27 July 2015

Birthdays
Ashlyn Sanchez b. 1996 (The Happening, Charmed)
Indiana Evans b. 1990 (Arctic Blast, H2O: Just Add Water)
Charlotte Arnold b. 1989 (Beauty and the Beast [2015], Zixx Level One, Eart: Final Conflict)
Lou Taylor Pucci b. 1985 (Evil Dead [2013], Carriers, Southland Tales)
Blair Redford b. 1983 (Beauty and the Beast [TV], FlashForward, The Day the Earth Stood Still [2008], Dance of the Dead, Voodoo Moon)
David Schultz b. 1980 (Safety Not Guaranteed)
Kirsty Hinchcliffe b. 1979 (Haven)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers b. 1977 (The Mortal Instruments, Dracula [TV])
Maya Rudolph b. 1972 (Idiocracy, Gattaca)
Takako Fuji b. 1972 (The Grudge)
Takashi Shimizu b.1972 (director, Kiki’s Delivery Service [2014], The Grudge)
Tristine Skyler b. 1971 (Angel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2)
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau b. 1970 (Game of Thrones, Oblivion)
Paul Levesque a.k.a. Triple H b. 1969 (Blade: Trinity)
Bryan Fuller b. 1969 (writer, American Gods, Mockingbird Lane, Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Carrie [TV movie 2002], Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Julian McMahon b. 1968 (Fantastic Four, Premonition, Charmed)
Cliff Curtis b. 1968 (Fear the Walking Dead, The Last Airbender, 10,000 BC, Virus, Mysterious Island [TV], Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Donnie Yen b. 1963 (Blade II, Highlander: Endgame)
Roger Guenveur Smith b. 1959 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Roxanne Hart b. 1952 (Meteorites!, Highlander)
Simon Jones b. 1950 (Spectropia, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy [2005 and 1981], Twelve Monkeys, Brazil)
Maury Chaykin b. 1949 died 27 July 2010 (Blindness, Eureka, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Lexx, Mister Destiny, Twilight Zone [1989], Def-Con 4, WarGames)
Betty Thomas b. 1948 (director, Doctor Dolittle)
Ilya Salkind b. 1947 (producer, Superman, Superboy, Supergirl)
Rade Serbedzija b. 1946 (The Legend of Hercules, X-Men: First Class, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Fallen [TV mini-series], Surface, The Fog, Batman Begins, Space Cowboys, Mighty Joe Young [1998])
John Pleshette b. 1942 (American Horror Story, Good vs Evil, The Truman Show, Lois & Clark, Beauty and the Beast [1990])
Lanny Flaherty b. 1942 (Men in Black 3, Signs, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Waterworld)
Gary Kurtz b. 1940 (producer, Return to Oz, The Dark Crystal, Star Wars)
Robert Gunner b. 1931 b. 1931 died 18 December 2001 (Planet of the Apes, The Green Hornet)
Jerry Van Dyke b. 1931 (The New Addams Family, Teen Angel, My Mother the Car)
Keenan Wynn b. 1916 died 14 October 1986 (Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star, Black Moon Rising, Manimal, The Greatest American Hero, The Clonus Horror, The Lucifer Complex, Piranha, The Bionic Woman, Laserblast, The Devil’s Rain, The Girl with Something Extra, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor, Twilight Zone)
Lupita Tovar b. 1910 (Dracula)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous Picture Slotters are Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Julian McMahon, both iconic and really good looking guys. I was tempted to go way old school and use a picture of Keenan Wynn from Twilight Zone, but instead it's Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Dracula from the current TV show.

2. Spot the Canadians! There's two today. Charlotte Arnold's credit list is short, but it is all Canuck genre TV, so the sharp eyed might have caught her. It is not quite as obvious that the late Maury Chaykin was born north of the border.

3. Nepotism, FTW and not. Jerry Van Dyke has been in his brother's shadow for a long time, but I can shed no tear for a working actor with a career spanning more than a half century. Keenan Wynn had a long career too, but I think being Ed Wynn's son did open some doors early on.

Movie released
Planet of the Apes released, 2001

Not a typo: Yes, the birth year for Lupita Tovar is correct, she is 105 today. She played the Mina Murray character in the 1931 Spanish language version of Dracula, the name changed to Eva for some reason. She's not iconic to gringos, but she is certainly fabulous. I'm sure the readers of this blog have the whole tempus fugit concept under control, and we know radiant creatures such as her become abuelitas by and by, but consider that Sra. Tovar could easily have grandkids my age.

Yow.


Many happy returns to all the living on the list, with very special best wishes to the fabulous Lupita Tovar, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in the 1957 book The Door Into Summer

Prediction: There was not much for her to take in my wallet – a small amount of cash, ID cards, driver’s license, keys and such, and a nasal inhaler against the smog.

Reality: Given the state of air pollution when Heinlein wrote this and the complete lack of will to fix the problem in the 1950s, the prediction isn't that far fetched, but by 1970 when this part of the story, air quality was actually on the mend.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Will our Commie forecaster John Langdon-Davies be just wrong or crazy, weird wrong?
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!