25 April 2015

Birthdays
Allisyn Ashley Arm b. 1996 (Meet Dave)
Katherine Wallace b. 1990 (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)
Sara Paxton b. 1988 (The Innkeepers, Shark Night 3D, Wizards of Waverly Place, Return to Halloweetown, The Ruby Princess Runs Away, Soldier)
Jonathan Bailey b. 1988 (Doctor Who, Five Children and It, Alice Through the Looking Glass [1998 TV])
Heather Sossaman b. 1987 (Fairy Tales, 10.0 The Big One, Buffy)
Daniel Sharman b. 1986 (The Originals, Teen Wolf, Immortals)
Rik Young b. 1978 (Beowulf, Charmed, Children of Dune)
Ben Uttley b. 1978 (Captain America: The First Avenger, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)
Marguerite Moreau b. 1977 (Lost, Smallville, Firestarter 2: Rekindled, Queen of the Damned, Mighty Joe Young [1998], 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Emily Bergl b. 1975 (Warehouse 13, Star Trek: Enterprise, Taken, The Rage: Carrie 2)
Jason Lee b. 1970 (Dreamcatcher, Vanilla Sky, Dogma, Perversions of Science)
Gina Torres b. 1969 (The Vampire Diaries, FlashForward, Serenity, Firefly, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Reloaded, Angel, Cleopatra 2525, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Hank Azaria b. 1964 (Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Mystery Men, Godzilla [1998], Tales from the Crypt)
Daniel Kash b. 1959 (Manhattan Undying, Bitten, The Strain, Orphan Black, RoboCop [2014], Alphas, Lost Girl, Repo Men, The Dresden Files, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, Diary of the Dead, Mutant X, Veritas: The Quest, Total Recall 2070, Virus, RoboCop [TV], Forever Knight, Nightbreed, War of the Worlds [TV], Aliens)
Clarissa Burt b. 1959 (The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter)
George Spartels b. 1954 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)
Ron Clements b. 1953 (director, The Princess and the Frog, Treasure Planet, Hercules, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid)
Peter Jurasik b. 1950 (Quantum Apocalypse, Sliders, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Babylon 5, TRON[1982])
Jeffrey DeMunn b. 1947 (The Walking Dead, The Mist, The X-Files, RocketMan, Phenomenon, The Blob [1988], Twilight Zone [1985], Resurrection)
Talia Shire b. 1946 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star, Prophecy, The Dunwich Horror)
Al Pacino b. 1940 (Angels in America, S1m0ne, The Devil’s Advocate)
Denny Miller b. 1934 died 9 September 2014 (Werewolf, Knight Rider, V, Voyagers!, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Incredible Hulk, Beyond Westworld, Battlestar Galactica. Dr, Scorpion, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Island at the Top of the World, I Dream of Jeannie)
Paul Mazursky b. 1930 died 30 June 2014 (actor, Twilight Zone)
Kay E. Kuter b. 1925 died 12 November 2003 (Charmed, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The X-Files, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beauty and the Beast, V, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Last Starfighter, Far Out Space Nuts, I Dream of Jeannie, The Outer Limits, The Mole People)
Davy Kaye b. 1916 died 3 February 1998 (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1972], Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Russ Conway b. 1913 died 12 January 2009 (The Space-Watch Murders, The Invaders, The Green Hornet, The Time Tunnel, The Munsters, The War of the Worlds, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Flight to Mars, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man)
Paul Curran b. 1913 died 1 December 1986 (Jabberwocky)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was handed to Gina Torres from Firefly and Peter Jurasik from Babylon 5. Not wanting to repeat myself and looking for iconic roles, the guy from the most popular show should be Jeffrey DeMunn from The Walking Dead, but invoking The First Law of Blogging ("You're Not the Boss of me!"), I went with Hank Azaria as The Blue Raja from Mystery Men.

2. Nepotism FTW. Talia Shire is the sister of Francis Ford Copolla. When one sibling is notably more famous than the other and also gave the less famous sibling a big break, I definitely count it as nepotism.

3. Two Canadians, one dead, one spottable. Russ Conway's career took place long before producing shows in Canada was a big industry. The other Canadian has a credit list that makes him easy to spot.

4. The Guy at the Door.  Every day I make these lists and I check for the oldest living person. If no one younger than him (or her) is dead, that person in The Guy (or Gal) at the Door. Today it's Al Pacino, who is only 75. As always when there is someone At the Door, I send special best wishes for a long and healthy life to that person.


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

Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in his 1955 book Utopia 1976

Prediction: The atom will not be employed to murder civilizations.

Reality: Most of the predictions in Ernst's book are extensions of his main thesis that Americans will have a 30 hour work week by 1976 and all the wonderful and morally uplifting things people will do with the extra time. Given his flawed thesis, many of the predictions also go awry, but this one stands on its own and (knock wood) we've gone sixty years and it's still the case.

Yay, correct optimism!

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another trip into the late 20th Century courtesy of Robert A. Heinlein's 1956 book The Door Into Summer. 


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!