Day the World Ended)
Ashley Rickards b. 1992 (A Haunted House 2, American Horror Story, Gamer)
Grace Phipps b. 1992 (Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Fright Night)
Freddie Fox b. 1989 (Victor Frankenstein)
Christian Howard b. 1984 (Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, U.F.O. [2012])
Jesse Moss b. 1983 (iZombie, Strange Empire, WolfCop, Extraterrestrial, Continuum, Seeds of Destruction, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Merlin and the Book of Beasts, The Uninvited, The Andromeda Strain, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Collector, Jeremiah, Mysterious Ways, Level 9, Stargate SG-1, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV show], Highlander [TV])
Emily Perkins b. 1977 (Extraterrestrial, Supernatural, Repeaters, Dead Like Me, Ginger Snaps 1, 2 & 3, The X-Files, The Odyssey [1993], It)
Oscar Jaenada b. 1975 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
John Rawls b. 1972 (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Legend of the Seeker, 30 Days of Night)
Will Arnett b. 1970 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Men in Black 3, Jonah Hex)
Ana Gasteyer b. 1967 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Geppetto)
Stevie Ray Dallimore b. 1967 (Ender’s Game)
Juliette Cummins b. 1964 (Max Headroom, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning)
Steve Barron b. 1956 (director, Arabian Nights, Merlin, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Coneheads, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Jeff Lester b. 1955 (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Pia Zadora b. 1954 (Mother Goose Rock ‘n’ Rhyme, Voyage of the Rock Aliens, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)
Anthony Hamilton b. 1952 died 29 March 1995 (Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, The Charmings, The Twilight Zone [1986], Deadly Nightmares)
Harry Winer b. 1947 (director, Invasion, Jake 2.0, Jeremiah, SpaceCamp, Tucker’s Witch, Mr. Merlin)
Richard Jenkins b. 1947 (The Cabin in the Woods, Let Me In, What Planet Are You From?, Wolf, The Witches of Eastwick)
Robin Cook b. 1940 (writer, Coma, Invasion, Virus)
Paul Gleason b. 1939 died 27 May 2006 (Abominable, Dark Skies, Lois & Clark, Wishman, Beauty and the Beast, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, The Invaders, Panic in Year Zero!)
Eric Sykes b. 1923 died 4 July 2012 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Others, Theatre of Blood)
Curt Conway b. 1915 died 19 April 1974 (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
James Ellison b. 1910 died 23 December 1993 (I Walked with a Zombie, The Undying Monster)
Howard Da Silva b. 1909 died 16 February 1986 (The Outer Limits)
Luther Adler b. 1903 died 8 December 1984 (Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Regular readers will know I often discuss how many iconic choices there are on the list, but today I admit there aren't that many here. In 2013, I went with a picture of The Avengers, released a year earlier and in 2014, I put a picture of Richard Jenkins from Cabin in the Woods, likely my favorite actor on the list and showing off my Whedonverse geekery, but I don't think the role is truly iconic. Today, I went with Curt Conway as Hitler from The Twilight Zone, something of a spoiler from that episode. If I hadn't used his picture, it was down to Pia Zadora in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, and nobody wants that.

2. Spot the Canadians! Will Arnett is Canadian, but he mainly works in Hollywood, so his credit list doesn't give away his nationality. On the other hand, the other two Canadians are easily spottable, so I will leave it as an exercise for the reader. One hint: both are younger than Arnett.

3. MST3K. The previously mentioned Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

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


Movie released
Marvel’s The Avengers released, 2012  

Weak ass pun of the day. May the fourth be with you.

Puns have an expiration date. This one has reached it.

 

Predictor: ESPN's pro basketball experts

Predictions:
Hawks in 5 (actually Hawks in 6, 9 points of 10)
Cavaliers in 5 (actually Cavs in 4, 9 points of 10)
Bulls in 5 (actually Bulls in 6, 9 points of 10)
Raptors in 5 (actually Wizards in 4, 0 points of 10)
Warriors in 5 (actually Warriors in 4, 9 points of 10)
Rockets in 7 (actually Rockets in 5, 8 points of 10)
Spurs in 7 (actually Clippers in 7, 5 points of 10)
Grizzlies in 6 (actually Grizzlies in 5, 9 points of 10)

Reality: The overall grade is 58 of 80 or 72.5%, which is a passing grade. If instead we look at what percentage of the experts picked the correct winners over all the series, the grade is 71.8%, which is also not terrible.

Further prediction: The experts have put up their picks the second round.

Consensus second round picks
Hawks in 7 over Grizzlies (Hawks favored in series by 60.3% of the experts)
Cavaliers in 7 over Bulls (Cavs favored in series by 59.9% of the experts)
Warriors in 5 over Grizzlies (Warriors favored in series by 81.5% of the experts)
Clippers in 6 over Rockets (Cavs favored in series by 50.6% of the experts)

The experts are hedging their bets quite a bit in these series. Even if they get all the series' winners right this round, the percentage of correct picks will have to go down under 70%. Personally, I think at least 18.5% of the experts are deeply confused, because the Grizzlies are hurt, the Warriors are not (knock wood) and even with both healthy, Golden State really does look like the best team in basketball by a wide margin. You might well take me for a hometown fan, but I'm old enough to remember the last championship 40 years and I know that in all that time, I never saw a Warrior team that looked like they were the best team in the Western Conference, let alone the best team in the NBA.

Here's my non-expert prediction: Barring major injury, sometime probably in June, young people will be able to say for the first time "the world champion Golden State Warriors".

Has a nice ring to it.

Never to be Forgotten: Grace Lee Whitney 1930-2015 While I admit the number of iconic actors on today's birthday list is not a lot, we sadly have two iconic actors in today's obituaries. Grace Lee Whitney, best known as Yeoman Janice Rand on the original Star Trek series, has died at the age of 85. Her other roles in genre TV of the 1960s include Batman, Bewitched and The Outer Limits.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Grace Lee Whitney, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Never to be Forgotten: Nigel Terry 1945-2015 Nigel Terry, the British actor whose role as Arthur in Excalibur is at the top of all his obituaries so far, has died at the age of 69. It's remarkable how well he played Arthur as a spotty and clueless youth at the beginning of the film, given that he was in his late thirties at the time. His first big break was in the 1968 film The Lion in Winter, where he plays Prince John as a spotty and clueless youth. As for other genre roles, he was on the TV shows Doctor Who and Highlander.

Excalibur had a great cast, including Terry, Nicol Williamson, Helen Mirren, Cherie Lunghi and Nicholas Clay at the top of the bill, and such now well known actors as Sir Patrick Stewart, Gabriel Byrne, Ciaran Hinds and Liam Neeson in smaller roles. Of that group, only Clay and Williamson are dead, and now Terry. It's getting sadly familiar when people who you remember from roles in the 1960s are dying, but to see the obit of someone whose fame was greatest in the 1980s is still a little jarring.

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

Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to our regular schedule of predictors and Tuesday means a visit from John Langdon-Davies.

Join us then...  IN THE FUTURE!

27 April 2015

Birthdays
Emily Rios b. 1989 (Grimm, Almost Human)
Jane Hancock b. 1988 (The Flash, Mythos, Fringe)
William Moseley b. 1987 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Laura Ortiz b. 1987 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Bite Me, Chillerama, The Hills Have Eyes)
Jenna Coleman b. 1986 (Doctor Who, Captain America: The First Avenger)
Jasmine Lowe b. 1986 (The Hunger Games, Vampiro)
Anna Skellern b. 1985 (Camelot, Siren, The Descent: Part 2)
Janet Lopez b. 1985 (Attack of the 30 Foot Chola, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Francis Capra b. 1983 (The Strain, Touch, Clear Skies 3, Heroes)
Ari Graynor b. 1983 (Fringe)
Brooke Long b. 1980 (Iron Man 2)
Sally Hawkins b. 1976 (Godzilla [2014])
Elle Downs b. 1973 (Hemlock Grove, Cybergeddon, Earth: Final Conflict, 2103: The Deadly Wake)
Andre Gower b. 1973 (10.0 Earthquake, The Monster Squad, The Wizard, Twilight Zone [1985], Knight Rider)
David Lascher b. 1972 (Sabrina, The Teenage Witch)
Mehmet Kurtulus b. 1972 (Equilibrium)
Elizabeth Marmur b. 1970 (Neverwhere, Forever Knight)
Matt Reeves b. 1966 (writer, Let Me In, Future Shock, director, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Anna Chancellor b. 1965 (Penny Dreadful, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, FairyTale: A True Story, Jupiter Moon)
Lisa Wilcox b. 1964 (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5, Something is Out There)
Russell T. Davies b. 1963 (showrunner, Wizards vs. Aliens, Doctor Who, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Min-sik Choi b. 1962 (Lucy)
Victoria Price b. 1962 (Edward Scissorhands)
James Le Gros b. 1962 (Phantasm II, *batteries not included, Solarbabies, Near Dark)
Eugenie Bondurant b. 1961 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Sorority House Vampires, Space Truckers, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Sheena Easton b. 1959 (TekWar, Highlander [TV])
Kevin McNally b. 1956 (Supernatural, Pirates of the Caribbean, Demons, Doctor Who)
John Shrapnel b. 1942 (Merlin, Alien Autopsy, The Tenth Kingdom, Invasion: Earth, Space: 1999)
Ned Wynn b. 1941 (The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber)
Judy Carne b. 1939 (I Dream of Jeannie)
Sandy Dennis b. 1937 died 2 March 1992 (976-EVIL)
Casey Kasem b. 1932 died 15 June 2014 (Scooby-Doo, Homeboys in Outer Space, Battle of the Planets, Ghostbusters, Doomsday Machine, The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, 2000 Years Later)
Robert Donner b. 1931 died 8 June 2006 (Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, Starman [TV], Mork & Mindy, The Incredible Hulk, Damnation Alley, Six Million Dollar Man)
Jack Klugman b. 1922 died 24 December 2012 (I Dream of Jeannie, Twilight Zone)
Colin Gordon b. 1911 died 4 October 1972 (UFO, The Prisoner, Doctor Who, Burn, Witch, Burn, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man, The Man in the White Suit)
Harry Stockwell b. 1902 died 19 July 1984 (The Werewolf of Washington)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot skewed young with Jenna Coleman from Doctor Who and William Moseley from Chronicles of Narnia. This year, I go unabashedly old school with Jack Klugman from one of his four appearances on the original Twilight Zone series. There are actors and writers whose work I like on the list, but when it comes to iconic, the choices are few.

2. Spot the Canadians. Jane Hancock and Elle Downs work in the Canadian genre industry, though they don't have quite enough credits to make it obvious.

3. Nepotism, but just a little win. Ned Wynn is Keenan Wynn's son. He did a few movies as a young man and decided being in front of the screen wasn't for him. Victoria Price is Vincent Price's daughter. Her only acting credit is in Edward Scissorhands.

4. Wait... they're dead? I did not realize Sandy Dennis died more than twenty years ago. I had Robert Donner listed last year, but I failed to note he was dead. He's probably best known for the recurring role of Exidor on Mork & Mindy.

5. Deserved a Never to be Forgotten. My Bad. When Casey Kasem died last year, I didn't bother looking up his credit list, but I should have. I probably wanted to avoid all the weirdness surrounding his final days. Of course, he was the voice of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, but he also had on screen performances and guest shots as himself in several genre productions.

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

6. The Gal at the Door. Judy Carne turns 76 this year. It's odd to think of someone like her whose career highlighted her youth and vivacious personality as being the oldest living person on the list, but that is the situation. As always when pointing out this morbid coincidence, the blog offers special birthday wishes to The Gal at the Door.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Dr. Marvin Clein and his graduate student John Keefe produce a computer simulation to predict the top speeds for fastballs thrown by athletes of several heights and weights

6'3", 210 lbs: 105 mph
6'4", 218 lbs: 107 mph
6'5", 227 lbs: 108.5 mph
6'6", 236 lbs: 110 mph
6'8", 255 lbs: 112 mph
6'10", 275 lbs: 115 mph
7'0", 295 lbs: 117 mph


Reality: This prediction scores at least one point because the fastest fastball recorded by radar in major league history is 106 mph by Cuban born Aroldis Chapman, who is 6'4" and 215 lbs. As for bigger guys throwing even faster, that hasn't happened yet. For example, Randy Johnson was 6'10" and could throw 102 mph, but he only weighed 225 lbs. Most of the very tall pitchers had similarly slim builds. A good athlete standing seven feet tall and nearly 300 lbs. is more likely to choose basketball as his sport.

There are two pitchers from earlier eras who allegedly threw faster than Chapman, but were not recorded with radar guns. Nolan Ryan was supposed to have thrown 108 mph and Bob Feller 107 mph. Ryan was list as 6'2" and Feller at 6'0".

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit from John Langdon-Davies and his 1936 book A Short History of the Future. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

19 April 2015

 Birthdays
Simu Liu b. 1989 (Omega, Beauty and the Beast [2015], Warehouse 13)
Jai Courtney b. 1986 (Divergent, I, Frankenstein)
Hayden Christensen b. 1981 (Star Wars, Jumper, Forever Knight, Harrison Bergeron)
James Franco b. 1978 (This is the End, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Green Hornet, Spider-Man, The X-Files)
Alexis Thorpe b. 1980 (Nightmare City 2035, The Man from Earth)
Jamison Haase b. 1974 (The Last Ship, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Awake)
Radim Kalvoda b. 1973 (The Brothers Grimm)
Jennifer Taylor b. 1972 (Zombie Night, 100,000 Zombie Heads, Charmed)
Ashley Judd b. 1968 (Insurgent, Divergent, Tooth Fairy, Bug, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Shane Daly b. 1966 (Kick-Ass 2, Alphas, Mutant X. Witchblade, Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire, Earth: Final Conflict)
Patricia Charbonneau b. 1959 (Strange World, SeaQuest 2032, RoboCop 2, Brain Dead)
Steve Antin b. 1958 (Misfits of Science)
Moira Sinise b. 1954 (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
Dennis Dun b. 1952 (Charmed, Prince of Darkness, Big Trouble in Little China, Beauty and the Beast)
Tim Curry b. 1946 (Alice [2009], The Secret of Moonacre, Wolf Girl, Addams Family Reunion, Doom Runners, Lexx, Congo, Earth 2, The Shadow, It, The Worst Witch, Legend, The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Elinor Donohue b. 1937 (The Invaders [1995 TV movie], Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Mork & Mindy, Star Trek)
Dudley Moore b. 1935 died 27 March 2002 (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1972])
Ox Baker b. 1934 died 20 October 2014 (Escape from New York)
Garfield Morgan b. 1931 died 5 December 2009 (28 Weeks Later, Out of This World)
Rhodes Reason b. 1930 died 26 December 2014 (Star Trek, King Kong Escapes, The Time Tunnel)
Dick Sargent b. 1930 died 8 July 1994 (Harry and the Hendersons, Teen Witch, The Clonus Horror, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Beast with a Million Eyes)
Hugh O’Brian b. 1925 (Doin’ Time on Planet Earth, Rocketship X-M)
Pearl Shear b. 1918 died 27 July 2009 (Doctor Mordrid, Max Headroom, The Invisible Man [1975], I Dream of Jeannie, The Addams Family)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In earlier years, the Picture Spot was given to Hayden Christensen and Tim Curry. Of the remaining list, I felt Dick Sargent as the second Darrin Stevens was most iconic.

2. The Canadians, pre-spotted for your convenience. There are three Canuck birthdays today, none all that obvious. Simu Liu was born in China but is described as a Canadian actor on imdb.com. Hayden Christensen was born north of the border, but his credit list doesn't make that obvious. Shane Daly is the Canadian most easily spotted, but even he is not very easy.

3. Nepotism more or less. Ashley Judd is the daughter of Naomi Judd and younger sister of Wynonna. I'm not sure how much clout that has in Hollywood.

4. Wait... he's still alive? Happy 90th birthday, Hugh O'Brian! His inclusion on this birthday list means we have a movie that got the MST3K treatment, Rocketship X-M. Yay!

5. Missed obits. There are two actors who died while this blog has been in existence. Ox Baker was a wrestler with only one genre credit and had I known he had died, I still might not give him a Never to be Forgotten post. Rhodes Reason, on the other hand, had three genre credits, including a major guest star role on Star Trek.

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

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

Predictor: The NBA experts at ESPN

Prediction: The consensus winners of the eight first round match-ups in the 2015 playoffs.

Warriors over Pelicans in 5
Rockets over Mavericks in 7
Spurs over Clippers in 7
Grizzlies over Trail Blazers in 6
Hawks over Nets in 5
Cavs over Celtics in 5
Bulls over Bucks in 5
Raptors over Wizards in 5


Reality: The way I'll score the predictions is as follows.

Correct team and correct number of games: 10 points
Correct team and one away from correct number of games: 9 points
Correct team and two away correct number of games: 8 points
Correct team and three away number of games: 7 points
Incorrect team in a predicted seven game series that goes seven games: 5 points

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is tomorrow Monday already? Another chance to check the OMNI Future Almanac.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

6 April 2015

Birthdays
Peyton List b. 1998 (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Spider-Man 2)
Spencer List b. 1998 (Fringe, Spider-Man 2)
Charlie McDermott b. 1990 (ImagiGARY, Hot Tub Time Machine, The Village)
Diora Baird b. 1983 (Hot Tub Time Machine, Stan Helsing, Star Trek [2009], The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)
Sofia Boutella b. 1982 (Monster: Dark Continent)
Cecily Fay b. 1978 (Warrioress, Starhyke, Intergalactic Combat, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Candace Cameron Bure b. 1976 (Monster Mash: The Movie)
Zach Braff b. 1975(Oz the Great and Powerful, Clone High)
Joel Marsh Garland b. 1975 (Birdman, Lady in the Water, Witchblade)
Jason Hervey b. 1972 (The Monster Squad, Back to the Future)
Alasdair Gillis b. 1971 (UFO Kidnapped)
Paul Rudd b. 1969 (Ant-Man, This is the End, Gen-X Cops 2: Metal Mayhem, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers)
Mark Strickson b. 1959 (A Christmas Carol [1984 TV], Doctor Who)
Michael Rooker b. 1955 (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead, Atlantis Down, Meteor, Jumper, Slither, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Stargate SG-1, Tremors [TV], Jeremiah, The 6th Day)
Judi Bowker b. 1954 (Worlds Beyond, Clash of the Titans, Count Dracula [1977 TV], Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1973])
Patrick Doyle b. 1953 (composer, Brave, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Thor, Eragon, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Nanny McPhee, Frankenstein [1994])
Marilu Henner b. 1952 (Vamps, Greg the Bunny)
Janet Agren b. 1949 (Hands of Steel, Aladdin [1986], Red Sonja, City of the Living Dead)
John Ratzenberger b. 1947 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, House II; The Second Story, Timestalkers, Wizards and Warriors, Outland, The Empire Strikes Back, Superman, Warlords of the Deep, Twilight’s Last Gleaming)
Susan Tolsky b. 1943 (Love at First Bite, Bewitched)
Barry Levinson b. 1942 (director, Sphere)
Roy Thinnes b. 1938 (Spectropia, The X-Files, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Invaders, Dark Shadows, War of the Worlds, Battlestar Galactica)
Billy Dee Williams b. 1937 (Star Wars, Epoch: Evolution, Code Name: Eternity, Alien Intruder, Batman)
Ivan Dixon b. 1931 died 16 March 2008 (Amerika, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Joi Lansing b. 1929 died 7 August 1972 (Bigfoot, Queen of Outer Space, Adventures of Superman, Son of Sinbad)
Gil Kane b. 1926 died 31 January 2000 (artist, DC and Marvel Comics)
Dick Peabody b. 1925 died 27 December 1999 (Knight Rider)
Phil Leeds b. 1916 died 16 August 1998 (Ghost, Alf, Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Rosemary’s Baby)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous Picture Slotters are Michael Rooker and Billy Dee Williams. Barring repetition, the three candidates this morning were Gil Kane, Judi Bowker as Andromeda from Clash of the Titans and the winner, Roy Thinnes from his lead role on the 1960s show The Invaders.

2. One lonely Canadian with one credit. Unless you are a relative of Alasdair Gillis, I'm not sure how you would know he is Canadian.

3. Not really nepotism. We have had twins on the birthday lists before, but young Peyton and Spencer List are they first twins of different genders, Peyton female and Spencer male.

4. The Guy at the Door. You know the drill. Everyone older than Billy Dee Williams is dead and everyone younger is alive. He turns 78 today, which seems a little young to be the Guy at the Door, but such is the luck of the draw.

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

Predictors: The ESPN panel of baseball experts

Prediction: The playoff teams for Major League Baseball this year

A.L East: Boston
A.L. Central: Cleveland, Detroit for wild card
A.L. West: Seattle, Anaheim for wild card

N.L East: Washington, Miami for wild card
N.L. Central: St. Louis, Pittsburgh for wild card
N.L. West: Los Angeles

Reality: The experts didn't bathe themselves in glory last year. Their A.L. picks are very different this year - only Boston is a repeat pick from last year, and the reality is they weren't in the playoffs last year - but their N.L. picks are almost exactly identical, the only change being Miami for wild card this year and the Braves in the wild card last year.

Hmm, who did they miss?

Well, the San Francisco Giants for one. Your World Champion San Francisco Giants. The Three Rings in Five Fucking Years San Fran-FUCKING-cisco FUCKING Giants!!!!

They also missed the Kansas City Royals and they are showing the Royals no love this year.

As a Giants fan, (did you already guess?), I don't like their chances to repeat with Pablo Sandoval gone (sniff.) and Hunter Pence hurt for a few months, but this team has certainly pulled some surprises over the past few years. I always root for the Giants, but this year I also have some underdog love for the A's and the Royals.

Never to be forgotten: Tom Towles 1950-2015
If it's a little morbid to have Billy Dee Williams as the Guy at the Door at the age of 78, it's downright gruesome to announce the death of character actor of Tom Towles, who just turned 65 last month. He had a long career playing scumbags and creeps, one of earliest notable roles as Otis, the roommate of the title character in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, starring birthday boy Michael Rooker. Among his roles in genre, we have Halloween [2007], House of 1000 Corpses, Firefly, Star Trek: Voyager, 3rd Rock from the Sun, VR.5, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (pictured here), Night of the Living Dead [1990] and The Pit and the Pendulum. I watched the episode of Firefly he was in last night in his honor. He's the loudmouth that picks a fight with Mal on Unification Day at the beginning of The Train Job.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another prediction from John Langdon-Davies in his 1936 book A Short History of the Future.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

19 January 2015

Birthdays
Logan Lerman b. 1992 (Percy Jackson, The Butterfly Effect)
Erin Sanders b. 1991 (Carnivale)
Damien Chazelle b. 1985 (The Last Exorcism Part II)
Bitsie Tulloch b. 1981 (Grimm)
Benjamin Ayres b. 1977 (Bitten, Lost Girl, Dead Before Dawn 3D, The Vampire Diaries, Fantastic 4; Rise of the Silver Surfer, Smallville, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Jeremiah)
Candice Hillebrand b. 1977 (Tekken)
Marsha Thomason b. 1976 (Lost, The Haunted Mansion, Black Knight)
Natassia Malthe b. 1974 (BloodRayne, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Fringe, Fallen, Skinwalkers, Bloodsuckers, Andromeda, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Halloween: Resurrection, Seven Days, Dark Angel, Lake Placid, First Wave, Millennium)
Rachel Luttrell b. 1971 (Stargate: Atlantis, Charmed, Maniac Mansion, Forever Knight)
Wendy Moniz b. 1969 (666 Park Avenue, The Others)
Matt Hill b. 1968 (Dead Like Me, Taken, Sleepwalkers, Bordello of Blood, The X Files)
Paul McCrane b. 1961 (From the Earth to the Moon, The X Files, Superboy, The Blob [1988], RoboCop)
William Ragsdale b. 1961 (Left Behind, Touch, Frankenstein: The College Years, Mannequin: On the Move, Fright Night 1 & 2 [1985 and 1988])
Allen Steele b. 1958 (author, Orbital Decay, The Death of Captain Future)
Roger Ashton-Griffiths b. 1957 (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Mutant Chronicles, Torchwood, The Brothers Grimm, Merlin [1998], Tales from the Crypt, Haunted Honeymoon, Brazil)
Tracy Stratford b. 1955 (Twilight Zone, The Evil of Frankenstein)
Katey Sagal b. 1954 (Futurama, Lost, Jack and the Beanstalk [2010], Smart House, Tales from the Crypt)
Linda Hayden b. 1953 (The Boys from Brazil, Queen Kong, Old Drac, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Desi Arnaz Jr, b 1953 (Automan)
Nadiuska b. 1952 (Conan the Barbarian)
Shelley Fabares b. 1944 (The Canterville Ghost [1985], Mork & Mindy, The Incredible Hulk, Twilight Zone, Captain Midnight)
Michael Crawford b. 1942 (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1972])
Larry Clark b. 1943 (director, Teenage Caveman [2002])
Reiner Schone b. 1942 (Ice Planet, Sliders, Babylon 5, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Handmaid’s Tale, Amerika)
Tony Anholt b. 1941 died 26 July 2002 (Lexx, Relic Hunter, Space: 1999)
Bryan Pringle b. 1935 died 15 May 2002 (Haunted Honeymoon, Brazil, Jabberwocky)
John Richardson b. 1934 (Battle of the Stars, War of the Planets, Frankenstein ’80, One Million Years B.C., She)
Richard Lester b. 1932 (director, Superman II and III, The Mouse on the Moon)
Patsy Rowlands b. 1931 died 22 January 2005 (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
Tippi Hedren b. 1930 (The 4400, The Nightmare Room, Tales from the Darkside, The Bionic Woman, The Birds)
Lisa Lu b. 1927 (2012, The Tick, Demon Seed)
Fritz Weaver b. 1926 (The X Files, Deep Space Nine, Tales from the Darkside, The Twilight Zone [1985 & 1961], Creepshow, The Martian Chronicles, Wonder Woman, Demon Seed, The Invaders, ‘Way Out)
Nicholas Colasanto b. 1924 died 12 February 1985 (My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Jean Stapleton b. 1923 died 31 May 2013 (The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Beakman’s World, Faerie Tale Theatre, Damn Yankees)
Guy Madison b. 1922 died 6 February 1996 (Superargo and the Faceless Giants, The Beast of Hollow Mountain, On the Threshold of Space)
Ken Hughes b. 1922 died 28 April 2001 (screenwriter, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Edgar Allan Poe b. 1809 died 7 October 1849 (author, The Masque of the Red Death, The Fall of the House of Usher)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previously, before I had done as much research, I had Edgar Allen Poe in the Picture Slot. In his book The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of, Thomas M. Disch argues that Poe is the true father of sci-fi, not Verne or Wells. Whether we accept that or not, he is certainly iconic. This year, not wanting to repeat myself, my choices were Leela from Futurama, Fritz Weaver from The Obsolete Man episode of Twilight Zone or Tippi Hedren from The Birds.

Did the fabulous babe win? Why, gosh, I guess she did. To be fair, Leela is fabulous as well, if you like animated and one eyed.

If I weren't such a geezer, I might include Logan Lerman in the choices, since he plays Percy Jackson in those series of movies. While I am not the target for the YA novels or the movies made from them, I have read some of the books and seen some of the movies. As a consumer of pop culture, I would say young Mr. Lerman has not reached the level of fame experienced by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart or Robert Pattinson.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are four, though some were born elsewhere and emigrated. All were born after 1960.

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

Predictors: The ESPN panel of pro football experts

Predictions: 
Seahawks over Packers by a 13-1 consensus
Patriots over Colts by a 13-1 consensus

Reality: Back when I used to gamble, I had a friend, who when paying off after he deemed that I was ridiculously lucky would say "Tell them where you got it, but don't tell them how." The favored Seahawks did win yesterday, though they did it with five turnovers, a desperate trick play that worked and some very lucky bounces. That said, they won and all the people who said they would get the points.

This gives the experts a combined record of 92 correct and 48 incorrect, which rounds to 65.7% right. If this were a true-false test, that grade would probably count as a D by most standards, but if we assume even odds on all the games before they start, this result would be just a hair away from the 99.99th percentile when graded on the normal curve, and even if the Seahawks had lost, the experts would be in the 95th percentile. Of course, what this really says is that most of the favorites won and there were only a few games considered to be difficult to predict. In the baseball playoffs this year, two wild card teams played for the championship and the experts stunk the place out.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

 The Birthday List has a Star Trek regular and a guy who walked on the moon and neither of them will be in the Picture Slot. Take turns, guys, fair is fair.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 January 2015

 Birthdays

Beau Mirchoff b. 1989 (The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, I Am Number Four, The Grudge 3)
Julian Morris b. 1983 (Once Upon a Time, Cry_Wolf, Something Wicked)
Ruth Wilson b. 1982 (The Prisoner [2009] )
Liam Hemsworth b. 1990 (The Hunger Games, Knowing)
Jill Wagner b. 1979 (Teen Wolf [2014 TV], Splinter, Stargate: Atlantis, Blade: The Series )
Orlando Bloom b. 1977 (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean)
Michael Pena b. 1976 (Ant-Man, The Martian, Battle Los Angeles, Roswell)
Nicole Eggert b. 1972 (Devil Winds, Amanda and the Alien, Annihilator, The Clan of the Cave Bear, I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later)
John Asher b. 1971 (Space Cowboys, Weird Science [TV], Double Dragon, The Haunted)
Traci Bingham b. 1968 (Black Scorpion, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight)
Patrick Dempsey b. 1966 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Enchanted, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997], Outbreak, The Stuff)
Bill Bailey b. 1965 (Doctor Who, Nanny McPhee Returns, Spaced)
Penelope Ann Miller b. 1964 (Robosapien: Rebooted, The Relic, The Shadow, Tales from the Darkside)
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss b. 1961 (Troll)
Dwight H. Little b. 1956 (director, Sleepy Hollow, From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Tekken, Dollhouse, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, The X Files, Strange World, Millennium, Freddy’s Nightmares, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers)
John McNaughton b. 1950 (director, The Borrower)
Malcolm Story b. 1948 (New Worlds, Jekyll, Star Trap. The Princess Bride)
Richard Moll b. 1943 (Jurassic: Stoned Age, Ghost Shark, Smallville, Evolution, Spiders II: Breeding Ground, Big Monster on Campus, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Weird Science [TV], Galaxis, Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Beanstalk, Highlander [TV], The Munsters Today, Monsters, Wicked Stepmother, Survivor, Ragewar, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Through the Magic Pyramid, Mork & Mindy, Evilspeak, House [1986], Caveman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Carol Cleveland b. 1942 (Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Old Drac, Moon Zero Two)
William B. Davis b. 1938 (Continuum, Singularity Principle, Behemoth, Something Evil Comes, Caprica, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1, The X-Files, Kingdom Hospital, Snakehead Terror, Smallville, Andromeda, Mythquest, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Sliders, Omen IV: The Awakening, It [TV Mini-series], Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Dead Zone)
Billy Gray b. 1938 (The Vampyre Wars, Werewolves on Wheels, Adventures of Superman, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Rip Taylor b. 1935 (Virtual Combat, The Charmings, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Ron Goulart b. 1933 (writer, Flash Gordon, TekWar, Vampirella)
Jon Cypher b. 1932 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The Invaders [1995], RoboCop [TV], Spontaneous Combustion, Probe, Masters of the Universe, Knight Rider, The Greatest American Hero, The Food of the Gods)
Charles Nelson Reilly b. 1931 died 25 May 2007 (Millennium, The X Files, Amazing Stories, Lidsville, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir)
Ian Hendry b. 1931 died 24 December 1984 (Damien: Omen II, Supernatural [1977 TV], Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Theatre of Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, Children of the Damned, Alice Through the Looking Box, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Frances Sternhagen b. 1930 (The Mist, Tales from the Crypt, Communion, Prototype, Outland)
Gregory Walcott b. 1928 (House II: Second Story, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Lost, Gemini Man, The Invisible Man [1975 TV], Plan 9 from Outer Space)
David Sheiner b. 1928 (Automan, Manimal, The Amazing Spider-Man [1978 TV], The Six Million Dollar Man, Planet of the Apes [TV], The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet)
Rosemary Murphy b. 1925 died 5 July 2014 (The Visitor, [1998 TV], The Hand, ‘Way Out)
Gwen Verdon b. 1925 died 18 October 2000 (Cocoon, Damn Yankees!)
Robert Stack b. 1919 died 14 May 2003 (Butt-Ugly Martians, )
Osa Massen b. 1916 died 2 January 2006 (Rocketship X-M, Cry of the Werewolf)
Jeff Morrow b. 1907 died 26 December 1993 (Twilight Zone [1986 and 1960], Octaman, The Giant Claw, Kronos, The Creature Walks Among Us, This Island Earth)
Clark Ashton Smith b. 1893 died 14 August 1961 (author, Hyperborea, The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Today we have a lot of choices. In 2013, when I hadn't done as much research, I went with Liam Hemsworth, who is not as well known as his brother Chris, but still has an important role in The Hunger Games. Last year it was William B. Davis in his most famous role as The Smoking Man. This year I went with Orlando Bloom, and honest to Odin movie star in his iconic role Legolas. If I wanted to go old school, Jeff Morrow was in a lot of 1950s monster movies.

2. Canadian spotted! Sometimes an actor will gain fame in a genre role and get a lot of work on the Canadian sci-fi shows regardless of nationality. As I stated earlier, William B. Davis got famous on The X-Files and then gets a lot more work in Canada. The thing is, he's actually Canadian as well as iconic. Good on ya, Mr. Davis.

3. Fun Facts to know and tell. In The Celluloid Closet, a film about gays on film, they talk about The Sissy Man role, a guy who is never said to be gay directly, but acts in a flamboyant manner. This was popular in the era before homosexuality could even be mentioned on film. We have two great Sissy Men born today, Rip Taylor and the late Charles Nelson Reilly.

On a different note, the arc of some actors' careers is from big budget films and then slipping into smaller budget films or TV, while others start in small budget stuff then catch a big break. On the other hand, we have Gregory Walcott, whose credit list is pretty much in reasonably budgeted TV and films, but also showed up inexplicably in Plan 9 From Outer Space. Go figure. 

4. Hey... no Star Trek! Usually, this happens a few times a month. In October, there were four. We are less than halfway through January and we already have three.

5. MST3K. There may be others, but I know This Island Earth was the movie used in the feature film episode and Rocketship X-M was also an episode, which contain one of my favorite lines "Well, thank you, Mr. White Male Reality!" This was long before mansplaining became a thing. Zombie Rotten McDonald has added Moon Zero Two as well.

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

Predictors: The ESPN group of fourteen pro football experts

Predictions (Reality):

Seattle over Carolina: (14 right, 0 wrong)
New England over Baltimore: (11 right, 3 wrong)
Indianapolis over Denver: (1 right, 13 wrong)
Green Bay over Dallas: (7 right, 7 wrong)

Tally: 33 right, 23 wrong
This week, the experts got the same overall percentage as last week 58.9% right. More than that, they got there in pretty much the same way. There were three games where the consensus was very strong and one of those games was an upset. In the fourth game, there was nearly no consensus, so it made little difference to the overall score which team came out on top, The overall totals of 66-46 puts this group in the 97th percentile of guessers if we assume the odds are even that either team could win, which is not a perfect assumption but good enough for our needs. This compares very well with the baseball experts' guesses for the playoffs, but they stunk the place out because the World Series had two wild card teams, the Giants and the Royals.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1911 to see the predictions for 2011.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!