29 November 2014

 Birthdays
Laura Marano b. 1995 (FlashForward, Heroes)
Briana Cuoco b. 1988 (Big Bang Theory, The Nightmare Room)
Lucas Black b. 1982 (Legion, The X Files, American Gothic)
Eddie Spears b. 1982 (Sleepy Hollow [TV])
Samantha Ivers b. 1982 (Enchanted)
Janina Gavankar b. 1980 (Code Academy, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Arrow, The Gates, Dollhouse, Stargate: Atlantis)
Timo Vuorensola b. 1979 (director, Iron Sky)
Beatrice Rosen b. 1977 (2012, The Dark Knight, Charmed, Smallville)
Anna Faris b. 1976 (Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, My Super Ex-Girlfriend)
David No b. 1972 (The Matrix Reloaded)
Naoko Mori b. 1971 (Torchwood, Doctor Who)
Gena Lee Nolin b. 1971 (Sheena)
Daniela Nane b. 1971 (Bloodrayne)
Larry Joe Campbell b. 1970 (R.I.P.D., Pacific Rim)
Yvonne Suhor b. 1965 (Enchanted, Star Trek: Voyager)
Ellen Cleghorne b. 1965 (Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe, The Chronicle, Little Nicky, Armageddon)
Don Cheadle b. 1964 (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man 2 & 3, Mission to Mars, Volcano, The Meteor Man)
Andrew McCarthy b. 1962 (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Kingdom Hospital, Mannequin, Amazing Stories)
Tom Sizemore b. 1961 (Night of the Living Dead: Origins 3D, Dreamcatcher, Strange Days, Red Planet)
Kim Delaney b. 1961 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, 10.5, 10.5 Apocalypse, Mission to Mars, Darkman II)
Hinton Battle b. 1956 (Buffy, Quantum Leap, Red Dwarf)
Jeff Fahey b. 1952 (Under the Dome, Lost, Planet Terror, Scorpius Gigantus, Absolute Zero, Manticore, Locusts: The 8th Plague, Johnny 2.0, The Lawnmower Man, Revolution, Darkman III)
Gary Shandling b. 1949 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 2, The X Files, What Planet Are You From?)
John Calvin b. 1947 (Dragonworld, Critters 3, Quantum Leap, V, Knight Rider, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Diane Ladd b. 1932 (Carnosaur, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Madeleine L'Engle b. 1918 died 6 September 2007 (author, A Wrinkle in Time)
C.S. Lewis b. 1898 died 22 November 1963 (author, Narnia, The Screwtape Letters)

It's a shortish list today and it's Canadian free. There are a lot of actors with only a role or two in genre and I would argue the dead authors are among the most iconic names here. I used Madeliene L'Engle last year, and this year it's Don Cheadle as War Machine from the Iron Man films. I haven't made up my mind about 2015, but I might go Whedonverse nerd and used Hinton Battle in his role from the musical Buffy episode. I also might make some convoluted argument that Janina Gavankar has an iconic role because... wow, purdy.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, with special birthday wishes to The Gal at the Door Diane Ladd, and to the dead authors, thanks for all the memories.

Predictor: Reformer and economist Henry George (1839-1997), predicting the 20th Century in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago.

Prediction: The condition which will exist in this country in 1993 must depend on a single decision. That determination is whether, while they yet have power, the masses of our people accept or reject the one great reform which is embodied in the single-tax proposition. (Note: by this, he means taxes for owning property and none on industry. He does not consider the income tax.)

If they accept it, and I now believe they will, then the Twentieth Century may see the development of a civilization that transcends the imagination of the Nineteenth Century. If they reject it, then there must befall us - but on a far grander scale and with a far quicker movement - what befell ancient Rome.


Reality: Okay, Hank... may I call you Hank? Well, screw you, you're dead, I'm calling you Hank.

First things first, Hank. Great beard. Not ostentatious, but definitely manly.

Then there's your dream that the property tax will solve everything. We have it, but it's by no means the single-tax of your grand vision. We didn't take your advice and the Twentieth Century did develop a civilization beyond the Nineteenth Century imagination, and we didn't go to hell in a handbasket at breakneck speed. You are getting a zero on this prediction.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Let's all be thankful at the end of the long weekend we haven't had one of the many nuclear holocausts that authors predicted for us. We'll be reviewing one tomorrow, as is our Sunday custom.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!


P.S. Sorry for the late posting today, it was a travel day.

13 September 2014

 Birthdays
Erin Way b. 1987 (Warehouse 13, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Grimm, Alphas, I <3 Vampires)
Sean Brosnan b. 1983 (U.F.O.)
Ben Savage b. 1980 (Aliens for Breakfast, Little Monsters)
Elizabeth Weinstein b. 1979 (Supernatural, Arrow, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Smallville, Goblin, Stargate SG-1)
Colin Trevorrow b. 1976 (Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed)
Jonathan Walker b. 1967 (Continuum, Supernatural, Fringe, The Thing [2011], V [2011], Smallville, Flash Gordon, Stargate SG-1, Land of the Dead, Tracker, The X Files, Cyberjack)
Laura Stepp b. 1966 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Spawn)
Isiah Whitlock Jr. b. 1954 (Europa Report, Enchanted, Gremlins 2: The New Batch)
Ann Dusenberry b. 1953 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Taryn Power b. 1953 (The Sea Serpent, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger)
Christine Estabrook b. 1952 (American Horror Story, Spider-Man 2, The X Files)
Raymond O’Connor b. 1952 (Buffy, Babylon 5, Breakfast of Champions, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Dr. Alien, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers)
Bruce Phillips b. 1951 (Legend of the Seeker, Power Rangers R.P.M., Lord of the Rings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Clyde Kusatsu b. 1948 (Dollhouse, Charmed, Babylon 5: Thirdspace, Godzilla [1998], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lois & Clark, ALF, The Powers of Matthew Star, Meteor, Dr. Strange)
Frank Marshall b, 1946 (producer, Jurassic World, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, The Sixth Sense, The Indian in the Cupboard, Amazing Stories, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Land Before Time, Arachnophobia, Hook, *batteries not included, Innerspace, Gremlins, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Poltergeist)
Richard Kiel b. 1939 died 10 September 2014 (Inspector Gadget, The Princess and the Dwarf, Superboy, Out of this World, Phoenix, Hysterical, Moonraker, The Humanoid, The Incredible Hulk, Land of the Lost, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, My Mother the Car, I Dream of Jeannie, The Human Duplicators, The Twilight Zone, Eegah, The Phantom Planet)
Don Bluth b. 1937 (Director, Titan A.E., The Land Before Time, The Secret of NIMH)
Joe E. Tata b. 1936 (Charmed, Wonder Woman, Batman, Batgirl, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, The Outer Limits)
Barbara Bain b. 1931 (The Visitor, Space: 1999, My Mother the Car)
Norman Alden b. 1924 died 27 July 2012 (K-PAX, They Live, Small Wonder, Back to the Future, The Greatest American Hero, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Planet of the Apes [TV], Batman, My Favorite Martian)
Scott Brady b. 1924 died 16 April 1985 (Gremlins, The Invisible Man [1975], The Mighty Gorga, Journey to the Center of Time, Destination Inner Space)
Maurice Jarre b. 1924 died 29 March 2009 (composer, Solar Crisis, Ghost, Solarbabies, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Dreamscape, Firefox, The Island at the Top of the World)
Roald Dahl b. 1916 died 23 November 1990 (author, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches)
Roy Engel b. 1913 died 29 December 1980 (Kingdom of the Spiders, The Invaders, My Favorite Martian, The Colossus of New York, Not of This Earth, Indestructible Man, It Came From Beneath the Sea, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Zombies of the Stratosphere, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man from Planet X)
Reta Shaw b. 1912 died 8 January 1982 (Escape to Witch Mountain, Bewitched, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, Mary Poppins)
Mae Questel b. 1908 died 4 January 1998 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Ruth McDevitt b. 1895 died 27 May 1976 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Birds)
Daniel Defoe b. 1660 died 24 April 1731 (Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World of the Moon)

Notes on the birthday list.

1. The Picture Slot. I used Barbara Bain last year and it's only been a few days since Richard Kiel died, so those two were out of the the running. It definitely felt like an Oh That Guy type of list, so I picked Clyde Kusatsu in a role from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

2. Speaking of Oh That Guys, both Joe E. Tata and Norman Alden played minions on the 1960s TV version of Batman, the guys who hang around in odd costumes behind the even odder costumed villains and get the stuffing beat out of them by the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder.

3. Oh That Gals. Both Reta Shaw and Ruth McDevitt are best known for playing little old ladies, McDevitt as the pet shop clerk in The Birds and Shaw played Aunt Hagatha on Bewitched.

4. My fickle respect for voice actors. I only rarely list the voice work for actors in the credits and ignore some people doing voice work altogether, but Mae Questel is a special case. She did the original voice for Betty Boop and voiced Olive Oyl for several decades, so she is clearly a Big Damn Deal and gets a mention.

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

Predictor: Daniel W, Voorhees (1827-1897), Indiana politician, predicting the world of 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago

Prediction: In my judgment the next 100 years will show but slight changes in the form of out government. Some minor changes, however, are altogether probable. I should think there would be a limit of the Presidential term to a single six year term with no re-election. I believe the American people have decided there shall be no federal control of elections within the states. Tariffs will still exist, but they will be greatly reduced to something near free trade. The system of taxation will see major changes, including taxes on income and property, taxing the prosperity, but not the necessities.

Reality: Points for Voorhees.

1. Facial hair and fashion. That beard is more severe than nearly any in Major League Baseball today, and that's saying something. He appears to be avoiding the uncomfortable collar here, though I've seen other pictures where he is a slave to fashion.

2. Predictions. Some hits and some misses. There were limits put on the presidential term, though not his exact recommendation. The Civil Rights Act certainly counted as federal control of elections, but our wise Supreme Court has gotten rid of that, now that racism is clearly a thing of the past. Tariffs are greatly reduced and there are both income and property taxes, but sales taxes hit both the prosperity and the necessities.

As for the big changes he missed, he didn't mention more states, but that's not such a big change from his lifetime when several states were added. Women getting the vote would likely be the biggest surprise for him.

(Note: one sentence in the reality section is meant to be sarcastic. Did you spot it? Yes, I knew you would.)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We are made wise to the plans of the dirty filthy commies by the Earl of Halsbury!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!