14 October 2014

Birthdays
Roward Blanchard b. 2001(Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D)
Mia Wasikowska b.1989 (Only Lovers Left Alive, Alice In Wonderland)
Max Thieriot b. 1988 (Jumper, The Astronaut Farmer)
Mackenzie Mauzy b. 1988 (Forever, Into the Woods)
Daniel Clark b. 1985 (Earth: Final Conflict, My Best Friend Is an Alien, Goosebumps, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension)
Ben Whishaw b. 1980 (The Zero Theorem, Cloud Atlas)
Nels Lennarson b. 1972 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, The Tomorrow People, Horns, The Cabin in the Woods, Supernatural, Smallville, The Andromeda Strain [2008], Bionic Woman [2007], Stargate: Atlantis, Blade: The Series, Painkiller Jane, Stargate SG-1, Strange Frequency, Andromeda)
Jon Seda b. 1970 (Twelve Monkeys)
Paul Fitzgerald b. 1970 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], Fringe, Roswell)
Robert C. Cooper b. 1968 (producer, Stargate)
Steve Coogan b. 1965 (Night at the Museum, Around the World in 80 Days, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible, Alice Through the Looking Glass [1998 TV movie], Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Tales from the Crypt, The Indian in the Cupboard)
Lori Petty b. 1963 (Route 666, The Hunger, Brimstone, Star Trek: Voyager, Tank Girl, Alien Nation [TV], Freddy’s Nightmares, Twilight Zone [1986])
Trevor Goddard b. 1962 died 7 June 2003 (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Hollywood Vampyr, The X-Files, Babylon 5, Mortal Kombat)
Greg Evigan b. 1953 (Invasion Roswell, Metal Tornado, Phantom Racer, Cerberus, Nightworld: Survivor, DeepStar Six, William Shatner’s TekWar, Deadly Nightmares, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Richard Christian Matheson b. 1953 (writer, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, It Waits, Tales from the Crypt, Amazing Stories, Knight Rider, The Powers of Matthew Star, The Incredible Hulk)
Harry Anderson b. 1952 (Lois & Clark, Harvey, It, Tales from the Crypt, Tales from the Darkside)
Rick Aviles b. 1952 died 17 March 1995 (Waterworld, The Stand, Ghost)
John Sumner b. 1951 (District 9, King Kong, Power Rangers R.P.M., Atomic Twister, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, The Tommyknockers)
Katy Manning b. 1949 (Doctor Who)
Gerard Murphy b. 1948 died 26 August 2013 (Batman Begins, Waterworld, Doctor Who)
Udo Kier b. 1944 (Iron Sky, Melancholia, Halloween [2007], BloodRayne, Headspace, Dracula 3000, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, Blade, Shadow of the Vampire, End of Days, Armageddon, Modern Vampires, Johnny Mnemonic, SeaQuest 2032, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne, Suspiria, Spermula, Blood for Dracula, Flesh for Frankenstein, Mark of the Devil)
Dyanne Thorne b. 1943 (Space, Wham! Bam! Thank You, Spaceman!, Blood Sabbath, Star Trek)
Roger Moore b. 1927 (The Man Who Wouldn’t Die, Moonraker)
Robert Webber b. 1924 died 19 May 1989 (Starflight: The Plane That Couldn’t Land, The Outer Limits)
Jack Arnold b. 1916 died 17 March 1992 (director, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, Holmes and Yo-Yo, Mr. Terrific, It’s About Time, World of Giants, Monster on the Campus, The Space Children, Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula, It Came From Outer Space)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Udo Kier. He has been old and creepy for so long, it's hard to remember that he got his start as a pretty boy in an odd Eurotrash kind of way in Paul Morrissey's horror movies. (I say this with love.) It's comparable to Frank Langella, who hasn't aged particularly well, with the difference that Langella wasn't "kind of a pretty boy", he was drop dead gorgeous.

Last year it was Lori Petty from Tank Girl in the Picture Slot.  Next year, no idea. Mia Wasikowsha as Alice is a possibility, and if Into the Woods is a hit, Mackenzie Mauzy as Rapunzel might be in.

2. Spot the Canadians! One is easy, the other not so much. (Hint: NOT Greg Evigan. He just shows up in a lot of crap.)

3. Better known as... Dyanne Thorne was the star of Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS, a great title of a not great movie. She played First Girl in Piece of the Action, the Star Trek episode my friend Michael Dresbach calls "Planet O' Gangsters". You might also remember other Planet O' episodes from the original show: Planet O' Nazis, Planet O' Native Americans, Planet O' Hippies, Planet O' Cowboys, etc. The underlying theme seemed to be "we're on the Paramount lot, we have these sets no one is using, why don't we save some money?"

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

Predictor: FM-2030 in Upwing Priorities, published 1981

Prediction: Teleconomics: To stream full blast to 21st-Century teleconomics we must speedup development of solar energy - nuclear fusion - hydrogen fuel. Energy is the central accelerator. Abundant energy means overflow food and limitless raw materials. The new wealth - particularly solar energy - in nonmonopolizable  and will reinforce global decentralization of wealth - information - power. The new abundance also accelerates development of intelligent technology which will cancel out subsistence work and labor force. Work will be transformed into a voluntary creative process, By 2010 the glut of energy will hasten phase out of money which in turn will help will help phase out profit and competition - conflicts of interest - imbalances of wealth - cycles of inflation/recession - exploitation. How absurd all this emphasis on finite resources and sacrifice at the very moment in evolution when we are opening up the infinite resources of the universe. We have superabundant resources to last us a million years - a billion years. Enough to last for as long as there is a Universe.

Reality: My new theory on FM-2030's punctuation choices is that he was abused by a comma in childhood. Clearly, he expected we were at the end of the fossil fuel age and something better was right around the corner. Hmm... not so much.

I do not understand how abundant energy translates into overflow food and limitless raw materials. You can't feed livestock on solar panels and ore and sand don't just magically turn into steel and glass. I should be able to find some positive feeling about the guy given what an optimist he was, but his slapdash ideas are like watching a really bad magician. The best thing about this section of his very inaccurate prediction essay is doesn't include any of his creepy free love crap.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another optimistic predictor who isn't nearly as creepy, the view of 2011 from an article in the 1911 New York World.  

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!