Friday, August 9, 2013

9 August 2013

 Birthdays
Anna Kendrick b. 1985 (Twilight)
Kevin McKidd b. 1973 (Percy Jackson)
Thomas Lennon b. 1970 (writer, Battle of the Smithsonian)
McG b. 1968 (director, Terminator Salvation)
Eric Bana b. 1968 (Hulk, Star Trek)
Gillian Anderson b. 1968 (The X Files)
Sam Elliott b. 1944 (Hulk)

A lot of talented people on the list, but I would venture that only Gillian Anderson is best known for her work in genre, which of course would be as Scully on The X Files. And of course she is very easy on the eyes, so she gets The Picture Slot.


Prediction: As of 9 August 1999, there are 35 million people in the city of New York and 7 billion on earth.

Predictor: Harry Harrison in his 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room!, source for the 1973 film Soylent Green.

Reality: There were only 8 million in New York City in 2000, so the first number is off by a bunch. The start of the 21st Century saw 6 billion on earth, and we just passed 7 billion in 2012, so the second number is only off by a little.

When the book was written, there were about 7.8 million in The Five Boroughs. The city's growth rate from 1930 to 2000 is very slow, largely because of an exodus in the 1970s. The population shrunk by 800,000 from 1970 to 1980, about a 10% drop.


Readers of science fiction are more likely to know Harrison from his characters The Stainless Steel Rat and Bill The Galactic Hero, but so far only Make Room! Make Room! has been turned into a major motion picture.

Here's a non-spoiler spoiler. Do you know what Soylent Green is?  Soylent Green... is not part of the plot of the original story. No disrespect to Mr. Harrison who died last August, but the dramatic payoff of the original novel is not very dramatic, especially when compared to the movie.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A prediction about the Third World War from a NATO general.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Oh sure, ruin it for everyone!

      Kidding. Spoiling a 40 year old movie is not a punishable offense in my book. But there is nothing about cannibalism in Harrison's book.

      Delete
  2. but the dramatic payoff of the original novel is not very dramatic, especially when compared to the movie.

    Heston probably ate the book's dramatic ending by mistake, mixed up with all the scenery he was chewing.

    Spoiling a 40 year old movie is not a punishable offense in my book


    Some guy on FaceHell that I didn't know chewed me out recently for mentioning that Wash doesn't survive the movie.

    ReplyDelete

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