Dominic Scott Kay b. 1996 (Pirate of the Caribbean: At World’s End. They Call Him Sasquatch, Power Rangers Wild Force, Minority Report)
Freddie Boath b. 1991 (The Mummy Returns)
Adrianne Palicki b. 1983 (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, GI. Joe: Retaliation, Supernatural, The Robinsons: Lost in Space, Smallville)
Kyle Cassie b. 1976 (Fringe, Andromeda, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Jake 2.0, Stargate SG-1, Nightman)
Kavan Smith b. 1970 (Supernatural, Almost Human, Eureka, Red: Werewolf Hunter, Stargate [TV], The 4400, Battlestar Galactica, Blade: The Series, The Time Tunnel [2006], Jeremiah, Smallville, Mission to Mars, Escape from Mars, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Buffy)
Robert Floyd b. 1967 (Dark Angel, Sliders, Godzilla [1998])
George Clooney b. 1961 (Gravity, Spy Kids, Batman & Robin, From Dusk Till Dawn, Return to Horror High)
Carlos Lauchu b. 1961 (The Silencers [1996], Stargate)
Michael O’Hare b. 1952 died 28 September 2012 (Babylon 5, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, C.H.U.D.)
Gregg Henry b. 1952 (Dollhouse, Slither [2006], Star Trek: Enterprise, Firefly, Star Trek: Insurrection, M.A.N.T.I.S., Werewolf [TV])
Alan Dale b. 1947 (Dominion, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Once Upon a Time, Beauty and the Beast [TV movie], Lost, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Star Trek: Nemesis, The X-Files, The Lost World [TV], Space: Above and Beyond, Time Trax)
Richard Eyer b. 1945 (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Invisible Boy, Invasion U.S.A.)
Jack Sharkey b. 1931 died 28 September 1992 (author, Ultimatum in 2050 A.D.)
Gordon C. Davies b. 1923 died 1994 (artist)
Orson Welles b, 1915 died 10 October 1985 (writer/actor, Necromancy, War of the Worlds [radio])
Today's list has two honest to Odin movie stars (George Clooney and Orson Welles), a lead actor in a long running show (Michael O'Hare from Babylon 5), several child actors (besides the youngest two on the list, Richard Eyer was a child star in the 1950s) a few Oh That Guys and one fabulous babe. I was tempted to put in a shot of Adrienne Palicki as Wonder Woman, but that show never got off the ground, sad to say. Forgoing all those picks, we have instead an illustration of Gordon C. Davies for the Starship Troopers wargame from the 1970s. He was very prolific and also did covers for books by Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Roger Zelazny and many others.
Many happy returns to the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Movies released
Thor released, 2011
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Predictor: Geoffrey Hoyle in the 1972 book 2010: Living in the Future, illustrations by Alasdair Anderson
Prediction: The air all around the house is cleaned and correctly humidified every hour.
Reality: I don't know exactly how to grade this prediction. There were buildings with air filtration back when this book was written, but I would say that this prediction means everybody's modern homes would have such conveniences. I will grant that apartments and homes built after 1970 as a rule have fans and filters in the bathrooms and kitchens, but I'm not sure that counts as "cleaned and correctly humidified"everywhere. Perhaps out undead architect friend can weigh in on this.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
This month will be the last featuring the predictions of our buddy from 1905 T. Baron Russell. Let's see how he envisions the 21st Century once again.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
in the 70s, building environmental science was trending toward enclosed systems. Commercial buildings had foregone operable windows, and treated all the air as it was conveyed throughout the building. Of course, this also had the tendency to concentrate environmental toxins within the space, which became a more pressing problem in the 90s.
ReplyDeleteHouses were on the way to 'super-insulation', by increasing the tightness of the envelope and wrapping the houses in impermeable skins. The first wave of this did not adequately compensate with fresh air cycles and the kind of treatment Hoyle describes here; and thus we suddenly discovered that radon and CO2 could build up within the house to dangerous levels. (for the record, this zombie lives in a 110-year old house that is adequately leaky to not worry about cumulative gas hazards)
HVAC systems ARE available to perform as he describes (although the 'hourly' descriptor is kind of weird; they are set to activate as needed, not on a schedule) although mainly they have evolved to include a healthier fresh air intake cycle. These items, however, are considered as extras for residential construction, usually when health issues call for more control of the environment. They are far from typical in new construction, except at the highest ends of home construction.
Currently, sustainability practices are working toward including increasing insulation again (the Passive House movement in particular) although with more consideration for avoiding super-tight houses. Automatic ventilation controls and humidity controls can be included in these systems. I have done apartment buildings that include humidity control, which is relatively cheap if you connect it to bathroom ventilation. I also did a house for a friend that included automatic skylight operation to passively activate whole-house ventilation.
But the real issue with the prediction is that he makes it seem universal, and it is far from that. The big problem with these kinds of predictions regarding architecture is that they almost always ignore that we already have MILLIONS OF BUILDINGS THAT DO NOT INCLUDE THE NEW TECHNOLOGY and may not be readily retrofit (see my comment about my house above). While I would welcome the economic and jobs boost that rebuilding ALL of our existing building stock would create, I still think it might be a bad idea. Overall, I would normally give him credit for a foul tip, if not for the fact that the systems he described already existed when he predicted it (otherwise known as a Kurzweil). I would call it a swing and a miss.
Of course, our rapidly deteriorating planetary environment may eventually force us to enact these kinds of drastic steps. Well, the wealthy will anyway.
And that counts as the blog's official grade for this prediction.
DeleteNext year, Orson Welles on the 100th anniversary of his birth, right?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to watch "The Third Man" tonight in his honor. It's not genre but it's very, very good.
"I'd rather be remembered as a good guy than as a difficult genius." - Orson Welles
I had that Avalon Hill game. I think it was Avalon Hill... It did its best to represent combat in those powered suits. It worked a hell of a lot better than the movie of the same name, whose military could have been defeated by a company of Napoleon's infantry.
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a true wargamer.
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