17 March 2014

 Birthdays
Julia Winter b. 1993 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Eliza Bennett b. 1992 (Inkheart, Nanny McPhee)
Brittany Daniel b. 1976 (Skyline)
Gina Holden b. 1975 (Avalanche Sharks, Dracano, Fringe, Mysterious Island, Saw 3D, The Legend of the Seeker, Smallvile, Flash Gordon, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, The Butterfly Effect 2, Supernatural, Stephen King’s Dead Zone)
Rob Lowe b. 1964 (Salem’s Lot, The Stand)
Casey Siemaszko b. 1961 (Storm of the Century, Back to the Future, Amazing Stories)
Cameron Thor b. 1960 (SeaQuest 2032, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jurassic Park, Hook, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Arye Gross b. 1960 (Dollhouse, Minority Report, The X-Files, Good vs Evil, Timelock)
Gary Sinise b. 1955 (Mission to Mars, Apolo 13, The Stand)
Mark Boone Junior b. 1955 (Batman Begins, Carnivale, Frankenfish, Armageddon, Vampires)
Kurt Russell b. 1951 (Sky High, Vanilla Sky, Escape from L.A., Stargate, Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, Escape from New York, The Strongest Man in the World, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Lost in Space)
Patrick Duffy b. 1949 (The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Man from Atlantis)
William Gibson b. 1948 (won 1985 Hugo and Nebula for Neuromancer)
Don Mitchell b. 1943 died 8 December 2013 (Wonder Woman, Scream Blacula Scream, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie)
Patty Maloney b. 1936 (Star Trek: Voyager, A.J.’s Time Travelers, The Addams Family [movie], Legend [TV], Amazing Stories, The Ice Pirates, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Star Wars Holiday Special)
Ken Barr b. 1933 (illustrator)
Brigitte Helm b. 1906 died 11 June 1996 (Metropolis, Queen of Atlantis, The Lost Atlantis)

Now that's a birthday list. Last year before I had done as much research as I currently have, I had William Gibson in the Picture Slot, a choice I might still have made today. And I could easily have gone with one of our recognizable movie or TV stars, the most iconic from genre being Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken. But I was feeling old school today, so here we have Brigitte Helm being tended to by stage hands while wearing the robot suit from Metropolis.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: The scene: Low earth orbit in the late 1990s, eight Soviet ASATs, reported missing from their standard orbits, are picked up on the radar screen of the Untied States station Astrolab.

In response, the commander of Astrolab calls in eight U.S. starfighters and the U.S. manned military station Fort Apache. The battle is brief, lasting thirteen minutes and thirty two seconds. Particle beams and lasers flash wildly.

The damage: Eight Soviet and seven American ASATs destroyed, a sensor on Astrolab disabled. No humans are killed. While the humans plan the strategies, the actual weapons are fired by the computers, who are quicker and more accurate.

Reality: Hey, The OFA was written by people from science fiction after all. You gotta let them cut loose and have some fun every once in a while, am I right?

If there have been battles in space, they have been kept from the general public. I believe they probably haven't happened. If one did, John McCain would have had an aneurysm.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our Tuesday regular Ray Kurzweil makes an accurate prediction about computer peripherals.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!