13 September 2015

Birthdays
Robbie Kay b. 1995 (Heroes Reborn, Once Upon a Time, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Pinocchio)
Erin Way b. 1987 (Warehouse 13, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Grimm, Alphas, I (Heart) Vampires)
Carol Anne Watts b. 1987 (Ant-Man, Frankenstein [2015])
Trevor Duke-Moretz b. 1986 (Big Bad Wolf)
Sean Brosnan b. 1983 (U.F.O.)
Robin Chalk b. 1981 (Moon)
Ben Savage b. 1980 (Aliens for Breakfast, Little Monsters)
Elizabeth Weinstein b. 1979 (Supernatural, Arrow, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Smallville, Goblin, Stargate SG-1)
Colin Trevorrow b. 1976 (director, Jurassic World, Safety Not Guaranteed)
Louise Lombard b. 1970 (Grimm, SGU Stargate Universe, Tale of the Mummy)
Jonathan Walker b. 1967 (Continuum, Supernatural, Fringe, The Thing [2011], V [2011], Smallville, Flash Gordon, Stargate SG-1, Land of the Dead, Tracker, The X Files, Cyberjack)
Louis Mandylor b. 1966 (616: Paranormal Incident, The Prometheus Project, Charmed)
Joel Beeson b. 1966 (Death Becomes Her)
Laura Stepp b. 1966 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Spawn)
Alfonso Freeman b. 1959 (Bad Blood I and II)
Isiah Whitlock Jr. b. 1954 (Europa Report, Enchanted, Gremlins 2: The New Batch)
Ann Dusenberry b. 1953 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Taryn Power b. 1953 (The Sea Serpent, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger)
Christine Estabrook b. 1952 (American Horror Story, Spider-Man 2, The X Files)
Raymond O’Connor b. 1952 (Buffy, Babylon 5, Breakfast of Champions, Hard Time on Planet Earth, Dr. Alien, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers)
Jean Smart b. 1951 (Project X)
Bruce Phillips b. 1951 (Legend of the Seeker, Power Rangers R.P.M., Lord of the Rings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Clyde Kusatsu b. 1948 (Dollhouse, Charmed, Babylon 5: Thirdspace, Godzilla [1998], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lois & Clark, ALF, The Powers of Matthew Star, Meteor, Dr. Strange)
Kathleen Lloyd b. 1948 (Babylon 5, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1986], The Incredible Hulk, It Lives Again, The Car, The Sixth Sense)
Frank Marshall b, 1946 (producer, Jurassic World, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, The Sixth Sense, The Indian in the Cupboard, Amazing Stories, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Land Before Time, Arachnophobia, Hook, *batteries not included, Innerspace, Gremlins, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Poltergeist)
Dolly Read b. 1944 (The Kiss of the Vampire)
Richard Kiel b. 1939 died 10 September 2014 (Inspector Gadget, The Princess and the Dwarf, Superboy, Out of this World, Phoenix, Hysterical, Moonraker, The Humanoid, The Incredible Hulk, Land of the Lost, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, My Mother the Car, I Dream of Jeannie, The Human Duplicators, The Twilight Zone, Eegah, The Phantom Planet)
Don Bluth b. 1937 (director, Titan A.E., The Land Before Time, The Secret of NIMH)
Joe E. Tata b. 1936 (Charmed, Wonder Woman, Batman, Batgirl, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, The Outer Limits)
Barbara Bain b. 1931 (Millennium, The Visitor, Space: 1999, My Mother the Car)
Norman Alden b. 1924 died 27 July 2012 (K-PAX, They Live, Small Wonder, Back to the Future, The Greatest American Hero, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Planet of the Apes [TV], Batman, My Favorite Martian)
Scott Brady b. 1924 died 16 April 1985 (Gremlins, The Invisible Man [1975], The Mighty Gorga, Journey to the Center of Time, Destination Inner Space)
Maurice Jarre b. 1924 died 29 March 2009 (composer, Solar Crisis, Ghost, Solarbabies, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Dreamscape, Firefox, The Island at the Top of the World)
Roald Dahl b. 1916 died 23 November 1990 (author, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches)
Roy Engel b. 1913 died 29 December 1980 (Kingdom of the Spiders, The Invaders, My Favorite Martian, The Colossus of New York, Not of This Earth, Indestructible Man, It Came From Beneath the Sea, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Zombies of the Stratosphere, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man from Planet X)
Reta Shaw b. 1912 died 8 January 1982 (Escape to Witch Mountain, Bewitched, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, Mary Poppins)
Mae Questel b. 1908 died 4 January 1998 (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Ruth McDevitt b. 1895 died 27 May 1976 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Birds)
Daniel Defoe b.1660 died24 April 1731 (Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World of the Moon)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot belonged to fabulous babe Barbara Bain and Oh That Guy Clyde Kusatsu. I think Richard Kiel may be more iconic than either, but he died just before his birthday last year, so  didn't want to use his picture twice in so short a span.

2. Spot the Canadian! Usually, the Supernatural/Smallville Daily Double is a good sign someone was born north of the border, but it doesn't work perfectly. Elizabeth Weinstein is Canadian, but Jonathan Walker is British.

3. Nepotism FTW. Taryn Power is the daughter of Tyrone. Alonzo Freeman is the son of Morgan. Sean Brosnan is the son of Pierce.

4. MST3K. Picture Slotter Richard Kiel is in two films, The Human Duplicators and Eegah. We also have Roy Engel in The Indestructible Man. There may be others, I'm not sure.

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

The Weekly Soapbox: Global Warming

Just to be clear, I "believe" in global warming and mankind's part in it, much in the same way I "believe" in gravity. The effect of greenhouse gases is settled science and humans burning fossil fuels creates more greenhouse gases.

We've only had a few predictions on the blog about climate change and many of them have been about rising ocean levels, including a crazy high number from Paul Ehrlich, one of the most inaccurate regular predictors this blog has ever published. (Don't worry, I haven't forgotten Ray Kurzweil and FM-2030. I did write "one of the most", after all.) I wish we could fix the problem, but I'm not optimistic, and here are the reasons why.

1. Rising ocean levels are the least of our worries. There are some places on earth that now have to deal with rising waters, but they are currently far away from where the majority of people live. I expect the first thing we will notice effecting the lives of millions will be ecosystem changes that have nothing to do with the sea levels. We don't live close enough to nature to feel it when it goes bad - it's going bad in California right now, and all we are asked to do is take shorter showers and not water our lawns - but longer droughts and bigger wildfires in some areas, contrasted with heavier rains in other and temperatures not getting cold enough to put pests into their natural hibernation stage, are likely going to change how we live long before low level islands with lots of people flood. More than that, when these things happen, there will be people around to say it has nothing to do with a changing climate.

2. An enormous industry to pay for bullshit, which has already bought an entire political party. Do I need to name names? Okay, the petroleum industry and the Republicans. We've had scientific evidence that forced the government to limit the use of profitable products like aerosols, DDT and  asbestos, but those industries decided to change the way they did business. Petroleum is acting more like the tobacco industry, probably because their best scientists are telling them in private that there is no clean way to stay in business at the current level. The people lying about global warming are not just using the same tactics as the folks who lied for decades about the health risks of tobacco, in some cases they are the exact same people.

3. Humankind. Even a guy like me with no car is still sucking up energy keeping my computer and refrigerator on, and while I am consciously trying to improve the way I live, I'm not interested in going off the grid and only using the electricity I can create with solar panels and a bicycle generator. I think we can scale back, but I don't know if it will be enough. I'm turning 60 this year, so I will likely miss the worst of it. The generation of my grand-nieces and grand-nephews are probably going to have it very bad indeed.

Cheerful bastid, ain't I?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Taking a look at the predictions for the NFL playoffs from the website fivethirtyeight.com.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

5 September 2015

Birthdays
Gage Golightly b. 1993 (Teen Wolf, 5ive Days to Midnight)
Skandar Keynes b. 1991 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Kat Graham b. 1989 (The Vampire Diaries)
Christina Ulloa b. 1982 (Charmed)
Nan Yu b. 1978 (Speed Racer, My DNA Says I Love You)
Carice Van Houten b. 1976 (Game of Thrones, Intruders, Repo Men, From Time to Time)
Paddy Considine b. 1974 (The World’s End)
Justin Nimmo b. 1974 (Power Rangers in Space, Pleasantville)
Rose MacGowan b. 1973 (Once Upon a Time, Conan the Barbarian [2011], Charmed, Grindhouse, Monkeybone, Encino Man)
Dweezil Zappa b. 1969 (Jack Frost, The Running Man)
Terry Ellis b. 1963 (Batman Forever)
Peter Wingfield b. 1962 (Alphas, Caprica, Stonehenge Apocalypse, 10,000 Days, Highlander [TV], Charmed, Smallville, Catwoman, Andromeda, X-Men 2, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge, Stargate SG-1)
Roberta Weiss b. 1961 (Tales from the Darkside, Deadly Nightmares, The Dead Zone)
Joseph Steven b. 1956 (Star Trek [2009], Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Scorpion King, K-PAX)
Michael Keaton b. 1951 (Birdman, RoboCop [2013], Jack Frost, Multiplicity, Batman, Beetlejuice)
Scott H. Reiniger b. 1948 (Dawn of the Dead [2004 and 1978])
Dennis Dugan b. 1946 (The Howling, Unidentified Flying Oddball, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Wim Wenders b. 1942 (director, Nosferatu the Vampire)
Raquel Welch b. 1940 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Lois & Clark, Mork & Mindy, Bedazzled, One Million Years B.C., Fantastic Voyage, Bewitched)
George Lazenby b. 1939 (Team Knight Rider, Superboy, Death Dimension)
William Devane b. 1939 (Interstellar, Leprechaun’s Revenge, The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, The Dark Knight Rises, Race to Space, Hollow Man, Space Cowboys, Timecop, Doomsday Rock, Virus, Timestalkers, Testament)
Alyce Andrece b. 1936 died 14 May 2005 (Star Trek, Batman)
Rhae Andrece b. 1936 died 2 March 2009 (Star Trek, Batman)
Frank Farmer b. 1932 (Ghost Ghirls, Team Knight Rider, The Burning Zone, The Invaders, Babylon 5, Wonder Woman, Capricorn One)
Bob Newhart b. 1929 (The Big Bang Theory, The Librarian, Elf)
Gloria Holden b. 1903 died 22 March 1991 (Dracula’s Daughter)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot was filled by the twins Alyce and Rhae Andrece from the I, Mudd episode of Star Trek and Carice Van Houten from Game of Thrones. I could have gone with Michael Keaton from Batman, but continuing with the fabulous babe theme of previous years, it's Raquel Welch in the fur bikini from One Million Years B.C., possibly the most iconic picture from her career.

2. Not the Canadian and Spot the Canadian! Peter Wingfield has a lot of role in Canadian genre productions, but he was born in Great Britain and I have no information about him becoming a resident alien in Canada. His imdb.com bio is proudest of the fact that he has recently completed his studies to become a medical doctor, and good on him for that. Regular reader Abu Scooter informs me that Roberta Weiss is Canadian, a fact which I miss on the initial post.

Nepotism FTW. Dweezil Zappa.

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

Never to be Forgotten: Alan Steel (a.k.a. Sergio Ciani) 1935-2015

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Italy cranked out a lot of movies known collectively as "sword and sandal" in an attempt to cash in on the success of Biblical era costume dramas like Spartacus. The hero was always a bodybuilder, playing characters named Hercules, Machiste, Ursus, Goliath or Samson. While many of the bodybuilders like Steve Reeves and Reg Park were Americans, Sergio Ciani, whose screen name was Alan Steel, was born in Rome. While he was not always the lead, he appeared in 3 Avengers, Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas, Hercules Against the Moon Men, Hercules Against Rome, Hercules and the Black Pirates, Hercules and the Masked Rider, Samson and the Slave Queen, Ursus, the Gladiator Rebel, The Fury of Hercules, The Giant of Marathon and Hercules Unchained. Two of these were given the MST3K treatment.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Today's soapbox is postponed a day due to the holiday.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

10 August 2015

Birthdays
Ah-sung Ko b. 1992 (Snowpiercer, The Host)
Lucas Till b. 1990 (X-Men: Days of Future Past, All Superheroes Must Die, X-Men: First Class, Battle Los Angeles, Dance of the Dead)
Brendon Thwaites b. 1989 (Maleficent, The Signal, Oculus)
Nicole Taylor b. 1983 (Insatiable)
Devon Aoki b. 1982 (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead, Mutant Chronicles, Sin City)
Roxanne McKee b. 1980 (Dominion, The Legend of Hercules, Game of Thrones)
Pua Magasive b. 1980 (30 Days of Night, Power Rangers)
JoAnna Garcia Swisher b. 1979 (Once Upon a Time, The Astronaut Wives Club, From the Earth to the Moon, SeaQuest 2032, Superboy)
Leo Fitzpatrick b. 1978 (Carnivale)
Joanna Bacalso b. 1976 (Lost Girl, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Forever Knight)
Rick Otto b. 1973 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Teen Wolf [TV], The Walking Dead, Dollhouse, Phantoms)
Thor Van Lingen b. 1973 (Return of the Living Dead II)
Justin Theroux b. 1971 (The Leftovers)
Claudia Christian b. 1965 (Runestone, Grimm, Starhyke, The Haunting of Hell House, Babylon 5, Highlander [TV], Lancelot: Guardian of Time, Space Rangers, Quantum Leap, The Hidden)
Eric Thal b. 1965 (The Puppet Masters)
Beverly Randolph b. 1964 (The Return of the Living Dead)
Suzanne Collins b. 1962 (author, The Hunger Games)
Antonio Banderas b. 1960 (Automata, Spy Kids 1, 2 and 3, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles)
Rosanna Arquette b. 1959 (Eastwick)
Don Swayze b. 1958 (Blood Type, True Blood, Charmed, Carnivale, Tremors [TV], The X Files, Lois & Clark, Beach Babes from Beyond)
Rick Overton b. 1954 (True Blood, COPS: Skyrim, Cloverfield, The Astronaut Farmer, Lost, Eight Legged Freaks, Charmed, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Lois & Clark, Groundhog Day, The Rocketeer, Earth Girls Are Easy, Traxx, Willow, Amazing Stories)
Diane Venora b. 1952 (Little Hercules in 3-D, Threshold, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, Wolfen)
Kate O’Mara b. 1939 died 30 March 2014 (Doctor Who, The Horror of Frankenstein, The Vampire Lovers)
Murray Melvin b. 1932 (Torchwood, Starhunter, Alice in Wonderland [1999 TV])
Lynn Cohen b. 1933 (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
Martha Hyer b. 1924 died May 31 2014 (Bewitched, First Men in the Moon, Mistress of the World, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars)
Rhonda Fleming b. 1923 (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court)
Jeff Corey b. 1914 died 16 August 2002 (Charmed, Brimstone, Perversions of Science, Babylon 5, Beauty and the Beast, War of the Worlds [1988], Starman, Faerie Tales Theatre, Manimal, The Powers of Matthew Star, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Battle Beyond the Stars, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, The Outer Limits, Superman and the Mole-Men, The Next Voice You Hear…, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man)
Noah Beery Jr b. 1913 died 1 November 1994 (Mysterious Two, Beyond Witch Mountain, The Six million Dollar Man, The Immortal, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Rocketship X-M)
Richard Reeves b. 1912 died 17 March 1967 (Mr. Terrific, I Dream of Jeannie, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, The Addams Family, Batman, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, Adventures of Superman, Target Earth)
Curt Siodmak b. 1902 died 2 September 2000 (author, Donovan’s Brain)
Jack Haley b. 1898 died 6 June 1979 (The Wizard of Oz)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Regular readers know the drill. I like iconic and I don't want to repeat myself except under remarkable circumstances. Early Picture Slotters were Claudia Christian from Babylon 5 and the great Oh That Guy Jeff Corey. In a just world, Ah-Sung Ko would be iconic from The Host and Snowpiercer, but that's just my imagination, running away with me.

Jack Haley as The Tin Man is iconic. It may be really old school, but that is completely beside the point.

2. Spot the Canadians! Roxanne McKee is Canadian, but being on Game of Thrones could easily send even the most experienced Canadian spotter off the scent. Joanna Bacalso is a little easier to spot.

3. Nepotism FTW and MST3K. Noah Beery Jr is the son of Noah Beery Sr and the nephew of Wallace Beery. He was also in Rocketship X-M, which means we have an MST3k connection Rosanna Arquette is part of the multi-generational Arquette clan.

4. And special birthday wishes to... Rhonda Fleming turns 92 today. She is not The Gal at the Door because some folks younger than her are already gone, but I wanted to send my best wishes because Miss Fleming is tied with Maureen O'Hara as the prettiest redhead ever. Cristina Hendricks is the most Va-Va-voomy redhead ever, tied with Jessica Rabbit.

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

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in The Door Into Summer, serialized in 1956, published as a novel in 1957

Prediction: Denver had become the national capital after the Six Weeks War.

Reality: Yet another causal prediction of a nuclear war from 1950s science fiction. Folks who remember earlier Heinlein predictions might recall he was asked by some folks to actually predict stuff, apart from the predictions he wrote in his fiction. He went from "We're all doomed!" to "Things will be okay."in the space of a couple years in the 1940s. Regular reader Leo Lincourt, much more a Heinlein scholar than I am, suggests his change of mood might have to do with divorcing a wife who made him miserable and then marrying another woman who made him happy.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We get the last prediction from our 1930s commie John Langdon-Davies. He hasn't been quite as much fun to mock as FroMo-2030, Paul Ehrlich or Ray Kurzweil, but he has been wrong just about as often.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

25 July 2015

Birthdays
Mason Cook b. 2000 (Mockingbird Lane, Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D)
Preston Bailey b. 2000 (Children of the Corn [2009])
Andrew Caldwell b. 1989 (Transformers)
Linsey Godfrey b. 1988 (Altergeist, Wizards of Waverly Place, Surface)
Michael Welch b. 1987 (Z Nation, Twilight, Grimm, Day of the Dead, Stargate SG-1, Birds of Prey, The Invisible Man, The X-Files, Star Trek: Insurrection)
Kevin Buttimer b. 1987 (Ant-Man)
Shantel VanSanten b. 1985 (The Messengers, The Flash, Something Wicked, Beauty and the Beast [2013])
James Lafferty b. 1985 (Oculus, S. Darko)
Jay R. Ferguson b. 1974 (No Ordinary Family, Surface)
Jason Marin b. 1974 (Back to the Future)
Aaron Craven b. 1974 (The Flash, The Age of Adaline, 100,000 Zombie Heads, Supernatural, Continuum, Fringe, Smallville, Alien Trespass, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Stargate: Atlantis, Kyle XY, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone)
Michael C. Williams b. 1973 (The Objective, Altered, The Blair Witch Project)
David Denman b. 1973 (After Earth, Angel, The X-Files)
Miriam Shor b. 1971 (Bedazzled)
D.B. Woodside b. 1969 (Buffy)
Matt LeBlanc b. 1967 (Lost in Space [1998])
Elke Jeinsen b. 1966 (Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV)
Illeana Douglas b. 1965 (Mega Shark vs. Kolossus, The Coven, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Strange Frequency)
Iman b. 1955 (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Lynne Frederick b. 1954 died 27 April 1994 (Space: 1999, The Canterville Ghost, Phase IV, Vampire Circus, No Blade of Grass)
Nina Thomas b. 1952 (Doctor Who)
Janet Margolin b. 1943 died 17 December 1993 (Ghostbusters II, Planet Earth)
Pilar Seurat b. 1938 died 2 June 2001 (Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Todd Armstrong b. 1937 died 17 November 1992 (The Greatest American Hero, Jason and the Argonauts)
Paul Collins b. 1937 (The Breed, The Invisible Man [2000], Dead man on Campus, Deep Space Nine, Quantum Leap)
August Schellenberg b. 1936 died 15 August 2013 (SGU Stargate Universe, Mysterious Ways, So Weird, Friday’s Curse, Deadly Nightmares)
Barbara Harris b. 1935 (Nice Girls Don’t Explode)
Ken Swofford b. 1933 (Max Headroom, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America II: Death Too Soon, Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Girl with Something Extra, The Andromeda Strain, The Intruders, Shadow on the Land)
Al Adamson b. 1929 died 2 August 1995 (Death Dimension, Doctor Dracula, Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Brain of Blood, Horror of the Blood Monsters, Blood of Dracula’s Castle)
Jerry Paris b. 1925 died 31 March 1986 (director, The Munsters)
Estelle Getty b. 1923 died 22 July 2008 (Mannequin)
Woody Strode b. 1914 died 31 December 1994 (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Kingdom of the Spiders, Batman)
Jack Gilford b. 1908 died 2 June 1990 (Cocoon, Anna to the Infinite Power, Caveman)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot, with extra "Wait... he's dead?" goodness. This is not a list weighed down with A-List stars. In previous years, I went full Whedonverse nerd with David Denman (the demon Skip from Angel) and D.B. Woodside, the hunky last principal of Sunnydale High on Buffy. This year, I go with Todd Armstrong, the star of Jason and the Argonauts, a movie I still love dearly. Starring in this movie did nothing for his career and he was upset that his voice was dubbed over after the fact. I don't blame him. I just found his name on imdb.com this year and I had not been cc:ed on the memo that he was dead.

This makes me sad.


2. Spot the Canadians! We have two Canucks today, both somewhat spottable. Most folks who benefit form the Canadian genre production boom are born after 1970, which is true of Aaron Craven, but we also see some of those credits on First Nations actor August Schellenberg, who died a couple years back.

3. My favorite actors on the list, or Welcome to Geezers Anonymous. Jack Gilford was a great comic actor, Woody Strode was probably the best known African-American actor in the Westerns. Strode worked with both John Ford and Sergio Leone, and that is plenty good enough for me.

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

Movie released
Lucy released, 2014

The Weekly Soapbox: The End of Oil.

Instead of predictions on Saturday, because I am running low, instead I will write a little opinion piece on things that have have been predicted. The End of Oil has only shown up a few times on the blog, once from OMNI Future Almanac, once from Utopia 1976 and John Elfreth Watkins foresaw the end of coal. All the dates have come and gone - 2010, 1976 and 2000 - and we still have petroleum based fuel running the world.

OMNI Future Almanac's call wasn't a surprise. It was published in 1982 and Peak Oil was already an idea people were batting about. Utopia 1976 was written in 1955 and Watkins made his predictions in 1900, so they are more surprising. Why hasn't the sky fallen yet?

I found many graphs similar to the one shown here that credit "natural gas liquids" and "unconventional oil" as the main stop-gap, and both of those rely heavily on fracking.

You might assume from my generally leftist leanings that I will now say "Boo! Fracking!", but I honestly haven't made up my mind. I know there are bad things that have happened at fracking sites, but I don't know how common they are. I'd like to find a neutral site where I could find good data, but I haven't found that yet.

This is the real world. There are always trade-offs. It's important to understand what they are. 

I could just see who is lined up on both sides and decide to go with the folks I like, but I got suckered into the anti-vax point of view by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on The Daily Show last decade, so I no longer think that is good enough.

The pro-fracking types think of themselves as The Sensible People - and yes, I'm looking at you Joe Nocera - but they are keen on writing "if there is environmental damage, the companies should be made to clean it up."

Yes, they should. Also, people should not cheat on their spouses or taxes, shouldn't litter or have their phones on at the movies or the theatre.

But people do those things. And what's worse, polluting companies pay a shitload of money to lawyers to make sure they don't have to clean up their messes.

There are things getting better in the world, usually slowly, but there are also things getting slowly worse. If the people getting screwed finally realize they can afford pitchforks and torches, I will likely sympathize with their cause. The Sensible People will likely complain of their burns or their pitchfork wounds and I will listen politely, but then I will say "Perhaps this is a good time to look at what both sides have done wrong."

Okay, I'm off the soapbox for a week.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The first slow Sunday, with only a birthday list. In previous years, the 26th of July Picture Slot has belonged to fabulous babes. Will the streak continue?

Signs point to yes.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 July 2015

Birthdays
Robert Naylor b. 1996 (Helix, Being Human, Immortals, Stephen King's Dead Zone, Race to Mars)
Gregory Smith b. 1983 (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, A Wrinkle in Time, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Small Soldiers, Meego, M.A.N.T.I.S., Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns, Leapin' Leprechauns, Highlander [TV])
Paula LaBaredas b. 1982 (Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader, Camel Spiders, Paul)
Eva Green b. 1980 (Penny Dreadful, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Dark Shadows, Camelot, Perfect Sense, Clone, The Golden Compass)
Kevin Hart b. 1979 (This is the End, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire)
Adam Busch b. 1978 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Point Pleasant, Buffy)
Symba b. 1970 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Deep Space Nine, Sliders, Star Trek: Voyager)
Brian Van Holt b. 1969 (Ascension, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Threshold)
Brian Posehn b. 1966 (The Big Bang Theory, Knights of Badassdom, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Undead or Alive: A Zombedy)
Mark Mitchinson b. 1966 (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Power Rangers, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Legend of the Seeker)
Casey Sander b. 1956 (The Big Bang Theory, Buffy, Quantum Leap, Predator II, Spaced Invaders, V)
Allyce Beasley b. 1954 (Gotham, Rumplestiltskin, The Tommyknockers, Superboy, ALF)
Jennifer Savidge b. 1952 (Evolution, FreakyLinks, Deep Space Nine, House of Frankenstein [TV], Lois & Clark)
Geoffrey Rush b. 1951 (Pirates of the Caribbean, House on Haunted Hill [1999], Mystery Men)
Geraldine James b. 1950 ( Robot Overlords, Alice in Wonderland [2010], Fairy Tales, Hex)
John Byrne b. 1950 (writer/artist, Marvel Comics, DC Comics)
Shelley Hack b. 1947 (Tales from the Crypt, Troll, SeaQuest 2032, Time After Time)
Gloria Gifford b. 1946 (Halloween II, The Incredible Hulk)
Sylvester Stallone b. 1946 (Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Judge Dredd, Demolition Man, Death Race 2000)
Fred Dryer b. 1946 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Relic Hunter)
Burt Ward b. 1945 (Star Quest, Homeboys in Outer Space, Beach Babes from Beyond, Cyber-C.H.I.C., Batman)
Ahna Capri b. 1944 died 19 August 2010 (Man from Atlantis, Piranha, The Ivaders)
Rosemary Forsyth b. 1943 (Ghosts of Mars, Star Trek: Voyager, The Incredible Hulk)
Ned Beatty b. 1937 (Gulliver's Travels [1996], Replikator, Purple People Eater, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Superman I and II, Exorcist II: The Heretic)
Janet Leigh b. 1927 died 3 October 2004 (Halloween H20, The Twilight Zone [1989], Starman, The Fog, Night of the Lepus, Hello Down There)
Merv Griffin b. 1925 died 12 August 2007 (Alice in Wonderland [1985 TV], Slapstick (of Another Kind), The Man with Two Brains, The Girl with Something Extra, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms)
William Schallert b. 1922 (True Blood, Lois and Clark, Deep Space Nine, Matinee, Quantum Leap, Innerspace, The Twilight Zone [1986 and 1960], Gremlins, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Hangar 18, Legends of the Superheroes, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Land of the Giants, Bewitched, Star Trek, Men Into Space, The Monolith Monsters, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Commando Cody, Tobor the Great, Them!, Invasion U.S.A., The Man from Planet X, Mighty Joe Young)
Nancy Reagan b. 1921 (Donovan's Brain, The Next Voice You Hear)
Sebastian Cabot b. 1918 died 22 August 1977 (Miracle on 34th Street [1973 TV Movie], The Time Machine, The Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previously, the Picture Slot went to Oh That Guy extraordinary William Schallert, who turns 93 today and good on him. When it comes to movie stars, Geoffrey Rush and Sly Stallone are the biggest names here and for TV stars iconic in genre, Burt Ward as Robin is an excellent choice. But I was in a fabulous babe mood and selected Eva Green, the star of the current show Penny Dreadful.

2. Spot the Canadians! The younger Canadians are spottable, Robert Naylor and Gregory Smith, have Canadian looking credit lists. Rosemary Forsyth, the oldest Canadian celebrating a birthday today, is not spottable.

3. Yes, they're still alive. I'm not surprised about our two nonagenarians today. I saw William Schallert on True Blood  a few years back and I knew I hadn't seen his obit yet and I hope that is true for some time to come. I had my tabloid blog years ago and they always had Nancy Reagan on death's door, but she is still with us as well.

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

Predictor: The ESPN panel of baseball experts predict the playoff teams for major league baseball before the season starts.

Predictions (reality):
A.L East: Boston (5th in division)
A.L. Central: Cleveland (4th in division)
Detroit for wild card (3rd in division 6th in wild card race)
A.L. West: Seattle (4th in division)
Anaheim for wild card (currently top wild card team)

N.L East: Washington (1st)
Miami for wild card (4th in division, 9th in wild card race)
N.L. Central: St. Louis (1st)
Pittsburgh for wild card (currently top wild card team)
N.L. West: Los Angeles (1st)
  
Comments: Halfway through the season, the National League is much more predictable than the American. The only oversold team in the National are the wild card Marlins, who are well under .500 right now, while in the American, every prediction division winner is under .500 with lots of teams to climb over to get to the playoffs. We will of course check in again when the season is over and let the experts pick the playoffs, which they sucked at last year because two wild card teams played for the World Series, a hard outcome to predict. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

John Langdon-Davies is back, getting lots of stuff wrong.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

29 June 2015

 Birthdays
Lorenzo James Henrie b. 193 (Fear the Walking Dead, Star Trek)
Addison Timlin b. 1991 (Fallen [2015], Zero Hour)
Christopher Egan b. 1984 (Dominion, Gothica [TV], Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale [TV], Resident Evil: Extinction, Eragon)
Lily Rabe b. 1982 (American Horror Story)
Sharon Lemelin b. 1979 (Being Human, Zombie Hamlet, Anonymous Rex)
Zuleikha Robinson b. 1977 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Lost, The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen)
Will Kemp b. 1977 (The Prisoner [2009], Pinocchio [2006 TV], Van Helsing)
Travis Richey b. 1977 (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy, Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Cry of the Winged Serpent)
Christy Taylor b. 1974 (Weird Science [TV], Mars: Base One)
Sharon Conley b. 1971 (Constantine, The Hunger Games, Teen Wolf [2011 TV], Green Lantern)
Ilan Mitchell-Smith b. 1969 (Superboy, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Weird Science)
Aleks Paunovic b. 1969 (iZombie, Dead Rising: Watchtower, The 100, Zapped [2014], Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Once Upon a Time, Chupacabra vs. the Alamo, Eve of Destruction, Mortal Combat: Legacy, Smallville, Supernatural, Caprica, Stargate: Atlantis, Bionic Woman, Flash Gordon, Battlestar Galactica, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, Eureka, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Mutant X, Andromeda, Stargate SG-1, Jeremiah, Nostradamus, Roswell: The Aliens Attack)
Judith Hoag b. 1968 (Grimm, I am Number Four, Halloweentown, Carnivale, The X-Files, Strange World, Armageddon, The Burning Zone, Quantum Leap, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [1990])
Melora Hardin b. 1967 (Zombie Hamlet, Timecop, Things That Go Bump, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, Mann & Machine, The Rocketeer)
Kathleen Wilhoite b. 1964 (The 4400, Quantum Leap, Witchboard)
Amanda Donohoe b. 1962 (Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, The Atlantis Conspiracy, Stardust, A Knight in Camelot, The Hidden Room, The Lair of the White Worm)
Sharon Lawrence b. 1961 (The After, Nuclear Family, Atomic Twister, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Star Trek: Voyager)
Maria Conchita Alonzo b. 1957 (Dark Moon Rising, The Dead One, Predator 2, Vampire’s Kiss, The Running Man, Knight Rider)
Michael Whelan b. 1950 (Illustrator)
Fred Grandy b. 1948 (Monster Squad, Death Race 2000)
Brian Herbert b. 1947 (author, Dune universe)
Michael Carter b. 1947 (The Illusionist, The Cloning of Joanna May, Return of the Jedi, An American Werewolf in London, Doctor Who)
Gary Busey b. 1944 (Mansion of Blood, Piranha 3DD, The Gingerdead Man, The Huntress, Jacob Two Two meets The Hooded Fang, Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms, Predator 2, Silver Bullet)
Soon-Tek Oh b. 1943 (Seven Days, Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, Time Trax, Highlander [TV], The Final Countdown, Logan’s Run [TV], Earth II, The Invaders)
Corey Allen b. 1934 died 27 June 2010 (director, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Otherworld, The Powers of Matthew Star)
Ian Bannen b. 1928 died 3 November 1999 (The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1980 TV], The Watcher in the Woods)
Dick Martin b. 1927 died 14 February 1990 (illustrator, Oz books)
Ray Harryhausen b. 1920 died 5 May 2013 (visual effects, Clash of the Titans, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Valley of Gwangi, One Million Years B.C., First Men in the Moon, Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 20 Million Miles to Earth, It Came from Beneath the Sea, Mighty Joe Young)
Bernard Herrmann b. 1911 died 24 December 1975 (composer/conductor, It’s Alive, Fahrenheit 451, Lost in Space, Twilight Zone, Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Slim Pickens b. 1919 died 8 December 1983 (The Howling, The Swarm)
Antoine de Saint-Exupery b. 1900 died 31 July 1944 (author, The Little Prince)

Note on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Let me be as delicate as possible here. We have some actors here the public certainly knows, Gary Busey and Slim Pickens to name just two, but I don't think there's anyone here in front of the camera who is iconic in genre. The previous Picture Slotters were special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen and the Oz illustrator Dick Martin, and this year I go with Michael Whelan, the prolific cover artist for sci-fi and fantasy books.


2. Spot the Canadian! Today there is only one, so I leave it as an exercise for the reader.

3. The Guy at the Door. Oh That Asian Guy Soon Tek Oh turns 72 years old today, which is very young to be the oldest living person on the list. As always when we get this demographic oddity, we send out special wishes for many happy returns to Mr. Oh.

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

Movies released

Ted released 2012
Transformers: Dark of the Moon released 2011
War of the Worlds released 2005

Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Within a few years, the city with the most degraded environment will likely be Cubatao, Brazil, located on the coastal lowlands.

Reality: Checking several lists online, Cubatao doesn't get a mention, while New Dehli, Beijing and Ahvaz, Iran are on multiple lists.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We get more Commie tommyrot from John Langdon-Davies.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

31 May 2015

 Birthdays
Shaun Fleming b. 1987 (Jeepers Creepers II, Cyberkidz)
Richard Riddell b. 1984 (Penny Dreadful, Jabberwock, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, Merlin)
Jonathan Tucker b. 1982 (High Moon, Early Edition)
Lee Majdoub b. 1982 (Supernatural, Arrow, Soldiers of the Apocalypse, Underworld: Awakening, Fringe, Bionic Woman [2007])
Eric Christian Olsen b. 1977 (The Thing [2011], Smallville, Arthur’s Quest)
Mary Alexandra Stiefvater b. 1977 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Supergator)
Colin Farrell b. 1976 (Total Recall [2012], The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Fright Night, Minority Report, Daredevil)
Catherine Bruhier b. 1972 (Highlander: The Raven, Forever Knight)
Brooke Shields b. 1965 (The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, Tales from the Crypt, Quantum Leap)
Lea Thompson b. 1961 (Adventures of a Teenage Dragonslayer, Left Behind, Back to the Future, SpaceCamp, Howard the Duck)
Chris Elliott b. 1960 (Ramsey Has a Time Machine, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Groundhog Day, The Abyss, Hyperspace)
Tommy Hinkley b. 1960 (Angel, The Little Vampire, Star Trek: Generations, Watchers II, Something is Out There, The Terror Within)
Kyle Secor b. 1957 (Resurrection, American Horror Story, A Wrinkle in Time [TV], Eerie, Indiana)
Nikolai Sotirov b. 1956 (The Legend of Hercules [2014], Annihilation Earth, Star Runners, Boogeyman 3, Shark Attack 3: Megalodon, Dracula Rising)
Jack Gilpin b. 1951 (Forever, From the Earth to the Moon, Aliens in the Family)
Gregory Harrison b. 1950 (Galaxy Beat, Duplicates, Logan’s Run [TV], Wonder Woman)
Tom Berenger b. 1949 (Inception, Nightmares & Dreamscapes)
Lynda Bellingham b. 1948 died 19 October 2014 (Doctor Who, Blakes 7)
Jim Hutton b. 1934 died 2 June 1979 (Twilight Zone)
Clint Eastwood b. 1930 (Space Cowboys, Firefox, Tarantula, Revenge of the Creature)
Menahem Golan b. 1929 died 8 August 2014 (producer, American Cyborg: Steel Warrior, Prison Planet, Captain America [1990], Night of the Living Dead [1990], Cyborg, Doin’ Time on Planet Earth, Journey to the Center of the Earth [1988], Alien from L.A., Masters of the Universe, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Beauty and the Beast, Invaders from Mars, America 3000, Lifeforce)
Julian Beck b. 1925 died 14 September 1985 (Poltergeist II: The Other Side)
Martha Hyer b. 1924 died 31 May 2014 (House of 1,000 Dolls, Bewitched, First Men in the Moon, Mistress of the World, Riders to the Stars, Abbott and Costello Go to Mars)
Denholm Elliot b. 1922 died 6 October 1992 (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Underworld [1985], Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Boys from Brazil, The House That Dripped Blood, Mystery and Imagination [TV], The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
Don Ameche b. 1908 died 6 December 1993 (Cocoon, Harry and the Hendersons)
Madge Blake b. 1899 died 19 February 1969 (Batman, Bewitched, The Addams Family)
George R. Stewart b. 1895 died 22 August 1980 (author, Earth Abides)
Jack Holt b. 1888 died 18 January 1951 (Cat People)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous Picture Slotters were Colin Farrell in 2013 and Madge Blake in 2014. While we have an A-list movie star in Clint Eastwood, I think the most iconic role on the list who hasn't been utilized is Lee Thompson from the first Back to the Future, which is a particularly creepy plot line if you give it any thought.

2. Canadian spotted! Catherine Bruhier was born in Belize but raised in Canada and her credits include two genre shows from last century.

3. MST3K. While I did not consider Clint Eastwood for the Picture Slot, he is the reason we have MST3K as a label today, for his small role in Revenge of the Creature.

4. Wait... he's dead? Denholm Elliot died 23 years ago, but I feel like I should have seen him in something made more recently. It may just be that he is a certain type of British Oh That Guy actor, very good, not particularly pretty, always a good choice when a role needs some dignity. In any case, I did not remember that he was gone and I miss him.

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

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

Prediction: Finding people from thirty years ago was no job for an amateur. But I didn’t know their Social Security numbers. My Country ‘Tis of Thee had never succumbed to police-state nonsense, so there was no bureau certain to have a dossier on every citizen, nor was I in a position to tap such a file even if there had been.

Reality: Sorry, Bob, the good old U.S.A. has gone police state in a big, big way in 2015, and even in 2000, your sleeper dude from 1970 would have found out about something called the Internet and had a fair shot in finding someone from info gleaned from thirty years in the past.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A new month and a new splash illustration, getting rid of the creepy giant rat spider. Yeesh!

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

22 May 2015

Birthdays
Molly Ephraim b. 1986 (Paranormal Activity)
Tao Okamoto b. 1985 (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Wolverine)
Lucy Gordon b. 1980 died 20 May 2009 (Spider-Man 3)
Maggie Q b. 1979 (Insurgent, Divergent, Priest)
Ginnifer Goodwin b. 1978 (Once Upon a Time)
Noa Tisby b. 1977 (Charmed, The Island, The 4400, Star Trek: Enterprise)
A. J. Langer b. 1974 (Poltergeist: The Legacy, Escape from L.A., And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird, The People Under the Stairs)
Sean Gunn b. 1974 (Guardians of the Galaxy, H+, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Specials, Angel, Tromeo and Juliet)
Max Brooks b. 1972 (author, World War Z)
Alison Eastwood b. 1972 (Breakfast of Champions)
Michael Kelly b. 1969 (Man of Steel, Chronicle, The Adjustment Bureau, Fringe, Level 9)
David Holcomb b. 1967 (Spider-Man)
Brooke Smith b. 1967 (American Horror Story)
Mark Christopher Lawrence b. 1964 (Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys, Halloween II, Heroes, The Island, K-PAX, Planet of the Apes, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
James Lorinz b. 1964 (RoboCop 3, Frankenhooker)
David Schneider b. 1963 (28 Days Later…)
Ann Cusack b. 1961 (The Lost Room, Charmed, Star Trek: Enterprise, What Planet Are You From?, From the Earth to the Moon, Multiplicity, Tank Girl)
Gary Kasper b. 1958 (Bigfoot, My Demon Within, Star Trek: Enterprise, Conan, Batman Forever, Harry and the Hendersons [TV], Space, J.O.E. and the Colonel)
Gary Sweet b. 1957 (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Mike Muscat b. 1952 (Horrorween, Shamelessly She-Hulk, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Last Action Hero, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Starman [TV], The Clan of the Cave Bear)
Thomas Schlamme b. 1950 (director, Invasion)
Cheryl Campbell b. 1949 (The Sarah Jane Adventures)
John Lazar b. 1946 (Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfolds)
Jack Kehler b. 1946 (The Man in the High Castle, Angel, Men in Black II, The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human, Sliders, Babylon 5, Waterworld, Deep Space Nine, Tales form the Crypt, Mann & Machine, Strange Invaders)
Michael Sarrazin b. 1940 died 17 April 2011 (Feardotcom, Arrival II, Earthquake in New York, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Frankenstein: The True Story)
Paul Winfield b. 1939 died 7 March 2004 (Mars Attacks!, White Dwarf, Babylon 5, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Charmings, The Terminator, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Twilight’s Last Gleaming)
Richard Benjamin b. 1938 (actor, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Saturday the 14th, Love at First Bite, Quark, Westworld; director, My Stepmother is an Alien)
John Nolan b. 1938 (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises, 1990, Doomwatch, The Prisoner)
Frank Converse b. 1938 (VR.5, The Bionic Woman, The Starlost, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Merry Anders b. 1932 died 28 October 2012 (Women of the Prehistoric Planet, The Time Travelers, The Addams Family, Beauty and the Beast [1962])
Michael Constantine b. 1927 (WW 3, Free Spirit, The Powers of Matthew Star, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, The Invaders, My Favorite Martian, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Quinn Martin b. 1922 died 5 September 1987 (producer, The Aliens Are Coming, The Mephisto Waltz, The Invaders)
Laurence Olivier b. 1907 died 11 July 1989 (Clash of the Titans, Dracula [1979], The Boys from Brazil)
Arthur Conan Doyle b. 1859 died 7 July 1930 (author, The Lost World)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Paul Winfied from Star Trek: The Next Generation and a poster from the Indiana Jones movie released in 2008. This year I go with Laurence Olivier as Zeus in Clash of the Titans. I want to be clear that putting someone in the Picture Slot is not a sign of approval for their work. Olivier was very pretty when he was young and may have been great on stage, but on film I thought he was way too hammy. I am much keener on his contemporaries like John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson.

2. Nepotism FTW. Allison Eastwood is the most obvious case of nepotism on the list, but imdb.com made a special point to note that Brooke Smith is the daughter of powerful publicist Lois Smith. While not that well known to the general public, it probably helped her get started. Ann Cusack is John Cusack's sister, Richard Benjamin is married to Paula Prentiss and I don't consider either relationship nepotistic.

3. One unspottable Canadian from the Wait... he's dead category. Michael Sarrazin was born north of the border, but his career took off long before the Canadian genre TV industry came into existence. I also have to admit I wasn't completely aware he was gone when I clicked on his imdb.com web page this morning.

4. MST3K. Merry Anders was in Women of the Prehistoric Planet.

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


Movies released 
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull released, 2008
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian released, 2009

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1901 book Anticipations

Prediction: The struggle on the high seas between any two naval powers (except, perhaps, the English and American, who have both quite unparalleled opportunities for coaling) will not last more than a week or so.

Reality: Not even close. Naval struggles in both world wars lasted throughout the duration and the Germans and Japanese held their own for a long time against the British and Americans. While coal was used well into the 20th Century, many vessels ran on gasoline and coaling stations became obsolete.

Big fat goose egg, Herb.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

More incautious optimism from the 1955 book Utopia 1976.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

19 May 2015

 Birthdays
Elinor Tomlinson b. 1992 (Deadly Code, Jack the Giant Slayer, The Lost Future, Alice in Wonderland [2010], The Sarah Jane Adventures)
Lily Cole b. 1988 (The Zero Theorem, Snow White and the Huntsman, Doctor Who)
Catherine Haena Kim b. 1984 (Voodoo Possession)
Erika Jordan a.k.a. Yasmin Yeganeh b. 1982 (Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, Avalance Sharks, Piranhaconda )
Drew Fuller b. 1980 (Charmed, Vampire Clan)
Terence Yin b. 1975 (Zombie Fight Club, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life)
Claudia Karvan b. 1972 (Daybreakers, Aquamarine, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Farscape, The Lost World [TV], Strange Planet)
Amanda De Cadenet b. 1972 (The Hunger [TV])
Geraldine Somerville b. 1967 (Automata, Harry Potter)
Polly Walker b. 1966 (John Carter, Warehouse 13, Caprica, Clash of the Titans [2010])
Sean Whalen b. 1964 (Constantine, All Superheroes Must Die, Lost, Wizards of Waverly Place, Halloween II [2009], Star Trek: Enterprise, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Men in Black, Lois & Clark, Waterworld, Tammy and the T-Rex, Batman Returns)
Gregory Poirier b. 1961 (writer, National Treasure: Book of Secrets)
Dave Florek b. 1953 (Priest, Ghostbusters II)
Robert Harper b. 1951 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Creepshow)
Bruce Jarchow b. 1948 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Weird Science [TV], Meego, Outbreak, The Puppet Masters, Time Trax, Ghost, Scrooged, Big, Somewhere in Time)
Grace Jones b. 1946 (Wolf Girl, BeastMaster [TV], Cyber Bandits, Vamp, Conan the Destroyer)
Andre the Giant b. 1946 died 27 January 1993 (The Princess Bride, Conan the Destroyer, The Greatest American Hero, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Peter Mayhew b. 1944 (Star Wars, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, Dark Towers)
Nora Ephron b. 1941 died 26 June 2012 (writer/director, Bewitched [2005])
James Fox b. 1939 (Utopia [2013], Merlin, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Doctor Who: Shada, Gulliver’s Travels [1996], The Road to 1984)
Pat Roach b. 1937 died 17 July 2004 (Starhunter, Kull the Conqueror, Space Precinct, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Willow, Red Sonja, Conan the Destroyer, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Clash of the Titans, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Unidentified Flying Oddball)
David Hartman b. 1935 (The Island at the Top of the World)
James Greene b. 1931 (Doctor Who, Merlin, Dracula [2006 TV], Dinotopia, From Hell, 1990)
Bruce Bilson b. 1928 (director, The Flash [1991], They Came from Outer Space, The Twilight Zone [1986], The Powers of Matthew Star, Quark, Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bewitched)
David McLean b. 1922 died 12 October 1995 (Deathsport, Kingdom of the Spiders, The Andromeda Strain, I Dream of Jeannie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Renee Asherson b. 1915 died 30 October 2014 (The Others, Theatre of Blood, The Day the Earth Caught Fire)
Bruce Bennett b. 1906 died 25 February 2007 (The Clones, The Alligator People, The Cosmic Man)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. This may have something to do with me being a geezer, but I consider three people born in the 1940s as the actors with iconic roles and I have already used two of them. They are Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, Andre the Giant as Fezzik and this year's Picture Slotter, Grace Jones as Zula. Stories from the set say she didn't really understand the idea of pulling punches and seriously messed up some of the stuntmen.

2. Not really nepotism. James Fox is the brother of Edward Fox. Dave Florek is the brother of Dann Florek. Neither of these situations is comparable to Sly Stallone/Frank Stallone or Ron Howard/Clint Howard.

3. Centenarians famous for something else. Herman Brix was a silver medalist in shot put at the 1928 Olympics. He became an actor under contract with Warner Bros. and changed his name to Bruce Bennett. He was in several of Humphrey Bogart's movies, including The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and played Tarzan in the serials before Johnny Weissmuller took over the role and became a star. He also lived to be 100. Good on ya, Mr. Bennett.

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


Movies released
Star Wars: Episode I – The One We Don’t Like Much released, 1999  
Shrek 2 released 2004
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith released, 2005

Predictors: The panel of basketball experts at ESPN

Predictions, results and new predictions:
Second round predictions (actual results in parentheses)
Hawks in 7 (Hawks in 6)
Cavaliers in 7 (Cavaliers in 6)
Warriors in 5 (Warriors in 6)
Clippers in 6 (Rockets in 7)

The points scored here, 27 of a possible 40, brings the overall grade to 85 of a possible 120 or 70.8%. If this were a math class, that would be just barely passing, but in predicting supposedly 50-50 events, 70% is actually pretty good. The predictions for the next two series are the Cavaliers in six and the Warriors in five.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to the weekly schedule and our sensible pal George Sutherland.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 May 2015

 Birthdays
Dominic Scott Kay b. 1996 (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. They Call Him Sasquatch, Power Rangers Wild Force, Minority Report)
Naomi Scott b. 1993 (The Martian, Terra Nova)
Freddie Boath b. 1991 (The Mummy Returns)
Mark Daugherty b. 1989 (The Amazing Spider-Man, No Ordinary Family)
Tyler Hynes b. 1986 (Warehouse 13, Immortals, Tales from the Neverending Story)
Adrianne Palicki b. 1983 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, GI. Joe: Retaliation, Wonder Woman, Supernatural, The Robinsons: Lost in Space, Smallville)
Gabourney Sidibe b. 1983 (American Horror Story)
Will Blagrove b. 1981 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Powers, Divergent)
Kyle Cassie b. 1976 (Fringe, Andromeda, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Jake 2.0, Stargate SG-1, Nightman)
Kavan Smith b. 1970 (Supernatural, Almost Human, Eureka, Red: Werewolf Hunter, Stargate [TV], The 4400, Battlestar Galactica, Blade: The Series, The Time Tunnel [2006], Jeremiah, Smallville, Mission to Mars, Escape from Mars, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Buffy)
Venesa Talor b. 1970 (Demonicus, Femalien 1 and 2)
Robert Floyd b. 1967 (Dark Angel, Sliders, Godzilla [1998])
Baxter Churchville b. 1966 (director, Champions of the Deep)
Leslie Hope b. 1965 (The Strain, Revolution, RoboCop: Prime Directives, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Early Edition, SeaQuest 2032)
Lars Mikkelsen b. 1964 (Danny’s Doomsday, The Island of Lost Souls)
Dana Hill b. 1964 died 15 July 1996 (Faerie Tale Theatre, Mork & Mindy)
George Clooney b. 1961 (Tomorrowland, Gravity, Spy Kids, Batman & Robin, From Dusk Till Dawn, Return to Horror High)
Carlos Lauchu b. 1961 (The Silencers [1996], Stargate)
Anne Parillaud b. 1960 (Innocent Blood)
Roma Downey b. 1960 (Hercules and the Amazon Women)
Michael O’Hare b. 1952 died 28 September 2012 (Babylon 5, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, C.H.U.D.)
Gregg Henry b. 1952 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dollhouse, Slither [2006], Star Trek: Enterprise, Firefly, Star Trek: Insurrection, M.A.N.T.I.S., Werewolf [TV])
Paul Linke b. 1948 (K-PAX, Smart House, Lois & Clark, Quantum Leap, The Flash [1990], Space Rage)
Alan Dale b. 1947 (Dominion, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Once Upon a Time, Beauty and the Beast [TV movie], Lost, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, Star Trek: Nemesis, The X-Files, The Lost World [TV], Space: Above and Beyond, Time Trax)
Richard Eyer b. 1945 (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Invisible Boy, Invasion U.S.A.)
Hilary Heath b. 1945 (Space: 1999, Cry of the Banshee, Witchfinder General, The Prisoner)
Joanna Dunham b. 1936 died 25 November 2014 (Space: 1999, The House That Dripped Blood, H. G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Jack Sharkey b. 1931 died 28 September 1992 (author, Ultimatum in 2050 A.D.)
Gordon C. Davies b. 1923 died 1994 (artist)
Orson Welles b, 1915 died 10 October 1985 (writer/actor, Necromancy, War of the Worlds [radio])
Stewart Granger b. 1913 died 16 August 1993 (The Wizard, Hell Hunters)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to the late Michael O'Hare from Babylon 5 and the artwork of Gordon C. Davies, who painted a lot of sci-fi book covers with spaceships back in the day. While I considered Adrianne Palicki in the Wonder Woman costume, it's hard to call it iconic since the show never aired. Instead, it's the one A-List star among today's birthday boys and girls, George Clooney from Gravity. Using a still from his Batman movie would have just been cruel.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are four today, Leslie Hope, Kavan Smith (not a typo), Kyle Cassie and Tyler Hines.

3. Nepotism... not so much. George Clooney is the nephew of Rosemary Clooney. He says she told him things about the ins and outs of show biz, but I don't how many doors the kinship opened for him.

4. Wait... I know they are dead. Dana Hill died very young and Michael O'Hare died at a relatively young age, but in their cases, my once reliable brain is still reliable and I remember they are gone.

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


Movie released
Thor released, 2011  

In the 21st Century, early May is all about the Marvel Studios releases.

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: To a very large extent the automobile will be rather a feeder to the railway than a rival to it; and all sorts of by-roads and country lanes will be improved and adapted so as to admit of residents running into their stations by their own motor-cars and then completing their journeys by rail. But when this point has been reached, and when fairly smooth tracks adapted for automobile and cycling traffic have been laid down all over the country, a very interesting question will crop up having reference to the practicability of converting these tracks into highways combining the capabilities both of roads and of railways.

Reality: Certainly not full credit on this one. The auto is a feeder to railways, but it is also most certainly a rival or more to the point, a rival who won the day.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

 

6 April 2015

Birthdays
Peyton List b. 1998 (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Spider-Man 2)
Spencer List b. 1998 (Fringe, Spider-Man 2)
Charlie McDermott b. 1990 (ImagiGARY, Hot Tub Time Machine, The Village)
Diora Baird b. 1983 (Hot Tub Time Machine, Stan Helsing, Star Trek [2009], The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)
Sofia Boutella b. 1982 (Monster: Dark Continent)
Cecily Fay b. 1978 (Warrioress, Starhyke, Intergalactic Combat, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Candace Cameron Bure b. 1976 (Monster Mash: The Movie)
Zach Braff b. 1975(Oz the Great and Powerful, Clone High)
Joel Marsh Garland b. 1975 (Birdman, Lady in the Water, Witchblade)
Jason Hervey b. 1972 (The Monster Squad, Back to the Future)
Alasdair Gillis b. 1971 (UFO Kidnapped)
Paul Rudd b. 1969 (Ant-Man, This is the End, Gen-X Cops 2: Metal Mayhem, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers)
Mark Strickson b. 1959 (A Christmas Carol [1984 TV], Doctor Who)
Michael Rooker b. 1955 (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead, Atlantis Down, Meteor, Jumper, Slither, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Stargate SG-1, Tremors [TV], Jeremiah, The 6th Day)
Judi Bowker b. 1954 (Worlds Beyond, Clash of the Titans, Count Dracula [1977 TV], Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [1973])
Patrick Doyle b. 1953 (composer, Brave, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Thor, Eragon, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Nanny McPhee, Frankenstein [1994])
Marilu Henner b. 1952 (Vamps, Greg the Bunny)
Janet Agren b. 1949 (Hands of Steel, Aladdin [1986], Red Sonja, City of the Living Dead)
John Ratzenberger b. 1947 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, House II; The Second Story, Timestalkers, Wizards and Warriors, Outland, The Empire Strikes Back, Superman, Warlords of the Deep, Twilight’s Last Gleaming)
Susan Tolsky b. 1943 (Love at First Bite, Bewitched)
Barry Levinson b. 1942 (director, Sphere)
Roy Thinnes b. 1938 (Spectropia, The X-Files, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Invaders, Dark Shadows, War of the Worlds, Battlestar Galactica)
Billy Dee Williams b. 1937 (Star Wars, Epoch: Evolution, Code Name: Eternity, Alien Intruder, Batman)
Ivan Dixon b. 1931 died 16 March 2008 (Amerika, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Joi Lansing b. 1929 died 7 August 1972 (Bigfoot, Queen of Outer Space, Adventures of Superman, Son of Sinbad)
Gil Kane b. 1926 died 31 January 2000 (artist, DC and Marvel Comics)
Dick Peabody b. 1925 died 27 December 1999 (Knight Rider)
Phil Leeds b. 1916 died 16 August 1998 (Ghost, Alf, Frankenstein’s Great Aunt Tillie, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Rosemary’s Baby)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous Picture Slotters are Michael Rooker and Billy Dee Williams. Barring repetition, the three candidates this morning were Gil Kane, Judi Bowker as Andromeda from Clash of the Titans and the winner, Roy Thinnes from his lead role on the 1960s show The Invaders.

2. One lonely Canadian with one credit. Unless you are a relative of Alasdair Gillis, I'm not sure how you would know he is Canadian.

3. Not really nepotism. We have had twins on the birthday lists before, but young Peyton and Spencer List are they first twins of different genders, Peyton female and Spencer male.

4. The Guy at the Door. You know the drill. Everyone older than Billy Dee Williams is dead and everyone younger is alive. He turns 78 today, which seems a little young to be the Guy at the Door, but such is the luck of the draw.

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

Predictors: The ESPN panel of baseball experts

Prediction: The playoff teams for Major League Baseball this year

A.L East: Boston
A.L. Central: Cleveland, Detroit for wild card
A.L. West: Seattle, Anaheim for wild card

N.L East: Washington, Miami for wild card
N.L. Central: St. Louis, Pittsburgh for wild card
N.L. West: Los Angeles

Reality: The experts didn't bathe themselves in glory last year. Their A.L. picks are very different this year - only Boston is a repeat pick from last year, and the reality is they weren't in the playoffs last year - but their N.L. picks are almost exactly identical, the only change being Miami for wild card this year and the Braves in the wild card last year.

Hmm, who did they miss?

Well, the San Francisco Giants for one. Your World Champion San Francisco Giants. The Three Rings in Five Fucking Years San Fran-FUCKING-cisco FUCKING Giants!!!!

They also missed the Kansas City Royals and they are showing the Royals no love this year.

As a Giants fan, (did you already guess?), I don't like their chances to repeat with Pablo Sandoval gone (sniff.) and Hunter Pence hurt for a few months, but this team has certainly pulled some surprises over the past few years. I always root for the Giants, but this year I also have some underdog love for the A's and the Royals.

Never to be forgotten: Tom Towles 1950-2015
If it's a little morbid to have Billy Dee Williams as the Guy at the Door at the age of 78, it's downright gruesome to announce the death of character actor of Tom Towles, who just turned 65 last month. He had a long career playing scumbags and creeps, one of earliest notable roles as Otis, the roommate of the title character in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, starring birthday boy Michael Rooker. Among his roles in genre, we have Halloween [2007], House of 1000 Corpses, Firefly, Star Trek: Voyager, 3rd Rock from the Sun, VR.5, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (pictured here), Night of the Living Dead [1990] and The Pit and the Pendulum. I watched the episode of Firefly he was in last night in his honor. He's the loudmouth that picks a fight with Mal on Unification Day at the beginning of The Train Job.

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

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another prediction from John Langdon-Davies in his 1936 book A Short History of the Future.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

21 March 2015

Birthdays
Scott Eastwood b. 1986 (Texas Chainsaw 3D)
Sonequa Martin-Green b. 1985 (The Walking Dead, Once Upon a Time)
Honorine Bell b. 1981 (A Guy, A Girl, A Space Helmet, The Thirst: Blood War, )
Sam Troughton b. 1977 (AVP: Alien vs. Predator)
Joseph Mawle b. 1974 (Sense8, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Awakening, Game of Thrones, Merlin[2009])
Laura Allen b. 1974 (Clown, Ravenswood, Awake, From Within, The 4400)
Vanessa Branch b. 1973 (Pirates of the Caribbean, Lost, The Invisible Man [TV], Star Trek: Voyager, The Cell)
Jaye Davidson b. 1968 (Stargate)
Karyn Kusama b. 1968 (director, Jennifer’s Body, Aeon Flux)
Greg Ellis b. 1968 (The Hobbit, Touch, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek [2009], Knight Rider [2008], Beowulf, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Brimstone, The X-Files)
Lara Lamberti b. 1967 (Aenigma, Red Sonja)
Phillip Troy Linger b. 1964 (The Hunger Games)
Matthew Broderick b. 1962 (The Stepford Wives [2004], Inspector Gadget, Godzilla [1998], Project X, Faerie Tale Theatre, WarGames, Ladyhawke)
Kathryn Greenwood b. 1962 (Wonderfalls, Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, RoboCop [TV], Maniac Mansion)
Kassie Wesley DePaiva b. 1961 (Time Trax, Evil Dead II)
Sabrina Le Beauf b. 1958 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Gary Oldman b. 1958 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, RoboCop, The Dark Knight Rises, Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Lost in Space [movie], The Fifth Element, Dracula)
Timothy Dalton b. 1944 (Penny Dreadful, Doctor Who, Hercules [2005 TV], Tales from the Crypt, Flash Gordon)
Lorene Yarnell Jansson b. 1944 died 29 July 2010 (Spaceballs, Wonder Woman)
Alex Courtney b. 1940 (Programmed to Kill, The Bionic Woman)
Kathleen Widdoes b. 1939 (The Invaders, Way Out)
Roger Hammond b. 1936 died 8 November 2012 (Bedazzled [2000], A Christmas Carol [1999], Ghostbusters of East Finchley, Morons from Outer Space, Doctor Who, Queen Kong)
Al Williamson b. 1931 died 12 June 2010 (illustrator, Flash Gordon)
James Coco b. 1930 died 25 February 1987 (The Stepford Children, Twilight Zone [1985], The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Alice in Wonderland [1983])
Cliff Norton b. 1918 died 25 January 2003 (Tabitha, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Mr. Terrific, It’s About Time, The Munsters, My Favorite Martian, My Living Doll)
Peter Bull b. 1912 died 20 May 1984 (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [1972], The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, A Christmas Carol [1951], The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus [1947])
Gustav Frohlich b. 1902 died 22 December 1987 (Metropolis)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Joseph Mawle as Benjen Stark from Game of Thrones and Gary Oldman from Harry Potter. Even with these two removed, there are plenty of good choices for iconic, including Timothy Dalton from Flash Gordon, Matthew Broderick from WarGames, Jaye Davidson from Stargate, or an illustration by the late great Al Williamson. But I decided on the late Lorene Yarnell, the woman who was inside the Dot Matrix robot in Spaceballs. I was not aware she was dead.

2. Spot the Canadian! If you know your 20th Century Canadian genre productions, today's solo Canuck should not be tough to find.

3. Nepotism FTW. Scott Eastwood started his career using his mother's name Reeves, but he's pretty much got his dad's face. He's Clint Eastwood's son.

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

Movie released
Divergent released, 2014  
 

Predictor: Hempstead Washburne 1852-1918, mayor of Chicago, asked to predict the world of 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition

Prediction: The political condition of the United States in 1993 will be very similar to that of the present. Railroads and telegraphs will be under public control. We will still be on the gold standard. Corporations will tend towards more perfect centralization, until the monopolies become so obnoxious that they will be regulated by federal and local statutes. The accumulation of wealth will continue, but laws will be enacted to regulate the amount of wealth that can be inherited. The laboring classes shall organize and become a large part of the middle class. It is not improbable that women will obtain the franchise in many states.

Reality: Washburne starts by saying it's business as usual, then proceeds to predict a much more liberal form of government than the one that was in place in 1893, with women's suffrage, successful labor unions, trust busting government and taxes that discourage a permanent class of inherited wealth. It is interesting to note that besides the gold standard and women's suffrage, Washburne's topics are still a big part of the liberal-conservative debate even 122 years later.

As for facial hair, it's a bold mustache, but the rest is pretty tame. He kind of looks like the actor Bruce McGill, doesn't he?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

I'm not keen on repeating myself this year on choices for the Picture Slot, but tomorrow looks like one of those days.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

11 March 2015

Birthdays
Anton Yelchin b. 1989 (Only Lovers Left Alive, Star Trek [2009], Fright Night, Terminator Salvation, Taken)
Daniella Kertesz b. 1989 (World War Z, AfterDeath)
Thora Birch b. 1982 (Shadow Realm, Dungeons & Dragons, Hocus Pocus, Purple People Eater)
David Anders b. 1981 (iZombie, Once Upon a Time, The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, Warehouse 13, Heroes, Children of the Corn [2009], The Revenant, Charmed, The Source)
Johnny Knoxville b. 1971 (Men in Black II)
Terrence Howard b. 1969 (Iron Man)
John Barrowman b. 1967 (Arrow, Torchwood, Doctor Who)
Peter Berg b. 1964 (director, The Six Billion Dollar Man, Battleship, Virtuality, Hancock; actor, The Leftovers, Hancock, Shocker)
Alex Kingston b. 1963 (Arrow, Doctor Who, FlashForward)
Jeffrey Nordling b. 1962 (Arrow, TRON: Legacy, Apollo 11, Time Trax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast)
Elias Koteas b. 1961 (The Last Days on Mars, Let Me In, The Fourth Kind, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Skinwalkers, S1m0ne, Gattaca, The Prophecy, Cyborg 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Fulvio Cecere b. 1960 (The Flash, Continuum, The 100, The Tomorrow People, 666 Park Avenue, Grimm, Lost Girl, Matty Hanson and the Invisibility Ray, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Watchmen, Supernatural, The Middleman, Battlestar Galactica, Reaper, Eureka, Stargate SG-1, Blade: The Series, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Paycheck, Dead Like Me, Odyssey 5, Taken, Smallville, Witchblade, Relic Hunter, Dark Angel, Earth; Final Conflict, Strange World, Millennium, Cloned, Highlander [TV], The X-Files)
Robert Glenister b. 1960 (Doctor Who)
Stephen R. Hart b. 1958 (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Space Janitors, Oz the Great and Powerful, Lost Girl, Fear Itself, Wonderfalls, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Carver’s Gate)
Rob Paulsen b. 1956 (The Tick, Samurai Jack, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law)
Douglas Adams b. 1952 died 11 May 2001 (author, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Diane Sherry Case b. 1952 (Superman [1978])
Jerry Zucker b. 1950 (director, Ghost)
Mark Metcalf b. 1946 (Buffy, Angel, Star Trek: Voyager)
Angelique Pettyjohn b. 1943 died 14 February 1992 (The Wizard of Speed and Time, Biohazard, Repo Man, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, Star Trek, Batman, Mr. Terrific, The Green Hornet, The Phantom Planet)
Nancy Kovack b. 1935 (The Invisible Man [TV], Marooned, Star Trek, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Jason and the Argonauts)
Albert Salmi b. 1928 died 22 April 1990 (Knight Rider, Small & Frye, Dragonslayer, Empire of the Ants, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Future Cop, Land of the Giants, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone)
Christopher Anvil b. 1925 died 30 November 2009 (author, Federation of Humanity, The Day the Machines Stopped)
Ferdy Mayne b. 1916 died 30 January 1998 (Frankenstein’s Aunt, Howling II:… Your Sister Is a Werewolf, Conan the Destroyer, The Greatest American Hero, Hawk the Slayer, The Vampire Lovers, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Masters of Venus)
Shemp Howard b. 1895 died 22 November 1955 (The Invisible Woman)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The Picture Slot has been given in earlier years to Anton Yelchin as Chekov in the Star Trek reboot and Douglas Adams, both iconic in my book. Removing them from the list, we still have plenty of great candidates. From the Doctor Who universe, there's John Barrowman and Alex Kingston, from Buffy, there's Mark Metcalf as The Master, but I am in a Star Trek babe mood this morning (like I'm never NOT in a Star Trek babe mood), so the decision was between Angelique Pettyjohn and Nancy Kovack. This decision boiled down to breasts wrapped in tribble skins and breast wrapped in aluminum foil, and I have to say, people wearing aluminum foil as clothing just screams "FUTURE!".

2. Canadians, spottable and not. Stephen R. Hart and Fulvio Cecere are Canadian actors who stayed home. Elias Koteas is a Canadian who wandered South and decided he liked it here. David Anders has some Canadian credits, but he was born in the States.

3. MST3K. Angelique Pettyjohn was in The Phantom Planet.


4. Not related. Terrence Howard and Shemp Howard, but you knew that.

5. Making exceptions by invoking the First Rule of Blogging. It is my custom to ignore voice work, in large part because I don't want to be typing all day, but Rob Paulsen worked on three of my favorite cartoons, so he is listed here. The First Rule of Blogging is, of course, You Aren't The Boss of Me.

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

Movie released
Robots released, 2005
 

Predictor: George Sutherland in his 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: The stoking difficulties on large ocean-going steamers have become so acute that they now suggest the conclusion that, notwithstanding repeated failures, a really effective mechanical stoker will be so imperatively called for as to enforce the adoption of any reasonably good device. The heat, grime, and general misery of the stoke-hole have become so deterrent that the difficulty of securing men to undertake the work grows greater year by year, and in recruiting the ranks of the stokers resort had to be had more and more to those unfortunate men whose principal motive for labour is the insatiable desire for a drinking bout.

Reality: Oh, Mr. Sutherland, and we were getting along so well.

Question 1: Are you implying there are people who work all day with no intention of getting a drink after?

Question 2: Just how many drinks constitutes a bout?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another incorrect but authoritative forecast from The Experts Speak.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!