30 May 2015

Birthdays
Jared Gilmore b. 2000 (Once Upon a Time)
Jake Short b. 1997 (Mighty Med, Jack and Janet Save the Planet)
Kevin Covais b. 1989 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Men in Black 3)
Will Peltz b. 1986 (In Time)
Adam Bond b. 1981 (Victor Frankenstein, Kick-Ass 2, Maleficent)
Blake Bashoff b. 1981 (Lost, Charmed, Minority Report)
Rachel Stirling b. 1977 (Doctor Who, Snow White and the Huntsman)
Omri Katz b. 1976 (Hocus Pocus, Matinee, Eerie, Indiana, Adventures in Dinosaur City)
Minae Noji b. 1973 (Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers Time Force)
Darren E. Scott b. 1972 (The Tomorrow People, Almost Human, Smallville, The 4400, Andromeda, Jeremiah, Dark Angel)
Duncan Jones b. 1971 (director, Source Code, Moon)
John Ross Bowie b. 1971 (The Big Bang Theory, Dark Minions, Heroes, Charmed)
Idina Menzel b. 1971 (Frozen, Enchanted)
David Dukas b. 1970 (District 9, Merlin: The Return)
Tammy Parks b. 1965 (Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds, Droid Gunner)
Mark Sheppard b. 1964 (Supernatural, Warehouse 13, Mysterious Island, Doctor Who, Xtinction: Predator X, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, The Middleman, Bionic Woman [2007]. Jake 2.0, Deep Shock, Firelfly, Charmed, Megalodon, Lost Voyage, The Chronicle, Star Trek: Voyager, Sliders, M.A.N.T.I.S., The X-Files)
Cynthia Gouw b. 1963 (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Lynda Wiesmeier b. 1963 died 16 December 2012 (Teen Wolf)
Tonya Pinkins b. 1962 (Enchanted)
Kevin Eastman b. 1962 (writer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
James McGowan b. 1960 (Bitten, Total Recall [2012], Warriors of Terra, Mutant X)
Ted McGinley b. 1958 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Space Case)
Carrie Dobro b. 1957 (Crusade, Babylon 5, Hypernauts)
Colm Meaney b. 1953 (Childhood’s End, Alice, Stargate: Atlantis, Zenon: Z3, The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Stephen Toblowsky b. 1951 (The Time Traveler’s Wife, Heroes, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Lloyd in Space, The Day the World Ended, Roswell, Dead Last, Buffy, Groundhog Day, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Spaceballs, The Philadelphia Experiment)
Michael Piller b. 1948 died 1 November 2005 (writer, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Star Trek, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Meredith MacRae b. 1944 died 14 July 2000 (Eathbound)
David Ackroyd b. 1940 (Xena, Swamp Thing [TV], Exo-Man)
Joshua Bryant b. 1939 (The Lost Room, Starman [TV], The Powers of Matthew Star, Salem’s Lot, Man from Atlantis)
Michael J. Pollard b. 1939 (Tales from the Crypt, Eerie, Indiana, Superboy, Scrooged, Star Trek, Lost in Space)
Deanna Lund b. 1937 (Transylvania Twist, Superstition 2, Elves, The Incredible Hulk, Land of the Giants, Batman, Dimension 5)
Keir Dullea b. 1936 (Space Station 76, Alien Hunter, Witchblade, 2010, The Next One, Brain Waves, Brave New World, The Starlost, 2001: A Space Odyssey)
Ruta Lee b. 1935 (Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills, Mork & Mindy, Doomsday Machine, Twilight Zone, Adventures of Superman)
Clint Walker b. 1927 (The Serpent Warriors, Deadly Harvest, Snowbeast, Killdozer, Scream of the Wolf)
Hal Clement b. 1922 died 29 October 2003 (writer, Mission of Gravity, Star Light)
Franklin J. Schaffner b. 1920 died 2 July 1989 (director, The Boys from Brazil, Planet of the Apes)
Peter Leeds b. 1917 died 12 November 1996 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Land of the Giants, Mr. Terrific, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, My Mother the Car, The Addams Family, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, The Atomic Kid, I Married a Witch)
Hugh Griffith b. 1912 died 14 May 1980 (Legend of the Werewolf, The Last Days of Man on Earth, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, The Abominable Dr. Phibes)
Mel Blanc b. 1908 died 10 July 1989 (over 1,000 credits, almost all voice work, most notable genre work, The Jetsons, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Duck Dodgers in the 24½ th Century, The Phantom Tollbooth)
Howard Hawks b. 1896 died 26 December 1977 (director [uncredited], The Thing from Another World)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The previous Picture Slotters are Keir Dullea from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Colm Meaney from Star Trek. There were still several other candidates today, including Omri Katz from Eerie, Indiana, John Ross Bowie from The Big Bang Theory and Deanna Lund from Land of the Giants, but I was in an Oh That Guy mood and chose Steven Toblowsky as Ned Ryerson from Groundhog Day.

2. Canadians, true and false. If I made Canadian detection a game today and the only hint was that there are three, many might choose Mark Sheppard, but that would be wrong. He was born in England and lives in Los Angeles, according to imdb.com. The correct answers are Darren E. Scott, James McGowan and Ruta Lee. The two guys are guessable, Ms. Lee is not.

3. Nepotism FTW. Mark Sheppard is the son of British Oh That Guy William Morgan Sheppard. Meredith MacRae was the daughter of Gordon MacRae. 

4. Wait... she's dead? We have several people on the list who died young. The name that is best known to me of those people is Meredith MacRae from Petticoat Junction. I was not aware at all that she was dead.

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

Movies released
Maleficent released, 2014
Dark Side of the Moon released, 1990

Predictor: Dark Side of the Moon released, 1990

Prediction: In 2022, the crew of a spaceship must survive after a mysterious systems failure.

Reality: In 1990, 2022 seemed like a long way away and regular space travel was just going to happen somehow. In 2015, it's not as far away anymore and having any space exploration outside of Earth orbit doesn't seem to be in the cards for a while.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another peek into the late 20th Century with Robert A. Heinlein in The Door Into Summer.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!