16 April 2014

 Birthdays
Jordana Beatty b. 1998 (Superman Returns, Legend of the Seeker)
Rhiana Griffith b. 1985 (Pitch Black)
Gina Carano b. 1982 (Almost Human)
Lukas Haas b. 1976 (Touch, Inception, The Twilight Zone, Breakfast of Champions, Mars Attacks!, Solar Babies, Amazing Stories, Testament)
Sean Maher b. 1975 (Arrow, Warehouse 13. Serenity/Firefly)
Karl Yune b. 1975 (Real Steel, Speed Racer, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid)
Peter Billingsley b. 1971 (producer, Iron Man, Zathura)
Jon Cryer b. 1965 (The Outer Limits, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Amazing Stories)
Boyd Banks b. 1964 (Mr. Babysitter’s a Vampire, Lost Girl, Diary of the Dead, The Fountain, Land of the Dead, Phil the Alien, Wonderfalls, Dawn of the Dead)
Ricco Ross b. 1960 (Caper, Bite Me, Hydra, Babylon 5, Highlander, Timelock, Gulliver’s Travels [1996], The Tomorrow People [1992], Doctor Who, Aliens)
Ellen Barkin b. 1954 (Buckaroo Banzai)
Jay O. Sanders b. 1953 (Green Lantern, The Day After Tomorrow)
Billy West b. 1950 (Futurama, 2084, Invader ZIM, Samurai Jack, countless other voice work)
David Graf b. 1950 (Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap)
Barry Nelson b. 1919 died 7 April 2007 (The Shining, Battlestar Galactica, Twilight Zone)

If I included all voice work done by actors when making the lists of appearances, I could be typing all morning. But I do make the exception, and voice actor Billy West deserves it. While there have been many animated hit shows this century, I have my personal favorites and Invader ZIM is certainly one of them.

Many happy returns to the living on the list and to Barry Nelson, always glad to include an actor from the original Twilight Zone.


Movies released
Kick-Ass released, 2010

Predictor: T. Baron Russell in A Hundred Years Hence, published 1905

Prediction: Where improved facilities for travel enable men to live at a great distance from their work, the same facilities will enable their wives to do their shopping in the centres of commerce. Consequently, except for a few highly perishable commodities, such as milk, butter and the like, small shopkeepers in residential neighbourhoods will be driven out of business, as they are in fact already being driven out of it in the suburbs and dependencies of all large cities.

Reality: Russell could be docked a point or two for not realizing women would be a major part of the workforce in the 21st Century, but the idea of greater distances to get stuff in the suburbs explains California to a tee. I've only visited a few suburbs in other states and they didn't seem all that different. He also writes about large department stores killing smaller businesses, which of course sounds a lot like Walmart.

Nice job, Mr. Russell.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Breaking up the regular schedule for a prediction from a 1981 Byte magazine cover that is going viral right now.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!