6 December 2014

Birthdays
Kelly Paterniti b. 1987 (Griff the Invisible, Storm World)
Max Kasch b. 1985 (The X-Files)
Kelly Frye b. 1984 (The Flash)
Nora Kirkpatrick b. 1984 (Growth)
Ryan Kennedy b. 1982 (Defiance, Caprica, Super Hybrid, Sanctuary, V, SGU Stargate Universe, Smallville, Ogre, The Invisible, Blade: The Series, Category 6: Day of Destruction)
C.J. Thomason b. 1982 (The Monkey’s Paw, Transformers)
Ashley Madekwe b. 1981 (Salem)
Tommy Wirkola b. 1979 (director, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Dead Snow 1 & 2)
Angela Gots b. 1978 (Grimm, Touch, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
K.D. Aubert b. 1978 (Frankenfish, Buffy, The Scorpion King)
Lindsay Price b. 1976 (Eastwick, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Purple People Eater)
Noel Clarke b. 1975 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Doctor Who)
Mike Coleman b. 1973 (Once Upon a Time, Paranormal Solutions Inc., Smallville, Fringe, Stargate, Supernatural, Eureka, Alien Incursion)
Vince Corazza b. 1972 (Stargate SG-1, I Downloaded a Ghost, Mythquest, Earth: Final Conflict, Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Total Recall 2070, Bride of Chucky, Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, TekWar)
Torri Higginson b. 1969 (Stonehenge Apocalypse, Stargate, Storm of the Century, Highlander: The Raven, PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, TekWar, The Hidden Room, Forever Knight)
Sparky Marcus b. 1967 (The Man with Two Brains, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Ulrich Thomsen b. 1963 (The Thing [2011], Fringe)
Colin Salmon b. 1962 (Arrow, Resident Evil, Annihilation Earth, Merlin, Blood: The Last Vampire, Punisher: War Zone, Doctor Who, Hex, Alien vs. Predator, Dinotopia)
Janine Turner b. 1962 (Fatal Error, Quantum Leap, Monkey Shines, Knight Rider, Mr. Merlin)
Nick Park b. 1958 (director, A Grand Day Out, Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
Edward Tudor-Pole b. 1955 (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)
Tom Hulce b. 1953 (Jumper, Frankenstein [1994])
JoBeth Williams b. 1948 (Extant, TIMER, From the Earth to the Moon, Poltergeist I and II, The Day After, Endangered Species, The World Beyond)
James Naughton b. 1945 (Warehouse 13, Cat’s Eye, Planet of the Apes [TV series])
Wende Wagner b. 1941 died 26 February 1997 (Rosemary’s Baby, The Green Hornet, Destination Inner Space)
Leon Russum b. 1941 (Wolfpack of Reseda, Jericho, The X-Files, Strange World, Dark Skies, The Phantom, Alien Nation: Body and Soul, Deep Space Nine, Double Dragon, Space Rangers, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Hard Time on Planet Earth)
Colin Farrell [no, the other one] b. 1938 (Tales of the Unexpected, Blakes 7, The Land That Time Forgot)
Patrick Bachau b. 1938 (Big Ass Spider!, Glenn, the Flying Robot, 2012, Chrysalis, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Carnivale, Vampires: The Turning, Kindred: The Embraced, Earth 2)
Declan Mulholland b. 1932 died 29 June 1999 (Time Bandits, Hawk the Slayers, Quatermass, Doctor Who, The Land That Time Forgot, Theatre of Blood)
King Moody b. 1929 died 7 February 2001 (Quantum Leap, Holmes and Yo-Yo, Mr. Terrific, Teenagers from Outer Space)
Lance Fuller b. 1928 died 22 December 2001 (The Andromeda Strain, Twilight Zone, This Island Earth, Voodoo Woman, The She-Creature, The Bride and the Beast, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man)
Wally Cox b. 1924 died 15 February 1973 (Lost in Space, Twilight Zone, Babes in Toyland [TV movie])
Agnes Moorehead b. 1900 died 30 April 1974 (Frankenstein: The True Story, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Bewitched, Twilight Zone, Shirley Temple’s Story Book)

Notes from the birthday list
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was Agnes Moorehead and this year, it's Nick Park represented by his greatest creations, Wallace and Gromit. Next year, I am not sure, but looking for iconic, I'd say Colin Salmon from Doctor Who, JoBeth Williams from Poltergeist, Patrick Bachau from Carnivale and maybe Wally Cox from Twilight Zone are the most likely.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are four and if you know the shows from both the 20th and 21st Century, it shouldn't be hard to find them.

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

Movie released 
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country released, 1991

Predictor: Annie Besant (1847-1933), socialist, theosophist, head of the Esoteric School.

Prediction: It is against brotherhood that millionaires and starving men and women should coexist in society. Hence I regard our present social system as doomed to collapse - as other systems have collapsed which were open to the same criticism.

Society should be organized for the production of wealth with the least possible expenditure of human energy and with the brotherly distribution of wealth produced.

In the society of the future, it seems to me that the sexes will co-operate for mutual service. Each will bring its special powers to the help of the race, without artificial restrictions on either. In the future, a marriage entered into without intellectual and moral affinities will be condemned as prostitution is now. And marriage will be permanent, as intellectual and moral character are permanent.

In this future society, brutal crime will have disappeared. Subtler evils will be met with brotherly compassion, not by vindictive penalty. Temperance legislation will be unknown because drunkenness will be as impossible as the readoption of the woad garments of our ancestors. 

Reality: Umm, yeah.... no. Billionaires and starving men coexist, human energy is not at its least possible expenditure though it often paid as little as possible, marriages aren't permanent (Ms. Besant's wasn't, she divorced Mr. Besant after six years of marriage in 1873), and after drinking four pints on Thursday night when two would have been much more prudent, I can say with confidence that drunkenness is not impossible, though I certainly wish it was.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

December will be the final month of our nuclear holocaust Sundays, so enjoy the weekly conflagration, destruction and pestilence while you can. Hardcore fans of conflagration, destruction and pestilence on Sundays will still have the NFL playoffs for another month after.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

8 November 2014

 Birthdays
Jessica Lowndes b. 1988 (The Devil’s Carnival, Altitude, Kyle XY)
Jared Kusnitz b. 1988 (Dance of the Dead, Doll Graveyard)
Samantha Droke b. 1987 (Eastwick)
Magda Apanowicz b. 1985 (Continuum, Snowmageddon, Team Unicorn, Caprica, Kyle XY, The Andromeda Strain [2008 TV], Bionic Woman [2007], The Butterfly Effect, Jeremiah)
Chris Rankin b. 1983 (Harry Potter)
Azura Skye b. 1981 (Grimm, American Horror Story, Buffy, Smallville)
Keir O’Donnell b. 1978 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Ghosts/Aliens, FlashForward, Lost)
Jennifer Banko b. 1978 (Alien Nation [TV], Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood)
Jennifer Barbosa b. 1978 (Zombie Apocalypse)
Thom Fell b. 1976 (Highlander: The Source, An American Haunting)
Dania Ramirez b. 1975 (Heroes, Quarantine, X-Men: The Last Stand, Buffy)
Tara Reid b. 1975 (Sharknado 1 & 2, Incubus, The Crow: Silent Prayer, Good vs Evil, A Return to Salem’s Lot)
Jason Matthew Smith b. 1972 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek [2009], Charmed)
Gretchen Mol b. 1972 (The Thirteenth Floor, Godzilla [1998])
Ocean Hellman b. 1971 (Jeremiah, Mysterious Ways, Voyage of the Unicorn, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Highlander [TV])
Gonzalo Menendez b. 1971 (Grimm, The Dark Knight Rises, The Event, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Threshold, The Island, Sliders)
Parker Posey b. 1968 (The Eye, Superman Returns, Blade: Trinity, Frankenstein [2004 TV])
Kamar de los Reyes b. 1967 (Doomed Planet, The Cell, Total Recall 2070)
Bradley Gregg b. 1966 (Class of 1999, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Twilight Zone [1986], Explorers)
Leif Garrett b. 1961 (Superboy, Wonder Woman)
Megan Cavanaugh b. 1960 (Scrooge & Marley, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Tales from the Crypt)
Don McManus b. 1959 (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, Supernatural, Journeyman, Ben 10: Race Against Time, National Treasure, The Invisible Man, Star Trek: Voyager, Knight Rider 2010)
David Sherrill b. 1959 (Surface, Mars Attacks!, The Arrival, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [1992 movie], SuperForce, The Wraith)
Jeff Speakman b. 1958 (Escape from Atlantis, Scorpio One, Timelock)
Aidan Gillett b. 1958 (Shadow of the Vampire, The 10th Kingdom, The Borrowers)
Phil Fondacaro b.1958 (Land of the Dead, The Polar Express, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Sliders, The Creeps, Bordello of Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Mann & Machine, Quantum Leap, Superboy, Ghoulies II, Phantasm II, Troll, Willow, Invaders from Mars, Hard Rock Zombies, The Black Cauldron, Faerie Tale Theatre, Star Wars: Episode VI – The Return of the Jedi, Something Wicked This Way Comes)
Richard Curtis b. 1956 (writer, About Time, Doctor Who)
Randi Brooks b. 1956 (Terrorvision, Knight Rider, The Man with Two Brains, Wizards and Warriors)
John Musker b. 1953 (director, The Princess and the Frog, Treasure Planet, Hercules, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective)
Alfre Woodard b. 1952 (The Last Ship, True Blood, A Wrinkle in Time, K-PAX, Star Trek: First Contact, Special Report: Journey to Mars, Gulliver’s Travels, Scrooged, Faerie Tale Theatre, Tucker’s Witch)
Francois Petit b. 1951 (Mortal Kombat)
Ben Bova b. 1932 (editor, Analog, Omni)
Joe Flynn b. 1924 died 19 July 1974 (Now You See Him, Now You Don’t, I Dream of Jeannie, Captain Nice, Batman, Son of Flubber, Men Into Space, Twilight Zone, Indestructible Man)
Norman Lloyd b. 1914 (Seven Days, The Omen [1995 TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Amityville: The Evil Escapes [1989 TV], The Twilight Zone [1986])
Robert Strauss b. 1913 died 20 February 1975 (Mr. Terrific, The Green Hornet, Bewitched, My Mother the Car, The Munsters, 4D Man, The Atomic Kid)
June Havoc b. 1912 died 28 March 2010 (A Return to Salem’s Lot, The Outer Limits)
Bram Stoker b.1847 died 20 April 1912 (writer, Dracula)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Honestly, there are several well-known actors on the list (Tara Reid, Gretchen Mol, Parker Posey, Alfre Woodard, Joe Flynn, Norman Lloyd, Robert Strauss) who aren't well known for roles in genre. I picked Lloyd for two reasons, he turns 100 today (kudos!) and he was on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Dr. Galen, Picard's mentor from the Academy, and any Trek role is kinda sorta iconic. More than that, if it wasn't for the fact that Joe Flynn from McHale's Navy died at the age of 49, Norman Lloyd would be 100 AND The Guy at the Door, which is pretty remarkable. For folks who lived very long lives, we also have June Havoc, at one time known as Gypsy Rose Lee's sister and the woman in the Never to be Forgotten section below. In 2013, the Picture Slot was Ben Bova. In 2015, odds are I'll go with Bram Stoker.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are three today, all born after 1970. Good luck!

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, which special good wishes once again to Norman Lloyd, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.


Movies released
Thor: The Dark World released, 2013  

Predictor: Sidney Gorham Brock (1837-1918), mayor of Macon, Missouri, publisher of the Macon Republican newspaper, predicting life in America in 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago

Facial hair comments: Yep. That's the late 19th Century for sure.

Predictions (reality in parentheses):
By 1993, the social condition of the people will be such that there will be no suffering from the deprivation of the necessities of life. (No.)


Vice and immorality will have largely, if not all together, ceased to exist. (Strike two.)

There is no likelihood that the railroads and telegraphs will ever be managed by the state. (This is kinda sorta a hit. Amtrak exists, but private freight rail also still exists. The telegraph is still private and nearly completely obsolete.)

The people by this time will have become educated to such an extent that the vice of intemperance will largely cease. Saloons or public drinking places will probably no longer exist. (Yet another whiff.)

Much more attention will be paid to the reform of prisoners than to their punishment. (This guy us piling up the mistakes.)

Wealth will be more evenly distributed. (Comparing 1893 to 1993, this statement is correct, but the trend since is towards greater income inequality.)

There will be more friendly relations between employers and employees. (This is true. Labor riots were deadly back in the 19th Century, not so much today.)

Methods and machinery of agriculture will be so improved as to provide for the immense population of 1993. (Okay, he's hitting his stride. The population change was immense and agriculture kept pace very well.)

People will be longer liver, due to better understanding of the nature of disease and improved treatment. (Absolutely correct once again.)

The tendency of the race will be towards comfort, leisure, luxury, cultivation, simplicity in dress and broader charity in all social relations. (I'm not sure he'd think much of the "cultivation" of folks in the 1990s, but I'd say all the rest of it can be marked as correct in comparison with life in the 1890s.)

Never to be Forgotten: Renee Asherson 1915-2014 

Renee Asherson died on the 30th October at the age of 99. She had a long career in film and on TV, starting in the 1940s in films starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. A lot of British actors can go an entire career without roles in genre, but not so Ms. Asherson. She was in The Others starring Nicole Kidman, Theater of Blood with Vincent Price and the 1961 British sci-fi film The Day the Earth Caught Fire. Like our birthday boy and girl Norman Lloyd and June Havoc, she lived to a rip old age and like Ms. Havoc, she was one fabulous babe.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Renee Asherson, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is tomorrow Sunday already? Time for another nuclear war we didn't have.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

27 September 2014

Birthdays
Lina Leandersson b. 1995 (Let the Right One In)
Thomas Mann b. 1991 (Amityville: The Awakening, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters)
Anna Camp b.1982 (True Blood)
Kristopher Turner b. 1980 (Beauty and the Beast [2013 TV], A Little Bit Zombie, Lost Girl, 2030 CE)
Zita Görög b. 1979 (Underworld)
Travis Aaron Wade b. 1975 (Touch, Torchwood: Web of Lies, Jekyll, War of the Worlds)
Gwyneth Paltrow b. 1972 (Iron Man, The Avengers, Contagion, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Hook)
John Patrick White b. 1972 (Galaxy Quest, Buffy, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Amanda Detmer b. 1971 (Vampire Diaries)
Tamara Taylor b.1970 (Lost, Serenity)
Patrick Muldoon b. 1968 (Spiders, Ice Spiders, Arrival II, Starship Troopers)
Christopher Cousins b. 1960 (Revolution, Awake, Supernatural, The Grudge 2 Earth vs. the Spider [2001], The Invisible Man [2001], Stargate SG-1, NightMan)
Scott Lawrence b. 1963 (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Host [U.S. 2013], American Horror Story, Avatar, Them [2007], Star Trek: Voyager, Brimstone, Timecop, Quantum Leap)
Shaun Cassidy b. 1958 (producer, Invasion, American Gothic)
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa b. 1950 (The Man in the High Castle, Teen Wolf [2014], Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Heroes, Elektra, Planet of the Apes, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Vampires, Stargate SG-1, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Phantom, Babylon 5, Space Rangers, Alien Nation, Superboy, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Tom Braidwood b. 1948 (Alien Trespass, The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen)
David Kagen b. 1948 (Star Trek: Enterprise, Angle, Freddy’s Nightmares, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI)
A Martinez b. 1948 (Curse of Chucky, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, Welcome to Paradox, Not of This World [1991 TV], The Incredible Hulk, Exo-Man, The Sixth Sense [1972 TV])
Meat Loaf b. 1947 (BloodRayne, Wishcraft, Tales from the Crypt, Americathon, Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Liz Torres b. 1947 (Futurestates, Quantum Leap, Alien Nation [TV])
Denis Lawson b. 1947 (Jekyll, Star Wars: Episodes IV, V and VI, Dinosaur)
Wilford Brimley b. 1934 (Progeny, Mutant Species, Cocoon I and II, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, The Thing [1982])
Greg Morris b. 1933 died 27 August 1996 (Superboy, War of the Worlds [TV series], Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Twilight Zone)
Will Sampson b. 1933 died 3 June 1987 (Poltergeist II: The Other Side)
Roger C. Carmel b. 1932 died 11 November 1986 (Star Trek, My Living Doll, The Munsters)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year it was Gwyneth, the only A list movie star here. If I was going for iconic, Meat Loaf in Rocky Horror, Denis Lawson from Star Wars (Wedge makes it through all three films, rare among the minor characters) or Roger C. Carmel in Star Trek would be my first three choices, but instead of going with movies and TV from my youth, the picture is of Lina Leandersson from the 2008 Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In. It's not the first Vampire As Good Guy film by a long shot, but it does have a very different look and feel compared to American movies. If you haven't seen it and don't mind some gory scenes, I can recommend it.

2. A Martinez? Shouldn't he be The Martinez by now? A Martinez, no period after the initial was born Adolph Martinez in 1948. He used that name in his first film credit and never again.

Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Martinez in 1948? Too soon.

3. Teen scream Shaun Cassidy? Really? I was not aware Shaun Cassidy made the transition to producer. Good on him.

4. Another Philip K. Dick project? imdb.com lists The Man in the High Castle as pre-production and it should be released in 2015. It's an interesting story and I hope it gets made.

5. Die young much? Wait... he's dead?And a bonus: The Guy at the Door. We have three deceased actors on the list and none of them lived long enough to collect Social Security. It had registered in my mind that Will Sampson and Roger C. Carmel were dead, but somehow I forgot about Greg Morris. Also, while it's not true on every birthday list, all the dead today were born before everybody living. I call the oldest living person on a list like this The Guy (or Gal) at the Door, who in this case is Wilford Brimley, overweight, diabetic and celebrating his 79th birthday today. C'est la vie, said the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell.

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

Movies released
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 released, 2013  
 

Predictor: John J. Ingalls (1833-1900), predicting the world of 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago

Predictions: Man will conquer the atmosphere. Traveling from New York to San Francisco or New York to London will take less take less than twelve hours, making the railway and steamship obsolete. Personal dirigibles will be commonplace. Electricity will be the motive power for these aerial cars and they will be made of aluminum or some other light metal.

The telephone will supplant the telegraph and calling from Boston to Moscow will be done as readily as we now call between neighboring cities. The dwindling power of the telegraph and railroad barons will obviate the need to nationalize these businesses.

Domestic life will become easier with ready access to electricity and women will elevate her political and social status from subordinate to men to equality.

Wealth will accumulate, business will combine and the gulf between rich and poor will be more profound. The attempts to correct this by statue are doomed to fail.

Our greatest city in 1993 will be Chicago, not only the greatest in the nation but the world.

Reality: Okay, the facial hair and clothes, pure 19th Century. If his wire-rims were pince-nez, he would have had the trifecta.

As for the predictions, it was bold in 1893 to say air travel would be so dominant and the telephone was going to be useful worldwide. Of course, we don't have personal dirigibles and electricity is not the motive power of flying machines. But he writes "aerial cars"! Longtime readers will know I give points for that, even though they don't actually... well, you know... exist.

Equality of the sexes is not complete, but women do have the vote and electrically powered modern conveniences do make life much easier than it was in 1893.

As for wealth accumulating, it can be curbed by a progressive tax code and income inequality was much lower for most of the 20th Century than it was in The Gilded Age. But of course, Republicans and their wise stewardship of the economy have made us realize that a prosperous middle class is one of those luxuries we just couldn't afford.

And he ends by sucking up to Chicago. Meh.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Nuclear war! Hunh! Good God, y'all! What is it good for?

Well, it does give me something to write about on Sunday mornings. And we actually haven't had one since WW II ended, so that's another positive point.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!