13 February 2014

Birthdays
Mena Suvari b. 1979 (American Horror Story, Day of the Dead)
Andrew Bryniarski b. 1969 (Dracula’s Guest, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Seven Mummies, Firefly, Scooby-Doo, Lois & Clark, Cyborg 3, Batman Returns, Street Fighter)
Kelly Hu b. 1968 (Arrow, Warehouse 13, The Vampire Diaries, Area 57, X-Men 2, Strange Days, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan)
Neal McDonough b. 1966 (Captain America: The First Avenger, Tin Man, The X-Files, Star Trek: First Contact, VR.5, Quantum Leap, Darkman)
Stephen Manley b. 1965 (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
Henry Rollins b. 1961 (The Devil’s Tomb, Jack Frost, Johnny Mnemonic)
David Naughton b. 1951 (Beanstalk, Twilight Zone [1989], An American Werewolf in London, Planet of the Apes [TV])
Pernilla August b. 1958 (Star Wars: Episodes I and II)
Donald Sumpter b. 1943 (Game of Thrones, Being Human, The Sarah Jane Chronicles, Dracula [2006], Doctor Who)
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, The Curse of the Werewolf)
Barbara Shelley b. 1933 (Doctor Who, Five Million Miles to Earth, Dracula: Prince of Darkness [1966], The Gorgon, Village of the Damned, Blood of the Vampire)
Susan Oliver b. 1932 died 10 May 1990 (Star Trek, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
William Dozier b. 1908 died 23 April 1991 (producer, Batman, The Green Hornet)

Ahh, the original Star Trek. Your one stop shopping place for green slave girls.

A lot of less well known names on the list today. Andrew Bryniarski played Leatherface in the most recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, Steven Manley was the 17 year old Spock in Star Trek III, Pernilla August is Anakin Skywalker's mum, Barbara Shelley was a British scream queen back in the heyday of Hammer films, David Naughton had the title role in An American Werewolf in London. I often think of Oliver Reed as being at the same level of stardom as Albert Finney or Michael Caine, but his career took a much bumpier path. He's one of those actors that I'm always a little surprised to remember he's dead. I feel the same way about Raul Julia, for example.

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



 

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, predicting 2014 in honor of the 1964 World's Fair

Prediction: Mankind will suffer badly from the disease of boredom, a disease spreading more widely each year and growing in intensity. This will have serious mental, emotional and sociological consequences, and I dare say that psychiatry will be far and away the most important medical specialty in 2014. The lucky few who can be involved in creative work of any sort will be the true elite of mankind, for they alone will do more than serve a machine.

Indeed, the most somber speculation I can make about A.D. 2014 is that in a society of enforced leisure, the most glorious single word in the vocabulary will have become work!

Reality:  Hmm, not quite. It's interesting to see Asimov speak of psychiatry, because Heinlein really hated it. Work can be mind-numbingly boring, but that's always been true. As for enforced leisure, Americans work more hours than other major industrialized countries, but less hours than places like Mexico, Russia and Greece. And of course, as for the awful boredom, Asimov could not have foreseen the rise of the Internet, lolcats and Angry Birds to relieve us of these burdens.

This is the last of Asimov's predictions from 1964. Next week, there will be a new predictor in the Thursday slot.

Looking one day ahead... IN THE FUTURE!

Friday belongs to Wired Magazine's Long Bets. Tomorrow, a bleak prediction from Martin Rees that has yet to transpire.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 February 2014

 Birthdays
Dane DeHaan b. 1987 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Chronicle, True Blood)
Crystal Reed b. 1985 (Teen Wolf [TV], Skyline)
Alice Eve b. 1982 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Men in Black 3, The Raven)
Kim Poirier b. 1980 (Eureka, Dawn of the Dead)
Josh Stewart b. 1977 (Grimm, The Walking Dead, The Dark Knight Rises, No Ordinary Family)
David Hayter b. 1969 (writer, X-Men, XMen 2, Watchmen, The Scorpion King)
Rip Torn b. 1931 (Men in Black, RoboCop 3, Coma, Murder and the Android)
Mamie Van Doren b. 1931 (Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Patrick Macnee b. 1922 (The Howling, Battlestar Galactica, The Avengers)
Zsa Zsa Gabor b. 1917 (Queen of Outer Space, Batman)

Big generational jump on today's birthday list and - wonder of wonders - everyone is still alive! The younger/older split goes from David Hayter, born when I was in high school, to Rip Torn, who is from my parents' generation. Last year this time, I hadn't done as much research as I have now and Rip Torn was the only birthday on the list, so obviously he got the Picture Slot. I would argue he's still the best known name on the list, but I gave the picture slot to Zsa Zsa Gabor because

1. Fabulous babe.
2. It's a wonder she's still alive with all that happened to her a few years back.
3. She was a Kardashian before we even used that word for "much more famous than talented".

Many happy returns to everyone on the list and here's hoping science can unlock the secrets in Zsa Zsa's DNA. If we can figure out what's keeping her ticking and duplicate it, humans as a species may out-survive the cockroach.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, predicting 2014 in honor of the World's Fair in New York

Prediction: Schools will have to be oriented in [the direction of automation]. Part of the General Electric exhibit today consists of a school of the future in which such present realities as closed-circuit TV and programmed tapes aid the teaching process. It is not only the techniques of teaching that will advance, however, but also the subject matter that will change. All the high-school students will be taught the fundamentals of computer technology will become proficient in binary arithmetic and will be trained to perfection in the use of the computer languages that will have developed out of those like the contemporary "Fortran" (from "formula translation").

Reality: Fortran! Just reading the word sent me on a long trip down memory lane. Yes, the damn thing still exists and there are plans for an update in 2015. GO TO 2015!

As for the rest of it, closed-circuit TV and programmed tapes do exist, but getting all high school students hip to the binary has not come to pass yet. Some of New Math was based on this and I even saw a little of that in grade school before the parents brought out the torches and pitchforks and killed the beast. It should be noted that the current "hour of coding" fad is an attempt to play catch up on the world Asimov envisioned. From my point of view, it feels kind of like an update of Shop and Home Ec classes we used to have when I was a lad, though without the sexist split.

It should be noted that this is the next to last prediction of Asimov's, so after next Thursday, the only chance to see muttonchops will be from the 1893 Columbian Exposition predictions.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The second of the Wired Long Bets.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

30 January 2014

 Birthdays
Jake Thomas b. 1990 (A.I., Dinocroc)
Christian Bale b. 1974 (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, The Prestige, Terminator Salvation, Reign of Fire)
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)
Julie McCullough b. 1965 (Sharknado, 2012 Ice Age, The Blob [1988], Black Scorpion)
Alex Hyde-White b. 1959 (Babylon 5, The Fantastic Four [1994], Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Battlestar Galactica [1978])
Charles S. Dutton b. 1951 (Alien3, American Horror Story, Gothika, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Mimic, Cat’s Eye)
Gregory Benford b. 1941 (won 1981 Nebula for Timescape)
George Barr b. 1937 (illustrator)
Richard Brautigan b. 1935 died 14 September 1984 (author, In Watermelon Sugar, The Hawkline Monster)
Gene Hackman b. 1930 (Superman I through 4, Young Frankenstein)
David Wayne b, 1914 died 9 February 1995 (The Andromeda Strain, Batman [TV], Twilight Zone)
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)

Last year, the Picture Slot went to Christian Bale, the youngest name on the list who really counts as a movie star and this year it goes to Hugh Marlowe, the first born on this list whose career took a detour into 1950s sci-fi. It should be noted he was also in bigger budget movies like All About Eve. A clear sign of the inversion of the movie industry in the last sixty years is that movies like All About Eve - which now would be called a chick flick - were the big budget movies and sci-fi was a low budget ghetto.

I also must admit a weird moment of forgetfulness this morning during research. I saw Gene Hackman's name on imdb.com's birthday list and I thought, "No, he's never done sci-fi." I completely blanked on his days of playing Lex Luthor.

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

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, predicting the world of 2014 in honor of the 1964 World's Fair in New York

Prediction: The situation will have been made the more serious by the advances of automation. The world of A.D. 2014 will have few routine jobs that cannot be done better by some machine than by any human being. Mankind will therefore have become largely a race of machine tenders.

Reality: There is a lot more automation in 2014 than there was in 1964, but we are not "largely a race of machine tenders". Since cost is always a factor, these days industry looks to move routine jobs to places with low wages and few health and safety regulations instead of buying machines to do the jobs.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We get the first of our Wired Long Bets, predictions about the future were people put money on the outcome. Fun!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

23 January 2014

Birthdays
Sonita Henry b. 1977 (Doctor Who, Star Trek [2009], The Fifth Element)
David Patrick Kelly b. 1951 (K-PAX, The Crow, Dreamscape)
Richard Dean Anderson b. 1950 (Stargate, Legend [TV])
Rutger Hauer b. 1944 (True Blood, Dracula 3D, Salem’s Lot, Smallville, The 10th Kingdom, Merlin, Lexx, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie], Ladyhawke, Blade Runner)
Gil Gerard b, 1943 (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)
Lou Antonio b. 1934 (Star Trek)
Walter Michael Miller b. 1923 died 1/9/1996
(won 1961 Hugo for A Canticle for Leibowitz)

Last year on this date, I put the cover art for A Canticle for Leibowitz in the Picture Slot. Next year, I'll probably go with Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in Blade Runner. But this year it's Greg and Tim Hildebrandt's re-imagining of Tom Jung's original Star Wars poster. The models in the Hildebrandt work don't resemble the actors very much, but you can see the  Maxfield Parrish influence in their choices of colors and light. They also did a lot of illustrations of Tolkien characters. Tim died in 2006 from complications due to diabetes.


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

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, asked to predict life in 2014.

Prediction: Well, the earth's population is now about 3,000,000,000 and is doubling every 40 years. There are only two general ways of preventing this: (1) raise the death rate; (2) lower the birth rate. Undoubtedly, the world of A.D. 2014 will have agreed on the latter method. Indeed, the increasing use of mechanical devices to replace failing hearts and kidneys, and repair stiffening arteries and breaking nerves will have cut the death rate still further and have lifted the life expectancy in some parts of the world to age 85.

There will, therefore, be a worldwide propaganda drive in favor of birth control by rational and humane methods and, by 2014, it will undoubtedly have taken serious effect. The rate of increase of population will have slackened, but, I suspect, not sufficiently. One of the more serious exhibits at the 2014 World's Fair, accordingly, will be a series of lectures, movies and documentary material at the World Population Control Center (adults only; special showings for teen-agers).

Reality: I have often chided the late Mr. Asimov for his predictions, but this one is really good. He says the population doubles every 40 years, and according to Wikipedia, it took 39 years to go from 3 billion to 6 billion, so full points there. Life expectancy of 85 years has been attained for the general population in Monaco and Japan; there are 20 countries where the life span for women is 85 or better. The birth rate and the world population growth rate are decreasing, in large part because reducing the infant mortality rates in developing countries has resulted in women having less children. As for the lectures and documentaries and, I suppose, dirty movies shown at the 2014 World's Fair... actually, the next World's Fair that I've seen advertised in 2015 in Milan. There may be smutty movies there, but they will probably by adverts for cell phones or some other silly gadget.

Still, getting the doubling rate almost exactly, predicting the reduction in birth rate and hitting the best life expectancy rates threshold makes this one of the most accurate predictions I've published yet. We have only a few more predictions left from Asimov's list in 1964, and after a slow start, he has improved dramatically. I for one will be sorry to see him go.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

TED talks! I only have a few left from this list and I honestly will not be sorry to see them go.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

16 January 2014

 Birthdays
Aaliyah b. 1979 died 25 August 2001 (Queen of the Damned)
David Chokachi b. 1968 (Witchblade)
Caroline Munro b. 1949 (Space: 1999, At the Earth’s Core, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter)
John Carpenter b. 1948 (director, Ghosts of Mars, 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, Escape from New York, The Fog, Halloween, Dark Star)
Kate McMullan b. 1947 (author, Dragon Slayer’s Academy)
Keith Wayne b. 1945 (Night of the Living Dead)
Karl Freund b. 1890 died 3 May 1969 (cinematographer, Metropolis, Dracula, The Golem)

The biggest name in genre on today's birthday list is director John Carpenter, but you will notice he's not in the Picture Slot. Caroline Munro is the all-time crush of my good friend Alan, so we are now looking at her. (As though I need an excuse to put up a picture of a fabulous babe.) I usually only mention writers, directors and producers when listing people behind the camera, but Karl Freund's work as a cinematographer is definitely worth a mention for his work in silent films and early talkies. He is also credited with developing the three camera studio set-up for sitcoms and his name in the credits of all episodes of I Love Lucy.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, a tip of the hat to Karl Freund, and best wishes to the family and friends of Aaliyah, who died much too young.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, predicting the world of 2014 in honor of the 1964 Worlds' Fair in New York.

Prediction:Although technology will still keep up with population through 2014, it will be only through a supreme effort and with but partial success. Not all the world's population will enjoy the gadgety world of the future to the full. A larger portion than today will be deprived and although they may be better off, materially, than today, they will be further behind when compared with the advanced portions of the world. They will have moved backward, relatively.

Reality: Let’s take this sentence by sentence.

1. Technological advances have grown like gangbusters since 1964, so full points there.

2. Not all the world has the coolest latest gadgets. Hell, I don’t have the coolest latest gadgets. Undeniably true.

3. A larger portion will be deprived. This one is a swing and a miss. It’s hard to measure gadget inequality since the gadgets have changed so much. In 1964, many of today's favorite gadgets didn't exist yet, like personal computers, video games and cell phones.

One technological marvel that does span the entire era is the television. According to the website nationmaster .com, ownership of a TV around the world has skyrocketed. In 1975, only the U.S. and the U.K. had over 90% ownership of televisions and major industrialized nations like Germany, France and Japan were still under 80%. The most recent numbers from the 21st Century show a completely different situation. There are now 76 countries around the world where television ownership is over 90%, including many countries in regions that are not considered fully industrialized like Latin America and the former Soviet bloc countries. Both India and Bangladesh were listed in 1975 as having less than 1% of the public with a TV, and they have risen now to 32% and 23% respectively.

As an almost middle class American over 50, I would say my dad's generation had it better than we did in a lot of ways, but the upside of globalization is that abject poverty worldwide has shrunk markedly. Take your good news where you can get it.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We get another prediction from the TED talks, with Gregory Stock in 2003 looking at the brave new world that awaits us by 2013.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

9 January 2014

 Birthdays
Nina Dobrev b. 1989 (The Vampire Diaries, 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)
Patrick Sabongui b. 1975 (Almost Human, Arrow, Warm Bodies, Sucker Punch, TRON: Legacy, Stargate: Atlantis, Caprica, The Cabin in the Woods)
Marco Sanchez b. 1970 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Dollhouse, Star Trek: Enterprise, SeaQuest 2032)
Rhoda Griffis b. 1965 (The Hunger Games)
Joseph Culp b. 1963 (Cyxork 7, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Apollo 13, The Fantastic Four [1994])
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 (Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Psychoville)
J. K. Simmons b. 1955 (Spider-Man, Jennifer’s Body)
Vincent Grass b. 1949 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian)
Susannah York b. 1939 died 15 January 2011 (Superman)
Paul Mantee b. 1931 died 7 November 2013 (Apollo 13, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Logan’s Run [TV], 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, Twilight Zone, It Conquered the World, Space Patrol, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
Karel Capek b. 1890 died 25 December 1938 (author, Rossum’s Universal Robots)

A long birthday list today with some well-known names - Imelda Staunton, J.K. Simmons, Susannah York, Lee Van Cleef - but most of them are better known for work outside of genre. The two actors best known for sci-fi are probably Paul Mantee, who starred in the now largely forgotten Robinson Crusoe on Mars and Julia Dietze, a German actress whose best known role in an English production is as the Nazi babe in Iron Sky. The Picture Slot goes to a poster from a production of Karel Capek's 1920 play Rossum's Universal Robots, which is the origin of the word we use so commonly today, which derives from the Czech word for "slave labor".

Many happy returns to all the living on our list, and to actors Paul Mantee and Lee Van Cleef and authors Algis Burdys and Karel Capek, thanks for the memories.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, predicting the year 2014 in honor of the World's Fair being held in New York

Prediction: Ordinary agriculture will keep up with great difficulty and there will be "farms" turning to the more efficient micro-organisms. Processed yeast and algae products will be available in a variety of flavors. The 2014 fair will feature an Algae Bar at which "mock-turkey" and "pseudo-steak" will be served. It won't be bad at all (if you can dig up those premium prices), but there will be considerable psychological resistance to such an innovation.

Reality:  A lot of people online have discovered Asimov's predictions and are publishing some or all of them, and a lot of the commentary is along the lines of "ooh, wow, look how good this was."

Meh.

Again, this was a very popular view in sci-fi that food production was not going to keep up with population and that we'd have to rely on algae or yeast or eating insects just to produce enough calories. The reality is that we are doing a better job of feeding the 7 billion people alive today than we did feeding the 3.3 billion people alive in 1964, changing the basics of our diet very little, with the exceptions of sriracha (YAY!) and Tofurky (BOO!). That said, there are concerns that we have pushed agricultural production too hard, notably with antibiotics, pesticides and genetic modification. Time will tell if something like bee colony collapse or some other screw-up will put a serious strain on the food supply.

Cheerful bastid, ain't I?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

TED talks! Fabulous stuff just around the corner! Wait... did we pass the corner? I must have missed it.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

2 January 2014

 Birthdays
Kate Bosworth b. 1983 (Superman Returns)
David Gyasi b. 1980 (Cloud Atlas, The Dark Knight Rises, Doctor Who, Torchwood)
Dax Shepard b. 1975 (Idiocracy, Zathura: A Space Adventure)
Lucy Davis b. 1973 (Shaun of the Dead)
Taye Diggs b. 1971 (Equilibrium, House on Haunted Hill)
Evan Parke b. 1968 (American Horror Story, King Kong, Charmed, Planet of the Apes [2001])
Cuba Gooding jr. (Hardwired, The Devil’s Tomb, What Dreams May Come, Outbreak)
Tia Carrere b. 1967 (Warehouse 13, Relic Hunter, Kull the Conqueror, Quantum Leap, Zombie Nightmare)
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)
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 4/6/1992 (definitely)
(won 1973 Nebula and Hugo for The Gods Themselves)
(won 1983 Hugo for Foundation’s Edge)

Long birthday list today, a lot of actors from recent genre TV and films. A short explanation of the names of people born in the first half of the 20th Century. Deborah Watling was a companion to the Second Doctor (Patrck Troughton), Jason Evers' role on Star Trek was as the balding guy who was jealous of Kirk when he was accelerated in Blink of an Eye, one of the many episodes where aliens wore shiny costumes. Charles Beaumont was a very prolific writer who died at the age of 38 and the guy in the Picture Slot needs no introduction.

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

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, predicting the world of 2014

Prediction: In 2014, there is every likelihood that the world population will be 6,500,000,000 and the population of the United States will be 350,000,000. Boston-to-Washington, the most crowded area of its size on the earth, will have become a single city with a population of over 40,000,000.

Population pressure will force increasing penetration of desert and polar areas. Most surprising and, in some ways, heartening, 2014 will see a good beginning made in the colonization of the continental shelves. Underwater housing will have its attractions to those who like water sports, and will undoubtedly encourage the more efficient exploitation of ocean resources, both food and mineral. General Motors shows, in its 1964 exhibit, the model of an underwater hotel of what might be called mouth-watering luxury. The 2014 World's Fair will have exhibits showing cities in the deep sea with bathyscaphe liners carrying men and supplies across and into the abyss.

Reality:  Along with nuclear war, overpopulation was one of the two great worries of futurists in the mid 20th Century. The first didn't happen, at least not yet, and the second did happen, but not exactly in the way people thought it would. Asimov undershot the world population, now estimated at 7.1 billion, and overestimated the United States, now at about 317,300,000. This is because the growth rate has been less than exponential in industrialized nations and is finally slowing in the developing world as well. Boston-to-Washington is not a single city and the population of the top ten cities in that stretch combined does not add up to 20,000,000. The most crowded areas on earth of that size are likely in India or China.

I'll give Asimov a point for increasing penetration of desert areas. The so-called Sun Belt in the United States is mostly desert. In the past 50 years, Albuquerque doubled, Phoenix tripled and Las Vegas has nine times more people than it did in the 1960s, even more if you count its suburbs, which barely existed back in the day.

But then there's the polar and continental shelf stuff. Not so much, Isaac.

I rate this one at about 30% to 40%. Not a passing grade.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

TED Talks! Movers! Shakers! Completely inaccurate pinheads!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

19 December 2013

Birthdays
Jake Gyllenhaal b. 1980 (Prince of Persia, Source Code, The Day After Tomorrow, Donnie Darko)
Blake Lindsley b. 1973 (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Starship Troopers)
Alyssa Milano b. 1972 (Charmed, Commando)
Kristy Swanson b. 1969 (Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie], Dude, Where’s My Car?, Deadly Friend)
Robert MacNaughton b. 1966 (E.T., The Electric Grandmother)
Jessica Steen b. 1965 (Charmed, Stargate SG-1, Armageddon, Earth 2, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future)
Jennifer Beals b. 1963 (The Book of Eli, The Grudge 2, The Bride)
Sir Ralph Richardson b. 1902 died 10 October 1983 (Things to Come, Rollerball, Dragonslayer, Time Bandits)

Not to be rude, but when comparing the star power of yesterday's birthday list with today's, I wish I could make a few trades to even things out. Jennifer Beals turns 50, the first "Jeez, I'm old!" moment of the day for me. Jake Gyllenhall is the one "name above the title" movie star here, but the person best known for her work in genre is Alyssa Milano for Charmed, one of the many fabulous babes on the list. Just out of a goofy sense of "You're not the boss of me!", I chose Sir Ralph Richardson for the Picture Slot in his role as The Boss in the 1936 film Things to Come, taken from the H.G. Wells book The Shape of Things to Come, source for a lot of depressing and inaccurate predictions about the 20th Century. Richardson did this one genre role very early in his career, became one of the most respected film and stage actors of his era, then returned to genre for a few short roles at the end of his career, for which I can only assume he was paid handsomely, and well did he deserve it.

Many happy returns of the day to all the living on the list and to the late Sir Ralph Richardson, thanks for all the memories.
 
Movies released
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring released 2001

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, predicting the world of 2014 in honor of the 1964 World's Fair

Prediction: As for television, wall screens will have replaced the ordinary set; but transparent cubes will be making their appearance in which three-dimensional viewing will be possible. In fact, one popular exhibit at the 2014 World's Fair will be such a 3-D TV, built life-size, in which ballet performances will be seen. The cube will slowly revolve for viewing from all angles.

Reality: Wall screens, check.

3-D cube TV... umm, not so much. Huge technical problems with this in terms of projection, especially if it can be viewed from any possible angle above ground level.

So our pal Isaac gets a 50% score on this one. To Asimov's credit, he was one of the few grown ass men trying to bring back 19th Century facial hair back in the 1960s, which I am sure our regular reader Zombie Rotten McDonald appreciates.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Because Saturday's regular prediction will be preempted by Winter Solstice stuff, we move the 1893 predictions to Friday for one week only.

Teaser: 19th Century facial hair at its most awesome.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 December 2013

 Birthdays
Mayim Bialik b. 1975 (The Big Bang Theory, Pumpkinhead)
Jennifer Connelly b. 1970 (Hulk, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Inkheart, Labyrinth, Phenomena)
Madchen Amick b. 1970 (Witches of East End, Fantasy Island[reboot], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Sleepwalkers)
Sarah Douglas b. 1952 (Superman II, Conan the Destroyer, Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, Beastmaster 2, V: The Final Battle, Space: 1999, The Last Days of Man on Earth)
Bill Nighy b. 1949 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Jack the Giant Slayer, Wrath of the Titans, Doctor Who, Total Recall [reboot], Underworld, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Shaun of the Dead, Phantom of the Opera)
Leslie Schofield b. 1938 (Star Wars: A New Hope, Doctor Who)
Eugene Burdick b. 1918 died 26 July 1965 (author, Fail-Safe, The 480)

I'm assuming people do not need the first five names on the list "explained". I always love a same day birth pair, and with Ms. Amick and Ms. Connelly, that's a whole lot of pretty. You could argue that Sarah Douglas in Superman II is not the most iconic genre role on the list, but then, you'd be arguing with me and... it's my blog.

Leslie Schofield played a Death Star officer who told Grand Moff Tarkin the stolen plans could present a problem, only to be on the receiving end of serious Moff scoff.

Eugene Burdick, the only dead guy on today's list. wrote Fail-Safe and The 480, a political thriller that warns of people predicting the future using... computer simulations!

Yes, this is back in the punch card days. Scary!

Many happy returns of the day to all the living on the list, and thanks to Mr. Burdick for all the memories.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, asked to speculate about 2014 in honor of the 1964 World's Fair

Predictions, (interrupted with reality): Communications will become sight-sound and you will see as well as hear the person you telephone. The screen can be used not only to see the people you call but also for studying documents and photographs and reading passages from books. Synchronous satellites, hovering in space will make it possible for you to direct-dial any spot on earth, including the weather stations in Antarctica, shown in chill splendor as part of the '64 General Motors exhibit.

(Okay, let's just stop here for a moment. This is a tape measure home run. Not just picture phones but documents on the Internet and large scale com-sat networks. Very nice work, Mr. Asimov, really tip-top.)

(What could go wrong now? Well, Isaac gets a little space happy.)

For that matter, you will be able to reach someone at the moon colonies, concerning which General Motors puts on a display of impressive vehicles in model form with large soft tires intended to negotiate the uneven terrain that may exist on our natural satellite.

(Would soft tires make the most sense? Fixing a flat in a vacuum sounds like a major pain in the butt.)

Any number of simultaneous conversations between earth and moon can be handled by modulated laser beams, which are easy to manipulate in space. On earth, however, laser beams will have to be led through plastic pipes, to avoid material and atmospheric interference. Engineers will still be playing with that problem in 2014.

Conversations with the moon will be a trifle uncomfortable, by the way, in that 2.5 seconds must elapse between statement and answer (it takes light that long to make the round trip). Similar conversations with Mars will experience a 3.5-minute delay even when Mars is at its closest. However, by 2014, only unmanned ships will have landed on Mars, though a manned expedition will be in the works and in the 2014 Futurama will show a model of an elaborate Martian colony.

(Okay, space happy but not space crazy. No one stepping foot on Mars by 2014. Recall that Heinlein and Clarke had us all over the galaxy by the turn of the century. Isaac steals a point from Bob and ACC by being sensible.)

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

TED Talks! Movers! Shakers! Game Changers! Clueless dorks!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

5 December 2013

 Birthdays
Nick Stahl b. 1979 (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Sin City, Carnivale)
Amy Acker b. 1976 (Angel, Cabin in the Woods, Supernatural, Dollhouse, Grimm, Warehouse 13)
Lisa Marie b. 1968 (Sleepy Hollow, Mars Attacks!, Planet of the Apes, Dominion)
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo b. 1967 (director, 28 Weeks Later)
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)

Only six names today, all from movies or TV. I was tempted to put a poster from Metropolis in the Picture Slot, but instead it's Amy Acker because I'm such a Whedonverse fanboy, a reminder that with Joss Whedon, sometimes characters die and they come back, but not quite all the way.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, asked for predictions about 2014 in honor of the 1964 World's Fair

Prediction: For short-range travel, moving sidewalks (with benches on either side, standing room in the center) will be making their appearance in downtown sections. They will be raised above the traffic. Traffic will continue (on several levels in some places) only because all parking will be off-street and because at least 80 per cent of truck deliveries will be to certain fixed centers at the city's rim. Compressed air tubes will carry goods and materials over local stretches, and the switching devices that will place specific shipments in specific destinations will be one of the city's marvels.

Reality: After a pretty good showing last week, Asimov goes back to some sci-fi cliches that never really took off, moving sidewalks and pneumatic tubes. I'm fond of pneumatic tubes, but long distance moving sidewalks outside of airports are just another reason not to exercise and I'm not a fan.

 

Though in this case, I'm willing to make an exception. In Trondheim, Norway, there is a "bicycle lift" installed on a steep hill which has been in operation for about 20 years now. Based on ski lift technology, a single trolley track is operated with a key card. When activated, a small metal plate appears and the bike rider puts his or her right foot on it and is propelled pleasantly up the hill.

As an old fat guy who rides a bike, usually on level ground or very modest hills at the most around Oakland and the East Bay, I think this is a great idea. Bike riding hasn't quite reached the critical mass in my neck of the woods for this to be something city planners would think of, but I could see this idea catch on.

Good on ya, Trondheim!

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Friday means TED Talks predictions. If you are one of those people excited and impressed by TED Talks, I think if you stop by every Friday for just a few weeks, I can cure you of that.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

28 November 2013

Birthdays
Alan Ritchson b. 1984 (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead b. 1984 (The Thing [2011], Grindhouse, Sky High, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter)
Emun Elliott b. 1983 (Prometheus, Game of Thrones)
Daniel Henney b. 1979 (X-Men Origins Wolverine)
Ryan Kwanten b. 1975 (True Blood)
Maurissa Tancharoen b. 1975 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog)
Alfonso Cuarón b. 1961 (director, Gravity, Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)
S. Epatha Merkerson b. 1952 (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Ed Harris b. 1950 (Gravity, The Truman Show, Apollo 13, The Right Stuff)
Joe Dante b. 1946 (director, The Howling, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gremlins, Innerspace, Small Soldiers)

The biggest movie star on the list is Ed Harris, but because I'm a Whedonverse fanboy, the Picture Slot goes to Maurissa Tancharoen, who is one of the show runners on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the bride of Jed Whedon, as well as having roles onscreen in Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible. I watched True Blood for a few seasons, but it bothered me how many of the characters in this very dangerous universe were just too damned stupid to live, and Ryan Kwanten's character had to be near the top of that list, which is not the actor's fault.

Many happy returns to everyone, and of course happy Thanksgiving to all the Yanks, both on the birthday list and reading the blog.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, asked to predict 2014 in honor of the 1964 World's Fair

Prediction: Much effort will be put into the designing of vehicles with "Robot-brains", vehicles that can be set for particular destinations and that will then proceed there without interference by the slow reflexes of a human driver. I suspect one of the major attractions of the 2014 fair will be rides on small roboticized cars which will maneuver in crowds at the two-foot level, neatly and automatically avoiding each other.

Reality: Okay! Isaac gets an A for this one, a solid 9.5 of 10. He loses the half point for "at the two foot level", which implies a very high-riding hovercraft, which would have to make noise and send around clouds of dust like a super-sized leaf blower. Getting machines to drive is in its infancy - parallel parking and avoiding accidents - but the "get you to your destination" is used very regularly.

Nice work, Ike, if I can call you Ike. Oh, I can't. Oops, sorry, won't happen again.

Looking on day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Friday means TED talks, and we get a bold prediction from 1998 by Billy Graham.

Billy Graham? The preacher or the wrestler?

All will be revealed one day... IN THE FUTURE!
  

14 November 2013

 Birthdays
Chris Demetral b. 1976 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne)
Dana Snyder b. 1973 (Venture Brothers)
Josh Duhamel b. 1972 (Transformers)
Patrick Warburton b. 1964 (The Tick, The Venture Brothers)
Paul McGann b. 1959 (8th Doctor, Alien 3)
Gary Grubbs b. 1949 (Angel, The X Files)
Kathleen Hughes b. 1928 (It Came From Outer Space, Cult of the Cobra)
William Stieg b. 1907 died 3 October 2003 (author, Shrek)

There's a great Scream Queen publicity still of Kathleen Hughes I might put in the Picture Slot next year, but this year... Brock Samson. Besides the Venture Brothers, my next favorite role on the list is Gary Grubbs as Fred Burkle's dad Roger on Angel.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, asked to predict 2014 on the occasion of the World's Fair in New York.

Prediction: An experimental fusion-power plant or two will already exist in 2014. Large solar-power stations will also be in operation in a number of desert and semi-desert areas -- Arizona, the Negev, Kazakhstan. In the more crowded, but cloudy and smoggy areas, solar power will be less practical. An exhibit at the 2014 fair will show models of power stations in space, collecting sunlight by means of huge parabolic focusing devices and radiating the energy thus collected down to earth.

Reality: Fusion is one of those things that is always just a few years in the future. Solar power works better at a small scale, like panels on a roof. As for heat rays from outer space, that sounds like a big screw-up waiting to happen if the geosynchronous satellite got a little out of whack. Still, this is much better work than his underground suburbs and hovercraft.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A new feature is going to take over the regular Friday chores... predictions from TED talks!

Do you get the feeling they are going to suck? Oh, regular reader, you are way ahead of me.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

4 November 2013

Birthdays
Matthew McConaughey b. 1969 (Contact, Reign of Fire)
Samantha Smith b. 1969 (Transformers, Supernatural)
Martin Balsam b. 1919 died 13 February 1996 (Twilight Zone)
Leonardo Cimino b. 1917 died 3 March 2012 (Dune, Waterworld, V)
Ian Wolfe b. 1896 died 23 January 1992 (THX 1138, Star Trek, Twilight Zone)

McConaughey is the only honest to Zeus movie star on the list, but he was in Reign of Fire, the movie that convinced me I was under no obligation to see every big budget sci-fi flick that hit the cineplexes. So instead the Picture Slot goes to Ian Wolfe as Mister Atoz of The Library in an episode of Star Trek. (Get it? AtoZ? Works in a library? Yeah, you get it. Yeah, not that good.) The actor in the background is unidentified.

I kid. I'm a kidder.
 

Predictor: Isaac Asimov's, forecasting the year 2014 in honor of the 1964 World's Fair.

Prediction:The world of 50 years hence will have shrunk further. At the 1964 fair, the G.M. exhibit depicts, among other things, crowded highways along which long buses move on special central lanes. There is every likelihood that highways at least in the more advanced sections of the world will have passed their peak in 2014; there will be increasing emphasis on transportation that makes the least possible contact with the surface. There will be aircraft, of course, but even ground travel will increasingly take to the air a foot or two off the ground. Visitors to the 1964 fair can travel there in an "aquafoil," which lifts itself on four stilts and skims over the water with a minimum of friction. This is surely a stop-gap. By 2014 the four stilts will have been replaced by four jets of compressed air so that the vehicle will make no contact with either liquid or solid surfaces.

Jets of compressed air will also lift land vehicles off the highways, which, among other things, will minimize paving problems. Smooth earth or level lawns will do as well as pavements. Bridges will also be of less importance, since cars will be capable of crossing water on their jets, though local ordinances will discourage the practice.

Reality: Okay, lots of stuff to chew on here.

Special lanes for buses. Check.

Highways have passed their peak. Not yet.

Hovercraft. Or should I say.... HOVERCRAFT!


Ummm... no. But still, I was an impressionable pre-teen when hovercraft had their fleeting moment of being the Next Big Thing, and so I have a soft spot for them.

And, of course, as any Python fan will know, my hovercraft is full of eels.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Our regular schedule is interrupted by a comic book prediction of the year 1997, when London is a fascistic post-apocalyptic hellhole.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 
 

29 October 2013

 Birthdays
India Eisley b. 1993 (Underworld: Awakening)
Johnny Lewis b. 1983 died 26 Sept. 2012 (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem)
Ben Foster b. 1980 (X-men: The Last Stand, 30 Days of Night)
Gabrielle Union b. 1972 (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Winona Ryder b. 1971 (Edward Scissorhands, Dracula, Star Trek, S1m0ne, Alien:Resurrection, Beetlejuice)
Rufus Sewell b. 1967 (Dark City)
Tim Minear b. 1963 (writer/producer, American Horror Story, Dollhouse, Angel, Firely, Wonderfalls, The X-Files, Lois and Clark)
Finola Hughes b. 1959 (Charmed)
Dan Castellaneta b. 1957 (Futurama, Super 8, Stargate: SG-1)
Richard Dreyfuss b.1947 (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Piranha 3D)
Ralph Bakshi b. 1938 (Lord of the Rings, Wizards, Fire and Ice)
Margaret Sheridan b. 1926 died 1 May 1982 (The Thing from Another World)
Robert Hardy b. 1925 (Harry Potter)

Quite a selection of birthdays today. The best known names are Winona Ryder and Richard Dreyfuss, while Ralph Bakshi is the best indicator of how far the genre has progressed when you consider his low budget animated Tolkien compared to this century's mega-blockbusters. My favorite movie on the list is Dark City, and so I considered choosing Rufus Sewell, but instead I chose the late Margaret Sheridan, famous for her scream on the poster for The Thing From Another World.

A note about the late Johnny Lewis. He is best known for Sons of Anarchy. The gory circumstances of his death can be found on his Wikipedia page.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, who was asked by promoters of the 1964 World's Fair to predict the wonders of 2014

Prediction: The appliances of 2014 will have no electric cords, of course, for they will be powered by long- lived batteries running on radioisotopes. The isotopes will not be expensive for they will be by- products of the fission-power plants which, by 2014, will be supplying well over half the power needs of humanity. But once the isotype batteries are used up they will be disposed of only through authorized agents of the manufacturer.

Reality: Umm... no. Atomic energy might very well be the main reason the public doesn't trust pointy-headed scientists. (Well, that and their complete failure to give us flying cars.) I'm more in favor of use of atomic energy that most left-wing types - especially thorium based reactors - but the more news that comes about Fukushima, the less confident I become.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to the Wednesday schedule and that means T. Baron Russell and his collection of predictions from 1905.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

17 October 2013

Birthdays
Mark Gatiss b. 1966 (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who)
Mike Judge b. 1962 (Spy Kids, Idiocracy)
Rob Marshall b. 1960 (director, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides)
Guy Henry b. 1960 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, V for Vendetta)
Margot Kidder b. 1948 (Superman, The Amityville Horror)
Julie Adams b. 1926 (Creature From the Black Lagoon)
Beverly Garland b. 1926 died 5 December 2008 (Twilight Zone, It Conquered the World)
Jerry Siegel b. 1914 died 28 January 1996 (writer, Superman)
John Marley b. 1907 died 22 May 1984 (Twilight Zone, Land of the Giants)

Interesting list of birthdays today. My first thought was to go with a picture of Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, both to honor her and as a nod to Superman's creator Jerry Siegel, but searching on imdb.com I found Julie Adams' name and I had to have a picture of her with her best known leading man. More than that, Ms. Adams and Beverly Garland were born on the exact same day, and both of them had long careers after appearing in low budget 1950s monster movies.

Many happy returns of the day to living.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, asked to predict life in 2014 on the occasion of the 1964 World's Fair

Prediction: Robots will neither be common nor very good in 2014, but they will be in existence. The I.B.M. exhibit at the present fair has no robots but it is dedicated to computers, which are shown in all their amazing complexity, notably in the task of translating Russian into English. If machines are that smart today, what may not be in the works 50 years hence? It will be such computers, much miniaturized, that will serve as the "brains" of robots. In fact, the I.B.M. building at the 2014 World's Fair may have, as one of its prime exhibits, a robot housemaid* large, clumsy, slow- moving but capable of general picking-up, arranging, cleaning and manipulation of various appliances. It will undoubtedly amuse the fairgoers to scatter debris over the floor in order to see the robot lumberingly remove it and classify it into "throw away" and "set aside." (Robots for gardening work will also have made their appearance.)

General Electric at the 2014 World's Fair will be showing 3-D movies of its "Robot of the Future," neat and streamlined, its cleaning appliances built in and performing all tasks briskly. (There will be a three-hour wait in line to see the film, for some things never change.)

Reality: This is Asimov's best prediction so far. Computers did get a lot smaller and they are the brains of all our modern gadgetry. We don't have robot housemaids, but there is the Roomba. For the father of the Three Laws, he was actually a little too pessimistic about what robots would look like in fifty years. They may not be making our coffee or fluffing the pillows, but on assembly lines they do some pretty remarkable stuff.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another Song of the Future predicts a violent revolution in 1975.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

7 Oct 2013

Birthdays
Shawn Ashmore b. 1979 (X-Men)
Aaron Ashmore b. 1979 (Smallville, Warehouse 13, Lost Girl)
Dylan Baker b. 1959 (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Cell)
Howard Chaykin b. 1950 (American Flagg!)

A short list of birthdays today. The Ashmore twins have done very little work together, but both were on Smallville, Aaron several times as Jimmy Olsen and Shawn twice as Eric Summers. Shawn played Iceman in several of the X-Men series. I put Dylan Baker in the Picture Slot because I know more of his work, though very little of it is in genre films.

Many happy returns of the day to our birthday boys.

Prediction: Gadgetry will continue to relieve mankind of tedious jobs. Kitchen units will be devised that will prepare "automeals," heating water and converting it to coffee; toasting bread; frying, poaching or scrambling eggs, grilling bacon, and so on. Breakfasts will be "ordered" the night before to be ready by a specified hour the next morning. Complete lunches and dinners, with the food semiprepared, will be stored in the freezer until ready for processing.

I suspect, though, that even in 2014 it will still be advisable to have a small corner in the kitchen unit where the more individual meals can be prepared by hand, especially when company is coming.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, making predictions about 2014 for publication coinciding with the 1964 World's Fair in New York.

Reality: If he had just stopped with that first sentence, Asimov would have been credited with a hit. If he had included the second sentence, modern coffee machines could have given him some semblance of correctness. But the automatic kitchen making meals is not a reality fifty years after he predicted it. (It should be noted that similar predictions were made in the L.A. 2013 article published in 1988.)

I'd like to write, "wait until next week, Isaac gets better", but I'm taking his predictions in order and it's a while before he really nails one directly on the head.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The first of two exact date predictions from Demolition Man, celebrating its twentieth anniversary tomorrow.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!  

1 October 2013

Birthdays
Stephen Collins b. 1947 (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
Richard Corben b. 1940 (Illustrator)
Richard Harris b. 1930 died 10/25/2002 (Harry Potter)

A short list of birthdays today, but we get both a Star Trek and a Harry Potter hit. No disrespect to Mr. Collins, but when I saw the first Star Trek, I knew the new characters were just going to be in the way, no matter how pretty they were.

Many happy returns to Mr. Collins and Mr. Corben, and may Richard Harris never be forgotten.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, predicting life in 2014 as part of the 1964 World's Fair in New York

Prediction: There is an underground house at the fair which is a sign of the future. if its windows are not polarized, they can nevertheless alter the "scenery" by changes in lighting.

Suburban houses underground, with easily controlled temperature, free from the vicissitudes of weather, with air cleaned and light controlled, should be fairly common. At the New York World's Fair of 2014, General Motors' "Futurama" may well display vistas of underground cities complete with light- forced vegetable gardens. The surface, G.M. will argue, will be given over to large-scale agriculture, grazing and parklands, with less space wasted on actual human occupancy.

Reality: Subterranean suburbia is not the world we live in. Here in California, it's something of a rarity for new housing structures to even have basements.

The fear of overpopulation was a major sci-fi theme in the mid 20th Century. When we had three billion people on earth, even trying to think about seven billion felt overwhelming. Now we are over seven billion and if you are the sort of person who has time to read a silly science fiction blog each day (and thank you for doing so), our fears of overcrowding and deprivation haven't come true. In the United States and other developed nations, we made decisions such that our air and water quality are somewhat better than they were in the 1960s.

But we are the species that burns the world to stay warm, and in the 20th Century, we became so clever that we could burn the world to stay cool as well. The billions of more people are not faced with mass starvation as a constant threat, but instead the most scientifically plausible problem we face today is that we are changing the climate with our addiction to petroleum.

Maybe our worst fears for the future will not be as bad as we think. I certainly hope that's the case. But among the reasons that a planet with seven billion people is not a Soylent Green hellhole is that politicians from across the ideological spectrum came together to clean the environment. In the United States, that's not possible with the new version of the Republican Party, a weird mutant mixture of avarice and intolerance and fear, with each of those character flaws seen as the highest virtues.

This month's splash illustration

Every month, I change the small picture at the top of the blog. This month I took a slice of the atomic blimp picture from the 1956 Mechanix Illustrated that I used as a prediction back in August.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Wednesday means more predictions from T. Baron Russell.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

24 September 2013

Birthdays
Jessica Lucas b.1985 (Cloverfield)
Marc Guggenheim b. 1970 (writer, Green Lantern, Arrow, Percy Jackson)
John Logan b. 1961 (writer, Hugo, Star Trek:Nemesis)

Kevin Sorbo b. 1958 (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Andromeda)
Brad Bird b. 1957 (director, The Incredibles, The Iron Giant)
Ian Stewart b. 1945 (writer, The Science of Discworld)
Jim Henson b. 1936 died 16 May 1990 (The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth)
John Brunner b. 1934 died 26 August 1995 (won 1969 Hugo for Stand on Zanzibar)
Horace Walpole b. 24 September 1717 died 2 March 1797 (The Castle of Otranto)

Most days the birthday list is dominated by actors, but today writers and directors take up most of the positions, including the late Jim Henson in the Picture Slot. I included Horace Walpole because The Castle of Otranto is considered the first Gothic novel.

Many happy returns to the living on this list.

Movies released
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga-Hoole released, 2010
 

Predictor: Isaac Asimov, making predictions in 1964 about 2014

Prediction:Windows need be no more than an archaic touch, and even when present will be polarized to block out the harsh sunlight. The degree of opacity of the glass may even be made to alter automatically in accordance with the intensity of the light falling upon it.

Reality: Uh, no. We are seeing a little of the nerd boy "Ooh! Ick! Nature!" side shining from old Isaac here, but the idea that architecture would divorce itself from windows is just crazy talk. Everywhere I've worked, a windowless office is seen as a punishment and a house or apartment without a window is very rare indeed.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

T. Baron Russell gives us his view of the 21st Century from his vantage point in Edwardian England.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

17 September 2013

Birthdays
Neill Blomkamp b. 1979 (District 9)
Ian Whyte b. 1971 (Game of Thrones, Clash of the Titans, Prometheus)
Malik Yoba b. 1967 (Alphas)
Bryan Singer b. 1965 (X-Men)
James Urbaniak b. 1963 (The Venture Brothers)
Cassandra Peterson b. 1951 (Elvira)
Bruce Spence b. 1945 (Mad Max, Legend of the Seeker)
Paul Benedict b. 1938 died 1 December 2008 (Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman[1993], the Twilight Zone, The Addams Family)
Roddy McDowall b. 1928 died 3 October 1998 (Planet of the Apes, Twilight Zone)
Ib Melchoir b. 1917 (Angry Red Planet, Reptilicus)

The Pretty Girl = Picture Slot rule should go into effect with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, but this year I'm on a Venture Brothers kick, so James Urbaniak's character Doc Venture (a.k.a Rusty) gets the picture slot instead.

Many happy returns to the living.
  

Prediction: One thought that occurs to me is that men will continue to withdraw from nature in order to create an environment that will suit them better. By 2014, electroluminescent panels will be in common use. Ceilings and walls will glow softly, and in a variety of colors that will change at the touch of a push button.

Predictor: Isaac Asimov in 1964, predicting what life would be like in 2014


Reality: Asimov's predictions have been published several places recently and many writers have described them as "uncanny". The word that springs to my mind is "spotty".

Luminescent panels exist but they are not in common use. Light bulbs are still the standard. The "withdraw from nature" tendency exists, but it is counterbalanced with a "back to nature" movement. As someone who was alive in 1964, I would say that people are more withdrawn from reacting with their environment now, particularly with cell phones, but we also understand the advantages of nature better, such as the effect of sunlight on treating depression. He gets points for the general premise, but not so much on the exact methods.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Instead of a prediction from 1964, we get our weekly does of the view of the future from 1905 by T. Baron Russell.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

Never to be Forgotten:Frederik Pohl 1919-2013

Frederik Pohl died yesterday at the age of 93. He was, among other things, a writer and editor. Besides his decades of work in science fiction, much of his early stuff under pen names, the Encyclopedia Brittanica employed him as an "official expert" on the Emperor Tiberius. He also wrote ad copy and wrote for Popular Science. He worked for a while as an agent, his best known client being Isaac Asimov. During World War II, he served in a bomber squadron in Italy, the 456th. (Another famous author, Joseph Heller, had similar service but in a different unit, the 488th.)

He won a Nebula for Man Plus, a Nebula and a Hugo for Gateway. He wrote many books in collaboration with other writers, including Lester Del Rey and Jack Williamson while all parties were alive and well, and he finished Arthur C. Clarke's The Last Theorem after Clarke died.

He didn't have much luck writing for films or TV. Tunnel Under the World was turned into an obscure Italian film. He wrote one episode of the 1952 sci-fi show Tales of Tomorrow and his stories were turned into episodes of the 1960s show Out of the Unknown and the somewhat better known though little loved 1980s series Tales from the Darkside.

A lot of his work attacks consumerism, including The Space Merchants, a dystopian satire about a planet ruled by ad agencies. No wonder so few of his stories were filmed.


Two different quotes are called Pohl's Law. The first is "Nobody is ever ready for anything." The second is "Nothing is so good that somebody, somewhere will not hate it." 

As a mathematician, I am always looking for a counter-example for any general statement. I believe I can refute the first version of Pohl's Law. The second version, on the other hand, is pretty much golden.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Frederik Pohl, from a fan. May he never be forgotten.