2 June 2015

Birthdays
Sterling Beaumon b. 1995 (Powers, Lost, Heroes)
Stephan Bender b. 1989 (Superman Returns)
Amber Marshall b. 1988 (Mutant World, Fallout Asylum, Dark Oracle, Resident Evil: Apocalypse)
Jewel Staite b. 1982 (Supernatural, Warehouse 13, Mothman, Stargate: Atlantis, Serenity, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me, Firefly, The Immortal, Honey I Shrunk the Kids: TV Show, Flash Forward, The X-Files, Sanctuary, Kyle XY, Thralls)
James Ransome b. 1979 (Jericho, The American Astronaut)
Morena Baccarin b. 1979 (Gotham, V, Serenity, Firefly, Stargate SG-1, Sands of Oblivion)
Dominic Cooper b. 1978 (Agent Carter, Dracula Untold, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Dead Man Down, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Devil’s Double, Jericho, From Hell)
Nikki Cox b. 1978 (Eerie, Indiana, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Purple People Eater, Mac and Me)
Justin Long b. 1978 (Tusk, Drag Me to Hell, Idiocracy, The Sasquatch Gang, Jeepers Creepers I and II, Galaxy Quest)
Zachary Quinto b. 1977 (Star Trek, American Horror Story, Heroes, Charmed)
Leah Cairns b. 1974 (Interstellar, The Tomorrow People, Mega Cyclone, Battlestar Galactica, Kyle XY, Supernatural)
Kevin Feige b. 1973 (producer, Ant-Man, Agent Carter, Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, Punisher, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Man-Thing, Hulk, Daredevil, X-Men)
Wentworth Miller b. 1972 (Resident Evil, The Flash, Underworld, Dinotopia, Buffy)
Wayne Brady b. 1972 (Stargate SG-1, Geppetto, Superboy)
Anthony Montgomery b. 1971 (Enterprise, Charmed, Stargate SG-1)
Joel Tobeck b. 1971 (Power Rangers, 30 Days of Night, Mee-Shee: The Water Giant, The Lord of the Rings, Cleopatra 2525, Xena, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Mysterious Island, My Grandpa is a Vampire)
Peter J. Lucas b. 1962 (Independence Day)
Sean Chapman b. 1961 (Hellraiser I and II)
Liam Cunningham b. 1961 (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Merlin, Clash of the Titans, Blood: The Last Vampire, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Police 2020)
Janet DeMay b. 1957 (Knight Rider, The Beastmaster)
Dennis Haysbert b. 1954 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, The Thirteenth Floor, K-9000, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Galactica 1980, The Incredible Hulk)
Jeannine Taylor b. 1954 (Friday the 13th)
Frank C. Turner b. 1951 (Strange Empire, Spooksville, Supernatural, 2012, The 4400, Smallville, Andromeda, Earthsea, Dead Like Me, Stargate SG-1, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The New Addams Family. Poltergeist: The Legacy, Sliders, Highland, The X-Files, Needful Things, It, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Fly II, Deadly Nightmares)
Joanna Gleason b. 1950 (Perversions of Science, Into the Woods [1991])
Jerry Mathers b. 1948 (The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite, Batman)
Jon Peters b. 1945 (producer, Man of Steel, Superman Returns, Batman Returns, Batman, Superman 50th Anniversary, Innerspace, The Witches of Eastwick, An American Werewolf in London)
Kevork Malikyan b. 1943 (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Thief of Baghdad [TV], Doctor Who)
Charles Haid b. 1943 (The Dreamer of Oz, Nightbreed, Deadly Nightmares, The Twilight Zone, Wonder Woman, Altered States, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Stacy Keach b. 1941 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Meteor, Camelot, Man with the Screaming Brain, Galaxy Hunter, Future Fear, Escape form L.A., Amanda & the Alien, Class of 1999, Project U.F.O.)
Susan Hart b. 1941 (Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, The Slime People)
Sally Kellerman b. 1937 (Deadtime Stories, Faerie Tale Theatre, Slither, The Invaders, Star Trek, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Robert Tessier b. 1934 died 11 October 1990 (Future Force, Amazing Stories, Manimal, The Sword and the Sorcerer, The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Star Crash, The Velvet Vampire)
Charles “Pete” Conrad b. 1930 died 8 July 1999 (Apollo 12 moonwalker)
Thomas Hill b. 1927 died 20 April 2009 (The NeverEnding Story I and II, V: The Final Battle, Wizards and Warriors, Firefox, World War III, Quintet)
Milo O’Shea b. 1926 died 2 April 2013 (Early Edition, Beauty and the Beast, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Theatre of Blood, Barbarella)
Max Showalter a.k.a. Casey Adams b. 1917 died 20 July 2000 (The Incredible Hulk, Bewitched, Twilight Zone, The Monster That Challenged the World, Indestructible Man)
Lester del Rey b. 1915 died 10 May 1993 (author, The Year After Tomorrow, Into Thy Hands)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The first year of the blog on this date, I chose Morena Baccarin for the Picture Slot and who could blame me? Last year, I made astronauts trump, so Pete Conrad got the honor. This year, there are plenty of excellent choices, but I decided to go with Jewel Staite instead of runner-up Zachary Quinto because I'm a Whedonverse geek and... she's purdy.

2. A Canadian cornucopia. We have five Canadians today, some spottable and some not. Two are born in the 1980s, the aforementioned Ms. Staite being easily spottable and Amber Marshall somewhat less so. Born in the 1970s, we have Leah Cairns and that was possible to guess from her credits list. Born in the 1950s, there is the very spottable Frank C. Turner and the much less obvious Joanna Gleason.

3. Nepotism FTW. Besides being inscrutably Canadian, Joanna Gleason is the daughter of game show host Monty Hall. Did this open doors for her early in her career? Was it door number 1, 2 or 3? I do not have the answers to these questions.

4. The Gal at the Door. Another list with a demographic twist today, where everyone younger than the oldest living person is still alive, and that oldest survivor is Sally Kellerman. While the positive way to look at such a list is that no one died very young, I find it awkward when the Gal at the Door is less than 80 years old and doubly so when she is an actress I lusted after in days gone by, so well... awkward.  As always, special best wishes for many happy returns to the person in this situation.

5. MST3K.  I know of at least two movies listed that got the Best Brains treatment, The Indestructible Man and The Slime People.

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

Predictor: John Langdon-Davies in his 1936 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction: The U.S.A. will remain relatively unimportant, in spite of its wealth and natural strength. It will forget all but the catchwords of democracy and enter in to a ruthless period of fascism. Large tracts of American land will go back to the primeval wilderness.

Reality: The United States relatively unimportant? Strike one.

Entering a fascist period in the 1930s or 1940s? Strike two.

More and more wilderness? Strike three and Mr. Langdon-Davies is retired.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More clever ideas about electrical gadgets from our sensible pal George Sutherland.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!