16 May 2014

 Birthdays
Thomas Brodie Sangster b. 1990 (The Maze Runner, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Nanny McPhee)
Megan Fox b. 1986 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jonah Hex, Jennifer’s Body, Transformers)
Stanislav Ianevski b. 1985 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
Joseph Morgan b. 1981 (The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Immortals, Hex)
Lynn Collins b. 1977 (John Carter, X-Men: Origins, True Blood, Bug)
Melanie Lynsky b. 1977 (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Rose Red, The Frighteners)
David Boreanaz b. 1969 (Buffy, Angel, The Crow: Wicked Prayer)
Solveig Dommartin b. 1961 died 11 January 2007 (Until the End of the World, Wings of Desire)
Bruce Norris b. 1960 (The Sixth Sense)
Mare Winningham b. 1959 (American Horror Story, Under the Dome, Mirror Mirror, Torchwood, Twilight Zone, Threshold)
Debra Winger b. 1955 (Wonder Woman)
Pierce Brosnan b. 1953 (The World’s End, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Mars Attacks!, The Lawnmower Man)
Laurette Spang b. 1951 (Battlestar Galactica, Man from Atlantis, Project U.F.O., Gemini Man, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Bill Smitrovich b. 1947 (Ted, Iron Man, The Event, Millennium, Independence Day, The Phantom, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Splash)
Danny Trejo b. 1944 (Rise of the Zombies, Spy Kids, Stargate: Atlantis, Halloween [2007]The X-Files, From Dusk Till Dawn, Anaconda)
Yvonne Craig b. 1937 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Holmes and Yo-Yo, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, Batman, Mars Needs Women, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Harry Carey Jr. b 1921 died 27 December 2012 (The Exorcist III, Back to the Future III, Cherry 2000, Gremlins, Billy the Kid vs. Dracula)
Barry Atwater b. 1918 died 24 May 1978 (Star Trek, The Invaders, Bewitched, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
George Gaynes b. 1917 (Sliders, The Fantastic Four [1994], Altered States, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Henry Fonda b. 1905 died 12 August 1982 (Meteor, The Swarm, Tentacles)

Quite often when doing research for the birthdays, I really don't know the work of the younger folks on the list, but that's not the case for the youngest, Thomas Brodie Sangster as Jojen Reed on Game of Thrones. This list has movie and TV stars, Oh That Guys and plenty of fabulous babes. Last year in the picture slot was Lynn Collins from John Carter, who looks like a million bucks in new shiny bills, but if I were asked for my number one choice for babedom on this list, Solveig Dommartin as the acrobat in Wings of Desire is one of the most beautiful women on film ever.

The other big surprise for me is that George Gaynes, better known for Punky Brewster, Tootsie and the Police Academy movies is still alive! Good on ya, Mr. Gaynes!

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

Movies released
Shrek released, 2001
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones released, 2002
The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian released, 2008
Star Trek Into Darkness released, 2013

Predictor: Dr. Paul R Ehrlich in the 1968 book The Population Bomb

Prediction: By 1980, there will be 200,000,000 more people in India and there will not be enough food for them.

Reality: Here's a sentence I haven't typed before.

This prediction by Paul Ehrlich is in the ballpark.

From the sources I can find dealing with the year by year population increase in India from 1968 to 1980, the population rose by about 170,000,000. If he was rounding to the nearest hundred million, he's got it right. Score one for Stanford.

Just to be clear, there are still three more from Ehrlich before he steps off the stage, and all of those are completely crazy wrong, much like the seven I've published previously. As much fun as I made of Heinlein, regular readers will recall there was Sensible Bob as well as Ridiculous Bob. A single case of Sensible Ehrlich is not enough to merit a special category.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 and one of the rare sets of predictions from a woman.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!