18 August 2015

Birthdays
Max Charles b. 2003 (The Strain, Constantine, White Space, The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2, True Blood)
Maia Mitchell b. 1993 (After the Dark)
Richard Harmon b. 1991 (The Age of Adaline, Continuum, The 100, Fringe, Caprica, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Smallville, Flash Gordon [TV], Jeremiah)
Mika Boorem b. 1987 (Mighty Joe Young, Jack Frost, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch)
Katie Lyons b. 1981 (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus)
Rhonda Dent b. 1978 (Helix, Almost Human, Supernatural, The 4400, Insecticidal)
Mizuo Peck b. 1977 (Night at the Museum, Witchblade)
Malcolm-Jamal Warner b. 1970 (American Horror Story, Jeremiah, Sliders)
Edward Norton b. 1969 (Birdman, The Invention of Lying, The Incredible Hulk)
Christian Slater b. 1969 (Hot Tub Time Machine 2, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, Beyond the Stars)
Brian Bendis b. 1967 (writer, Jessica Jones, Powers, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman)
Sarita Choudhury b. 1966 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Midnight’s Children, Lady in the Water)
Jorgen Langhelle b. 1965 (The Thing)
Craig Bierko b. 1964 (The Thirteenth Floor, Red Dwarf [TV Movie])
Adam Storke b. 1962 (The Invisible Man [TV], Prey, Death Becomes Her, Lifepod)
Glenn Plummer b. 1961 (Monsters in the Woods, Vegas Vampires, Saw II, The Day After Tomorrow, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Strange Days, Beauty and the Beast [TV])
Michael McCleery b. 1959 (Alien Space Avenger)
Reg E. Cathey b. 1958 (Fantastic Four, Grimm, Tank Girl, The Mask, Star Trek: Next Generation)
Madeleine Stowe b. 1958 (Impostor, Twelve Monkeys, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Dennis Leary b. 1957 (Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2, Small Soldiers, Demolition Man)
Sergio Castellitto b. 1953 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)
Patrick Swayze b. 1952 died 14 September 2009 (George and the Dragon, Donnie Darko, Tall Tale, Ghost, Amazing Stories)
Teri McMinn b. 1951 (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Shirley Prestia b. 1947 died 6 October 2011 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Charmed, Babylon 5, Species, ALF)
Martin Mull b. 1943 (Eastwick, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Lois & Clark, Wonder Woman)
Robert Redford b. 1936 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Twilight Zone)
Gail Fisher b. 1935 died 2 December 2000 (Knight Rider)
Roman Polanski b. 1933 (director, Rosemary’s Baby, The Fearless Vampire Killers)
Anna Navarro b. 1933 died 27 December 2006 (Last Action Hero, Galactica 1980, Son of Sinbad, The Adventures of Hajji Baba)
Grant Williams b. 1931 died 28 July 1985 (Brain of Blood, The Outer Limits, The Munsters, The Monolith Monsters, The Incredible Shrinking Man)
Joan Taylor b. 1929 died 4 March 2012 (Men Into Space, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Earth vs. Flying Saucers)
Brian W. Aldiss b. 1925 (author, The Year Before Yesterday, Enigma; screenwriter, Brothers of the Head, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Frankenstein Unbound)
Shelley Winters b. 1920 died 14 January 2006 (Purple People Eater, Alice in Wonderland [1985], Pete’s Dragon, Batman)
Don Keefer 1916 died 7 September 2014 (Lois & Clark, Creepshow, Time Express, The Incredible Hulk, Sleeper, Star Trek, Bewitched, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, ‘Way Out, Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Robert Redford and Grant Williams have been in the Picture Slot previously, and when Don Keefer died last year, I had a picture of him from It's a Good Life, one of the iconic Twilight Zone episodes. If I go with the no repeat rule, Patrick Swayze from Ghost is likely the most iconic picture I can use.

2. Spot the Canadians! Both Rhonda Dent and Richard Harmon were born in Canada and are typical of the actors who gigs in Toronto and Vancouver. This is yet another example of government intervention that works to the benefit of the people of the country.

Gosh, I wonder if people might try that in the United States someday.

3. Wait... she's dead? And her, too? There are several people on the list who died young, most notably Patrick Swayze, but there are some today who I hadn't filed in the deceased category yet. They are Shirley Prestia, one of the original members of The Groundlings, and Gail Fisher, best known for her role on Mannix.

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

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

Prediction: The changes in the language surprised me. Take one word used in innocence. A lady present was offended and only the fact that I was a Sleeper – which I hastily explained – kept her husband from giving me a mouthful of knuckles.

The word was “kink”.

Reality: The somewhat rude meaning of kink is the most common usage today, but no one will threaten you with bodily harm for using it in mixed company. You might be referring to Ray Davies, for example, and anyone who gets into a "mouthful of knuckles" mood when The Kinks are mentioned might well find me similarly offended.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is it Wednesday already? That means a visit from our sensible friend George Sutherland.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

17 August 2015

Birthdays
Daniel Huttlestone b. 1999 (Into the Woods)
Taissa Farmiga b. 1994 (American Horror Story)
Austin Butler b. 1991 (Arrow, 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)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach b. 1978 (The Last Ship, Fringe)
Dana Daurey b. 1976 (Bewitched)
Donnie Wahlberg b. 1969 (Saw II, III & IV, The Sixth Sense)
Helen McCrory b. 1968 (Penny Dreadful, Hugo, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, Frankenstein [1994])
Andrew Koenig b. 1968 died 14 February 2010 (InAlienable, Deep Space Nine)
David Conrad b. 1967 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Roswell)
Don McKeller b. 1963 (Blindness, eXistenZ, Last Night, 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)
Gail Berman b. 1956 (producer, Alphas, Angel, Buffy)
Robert Joy b. 1951 (Defiance, Superhero Movie, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, The Hills Have Eyes [2006], Land of the Dead, Star Trek: Voyager, Fallen, The Dark Half, Maniac Mansion, Millennium, 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)
Sandra Harrison b.1935 (Blood of Dracula, Adventures of Superman)
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 Invisible Man)
Ted Hughes b. 1930 died 29 October 1998 (author, The Iron Giant)
Julianna McCarthy b. 1929 (Deep Space Nine, Starship Troopers, The Frighteners, Dark Shadows [1991], )
Julius Harris b. 1923 died 17 October 2004 (Eerie, Indiana, Darkman, Amazing Stories, The Incredible Hulk, King Kong [1976])
Maureen O’Hara b. 1920 (Bagdad, Sinbad, the Sailor)
Evelyn Ankers b. 1918 died 29 August 1985 (The Invisible Man's Revenge, Son of Dracula, The Ghost of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man)
John Brahm b. 1983 died 12 October 1982 (director, Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, The Undying Monster)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The previous Picture Slot folk are Glenn Corbett from Star Trek and Helen McCrory from Harry Potter. This year, I'm going with one of our two A-list stars (more on the second later in the post) in one of my favorite films Robert DeNiro as Tuttle in Brazil.

2. Spot the Canadians. Robert Joy and Don McKellar, neither easily spotted.

3. Nepotism, not much of a win. We have some siblings, Donnie Wahlberg and Taissa Farmiga, but I'm not sure they count. Poor Andrew Koenig is the son of Walter, but he committed suicide five years ago, so I hesitate to say it's "For The Win".

4. And special birthday wishes to... the other A-List movie star on the list, Maureen O'Hara, the archetype in Hollywood for the redhead who turns strong men into taffy with a glare and a turn of her lovely head. She turns 95 this year and all the rest of us are lucky she decided to come to our world.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, most especially the low flying angel Maureen O'Hara, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published in 1982

Prediction: Authors will enter their text either on a computer terminal linked by telephone (or other type of cable) to a publisher's central computer. The increasing mechanization of publishing will require that writers buy and use word processors to increase their productivity and have their texts be compatible with publishers' computer systems.

Reality: I don't exactly remember the last time a prediction was so good my first thought was "Well, fucking D'UH!" The thing is, in 1982 this was not a done deal. This prediction gets an unqualified A. I might even look to see if I sill have any gold stars handy.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The Commie John Langon-Davies has been exhausted and will be replaced by Robert A. Heinlein.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 August 2015

Birthdays
Cameron Monaghan b. 1993 (Amityville, Gotham, Vampire Academy, Fringe, Click, Threshold)
Evanna Lynch b. 1991 (Sinbad, Harry Potter)
Kevin G. Schmidt b. 1988 (The Butterfly Effect, Taken)
Arden Cho b. 1985 (Teen Wolf, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid)
Agnes Brucker b. 1985 (The Returned, Once Upon a Time, Venom)
Todd Haberkorn b. 1982 (Star Trek Continues, Warehouse 13)
Cam Gigandet b. 1982 (Priest, Pandorum, The Unborn, Twilight)
George Stults b. 1975 (Hydra, Night Skies)
Donovan Leitch Jr. b. 1967 (The Blob)
Andy Milder b. 1965 (Transformers, Star Trek: Voyager, Good vs Evil, Armageddon, From the Earth to the Moon, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Apollo 13)
William Salyers b. 1964 (Bedazzled)
Christine Cavanaugh b. 1963 died 22 December 2014 (Dexter’s Laboratory, The X-Files, Babe)
Steve Carell b. 1962 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Bewitched [2005])
Elpidia Carillo b. 1961 (Solaris, Predator 1 and 2)
Timothy Hutton b. 1960 (The Last Mimzy, Iceman)
Angela Bassett b. 1958 (American Horror Story, Green Lantern, Supernova, Contact, Strange Days, Vampire in Brooklyn, Innocent Blood, Critters 4, The Flash, Alien Nation [TV])
Laura Innes b. 1957 (Warehouse 13, Awake, The Event, Deep Impact, The Fury)
Jeff Perry b. 1955 (Fringe, Invasion, Lost, American Gothic, The Flash)
Josh Clark b. 1955 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Heroes, Star Trek: Voyager, The Invisible Man, Babylon 5, Millennium, Big, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
James Cameron b. 1954 (director, Avatar, Dark Angel, Terminator 2:Judgment Day, The Abyss, Aliens, The Terminator, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning)
Reginald VelJohnson b. 1952 (Ghostbusters, Wolfen)
Marshall Manesh b. (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The X Files, Kazaam)
Lesley Ann Warren b. 1946 (Wolf Girl, Faerie Tale Theatre, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman!)
Bob Balaban b. 1945 (Lady in the Water, Amazing Stories, 2010, Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
Sharon Baird b. 1943 (Ratboy, Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Pufnstuf)
Maurice Hurley b. 1939 died 25 February 2015 (writer, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Firebird 2015 AD)
Carole Shelley b. 1939 (Bewitched [2005], Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1956])
Anita Gillette b. 1936 (Pinocchio [1968 TV])
Donnie Dunagan b. 1934 (Son of Frankenstein)
Sir John Standing b. 1934 (Game of Thrones, V for Vendetta, Lexx, Gulliver’s Travels, Eerie, Indiana, Space: 1999)
Julie Newmar b. 1933 (Oblivion 1 and 2, Deep Space, The Powers of Matthew Star, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Jason of Star Command, The Bionic Woman, Monster Squad, Bewitched, Star Trek, Batman, My Living Doll, Twilight Zone)
Robert Culp b. 1930 died 24 March 2010 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Conan [TV], Lois & Clark, The Greatest American Hero, The Outer Limits, Now is Tomorrow)
Ann Blyth b. 1928 (Twilight Zone, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid)
Lois Nettleton b. 1927 died 18 January 2008 (Babylon 5, The Flash, The Munsters Today, The Bamboo Saucer, Twilight Zone, Captain Video)
Fess Parker b. 1924 died 18 March 2010 (Them!)
Mae Clarke b. 1910 died 29 April 1992 (Batman, Frankenstein)
Glenn Strange b. 1899 died 20 September 1973 (Space Patrol, Master Minds, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, House of Dracula, House of Frankenstein, The Monster Maker, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mad Monster, Flash Gordon)
Hugo Gernsback b. 1884 died 19 August 1967 (editor, Amazing Stories, Wonder Stories)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went a little old school with the fabulous Julie Newmar and really old school with Hugo Gernsback. Using the no repeats rule, there were three people I considered: Glenn Strange, the little known actor who took over the role of Frankenstein's monster when Boris Karloff wearied of it, the director James Cameron and the winner, Evanna Lynch, best known as Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series


2. Spot the Canadian! James Cameron is Canadian. I've always thought of Canadians as relatively nice and modest people. Maybe they keep that reputation by exporting (or is it deporting?) braggarts like Cameron.

3. Nepotism FTW. Timothy Hutton is the son of actor Jim Hutton. The son's career has eclipse the father's, but I expect it helped early on. Donovan Leitch Jr. is the son of Donovan Leitch Sr. While I'm not sure how much a musician counts as a nepotistic advantage in a career on film, it should be noted his sister Ione Skye also has a career.


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!

Monday = OMNI Future Almanac, my steady and reliable source of predictions since the blog began.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

15 August 2015

Birthdays
Jennifer Lawrence b. 1990 (X-Men, Hunger Games)
Emily Kinney b. 1985 (The Flash, Forever, The Walking Dead)
Clinton Aaron b. 1984 (Left Behind, The Appearing)
Natasha Henstridge b. 1974 (Beauty and the Beast [2015], The Secret Circle, Impact, Ghosts of Mars, Jason and the Argonauts [TV 2000], Species I, II & III, Homeboys from Outer Space)
Ben Affleck b. 1972 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Paycheck, Daredevil, Dogma, Armageddon, Phantoms, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie])
Anthony Anderson b. 1970 (Transformers, Alien Avengers)
Debra Messing b. 1968 (The Mothman Prophecies, Prey)
Michael Berresse b. 1964 (Meet Dave, A.I. Artificial Intelligence)
Andy Forrest b. 1963 (The Future, Carnivale)
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu b. 1963 (writer, Birdman)
David Zayas b. 1962 (Gotham, Grimm, Skyline, Angel)
Zeljko Ivanek b. 1957 (12 Monkeys [TV], True Blood, Revolution, The Event, Heroes, Lost, From the Earth to the Moon, The X-Files)
Tess Harper b. 1950 (Early Edition, The Hidden Room, Twilight Zone [1986], Amityville 3-D, Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land)
Ann Ryerson b. 1949 (Constantine [2005], Minority Report, Friday the 13th Part VI)
Jill Haworth b. 1945 died 3 January 2011 (The Mutations, Horror on Snape Island, Horror House, It!, The Outer Limits)
Nigel Terry b. 1945 died 20 April 2015 (Doctor Who, Highlander [TV], Excalibur)
Barbara Bouchet b. 1943 (Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Lou Perryman b. 1941 died 1 April 2009 (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Poltergeist)
Michael J. Reynolds b. 1939 (Moonshot, Lexx, Earth: Final Conflict, The Lifeforce Experiment, Twilight Zone [1989], Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, Plague, The Neptune Factor)
Pat Priest b. 1936 (The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, Bewitched, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Mike Henry b. 1936 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Soylent Green)
Abby Dalton b. 1935 (Cyber Tracker, Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent)
Jim Dale b. 1935 (Unidentified Flying Oddball, Pete’s Dragon)
Lori Nelson b. 1933 (The Naked Monster, Day the World Ended, Revenge of the Creature)
Janice Rule b. 1931 died 17 October 2003 (The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Twilight Zone, Bell, Book and Candle)
Nicolas Roeg b. 1928 (director, The Witches, The Man Who Fell to Earth)
Mike Connors b. 1925 (Earthlings, Voodoo Woman, The Day the World Ended)
Vincent Beck b. 1924 died 24 July 1984 (The Invisible Man [1975], The Bamboo Saucer, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians)
Elizabeth Kerr b. 1912 died 13 January 2000 (Mork & Mindy, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Signe Hasso b. 1910 died 7 June 2002 (The Green Hornet, The Outer Limits)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went fabulous (and iconic) with Jennifer Lawrence from The Hunger Games and Natasha Henstridge from Species. If I were going to choose a guy instead this year, I could choose Nigel Terry from Excalibur, but he got a picture when he died a few months back. Using Ben Affleck from Daredevil or Vincent Beck from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians would just be cruel, so the best choices for continuing the fabulosity theme are Abby Dalton from Viking Women vs. the Sea Serpent, Pat Priest as Marilyn Munster, Barbara Bouchet as one of the legion of babes Kirk seduced on Star Trek and today's winner, Emily Kinney from The Walking Dead.

2. Wait... he's alive? Years ago, I did a blog on the headlines from the supermarket tabloids and they put a lot of celebrities from the 1960s on the cover with warnings they would be dead soon. They predicted Mike Connors was not long for this world five years ago. This is in keeping with their usual accuracy, which is pretty damned awful. Mike Connors turns 90 and best wishes to him. On a non-genre note, Rose Marie turns 92, though I didn't find a credit for her.

3. MST3K. We've got a mess o' stuff today. I've already mentioned the movies that Abby Dalton and Vincent Beck were in, but there's also Revenge of the Creature with Lori Nelson.

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

Movie released
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension released, 1984

The Weekly Soapbox: Overpopulation

We have had a lot of predictions about population and the majority of them are really about overpopulation or methods that will be used to stop overpopulation.

There are a lot of scary ways to present the numbers. For example, if we start at 1925 and move by 30 year increments, it looks like this.

1925: Just under 2 billion
1955: Just under 3 billion
1985: Just under 5 billion
2015: Just over 7 billion

It may be hard to see any hope in these numbers, but the rate of increase slowed down in the 1960s and is still decreasing. Guys like Paul Ehrlich made their reputation predicting mass starvation as the third world norm, but the percentage of people living in danger of food scarcity has decreased dramatically in the past fifty years.

The true cost of massive number of humans is environmental degradation, which includes our contribution to climate change. Like with overpopulation, we are showing only a minor political will to try to solve the problem. Will climate change be "not as bad as predicted"? Or is it a problem so big, we can't even see the events that will impact us before rising sea levels make a significant change in where humans can live and work?

In something of an ironic twist, the Catholic Church - which made efforts to control overpopulation difficult - is now one of the strongest voices to speak out about capitalism's degradation of the environment, most notably since Pope Francis has been installed.

I usually don't make exact predictions, but when my students are my age in the second half of this century, I think things will be significantly worse than they are now for the majority of people unless serious action is taken soon by governments around the globe.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Sunday's are birthday list only. It's Julie Newmar's special day, but I've already used her in The Picture Slot. Oh, how I rue the "no repeats" rule. Who will it be instead?
  
Fin out one day from now... IN THE FUTURE!

14 August 2015

Birthdays
Garrett Ryan b. 1999 (Insidious, Teen Wolf, Oculis, Heroes)
Cassi Thomson b. 1993 (Left Behind, Grave Halloween)
Mila Kunis b. 1983 (Jupiter Ascending, Oz the Great and Powerful, Ted, The Book of Eli, Piranha)
Nick Holmes b. 1981 (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Zack Whedon b. 1979 (writer, Fringe, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog)
Christopher Gorham b. 1974 (Once Upon a Time, Jake 2.0, Odyssey 5, Buffy)
Raoul Bova b. 1971 (AvP: Alien vs Predator)
Michelle Lintel b. 1969 (Battle Planet, Black Scorpion)
Catherine Bell b. 1968 (The Good Witch, Threshold, The Triangle, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Alien Nation: Body and Soul)
Ben Bass b. 1968 (Dead Like Me, Jeremiah, Strange Frequency, The Lone Gunmen, The 6th Day, Stargate SG-1, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The Hunger, Bride of Chucky, Forever Knight)
Adrian Lester b. 1968 (Merlin [2009], Doomsday, Being Human, Afterlife, Day After Tomorrow, Jason and the Argonauts [2000 TV])
Halle Berry b. 1966 (Extant, X-Men, Cloud Atlas, Catwoman, They Came from Outer Space [TV])
Brannon Braga b. 1965 (writer, Salem, Terra Nova, FlashForward, Threshold, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Cristi Conaway b. 1964 (Timecop, The Advanced Guard, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, Batman Returns)
Andrew Kevin Walker b. 1964 (writer, The Wolfman, Sleepy Hollow [film], Perversions of Science)
Emmanuelle Beart b. 1963 (Date with an Angel)
David Aaron Baker b. 1963 (The Leftovers, Revolution, Beauty and the Beast [2014])
Marcia Gay Hardin b. 1959 (The Invisible, Space Cowboys, Flubber, Superman 50th Anniversary)
Tony Moran b. 1957 (American Poltergeist, Halloween)
Greg Bradford b. 1955 (Zapped!)
James Horner b. 1953 died 22 June 2015 (composer, Star Trek New Voyages, The Amazing Spider-Man, Shoestring Space Opera, Avatar, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Bicentennial Man, Mighty Joe Young, Deep Impact, Jumanji, Apollo 13, Casper, The Rocketeer, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Cocoon, Willow, *batteries not included, Aliens, Amazing Stories, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Brainstorm, Krull, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Wolfen, The Hand, Battle Beyond the Stars, Humanoids from the Deep)
Carl Lumbly b. 1951 (Hope: The Last Paladin, Battlestar Galactica, Strange World, M.A.N.T.I.S., The X Files, SeaQuest 2032, Buckaroo Banzai, Lifepod, Caveman)
Jim Wynorski b. 1950 (director, so much cheap crap I’m a little ashamed I know who he is)
Lou Wagner b. 1948 (Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The UFO Incident, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Beneath of the Planet of the Apes, Pufnstuf, Hello Down There, Planet of the Apes, Lost in Space)
Susan Saint James b. 1946 (Love at First Bite)
Antonio Fargas b. 1946 (Heroes, Good vs Evil, Homeboys in Outer Space, Firestarter, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Wim Wenders b. 1945 (director, Until the End of the World, Wings of Desire)
Steve Martin b. 1945 (Little Shop of Horrors, The Man with Two Brains)
Robert Viharo b. 1942 (The Evil, Dark Shadows)
Alexei Panshin b. 1940 (winner of 1969 Nebula for Rite of Passage)
Candace Hilligoss b. 1935 (The Curse of the Living Corpse, Carnival of Souls)
Alice Ghostley b. 1924 died 21 September 2007 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Small Wonder, Bewitched, Captain Nice)
Angela Clarke b. 1909 died 16 December 2010 (The Outer Limits, House of Wax)
 Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Halle Berry and Mila Kunis, both iconic, both fabulous. This year, I felt it was a contest between two artists I love turning 70 today, Steve Martin and Wim Wenders. Wings of Desire won.

2. Nepotism FTW. Zach Whedon was willing to start at the ground floor, but it did help that his brother Joss was running the show.

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

Movies released.
District 9 released, 2009

I still remember walking home from this movie, polishing the Big Ugly Stick. I really, really hated it.

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

Prediction: The law that dominates the future is glaringly plain. A people must develop and consolidate its educated efficient classes or be beaten in war and give way upon all points where its interests conflict with the interests of more capable people. It must foster and accelerate that natural segregation, which has been discussed in the third and fourth chapters of these "Anticipations," or perish. The war of the coming time will really be won in schools and colleges and universities, wherever men write and read and talk together. The nation that produces in the near future the largest proportional development of educated and intelligent engineers and agriculturists, of doctors, schoolmasters, professional soldiers, and intellectually active people of all sorts; the nation that most resolutely picks over, educates, sterilizes, exports, or poisons its People of the Abyss; the nation that succeeds most subtly in checking gambling and the moral decay of women and homes that gambling inevitably entails; the nation that by wise interventions, death duties and the like, contrives to expropriate and extinguish incompetent rich families while leaving individual ambitions free; the nation, in a word, that turns the greatest proportion of its irresponsible adiposity into social muscle, will certainly be the nation that will be the most powerful in warfare as in peace, will certainly be the ascendant or dominant nation before the year 2000.

Reality: It's pretty much a given that any time Wells uses the phrase "People of the Abyss", I get an overwhelming desire to dig up his grave and punch him in his smug British nose. There has been an advantage in the 20th and 21st Centuries for the technologically superior, of course, but there have been a lot of wars won by the people who refused to give up. In the year 2000, after industrialized nations got over their propensity to fight wars directly against one another, the two dominant nations were the United States and China, not because of intellectual or moral superiority, but instead a willingness to produce wealth in different but definitely ruthless ways. 
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

On the Saturday Soapbox, looking at the predictions of overpopulation.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 August 2015

Birthdays
Sebastian Stan b. 1982 (The Martian, Ant-Man, Captain America, Labyrinth, Once Upon a Time, Hot Tub Time Machine, The Covenant)
Alex Gonzalez b. 1980 (X-Men: First Class)
Damien O’Hare b. 1977 (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Broken, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl)
Grégory Fitoussi b. 1976 (World War Z, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
Jody Thompson b. 1976 (Sanctuary, Fringe, 2012, Smallville, Alien Trespass, Stargate: Atlantis, Reaper, Flash Gordon [TV], Painkiller Jane, The 4400, Stargate: SG-1, Blade: The Series, Supernatural, Andromeda, Mission to Mars, NightMan)
James Carpinello b. 1975 (The Punisher)
Michael Sinterniklaas b. 1972 (The Venture Bros. and a whole lot of other voice work I don’t count)
Crystal Allen b. 1972 (Anacondas: Trail of Blood, Anaconda III, Haven, Star Trek: Enterprise, Wolves of Wall Street)
David Monahan b. 1971 (The Dark Knight Rises, Supernatural, Angel, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Heike Makatsch b. 1971 (Resident Evil, Anatomy 2)
Moritz Bleibtreu b. 1971 (World War Z, Speed Racer, Run Lola Run)
Sean Hood b. 1966 (writer, The Legend of Hercules, Conan the Barbarian [2011], The Crow: Wicked Prayer, Cube2: Hypercube, Halloween: Resurrection)
Debi Mazar b. 1964 (Red Riding Hood [2006], The Tuxedo, Space Truckers, Batman Forever)
John Slattery b. 1962 (Ant-Man, Ted 2, The Adjustment Bureau, Iron Man 2, From the Earth to the Moon)
Tom Perrotta b. 1961 (writer/producer, The Leftovers)
Dawnn Lewis b. 1961 (The Burning Zone, Sliders)
Tony Alcantar b. 1960 (Arrow, Continuum, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, Alice, Revolution [2009 TV Movie], Stargate SG-1, Fantastic Four, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Andromeda, Dark Angel, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Strange World)
Danny Bonaduce b. 1959 (Bigfoot, Shazam!, Bewitched)
Kathleen Gati b. 1957 (Alphas, Arrow, The Future, Carnivale)
Tom Davis b. 1952 died 19 July 2012 (writer, Coneheads)
Gene Day b. 1951 died 23 September 1982 (comic artist)
Jane Carr b. 1950 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Babylon 5)
Lillian Hurst b. 1949 (True Blood, Lost, The X-Files)
Maria Rohm b. 1945 (Count Dracula [1970])
Kevin Tighe b. 1944 (Salem, Lost, The 4400, Strange World, Star Trek: Voyager, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Immortal [TV])
Raymond Serra b. 1936 died 20 June 2003 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I & II [1990 & 1991], Wolfen)
Pat Harrington Jr. b. 1929 (The Invisible Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, 2000 Years Later, The Munsters)
Buck Kartalian b. 1922 (My Favorite Martian [1999], Monster Squad, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes [1972], Octaman, Planet of the Apes [1968], Batman, The Munsters, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Neville Brand b. 1920 died 16 April 1992 (Man from Atlantis, Killdozer, Twilight Zone)
Kurt Kasnar b. 1913 died 6 August 1979 (Wonder Woman, Land of the Giants)
Tristam Coffin b. 1909 died 26 March 1990 (The Time Tunnel, Batman, The Crawling Hand, The Night the World Exploded, Creature with the Atom Brain, King of the Rocket Men)
John Beal b. 1909 died 26 April 1997 (Amityville 3-D, Ark II, Dark Shadows, The Vampire)
Alfred Hitchcock b. 1899 died 29 April 1980 (director, The Birds)
Bert Lahr b. 1895 died 4 December 1967 (The Wizard of Oz)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I had Dean Venture - voiced by Michael Sinterniklass - and Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion. While there are some well-known names, iconic folk are scarce. I could have gone with Kurt Kasnar from Land of the Giants, but he was my least favorite character on a very weak show, so instead I went with Alfred Hitchcock and a publicity still from The Birds, the only movie he made that I consider genre.

2. Spot the Canadians! Kathleen Gati and Jodi Thompson were born north of the border, Tony Alcantar moved to Vancouver to get work.

3. This whole "tempus fugit" thing. Okay, I know The Partridge Family is 40 years ago, but it's a little strange to me that child star Danny Bonaduce is three years older than John Slattery, whose career over that past decade has been as "the grown-up", both on TV and in movies. It goes without saying that I older than both of them.

4. MST3K.  I know The Crawling Hand got the treatment, there might be others.

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: Electricity usage in the United States doubles every 10 to 12 years.

Reality: Ernst overshoots this number by about a factor of two. If his numbers were right, 1976 should have seen an increase of about four times more energy used (between 3.6 to 4.6, depending on whether we use 10 or 12 as the doubling interval), but the best estimates I could find online said the electricity output in 1976 was about double 1955 instead of four times greater.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's H.G. Wells' turn again tomorrow. Will he be truly disgusting or merely appalling? He's definitely capable of both.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 August 2015

Birthdays
Cara Delevingne b. 1992 (Suicide Squad, Pan)
Keith Stanfield b. 1991 (The Purge: Anarchy)
Leah Pipes b. 1988 (The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Angel)
Electra and Elise Avellan b. 1986 (Grindhouse)
Charlotte Salt b. 1985 (Beowulf)
Natalie Mendoza b. 1981 (Code 46, BeastMaster [2000 TV], Farscape)
Dominique Swain b. 1980 (Journeyman)
Maggie Lawson b. 1980 (Gamer, Smallville, Pleasantville, Meego)
Casey Affleck b. 1975 (Interstellar)
Rebecca Gayheart b. 1971 (Dead Like Me, Invasion, Sliders, Earth 2)
Yvette Nicole Brown b. 1971 (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Repo Men, The Island)
Michael Ian Black b. 1971 (Reaper)
Ellory Elkayem b. 1970 (director, Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave, Return of the Living Dead: Necropolis, Eight Legged Freaks, They Nest)
Katherine Kendall b. 1969 (Southland Tales, Firefly)
Andras Jones b. 1968 (The Attic Expeditions, Alien Nation [TV], A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama)
Brett Sexton b. 1967 (Surface, Birds of Prey, Vanilla Sky, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The X Files, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Angel)
Peter Krause b. 1965 (Beastly, The Lost Room, The Truman Show, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Bruce Greenwood b. 1956 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek, Super 8, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Mee-Shee: The Water Giant, I, Robot, The Core, Sleepwalkers [TV], Deadly Nightmares [TV])
Sam J. Jones b. 1954 (Ted, Flash Gordon [2007 TV and 1980], Black Scorpion, Stargate SG-1, Earth Minus Zero)
Ray Abruzzo b. 1954 (The Burning Zone, Lois & Clark)
Jim Beaver b. 1950 (Revolution, Supernatural, Tremors [TV], Star Trek: Enterprise, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The X Files, Lois & Clark)
Bruce Solomon b. 1944 (Night of the Creeps, Twilight Zone [1986])
Dana Ivey b. 1941 (Addams Family Values, The Addams Family, Explorers)
Oliver Ford Davies b. 1939 (Game of Thrones, Star Wars: Episodes I, II and III, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, The Cloning of Joanna May, Moonbase 3)
George Hamilton b. 1939 (The Little Unicorn, Love at First Bite)
Carol Eve Rossen b. 1937 (Mr. Merlin, The Fury, The Stepford Wives, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
Michael Coles b. 1936 died 26 April 2005 (The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Dracula A.D. 1972, Doctor Who and the Daleks)
Elizabeth Shepherd b. 1936 (The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Poltergeist: The Legacy, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Damien: Omen II, The Tomb of Ligeia)
William Goldman b. 1931 (screenwriter, Dreamcatcher, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, The Princess Bride, The Stepford Wives)
John Bluthal b. 1929 (Dark City, The Fifth Element, Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns, Leaping Leprechauns, Superman III, The Return of Captain Invincible, The Flying Sorcerer)
Dan Curtis b. 1927 died 27 March 2006 (writer, Dark Shadows, Frankenstein [1973 TV])
Ralph Nelson b. 1916 died 21 December 1987 (director, Charly, Twilight Zone)
Richard L. Bare b. 1913 (director, Twilight Zone)
Jane Wyatt b. 1910 died 20 October 2006 (Amityville: The Evil Escapes, Starman [TV], Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Gemini Man, Star Trek)
Oskar Homolka b. 1898 died 28 January 1978 (The Invisible Man [1976 TV], The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The Invisible Woman)
Marion Lorne b. 1883 died 9 May 1968 (Bewitched)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Sam J. Jones as Flash Gordon and Jane Wyatt as Spock's mom. Excluding those two, the most iconic genre actor is likely Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara from Bewitched. After that, I'd likely put Oliver Ford Davies, Maester Cressen in one episode of Game of Thrones and the unfortunately named Sio Bibble from the Star Wars prequels. (The story goes that George Lucas let his kids name characters in the sequels, which explains Mace Windu and Count Dooku. Nothing and no one will ever explain J**-J** B**ks to my satisfaction, and I might have to smack anyone who tries.) But I decided instead to honor one of my favorite screenwriters of all time, William Goldman. I can love movies for a lot of reasons, but when I was a kid, my first love was snappy dialogue, and The Princess Bride has as many quotable lines as Casablanca or All About Eve or Dr. Strangelove.

2. Canadian pre-spotted for your protection. Bruce Greenwood's career has taken him south of the border many times, with only a few Canadian genre shows to his name.

3. Nepotism more or less. Casey Affleck is Ben Affleck's kid brother and he does show up in some productions where Ben is one of the guys in charge - Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone being the most notable - but Casey gets plenty of work on his own, so I'm not going to give this post the Nepotism FTW label.

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: One pound of good coal will evaporate nine pounds of water, equal to about 250 cubic inches, this doing 250 foot-tons of work. But Niagara performs the same amount of work at infinitely less cost.

Reality: As a mathematician, I quibble with "infinitely less cost", but this is still an interesting point of cost analysis. It's not like renewables are a brand spanking new idea, though we now understand costs to the environment as well. I am somewhat optimistic that we can wean ourselves off of fossil fuels, but longtime readers will know I'm unmovable commie scum deeply versed in Alinsky style treachery and deceit. (In all serious, if someone quotes Alinsky these days, you know it's someone off the deep end of the conservative side of the pool.)
 

Never to be Forgotten: Herbert Wise 1924-2015

Director Herbert Wise has died at the age of 90. he was born in Austria, but was part of the Kindertransport system that took European Jewish children and sent them to Britain. He did a lot of work on British TV and the highlight of his career for me is directing all twelve episodes of I, Claudius, still one of the highlights in the history of television. He is remembered he for the British TV version of The Woman in Black - recently redone with Daniel Radcliffe - and The Tenth Kingdom. 

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Thursday means a visit from Morris Ernst and his overly optimistic book from the 1950 entitled Utopia 1976.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!