26 August 2015

Birthdays
Dylan O’Brien b. 1991 (The Maze Runner, Teen Wolf)
Evan Ross b. 1988 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay)
Jennifer Higham b. 1984 (Metamorphosis, Ella Enchanted)
Nanzeen Contractor b. 1982 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Pegasus vs. Chimera, Relic Hunter, Starhunter)
Christina Cindrich b. 1981 (Immortally Yours, Spider-Man 3, 2095)
Chris Pine b. 1980 (Wonder Woman, Z for Zachariah, Into the Woods, Star Trek, Carriers)
Macaulay Culkin b. 1980 (Jacob’s Ladder)
Amanda Schull b. 1978 (12 Monkeys [2014 TV], Grimm)
Mike Colter b. 1976 (Luke Cage, Halo: Nightfall, American Horror Story, Men in Black 3)
Meredith Eaton b. 1974 (Paranormal Activity)
Melissa McCarthy b. 1970 (Ghostbusters)
Jorge Sanz b. 1969 (The Witch Affair, Conan the Barbarian)
Oleg Taktarov b. 1967 (Predators, National Treasure, Rollerball [2002])
Taras Kostyuk b. 1966 (Alien Journey, Arrow, Supernatural, Alien Agenda: Project Grey, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, The Dead Zone, A Wrinkle in Time, Jeremiah, Dark Angel)
Shirley Manson b. 1966 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Ola Ray b. 1960 (Automan)
Brett Cullen b. 1956 (Under the Dome, The Dark Knight Rises, Lost, Pixel Perfect, From the Earth to the Moon, The Omen [1995 TV], Apollo 13, Deep Space Nine, Prehysteria!, V [1985], The Incredible Hulk)
Michael Jeter b. 1952 died 30 March 2003 (Taken, Jurassic Park III, The Green Mile, Waterworld, Zelig)
Jane Merrow b. 1941 (The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, UFO, The Prisoner)
Yvette Vickers b. 1928 died 2010 (Attack of the Giant Leeches, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman)
Ronny Graham b. 1919 died 4 July 1999 (Frogs!, Spaceballs, The Ghost Busters [1975])
Eugene Dow b. 1916 died 11 October 2004 (Night of the Demon)
Jim Davis b. 1909 died 26 April 1981 (The Day Time Ended, Project U.F.O., Satan’s Triangle, The Sixth Sense [1972], Dracula vs. Frankenstein [1971], The Time Tunnel, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, Monster from Green Hell)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Yvette Vickers from the 1950s B-movie and Chris Pine from the new Star Trek. To be honest, there aren't that many iconic roles among the rest of the actors, so I instead decided to go with plugging a future project, Melissa McCarthy in the female version of Ghostbusters. The other choice was Mike Colter, who will be playing Luke Cage in several upcoming projects from Marvel.

2. Spot the Canadian! (Sort of.) Taras Kostyuk was born in the Soviet Union. I'm assuming he emigrated to Canada by his credit list, but I don't have proof online.

3. Nepotism FTW. Both of Chris Pine's parents are actors, Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford. While the nepotism isn't as glaring as Rumer Willis, for example, I'm sure it helped him get the idea in his head that people made a living pretending to be other folks. 

4. Wait... he's dead? I wrote it last year on his birthday and it hasn't quite sunk in. I still haven't filed comic actor Michael Jeter in the dead category.


5. MST3K. The one I know for sure is The Attack of the Giant Leeches.

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

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1902 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: Anything which tends to discount the value of personal bravery and to elevate the tactics of the ambuscade and the sharp-shooting expedition gives, _pro tanto_, an advantage to the meaner-spirited races of mankind, and places them more or less in a position of mastery over those who hold higher racial traditions. The man who will face the risk of being shot in the open generally belongs to a higher type of humanity than he who only shoots from behind cover. Moreover, the nations which have the skill and ingenuity to manufacture new weapons of self-defence belong to a higher class than those which only acquire advanced warlike munitions by purchase. One of the early international movements of the twentieth century will be directed towards the prohibition of the sale of such weapons as magazine-rifles, quick-firing field guns, and torpedoes to any savage or barbarous race.

Reality: Oh dear, and just when I was getting to like Mr. Sutherland so much.

I realize "privilege" is an early 21st Century concept and it's a little historically unfair to apply it to people from the early 20th Century, but the British - especially the English - completely bought into the idea that they looted half the planet fair and square and any dirty natives who fought back were simply bad sports. I single out the English because sometimes the dirty natives were the Scots and the Irish. When he's not talking about war, I really do like Sutherland, but I decided to print this one to give him the "warts and all" treatment. He's not as bad as H.G. Wells, but as they would say on Fox News, he was no angel.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More excessively optimistic thoughts from Utopia 1976.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

21 August 2015

Birthdays
Maxim Knight b. 1999 (Falling Skies)
Hayden Panettiere b. 1989 (Heroes, Aliens in the Family)
Robert Knox b. 1989 died 24 May 2008 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Elarica Gallacher b. 1989 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Kiami Davael b. 1986 (Conan [1998])
Laura Haddock b. 1985 (SuperBob, Guardians of the Galaxy, Rage of the Yeti, Captain America: The First Avenger)
Alicia Witt b. 1975 (The Librarians, Curse of the Ring, Vanilla Sky, Dune)
Nathan Jones b. 1969 (Mad Max: Fury Road, Conan the Barbarian [2011], Doom Runners)
Carrie-Anne Moss b. 1967 (Jessica Jones, Frankenstein [2015], The Matrix, Red Planet, Matrix [1993], Forever Knight, Deadly Nightmares)
Kim Catrall b. 1956 (Creature, Modern Vampires, Invasion, Split Second, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Big Trouble in Little China, City Limits, Mannequin, Tucker’s Witch, The Incredible Hulk, Logan’s Run [TV])
Loretta Devine b. 1949 (Supernatural, Anna to the Infinite Power)
Walter Williamson b. 1946 (The Omega Code, Babylon 5)
Basil Poledouris b. 1945 died 8 November 2006 (composer, Starship Troopers, RoboCop 3, RoboCop, Cherry 2000, Amerika, Twilight Zone [1985], Conan the Barbarian, Tintorera: Killer Shark)
Peter Weir b. 1944 (director, The Truman Show, The Cars That Eat People)
Clarence Williams III b. 1939 (Millennium, Deep Space Nine, Tales from the Crypt)
Wilt Chamberlain b. 1936 died 12 October 1999 (Conan the Destroyer)
Tony Steedman b. 1927 died 4 February 2001 (Babylon 5, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Beauty and the Beast, The Charmings)
Jack Weston b. 1924 died 3 May 1996 (Short Circuit 2, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Twilight Zone, Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers)
Anthony Boucher b. 1911 died 29 April 1968 (editor, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Not all that long a list today, but certainly not short on the iconic. Previous Picture Slotters were Carrie-Anne Moss for The Matrix and Kim Catrall from Star Trek, and continuing with the fabulous babe theme, today it's Hayden Panettiere from Heroes.

2. One hard to spot Canadian and an explanation. Carrie-Anne Moss is Canadian. You will see she is in The Matrix and Matrix. The one without the definite article is a 1993 TV show about a hitman that comes back from the dead.

3. MST3K. Usually I look through the credits of the older actors when trying to find movies that got the Best Brains treatment, but of course today the actress that appeared in a movie on that show is Kim Catrall.

Are you singing along with Crow T. Robot in your head right now? Because I am.

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

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

Prediction: Every man will be soberly and intelligently setting about the particular thing he has to do [in time of war], even the rich shareholding sort of person, the hereditary mortgager of society, will be given something to do, and if he has learnt nothing else he will serve to tie up parcels of ammunition or pack army sausage. Very probably the best of such people and of the speculative class will have qualified as cyclist marksmen for the front, some of them may even have devoted the leisure of peace to military studies and may be prepared with novel weapons.

Reality: If we have learned anything from reading these gleanings from Anticipations, we have learned that Wells hates a lot of types of people. Here, he is hating on the idle rich and because I share his distaste, I don't mind so much. Still, turning these people into "cyclist marksmen" seems overly cruel, since it seems like a class of soldier who would get slaughtered rather easily on the 20th Century battlefield.
 

Never to be Forgotten: Ellen Albertini Dow 1914-2015 Ellen Albertini Dow died at the age of 101. I am embarrassed to say she died in May and I just noticed, but better late than never. She taught acting and dancing for decades before she went in front of a camera for the first time in the 1980s. Best known as the rapping granny in The Wedding Singer, she is remembered here for The Invited, Good vs Evil, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Carnival of Souls, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Space Case, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Freddy’s Nightmares, Beauty and the Beast [1987 TV], Munchies and Twilight Zone [1986].

Best wishes to the family and friends of Ellen Albertini Dow, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.   

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Saturday is the Weekly Soapbox and this week I have a few cheery thoughts about nuclear war.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 June 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Movie released
This is the End released, 2013

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his book Anticipations

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

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

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

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

17 August 2014

Birthdays
Taissa Farmiga b. 1994 (American Horror Story)
Austin Butler b. 1991 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Aliens in the Attic)
Rachel Hurd-Wood b. 1990 (Solomon Kane, Dorian Gray, Peter Pan)
Brady Corbett b. 1988 (Melancholia, Thunderbirds)
Donnie Wahlberg b. 1969 (Saw II, III & IV, The Sixth Sense)
Helen McCrory b. 1968 (Penny Dreadful, Hugo, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Frankenstein [1994], Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles)
Andrew Koenig b. 1968 died 14 February 2010 (InAlienable, Deep Space Nine)
Don McKeller b. 1963 (Blindness, eXistenZ, RoboCop [Tv])
Larry B. Scott b. 1961 (Super Force, Hard Time on Planet Earth, SpaceCamp)
Nicholas Bell b. 1958 (I, Frankenstein, Wicked Science, Attack of the Sabertooth, The Lost World, Chameleon, The Genie from Down Under 2, Dark City, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Sky Trackers)
Tim Bagley b. 1957 (Zombieland [TV], Grimm, The Day After Tomorrow, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The X Files, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Robert Joy b. 1951 (Superhero Movie, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, The Hills Have Eyes [2006], Land of the Dead, Star Trek: Voyager, Fallen, The Dark Half, Maniac Mansion, Millenium, Amityville: 3-D)
Jennifer Rhodes b. 1947 (Charmed, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Night of the Demons 2, Quantum Leap)
Shane Briant b. 1946 (Farscape, The Lost World, Chameleon 2 and 3, Time Trax, Hawk the Slayer, Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, The Picture of Dorian Gray [1973])
Robert De Niro b. 1943 (Stardust, Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Frankenstein [1994], Brazil)
Franco Columbu b. 1941 (The Running Man, The Terminator, Conan the Barbarian)
Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman b. 1936 died 13 December 2007 (The X Files)
Glenn Corbett b. 1933 died 16 January 1993 (Automan, Land of the Giants, Star Trek)
Harve Bennett b. 1930 (writer, Time Trax, Star Trek II, III, IV and V, The Bionic Woman, The Invisble Man)
Ted Hughes b. 1930 died 29 October 1998 (author, The Iron Giant)
Julius Harris b. 1923 died 17 October 2004 (Eerie, Indiana, Darkman, Amazing Stories, The Incredible Hulk, King Kong [1976])
Evelyn Ankers b. 1918 died 29 August 1985 (The Invisible Man's Revenge, Son of Dracula, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man)

Robert De Niro is the biggest star on the list, but not for his work in genre, so no Picture Slot. I thought about Evelyn Ankers, arguably the first scream queen, but in the end I went with a picture from Star Trek, the late Glenn Corbett as Zephram Cochran. I understand the idea of reboots, but the casting of James Cromwell as Cochran in First Contact completely spoiled the movie for me. I like Cromwell as an actor, but somehow he's supposed to morph into Glenn Corbett at some point and that's just not possible.

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


Moies released
ParaNorman released, 2012
The Time Machine released, 1960

Predictor: Tiger’s Claw, published by Dale Brown in 2012

Prediction: In the Summer of 2014, cash rich China pushes the United States Navy out of the dominant position in the Pacific.

Reality: There's plenty of ridiculous saber rattling actually happening in 2014 from the Ukraine to Gaza to Ferguson, but none of it involves the American Navy being pushed out of the Pacific.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is it going to be Monday already again? Another OMNI Future Almanac prediction! Oh, goody!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

11 August 2014

 Birthdays
Tyne Stecklein b. 1988 (True Blood)
Jemima West b. 1987 (The Mortal Instruments)
Chris Hemsworth b. 1983 (Avengers, Thor, The Cabin in the Woods, Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness, Guinevere Jones)
Drew Nelson b. 1979 (The Strain, Lost Girl, Fringe, Supernatural, Smallville, Earth: Final Conflict)
Lynn Adrianna b. 1979 (Chronicles of the Dead, Her)
Anna Gunn b. 1968 (NYPD 2069, Sleepwalkers, Quantum Leap)
Collin Chou b. 1967 (The Forbidden Kingdom, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded)
Embeth Davidtz b. 1965 (Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2, Thir13en Ghosts, Bicentennial Man, Fallen, Army of Darkness, Mutator)
Viola Davis b. 1965 (Ender’s Game, The Andromeda Strain [2008], Threshold, Solaris)
Miguel A. Nunez Jr. b. 1964 (The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Scooby-Doo, W.E.I.R.D. World, Carnosaur 2, Babylon 5, Lois & Clark, Twilight Zone [1985], The Return of the Living Dead, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Automan)
Elya Baskin b. 1950 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Heroes, Spider-Man 2 & 3, The Invisible Man, VR.5, Quantum Leap, DeepStar Six, 2010)
Adam LeFevre b. 1950 (The Invasion, Storm of the Century)
Stuart Gordon b. 1947 (director, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Space Truckers, Robot Jox, Dolls, From Beyond, Re-Animator)
Ian McDiarmid b. 1944 (Utopia, Star Wars I, II, III, V & VI, Sleepy Hollow [1999])
Laurel Goodwin b. 1942 (Star Trek)
Stuart Rosenberg b. 1927 died 15 March 2007 (director, The Amityville Horror, Twilight Zone)
Charles Cooper b. 1926 died 29 November 2013 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Men Into Space)
Lloyd Nolan b. 1902 died 27 September 1985 (The Outer Limits)

Last year, Thor was in the Picture Slot and this year it's Senator Palpatine. Next year, I think I'm going to sneak in Embeth Davidtz from Army of Darkness, fabulous babe from a fabulous movie.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Drones and robots will be adapted for special purposes within thirty years, but they will probably not make up the main force of any army in the next half century. Drone airplanes and armored vehicles will be used most often to draw away fire from real missions.

Reality: If the first comma was a period and full stop, this one would have been very good. Thirty years would be 2012 and drones have certainly been used, but not to draw fire away from "real missions". As for what military forces will look like in 2032, that blog doesn't claim to know what "reality" will be that far out.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We will bid a fond farewell to our Tuesday regular Geoffrey Hoyle, sending him off in a giant pipe.

Wait... what?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

3 August 2014

Birthdays
Kyle Schmid b. 1984 (Being Human, Lost Girl, Arrow, Dead Before Dawn 3D, Smallville, The Covenant, Odyssey 5, My Best Friend is an Alien, Virus)
Evangeline Lilly b. 1979 (Ant-Man, The Hobbit, Real Steel, Lost, Smallville)
Tomas Lemarquis b. 1977 (Snowpiercer, Errors of the Human Body)
Franco Castan b. 1977 (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Revolution, Coma [TV mini-series])
Michael Ealy b. 1973 (Almost Human, Underworld: Awakening, FlashForward)
Stephen Graham b. 1973 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Inkheart)
Melissa Ponzio b. 1972 (Teen Wolf, The Walking Dead, Touch, The Vampire Diaries)
Brigid Brannagh b. 1972 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Angel, Charmed, Kindred: The Embraced, American Gothic)
Elizabeth Berrington b. 1970 (Doctor Who, Psychoville, Nanny McPhee, The Little Vampire)
Anne Marie DeLuise b. 1969 (Smallville, Sanctuary, The Thaw, Painkiller Jane, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Mysterious Ways, Code Name: Eternity, First Wave, Total Recall 2070, Earth: Final Conflict, Highlander: The Raven, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, Side Effects, Darkman II: The Return of Durant)
Luke Massy b. 1966 (Thor, Charmed)
Isaiah Washington b. 1963 (The 100, Bionic Woman [2007])
Lisa Ann Walter b. 1963 (War of the Worlds, Bruce Almighty)
John C. McGinley b. 1959 (Target Earth, Highlander II: The Quickening)
Kristoffer Tabori b. 1952 (Sliders, SeaQuest 2032, Quantum Leap, The Twilight Zone [1985], Small and Frye, Brave New World [TV movie])
John Landis b. 1950 (director, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Innocent Blood, Twilight Zone: The Movie, American Werewolf in London)
Philip Casnoff b. 1949 (Dollhouse, Message from Space)
Phil Rubenstein b. 1940 died 26 June 1992 (RoboCop 2, My Mom’s a Werewolf, ALF, Mannequin, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Knight Rider)
Martin Sheen b. 1940 (The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, The Time Shifters, Total Recall 2070, Babylon 5: River of Souls, Alchemy, Crystal Cave, Project: ALF, Captain Nuke and the Bomber Boys, Roswell [TV Movie], Beyond the Stars, Firestarter, The Dead Zone, The Outer Limits)
Stephen Berkoff b. 1937 (Witches of East End, Doctor Who, Children of Dune, Deep Space Nine, Space Precinct, Metamorphosis [TV movie], Outland, A Clockwork Orange, UFO, Prehistoric Women)
Jean Hagen b. 1923 died 29 August 1977 (Panic in Year Zero!)
P.D. James b. 1920 (author, Children of Men)
Alex McCrindle b. 1911 died 20 April 1990 (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope)
Clifford D. Simak b. 1904 died 25 April 1988 (Won 1964 Hugo for Here Gather the Stars)

Last year it was Evangeline Lilly in the Picture Slot, an easy choice being both very pretty and a role on a major genre TV series. This year, I was thinking about going with Martin Sheen, the best known actor on the list and a lot of genre roles throughout his long career. But instead I went with Michael Ealy from the cancelled TV series Almost Human, a show my dad was very fond of. Other candidates include Alex McCrindle as the rebel general Dodonna from Star Wars or younger actors Kyle Schmid or Anne Marie DeLuise.

John Landis will never be in the Picture Slot because he got away with murder on the set of The Twilight Zone. 

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

Movies released
Total Recall released, 2012  

Predictor: Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1922 (quoted in The Experts Speak, written by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky, published 1998)

Prediction: “It is highly unlikely that an airplane, or a fleet of them, could ever sink Navy vessels under battle conditions.”

Reality: The reason Roosevelt made this prediction was Gen. Billy Mitchell sank a ship that was being towed in 1921 with a squadron of fighter planes. No one was shooting at the planes, so it couldn't count as battle conditions. Twenty year later, the Japanese sunk almost the entire American Pacific fleet with squadrons of fighter planes when Roosevelt was president. To be fair to F.D.R., the technological improvements to aircraft in those twenty years were hard to foresee.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Regular schedule interrupted for an exact date prediction from a movie.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

9 July 2014

 Birthdays
Georgie Henley b. 1995 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Toby Kebbell b. 1982 (The Fantastic Four [2015], Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Wrath of the Titans, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)
Jamie King b. 1981 (Lost City Raiders, Vampire Diary)
Linda Park b. 1978 (Infestation, Star Trek: Enterprise, Jurassic Park III, Spectres)
Fred Savage b. 1976 (The Wizard, Little Monsters, The Princess Bride, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Boy Who Could Fly)
Scott Grimes b. 1971 (DreamKeeper, Frogs!, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Critters 1 & 2, Frog, Twilight Zone [1985])
David O’Hara b. 1965 (Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Wanted, Doomsday)
K. Todd Freeman b. 1965 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], The Dark Knight, Buffy)
Tim Kring b. 1957 (writer/producer, Touch, Heroes)
Tom Hanks b. 1956 (Cloud Atlas, The Polar Express, The Green Mile, From the Earth to the Moon, Apollo 13, Big, Splash, Mazes and Monsters)
Jimmy Smits b. 1955 (Revenge of the Sith, Attack of the Clones, The Tommyknockers)
Kim Hector b. 1953 (The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Chris Cooper b. 1951 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Ray Baker b. 1948 (Heroes, Path of Destruction, Alien Siege, Holes, Area 52, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Tomorrow Man, Freaked, Total Recall [1990], C.H.U.D.)
Dean R. Koontz b. 1945 (author, Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein, Odd Thomas)
Edy Williams b. 1942 (Bad Girls from Mars, Dr. Alien, Lost in Space, Batman, The Brass Bottle, Twilight Zone)
Brian Dennehy b. 1938 (The 4400, Category 6: Day of Destruction, NetForce, Cocoon, Ants)
James Hampton b. 1936 (Superboy, Teen Wolf 1 and 2, Otherworld, The Greatest American Hero, World War III, The Cat from Outer Space)
Susan Cabot b. 1927 died 10 December 1986 (The Wasp Woman, The War of the Satellites, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent)

Now there's a birthday list. A-List movie stars, fabulous babes, Oh That Guys, important writers, you name it. A lot of the big names on the list are better known for work outside genre, though Jimmy Smits in his Star Wars role counts as iconic as does Tom Hanks from Apollo 13. (Longtime readers will know that I count any movie with space travel as genre, even those based on true stories.)

As for Oh That Guys, Brian Dennehy is at the "Hey, it's Abe Vigoda!" level as far as I'm concerned. I was a little surprised James Hampton did genre. I know him best from The Longest Yard and F Troop. (I now have the F Troop theme song stuck in my head. Grr.)

But for all this star power, I go full-on Whedonverse nerd and put K. Todd Freeman as Mr. Trick from Buffy in the Picture Slot. Next year, it's anyone's guess.

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

Movies released
Predators released, 2010
Despicable Me released, 2010

 Predictor: Herman Kahn in the 1972 book Things to Come, published by the Hudson Institute

Prediction: The promise of the laser for military and peaceful purposes will be fully realized by 1985.

Reality: It may be the dark side of popular sci-fi, but death rays have to be listed with flying cars, food in pill form and jetpacks as examples where technology has completely failed to live up to advance billing. Sure, like almost everybody I'd prefer a flying car to a death ray, but that doesn't mean the latter wouldn't come in handy every now and then.

Never to be Forgotten:
Don Matheson 1929-2014 

Don Matheson, best known for his role asMark Wilson on Land of the Giants, died late last month at the age of 84. He was also on the Irwin Allen shows  Lost in Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and played a horseman in the 1985 TV version of Alice in Wonderland. Outside of genre, he had a lot of roles on soap operas, a very typical career path for a guy as good looking as Matheson.

Those readers that know my, ahem, special interests might guess I was a fan of Land of the Giants, but for me it was a show filled with missed opportunities, shrinking special effects budgets and generally flat writing. Everybody was always so irritable on the show and not just irritated with obvious irritant Fitzhugh. It should be noted that Matheson wooed and married co-star Deanna Lund and if there had been a third season, there would have been a romance between their characters as well.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's another glimpse into the year 2000 from Dr. Lee de Forest.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

8 June 2014

Birthdays
Torrey DeVitto b. 1984 (The Vampire Diaries)
Eion Bailey b. 1976 (Once Upon a Time, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Mindhunters, Buffy)
Lexa Doig b.1973 (Continuum, Primeval: New World, Smallville, V, Supernatural, Eureka, Stargate SG-1, The 4400, Andromeda, Jason X, Earth: Final Conflict, TekWar)
Mark Feuerstein b. 1971 (In Your Eyes, Practical Magic)
Juliana Margulies b. 1966 (The Lost Room)
Bernard White b. 1959 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded, The X-Files, Knight Rider)
Scott Adams b. 1957 (creator, Dilbert, actor, Babylon 5)
Griffin Dunne b. 1955 (The Android Affair, Amazon Women on the Moon, Amazing Stories, An American Werewolf in London)
Sonia Braga b. 1950 (Warehouse 13)
Cathy Baker b. 1950 (Edward Scissorhands, Amazing Stories, The Right Stuff)
Jack Sholder b. 1945 (Tremors [TV], Arachnid, Mortal Kombat: Conquest [TV], Generation X, The Omen [TV], Tales from the Crypt [TV], 12:01, The Hidden, Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge)
Colin Baker b. 1943 (Doctor Who, Blake’s 7)
Jessie Lawrence Ferguson b. 1941 (Swamp Thing [TV], Darkman, Prince of Darkness, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Supernaturals, Buckaroo Banzai, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Bernie Casey b. 1939 (Vegas Vampires, Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, Time Trax, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Amazon Women on the Moon, The Martian Chronicles, Ants, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Dr Black, Mr. Hyde)
James Darren b. 1936 (Deep Space Nine, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Dana Wynter b. 1931 died 5 May 2011 (The Questor Tapes, Invasion of the Body Snatchers)
Kate Wilhelm b. 1928 (won 1977 Hugo for Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang)
Myron Healey b. 1923 died 21 December 2005 (RoboCop [TV], Knight Rider, V, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Incredible Melting Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Land of the Giants, Varan the Unbelievable, Men Into Space, Adventures of Superman, Batman and Robin [1949])
Robert Preston b. 1918 died 21 March 1987 (The Last Starfighter)
George Wallace b. 1917 died 22 July 2005 (Minority Report, Buffy, The X-Files, Multiplicity, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Bionic Woman, Planet of the Apes, The Six Million Dollar Man, Forbidden Planet)
Robert F. Young b. 1915 died 22 June 1986 (author, Jonathan and the Space Whale)
John W. Campbell b. 1910 died 11 July 1971 (author Who Goes There?, editor, Astounding Science Fiction, Analog)
C.C. Beck b. 1910 (creator, Captain Marvel)

Where to start?

Writers: John W. Campbell as an editor could is considered by many the most influential many in early sci-fi. C.C. Beck came up with Captain Marvel, Kate Wilhelm won a Hugo and Scott Adams Dilbert is easily as important to nerd culture as The Big Bang Theory.

Actors younger than I am: Lexa Doig is the quintessential young Canadian sci-fi actress. So much stuff is shot in Canada and that country has rules about how many non-Canadian roles are handed out. This has been a boon to her career and... she's purdy.

Actors older than I am: Colin Baker is the Sixth Doctor. To paraphrase Whoopi Goldberg, Bernie Casey is the proof there will be black people in the future. Dana Wynter was an amazing fabulous babe, as is Sonia Braga, but it was the two Oh That Guy actors who got me to thinking, and I chose George Wallace, sometimes billed as George D. Wallace, shown here from Buffy, claiming to be the future Xander Harris, warning the present Xander away from marriage. I feel a little sorry for a guy who is the third most famous person sharing the same name, especially since he is older than the segregationist politician or the black comic and came to prominence in his career much earlier than either. Having a genre career that stretches from Forbidden Planet to Minority Report is remarkable.

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

Movies released
Prometheus released, 2012
 

Predictor: Dale Brown in Sky Masters, published 1991

Prediction: 8 June 1994: A Chinese frigate is hit and they sink a Filipino oil rig in retaliation.

Reality: All Dale Brown predictions are the same. Bad shit happens and America really needs guys who are really good at blowing big shit up while flying super cool planes. None of his predictions have come anywhere close to true yet. Thankfully.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another interruption in the weekly schedule for a prediction from 2008 about cool stuff happening this decade.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

16 February 2014

Birthdays
Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak b. 1996 (Ender’s Game, Let Me In)
Agyness Deyn b. 1983 (Clash of the Titans)
Sarah Clarke b. 1972 (The Tomorrow People, Twilight)
Elisabeth Olsen b. 1969 (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Godzilla [2014])
Christopher Eccleston b. 1964 (Thor: The Dark World, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Heroes, Doctor Who, 29 Days Later…, eXistenZ)
Faran Tahir b, 1967 (Elysium. Warehouse 13, Supernatural, Star Trek [2009], Lost, Iron Man, Charmed)
Pasha D. Lychnikoff b. 1967 (The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek [2009], Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystall Skull, Cloverfield)
LeVar Burton b. 1957 (The Big Bang Theory, Star Trek, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, The Supernaturals)
Ardwight Chamberlain b. 1957 (Babylon 5)
Vincent Ward b. 1956 (director, What Dreams May Come, writer, Alien³)
Iain M. Banks b. 1954 died 9 June 2013 (author, The State of the Art, The Hydrogen Sonata, Against a Dark Background)
William Katt b. 1951 (Earthling, Heroes, Gamers, Andromeda, Piranha, The Greatest American Hero, Carrie)
Jeremy Bulloch b. 1945 (Starhyke, Star Wars, Doctor Who)
Hugh Beaumont b. 1909 died 14 May 1982 (The Mole People)

First things first, the Picture Slot. Levar Burton got it last year, so this year it was a choice between Doctor Who, Boba Fett (Bullock) and Kosh from Babylon 5 (Chamberlain). I gave some thought to William Katt from The Greatest American Hero, but I figured that was a little too dated. (Also, every time I type the title of that show, the theme song runs through my head. Grr.) So you are looking at Christopher Eccleston, my favorite doctor, whose choice was certainly made easier by the fact the other guys are in masks and never seen. I also respect Eccleston for leaving Doctor Who as quickly as he did. He's too good an actor to get typecast.

Secondly, two names that are close to others. Sarah Clarke in not Sarah Chalke from Scrubs and Elizabeth Olsen is not Elisabeth Moss, who plays Peggy Olson on Mad Men.

And a quick mention of Hugh Beaumont. I grew up watching 1950s monster movies on TV, and a lot of the actors in these low budget movies later catch their big break as regulars on TV series. Beaumont is linked forever to his role as Ward Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver.

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


Movies released 
Ghost Rider released, 2007

Prediction: In 1992, the Eugenics Wars begin, giving rise to different factions of genetically enhanced “supermen” ruling over one third of the Earth. The most powerful of these rulers was Khan Noonien Singh.

Predictor: Space Seed, written by Gene L. Coon and Carey Wilber, an episode from the first season of Star Trek, aired 16 February 1967

Reality: I used this prediction last year, but Khan is just too much fun to be ignored. As I noted last year, to be genetically enhanced should mean being born with some special traits. Even if Khan was supposed to be 30 in 1992, that would put his birth in the early 1960s. (Montalban was 46 when this picture was taken.) This would mean the genetic enhancements would have taken place before the story was actually written.

I give the same defense of Coon and Wilber I gave last year.

Math is hard.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The future of the San Francisco Bay as seen from the 1960s.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

12 February 2014

 Birthdays
Enver Gjokaj b. 1980 (Marvel’s the Avengers, Dollhouse, Witches of East End, The Walking Dead)
Christina Ricci b. 1980 (After.Life, Speed Racer, The Gathering, Sleepy Hollow [movie], Casper, Addams Family, Addams Family Values)
Darren Aronofsky b. 1969 (director, The Fountain, Pi)
Josh Brolin b. 1968 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Men in Black 3, Jonah Hex, Planet Terror, Hollow Man, Mimic)
Raphael Sbarge b. 1964 (Once Upon a Time, Heroes, Dollhouse, Dark Skies, Independence Day, Star Trek: Voyager, SeaQuest 2032, Carnosaur, Quantum Leap)
John Michael Higgins b. 1963 (Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Evan Almighty, Blade: Trinity, Bicentennial Man, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], Weird Science [TV], Vampire’s Kiss)
Zach Grenier b. 1954 (RoboCop [2014], Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Star Trek: Enterprise, The X Files)
Simon MacCorkindale b. 1952 died 14 October 2010 (Earth: Final Conflict, Poltergeist: The Legacy [TV], Manimal, The Quatermass Conclusion)
Michael Ironside b. 1950 (Ice Soldiers, Meltdown on the Ice Planet, X-Men: First Class, Smallville, Lake Placid 3, Terminator Salvation, Mutants, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Ignition, Mindstorm, Starship Troopers, SeaQuest 2032, Highlander II: the Quickening, Total Recall, Watchers, V, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Scanners)
Ray Kurzweil b. 1948 (author, The Age of Spiritual Machines, The Singularity is Near)
Maud Adams b. 1945 (Rollerball)
Richard Lynch b. 1940 died 19 June 2012 (Halloween [2007], Charmed, Highlander [TV], Necromicon: Book of Dead, Star Trek: Next Generation, Super Force, Alligator II: the Mutation, Invasion Force, Manimal, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Bionic Woman)
Joe Don Baker b. 1936 (Mars Attacks!, Congo)
Lincoln Kilpatrick b. 1931 died 18 May 2004 (Fortress, The Greatest American Hero, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man, Soylent Green The Omega Man)
Lorne Greene b. 1919 died 11 September 1987 (Battlestar Galactica)

A long and varied list today. If I was a total Joss Whedon nerd (and I'm close, but not quite) I'd probably have a picture of Enver Gjokaj from Dollhouse up. If I was looking for the biggest movie star today, I'd have Josh Brolin in the Picture Slot. It's an easy argument to have a picture of Lorne Greene from the original Battlestar Galactica, but I decided to go with Michael Ironside from the gloriously cheesy Starship Troopers.

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

Prediction: On Feb. 12 1997, Americans destroy two Iranian missile emplacements on Iran’s revolution Day.

Predictor: Shadows of Steel by Dale Brown, published 1996

Reality: Brown makes a big plot point of the fact that attacking the Iranians on their Revolution Day is going to make them really mad, like they would probably just an act of war slide if it was any other day. (Of course, in Brown books we are totally the good guys and this attack was in retaliation to Iranian provocation.)

Except... Revolution Day in 1997 was on February 11.

Oopsie.

To be fair, if you want to know about the cool features of any American fighter aircraft, Dale Brown is your go-to guy. If you want to change the Gregorian Calendar dates to Islamic and vice versa, you might want to look it up online instead.

Never to be Forgotten: Christopher Barry 1925-2014

Doctor Who fans are mourning the passing of Christopher Barry, who directed over forty episodes of the show from 1963 to 1979, a time span in which four actors played the Doctor, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. You can read more about his work here.

Best wishes to the family, friends and fans of Christopher Barry. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The swan song from Isaac Asimov's 1964 prediction list. (sniff.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

24 December 2013

 Birthdays
Stephenie Meyer b. 1973 (author, Twilight/New Moon)
Carmen Moore b. 1972 (Stargate SG-1, Wolf Lake, Andromeda, The 4400, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Eureka, Flash Gordon, Caprica, Supernatural)
Mark Millar b. 1969 (writer, Kick-Ass, Wanted)
Nicholas Meyer b. 1945 (director, Time After Time, Star Trek II, The Day After, Star Trek VI)
Fritz Leiber b. 1910 died 5 September 1992
(won 1958 Hugo for The Big Time and 1965 Hugo for The Wanderer)

A short list of birthdays with a preponderance of writers for a change, and the Picture Slot goes to the most highly regarded of the writers, the late Fritz Leiber, instead of the most financially successful, She Who Will Not Be Named. The one actress, Carmen Moore, has something in common with many actors who get a lot of appearances on 21st Century sci-fi TV shows. She's Canadian. This is not surprising given how many lower budget shows are filmed in Canada these days.

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

Favorite predictions published in 2013

Predictor: John Elfreth Watkins, writing in The Ladies' Home Journal in 1900


Prediction: Giant guns will shoot twenty-five miles or more, and will hurl anywhere within such a radius shells exploding and destroying whole cities. Such guns will be armed by aid of compasses when used on land or sea, and telescopes when directed from great heights. Fleets of air-ships, hiding themselves with dense, smoky mists, thrown off by themselves as they move, will float over cities, fortifications, camps or fleets. They will surprise foes below by hurling upon them deadly thunderbolts. These aerial war-ships will necessitate bomb-proof forts, protected by great steel plates over their tops as well as at their sides. Huge forts on wheels will dash across open spaces at the speed of express trains of to-day. They will make what are now known as cavalry charges. Great automobile plows will dig deep entrenchments as fast as soldiers can occupy them. Rifles will use silent cartridges. Submarine boats submerged for days will be capable of wiping a whole navy off the face of the deep. Balloons and flying machines will carry telescopes of one-hundred-mile vision with camera attachments, photographing an enemy within that radius. These photographs as distinct and large as if taken from across the street, will be lowered to the commanding officer in charge of troops below.

Reality: Welcome to a five day retrospective of this year's predictions. Regular readers should not be surprised to be looking at a picture of my man crush John Elfreth Watkins. He does not technically count as "science fiction" because he was a museum curator and not an author, but I open up the prediction section to anyone willing to speculate about the future that is now the past or is only a few years away. I'm not sure if I found him on a wild Google hunt or got his name from one of the many very helpful bookstore employees or reference librarians who have been such a wonderful resource for me.

There are several very good predictions from Watkins, though regular readers will recall he went a little overboard on what the great advances in agriculture would look like. This one in particular predicts a lot of stuff that is not in existence in 1900, including "flying machines", effective submarine fleets, tanks, aerial surveillance and very long range artillery. For this and other predictions, John Elfreth Watkins was my favorite of the early weekly "regular contributors". His Wednesday regular spot has been taken over by a contemporary, the British writer T. Baron Russell from his 1905 book A Hundred Years Hence. I haven't been able to find out as much about Russell as I found out about Watkins; for example, I haven't been able to find a photograph of Russell. I haven't made all five selections for favorites yet, but so far Russell is not on the list. Sadly, Russell is to Watkins as Shemp is to Curly, as Kenney Jones is to Keith Moon. We will never love the replacement as much.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another weekly regular gets on the year end list. Yes, we are going to hear from Sensible Bob one more time.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

7 December 2013

Birthdays
Emily Browning b. 1988 (Sucker Punch, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events)
Nicolas Hoult b. 1989 (Warm Bodies, Jack the Giant Slayer, X-Men: First Class, Clash of the Titans)
Jack Huston b. 1982 (Outlander, Twilight: Eclipse, Eastwick)
Jennifer Carpenter b. 1979 (Quarantine, The Exorcism of Emily Rose)
Shiri Appleby b. 1978 (Roswell, Xena)
C. Thomas Howell b. 1966 (E.T., Alphas, Torchwood, Kindred: The Embraced)
Jeffrey Wright b. 1965 (Source Code, The Invasion)
Tom Waits b. 1949 (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Mystery Men, Dracula)
W.D. Richter b. 1945 (screenwriter, Invasion of the Body Snatchers[1978], Dracula[1979], Big Trouble in Little China, Needful Things)
Kenneth Colley b. 1937 (The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Avengers)
Johnny Duncan b. 1923 (Batman and Robin [1949])
Leigh Brackett b. 1915 died 3/17/1978 (screenwriter, The Empire Strikes Back)

A lot of interesting names on the birthday list today.  Jeffrey Wright is one of my favorite actors, so good in Boycott and Angels in America among other roles. Tom Waits is one of my favorite songwriters. In terms of film history, Leigh Brackett is the most important person here, a woman who wrote mysteries, westerns and science fiction, famous for her snappy dialogue and independent female characters. Besides The Empire Strikes Back, her writing credits include The Big Sleep with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and Rio Bravo with John Wayne, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan and Angie Dickinson. Those are three damn good movies.

But in a quirky mood this morning, I decided the Picture Slot should go to two guys looking uncomfortable in tights, including birthday boy Johnny Duncan as Robin in the 1949 serial. (Batman was played by Robert Lowery.)  This picture is included to remind young people that back in the day, the budgets for comic book movies were microscopic.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, and to late Ms. Brackett, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
Star Trek: The Motion Picture released, 1979  

Yes, I saw this movie more than once and no, it wasn't much good. Still, it was an important milestone in science fiction history on film, showing the industry how much pent up demand there was for a TV show that had been cancelled ten years earlier. I was in college when Star Wars and Star Trek: The Motion Picture came out, and they were a huge step up from the low budget movies of the 1950s, the precursor to the movie industry of today where the biggest hits are almost all special effects extravaganzas. (Supporting evidence: The last #1 movie of the year that wasn't sci-fi, fantasy or a cartoon was Saving Private Ryan in 1998.)
 

Predictor: Brigadier General Billy Mitchell in 1925

Prediction: “Japan may unleash a war in the Pacific. She could attack America by striking first at Hawaii, some fine Sunday morning.”

Reality: Unlike Jack London's prediction with an exact date for the attack on Hawaii by Germany, Mitchell gets the attacker right and also the day of the week. An early proponent of air power, he flew with Eddie Rickenbacker's squadron in World War I and showed in 1921 that bombers could take out a battleship. In a test run against an undefended captured German battleship the Ostfriedland, a flight of bombers sent the ship to the bottom with 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombs. Mitchell's support of air power put him at odds with many of the Navy brass, and when he excoriated the Navy upper command for the loss of a dirigible and several biplanes, inadvisedly using the word "treasonous" in his condemnation, he was given a court martial, found guilty and put on half-pay for five years.

Being right is one thing. Being tactful is quite another. I've learned that lesson a few times in my life as well.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

World AIDS Day was last Sunday, but I found a prediction about the progress of the disease in South Africa while researching yesterday, so I'll report it a week late tomorrow.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

27 February 2013

Birthdays
Timothy Spall b. 1957

Many happy returns to a great British actor best known to genre fans as Wormtail in the Harry Potter films. He's done a lot of great work in a lot of interesting films. Two of my favorites are Topsy Turvy and The Damned United. As I do more research, I may find other people who share a birthday with Mr. Spall, but it will be hard for me not to make him the picture boy for 27 February, because All Sentient Beings Love Timothy Spall.
 

Prediction: Aerial War-Ships and Forts on Wheels.
Giant guns will shoot twenty-five miles or more, and will hurl anywhere within such a radius shells exploding and destroying whole cities. Such guns will be armed by aid of compasses when used on land or sea, and telescopes when directed from great heights. Fleets of air-ships, hiding themselves with dense, smoky mists, thrown off by themselves as they move, will float over cities, fortifications, camps or fleets. They will surprise foes below by hurling upon them deadly thunderbolts. These aerial war-ships will necessitate bomb-proof forts, protected by great steel plates over their tops as well as at their sides. Huge forts on wheels will dash across open spaces at the speed of express trains of to-day. They will make what are now known as cavalry charges. Great automobile plows will dig deep entrenchments as fast as soldiers can occupy them. Rifles will use silent cartridges. Submarine boats submerged for days will be capable of wiping a whole navy off the face of the deep. Balloons and flying machines will carry telescopes of one-hundred-mile vision with camera attachments, photographing an enemy within that radius. These photographs as distinct and large as if taken from across the street, will be lowered to the commanding officer in charge of troops below.

Predictor: John Elfreth Watkins in the Ladies' Home Journal in 1900


Reality: Yep. That's pretty much modern warfare. Note that he used "balloons and flying machines" in a sentence. He's predicting heaver than air flight six years before Kitty Hawk. He figures out that tanks are going to make cavalry obsolete. Submarines already existed, but he figured out how they would be improved.

If someone wanted to nit pick, the silent cartridge is not used that much and automobile plows for trenches aren't widespread either. He doesn't mention atomic bombs, missiles and drones, but he's writing this stuff in 1900 and he is A Sensible Person. He extrapolates the trends of the day in a remarkably reasonable way.

As I have said before, I loves me some John Elfreth Watkins. He only has about 30 predictions so he'll only be holding down the Wednesday slot on the blog for about the first half of the year. I'm going to miss him when he's gone.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Arthur C. Clarke talks about the wonderful medical advances we might expect... in the year 2000!

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

26 February 2013

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: The most important military fact of this century is that there is no way to repel an attack from outer space.

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in 1950

Reality: Heinlein isn't talking about being invaded by aliens, but instead the idea that outer space is the ultimate high ground. Hard to argue with this, but back when we thought our main rivals were the Soviets, both sides were reluctant to put weapons in space, at least weapons they were willing to publicize.

Why should this prediction get the Sensible Heinlein? Well, there are scientists now talking about having a meteorite defense system, not the worst idea ever. And also, I wanted to save The Ridiculous Heinlein for this next prediction from the same essay.

Prediction: It is utterly impossible that the United States will start a "preventive war." We will fight when attacked, either directly or in a territory we have guaranteed to defend.

Reality: Lovely sentiment, Bob, but not backed up by reality. We faked an attack to get more deeply involved in Vietnam. Neither Grenada or Panama attacked us, but we still invaded. Nicaragua didn't attack, where we merely mined their harbors and funded armed rebels.

If I was getting all "prediction lawyer" about it, I could defend Heinlein from the worst counterexample of all, Iraq, by noting it happened after his prediction date of 2000.

I could, but I won't. Heinlein the hard-headed realist looks like an idiot jingoist and a Pollyanna on this one, so I match this prediction with the picture of him wearing a couch cover as a sports jacket.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! The return of John Elfreth Watkins, he of the non-ironic soul patch, who talks about the future of warfare as well, but makes a lot more sense.

Seriously, I loves me some John Elfreth Watkins.

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

21 February 2013

Birthdays
Ashley Greene b. 1987
Kelsey Grammer b. 1955
Anthony Daniels b. 1946
Alan Rickman b. 1946

Today we get birthdays of actors from the Twilight, X-Men, Star Wars and Harry Potter series. I love same date, same year birthdays. C-3PO and Snape! Who knew?

Alan Rickman gets the picture because All Sentient Beings Love Alan Rickman.
  

What life will be like... in the year 2001!

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in the 30th Anniversary issue of Amazing Stories, 1956

Predictions: lab outpost on Pluto...
the Sahara Sea...
Telepathy for military purposes...
We finished World War III with 100,000,000 more people than when we started...
Five billion sometime in the 21st Century...
Still no cure for the common cold.
 
Reality: I found this picture of Heinlein weeks ago, but decided to use another because this makes him look ridiculous. With this set of predictions, I realized I should have two pictures, The Sensible Heinlein and The Ridiculous Heinlein.

This set of predictions deserves this awful sports coat.

We don't have a lab outpost on the Moon, much less Pluto. We didn't flood the Sahara. We don't use ESP for military purposes. We didn't have World War III, we passed five billion in the 1980s.

He's right about the common cold, though.  I don't know how he does it.

 Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Still plumbing the depths of this issue of Amazing Stories, a reader named Clarence W. Van Tilburg wins the prediction contest and while not perfect, he does a hell of a lot better than Heinlein.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

19 February 2013

What life will be like... in the year 2001!

Predictor: Sid Caesar, host of the TV variety hit Your Show of Shows
The Pocket TV will be so common people will take it for granted...
Einstein's theory of relativity will be understood by every schoolchild because he will see it on his pocket TV in the helicopter on his way to school.

Predictor: John Cameron Swayze, anchorman and spokesman*
No major war between 1956 and 2001...
Light-weight low priced private air transport...
Cities disperse, the slums will disappear...
 
Reality: The modern high end cell phone is kinda sorta like a pocket TV, though streaming a TV program is an expensive way to use one. Transistor radios hit the market in 1955, so the idea of miniaturization is definitely in the public mind. Also in the public mind in the mid 1950s was that "Einstein's theory of relativity" was the most difficult concept ever devised by man. It is not yet a concept understood by schoolchildren.

Swayze was right about no major war. The middle part of the century was big on the idea that cities were intolerable and had to be abolished. We kinda got over that.

 And then we have the helicopter school bus and "light-weight low priced private air transport", which are both roundabout ways to say... Flying Cars HELLZ YEAH!

It is the express policy of this blog never to discuss reality and flying cars at the same time. So it is written and so it shall be. Amen.

* Some younger readers might need more explanation of who John Cameron Swayze was. He was one of the original anchormen for evening news broadcasts, but by the time I was growing up, he was the spokesman for Timex watches, the commercials that brought us the deathless tagline "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking". Wikipedia says that John Cameron Swayze was a sixth cousin to the now more famous Patrick Swayze, both deceased. I'm not as close to my cousins as some other people are, but "sixth cousin" seems a polite way of saying "not really related at all".

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE! Sure, we start the week with predictions about TV, war, city life and flying cars, but tomorrow we get to what really matters: fashion and baseball.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 February 2013

Birthdays
Sarah Clarke b. 1972
LeVar Burton b. 1957
Ardwight Chamberlain b. 1957
Jeremy Bulloch b. 1945

For those keeping score at home, today we have birthdays for actors from Twilight, Star Trek, Babylon 5 and Star Wars. Levar Burton gets the photo op. His exact birthday boy pal is the voice for Ambassador Kosh. Jeremy Bulloch was the original actor inside the Boba Fett costume, though he didn't do the voice, a common situation in the Star Wars franchise.

Prediction: In 1992, The Eugenics Wars begin, giving rise to different factions of genetically enhanced “supermen” ruling over one third of the Earth. The most powerful of these rulers was 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, let's do a little math on this one. How old are these genetic supermen in 1992? Ricardo Montalban was 47 when he played this role, but he always looked terrific and could easily pass for ten years younger. (Note: he did not look mahvelous. He is Ricardo, not Fernando, let's not confuse the two.) Khan was frozen four years later in 1996, so even if he was in his early thirties in the early 1990s, he would have been born in the early 1960s or late 1950s.

That would mean the genetics program that created these despots had already begun before the Star Trek episode was written. No program like this existed then.

In defense of Coon and Wilber, let me say "Math is hard."

Looking ahead one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Do you think one blog post is enough to deal with the legacy of Khan Noonien Singh? Oh no, my friend, this story has an end as well. (And a sequel, but we won't be getting in to that.)

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!

8 February 2013

 Birthdays
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Seth Green b. 1974

Ethan Phillips b. 1955

Nick Nolte b. 1941

John Williams b. 1932

That's a lot of cool people for a single day, but this time around I'm going to go with Seth Green as Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In the Year 2000!

Prediction: Ships will be equipped with railroad wheels for ease of travel on both land and sea.

Predictor: The postcards from Hildebrands German Chocolate published in 1900.

Reality: Ships tend to be wide, rails tend to be narrow. The basic need was real, but this isn't the technology for it.

And since I've been saying the French postcards show people being dicks in the future, it should be noted that this German postcard is depicting a naval battle, so the Germans display some dickishness as well.

Fair is fair.

Looking ahead one day... INTO THE FUTURE! Oregon is a post-apocalyptic hellhole in the year 2013, and it can only be saved... by a postman.

Join me then... IN THE FUTURE!