15 June 2015

Birthdays
Rachel Covey b. 1998 (Enchanted)
Ray Santiago b. 1984 (Ash vs. Evil Dead, Suburban Gothic, Touch, In Time)
Elizabeth Reaser b. 1975 (Twilight)
Neil Patrick Harris b. 1973 (American Horror Story, Beastly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Starship Troopers, Quantum Leap, Purple People Eater)
Greg Vaughan b. 1973 (Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Charmed, Buffy)
Poppy Montgomery b. 1972 (Dead Man on Campus, Tammy and the T-Rex)
Jake Busey b. 1971 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Charmed, Jeremiah, Starship Troopers, Contact, The Frighteners)
Ice Cube b. 1969 (Ghosts of Mars)
Courtney Cox b. 1964 (Bedtime Stories, Zoom, Cocoon: The Return, Misfits of Science, Masters of the Universe)
Helen Hunt b. 1963 (Trancers I and II, Project X, The Bionic Woman, Ark II)
Robin Curtis b. 1956 (Space: Above and Beyond, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek III and IV, Knight Rider)
Polly Draper b. 1955 (The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Deadly Nightmares, Tales from the Darkside)
Jim Belushi b. 1954 (The Tick, Retroactive, Last Action Hero, Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe, Little Shop of Horrors)
Jim Varney b. 1949 died 10 February 2000 (Wilder Napalm, Dr, Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam)
Rick Rosenthal b. 1949 (director, Beauty and the Beast [2013], Haven, Smallville, Flash Gordon [2007 TV], The Dresden Files, Buffy, Witchblade, Halloween: Resurrection, Early Edition, The Witches of Eastwick [TV], Halloween II)
Nicola Pagett b. 1945 (Frankenstein: The True Story)
Joy Bang b. 1945 (Messiah of Evil, Night of the Cobra Woman)
Neal Adams b. 1941 (artist)
William Newman b. 1934 died 27 May 2015 (The Tick, Angel, VR.5, The Craft, The Stand, Leprechaun, Eerie, Indiana, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Silver Bullet)
Victor Lundin b. 1930 died 29 June 2013 (Babylon 5, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek, Robinson Crusoe on Mars)
Herschell Gordon Lewis b. 1929 (director, Monster a Go-Go)
Richard Derr b. 1918 died 8 May 1992 (Automan, Project U.F.O., Star Trek, The Outer Limits, The Invisible Avenger, When Worlds Collide)
Henry Slate b. 1910 died 11 August 1996 (The Cat from Outer Space, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Pete’s Dragon)
James Robertson Justice b. 1907 died 2 July 1975 (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Spirits of the Dead, The Face of Fu Manchu)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was given to Elizabeth Reaser from Twilight and Neil Patrick Harris from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. This year it goes to Robin Curtis, who took the role of Lt. Saavik away from Kirstie Alley in Star Trek III & IV.

2. Living Canadian Free! Director Rick Rosenthal has a slightly Canadian air to his resume, but he was born here and has never emigrated to the best of my knowledge.

3. MST3K. The one I know for sure is Monster A Go-Go, directed by gore master Herschell Gordon Lewis but not credited to him. Even he had standards, apparently.

4. Brush with greatness and Nepotism FTW. Polly Draper is best known for her work on thirtysomething. I worked at Activision with her younger sister Becky, who I think was the prettier of the two. (Picture Ali McGraw, but 5'11". Certainly made an impression on me.) Their father William Draper was one of the venture capitalists who started Activision, which I'm sure helped Becky get that first step into the door.

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

 Movies released
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer released, 2007
Batman Begins released, 2005

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: The Caspian and Aral Seas have begun to dry up because the rivers that once flowed into them are being used for irrigation. But the Soviets have the answer: just bring in new water by changing the flow of the Ob and Yenesi rivers and run them through 3,000 kilometers of canals. Environmentalists predict disaster.

Reality: Okay, let's review the truth so far. The Caspian Sea is really big and not dried up. The Aral Sea is just big and it has dried up. The Soviets talked big, but they couldn't back it up. The Ob and Yenesi still flow into the Arctic.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's a Tuesday and barring an interruption, we hear from our grumpy Commie pal John Langdon-Davies.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!