28 June 2015

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

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

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

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

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

Movie released
Superman Returns released 2006

 

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

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

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

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

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

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

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

18 January 2015

Birthdays
Matt Kane b. 1991 (Once Upon a Time, The Dinosaur Project)
Zane Holtz b. 1987 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Vampires Suck, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)
Samantha Mumba b. 1983 (Boy Eats Girl, The Time Machine)
Antje Traue b. 1981 (Man of Steel, Pandorum)
Jason Segel b. 1980 (This is the End, Gulliver’s Travels)
Jay Chou b. 1979 (The Green Hornet)
Rebakah Jean Morgan b. 1979 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Derek Richardson b. 1976 (American Horror Story, Reeker)
Dave Bautista b. 1969 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Riddick, Smallville)
Jesse L. Martin b. 1969 (The Flash, A Christmas Carol: The Musical [2005], The X Files)
Mark Collie b. 1956 (The Punisher)
Kevin Costner b. 1955 ( Man of Steel, Waterworld, The Postman, Testament)
M.C. Gainey (Revolution, Haunted High, Lost, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The X-Files, The Haunting, M.A.N.T.I.S., Knight Rider, Starman, Wizards and Warriors, Time After Time)
Paul Freeman b. 1943 (Tales from the Crypt [TV], Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
David Stollery b. 1941 (Jack and the Beanstalk, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court)
Basil Hoffman b. 1938 (Eerie, Indiana, Beauty and the Beast [1987 TV], Small Wonder, Love at First Bite, Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
John Boorman b. 1933 (director, Excalibur, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Zardoz)
Robert Anton Wilson b. 1932 died 11 January 2007 (author, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Schrodinger’s Cat)
Orville Sherman b. 1916 died 1 October 1984 (Westworld, The Twilight Zone, The Brain Eaters, The Adventures of Superman)
Danny Kaye b. 1911 died 3 March 1987 (The Twilight Zone [1985], Peter Pan [1976 TV], Pinocchio [1976 TV], Wonder Man)
Cary Grant b. 1904 died 29 November 1986 (Topper)
Oliver Hardy b. 1892 died 7 August 1957 (Babes in Toyland [1934])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The geezer in me looks at the bottom three names on the list - Oliver Hardy, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye - and thinks "THOSE are movie stars." I could use Kevin Costner from Waterworld, but that feels cruel. Earlier Picture Slot folk were Jay Chou (the most recent Kato) and Antje Traue (the Kryptonian villainess from Man of Steel), and again I am going with an up-to-date choice, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy. While Bautista had genre roles before this year, this is the first one I consider iconic.

I am not the first to point this out, but making a Guardians of the Galaxy movie shows just how confident the people at Marvel Studios are. This was a book that almost no one read and they turn it into an enormous hit. The people who make movies from DC Comics are so timid, they are dithering as to whether they can make a Wonder Woman movie or not. To match the chutzpah of making Guardians, DC would have to make a movie about the Legion of Super-Heroes, Challengers from the Unknown or Doom Patrol. 
   
2. One unspottable Canadian. Zane Holtz is Canadian, but most of his credits are in movies instead of TV, so hard to spot.

3. The Guy at the Door. The folks born before John Boorman are dead, and he and everyone born after him are alive. I give him special best wishes on his 83rd birthday. He directed Excalibur and Zardoz, both movies I enjoyed but thought MST3K should have taken a shot at them. I don't see any movies on the list that got the Best Brains treatment today.

4. Hey... no Star Trek! This should be rare, but this is the fourth time in nine days our birthday list has nobody from any of the incarnations of Star Trek.

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

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in The Door Into Summer, published 1956

Prediction: Facing me through the window of the bar was a sign that kept changing. First it would read: WORK WHILE YOU SLEEP. Then it would say: AND DREAM YOUR TROUBLES AWAY. Then it would flash in letters twice as big:

MUTUAL ASSURANCE COMPANY


Reality: Here, Heinlein is predicting suspended animation as a way to make money by putting it in an interest paying account that you will be able to access when you awake in the future. No one has made suspended animation work yet, and given that the brain loses function when it gets too cold for too long, the odds it will ever work are not good.

Again, I want to thank Lockwood DeWitt for pointing me in the direction of the valuable book.
 

Never to be forgotten: Greg Plitt 1977-2015

Greg Plitt, a fitness model and actor, died after being hit by a Metrolink train in Burbank yesterday. Reports say it looked like he was filming some video when he was hit. He was in Terminator Salvation and his body was the model for the CGI of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Greg Plitt, who died far too young. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The NFL experts at ESPN have strong consensus that both the home teams will win today in the conference championships. Tomorrow, we will check in and see how they did.



Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

9 October 2013

Birthdays
Brandon Routh b. 1979 (Superman Returns)
Pete Docter b. 1968 (writer, Up, Monsters Inc., Wall-E)
Guillermo Del Toro b. 1964 (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, Pacific Rim)
Scott Bakula b. 1954 (Enterprise, Quantum Leap)
Tony Shaloub b. 1953 (Men in Black, Galaxy Quest)
Robert Wuhl b. 1951 (Batman)
Brian Blessed b. 1936 (Flash Gordon)

Nice to have a birthday list where everyone is still alive. All male today, so no chance for the Pretty Girl = Picture Slot rule to take effect. I went with Brian Blessed, the Loudest Man in Britain, who on his Twitter feed is interested in the protection of badgers and when particularly pleased with someone's efforts, gives out the shout "GORDON'S ALIVE?!?" I should also note the first time I noticed his work was in the cast of I, Claudius,  still one of my favorite TV shows ever.

Many happy returns of the day, lads!

Prediction: 1996: Convicted criminals are put in suspended animation and subjected to rehabilitation techniques

Predictor: Demolition Man, released 8 October 1993

Reality: Interesting that the movie would predict suspended animation so soon in the future from their perspective and that it would be used on criminals. On the original Star Trek series, Khan and the genetically enhanced supermen who had started wars in Asia were put in suspended animation and shot into space in 1996.

Further note: Demolition Man is now 20 years old. While I didn't enjoy The Expendables, I do respect Stallone for coming up with a way to create a Senior Tour for action movie heroes. Snipes' career has been on the downturn since his tax evasion troubles, but he will be in The Expendables 3. I wonder if they will actually expend someone this time around.

But the most notable thing about Demolition Man twenty years later is that from the cast, the only real A-list star is Sandra Bullock, who stars in another genre film that is currently the number one hit in the country, Gravity, in the kind of role that has to get an Oscar nomination. Demolition Man was released one year before Speed, the film that made Bullock the kind of movie star whose picture is on the poster. (She was third bill in Demolition Man.)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

H.G. Wells gets his weekly prediction from 1933's The Shape of Things to Come, and most of his predictions for the rest of the 20th Century are pretty darned grim.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

17 February 2013

 Birthdays
Bonnie Wright b. 1991
Joseph Gordon-Levitt b. 1981
Rene Russo b. 1954

The actress who played Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter films turns 22, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the kid on Third Rock From The Sun and now a movie star in his own right, turns 32, and the delicious Rene Russo is now 59.

Many happy returns to them all.

Prediction: 1996: The Eugenics Wars end. Instead of killing the genetically enhanced “supermen” dictators, they are put in suspended animation in the SS Botany Bay, and sent off into deep space. Among the sleeping exiles is Khan Noonien Singh.

Predictor: Space Seed, a first season episode from Star Trek, written by Gene L. Coon and Cary Wilber, aired 16 February 1967
Reality: Okay, where to begin? Predictions have so much to do with the time in which they are made and in the late sixties, everybody was caught up in the mood of optimism about space exploration and obviously going to the moon was just the beginning, but this one assumes a lot. Less that thirty years after the show is aired, mankind is supposed to have

1. Perfected suspended animation
2. Have enough spaceships lying around that one could be spared to be a deep space deep freeze
3. Have a world government in an advanced enough state that everyone could agree that shipping the tyrants into space was a good idea

How did this prediction do?  I'd have to give it the big goose egg.

Still.

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Had to get that our of my system. You never know when the next opportunity will present itself.

Looking ahead one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Switching out of the weekly routine for a set of predictions that are simply amazing from Amazing Stories in 1956, looking ahead to the year 2001.

A brief preview of what's in store. Sid Caesar, Salvador Dali, Herb Score, Robert A. Heinlein and... the future of pencils!

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!