29 May 2015

Birthdays
Paloma Kwiatowski b. 1994 (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters)
Maika Monroe b. 1993 (The Fifth Wave, It Follows, Flying Monkeys, Bad Blood)
Gregg Sulkin b. 1992 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Avalon High, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Man on the Moon [TV])
Riley Keough b. 1989 (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Matthew Waters b. 1989 (Peter Pan [2003])
Dylan Postl b. 1986 (Leprechaun: Origins)
Ben Mansfield b. 1983 (Primeval, Mr. Nobody)
Anita Briem b. 1982 (Journey to the Center of the Earth, Doctor Who)
Mark Hapka b. 1982 (Parallels, Altergeist)
Elyas M’Barek b. 1982 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones)
Justin Chon b. 1981 (Twilight, Innocent Blood, Detention of the Dead)
Chris Violette b. 1981 (Bitten, Lost Girl, My Babysitter’s a Vampire, Diary of the Dead, Power Rangers S.P.D.)
Adam Brown b. 1980 (The Hobbit)
Yusuke Iseya b. 1976 (Blindness)
Steve Cardenas b. 1974 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
Carlton Wilborn b. 1964 (Demolition Man)
John D. LeMay b. 1962 (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Friday’s Curse, The Twilight Zone [1986])
Neil Crone b. 1960 (The Strain, Warehouse 13, Cube³: Hypercube, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, RoboCop[TV], Mt Secret identity)
Adrian Paul b. 1959 (Alien Outpost, Abominable Snowman, Eyeborgs, Highlander, Charmed, Relic Hunter, The Breed, Dark Shadows [1991], War of the Worlds [TV], Masque of the Red Death, Beauty and the Beast)
Rupert Everett b. 1959 (Stardust, Inspector Gadget, Arthur the King )
Wayne Duvall b. 1958 (Gotham, The Leftovers, Threshold, Evolution, Seven Days, Timecop, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Apollo 13, The X-Files)
Annette Bening b. 1958 (What Planet Are You From?, In Dreams, Mars Attacks!)
Ted Levine b. 1957 (Banshee Chapter, The Hills Have Eyes, Evolution, From the Earth to the Moon)
Tony Randel b. 1956 (director, Hybrids, Power Rangers in Space, Ticks, Hellbound: Hellraiser II)
Cotter Smith b. 1949 (Forever, Revolution, 666 Park Avenue, Invasion, X-Men 2, Invader [1996], The Twilight Zone [1986])
Robert Axelrod b. 1949 (Bite Me, Power Rangers Time Force, The Blob [1988], Alien Private Eye, Alice in Wonderland [1985])
Nick Mancuso b. 1948 (The Entity, Rise of the Gargoyles, Saurian, Mutant X, Total Recall 2070, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension)
Anthony Geary b. 1947 (Project U.F.O., The Amazing Captain Nemo, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Julie Cobb b. 1947 (Lois & Clark, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde, Defending Your Life, Starman [TV], Tucker’s Witch, Brave New World [TV], Salem’s Lot, The Incredible Hulk, Star Trek)
Helmut Berger b. 1944 (Dorian Gray, The Witches)
Kevin Conway b. 1942 (Black Knight, Dark Angel, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Lathe of Heaven, Slaughterhouse-Five)
Nanette Newman b. 1934 (The Stepford Wives, Captain Nemo and the Underwater City)
Paul R. Ehrlich b. 1932 (author, The Population Bomb)
Frederick Jaeger b. 1928 died 18 June 2004 (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Doctor Who, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing)
Clifton James b. 1921 (Monsters, Superman II, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Werewolf of Washington)
Iris Adrian b. 1912 died 17 September 1994 (Alice Through the Looking Glass [1966 TV], The Munsters, Mighty Joe Young)
Sebastian Shaw b. 1905 died 23 December 1994 (Return of the Jedi)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In 2013, I used a picture of Sebastian Shaw, the original ghost of Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, somewhat iconic as a reminder of how George Lucas messed with his own creation. In 2014, I used Paul R Ehrlich, only iconic for being revealed as a jackass on this blog with his wildly incorrect The Population Bomb. As for the rest of the list, we have a few folks who are stars (Anthony Geary on the soaps, Rupert Everett and Annette Bening on film), but when it comes to iconic, I have to fall back on my favorite Star Trek guest role, so the Picture Slot goes to Kevin Conway as Kahless the Unforgettable.

2. Canadians, pre-spotted for your convenience. There are four Canadians today. Young Paloma Kwiatowski is unspottable from her single credit. Chris Violette, Neil Crone and Nick Mancuso have a few credits in Canuck genre each, but their nation of origin is not completely obvious, so I spotted them for you.

3. Wait... he's alive? Clifton James turns 94 today and good on him. He's played Southerners, usually lawmen, since I was in knee pants, best known for Cool Hand Luke and The Man with the Golden Gun. He's got a few genre credits, so he's on today's list.

4. Nepotism FTW. Julie Cobb is the daughter of Lee J. Cobb.

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

Movie released 
Up released, 2009

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his book Anticipations, published 1901

Prediction: In our imaginary twentieth century State, organized primarily for war, this tendency to differentiate a non-combatant mass in the fighting State will certainly not be respected, the State will be organized as a whole to fight as a whole, it will have triumphantly asserted the universal duty of its citizens. The military force will be a much ampler organization than the "army" of to-day, it will be not simply the fists but the body and brain of the land. The whole apparatus, the whole staff engaged in internal communication, for example, may conceivably not be State property and a State service, but if it is not it will assuredly be as a whole organized as a volunteer force, that may instantly become a part of the machinery of defense or aggression at the outbreak of war.

Reality: This is not a bad description of the nations up through the Second World War. As for "organized primarily for war", that description now only best fits the United States, with our defense budget dwarfing the rest of the world. It's not a sustainable position and it is not pleasant to think of what will happen when the unsustainable finally collapses.

I know. I'm a right cheery bastard.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The regular schedule is interrupted for a prediction from a movie released twenty five years ago.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!