14 September 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prediction:

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

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


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

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

13 September 2015

Birthdays
Robbie Kay b. 1995 (Heroes Reborn, Once Upon a Time, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Pinocchio)
Erin Way b. 1987 (Warehouse 13, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Grimm, Alphas, I (Heart) Vampires)
Carol Anne Watts b. 1987 (Ant-Man, Frankenstein [2015])
Trevor Duke-Moretz b. 1986 (Big Bad Wolf)
Sean Brosnan b. 1983 (U.F.O.)
Robin Chalk b. 1981 (Moon)
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 (director, Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed)
Louise Lombard b. 1970 (Grimm, SGU Stargate Universe, Tale of the Mummy)
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)
Louis Mandylor b. 1966 (616: Paranormal Incident, The Prometheus Project, Charmed)
Joel Beeson b. 1966 (Death Becomes Her)
Laura Stepp b. 1966 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Spawn)
Alfonso Freeman b. 1959 (Bad Blood I and II)
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)
Jean Smart b. 1951 (Project X)
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)
Kathleen Lloyd b. 1948 (Babylon 5, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1986], The Incredible Hulk, It Lives Again, The Car, The Sixth Sense)
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)
Dolly Read b. 1944 (The Kiss of the Vampire)
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 (Millennium, 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 died24 April 1731 (Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World of the Moon)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot belonged to fabulous babe Barbara Bain and Oh That Guy Clyde Kusatsu. I think Richard Kiel may be more iconic than either, but he died just before his birthday last year, so  didn't want to use his picture twice in so short a span.

2. Spot the Canadian! Usually, the Supernatural/Smallville Daily Double is a good sign someone was born north of the border, but it doesn't work perfectly. Elizabeth Weinstein is Canadian, but Jonathan Walker is British.

3. Nepotism FTW. Taryn Power is the daughter of Tyrone. Alonzo Freeman is the son of Morgan. Sean Brosnan is the son of Pierce.

4. MST3K. Picture Slotter Richard Kiel is in two films, The Human Duplicators and Eegah. We also have Roy Engel in The Indestructible Man. There may be others, I'm not sure.

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

The Weekly Soapbox: Global Warming

Just to be clear, I "believe" in global warming and mankind's part in it, much in the same way I "believe" in gravity. The effect of greenhouse gases is settled science and humans burning fossil fuels creates more greenhouse gases.

We've only had a few predictions on the blog about climate change and many of them have been about rising ocean levels, including a crazy high number from Paul Ehrlich, one of the most inaccurate regular predictors this blog has ever published. (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Ray Kurzweil and FM-2030. I did write "one of the most", after all.) I wish we could fix the problem, but I'm not optimistic, and here are the reasons why.

1. Rising ocean levels are the least of our worries. There are some places on earth that now have to deal with rising waters, but they are currently far away from where the majority of people live. I expect the first thing we will notice effecting the lives of millions will be ecosystem changes that have nothing to do with the sea levels. We don't live close enough to nature to feel it when it goes bad - it's going bad in California right now, and all we are asked to do is take shorter showers and not water our lawns - but longer droughts and bigger wildfires in some areas, contrasted with heavier rains in other and temperatures not getting cold enough to put pests into their natural hibernation stage, are likely going to change how we live long before low level islands with lots of people flood. More than that, when these things happen, there will be people around to say it has nothing to do with a changing climate.

2. An enormous industry to pay for bullshit, which has already bought an entire political party. Do I need to name names? Okay, the petroleum industry and the Republicans. We've had scientific evidence that forced the government to limit the use of profitable products like aerosols, DDT and  asbestos, but those industries decided to change the way they did business. Petroleum is acting more like the tobacco industry, probably because their best scientists are telling them in private that there is no clean way to stay in business at the current level. The people lying about global warming are not just using the same tactics as the folks who lied for decades about the health risks of tobacco, in some cases they are the exact same people.

3. Humankind. Even a guy like me with no car is still sucking up energy keeping my computer and refrigerator on, and while I am consciously trying to improve the way I live, I'm not interested in going off the grid and only using the electricity I can create with solar panels and a bicycle generator. I think we can scale back, but I don't know if it will be enough. I'm turning 60 this year, so I will likely miss the worst of it. The generation of my grand-nieces and grand-nephews are probably going to have it very bad indeed.

Cheerful bastid, ain't I?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Taking a look at the predictions for the NFL playoffs from the website fivethirtyeight.com.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

12 September 2015

Birthdays
Colin Ford b. 1996 (Under the Dome, Revolution, Supernatural, Jack and the Beanstalk, Journeyman, Smallville)
Alexia Fast b. 1992 (Supernatural, Tin Man, The 4400)
Alfie Allen b. 1986 (Game of Thrones)
Emmy Rossum b. 1986 (Comet, Dragonball: Evolution, The Day After Tomorrow)
Marty Adams b. 1981 (Hemlock Grove, Orphan Black, Dead Before Dawn 3D, Lost Girl, Repo Men, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Saw IV)
Ben McKenzie b. 1978 (Gotham)
Grace McEhlhinney b. 1974 (The Babadook)
Paul Walker b. 1973 died 30 November 2013 (Pleasantville, Tammy and the T-Rex, Timeline, Programmed to Kill, Monster in the Closet)
Gideon Emery b. 1972 (Daredevil, Grimm, Teen Wolf, True Blood, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)
James Frey b. 1969 (author, I Am Number Four)
Louis C.K. (The Invention of Lying)
Darren E. Burrows b. 1966 (The Lone Gunmen, The X Files, Class of 1999, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Ramon Franco b. 1963 (Resident Evil: Extinction, The X Files, NightMan)
Amy Yasbeck b. 1962 (Dracula: Dead and Loving It, The Mask, Quantum Leap, Splash, Too, Werewolf, House: The Second Story)
Robert John Burke b. 1960 (Limitless, Witchblade, From the Earth to the Moon, Thinner, RoboCop 3)
Gregg Edelman b. 1958 (Spider-Man 2, The Manhattan Project)
Hans Zimmer b. 1957 (composer, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Amazing Spider-Man 2, Man of Steel, Rise of the Undead, Batman Begins, Pirates of the Caribbean, Inception, Rango, Inception, The Ring, Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, Space Rangers)
Peter Scolari b. 1955 (Gotham, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, From the Earth to the Moon, Lois & Clark, Ticks, The Twilight Zone [1988])
Joe Pantoliano b. 1951 (Sense8, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Roswell, The Matrix, Congo, Robot in the Family, Highlander [TV], Tales from the Crypt, Deadly Nightmares, Amazing Stories)
Christopher Neame b. 1947 (Star Trek: Enterprise, The Invisible Man [TV], Seven Days, The Apocalypse Watch, Sliders, Earth 2, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, The Flash, Superboy, Ghostbusters II, Beauty and the Beast, Bloodstone, Blakes 7, Dracula A.D. 1972, Lust for a Vampire, No Blade of Grass)
Milo Manara b. 1945 (artist)
Anne Helm b. 1938 (Amazing Stories, The Magic Sword)
Bill McKinney b. 1931 died 1 December 2011 (Hellborn, The Green Mile, It Came from Outer Space II, Back to the Future Part III, Galactica 1980, Strange New World, I Dream of Jeannie)
Ian Holm b. 1931 (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Day After Tomorrow, Simon Magus, eXistenZ, Alice Through the Looking Glass [TV 1998], The Fifth Element, Loch Ness, Frankenstein [1994], The Borrowers, Dreamchild, Brazil, Time Bandits, Alien, The Lost Boys [TV 1978])
Freddie Jones b. 1927 (Neverwhere, Dune, Firestarter, Krull, Firefox, Space:1999, Son of Dracula, Alice Through the Looking Glass [TV 1973], Old Drac, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed)
Stanislaw Lem b. 1921 died 27 March 2006 (author, Solaris, The Futurological Congress)
Edward Binns b.1916 died 4 December 1990 (Captain Nice, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone)
Mary Stewart b. 1916 died 9 May 2014 (author, The Merlin Trilogy)
Desmond Llewelyn b. 1914 died 19 December 1999 (Merlin [1993], Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1980 TV], Moonraker, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Curse of the Werewolf, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Walter B. Gibson a.k.a. Maxwell Grant a.k.a. Edward S. Sullivan b. 1897 (writer, The Shadow, The Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Excluding Alfie Allen from Game of Thrones and author Stanislaw Lem because they've already been in the Picture Slot, there are still plenty of good choices, including Joe Pantoliano from The Matrix and Ben McKenzie from Gotham, but I went with a somewhat gruesome photo of Ian Holm (is a ripped up android truly gruesome?) just as a reminder of how good the cast for the original Alien truly was.

2. Spot the Canadians and MST3K. Three of our youngest actors - Colin Ford, Alexia Fast and  Marty Adams - have Canadian looking resumes, but Colin Ford was born south of the border. Ann Helm does not have a Canadian looking resume, in large part because he career started before the Canadian genre boom, but she was in The Magic Sword, so we have an MST3K movie on today's list.

3. Wait... he's alive? They don't look that much alike when they are younger, but Freddie Jones and the late Aubrey Morris did look very similar (to me at least) when they got older, and I definitely have mixed them up more than once. Freddie Jones is also the father of actor Toby Jones, a fact I didn't know until this morning. Best birthday wishes, sir.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tomorrow I will get on The Weekly Soapbox.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

11 September 2015

Birthdays
Jett Good b. 1999 (Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D)
Tyler Hoechlin b. 1987 (Teen Wolf)
Elizabeth Henstridge b. 1987 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Ariana Richards b. 1979 (Jurassic Park, Tremors, Grand Tour: Disaster in Time, Spaced Invaders)
Cameron Richardson b. 1979 (10.0 Earthquake, The Lottery, Rise: Blood Hunter)
Tiffany Shepis b. 1979 (She Wolf Rising, Attack of the Morningside Monster, The Prometheus Project, Night of the Demons, Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula, Zombthology, Nightmare Man, Abominable, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, Tromeo and Juliet)
Taraji P. Henson b. 1970 (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Satan’s School for Girls)
Harry Connick Jr. b. 1967 (Bug, Independence Day)
Kristy McNichol b. 1962 (The Bionic Woman)
Virginia Madsen b. 1961 (Dead Rising: Watchtower, Witches of East End, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Astronaut Farmer, The Haunting, Star Trek: Voyager, The Apocalypse Watch, The Prophecy, Earth 2, Candyman, Highlander II: The Quickening, Zombie High, Creator, Dune)
Susan Gibney b. 1961 (Lost, Knight Rider [2008], Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation)
Anne Ramsay b. 1960 (Extant, Wizards of Waverly Place, Planet of the Apes [2001], Star Trek: The Next Generation)
John Hawkes b. 1959 (Lost, S. Darko, Strange Frequency, Taken, The X Files, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Buffy, Steel, From Dusk Till Dawn, Future-Kill)
Julia Nickson b. 1958 (Half-Life, Power Rangers Wild Force, SeaQuest 2032, Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Roxann Dawson b. 1958 (Star Trek: Voyager)
Scott Patterson b. 1958 (The Event, Saw, Them [1996], The Lost World [1998 TV movie])
Tony Gilroy b. 1956 (writer, Armageddon)
Reed Birney b. 1954 (In Your Eyes, From the Earth to the Moon)
Amy Madigan b. 1950 (Fringe, Doppelganger, Carnivale, The Dark Half, The Day After)
Kathrine Baumann b. 1949 (Knight Rider, The Thing with Two Heads)
Michael Sacks b. 1948 (Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land, The Amityville Horror, Slaughterhouse-Five)
Felton Perry b. 1945 (Hollywood Vampyr, Dark Breed, RoboCop 1, 2 & 3, Automan)
Brian De Palma b. 1940 (director, Mission to Mars, Carrie, Phantom of the Paradise)
Charles Dierkop b. 1936 (Superguy: Behind the Cape, Merchants of Venus, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Star Trek, Land of the Giants, Batman, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Ian Abercrombie b. 1934 died 26 January 2012 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Charmed, Star Trek: Voyager, Good vs Evil, Buffy, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Babylon 5, Test Tube Teens from the Year 2000, Addams Family Values, Army of Darkness, The Flash, Warlock, Frog, Otherworld, The Ice Pirates, Tucker’s Witch, Voyagers!, Blood Beach, Battlestar Galactica [1978], The Six Million Dollar Man, Young Frankenstein)
Eve Brent b. 1929 died 27 August 2011 (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Roswell, The Green Mile, Weird Science [TV], Date with an Angel, BrainWaves, Adventures of Superman)
Earl Holliman b. 1928 (NightMan, The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War, Visit to a Small Planet, Twilight Zone, Forbidden Planet)
David Morris b. 1924 died 29 October 2007 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Herbert Lom b. 1917 died 27 September 2012 (Whoops Apocalypse, The Dead Zone, Dorian Gray [1970] Count Dracula [1970], Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, Mysterious Island, Project M7)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The previous Picture Slotters were Roxann Dawson and Earl Holliman, and I think there are good choices up and down the list, including Herbert Lom, Charles Dierkop, Michael Sacks, Susan Gibney, Virginia Madsen, Ariana Richards and Tyler Hoechlin. I chose Elizabeth Henstridge because she wasn't even listed last year and of course, she is so damned adorable.

2. Living Canadian free! It happens.

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: There will arise… a New Republic dominating the world. It will be none of our ostensible governments that will effect this great clearing up; it will be the mass of power and intelligence altogether outside the official state systems of to-day that will make this great clearance, a new social Hercules that will strangle the serpents of war and national animosity in his cradle.

Reality: Does this sound anything like the world at any time? The only mass of power outside government that looks even slightly capable of this would be a confederation of large corporations, and I have my strong doubts this would be an improvement over the messy system we have now.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's the weekend, so no predictions, but I will stand up on the Weekly Soapbox.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 September 2015

Birthdays
Elyse Levesque b. 1985 (The Originals, SGU Stargate Universe, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Smallville, Flash Gordon, 2030 CE, MythQuest)
Harry Treadaway b. 1984 (Penny Dreadful [2014], Cockneys vs Zombies)
Luke Treadaway b. 1984 (Clash of the Titans)
Lindsay Maxwell b. 1981 (Supernatural, Hair of the Sasquatch, The Butterfly Effect 2, Deep Evil, Stargate SG-1, Seven Days)
Kyle Bornheimer b. 1975 (Agent Carter, Jericho)
Sebastian Gutierrez b. 1974 (writer, The Eye, Rise: Blood Hunter, Gothika, Mermaid Chronicles Part 1: She Creature)
Sarah Danielle Goldberg Madison b. 1974 died 27 September 2014 (Savage Planet, Jurassic Park III)
Ryan Phillippe b. 1974 (Invader, Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare)
James Duval b. 1972 (Lazarus, Hercules Reborn, Evilution, Frog-g-g!, Donnie Darko, Independence Day)
Tim Plester b. 1970 (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Kick-Ass)
Johnathon Schaech b. 1969 (Sleepy Hollow [TV], Star-Crossed, The Legend of Hercules, Quarantine)
Jay Laga’aia b. 1963 (Daybreakers, Legend of the Seeker, Star Wars: Episodes II and II, Xena, Mysterious Island)
Colin Firth b. 1960 (Dorian Gray, A Christmas Carol [2009], Nanny McPhee)
Jim Meskimen b. 1959 (Big Bang Theory, Battlefield Earth, Seven Days, Team Knight Rider, The Journey of Allen Strange, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Apollo 13)
Stacey Nelkin b. 1959 (Fringe, Twilight Zone [1986], Halloween III: Season of the Witch)
Chris Columbus b. 1958 (director, Pixels, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Bicentennial Man)
Jim Jackman b. 1957 (Zombthology, My Stepmother Is an Alien, Spaceballs)
Kate Burton b. 1957 (Extant, Revolution, Grimm, Big Trouble in Little China, Alice in Wonderland [1983])
Fred Olen Ray b. 1954 (director, 135 films, some under the pseudonym Nicholas Medina, most direct to video, either bad sci-fi or soft-core porn, none worth watching)
Clark Johnson b. 1954 (666 Park Avenue, Re-Generation, Forever Knight, Murder in Space, Mazes and Monsters)
Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson b. 1954 (Sci-Fighter, Virtual Combat, Batman Forever, Cyber Tracker, Future Kick)
Stuart Milligan b. 1953 (Doctor Who, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Whoops Apocalypse, Outland)
Amy Irving b. 1953 (Zero Hour, Tuck Everlasting, Twilight Zone: Rod Serling’s Lost Classics [1994], Rumplestiltskin, The Fury, Carrie)
Harry Groener b. 1951 (Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Star Trek: Enterprise, Buffy, Roswell, The Day the World Ended, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Charmed, Sleepwalkers, Star Trek: Voyager, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Judy Geeson b. 1948 (Charmed, Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion, Star Trek: Voyager, Horror Planet, Star Maidens, Space: 1999)
Bo Goldman b. 1932 (screenwriter, Meet Joe Black)
Philip Baker Hall b. 1931 (The Amityville Horror [2005], 3rd Rock from the Sun, Roswell, M.A.N.T.I.S., Ghostbusters II, The Goddess of Love, Man from Atlantis)
Gwen Watford b. 1927 died 6 February 1994 (Doomwatch, Taste the Blood of Dracula)
Edmond O’Brien b. 1915 died 9 May 1985 (Fantastic Voyage, Moon Pilot, 1984 [1956])
Robert Wise b. 1914 died 14 September 2005 (director, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Andromeda Strain, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Curse of the Cat People)
Bessie Love b. 1898 died 26 April 1986 (The Hunger, Vampyres, My Partner the Ghost, Battle Beneath the Earth, The Andromeda Breakthrough, The Lost World [1925])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to director Robert Wise and actor Harry Groener for his role on Buffy. While we have a few movie stars, I think the list is light on iconic stars in genre, so I went with Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith in the American movie version of 1984.

WHICH IS NOT ICONIC BECAUSE THE MOVE SUCKED EGGS!

I do this today as a warning. The American versions of 1984, on TV with Eddie Albert and on the big screen with Edmond O'Brien, are just awful. The British versions, on TV in the 1950s with Peter Cushing and the movie from 1984 with John Hurt, actually understand Orwell's point. 

2. Spot the Canadians! We have two today. Elyse Levesque and Lindsay Maxwell.

3. Nepotism FTW.  Kate Burton is Richard Burton's daughter. It had to make a difference early in her career.

4. Awesome nickname, still not quite iconic in genre. Don "The Dragon" Wilson is iconic in martial arts, not so much on sci-fi and fantasy films.

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

Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in the 1955 book Utopia 1976

Prediction: The low estimate of the world’s population in 2000 is three billion.

Reality: This is a crazy number. The world population crossed three billion before 1960 and was over six billion in 2000. The only thing that would have done this is a truly horrific World War III and we have avoided that so far, though Glenn Beck tells me it's just around the corner.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We are running low on predictions from H.G. Wells' Anticipations, which suits me just fine because I lost patience with his scumbaggery quite some time ago.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

9 September 2015

Birthdays
Mary-Jessica Pitts b. 1996 (Hancock)
Lauren Clinton b. 1993 (Bridge to Terabithia)
Kelsey Asbille Chow b. 1991 (The Amazing Spider-Man)
Jo Woodcock b. 1988 (Dorian Gray)
Josh Herdman b. 1987 (Wizards vs. Aliens, Harry Potter)
Amy Manson b. 1985 (Once Upon a Time, Atlantis, Being Human, Torchwood, Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud)
Julie Gonzalo b. 1981 (Vamp U)
Michelle Williams b. 1980 (Oz the Great and Powerful, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Timemaster, Species)
Maria Arce b. 1979 (Mortal Kombat: Conquest)
Goran Visnjic b. 1972 (Extant, The Deep, Elektra, Practical Magic)
Henry Thomas b.1971 (Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Cloak & Dagger, E.T.)
Eric Stonestreet b. 1971 (American Horror Story, The Island)
Rachel Hunter b. 1969 (Piranhaconda, MorphMan)
Julia Sawalha b. 1968 (Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Comic Relief: Doctor Who – The Curse of Fatal Death)
Alexandra Powers b. 1967 (Brimstone, Cast a Deadly Spell)
Adam Sandler b. 1966 (Pixels, Bedtime Stories, Click, Little Nicky, Coneheads)
David Bennent b. 1966 (Legend)
Michelle Johnson b. 1965 (Specimen, Death Becomes Her, Beaks: The Movie, Werewolf)
Charles Esten b. 1965 (The Postman, Lois & Clark, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Constance Marie b. 1965 (Early Edition)
Brenda Epperson b. 1965 (Bug Buster)
Kevin Grevioux b. 1962 (I, Frankenstein, Underworld, Charmed, Angel, Men in Black II, Planet of the Apes, Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy, Sliders, Batman Forever, The Mask, Deep Space Nine)
Hugh Grant b. 1960 (Cloud Atlas, The Lair of the White Worm)
Brent Stait b. 1959 (Fringe, Supernatural, TRON: Legacy, Stonehenge Apocalypse, Smallville, Blade: The Series, Stargate: Atlantis, The 4400, Battlestar Galactica, Andromeda, Mysterious Ways, Seven Days, First Wave, Roswell: The Aliens Attack, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The X Files, Highlander [TV], Neon Rider, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future)
Edward Hibbert b. 1955 (The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, Loch Ness)
Jeffrey Alan Combs b. 1954 (Gotham, Elf-Man, Dorothy and the Witches of Oz, The Dunwich Horror, The 4400, Abominable, SharkMan, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, House on Haunted Hill, Deep Space Nine, Time Tracers, Perversions of Science, The Frighteners, Babylon 5, Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero, Doctor Mordrid, Trancers II, The Flash, Guyver, Robot Jox, Re-Animator, Beauty and the Beast, From Beyond, Re-Animator, The Man with Two Brains)
Janet Fielding b. 1953 (Doctor Who)
Angela Cartwright b. 1952 (Lost in Space [1998 and 1960s], Logan’s Run [TV])
Tom Wopat b. 1951 (Jonah Hex, Smallville)
Art LaFleur b. 1943 (Speed Racer, Night Stalker, Angel, A.J.’s Time Travelers, Space Rangers, Tales from the Crypt, Trancers I & II, The Blob, WarGames, The Invisible Woman, Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again, The Incredible Hulk)
Topol b.1935 (SeaQuest 2032, Flash Gordon)
Margaret Tyzack b. 1931 died 25 June 2011 (Quatermass, 2001, A Clockwork Orange)
Cliff Robertson b.1923 died 10 September 2011(Amazing Spider –Man)
James Hilton b. 1900 died 20 December 1954 (author, Lost Horizon)
Neil Hamilton b. 1899 died 24 September 1984 (Batman, The Munsters, The Outer Limits)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The list has a lot of famous names, but many of them aren't iconic in genre. Previous Picture Slotters were Henry Thomas from E.T. and Janet Fielding from Doctor Who. That still leaves a lot of good choices as far as I'm concerned, but I decided to go way old school with Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon from the 1960s Batman.

2. Spot the Canadian! Today, it's just Brent Stait and he has a very Canadian looking resume.

3. The Guy at the Door. On yesterday's list the cut-off year between the living and the dead was 1945, which is cutting it too close for my tastes. Today, the year is 1935 with Israeli actor Topol turning 80, another good choice for the Picture Slot as Dr. Zoltan in Flash Gordon. As always, the blog extends special birthday best wishes to anyone who has this odd demographic trait.


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

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1902 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: Not only will those subscribers who are connected by wire with central stations have the advantage of being called at any hour in the morning according to their intimated wishes, but such services as lighting the fires in winter mornings, so that rooms may be fairly warmed before they are entered, will be performed by electric messages sent from a central station.

Reality: Our sensible friend wants to use the power of radio - which he called wireless telephony - to do what alarm clocks and thermostats do for us at much less cost or trouble. No points for these.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction, likely overly-optimistic, from Utopia 1976.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

8 September 2015

Birthdays
Travis Nelson b. 1990 (Supernatural, Fringe, Meteor Storm, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil)
Justin Bradley b. 1985 (Being Human, Warm Bodies, Beastly)
Christine Weatherup b. 1983 (Star Kid)
Jonathan Taylor Thomas b. 1981 (Smallville)
Miles Jupp b. 1979 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)
Nate Corddry b. 1977 (Ghostbusters [2016], The Invention of Lying)
Larenz Tate b. 1975 (The Postman, The Twilight Zone [1985])
Martin Freeman b. 1971 (Captain America: Civil War, The Hobbit, The World’s End, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Shaun of the Dead)
Brooke Burke-Charvet b. 1971 (The Wraith)
David Arquette b. 1971 (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Eight Legged Freaks, Muppets from Space, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Brian Huskey b. 1968 (This Is the End, Fright Night [2011], Meet Dave, Land of the Lost [2009])
Brad Silberling b. 1963 (director, Land of the Lost, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Casper)
Larry Zerner b. 1963 (Knights of Badassdom, Friday the 13th Part III)
Thomas Kretschmann b. 1962 (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dracula [TV], Dracula 3D, FlashForward, Bionic Woman, King Kong, Frankenstein [2004 TV], Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Blade II, Relic Hunter, Total Recall 2070, Total Reality)
David Knell b. 1961 (Grimm, The Invisible Man, Total Recall, ALF, Splash, The Devil and Max Devlin)
Tom Tangen b. 1961 (Monkeybone, Donnie Darko, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Back to the Future)
Sonja Smits b. 1958 (Odyssey 5, TekWar, Videodrome)
Heather Thomas b. 1957 (Swamp Thing [TV], Cyclone, Zapped!)
Julian Richings b. 1955 (The Witch, Hellmouth, Orphan Black, Supernatural, Man of Steel, Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Survival of the Dead, Saw IV, X-Men: The Last Stand, Skinwalkers, Re-Generation, Prince Charming, My Best Friend is an Alien, Highlander: The Raven, Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms, Cube, Mimic, RoboCop [TV], War of the Worlds [TV])
Clayton Norcross b. 1954 (Weird Science [TV], Defending Your Life)
Mark Lindsay Chapman b. 1954 (Charmed, Poltergeist: The Legacy, NightMan, Legend of the Mummy, The Burning Zone, Lois & Clark, Weird Science [TV], The Langoliers, Swamp Thing [TV], Max Headroom)
Willard Huyck b. 1945 (writer/director, Howard the Duck; writer, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
Archie Goodwin b. 1937 died 1 March 1988 (writer, Marvel Comics and Warren Publications)
Michael A. Hoey b. 1934 died 17 August 2014 (director, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Joe Kubert b. 1926 died 12 August 2012 (artist)
Peter Sellers b. 1925 died 24 July 1980 (Alice in Wonderland [1972 and 1966])
Harry Harris b. 1922 died 19 March 2009 (director, Alice in Wonderland [1985], Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space)
Harry Secombe b. 1921 died 11 April 2001 (Alice Through the Looking Box)
Frank Cady b. 1915 died 8 June 2012 (Monster Squad [TV], 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Next Voice You Hear…)
Alexander Mackendrick b. 1912 died 22 December 1993 (writer/director, The Man in the White Suit)
Brian Morrow b. 1911 died 11 May 2006 (Beauty and the Beast, Freddie’s Nightmares, Otherworld, The Greatest American Hero, The Bionic Woman, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Star Trek, Bewitched, Lost in Space, The Invaders, Captain Nice, I Dream of Jeannie, Cyborg 2087, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, Twilight Zone)
William Fawcett b. 1894 died 25 January 1974 (I Dream of Jeannie, Mr. Terrific, The Munsters, Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, Twilight Zone, Commando Cody, Captain Video, Atom Man vs. Superman, Batman and Robin [1949])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went Oh That Guy with Brian Morrow and noted the first episode aired of Star Trek. This year, I drag myself into the 21st Century with a picture of Martin Freeman from The Hobbit.

2. Spot the Canadians! Our two youngest on today's list, Travis Nelson and Justin Bradley, are both born north of the border, as is Sonja Smits. Julian Richings was born in Britain but moved to Canada in the 1980s.

3. Nepotism FTW. David Arquette is one of the multi-generational family of actors.

4. The Guy at the Door. On today's list, the cut-off year for the living and the dead is 1945, which is way too recent for my tastes. This means the blog gives special best wishes on his birthday to Willard Huyck, even though he is responsible for Howard the Duck.

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

TV show premieres 
Star Trek first aired, 1966

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in the 1957 book The Door Into Summer

Prediction: The Times came to me by tube each morning, now that I was a solid citizen.

Reality: This scene takes place in 2000 and Heinlein is discussing newspaper delivery by pneumatic tube.

He gets no marks for this, but I do not judge him, because this failed prediction makes me sad.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit from out friend George Sutherland.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!