Thursday, October 2, 2014

2 October 2014

 Birthdays
Brendan Meyer b. 1994 (The 100, Girl vs. Monster, Tooth Fairy, Dinosapien)
Marta Gastini b. 1989 (Dracula 3D)
Christopher Larkin b. 1987 (The 100)
Camilla Belle b. 1986 (Push, 10,000 BC, Practical Magic, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Trouble Shooters: Trapped Beneath the Earth)
Milan Todorovic b. 1981 (director, Wrath of the Dead, Zone of the Dead)
Michele Nordin b. 1980 (The Middleman, Buffy, Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy, Alien Arsenal)
Brianna Brown b. 1979 (True Blood, Night of the Living Dead 3D, Smallville, Spider-Man 2)
Adam O’Byrne b. 1979 (Extant, Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon)
Michelle Krusiec b. 1974 (Touch, Fringe, Deep Space Nine)
Danny Smith b. 1973 (Warehouse 13, Beauty and the Beast [2013 TV], Suck, Big Wolf on Campus)
Maribel Verdu b. 1970 (The End, Pan’s Labyrinth)
Joey Slotnick b. 1968 (Hollow Man)
Suki Kaiser b. 1967 (Category 7: The End of the World, Kingdom Hospital, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Cyberjack, M.A.N.T.I.S., Red Scorpion 2, The Girl from Mars)
Lew Temple b. 1967 (Zombex, The Walking Dead, Futurestates, Silent Night, Zombie Night)
Richard Ashton b. 1965 (Dracula: The Dark Prince, Space Precinct, Monster Café, The Fifth Element)
Joe Lara b. 1962 (Doomsdayer, Conan [1998 TV], Warhead, American Cyborg: Steel Warrior)
Terence Winter b. 1960 (writer, Xena)
Jeffrey Weissman b. 1958 (Witches Blood, Flying Saucer Rock ‘N’ Roll, 2001: A Space Travesty, Back to the Future Parts II and III, Max Headroom, Twilight Zone: The Movie)
Kymberly Herrin b. 1957 (Ghostbusters)
Robin Riker b. 1952 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Sliders, Buffy, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Misfits of Science, The Greatest American Hero)
Sting b. 1951 (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Bride, Dune)
Ian McNiece b. 1950 (Doctor Who, Day of the Dead, White Noise, Frankenstein [2004 TV], Children of Dune, Relic Hunter, Dune [2000 TV], A Christmas Carol [TV 1999], Bugs, The Tomorrow People [1994], The Cloning of Joanna May, Time Riders, Whoops Apocalypse)
Persis Khambatta b. 1948 died 18 August 1998 (Lois & Clark, Phoenix the Warrior, Warrior of the Lost World, Megaforce, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Man with the Power)
Avery Brooks b. 1948 (Deep Space Nine, Gargoyles)
Vernor Vinge b. 1944 (won 1993 Hugo for A Fire on the Deep, 2000 Hugo for A Deepness in the Sky, 2007 Hugo for Rainbows End)
David Gale b. 1936 died 18 August 1991 (Guyver, Re-Animator, Bride of Re-Animator, The Brain)
Moses Gunn b. 1929 died 16 December 1993 (Leonard Part 6, Firestarter, The NeverEnding Story, Amityville II: The Possession, Salvage 1, Rollerball)
Charles Drake b. 1917 died 10 September 1994 (Land of the Giants, Star Trek, The Invaders, Tobor the Great, It Came from Outer Space, Harvey)
Jack Finney b. 1911 died 14 November 1995 (author, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers)
Alex Raymond b. 1909 died 6 September 1956 (artist, Flash Gordon)
Willy Ley b. 1906 died 24 June 1969 (author, For Your Information series)
Bud Abbott b. 1895 died 24 April 1974 (Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Jack and the Beanstalk, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein)
Henry Victor b. 1892 died 15 March 1945 (King of the Zombies)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Persis Khambatta, this year it's Avery Brooks. If I was in a non Star Trek mood, Sting in Dune would be the front runner. If it was just about pretty, I'd find some way to put up a picture of Camilla Belle, though I admit she hasn't had that one iconic role yet. If regular reader Zombie Rotten McDonald had the deciding vote, I'm guessing he would want Henry Victor, Milan Todorovic or Lew Temple.

2. Wait... they're dead? I still haven't completely processed the death of Persis Khambatta. I was also not aware that Moses Gunn died 21 years ago. Obviously, I didn't get the memo.

3. Wait... what happened to Darrin Stevens? Jeffrey Weissman got the role of George McFly in the last two Back to the Future movies when Crispin Glover proved... difficult to work with a.k.a. bat shit crazy.

4. Fun facts to know and tell. Terence Winter, writer of The Wolf of Wall Street and executive producer on Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos, wrote three episode of Xena before he hit it big.

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

Predictors: The baseball experts at ESPN

Predictions: Consensus picks in the wild card games:
39 of 70 picked Pittsburgh over San Francisco
43 of 70 picked Oakland over Kansas City

Reality: An inauspicious beginning for the experts so far as both their consensus picks lost the one game wild card play-in. The current percentage correct is 45.3%, which on my grading scale sucks.  In this next round, the consensus picks are the Nationals and the Dodgers in the National League and the Angels and the Tigers in the American.

I have made no prediction, but I'm much happier when the Giants win. It should be noted in 2010 and 2012, they were better in the playoffs than they were in the regular season. When all the first round games are done, we will get an update on the experts' prediction skills.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Friday means a prediction from The Experts Speak and the birthday of the current queen of sci-fi/fantasy actresses.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!


5 comments:

  1. If regular reader Zombie Rotten McDonald had the deciding vote, I'm guessing he would want Henry Victor, Milan Todorovic or Lew Temple.

    Heh. Indeed.

    Although I will go on record as being in support of the "purdy" category....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Persis Khambatta dead at the age of 49 of a heart attack? What sad news (obviously old news). She was such a gloriously beautiful woman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Evolutionary biologists are big on the idea that attractiveness is a sign of good health.

      As a mathematician, I would ask them to reconsider that hypothesis.

      Delete
  3. Here's a cool tie-in, along the lines of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon Lettuce and Tomato, with some of the folks that you mention. Crispin "Batshit Crazy" Glover came out with an audio CD back in '93 called "The Big Problem ?", and it too is Bat Shit Crazy, times ten. It was produced by Barnes and Barnes, Robert Haimer and Bill Mumy. Billy Mumy being mentioned quite often on this page for his work on The Twilight Zone, Babylon 5, Star Trek:Deep Space Nine and numerous other Sci-Fi productions. One of Bill Mumy's best friends was the older actor Jonathan Harris, who he met while working together doing Lost in Space. Jonathan Harris acted in several Sci-Fi shows like Battlestar Galactica, The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery and Land of the Giants. Mr. Harris supposedly was offered a role in Back to the Future but because of scheduling problems, declined. Crispin Hellion Glover was in that movie series. Not sure where I'm going with this but I found it interesting. :-)

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  4. Jonathan Harris had a great guest star role in Zorro, which may have lead to Don Diego's production company casting him later on.

    (Am I bitter about Disney not releasing Guy Williams's good series on DVD? while pretending than the 1990 version is definitive? Only as a Zorro fan and a DIS sharehold...)

    ReplyDelete

Traveler! Have you news... FROM THE FUTURE?