11July 2015

Birthdays
Kelsey Sanders b. 1990 (10,000 Days, Wizards of Waverly Place)
David Henrie b. 1989 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Monster Makers)
Rachael Taylor b. 1984 (666 Park Avenue, Transformers, Man-Thing)
Serinda Swan b. 1984 (The Tomorrow People, Creature, TRON: Legacy, Supernatural, Smallville, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Reaper, Beyond Loch Ness)
Hailey Dawn Birnie b. 1982 (Supernatural, Level Up, Smallville, Monster Warriors, Ultra)
Jonjo O’Neill b. 1978 (Constantine, Doctor Who)
Michael Rosenbaum b. 1972 (Smallville)
Greg Grunberg b. 1966 (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Big Ass Spider!, End of the World, Super 8, Heroes, Lost, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Hollow Man, Frankenstein: The College Years)
Greg Mottola b. 1964 (director, Paul)
Lisa Rinna b. 1963 (Nick Fury: Agent of Shield [TV movie 1998], Robot Wars)
Mark Lester b. 1958 (Farhenheit 451, Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure in Space)
Sela Ward b. 1956 (The Day After Tomorrow)
Mindy Sterling b. 1953 (UFOria)
Stephen Lang b. 1952 (Avatar, Salem, Terra Nova, Conan the Barbarian [2011], Project X)
Tim De Zam b. 1952 (The Cabin in the Woods, Lost, Spider-Man, Star Trek: Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap)
Bruce McGill b. 1950 (No Ordinary Family, Deep Core. Area 57, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon 5, Timecop, Quantum Leap, Tales from the Crypt, The Man Who Fell to Earth [TV])
Tom Holland b. 1943 (director, Twisted Tales [TV], Thinner, The Langoliers, Amazing Stories, Fright Night)
John Stride b. 1936 (The Omen, Once Upon a Time)
Tab Hunter b. 1931 (The Six Million Dollar Man, Damn Yankees!)
David Kelly b. 1929 died 12 February 2012 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Merlin of the Crystal Cave, Stardust, Whoops Apocalypse)
Yul Brynner b. 1920 died 10 October 1985 (Futureworld, Westworld, The Ultimate Warrior)
Cordwainer Smith b. 1913 died 6 August 1966 (Author, The Instrumentality of Mankind)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, Michael Rosenbaum from Smallville was used in the Picture Slot because a good Lex Luthor is always iconic and Sela Ward from The Day After Tomorrow, not quite so iconic but I do feel somewhat virtuous lusting after women my own age. This year it's the late Yul Brynner, who was definitely iconic in Westworld, playing a rip-off of his iconic character in The Magnificent Seven. As you can see, the big selling point on almost all the posters was a picture that made it clear "Yul Brynner is a freaking robot!"

And oh yeah, that font they use for WESTWORLD. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, that font just screamed "This is the future!". It is the extension of the MICR e13b font used for numbers on checks and my copy of Word doesn't have it available at all.

Sorry, people from the 1970s. This is the future calling and we like you to take your font back.


2. Spot the Canadians! As a tell-tale sign, showing up on both Smallville  and Supernatural is a pretty indication of Canadian birth, and that is true for our two young Canadians today, Serinda Swan and Hailey Dawn Birnie. On the other hand, being a regular on one of the Canuck sci-fi series is not a proof of Canadian origin, and Michael Rosenbaum was born in New York City.

3. The Guy at the Door. Yul Brynner died at 65 thirty years ago, which was not all that young at the time, though fairly young by today's standards. In any case, we have one of those lists where everyone younger the the oldest living person on the list is also still alive, which means 84 year old dreamy dreamboat Tab Hunter is the Guy at the Door. It is the standard operating procedure of the blog to send special birthday wishes to anyone who is in this random demographic position.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, most especially dreamy dreamboat Tab Hunter, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes released, 2014
Journey to the Center of the Earth released, 2008
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix released, 2007
 
 

Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in his 1955 book Utopia 1976

Prediction: The matrix of our communal existence by 1976 will have shifted from elected officials to many millions of people united in a common purpose for the better park, playground, sewer system or art gallery of their city.

Reality: Or maybe even forcing the states to stop giving formal approval to the racist symbols of America's darkest era.

Oh, wait, that's 2015, not 1976. My bad.

Regular readers know that I chide Mr. Ernst almost always, but let me say that his view that Americans would have more leisure was noble, unlike Jeb Bush's idea that American workers should show some pride and work longer hours to sustain 4% growth rate. It would be nice if the American government would show some pride and give us a health care system that brought our life expectancy and infant mortality numbers in line with all the rest of the industrialized world, but we haven't and if we elect Republicans, we never will.

I say this to apologize to Mr. Enrst and hope that no Republican becomes president in 2016.

 

Never to be Forgotten: Roger Rees 1944-2015 Welsh actor Roger Rees has died at the age of 71 after a brief illness. His first big break was in the lead role of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby, an eight hour play based on one of Dickens' lesser known novels. Theatergoers had to go to the theater for two nights to see the whole play and it became a huge hit in both London and New York. On the strength of that performance, Rees was cast in his first genre film, the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott as Scrooge. Rees played the nephew Fred Holywell (pictured here) and was also the narrator. Appearance in other genre productions include Forever, Warehouse 13, The Invasion, The Prestige, Veritas: The Quest, The Scorpion King and M.A.N.T.I.S. His best known role in the U.S. is probably playing Robin Colcord on Cheers.

As a math guy, I really hate the myth of the Rule of Threes about celebrity obits, but there is not question that sometimes obituaries come in flurries. Rees is the sixth person to get a Never to be Forgotten mention on the blog this week. I certainly hope he is the last for a while, but there are no promises.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Roger Rees, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

 We get another guess for Robert A. Heinlein about the state of ate 20th Century technology.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!