21 May 2014

Birthdays
Fairuza Balk b. 1974 (The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Worst Witch, Return to Oz, The Craft)
Brett Tucker b. 1972 (Thor: The Dark World, Legend of the Seeker, The Lost World, Thunderstone)
Nick Cassavetes b. 1959 (The Astronaut’s Wife, Quantum Leap, The Wraith)
Judge Reinhold b. 1957 (Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Betaville, Mindstorm, Big Monster on Campus, Puss in Boots, NetForce, Special Report: Journey to Mars, Adventures in Wonderland, Vice Versa, Gremlins, Wonder Woman)
Al Franken b. 1951 (From the Earth to the Moon, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Superman 50th Anniversary)
Richard Hatch b. 1945 (After Hell, The Guild, Battlestar Galactica, InAlienable, Prisoners of the Lost Universe, The Sixth Sense)
David Groh b. 1939 died 12 February 2008 (Evilution, Black Scorpion, The X-Files, Last Exit to Earth, M.A.N.T.I.S., Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dark Shadows [TV])
Ross Hagen b. 1938 died 7 May 2011 (Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds, Dinosaur Island, Droid Gunner, Time Wars, Alienator, Night Creature, The Invaders, Captain Nice)
Richard Libertini b. 1933 (Supernatural, House of Frankenstein [1997], Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Lois & Clark, The Twilight Zone [1986], Popeye, Tabitha, The Bionic Woman)
Rick Jason b. 1923 died 16 October 2000 (Automan, Manimal, Wonder Woman)
Raymond Burr b. 1917 died 12 September 1993 (Godzilla 1985, The Return, Godzilla [1977], Godzilla, King of the Monsters! [1956])

This is an unusual list. Fairuza Balk, clearly qualifying on the fabulous babe criterion for the Picture Slot, is the youngest person on the list at 40. Usually there are a lot of actors from recent genre movies and TV born after 1980, but not today. A lot of the actors are well enough known but with only a smattering of sci-fi and fantasy. Last year the Picture Slot went to Richard Hatch, and I could have gone with Ross Hagen as a salute to cheese, but instead in tribute to this weekend's box office giant, it's Raymond Burr from the original Godzilla, a movie now sixty years old.

Completely non-genre story about Rick Jason, a great looking actor who starred on Combat! before he started a long career on the soaps. Robert Altman directed a few episodes of the first season of Combat! and has commentary tracks on the DVD. Altman has a lot of praise for Vic Morrow, the other star of the series. Morrow was always asking questions and making suggestions, keenly interested in the performance and the process. Altman's quote about Jason: "Rick usually asked me how his hair looked."

Many happy returns to the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories. (And Rick... your hair looked great!)

Movies released
Shrek Forever After released, 2010
Terminator Salvation released, 2009
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back released, 1980

Predictor: Stephen Rose, Imperial College London

Prediction: Within a year, we will have created matter from light energy.

Reality: This could be pretty cool, but it's a long way away from the replicator on Star Trek. The amount of material created will be on the microscopic level and more than that, I get the feeling that when a physicist says "we can do that in a year", it's the equivalent of a programmer saying, "oh yeah, that's a two week project." Even still, I wish them all the best.

(Photo nicked from the website HowStuffWorks)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Let's hear from Dr. Lee de Forest again. He was really good on communications predictions, but has kinda sucked on the other stuff. He can't keep striking out, can he?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!