14 June 2014

Birthdays
Daryl Sabara b. 1992 (After the Dark, John Carter, Spy Kids, Roswell)
Lucy Hale b. 1989 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Bionic Woman [2007])
Daniel Newman b. 1981 (The Dark Knight Rises, The Vampire Diaries, Heroes, Children of the Corn [TV], The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Surface)
Pascale Hutton b. 1979 (Continuum, Fringe, Sanctuary, Behemoth, Supernatural, The 4400, Smallville, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Stargate: Atlantis, Fantastic Four, Dead Like Me, Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed)
David Kopp b. 1978 (Blade: The Series, Freddy vs. Jason, Stargate SG-1, Mysterious Ways, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show)
Alexandra Castillo b. 1971 (Warehouse 13, Fringe, 2012, Mutant X, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Sixth Day)
Traylor Howard b. 1966 (Son of the Mask, Lois & Clark)
James Gurney b. 1958 (author, Dinotopia)
Will Patton b. 1954 (Falling Skies, The Fourth Kind, The Punisher, The Mothman Prophecies, Armageddon, The Postman, VR.5, The Puppet Masters)
Jeremy Sinden b. 1950 died 29 May 1996 (Star Wars)
Harry Turtledove b. 1949 (author, The Guns of the South, Agent of Byzantium)
Sam Wanamaker b. 1919 (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, The Day the Fish Came Out, The Outer Limits [1964])
Gene Barry b. 1919 died 9 December 2009 (War of the Worlds [2005], Twilight Zone [1987], The 27th Day, The War of the Worlds [1953])

Yesterday's birthday list was filled with great memories for me, today not so much. Gene Barry is the one movie star on the list and I certainly considered him for the Picture Slot. I also thought about Oh That Guy actor Will Patton, but instead we have Jeremy Sinden as Tiree (a.k.a. Gold Two) from the original Star Wars. Poor Mr. Sinden was barely luckier than the doomed X-wing pilot, dying at the tender age of 45 from lung cancer.

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


Movies released
Man of Steel released 2013
X-Men released 2001
  

Predictor: Andrew Carpenter Wheeler using his pseudonym Nym Crinkle

Predictions (reality): 
 1. In 100 years Denver will be as big as New York. (That's a swing and a miss.)
 2. If the republic does not fall apart at the Mississippi, Canada will either be a part of the union or an independent sovereignty.  (Canada is an independent nation now, so this counts as a hit.)

3. The north shore of the Gulf of Mexico will be the Riviera or the Americas. (Well, there are some nice vacation spots in Florida on the gulf coast and of course there is New Orleans, but the Texas shore and the heart of Dixie... not so much. If I were going to pick the top vacation spot in the U.S., it would be a three way split between Hawaii, Las Vegas or Orlando, which is in Central Florida not on either coast.)
4. The homes of the country will increase fourfold. (In 1890 there were about 12.7 million, and in 1990 it rose to 93.3 million, approximately a sevenfold increase.)

Footnote: I said yesterday no facial hair, but a little more digging using Wheeler's real name turned up a book he wrote with his picture on the cover. Definitely a fine 19th Century beard.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's been a while since we had our scheduled Sunday prediction of nuclear war, but we'll get one tomorrow.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

13 June 2014

Birthdays
Kodi Smit-McPhee b. 1996 (Let Me In, The Road, Nightmares & Dreamscapes)
Aaron Taylor-Johnson b. 1990 (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Godzilla, Kick-Ass, The Illusionist)
Kat Dennings b. 1986 (Suburban Gothic, Thor)
Chris Evans b. 1981 (Captain America, Fantastic Four, Avengers)
Ethan Embry b. 1978 (Once Upon a Time, The Witches of Oz, Timeline, FreakyLinks, Evolver)
Lisa Vidal b. 1965 (Grimm, American Horror Story, The Event, Star Trek [2009])
Ally Sheedy b. 1962 (Kyle XY, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Strange Frequency, Short Circuit, WarGames)
Tim Allen b. 1953 (Zoom, Galaxy Quest)
Richard Thomas b. 1951 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, The Invaders [1995 TV], It, Battle Beyond the Stars)
Stellan Skarsgård b. 1951 (Thor, The Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Exorcist: The Beginning, King Arthur [2004], Deep Blue Sea)
Belinda Bauer b. 1950 (Necromicon: Book of Dead, RoboCop 2, Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann, The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire)
Simon Callow b. 1949 (Outlander [TV], Doctor Who, Chemical Wedding)
Joe Roth b. 1948 (producer, Maleficent, Oz the Great and Powerful, Snow White and the Huntsman, Alice in Wonderland [2010], Tall Tale)
Whitley Strieber b. 1945 (author, Hunger, The Wolfen, War Day, Communion)
Malcolm MacDowell b. 1943 (Zombex, Vamps, The Philadephia Experiment [TV], Antiviral, The Book of Eli, Halloween I & II [21st Century], Suck, Heroes, Doomsday, Firestarter II; Rekindled, Island of the Dead, Star Trek: Generations, Lexx, 2103: The Deadly Wake, Tank Girl, Class of 1999, Moon 44, Cat People, Time After Time, A Clockwork Orange)
Ralph McQuarrie b. 1929 died 3 March 2012 (production designer, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, E.T., Coccoon, Star Trek)
Paul Lynde b. 1926 died 10 January 1982 (Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, Son of Flubber)
Rex Everhart b. 1920 died 13 March 2000 (Superman [1978], ‘Way Out)
Mary Wickes b. 1919 died 22 October 1995 (Tabitha, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Larry Keating b. 1896 died 26 August 1963 (The Incredible Mr. Limpet, When Worlds Collide)
Basil Rathbone b. 1892 died 21 July 1967 (Queen of Blood, Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, The Magic Sword)

Last year, before I had done the level of research I do now, Kat Dennings was in the Picture Slot. She's purdy. But if it's iconic we are going for, Malcolm MacDowell in A Clockwork Orange is hard to beat. Also, this is as good a time as any to admit how much fun doing the research can be. Today, there were so many great memories found among these names. From youngest to oldest, here are the highlights.

1. I don't love Tim Allen, but I do love Galaxy Quest.
2. I love Simon Callow.
3. I love Malcolm MacDowell.
4. The artwork of Ralph McQuarrie is the front runner for the Picture Slot next year. Great stuff.
5. Paul Lynde! Scrolling through his credits, just seeing That Girl made me think of his delivery of the line "Body heat." It still makes me laugh. (I have no idea how many people remember this.)
6. Mary Wickes. With Bea Arthur and Eve Arden, the holy trinity of wise cracking dames in American film history. The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Music Man, Sister Act. I love Mary Wickes.
7. Basil Rathbone. No further comment required.

No disrespect to anyone else on the list. Rex Everhart and Larry Keating were great Oh That Guys, I've enjoyed work by Ally Sheedy, Richard Thomas and Stellan Skarsgård, but the seven listed were really nice trips down memory lane this morning.

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

Movies released
The Incredible Hulk released, 2008

Predictor: Dr. Paul Ehrlich, quoted in 1971

Prediction: "By the year 2000 the United Kingdom will be simply a small group of impoverished islands, inhabited by some 70 million hungry people ... If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000."

Reality: A lot of Ehrlich's scorn is aimed at darker skinned foreigners, notably the countries of India and Egypt, but this quote lifts him from the ranks of crypto-racists to the category of dense pessimistic scumbags.

The U.K.s growth rate from 1970 to 2000 was next to nothing, climbing from about 56 million to about 59 million, a paltry yearly growth rate of 0.2%. To get to 70 million it would have had to be 0.8%, so he's off by a factor of four.

Paul Krugman has a post today from The New York Times about screw-ups he's made and what he's learned from them. This is one of many reasons that if I ever disagree with Mr. Krugman on some topic where I'm even close to as knowledgeable as he is, I will state my case as calmly as possible. Ehrlich relies on math, a field I understand pretty well, and he sucks at it again and again and I've NEVER seen him admit his mistakes. He is in that group I call The Undeserving Employed. This is the last we will see of him and a new regular predictor will be in his place next Friday. I don't think it's possible to find someone worse.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We return to 1893. Sadly, I can find no pictures of our prognosticator, so the post will be facial hair free.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

Never to be Forgotten:Ruby Dee 1922-2014

Ruby Dee, actor and activist, has died at the age of 91. Best remembered for the work she did with her late husband Ossie Davis, both as actors and as people working for justice, she is mentioned here because of one role out of her 111 credits on imdb.com, playing Mother Abagail in the TV mini-series of Stephen King's The Stand, which also featured Ossie Davis as Judge Richard Farris.

I readily admit that this is a silly little blog with many mood swings, but I really am glad there was that single role in her remarkable career that gives me the honor of typing these few sentences through my tears.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Ruby Dee, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

12 June 2014

 Birthdays
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 (Warm Bodies, Fright Night)
Richard Ayoade b. 1977 (The IT Crowd, The Watch, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace)
Rick Hoffman b. 1970 (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 (Timeline, a.i. Artificial Intelligence, Bedazzled [2000])
Patrice Martinez b. 1963 (Beetlejuice)
Eamonn Walker b. 1962 (Unbreakable)
Paul Schulze b. 1962 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Roswell)
Scott Thompson b. 1959 (Star Trek: Voyager, Millennium)
Timothy Busfield b. 1957 (Revolution, Lois and Clark)
Gary Farmer b. 1953 (Mutant X, Forever Knight)
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)
Henry Slesar b. 1927 died 2 April 2002 (author, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Examination Day)
Uta Hagen b. 1919 (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)

 Regular readers will know that I have a complicated relationship with the work of Irwin Allen, the guy in today's Picture Slot. Compared to his contemporary show-runners Rod Serling and Gene Roddenberry, Allen is a midget in terms of talent and taste. But in terms have creating a good relationship with networks and giving them what they wanted, Allen is more successful than either of his more fondly remembered colleagues. I give him credit and have a label for his stuff because the 1960s is the beginning of Hollywood thinking of sci-fi as a genre that can make money, whether aimed at kids or adults, and Irwin Allen's shows were a big part of that.

To be blunt, the competition for Picture Slot today was not filled to the brim with iconic characters. Some of the faces are recognizable, notably Paul Schulze as Father Phil on The Sopranos, Scott Thompson from Kids in the Hall and Timothy Busfield from Thirtysomething, but none of those roles are in genre. The second place choice was Roger Aaron Brown, an Oh That Guy actor who you very well might see next year.

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


Movies released
This is the End, released 2013

Predictor: Oliver Owen in The Plague of Lights, published 1904, reprinted in Mike Ashley's anthology Steampunk Prime

Prediction: On 12 June 1906, the first recorded instance of the phenomenon known as "the plague of lights" occurs outside the Strand Theatre in London.

Reality: The story is one of those "old switcheroo" types, the lights from the sky touching people in the crowd symbolizing people who have found true love. Though I was happy to find Steampunk Prime since it had several stories with exact dates that were set in the future from the point of view of the writer, I'm not that keen on re-labeling the sci-fi from the Victorian and Edwardian eras "steampunk". Some modern stories set in that era deserve the label, but most of the stories I read from this collection don't have that feeling of the future coming in fast due to technology hurtling forward.

Just one readers opinion.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

On Wednesday, we bid goodbye somewhat reluctantly to T. Baron Russell as a prognosticator. Tomorrow, we get the last prediction from Dr. Paul Ehrlich, I will be glad to see the last of him. I'm running out of adjectives to describe how bad his stuff sucked.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

11 June 2014

 Birthdays
Ivana Baquero b. 1994 (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Eugene Simon b. 1992 (House of Anubis, Game of Thrones)
Claire Holt b. 1988 (The Vampire Diaries, H2O: Just Add Water)
Shia LeBeouf b. 1986 (Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I, Robot, The X-Files)
Joshua Jackson b. 1978 (Fringe, Magic in the Water)
Jane Goldman b. 1979 (screenwriter, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass, Stardust)
Peter Dinklage b. 1969 (Game of Thrones, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Knights of Badassdom, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)
Pamela Gidley b. 1965 (The Little Vampire, Cherry 2000)
Hugh O’Gorman b. 1965 (The 10th Kingdom)
Hugh Laurie b. 1959 (Tomorrowland [2015], Stuart Little, The Borrowers, The Crystal Cube)
Sherman Howard b. 1949 (The Mummy: Secrets of the Medjai, Invader ZIM, Star Trek: Voyager, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Retroactive, The Burning Zone, Deep Space Nine, Sliders, SeaQuest 2032, The Stand, Space Rangers, Superboy, Good & Evil, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, ALF, Dark Angel, Freddy’s Nightmares, Max Headroom, Day of the Dead)
Adrienne Barbeau b. 1945 (Carnivale, The Chronicle, Deep Space Nine, Sliders, Weird Science, Burial of the Rats, Babylon 5, Twilight Zone, Creepshow, Swamp Thing, Escape from New York, The Fog)
Jordan Rhodes b. 1939 (Battlestar Galactica, The Terminal Man, Wonder Woman, The Night Stalker)
Chad Everett b. 1937 died 24 July 2012 (Supernatural, When Time Expires)
Gene Wilder b. 1933 (Alice in Wonderland [1999 TV], Haunted Honeymoon, Young Frankenstein, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
Ed Bishop b. 1932 died 8 June 2005 (Highlander [TV], Whoops Apocalypse, Saturn 3, 1990, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, The Day After Tomorrow [1976], UFO, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Battle Beneath the Earth, The Mouse on the Moon)
John Bromfield b. 1922 died 18 September 2005 (Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, Revenge of the Creature)
Robert Hutton b. 1920 (Trog, They Came from Beyond Space, The Vulture, The Slime People, Invisible Invaders, The Colossus of New York)
Richard Todd b. 1919 died 3 December 2009 (Doctor Who)
Buddy Baer b. 1915 died 18 July 1986 (Giant from the Unknown, Adventures of Superman, Jack and the Beanstalk [1952])
Dudley Manlove b. 1914 died 17 April 1996 (The Creation of the Humanoids, Plan 9 from Outer Space)
Gerald Mohr b. 1914 died 9 November 1968 (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, Men Into Space, The Angry Red Planet, Invasion U.S.A.)

First, I'd like to apologize to Eugene Simon. He plays Lancel Lannister on Game of Thrones and I can promise he will never be in the Picture Slot, through no fault of his own. I loves me some Peter Dinklage and on any 11th of June when Game of Thrones is in season, it's gonna be a picture of Tyrion.

Like with young Mr. Simon, I can promise that Shia LeBeouf will never be in the Picture Slot, but for this I do not apologize. Mr. LeBeouf is a young man of low morals and awful taste. Not that I feel strongly about this.

If I ever decide to go for a fabulous babe on this date, Pamela Gidley played the sex robot in Cherry 2000 and of course there's Adrienne Barbeau. I can't go wrong with either of them

Yesterday, there was an Oh That Guy actor who I had to admit did not register with me. This is not the case with today's Oh That Guy. Sherman Howard played Lex Luthor on the Superboy TV show, and even though that was well over twenty years ago, that's the first link my brain makes when I see this guy. He also played multiple roles on various incarnations of Star Trek, so genre fans are going to have seen this guy many times.

One more comment on today's list. Because of the increased interest in sci-fi in movies and TV today, it's very common for a lot of actors from the Millennial generation on our list, which is now counted as born after 1982. It's much rarer for us to get a passel of actors born before 1925, but today we hit a mother lode vein of guys from 1950s monster movies. The most interesting biographical tidbits I know about these guys are:

1) Buddy Baer was the brother of Max Baer and both of heavyweight boxers who lost to Joe Louis.
2) Robert Hutton was a cousin to Barbara Hutton, the heiress to the Woolworth fortune. He wasn't a close enough relative to get any of the cash, so he ends up in The Vulture and The Slime People.
3) Dudley Manlove, best known on screen as the main alien Eros in Plan Nine from Outer Space, was awful in front of the camera but had a lovely voice and found steady work as a radio announcer and actor. (Remember when people acted on the radio? If so, you are horribly old.)


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

Predictor: T. Baron Russell in the 1905 book One Hundred Years Hence, The Expectations of an Optimist

Prediction: If we need any motive power other than electricity, or if we need motive power of some other kind to produce electricity, no doubt the explosive recombination of oxygen and hydrogen, controlled by devices developed from existing gas-engines and petrol-engines, will be a starting-point : because coal will, probably before the complete exhaustion of the supply of it, have been found altogether too dirty and unhealthy a thing to use, at all events by way of combustion.

Reality: In 1905, It wasn't exactly clairvoyance to predict how useful gasoline powered engines would become in the future, but this part is certainly true. Sadly, he's wrong so far about the death of coal. We haven't stopped using it, and it is the filthiest of all the fossil fuels. Eventually it will become unprofitable to get the last of it out of the ground, but unless environmental regulations become much stricter, that day looks to be very far in the future.

Farewell to T. Baron Russell: I hate to throw away a wealth of predictions like Russell's book, but this prediction ties him with Heinlein for most predictions used from a single person, and I don't want to put Russell in first place all by himself since he isn't truly sci-fi. (Note that both the OMNI Future Almanac and the 1893 Columbian Exhibition have more predictions that either Russell or Heinlein, but that isn't a single person's work.) I'd like the thank the ghost of Mr. Russell for his very useful book and next Wednesday there will be a new regular predictor.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

An exact date prediction takes precedence over the weekly schedule.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

Never to be Forgotten: Martha Hyer 1924-2014

Martha Hyer, an actress who began her career as as self moving scenery and was later Oscar nominated for her suporting role Some Came Running starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine, died last month at the age of 89. Some actors have careers in big budget movies almost exclusively while others jump around from high budget to low budget work with little rhyme or reason. Once she got speaking roles, Ms. Hyer was often the pretty girl who was too conventional, losing the guy to Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina and Sophia Loren in Houseboat. She is remembered here for roles in genre TV and films such as the Vincent Price thriller House of 1,000 Dolls, the TV show Bewitched, Ray Harryhausen's First Men in the Moon (pictured here), Mistress of the World, Riders to the Stars and an early appearance in Abbott and Costello Go to Mars.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Martha Hyer, from a fan, she is never to be forgotten.

10 June 2014

 Birthdays
Kelly Vitz b. 1988 (Sky High)
Celina Jade b. 1985 (Arrow)
Shane West b. 1978 (Salem, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Dracula 2000, Sliders, Buffy)
DJ Qualls b. 1978 (Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory, Lost, The Core)
Mike Dopud b. 1968 (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Continuum, Man of Steel, Battlestar Galactica, Beauty and the Beast [2012], Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Grimm, Warehouse 13, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Stargate, Smallville, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Supernatural, Journey to the Center of the Earth [TV], Blade: The Series, BloodRayne, Kraken: Tentatcles of the Deep, Jeremiah, Rollerball, Dark Angel, Seven Days, The New Addams Family [TV], Millennium [TV], Futuresport, Welcome to Paradox)
Elizabeth Hurley b. 1965 (Wonder Woman [2011], Bedazzled, My Favorite Martian [1999])
Andrew Niccol b. 1964 (director, The Host, In Time, S1m0ne, Gattaca)
Ben Daniels b. 1964 (Jack the Giant Slayer, Merlin, Doom)
Jeanne Tripplehorn b. 1963 (Timecode, Waterworld)
Carolyn Hennesy b. 1962 (Acting Dead, True Blood, Once Upon a Time, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare)
Timothy Van Patten b. 1959 (director, Game of Thrones)
Robert Clohessy b. 1957 (The Avengers, Lois & Clark)
Frankie Faison b. 1949 (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Messengers, Prey, The Langoliers, Freejack, Maximum Overdrive, C.H.U.D., Cat People)
Mickey Jones b. 1941 (It Came From Outer Space II, Total Recall, Misfits of Science, V, Starman, The Incredible Hulk, Galactica 1980)
Jurgen Prochnow b. 1941 (Wing Commander, Judge Dredd, Terminus, Dune)
Maurice Sendak b. 1928 died 8 May 2012 (author/artist, Where the Wild Things Are)
Lionel Jeffries b. 1926 died 19 February 2010 (Lexx, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, First Men in the Moon, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Quatermass Xperiment)
Judy Garland b. 1922 died 22 June 1969 (The Wizard of Oz)
Lou Frizzell b. 1929 died 17 June 1979 (Project U.F.O., Devil Dog: The Hound from Hell, Isis)
Robert Cummings b. 1919 died 2 December 1990 (My Living Doll, Bewitched, Twilight Zone)
Robert Eddison b. 1908 died 14 December 1991 (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Storyteller, The Legend of King Arthur [1979], Out of the Unknown)

If the standard for the Picture Slot is being iconic, Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz or an illustration by Maurice Sendak are the two competitors here, and I went with Judy. I loved this movie so much and we had the album of the soundtrack that I played incessantly when I was a kid.  I would easily put it on my list of top musicals and top fantasy films, and I think it's hard not to put it on a top ten list of best films of all time.

A short note on something a little odd on the list. Mike Dopud has been in a jillion productions, several of which I have seen, and he has made close to zero impression on me. I think I might be able to pick him out of a crowd if I watched more Battlestar Galactica, but he isn't nearly as recognizable as several other names on the list, at least for me.

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

Predictor: Geoffrey Hoyle in the 1972 book 2010: Living in the Future

Prediction: While you are at school in one room, your parents may be at work in another. People who do office work do it at home. To keep in close touch with other people in their office they use the vision phone. The vision desk is connected to their firm’s computer, which stores all the office files. With this close contact between everybody in the office, it is easy to work from home.

Wherever people work—in a factory or at home, or whatever else their job might be—they will work for only three days a week. The rest of the week they can do what they like. They can play football, learn a language, or train for a new job.

Reality: In comparison to 1972, more people work at home now than did then and computers are a big part of that, but it's clear Hoyle isn't thinking about personal computers but instead honking big mainframes. As for three days a week of work... who does he think we are, the French?

Frickin' commie.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

June will be our last month hearing from T. Baron Russell, our regular Wednesday contributor ever since we ran out of stuff from John Elfreth Watkins. (sniff.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!