3 April 2015

 Birthdays
Jackson Bond b. 1996 (The Invasion)
Hayley Kiyoko b. 1991 (The Vampire Diaries, Scooby Doo! [TV movies], Wizards of Waverly Place)
Jerry Messing b. 1986 (Addams Family Reunion)
Rebekah Kennedy b. 1984 (Season of the Witch)
Cobie Smulders b. 1982 (Avengers, Captain America, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Andromeda, Jeremiah, Smallville)
Alessandro Juliani b. 1978 (The 100, Almost Human, Man of Steel, Continuum, Eve of Destruction, Fringe, Smallville, Dinosaur Train, Riverworld, Alice [TV], Reaper, Battlestar Galactica, The Time Tunnel [2006], Stargate SG-1, Earthsea, Jeremiah, Welcome to Paradox)
Matthew Goode b. 1978 (Watchmen)
Philip Brodie b. 1975 (Dawn of the Dragonslayer, Zombie Diaries 2, Merlin [2010 TV], Young Dracula, My Hero)
Jacky Wu b. 1974 (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)
Jamie Bamber b. 1973 (Star Trek Continues, Dollhouse, Battlestar Galactica, The Devil’s Tattoo)
Adam Scott b. 1973 (Hot Tub Time Machine 2, Piranha 3D, Wonderfalls, Star Trek: First Contact)
Catherine McCormack b. 1972 (28 Weeks Later, Shadow of the Vampire)
Ben Mendelsohn b. 1969 (The Dark Knight Rises, Farscape)
Jennifer Rubin b. 1962 (Amazons and Gladiators, The Wasp Woman, Screamers, Tales from the Crypt, The Twilight Zone [1987], A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors)
Eddie Murphy b. 1961 (Meet Dave, The Haunted Mansion, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Doctor Dolittle, Vampire in Brooklyn)
Elizabeth Gracen b. 1961 (Coherence, Charmed, Highlander [TV], Time Trax, The Flash [1991], The Death of the Incredible Hulk, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat)
David Hyde Pierce b. 1959 (Hellboy, Addams Family Values, Vampire’s Kiss, The Terminator)
Vanna Bonta b. 1958 died 8 July 2014 (Time Walker, The Beastmaster)
Alec Baldwin b. 1958 (Dr. Suess’ The Cat in the Hat, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, The Shadow, Beetlejuice)
Robin Mossley b. 1955 (Sanctuary, Reaper, Painkiller Jane, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, The 4400, Alienated, Jeremiah, Elf, Dead Like Me, The X Files, Highlander [TV])
Uri Gavriel b. 1955 (The Dark Knight Rises, The Mummy Lives)
Pat Proft b. 1947 (writer, The Star Wars Holiday Special)
Lamberto Bava b. 1944 (director, Demons 1 and 2, Devilfish)
Wayne Newton b. 1942 (Kingdom Hospital, Tales from the Crypt)
Eric Braeden b. 1941 (The Aliens Are Coming, Wonder Woman, Project U.F.O., The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Colossus: The Forbin Project)
Wolf Kahler b. 1940 (Cockneys vs Zombies, Loch Ness, Space, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Boys from Brazil)
Lawrence Dane b. 1937 (Phenomenon II, MythQuest, Stargate SG-1, The Time Shifters, Highlander: The Raven, Bride of Chucky, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Darkman II, Millennium, Bionic Showdown, Scanners, The Invaders)
Kevin Hagen b. 1928 died 9 July 2005 (Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, Twilight Zone)
Timothy Bateson b. 1926 died 16 September 2009 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hogfather, My Hero, Relic Hunter, Merlin, Neverwhere, Doctor Who, The Evil of Frankenstein, The Day the Earth Caught Fire)
Marlon Brando b. 1924 died 1 July 2004 (Superman, The Island of Dr. Moreau)
Harry Landers b. 1921 (Star Trek, World of Giants)
Jan Sterling b. 1921 died 26 March 2004 (The Incredible Hulk, 1984 [1956])
Washington Irving b. 1783 died 28 November 1859 (author, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was held by folks best known for their roles in the 21st Century, the lovely Cobie Smulders and the handsome Jamie Bamber. With them removed from the list, my top two choices were Alec Baldwin from Beetlejuice and today's winner, Marlon Brando as Jor-El in Superman. Casting him was a big damn deal, but he really didn't have much to do.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are four today. Cobie Smulders did the TV circuit before she was cast as Maria Hill in the Marvel movies, Alessandro Jiuliani also has an easy to spot resume. The two others are older than our usual Canadian actors, Robin Mossley turning 60 and Lawrence Dane now 78.

3. Nepotism FTW. I'm not going to count Alec Baldwin as nepotism, since he's the most successful of the brothers. On the other hand, Lamberto Bava is Mario Bava's son, so he definitely deserves a mention.

4. Things I didn't know. I love to check movies for early roles from actors who became much better known, but I don't remember David Hyde Pierce in The Terminator. I may have to go back and watch the movie again. The second thing I didn't know was Vanna Bonta died last year. Because of her role in The Beastmaster, she should have clearly been given a Never to be Forgotten post, but I didn't know she was gone.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: Many people, with their minds inspired by the number of editions which evening papers pretend to publish and do not, incline to believe that daily papers may presently give place to hourly papers, each with the last news of the last sixty minutes photographically displayed. As a matter of fact no human being wants that, and very few are so foolish as to think they do; the only kind of news that any sort of people clamours for hot and hot is financial and betting fluctuations, lottery lists and examination results; and the elaborated and cheapened telegraphic and telephonic system of the coming days, with tapes (or phonograph to replace them) in every post-office and nearly every private house, so far from expanding this department, will probably sweep it out of the papers altogether.

Reality: I'm going to give Wells a strong grade for this one. Instead of hourly different versions of newspapers, he was predicting the hottest news would be sent by telegraph or telephone. The earliest experiments with radio had happened in the 1890s, many years before Wells wrote this, but nearly everyone in the field saw the drawbacks overwhelming the advantages. By the 1920s, it was one of the most important and practical modern inventions, but I am hard pressed to find anyone at the turn of the century who was predicting this. Our friend Sutherland has an idea for the use of wireless telegraphy that didn't come to pass, though it is rather clever, and his predictions for wireless telephony are very limited.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It had to happen eventually and the day is growing nigh. There are only two prophecies left from our pals from 1893.
 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

27 March 2015

Birthdays
Holliday Grainger b. 1988 (Demons, Merlin, Roger and the Rottentrolls)
Brenda Song b. 1988 (Wizards of Waverly Place, Phil of the Future, The Nightmare Room)
Emily Ann Lloyd b. 1984 (Early Edition, Apollo 13)
Jason Narvy b. 1974 (Power Rangers)
Nathan Fillion b. 1971 (Thrilling Adventure Hour Live, The Big Bang Theory, Neil’s Puppet Dreams, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Guild, The Venture Bros., Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Lost, Slither, Serenity, Firefly, Buffy, Dracula 2000)
Elizabeth Mitchell b. 1970 (Once Upon a Time, Revolution, V, Lost, Frequency)
Pauley Perrette b. 1969 (The Singularity Is Near, Satan Hates You, The Ring, Dead Last, Early Edition)
Kevin Corrigan b. 1969 (Fringe, Superboy, The Exorcist III)
Sandra Hess b. 1968 (Sliders, Highlander [TV], Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Beastmaster: The Eye of Braxus, Lois & Clark, SeaQuest 2032)
Talisa Soto b. 1967 (Elysium, Island of the Dead, Mortal Kombat)
Martin Weisz b. 1966 (director, The Hills Have Eyes II)
Quentin Tarantino b. 1963 (screenwriter, From Dusk Till Dawn)
Jeff Griggs b. 1963 (Power Rangers Time Force, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Babylon 5)
Adrian Rawlins b. 1958 (Harry Potter, Doctor Who)
Caroline Williams b. 1957 (Seed 2, Halloween II, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, They Came from Outer Space, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2)
Bairbre Dowling b. 1953 (Star Trek: Voyager, Zardoz)
Michael York b. 1942 (Megiddo: The Omega Code, One Hell of a Guy, Dark Planet, Babylon 5, SeaQuest 2032, Not of this Earth, TekWar: TekLab, Space, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Logan’s Run)
Austin Pendleton b. 1940 (Wishcraft, Tales from the Crypt, Alice in Wonderland [1983], Simon)
June Wilkinson b. 1940 (Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie, Batman[TV])
Julian Glover b. 1935 (Game of Thrones, Atlantis [TV], Alien Uprising, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Empire Strikes Back, Doctor Who, Blakes 7, Space: 1999, Five Million Miles to Earth)
Lorenzo Semple Jr. b. 1923 died 28 March 2014 (writer, Flash Gordon, King Kong, Batman [TV], The Green Hornet)
Dick King-Smith b. 1922 died 4 January 2011 (author, The Sheep-Pig)
Richard Denning b. 1914 died 11 October 1998 (Alice Through the Looking Glass [1966 TV], Creature with the Atom Brain, Target Earth, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Black Scorpion)
Carl Barks b. 1901 died 25 August 2000 (author, Scrooge McDuck, Gyro Gearloose)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was graced by Nathan Fillion and Michael York.  This year, it was a toss-up between Carl Barks, who gets my vote as the greatest writer of comic book adventure stories ever, and the winner, Julian Glover. Glover played Richard the Lionheart on Doctor Who, Grand Maester Pycelle on Game of Thrones and is pictured here as General Veers from The Empire Strikes Back. For an Oh That Guy, that's a heck of a lot of iconic.

2. A Canadian amongst us. Nathan Fillion is allowed to walk the streets of this great land of ours as free and easy as you please, despite the lowly circumstances of his birth in another (and therefore inferior) country placed by God north of ours, where there is only bitter cold and giant mosquitoes.

3. MST3K. The only one I'm sure of is Richard Denning in The Black Scorpion.

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

Movie released
Monsters Vs. Aliens released, 2009  
 

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: The stories the growing girl now prefers, and I imagine will in the future still prefer, deal mainly with the rich and free; the theatre she will prefer to visit will present the lives and loves of opulent people with great precision and detailed correctness; her favorite periodicals will reflect that life.

Reality: Just in case you got upset with H.G. Wells, bigot and totalitarian, meet H.G. Wells, mansplainer. Reading the entire passage from which this paragraph is taken, it's pretty clear Wells looked down on young women because they didn't buy H.G. Wells novels. Imagine his surprise at the success of young adult novels about sparkly vampires and cute girls who are really good with a bow and arrow.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's Saturday and 1893 beckons to us.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 February 2015

 Birthdays
Mena Suvari b. 1979 (American Horror Story, The Cape, Day of the Dead, The Rage: Carrie 2)
Carey Torice b. 1977 (Dark Night of the Pumpkinman 2, Silent Scream)
Michael DeMello b. 1974 (Surrogates)
Scott Levy b. 1971 (The Helix… Loaded)
Andrew Bryniarski b. 1969 (Dracula’s Guest, Texas Chainsaw Massacre [2006], Seven Mummies, Firefly, Rollerball [2002], Good vs Evil, NightMan, Scooby-Doo, Conan, Lois & Clark, Batman Returns, Street Fighter)
Kelly Hu b. 1968 (Arrow, Age of Tomorrow, Warehouse 13, The 100, The Vampire Diaries, Area 57, Dark Shadows [2004 TV movie], X-Men 2, The Scorpion King, Strange Days, L.A.X. 2194, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
Neal McDonough b. 1966 (Agent Carter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America: The First Avenger, Tin Man, Minority Report, The X-Files, Star Trek: First Contact, White Dwarf, VR.5, Quantum Leap, Darkman)
Stephen Manley b. 1965 (Nightwing: The Series, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
Mark Patton b. 1964 (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Anna to the Infinite Power)
Henry Rollins b. 1961 (The Devil’s Tomb, Jack Frost, Welcome to Paradox, Johnny Mnemonic)
Richard Tyson b. 1961 (Bigfoot, Flight of the Living Dead, Battlefield Earth)
Matt Salinger b. 1960 (What Dreams May Come, Captain America [1990])
David Naughton b. 1951 (The Nightmare Room, Beanstalk, Twilight Zone [1989], An American Werewolf in London, Planet of the Apes [TV])
Pernilla August b. 1958 (Star Wars: Episodes I and II)
Leslie Bevis b. 1957 (Deep Space Nine, Alien Nation, Spaceballs, V)
Joe Estevez b. 1946 (Drakul, The Attack of the 30 Foot Chola, Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan, The Voices from Beyond, Horrorween, La Femme Vampir, Zombie Farm, Hercules in Hollywood, Vampire Blvd., Black Scorpion, Blood Slaves of the Vampire Wolf, Rollergator, Cyber Seeker, Beach Babes from Beyond, Starman [TV], The Invisible Woman, Werewolf, Soul Taker)
Michael Ensign b. 1944 (The Drone Virus, Star Trek: Enterprise, Solaris, The X Files, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Star Trek: Voyager, Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Doctor Hackenstein, Otherworld, Voyagers!, WarGames, Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again, The Greatest American Hero, Superman)
Stockard Channing b. 1944 (Practical Magic)
Donald Sumpter b. 1943 (Jekyll & Hyde, Atlantis [2013], Game of Thrones, Merlin [2010], Being Human, The Sarah Jane Chronicles, Dracula [2006], Doctor Who, The Lost Continent)
Carol Lynley b. 1942 (The Shape of Things to Come [1979], The Evil Touch, Beware! The Blob, The Sixth Sense [1972], The Night Stalker, The Immortal, The Invaders)
Bo Svenson b. 1941 (Deep Space, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom)
Oliver Reed b. 1938 died 2 May 1999 (The Pit and the Pendulum, The House of Usher, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Gor, Venom, Condorman, Doctor Heckyl and Mr. Hype, Z.P.G., The Curse of the Werewolf, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
George Segal b. 1934 (2012, The Terminal Man)
Caroline Blakiston b. 1933 (Return of the Jedi, My Partner the Ghost, Out of the Unknown)
Barbara Shelley b. 1933 (Doctor Who, Blakes 7, Five Million Miles to Earth, Dracula: Prince of Darkness [1966], The Gorgon, Village of the Damned, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man, Blood of the Vampire)
Kim Novak b. 1933 (Satan’s Triangle, Bell Book and Candle)
Susan Oliver b. 1932 died 10 May 1990 (Freddy’s Nightmares, Star Trek, Death in Space, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
James Griffith b. 1916 died 17 September 1993 (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Isis, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Batman, The Amazing Transparent Man, The Vampire, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger)
William Dozier b. 1908 died 23 April 1991 (producer, Batman, The Green Hornet, Red Brown of the Rocket Rangers)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, There were pictures of Susan Oliver from Star Trek and Pernilla August from Star Wars, and with them removed there are still some iconic roles to choose from, but I'm jonesing so bad for some new Game of Thrones, I went with Donald Sumpter as Master Luwin.

2. Nepotism Not FTW. Joe Estevez is the younger brother of Martin Sheen. He has been in a huge number of films, but I don't list the ones on imdb.com that are said to be direct to video. Consider that Attack of the 30 Foot Chola  is NOT listed as direct to video and this gives you an idea of how successful his career has been. (No, I've never seen it.) On imdb, it says that Joe gets voiceover work largely because he sounds like his brother, so there is a little nepotistic advantage at work. He also showed up in two MST3K targets, Werewolf and Soul Taker.

3. More MST3K. The Amazing Transparent Man with James Griffith also got riffed by Joel and the bots.

4. Where are the young people? And the Canadians? No actor on our list today was born in the 1980s or after. That's pretty rare. Quite often, our Canadians who get work on the genre shows are younger actors, but there are no Canadians either. Go figure.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells from his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: One always imagines a cook working with a crimsoned face and bare blackened arms. But with a neat little range, heated by electricity and provided with thermometers, with absolutely controllable temperatures and proper heat screens, cooking might very easily be made a pleasant amusement for intelligent invalid ladies. It seems likely that there will be no chimneys at all to the house of the future of this type, except the flue for the kitchen smells. This will not only abolish the chimney stack, but make the roof a clean and pleasant addition to the garden spaces of the home.

Reality: Okay, Herb gets full points here, although cooking is not just an amusement for "intelligent invalid ladies". Lots of people like to cook and some are able bodied men. I will not comment on intelligence or lack of same.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 for some bold predictions from the Reverend David Swing.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 February 2015

Birthdays
Sophie Bennett b. 1989 (Odyssey 5, Code Name: Eternity, Universal Soldier: Brothers in Arms)
Brittany Drisdelle b. 1988 (Being Human, Tales from the Neverending Story)
Dane DeHaan b. 1986 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2 & 3, Chronicle, True Blood)
Alice Greczyn b. 1986 (Phil of the Future)
Crystal Reed b. 1985 (Teen Wolf [TV], Skyline)
Brandon Hammond b. 1984 (Mars Attacks!, Space Jam, Strange Days)
Alice Eve b. 1982 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Men in Black 3, The Raven)
Whitney Able b. 1982 (Monsters [2010])
Kim Poirier b. 1980 (Eureka, Dawn of the Dead, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal)
Ben Lawson b. 1980 (Sabrina, Down Under, Chameleon II: Death Match, Time Trax)
Josh Stewart b. 1977 (Interstellar, Transcendence, Grimm, The Walking Dead, The Dark Knight Rises, No Ordinary Family, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jekyll)
Brain Stepanek b. 1971 (Haunted Hathaways, Dark Skies, Monster Mutt, Transformers, The Island, Early Edition)
David Hayter b. 1969 (writer, World War III [2015], Black Widow, X-Men, X-Men 2, Watchmen, The Scorpion King)
Adam Simon b. 1962 (writer, Salem, The Haunting in Connecticut, Bones [2001 Movie], Carnosaur, Brain Dead)
Megan Gallagher b. 1960 (Warehouse 13, Contagion, Star Trek: Voyager, Millennium, Deep Space Nine)
Kathy Najimy b. 1957 (Cinderelmo, Bride of Chucky, Early Edition, Hocus Pocus)
Robert Townsend b. 1957 (I Was a Teenage Faust, The Meteor Man, Amazing Stories)
Tiffany Bolling b. 1947 (Kingdom of the Spiders, Man from Atlantis, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Gayle Hunnicut b. 1943 (Tales from the Crypt, Tales of the Unexpected, The Martian Chronicles, The Legend of Hell House )
Gigi Perreau b. 1941 (Journey to the Center of Time)
Mike Farrell b. 1939 (Supernatural, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Questor Tapes, The Sixth Sense [1972], Doomsday Machine, I Dream of Jeannie)
Rip Torn b. 1931 (Men in Black, Zoom, RoboCop 3, Defending Your Life, The Beastmaster, Coma, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Murder and the Android)
Mamie Van Doren b. 1931 (Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Pamela Curran b. 1930 (The Invaders, The Green Hornet, I Dream of Jeannie, Mutiny in Outer Space, My Favorite Martian, The Blob [1958])
Walker Edmiston b. 1925 died 15 February 2007 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Land of the Lost, Shazam!, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Lost Saucer, Star Trek, Batman, The Beach Girls and the Monster)
Patrick Macnee b. 1922 (Low Budget Time Machine, NightMan, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Super Force, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Lobster Man from Mars, War of the Worlds [1989 TV], Waxwork, Automan, The Creature Wasn’t Nice, The Howling, Battlestar Galactica, Twilight Zone [1959], A Christmas Carol [1951], The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Zsa Zsa Gabor b. 1917 (Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie, Queen of Outer Space, Batman)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous folk in the Picture Slot are Zsa Zsa Gabor for Queen of Outer Space and Rip Torn from Men in Black. While I admit my geezerhood, that isn't the only reason I am hard pressed to find an actor with an iconic role on this list who is younger than 80, though maybe Kathy Najimy in Hocus Pocus might count. In any case, the final choice was between Patrick Macnee from Battlestar Galactica and Mamie Van Doren from a glamour still.

I chose the fabulous babe. Shocking, I know. Happy birthday to both of them, they are both still with us.

2. The dead is one guy! It wasn't until I stumbled across the name of Walker Edmiston that I found even one person today who was already dead, and we have two folks in their 90s. Walker Edmiston didn't quite make it to the level of Oh That Guy as far as I'm concerned; he worked for many decades and split his time between in front of the camera and voice work. Remember the Star Trek episode where Clint Howard played the creepy alien who drank "tranya"? Walker Edmiston did the voice.

3. Canadians spotted! Not easy to tell the Canadians from the rest today. All of them are actresses born in the 1980s, Sophie Bennett, Brittany Drisdelle and Kim Poirier.


4. No MST3K, strangely enough. There are plenty of films cheesy enough to have been watched by a janitor and two robots, - Lobster Man from Mars, Queen of Outer Space, The Blob, everything Mamie Van Doren did - but none made the cut. Mutiny in Outer Space is not Space Mutiny. Close, but no cigar.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: I really do not understand the exceptional attitude people take up against the Jews. There is something very ugly about many Jewish faces, but there are Gentile faces just as coarse and gross. The Jew asserts himself in relation to his nationality with a singular tactlessness, but it is hardly for the English to blame that. Many Jews are intensely vulgar in dress and bearing, materialistic in thought, and cunning and base in method, but no more so than many Gentiles. The Jew is mentally and physically precocious, and he ages and dies sooner than the average European, but in that and in a certain disingenuousness he is simply on all fours with the short, dark Welsh. He forgathers with those of his own nation, and favors them against the stranger, but so do the Scotch. I see nothing in his curious, dispersed nationality to dread or dislike.

Reality: Okay, this isn't actually a prediction, but a prelude to one, where Wells shows what a swell guy he is. C'mon, folks! The Jews are no worse than the Welsh or the Scots, and we aren't talking about wiping them out! Well, at least not recently.

This is not the last creepy passage from the book by any means.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 once more, with a guy not famous enough now to rate a picture on the Internet. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

30 January 2015

Birthdays
Danielle Campbell b. 1995 (The Originals)
Jake Thomas b. 1990 (Dinocroc, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, The Cell, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Rob Pinkston b. 1988 (The Sasquatch Gang)
Ashley Bucille b. 1986 (Phenomenon)
Michael Barra b. 1986 (The Amazing Spider-Man)
Wilmer Valderrama b. 1980 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Awake, Wizards of Waverly Place, Chadam, The Dead One)
Margot Finley b. 1980 (First Wave, The Odyssey [1994 TV], Power Pack)
Christian Bale b. 1974 (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Terminator Salvation, The Prestige, Equilibrium, Reign of Fire, Mio in the Land of Faraway)
Olivia Colman b. 1974 (Doctor Who)
Darren Boyd b. 1971 (The World’s End, ReGenesis)
Tony Maudsley b. 1968 (Day of the Triffids [TV], Being Human, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sleepy Hollow [1999])
Thomas McCarthy b. 1966 (2012)
Wayne Wilderson b. 1966 (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Monkeybone, Crusade, Independence Day)
Julie McCullough b. 1965 (Sharknado, 2012: Ice Age, The Blob [1988], Black Scorpion. Relic Hunter, Harry and the Hendersons [TV], The Munsters Today, Superboy, The Blob, Max Headroom)
Alex Hyde-White b. 1959 (Mars, The Alien Within, Babylon 5, M.A.N.T.I.S., The Fantastic Four [1994], Voyagers!, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Battlestar Galactica [1978])
Ann Dowd b 1956 (The Leftovers, The X Files)
Rab Affleck b. 1953 (Doctor Who, Stardust)
Charles S. Dutton b. 1951 (Android Cop, Alien3, American Horror Story, Legion, Threshold, Gothika, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Mimic, Cat’s Eye)
Gregory Benford b. 1941 (won 1981 Nebula for Timescape)
George Barr b. 1937 (illustator)
Vanessa Redgrave b. 1937 (The Day of the Triffids [2009], Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, Deep Impact, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Richard Brautigan b. 1935 died 14 September 1984 (author, In Watermelon Sugar, The Hawkline Monster)
Tammy Grimes b. 1934 (The Stuff, The Borrowers)
Gino Conforti b. 1932 (Harry and the Hendersons [TV], Small Wonder, Through the Magic Pyramid, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Time Express)
Read Morgan b. 1931 (Back to the Future, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Voyagers!, The Munsters’ Revenge, Meteor, Time After Time, The Car, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Sleeper, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV], Octaman, The Immortal, The Beach Girls and the Monster, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Gene Hackman b. 1930 (Superman I, II & IV, Young Frankenstein, Marooned, The Invaders)
Dorothy Malone b. 1925 (The Being, The Day Time Ended)
Michael Anderson b. 1920 (director, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997 TV], Millennium [1989], The Martian Chronicles, Logan’s Run, 1984 [1956])
David Opatoshu b. 1918 died 30 April 1996 (Alien Nation, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Salvage 1, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man [1975 TV], Star Trek, Mr. Terrific, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
David Wayne b, 1914 died 9 February 1995 (It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman, The Andromeda Strain, Batman [TV], Twilight Zone)
John Ireland b. 1914 died 21 March 1992 (Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, War of the Worlds [TV], Deadly Nightmares, Miami Golem, The Incubus, The Shape of Things to Come [1979], Planet of the Apes [TV])
Hugh Marlowe b. 1911 died 2 May 1982 (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Earth vs. Flying Saucers, World Without End)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In earlier years, I went old school and used Hugh Marlowe, then went (relatively) new school and used Christian Bale. Why David Opatashu this year? Well, if I hadn't found him among the birthday boy and girls on imdb.com, this would have been yet another "Hey,... No Star Trek!" day.

2. Okay, how about Gene Hackman? Gene Hackman would have been an excellent choice, either as Lex Luthor or the blind monk from Young Frankenstein, one of my favorite cameo appearances of all time. He is also the reason we will have the MST3K label today, because he was in Marooned. I should also note that Hackman has not made a movie since 2004. Of course, it should be noted that was when he was 74. Some actors work until they die, but there is no unwritten rule that says they have to. I hope Mr. Hackman is relaxing and enjoying himself. Also, he's only the third oldest person alive on today's list at 85. Dorothy Malone turns 90 and director Michael Anderson turns 95 and both of them retired quite a while back as well, though neither was a star as big as Hackman. Best wishes to all three.

3. The strange case of Hugh Marlowe. Back in the day, actors were often either in the big budget movies or the small budget movies. Some started big then got trapped in small budget stuff, others started humbly and then hit the big time. Marlowe took work wherever he could get it. For a sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still was as prestigious as it got in the 1950s, but that isn't the case with World Without End or the Harryhausen movie Earth vs. Flying Saucers. He was also in big budget films like Twelve O'Clock High, All About Eve and Seven Days in May, some before his sci-fi work and some after. Hugh did the work and Hugh cashed the check. Good on ya, Mr. Marlowe.

4. Old and lazy Canadians. John Ireland was born in Canada and he gets a few roles late in his career in productions shot in his homeland, but they aren't the shows we've come to think of as telltale marks of Canadian citizenship. Margot Finley has just 11 credits on imdb.com, which is not a very busy career, so it's hard to tell she's Canadian as well. 

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: I imagine also the plea and proof that a grave criminal is also insane will be regarded by them [the citizens of the future] not as a reason for mercy, but as an added reason for death. I do not see how they can think otherwise on the principles they will profess.

They will naturally regard the modest suicide of incurably melancholy, or diseased or helpless persons as a high and courageous act of duty rather than a crime.

Reality: Over the next few weeks, I want to dispel the notion that Wells was even remotely like that nice guy Malcolm McDowell played in Time After Time. While he called himself a socialist, many of the the quotes from the last chapter of this book would put him on the reactionary and bigoted end of the political spectrum today. It should be noted that conservatives would gladly endorse killing criminals regardless of mental capacity, most would not be pro-suicide, at least not those who would want votes from evangelicals.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back again to 1893, though people hoping for bold facial hair will be sorely disappointed.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

23 January 2015

Birthdays
David Knoll b. 2000 (The Strain)Jack Reynor b. 1992 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Dollhouse)
Veronica Gomez b. 1982 (Dude, Where’s My Car?)
Sonita Henry b. 1977 (Olympus, Young Dracula, Doctor Who, Star Trek [2009], The Fifth Element)
Ewen Bremner b. 1972 (Snowpiercer, Jack the Giant Slayer, The Lost Room, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Judge Dredd)
Ariadna Gil b. 1969 (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Mariska Hargitay b. 1964 (Lake Placid, Freddy’s Nightmares, Ghoulies)
Gail O’Grady b. 1963 (Time Trax, Superboy, Werewolf [TV])
Richard Roxburgh b. 1962 (Sanctum, Van Helsing, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)
John H. Tobin b. 1955 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, UFO: Target Earth)
David Patrick Kelly b. 1951 (K-PAX, The Crow, Tales from the Darkside, Dreamscape)
Richard Dean Anderson b. 1950 (Stargate, Legend [TV])
Richard Gilliland b. 1950 (Parts Per Billion, Torchwood, Vampire Clan, Star Kid, Dark Skies, Bug)
Rutger Hauer b. 1944 (True Blood, 2047 – Sights of Death, Dracula 3D, Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Meteor, Minotaur, Batman Begins, Salem’s Lot, Smallville, Flying Virus, The 10th Kingdom, Merlin, Lexx, Omega Doom, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie], Ladyhawke, Blade Runner)
Gil Gerard b, 1943 (Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II, Reptisaurus, E.A.R.T.H. Force, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Greg Hildebrandt b. 1939 (Illustrator)
Tim Hildebrandt b. 1939 died 11 June 2006 (Illustrator)
Arlene Golonka b. 1936 (Dr. Alien, The Girl with Something Extra)
Lou Antonio b. 1934 (director, Dark Skies, American Gothic; actor, Bewitched, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie)
Walter Michael Miller b. 1923 died 9 January 1996 (won 1961 Hugo for A Canticle for Leibowitz)
Florence Halop b. 1923 died 15 July 1986 (Gemini Man, Captain Nice)
Frances Bay b. 1919 died 15 September 2011 (Repo Chick, Charmed, Inspector Gadget, The X Files, Quantum Leap, Critters, Arachnophobia, ALF, Alien Nation, Amazing Stories, Fairy Tale Theatre, Topper [1979 TV movie])
Susan French b. 1912 died 6 April 2003 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Flatliners, Quantum Leap, Somewhere in Time, Captain America II: Death Too Soon)
Dan Duryea b. 1907 died 7 June 1968 (The Bamboo Saucer, Twilight Zone)


Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I used the Star Wars poster done by the Hildebrandt twins and the cover art from A Canticle for Leibowitz as representatives for our birthday boys and girls, but this year I decided to choose an iconic role. There are several choices on from TV, notably Richard Dean Anderson, Gil Gerard and Lou Antonio from his role on Star Trek, but looking at movie roles, the best choice is Rutger Hauer from Blade Runner. I do feel like a geezer when I can only name people older than I am as candidates for The Picture Slot, as though I am not keeping up with current trends. In my defense, iconic isn't easy and there's a lot of randomness in it.

2. A fledgling Canadian. David Knoll, who turns 15 today, was born in Canada. The Strain is a Canadian sci-fi show, but it's quite a stretch to assume a person is Canadian from a single credit on one show. He's the only Canadian born actor on the list today.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: The new ethics will hold life to be a privilege and a responsibility, not a sort of night refuge for base spirits out of the void; and the alternative in right conduct between living fully, beautifully, and efficiently will be to die. For a multitude of contemptible and silly creatures, fear-driven and helpless and useless, unhappy or hatefully happy in the midst of squalid dishonour, feeble, ugly, inefficient, born of unrestrained lusts, and increasing and multiplying through sheer incontinence and stupidity, the men of the New Republic will have little pity and less benevolence. To make life convenient for the breeding of such people will seem to them not the most virtuous and amiable thing in the world, as it is held to be now, but an exceedingly abominable proceeding. Procreation is an avoidable thing for sane persons of even the most furious passions, and the men of the New Republic will hold that the procreation of children who, by the circumstances of their parentage, _must_ be diseased bodily or mentally--I do not think it will be difficult for the medical science of the coming time to define such circumstances--is absolutely the most loathsome of all conceivable sins. They will hold, I anticipate, that a certain portion of the population--the small minority, for example, afflicted with indisputably transmissible diseases, with transmissible mental disorders, with such hideous incurable habits of mind as the craving for intoxication--exists only on sufferance, out of pity and patience, and on the understanding that they do not propagate; and I do not foresee any reason to suppose that they will hesitate to kill when that sufferance is abused.

Reality: Meet H.G. Wells, vicious racist scumbag with a hankering for human blood. Looking back from the future, his writing career continues for decades but all his big hits have already been written by 1902. Two later books, Food of the Gods and Shape of Things to Come, will be turned into several films each, but they aren't as famous or interesting as his earlier works War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The Time Machine or The Island of Dr. Moreau. If we can trust Wikipedia, Anticipations made a big splash in Edwardian England, and the last chapter - from which this quote is taken -  is a big reason why. His bright vision of the future is that the English and a few other white nations are the top of the genetic heap and anyone who can't keep up shouldn't be allowed to breed, much less survive.

Within a few years, he would walk away from his most grotesque ideas of the ideal future society but with this book, He became an important voice to the people who wanted to cling to the British Empire, a position of influence that wore away at his soul and imagination. He would still write over a hundred books after Anticipations, but only a handful are actually worth reading.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A bit of local boosterism from a small town passes as a prediction of the future from 1893.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

16 January 2015

Birthdays
Yvonne Zima b. 1989 (Iron Man 3)
Mason Gamble b. 1986 (Gattaca)
Birgitte Hjort Sorensen b. 1982 (Automata)
Aaliyah b. 1979 died 25 August 2001 (Queen of the Damned)
Nick Dash b. 1974 (R.I.P.D., Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Josie Davis b. 1973 (Wizardream, The Cursed, In the Land of Merry Misfits, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Dead at 21, Free Spirit)
Eriko Tamura b. 1973 (Reaper, Heroes, Nuclear Hurricane)
Dameon Clarke b. 1972 (Supernatural, A Scanner Darkly)
Annika Peterson b. 1972 (The Man from Earth)
Garth Ennis b. 1970 (writer, Constantine, Ghost Rider, The Punisher)
David Chokachi b. 1968 (10.0 Earthquake, Army of the Damned, Abner, the Invisible Dog, Rage of the Yeti, Bats: Human Harvest, Witchblade, Psycho Beach Party, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Heather Elizabeth Parkhurst b. 1968 (Perversions of Science, Witchboard 2)
Kathy Evison b. 1963 (Highlander [TV], SeaQuest 2032)
Mark Steger b. 1962 (The Pact I & II, Mr. Jones, Heroes: Going Postal, I Am Legend, Modern Prometheus LLC, Men in Black II)
Debbie Allen b. 1950 (Quantum Leap, Alice at the Palace)
Caroline Munro b. 1949 (Vampyres, Demons 6: De Profundis, Starcrash, Space: 1999, At the Earth’s Core, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Dracula A.D. 1972)
John Carpenter b. 1948 (director, Ghosts of Mars, Vampires, Escape from L.A., Village of the Damned, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, They Live, Prince of Darkness, Big Trouble in Little China, Starman, Christine, The Thing [1982], Escape from New York, The Fog, Halloween, Dark Star)
Kate McMullan b. 1947 (Author, Dragon Slayer’s Academy)
Keith Wayne b. 1945 died 9 September 1995 (Living Dead [2012], Night of the Living Dead)
Fred Coffin b. 1943 died 31 July 2003 (The Invisible Man [2000 TV], Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, NightMan, The X-Files, Something is Out There, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1986])
Michael Pataki b. 1938 died 15 April 2010 (Halloween 4, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Automan, The Amazing Spider-Man [1978], The Invisible Man [1975], The Bat People, Grave of the Vampire, The Sixth Sense, The Andromeda Strain, The Return of Count Yorga, Star Trek, Mr. Terrific, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Susan Sontag b. 1933 died 28 December 2004 (Zelig)
Sherry Moreland b. 1922 died 24 February 1995 (Pyro… The Thing Without a Face, Adventure of Superman, Mesa of Lost Women, Rocketship X-M)
Elliot Reid b. 1920 died 21 June 2013 (Small Wonder, The Munsters, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor)
Steve Conte b. 1920 died 1997 (The Kindred, Bewitched, Batman, The Wild World of Batwoman, Face of the Screaming Werewolf, Teenage Zombies, I Was a Teenage Werewolf)
Stirling Silliphant b. 1918 died 1996 (writer, Space, Charly, Village of the Damned )
Leslie H. Martinson b. 1915 (director, Small Wonder, Manimal, Small & Frye, The Powers of Matthew Star, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Immortal, The Green Hornet, Batman: The Movie, Topper, The Atomic Kid)
Ethel Merman b. 1908 died 15 February 1984 (Batman)
Alexander Knox b. 1907 died 25 April 1995 (Holocaust 2000, The Son of Dr. Jekyll)
Jason Johnson b. 1907 died 24 November 1977 (The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, The Invisible Man [1975], The Andromeda Strain, The Cape Canaveral Monsters, Twilight Zone, Adventure of Superman, Invasion of the Saucer Men)
Karl Freund b. 1890 died 3 May 1969 (cinematographer, Metropolis, Dracula, The Golem)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year I used a picture of Caroline Munro and I doubt any heterosexual male could blame me. Choosing not to repeat myself, my top two picks were Aaliyah from Queen of the Damned, which I didn't see, or Michael Pataki as the Klingon who taunts Scotty into a fight in The Trouble with Tribbles, which I have seen plenty of times though not recently.

2. The Camouflaged Canadians. Alexander Knox stopped working in the mid 1980s, so he's not even available during the Golden Age of Canuck Sci-Fi. Dameon Clarke was on Supernatural, but lots of Yanks show up on that show as well. His credit list is short here because he is largely a voice actor and I only list voice work in special instances.

3. Calling Willard Scott! I often point out the people who died young on the birthday lists, morbid bastid that I am, but to the best of my knowledge, we have our first centenarian today with Leslie H. Martinson, director of lots of TV shows from the 1950s through the 1980s and a few feature films as well. Congratulations to Mr. Martinson and I wish him all the best.

4. MST3K.  The actors who appeared in movies that got the Best Brains treatment are Sherry Moreland in Rocketship X-M and Steve Conte in The Wild World of Batwoman and I Was a Teenage Werewolf, as Zombie Rotten McDonald was kind enough to correct me.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: The Twentieth Century will see the effectual crowding out of most of the weaker languages--if not a positive crowding out, yet at least (as in Flanders) a supplementing of them by the superposition of one or other of a limited number of world-languages over the area in which each is spoken. This will go on not only in Europe, but with varying rates of progress and local eddies and interruptions over the whole world...

What will these aggregating world-languages be? When one comes to look closely into the question one is surprised to discover how slow the extension of English has been in the face of apparently far less convenient tongues. English still fails to replace the French language in French Canada, and its ascendancy is doubtful to-day in South Africa, after nearly a century of British dominion. It has none of the contagious quality of French, and the small class that monopolizes the direction of British affairs, and probably will monopolize it yet for several decades, has never displayed any great zeal to propagate its use.

Reality: Wells thought the odds of English becoming the dominant language in the world were low and he put the job on the Brits. He had no idea how much the 20th Century would be the American Century. English has supplanted French as the language spoken by educated people around the world.

Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 to get predictions from one of few women who were asked their opinions.


Join us then...  IN THE FUTURE!

9 January 2014

 Birthdays
Nicola Peltz b. 1995 (Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Last Airbender)
Nina Dobrev b. 1989 (The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Never Cry Werewolf)
David Ellison b. 1983 (producer, World War Z, Star Trek Into Darkness, G.I. Joe: Retaliation)
Julia Dietze b. 1981 (Iron Sky)
Joshua Harto b. 1979 (Iron Man 1 & 3, The Dark Knight, Invasion, Carnivale )
Patrick Sabongui b. 1975 (Almost Human, Arrow, Warm Bodies, Sucker Punch, TRON: Legacy, Stargate: Atlantis, Caprica, The Cabin in the Woods)
Angela Bettis b. 1973 (Carrie [2002], Sliders)
Howard J. Ford b. 1973 (director, The Dead 1 and 2)
Marco Sanchez b. 1970 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Dollhouse, Tyrannosaurus Azteca, Star Trek: Enterprise, Charmed, SeaQuest 2032)
Joey Lauren Adams b. 1969 (Coneheads)
Rhoda Griffis b. 1965 (The Hunger Games, Surface, The Rage: Carrie 2, From the Earth to the Moon)
Joely Richardson b. 1965 (Vampire Academy, The Day of the Trifids [2009], The Last Mimzy, Event Horizon, Loch Ness)
Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues b. 1965 (Space Jam)
Joseph Culp b. 1963 (Cyxork 7, Deep Space Nine, Apollo 13, The Fantastic Four [1994], The Arrival [1991], The Greatest American Hero)
Anthony Harrison b. 1961 (Fringe, Supernatural, Aliens vs., Predator: Requiem, The 4400, Smallville, White Noise, Dead Like Me, The Core. Strange World, The Sixth Day, The X-Files)
Imelda Staunton b. 1956 (Maleficent, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Psychoville, Nanny McPhee)
J. K. Simmons b. 1955 (Terminator Genisys, Spider-Man, Jennifer’s Body, The Astronaut Farmer)
Vincent Grass b. 1949 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)
John Doman b. 1945 (Gotham, Mercury Rising, Deep Space Nine)
Kathryn Walker b. 1943 (D.A.R.Y.L., )
Susannah York b. 1939 died 15 January 2011 (The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Superman, The Awakening)
K Callan b. 1936 (Heroes, Carnivale, Lois & Clark, Deep Space Nine, The Unborn, Quantum Leap)
Bob Denver b. 1935 died 2 September 2005 (Meego, ALF, The Invisible Woman, Far Out Space Nuts, I Dream of Jeannie)
Paul Mantee b. 1931 died 7 November 2013 (Apollo 13, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Manitou, Logan’s Run [TV], Day of the Animals, The Six Million Dollar Man, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Invaders, The Time Tunnel, Batman, Robinson Crusoe on Mars)
Algis Budrys b. 1931 died 9 June 2008 (author, The Falling Torch, Rogue Moon, Who?)
Lee Van Cleef b. 1925 died 16 December 1989 (Escape from New York, My Mother the Car, Twilight Zone, It Conquered the World, Space Patrol, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
Fernando Lamas b. 1915 died 8 October 1982 (The Lost World)
Steve Plytas b. 1913 died December 1994 (Batman, Superman 4, Doctor Who)
Karel Capek b. 1890 died 25 December 1938 (author, Rossum’s Universal Robots)

The Picture Slot. Last year I had a picture of a production of Rossum's Universal Robots in the Picture Slot, honor Karel Capek as the originator of the word robot. This year I had many iconic choices, including Lee Van Cleef, Paul Mantee from Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Susannah York from Superman, J.K. Simmons from Spider-Man and Imelda Staunton from Harry Potter. But instead we are looking at Julia Dietze from Iron Sky. She is not quite as iconic as the others, but if you saw the poster for the movie, she was featured front and center. The main reasons she gets the honor are:

1. Fabulous babe-osity.
2. Zombie Rotten McDonald might buy a ticket to California and stalk me if I didn't.


Canadian real and faux. There is one natural born Canadian on today's list, and one credit list that  looks Canadian, but belongs to a Brit. See if you can tell the difference.

That MST3K Feeling. The new label marking the appearance of movies used on Mystery Science Theater 3000 gets used today because of Lee Van Cleef's appearance in It Conquered the World. The gang at Best Brains also made fun of his TV show The Master, but that wasn't fantasy or sci-fi. Van Cleef played a ninja, but not that well.

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

 Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: It is not too much to say that the London citizen of the year 2000 A.D. may have a choice of nearly all England and Wales south of Nottingham and east of Exeter as his suburb, and that the vast stretch of country from Washington to Albany will be all of it "available" to the active citizen of New York and Philadelphia before that date.

Reality: Like our pal from The New York World, Wells was of the opinion that insane commutes were going to become the norm in the 20th Century. Granted, when I worked in the video game industry I often had at least one co-worker who lived someplace crazy because they were dead set on owning a home; one commute was Bakersfield to San Mateo three times a week, another was Manteca to San Rafael every day. But these were the exceptions to the rule and with the wild fluctuations in gas prices, a lot of people are seeing the value in not being slaves to their internal combustion engines.
 

Never to be Forgotten: Rod Taylor 1930-2015

Rod Taylor, the handsome Australian actor who starred in the 1960 version of The Time Machine, died on Wednesday, four days short of his 85th birthday. Two other well known genre appearances are in The Birds and The Twilight Zone. He was also in some less well-known genre productions, including Kaw, The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy, Colossus and the Amazon Queen and World Without End.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We go back to 1893 to hear views of the future from... a bodybuilder?

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

2 January 2015

Birthdays
Shelley Hennig b. 1987 (Teen Wolf)
Kristen Hager b. 1984 (Being Human, A Little Bit Zombie, The Dresden Files, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem)
Kate Bosworth b. 1983 (Superman Returns)
David Gyasi b. 1980 (Interstellar, Cloud Atlas, The Dark Knight Rises, Doctor Who, Torchwood)
Paz Vega b. 1976 (The Spirit, Talk to Her)
Dax Shepard b. 1975 (Idiocracy, Zathura: A Space Adventure)
Lucy Davis b. 1973 (Reaper, Shaun of the Dead, Belfry Witches)
Taye Diggs b. 1971 (Equilibrium, House on Haunted Hill)
Evan Parke b. 1968 (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, American Horror Story, King Kong, Charmed, Planet of the Apes [2001])
Cuba Gooding Jr. b. 1968 (Hardwired, The Devil’s Tomb, What Dreams May Come, Outbreak)
Tia Carrere b. 1967 (Asteroid vs. Earth, Warehouse 13, Supernova, Relic Hunter, Merlin: The Return, Tales from the Crypt, Kull the Conqueror, Quantum Leap, Zombie Nightmare)
James Marshall b. 1967 (Alien Lockdown, The Hunger [2000 TV])
Kate Hodge b. 1966 (Fringe, Level 9, Xena, The Hidden II, She-Wolf of London, Tales from the Crypt)
Joanna Pacula b. 1957 (Dinocroc, Virus, Timemaster, E.A.R.T.H. Force)
John Bedford Lloyd b. 1956 (Aliens in the Family, SeaQuest2032, The Abyss, C.H.U.D.)
Deborah Watling b. 1948 (Doctor Who, H.G. Wells Invisible Man [1959])
Charles Beaumont b. 1929 died 21 February 1967 (writer, Queen of Outer Space, Burn, Witch, Burn, Premature Burial, Twilight Zone, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, The Masque of the Red Death)
Howard Caine b. 1928 died 28 December 1993 (My Favorite Martian, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Jason Evers b. 1922 died 13 March 2005 (The Bionic Woman, The Fantastic Journey, Escape for the Planet of the Apes, The Illustrated Man, Star Trek, The Invaders, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die)
Isaac Asimov b. 1920 (or not) died 6 March 1992 (definitely) (won 1973 Nebula and Hugo for The Gods Themselves, won 1983 Hugo for Foundation’s Edge)
Alvin Hammer b. 1915 died 31 October 1993 (Scrooged, Planet of the Apes [1974 TV])
Anna Lee b. 1913 died 14 May 2004 (Jack the Giant Killer, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir [1947 Film])
Charles P. Thompson b.1891 died 26 October 1979 (Twilight Zone, Teenage Cave Man)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. When it comes to importance in the genre, no one on the list compares to Isaac Asimov and I nearly repeated using his picture. But when I thought about iconic, Deborah Watling was a companion to the Second Doctor, so at least for the Brits, she certainly qualifies. As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, she is also The Gal at the Door, the oldest person living on the list with everyone younger than her still alive. 67 is a crazy low age for this particular situation, but this was one of those lists without anyone born in the 1930s. As always, the blog presents its special best wishes for many happy returns to Ms Watling.

2. Canadian, pre-spotted. Kristen Hager is the lone Canuck on the list today, and while Being Human and The Dresden Flies are Canadian productions, there is a British Being Human as well and these are not the best known shows.

3. Hey, no Star Trek! It's a somewhat show birthday list and the gap between Charles Beaumont and Deborah Watling is where we should expect to see the actors and guest stars from the original Star Trek, but no one is there today. I've only been keeping track since October, but a Star Trek free day happens about once every nine days on average.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in the 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: [The combination of Canada, United States, Britain and its colonies] should be the first of the three powers of the world, and it should face the organizing syntheses of Europe and Eastern Asia with an intelligent sympathy.

Reality: While the three countries mentions are clearly allies, this is not a very good picture of the state of geopolitics. It is interesting to note how much it is like Orwell's view of the split in Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

This weekend, we will take a look at what the CIA in 2000 thought 2015 would look like, Saturday for what they got right and Sunday for what they got wrong.

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

26 December 2014

Birthdays
Zach Mills b. 1995 (Super 8, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium)
Kit Harington b. 1986 (Game of Thrones, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D)
Roxanne Pallett b. 1982 (Devil’s Tower, Crystal Skull, Lake Placid 3)
Eugene Khumbanyiwa b. 1976 (District 9)
Joshua John Miller b. 1974 (Class of 1999, Teen Witch, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Greatest American Hero)
Josie Ho b. 1974 (Contagion)
Micha Hauptman b. 1973 (Supernatural, Iron Man)
Jared Leto b. 1971 (Mr. Nobody)
Danielle Cormack b. 1970 (Legend of the Seeker, Xena, Cleopatra 2525, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Amazon High)
Graham Shiels b. 1970 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Arrow, Thor: The Dark World, Hydra, True Blood, Charmed)
Tricia Leigh Fisher b. 1968 (No Ordinary Family, C.H.U.D. II – Bud the Chud)
Steve Le Marquand b. 1967 (Farscape)
Sandra Taylor b. 1966 (Batman & Robin)
John Lynch b. 1961 (Merlin [2012], Night Wolf, Black Death, Alien Hunter, The Secret of Roan Inish, Chimera)
Tahnee Welch b. 1961 (Johnny 2.0, Cocoon 1 & 2)
Temuera Morrison b. 1960 (Green Lantern, Star Wars: Episodes II & III, The Island of Dr. Moreau)
Fred Schepisi b. 1939 (director, Iceman)
Robert V. Barron b. 1932 died 1 December 2000 (Quantum Leap, Frankenstein: The College Years, Alien Nation [TV], Out of This World, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Supernaturals, Amazing Stories)
Donald Moffat b. 1930 (Twilight Zone [1985], The Right Stuff, The Thing [1982], Popeye, Logan’s Run [TV], Exo-Man, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Terminal Man)
Denis Quilley b. 1927 died 5 October 2003 (Timeslip)
Akihiko Hirata b. 1927 died 25 July 1984 (Godzilla, Rodan, The Mysterians, The H-Man, Mothra, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Atragon, Ghidorah, Ultraman, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla)
Shirley Patterson (aka Shawn Smith) b. 1922 died 4 April 1995 (It! The Terror from Beyond Space, World Without End, The Land Unknown, Batman [1943])
Sean Sullivan b. 1921 died 3 June 1985 (The Dead Zone, The Starlost, Dr. Frankenstein on Campus, 2001: A Space Odyssey)
Richard Widmark b. 1914 died 24 March 2008 (Coma [1978], Twilight’s Last Gleaming)
Elisha Cook Jr. b. 1903 died 18 May 1995 (ALF, Twilight Zone [1986], Salem’s Lot, The Bionic Woman, Blacula, Rosemary’s Baby, Star Trek, Batman [1966], House on Haunted Hill, Adventures of Superman)
Vladimir Sokoloff b. 1889 died 15 February 1962 (Twilight Zone, Beyond the Time Barrier, Sabu and the Magic Ring, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Monster from Green Hell, Queen of Atlantis)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, I went with Akihiko Hirata from the original Godzilla movie, and this year it's Kit Harington from Game of Thrones. During the last hockey season, Mr. Harington was in the stands at a Maple Leafs. A cameraman spotted him and this caption was put under his picture.

JON SNOW
Ned Stark's bastard, knows nothing

Well, I laughed anyway.

Next year, I'll probably use Oh That Guy Elisha Cook Jr. in his role from the original Star Trek.

2. Hard to spot Canadians. Graham Shiels is Canadian, but the resume doesn't give it away. Sean Sullivan was Canadian, but he died in 1985, which is a little before the Canadian genre TV trend became a full fledged industry.

Try spotting the Kiwis instead! There are two and I think they can be sussed out.

3. Fun fact to know and tell. I haven't trained my Word or Blogger spell-checkers, so they will ask about the spelling of Battlestar and Galactica and Farscape and Stargate and many other words that often show up here. In the case of Akihiko Hirata's credits, the spellchecker completely accepts Godzilla as a word, but the other Japanese monster names are marked as unknown. From this I surmise that Godzilla has truly become an icon, while Ghidorah and Mothra are still in the realm of nerd knowledge.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells from his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: It is improbable that ever again will any flushed undignified man with a vast voice, a muscular face in incessant operation, collar crumpled, hair disordered, and arms in wild activity, talking, talking, talking, talking copiously out of the windows of railway carriages, talking on railway platforms, talking from hotel balconies, talking on tubs, barrels, scaffoldings, pulpits--tireless and undammable--rise to be the most powerful thing in any democratic state in the world.

Reality: The description doesn't match them exactly, I'd say Lenin, Hitler and Castro fit the description of this improbable person fairly well.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Around the holidays, I have to check the calendar to tell what day it is, but tomorrow is Saturday and we go back to 1893, for modest facial hair and a modest prediction.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

19 December 2014

Birthdays
Irina Voronina b. 1988 (Piranha 3DD, Saul of the Mole Men, Hood of Horror)
Jake Gyllenhaal b. 1980 (Source Code, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Day After Tomorrow, Donnie Darko)
Maria Sokoloff b. 1980 (Meteor [2009 TV], Strange Frequency, Dude, Where’s My Car?, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Bindu De Stoppani b. 1976 (28 Days Later…)
Blake Lindsley b. 1973 (Deep Space Nine, Starship Troopers)
Joshua Bitton b. 1973 (National Treasure)
Alyssa Milano b. 1972 (Charmed, Embrace of the Vampire, The Canterville Ghost)
Rosa Blasi b. 1972 (The Grudge, Lost on Earth)
Amy Locane b. 1971 (Alien Express, Legend of the Mummy)
Kristy Swanson b. 1969 (Mimesis 2, The Black Hole [2006 TV], The Phantom, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Mannequin 2: On the Move, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie], Not Quite Human, Deadly Friend)
Lauren Sanchez b. 1969 (Fantastic Four, The Day After Tomorrow, Babylon 5)
Ken Marino b. 1968 (Reaper, Charmed, Angel, Gattaca)
Robert MacNaughton b. 1966 (Frankenstein vs. The Mummy [2014], E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Electric Grandmother)
Jessica Steen b. 1965 (Supernatural, Left Behind: World at War, Charmed, Stargate SG-1, Mutant X, Armageddon, Earth 2, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future)
Til Schweiger b. 1963 (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life)
Jennifer Beals b. 1963 (The Book of Eli, The Grudge 2, The Hunger [1999 TV], Vampire’s Kiss, The Bride, Faerie Tale Theatre)
Matthew Waterhouse b. 1961 (Doctor Who)
Mike Lookinland b. 1960 (The Stand, Isis)
Nancy (Loomis) Kyes b. 1949 (Twilight Zone [1985], Halloween I, II and III, The Fog)
Robert Ulrich b. 1946 died 16 April 2002 (Amerika, The Ice Pirates, Endangered Species, Tabitha, Killdozer)
Tim Reid b. 1944 (Highlander [TV])
Cicely Tyson b. 1933 (The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia, Ms. Scrooge)
Jack DeLeon b. 1924 died 16 October 2006 (Tabitha, The Lost Saucer)
Gordon Jackson b. 1923 died 15 January 1990 (The Medusa Touch, Supernatural [1977 TV], Scrooge [1970], The Quatermass Xperiment)
Ralph Richardson b. 1902 died 10 October 1983 (Time Bandits, Dragonslayer, Rollerball, Frankenstein: The True Story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Tales from the Crypt [1972], Things to Come, The Ghoul [1933])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was the oldest person on the list, Sir Ralph Richardson and this year it's the second youngest, Jake Gyllenhaal from Donnie Darko. The youngest, Irina Voronina, is really pretty, but I don't think her role as Fallopia in Saul of the Mole Men really counts as iconic. Sue me.

As for next year's race, it's going to be a battle of fabulous babes, Alyssa Milano from Charmed, Kristi Swanson from the movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jennifer Beals from The Bride.

2. Spot the Canadian! There is one and the resume definitely has Canadian tendencies. Knock yourselves out.

3. Wait... he's genre? Sometimes, I see a name I know on imdb.com and I check on it just out of curiosity. I didn't know Tim Reid was in the Highlander TV show, I just knew him from WKRP and Frank's Place, a very underrated comedy with no laugh track. Likewise, I knew Gordon Jackson from The Great Escape and Upstairs, Downstairs, and it turns out he has several genre roles I didn't know about.

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

Movie released
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring released 2001

Predictor: H.G. Wells in the 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: [T]he next great war will be the catastrophic breakdown of the formal armies, shame and disasters, and a disorder of conflict between more or less equally matched masses of stupefied, scared, and infuriated people. Just how far the thing may rise from the value of an alarming and edifying incident to a universal catastrophe, depends upon the special nature of the conflict, but it does not alter the fact that any considerable war is bound to be a bitter, appalling, highly educational and constitution-shaking experience for the modern democratic state.

Reality: That's a pretty damned good description of World War I if you ask me. As we go through his book, there are a lot of particulars of the nature of future wars Wells gets wrong, but on this one, I will not quibble. Full marks, young Herbert, and well done.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!


This weekend's regular schedule will be preempted by predictions with exact dates.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

5 December 2014

Birthdays
Ross Bagley b. 1988 (Gnome Alone, Independence Day)
Gregory Tyree Boyce b. 1989 (Twilight)
Frankie Muniz b. 1985 (The Nightmare Room, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Jessica Paré b. 1982 (Possible Worlds, Big Wolf on Campus)
Adan Canto b. 1981 (X-Men: Days of Future Past)
Nick Stahl b. 1979 (Sin City, Carnivale, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
Amy Acker b. 1976 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Warehouse 13, The Cabin in the Woods, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, No Ordinary Family, Dollhouse, Supernatural, Angel)
Shalom Harlow b. 1973 (Vanilla Sky)
Lisa Marie b. 1968 (Dominion, Planet of the Apes, Sleepy Hollow, Mars Attacks!)
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo b. 1967 (director, 28 Weeks Later)
Nivek Ogre b. 1962 (The Devil’s Carnival I and II, Repo! The Genetic Opera)
Julia Khaner b. 1957 (Escape from Mars, Mission Genesis, TekWar, My Secret Identity, War of the Worlds [TV], The Twilight Zone [1988], Videodrome)
Bobby Hosea b. 1955 (Heroes, Supernatural, Gargantua, Independence Day, Xena, M.A.N.T.I.S., The Twilight Zone [1987])
Christopher Guard b. 1953 (Bugs, She-Wolf of London, Doctor Who, Tripods)
Morgan Brittany a.k.a. Suzanne Cupito b. 1951 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Jeroen Krabbé b. 1944 (The Punisher [1989], World War III)
Adolph Caesar b. 1933 died 6 March 1986 (Twilight Zone [1986])
Norman Burton b. 1923 died 29 November 2003 (Deep Space, Knight Rider, Project U.F.O., Wonder Woman, Planet of the Apes [1974 TV], The Terminal Man, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Land of the Giants, Planet of the Apes [1968 movie], I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched)
Alvy Moore b. 1921 died 4 May 1997 (Project U.F.O., A Boy and His Dog, My Mother the Car, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Munsters, Twilight Zone, The Invisible Boy, The War of the Worlds)
Otto Preminger b. 1905 died 23 April 1986 (Batman)
Walt Disney b. 1901 died 15 December 1966 (producer, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber)
Fritz Lang b. 1890 died 2 August 1976 (director, Metropolis, Woman in the Moon)

Notes on the birthday list. 
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Amy Acker. This year I went old school with Otto Preminger as Mister Freeze on Batman. I also included Dee Hartford as Miss Iceland because... I am a heterosexual male. Preminger was not the best actor to play Mister Freeze (Eli Wallach and George Sanders also played the role), but when I think of this character, I always hear Preminger's voice saying "Vild... simply vild!" Next year, the competition fro Picture Slot is wide open.

2. The guy at the door. Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbé turns 70 today, which I consider entirely too young to be the cut-off between the living and the dead.

3. Acting while Canadian. There are three Canadian lovelies on the list today, but none of them have credit lists that give away their nationality. Jessica Paré is best known as Don Draper's second wife Megan on Mad Men, where she plays a French-Canadian. Shalom Harlow has no Canadian content roles in her 13 films and TV shows, but Julia Khaner does, just not the 21st Century shows we see so often.

4. Fun facts to know and tell. Adolf Caesar might be best known for his role in A Soldier's Story, but in the 1970s his beautiful bass voice was in demand as a narrator on movie trailers like Blacula.  Morgan Brittany, best known playing a fabulous babe on Dallas, started as a child actor under her birth name Suzanne Cupito. Oh That Guy Alvy Moore played Hank Kimball on Green Acres. Oh That Guy Norman Burton doesn't have that one iconic role people will likely remember him for, but he did play a character named Joe Atkinson on 9 episodes of Wonder Woman. When I think about that show, my memories don't go any farther than Lynda Carter in that costume. Hmmm.... costume.

5. Hey... no Star Trek! This is the sixth time in two months there has been a birthday with no Star Trek actors. That means it happens about 10% of days so far. It feels rarer.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in the 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: "Washing up" consists of a tedious cleansing and wiping of each table utensil in turn, whereas it should be possible to immerse all dirty table wear in a suitable solvent for a few minutes and then run that off for the articles to dry.

Reality: This one isn't exact by any means, but the electric dishwasher does take a lot of the tedium out of dishwashing, so I'll young Herbert half credit here.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 and predictions from a woman whose name is still known today.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

28 November 2014

Birthdays
Karen Gillan b. 1987 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Who)
Krystal Vee b. 1987 (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-li)
Alan Ritchson b. 1984 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Smallville)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead b. 1984 (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Thing [2011], Grindhouse, Sky High, The Ring Two)
Kelly Wenham b. 1983 (Dracula: The Dark Prince, Merlin)
Emun Elliott b. 1983 (Prometheus, Game of Thrones, Paradox, Afterlife)
Daniel Henney b. 1979 (Revolution, X-Men Origins Wolverine)
Adam Chuckryk b. 1979 (Lost Girl, Jumper)
Aimee Garcia b. 1978 (RoboCop,Supernatural, Ultra, Global Frequency)
Ryan Kwanten b. 1975 (True Blood, Knights of Badassdom, Griff the Invisible, Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord)
Maurissa Tancharoen b. 1975 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Mortal Kombat: The Legacy, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, The Guild)
Dawn Robinson b. 1968 (Batman Forever, Tank Girl, SeaQuest 2032)
Jane Sibbett b. 1962 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Arrival II, Shatterbrain, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Rif Hutton b. 1962 (Buffy, Lois & Clark, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Babylon 5, Children of the Corn III, Star Trek: Generations, Dark Shadows [1991], Alien Nation [TV], Wavelength)
Alfonso Cuarón b. 1961 (director, Believe, Gravity, Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
Judd Nelson b. 1959 (Bigfoot Wars, Netherbeast Incorporated, The Black Hole [2006], Strange Frequency)
Thom Matthews b. 1958 (Sorcerers, Alien from L.A., Return of the Living Dead I & II, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI)
Lucy Gutteridge b. 1956 (Deadly Nightmares, Arthur the King, The Secret Garden [1987 TV], A Christmas Carol [1984 TV])
S. Epatha Merkerson b. 1952 (Mann & Machine, Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Ed Harris b. 1950 (Westworld [2015], Gravity, Snowpiercer, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, The Truman Show, Apollo 13, The Stand, Needful Things, The Right Stuff, The Aliens Are Coming, Creepshow, Coma [1978])
Alexander Godunov b. 1949 died 12 May 1995 (Waxwork II: Lost in Time, The Runestone)
Joe Dante b. 1946 (director, The Witches of East End, Small Soldiers, Warlord: Battle of the Galaxy, Matinee, Eerie, Indiana, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gremlins 1 & 2, Innerspace, Amazing Stories, Explorers, The Howling, Piranha)
Michael Ritchie b. 1938 died 16 April 2001 (director, The Golden Child)
Lilia Skala b. 1896 died 18 December 1994 (Testament, Charly)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The picture slot. Last year, I went Whedonverse nerd and chose Maurissa Tancharoen. This year, I went with Karen Gillan in her role as Doctor Who companion Amy Pond. While it is very common for me to think of older actors in roles from last century as iconic, next year's best bet is Ryan Kwanten from True Blood.

2. Wait... they're dead? One of the reasons the older actors are not likely to be chosen for the Picture Slot on this dater next year is that there are so few of them. I had completely blanked on the facts that actor and ballet dancer Alexander Gudonov died nearly twenty years ago and director Michael Ritchie was no longer with us.

3. One hard to spot Canadian. We don't have anyone with a quintessentially Canadian resume. Several actors born after 1970 have one role in a Canuck genre TV production, but only Adam Chuckryk was born north of the border.

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

Predictor: H. G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: Having a mind considerably engaged, he [the engineer] will not have the leisure for a wife of the distracting, perplexing personality kind, and in our typical case, which will be a typically sound and successful one, we may picture him wedded to a healthy, intelligent, and loyal person, who will be her husband's companion in their common leisure, and as mother of their three or four children and manager of his household, as much of a technically capable individual as himself. He will be a father of several children, I think, because his scientific mental basis will incline him to see the whole of life as a struggle to survive; he will recognize that a childless, sterile life, however pleasant, is essentially failure and perversion, and he will conceive his honour involved in the possession of offspring. Such a couple will probably dress with a view to decent convenience, they will not set the fashions, as I shall presently point out, but they will incline to steady and sober them, they will avoid exciting colour contrasts and bizarre contours. They will not be habitually promenaders, or greatly addicted to theatrical performances; they will probably find their secondary interests--the cardinal one will of course be the work in hand--in a not too imaginative prose literature, in travel and journeys and in the less sensuous aspects of music. They will probably take a considerable interest in public affairs. Their _ménage_, which will consist of father, mother, and children, will, I think, in all probability, be servantless.

Reality: One of the main predictions of the book of an engineer class that rise up in the 20th Century, and as a general prediction Wells scores full points. As for his imaginings of the typical social life of an engineer, these are not worth full points. If you read Wells' novel First Men in the Moon, it's a little surprising he didn't see the tendency towards nerdiness in the scientific type, since Henry Cavor is a well fleshed out example of British eccentricity applied to the scientific life.

Never to be Forgotten: P.D. James 1920-2014

The British novelist P.D. James, best known as a mystery writer whose police detective Adam Dalgliesh became a fixture both in print and on British television, died yesterday at the age of 94. She is remembered here for her novel Children of Men about a dystopian future where women cannot conceive. It was made into a film in 2006 starring Clive Owen and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. The Internet Speculative Fiction Database also mentions a short story titled Murder, 1986, published in 1970.

Best wishes to the family and friends of P.D. James, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Saturday, another prediction from 1893.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!