14 May 2015

 Birthdays
Riley Griffiths b. 1997 (Super 8)
Miranda Cosgrove b. 1993 (Smallville)
Sasha Spielberg b. 1990 (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Tara Thompson b. 1988 (My Super Ex-Girlfriend)
Amber Wallace b. 1987 (The Vampire Diaries)
Amber Tamblyn b. 1983 (Babylon Fields, The Grudge 2, Buffy, The Ring)
Jim Howick b. 1979 (Hellboy)
David Blakeley b. 1978 (Malice in Wonderland)
Ada Nicodemou b. 1977 (Beastmaster [TV], The Matrix)
Indira Varma b. 1973 (Game of Thrones, Torchwood, Sci-Fright)
Gabriel Mann b. 1972 (Legend of the Seeker, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, Carnivale)
Sofia Coppola b. 1971 (Star Wars: Episode I – The Title that Shall Not Be Mentioned. Faerie Tale Theatre)
Natasha Ryan b. 1970 (The Entity, The Day Time Ended, The Amityville Horror, Kingdom of the Spiders)
Neil and Adrian Rayment b. 1970 (Intergalactic Combat, The Matrix Reloaded)
Cate Blanchett b. 1969 (Cinderella, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Danny Huston b. 1962 (Frankenstein [2015], American Horror Story, Wrath of the Titans, Clash of the Titans, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Children of Men)
Tim Roth b. 1961 (The Incredible Hulk, Planet of the Apes, Metamorphosis)
Brett Leonard b. 1959 (director, Highlander: The Source, Man-Thing, Virtuosity, The Lawnmower Man)
Leilani Jones b. 1957 (Universal Soldier)
Robert G. Tapert b. 1955 (writer, Alien Apocalypse, Xena, Cleopatra 2525, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, producer Darkman, Evil Dead)
Robert Zemeckis b. 1951 (writer/director, Back to the Future, The Polar Express, Bordello of Blood, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Mark Blum b. 1950 (Fringe)
Tamara Dobson b. 1947 died 2 October 2006 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Jason of Star Command)
Joseph Zito b. 1946 (director, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter)
Yutte Stensgaard b. 1946 (Lust for a Vampire)
Francesca Annis b. 1945 (Tales from the Crypt, Dune [1984], Krull)
George Lucas b. 1944 (writer/director, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Willow, THX-1138)
Veruschka b. 1939 (The Bride)
Sian Phillips b. 1933 (Cinderella [TV, 2000], Alice Through the Looking Glass [TV], The Borrowers, The Snow Spider, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Dune, Clash of the Titans)
Laszlo Kovacs b. 1933 died 22 July 2007 (cinematographer, Multiplicity, Ghostbusters, Slither, Blood of Dracula’s Castle)
Richard Deacon b. 1921 died 8 August 1984 (Piranha, The Lost Saucer, Hans Christian Anderson, I Dream of Jeannie, The Gnome-Mobile, The Addams Family, The Munsters, Twilight Zone, My Favorite Martian, The Birds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, This Island Earth, Invaders form Mars)
June Duprez b. 1918 died 30 October 1984 (The Thief of Bagdad)
James Flavin b. 1906 died 23 April 1976 (The Addams Family, Twilight Zone, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, One Touch of Venus, King Kong)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with Cate Blanchett and Indira Varma. If I was going for most iconic, it should be George Lucas, but he fills me with ambivalence these days, so I continued in the fabulous babe mode with Francesca Annis from Dune.

2. No Canadians or Star Trek, but so much nepotism. No Star Trek yet again today, the second time this week. Also, I didn't find any genre based Canadians listed on imdb.com for today. To make up for that, we have lots and lots of nepotism, Sasha Spielberg, Amber Tamblyn, Sofia Coppola and Danny Huston. You could argue Sian Phillips counts as nepotism as Peter O'Toole's wife, but I say no, this was two working actors meeting and getting married. I loved her work as Livia on I, Claudius so much, still one of the great casts in TV history. No nepotism there in my book.

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

Predictor:Woldemar Kampfert in Outlook magazine, 28 June 1913

Prediction: “Over cities… the aerial sentry will be found. A thousand aeroplanes flying to the opera must be kept in line and each allowed to alight upon the roof of the auditorium in its proper turn.”

Reality: I re-use this old French postcard for Kampfert's prediction and note there was a German postcard that also had a lot of air traffic close enough to be in hailing distance. I give the postcard makers some slack because I think they were working before the Wright Brothers, but Kampfert is writing in 1913 and should have some understanding of how hard a plane is to land. No points awarded here.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Once more it's H.G. Wells. Will he write something awful? That will be revealed tomorrow.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!