29 July 2013

Birthdays
Wil Wheaton b. 1972 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Big Bang Theory)
David Warner b. 1941 (Tron, Planet of the Apes (reboot), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Babylon 5)

No disrespect to Mr. Warner, whose career in front of the camera now spans fifty years (!), but this first 29th of July on the blog the Picture Slot goes to Mr. Wheaton, who is now a major force in nerd circles by being a proponent of being a nerd and enjoying it.

Many happy returns of the day to both gentlemen.

Movies released
Cowboys & Aliens, released 2011  

In the year 2000! (or sooner)

Predictor: The Royal Society of Medicine in the OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Predictions (reality): Medicines that will be available by 2000 or sooner

Aggression control achieved (Oh, no, you dint!)
Drugs available that safely heighten perceptions, alter emotional experience and generate unique hallucinations (Well, there are some drugs that do all those things, but they existed in 1982 as well. The most debatable word in the prediction is "available".)
Extension of childhood to delay adolescence (Great idea, but the historical trend has been going in the opposite direction since at least 1840.)
Guilt provoked or relieved by drugs (If these drugs exist and Dick Cheney is using one of them, make him use the other one.)
Maternal behavior turned on and off at will (What does that make this set of predictions now, zero for five?)
Memory increased or shortened (If you really need it shortened, watching TV and drinking alcohol are pretty reliable, both in the long term and the short term)

This is the last of this set from OMNI Future Almanac. Next week, Monday goes back to the other member of the tag team, the Popular Mechanics predictions.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!



Can there be any Heinlein predictions left that aren't ridiculous? Signs point to no, as the Magic Eight Ball used to say.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

22 July 2013

Birthdays
Rhys Ifans b. 1967 (The Amazing Spider-Man, Harry Potter)
John Leguizamo b. 1964 (Ice Age)
Willem Dafoe b. 1955 (Spider-Man, John Carter)
Danny Glover b. 1946  (2012)
Terence Stamp b. 1938 (Superman)
Louise Fletcher b. 1934 (Deep Space Nine)

These actors all have a lot of non-genre in their careers and are arguably better known for it, but Stamp as General Zod is iconic enough to get the picture slot this year.

Many happy returns to them all.
 

Predictor: The British Royal Society of Medicine, published in OMNI Future Almanac in 1982

Predictions (reality): Medical treatments that will be available in the 1990s

1. Artificial womb in use (Wikipedia still calls it theoretical.)

2. Contraceptives now safe, convenient and inexpensive (Well, one political party in the U.S. is doing all it can to remove "convenient" from the list.)

3. Permanent stimulator of intelligence found (Umm, dude... what?)

4. Safe, short-acting intoxicant available to replace to replace alcohol (Does it taste as good as red wine, India pale ale or a nice rum? Then screw it.)

5. Synthetic blood in use (Yeah, and we use it to feed vampires. Okay, just kidding. Wired says it's still in the future.)

6. Vaccine ends tooth decay (Yeah, but the dental industry is keeping it away from us, man. I know because I'm taking the permanent stimulator of intelligence.)

I would like to make clear that even with the slanderous rumor from commenter Zombie Rotten McDonald and the evidence from this update, the author of this blog does not have a Weed Card.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Larry Niven gives an exact date for an exact prediction that is exactly 100% wrong.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

15 July 2013

Birthday
Terry O’Quinn b. 1952 (Lost, Star Trek, The X-Files, Falling Skies)

While he has done other work, sci-fi TV shows have been Mr. O'Quinns bread and butter for about three decades now. Best wishes to him on his birthday.


Movies released
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince released, 2009
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 released, 2011

Predictor: The British Royal Society of Medicine in the OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction (reality): Drug advances available by 1990

Allergy relief perfected (not quite, but close)
Autoimmune illnesses conquered (no)
Cancer cure available (no)
Depression relief reliable (debatable)
Hypertension therapy effective (better than it used to be)
Mental illness successfully treatable (no, about 35% of the public are still voting Republican)

The reality checks here are more about what is available now in 2013 more than making sure the checklist was accurate in 1900. In any event, autoimmune illness and cancer are much tougher problems to solve that we had hoped. Here's hoping politicians will still think basic research is worth paying for.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!


Robert A. Heinlein looks at the future of transportation here on Earth... and get it almost completely wrong.

Again.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

8 July 2013

 Birthdays
Billy Crudup b. 1968 (Watchmen)
Kevin Bacon b. 1958 (X-Men: First Class)
Keith Carradine b. 1949 (Dollhouse, Star Trek: Enterprise)
Jeffrey Tambor b. 1944 (Hellboy)

Four good actors are celebrating birthdays today, all with long successful careers that have very few roles in genre films or TV.

Many happy returns to them all.

Movies released

Fantastic Four released 8 July 2005

I was a big fan of FF when I was a kid, but the movies have been a huge disappointment.

Predictor: British Royal Society of Medicine (BRSM) in OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction (reality): These medical advances will be available by 1990.

New generations of antibacterials perfected (Um, fellas? The process of evolution would like to have a word with you on the definition of "perfected".)

Dental caries conquered (not yet)

Male contraceptives developed (What's wrong with the stuff the womenfolk use? Unless it's Viagra, the menfolk are wary of drugs messing with the basic operation of the equipment.)

Asthma controlled (Inhalers have been around since 1955, the drugs have improved but the treatment is just about the same as before)

Bacterial and viral illnesses fall to new drugs (True enough, but some mutate into antibiotic resistant strains)

Anxiety and tension control achieved (There have been treatments since benzodiazepine was invented in 1955, but some people still have very severe panic attacks.)

====

This is one of the great things about the OMNI Future Almanac. I can open it up, flip a few pages and find a gold mine of predictions with dates. There are twenty four predictions from the BRSM that would be achieved before the end of the 20th Century, so I'm going to split them into four sections and dole them out over the next few weeks.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!


Larry Niven will make a prediction about space exploration and it will be completely wrong.





Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!