Showing posts with label We've got no years/ And that's all we've got. Show all posts
Showing posts with label We've got no years/ And that's all we've got. Show all posts

Sunday, October 19, 2014

19 October 2014

Birthdays
Samuel Honywood b. 1996 (Nanny McPhee)
Kevin Alves b. 1991 (How to Build a Better Boy, Warehouse 13)
Samantha Munro b. 1990 (Lost Girl)
Gillian Jacobs b. 1982 (Hot Tub Time Machine 2, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, The Box, Fringe)
Benjamin Salisbury b. 1980 (S1m0ne)
Desmond Harrington b. 1976 (Astronaut Wives Club, The Dark Knight Rises, TIMER, Taken)
Tony Crane b. 1972 (S1m0ne, Wishmaster, Out of This World)
Chris Kattan b. 1970 (Undead or Alive: A Zombedy, Monkeybone)
Anna Galvin b. 1969 (Witches of East End, Almost Human, Supernatural, Girl Vs. Monster, SGU Stargate Universe, The Boy Who Cried Werewolf, Caprica, Smallville, Kyle XY, The Andromeda Strain, Tin Man, Eureka, The Genie from Down Under 1 & 2, Timecop, Scavengers)
Amy Linker b. 1966 (D.A.R.Y.L.)
Jon Favreau b. 1966 (director, Revolution, Cowboys & Aliens, Iron Man 1 & 2, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Elf; actor, Iron Man 1, 2 & 3, John Carter, Elf, Daredevil, Deep Impact)
Roger R. Cross b. 1966 (The Strain, Continuum, Orphan Black, Fringe, Arrow, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bionic Woman, The 4400, The Chronicles of Riddick, Star Trek: Enterprise, Eureka, The X-Files, X-Men 2, Taken, Relic Hunter, Andromeda, First Wave, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, Stargate SG-1, Nick Fury: Agent of Shield, Cloned, Highlander, Strange Luck, Sliders, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Tiriel Mora b. 1958 (The Wolverine, King Kong, Queen of the Damned, Stepsister from Planet Weird, Farscape, Time Trax, Future Schlock)
Ken Stott b. 1954 (The Hobbit)
Bill Martin Williams b. 1954 (American Horror Story, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Jonah Hex)
Annie Golden b. 1951 (The American Astronaut, Twelve Monkeys)
Jim Starlin b. 1949 (comic book artist)
Philip Pullman b. 1946 (writer, The Golden Compass)
Kenneth Washington b. 1946 (Westworld, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie)
John Lithgow b. 1945 (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Tales from the Crypt, Third Rock from the Sun, Harry and the Hendersons, Amazing Stories, 2010, Buckaroo Banzai, Faerie Tale Theatre, Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Day After)
Desmond Barrit b. 1944 (A Christmas Carol [1999 TV], Alice Through the Looking Glass [1998 TV])
Simon Ward b. 1941 died 20 July 2012 (Supergirl, The Monster Club, Holocaust 2000, Bram Stoker’s Dracula [1974 TV], Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed)
Michael Gambon b. 1940 (Harry Potter, Doctor Who, The Omen [2006], Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Sleepy Hollow [1999], Mary Reilly)
Tony Lo Bianco b. 1936 (Endangered Species, Twilight Zone [1985])
Shelby Grant b. 1936 died 25 June 2011 (Fantastic Voyage, Batman)
Robert Reed b. 1932 died 12 May 1992 (Galactica 1980, Wonder Woman)
George Nader b. 1921 died 4 February 2002 (Beyond Atlantis, The Human Duplicators, Robot Monster)
Bob Sweeney b. 1918 died 7 June 1992 (director, Starman [TV], Misfits of Science)
David Lewis b. 1916 died 11 December 2000 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Girl with Something Extra, Batman, Bewitched, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Absent-Minded Professor, Captain Video and his Video Rangers)
Robert Beatty b. 1909 died 3 March 1992 (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Superman III, Tales of the Unexpected, Blakes 7, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doctor Who, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Tor Johnson b. 1903 died 12 May 1971 (The Beast of Yucca Flats, Night of the Ghouls, Plan 9 From Outer Space, The Unearthly, Bride of the Monster, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, The Canterville Ghost)

Last year, the Picture Slot was filled by an illustration by Jim Starlin, because I was a Marvel nerd in a younger incarnation. This year it's Michael Gambon, in what I consider the most iconic role on the list. Next year? John Lithgow and Tor Johnson are early betting favorites.

As for Spot the Canadian!, the two twentysomething Canucks, Kevin Alves and Samantha Munro, are hard to spot because of how few roles they have had in genre. The two fortysomethings, Anna Galvin and Roger R. Cross, are more easily detected, but they were born in Australia and Jamaica, respectively.

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

Predictor: Knowing, released 20 March 2009

Prediction: On 19 October 2009, a giant solar flare destroys all life on earth.

Reality: The science behind this is pretty weak, but what should we expect from a movie starring Nicolas Cage?  In the hundreds of millions of years life has been on earth, none of the large extinction events is blamed on solar flares, or coronal mass ejections, another way the sun spits and belches. Our atmosphere has been able to absorb most of the energy of such events in the past.

The real danger would be to the electrical grid. If a flare as strong as the 1859 event happened now, it could knock out power around the world. The webpages where I read about this did not make it clear for how long the power would be out.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We are going to be getting a lot of interruptions of the schedule this month, but tomorrow we will get OMNI Future Almanac, our regular Monday morning pick me up.

Join us then... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

22 October 2013


Birthdays
Saffron Burrows b. 1972 (Deep Blue Sea)
Spike Jonze b. 1969 (director, Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are)
Bill Condon b. 1955 (director, Twilight: Breaking Dawn)
Jeff Goldblum b. 1952 (Jurrassic Park, The Fly, Earth Girls are Easy, Buckaroo Banzai)
Jim Baen b. 1943 died 28 June 2006 (editor, publisher, founder of Baen Books)
Christopher Lloyd b. 1938 (Back to the Future, The Addams Family, Buckaroo Banzai, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Derek Jacobi b. 1938 (Underworld, The Golden Compass, Doctor Who)
Doris Lessing b. 1919 (author, Children of Violence, Canopus in Argos)
William F. Claxton b. 1914 died 11 February 1996 (director, The Night of the Lepus, Twilight Zone)
John Zaremba b. 1908 died 15 December 1986 (Earth vs. Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel)

Okay! Nice selection of birthdays with writers, directors, publishers and as always, actors. More than that, we have an exact same day pair remarkably successful careers, Christopher Lloyd and Derek Jacobi. Since we are in Back to the Future week, Christopher Lloyd is the obvious choice for the Picture Slot, though the argument could also be made for Jeff Goldblum. Next year, if I'm in as quirky a mood as I am today, you might see John Zaremba smiling out at you. He played scientists or military men in so many sci-fi movies and TV shows, if you are anywhere near my age you will definitely have a "Oh, that guy!" moment.

Many happy returns to all the living or our list.
 

Prediction: 22 October, 2012: Stanton Parish plans a worldwide event that will enhance those with Alpha abilities but kill most of the rest of mankind.

Predictor: The TV show Alphas, aired 22 October, 2012

Reality: This picture is kind of a spoiler if you haven't seen the show and it is also a cliffhanger that will likely never be resolved, since the show was canceled after two seasons. We see "the event" take place and everybody hit the ground, with only Gary, the autistic Alpha who can read electronic signals out of the air, able to get up. We see all the regular cast members and a large number of extras lying still on a subway platform, while Simon and Garfunkel's The Only Living Boy in New York plays over a scene with no dialogue.

Sorry this show didn't get a chance to go another season.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We go back to Back to the Future to look at the cool stuff that very likely is NOT awaiting us in 2015. (Sniff.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE! 

Sunday, June 16, 2013

16 June 2013


Birthdays
Sibel Kekilli b. 1980 (Game of Thrones)
Tom Lenk b. 1976 (Buffy, Angel)
John Cho b. 1972 (Star Trek reboot)
Bill Cobbs b. 1934 (Brother From Another Planet, Star Trek: Enterprise, Oz the Great and Powerful, Night at the Museum)

Prediction: 16 June 1990: a disease created by biological warfare experts escapes from a lab. Called the “superflu” by authorities and given the nickname “Captain Trips” by the public, within weeks it kills over 98% of the world’s population.

Predictor: Steven King in The Stand - complete and uncut, published in 1990

Reality: This is not so much a prediction as a plot device. For his many devoted fans, King puts the time period just a few weeks away from the publishing date, so they can get the creepy thrill of thinking the end is just around the corner. The dates in the earlier version are different and had already passed.

Two comments.

1. Damn, this is a big book. I mean, George R.R. Martin looks at this thing and says, "What, they couldn't find you an editor, either?"

2. Captain Trips. Would people give an extinction level plague a jokey nickname? I know it references Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and King is making a symbolic statement that the dead should be grateful they don't have to live through the crap storm that's coming after, but I just don't buy that people would be in the least bit lighthearted about this.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's time for another dip into the great technological paradise those liars at Popular Mechanics promised us.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!