18 January 2014

Birthdays
Antje Traue b. 1981 (Man of Steel, Pandorum)
Jason Segel b. 1980 (This is the End, Gulliver’s Travels)
Jay Chou b. 1979 (The Green Hornet)
Dave Bautista b. 1969 (Riddick, Guardians of the Galaxy)
Kevin Costner b. 1955 (Waterworld, The Postman, Man of Steel, Testament)
Paul Freeman b. 1943 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
John Boorman b. 1933 (director, Excalibur, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Zardoz)
Robert Anton Wilson b. 1932 died 1/11/2007 (author, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Schrodinger’s Cat)
Orville Sherman b. 1916 died 1 October 1984 (Westworld, The Twilight Zone, The Brain Eaters, The Adventures of Superman)

Last year on this date, before I had done much research, Jay Chou was in the Picture Slot. This year it's Antje Traue, who biggest role to date is as the Kryptonian warrior Faora-Ul in the latest Superman movie Man of Steel. I could have put up a picture of Kevin Costner, the best known name on the list, but it seemed a little cruel to remind a man on his birthday of his biggest flop Waterworld. Another good choice would have been Paul Freeman, best known as the villain Belloc in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

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

Predictor: Charles Foster (1828-1904) governor of Ohio 1880-1884, Secretary of the Treasury 1891-1893

Prediction: "Thomas A. Edison, the greatest genius of this century, says that electricity is terrestrial magnetism and the universe is full of it. Edison believes electricity may be pumped out of the earth or the sea, just as water is pumped out of a stream. The only thing necessary now is to find the form of the pump that will do the trick."

Reality: I would not put Edison as the greatest genius of the 19th Century, just as I wouldn't put Bill Gates or Steve Jobs as the greatest geniuses of the 20th Century, but I understand the respect the general public gives to successful inventor/industrialists. Here, Foster is assuming that if Edison says something it must be true, not unlike the way the general public thinks the people who give TED Talks must know their ass from their elbow. Regular readers will know that TED talkers don't have that great a track record at predicting the future and in this particular case, neither did Edison, which makes a fellow like Foster who trusted him look bad.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

One last date from The Martian Chronicles.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!