22 March 2015

Birthdays
Tania Raymonde b. 1988 (The Last Ship, Big Bang Theory, Texas Chainsaw 3D, Lost)
Katie Stuart b. 1985 (The Returned, The 100, Supernatural, Dead Like Me, A Wrinkle in Time, X-Men 2, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Stargate SG-1, The Sentinel, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Lizzie Brochere b. 1985 (American Horror Story)
Shawn-Caulin Young b. 1982 (Thor, The Wizards of Waverly Place, The Invisible Man [2001])
Kandyse McClure b. 1980 (Haven, Hemlock Grove, Alphas, Children of the Corn, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Andromeda, Jake 2.0, Jeremiah, Dark Angel, Level 9)
Reese Witherspoon b. 1976 (Little Nicky)
Shelley Longworth b. 1976 (Vampire Academy)
Anne Dudek b. 1975 (Grimm, Invasion, Charmed)
Cole Hauser b. 1975 (Transcendence, Pitch Black)
Shawn Bradley b. 1972 (Space Jam)
Will Yun Lee b. 1971 (True Blood, The Wolverine, Total Recall [2012], Bionic Woman [2007], Fallen, Elektra, Witchblade, Brimstone)
Keegan-Michael Key b. 1971 (Tomorrowland)
Eric Bruskotter b. 1966 (Angel, Starship Troopers, Quantum Leap, Not Quite Human II, War of the Worlds, Amazing Stories)
Samantha Robson b. 1966 (Red Dwarf)
Steve Toussaint b. 1965 (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Judge Dredd)
Mel Fair b. 1964 (Super 8, True Blood, Showdown at Area 51, Halloween [2007], Charmed, Buffy)
Adrien Dorval b. 1963 (Twilight Saga: New Moon, Painkiller Jane, Stargate SG-1, Battlestar Galactica, The Chronicles of Riddick, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, The Crow, Stairway to Heaven, NightMan, Millennium, Highlander [TV], The Neverending Story III)
Matthew Modine b. 1959 (CAT. 8, The Dark Knight Rises, Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story)
Lena Olin b. 1955 (Queen of the Damned, The Ninth Gate, Mystery Men)
Mary Tamm b. 1950 died 26 July 2012 (Doctor Who)
James Patterson b. 1947 (author, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard)
Carter Wong b. 1947 (Big Trouble in Little China)
Eileen Wesson b. 1947 (They Live, Mr. Terrific)
Eric Roth b. 1945 (writer, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Postman, Wolfen)
Jeremy Clyde b. 1941 (The Worst Witch, Deadly Nightmares, Supernatural [1977], Batman)
Bruno Ganz b. 1941 (Wings of Desire, Nosferatu the Vampyre)
M. Emmet Walsh b. 1935 (The X-Files, Wilder Napalm, The Flash, Harry and the Hendersons, Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone, Blade Runner, Escape from the Planet of the Apes)
Larry Martyn b. 1934 died 7 August 1994 (Omen III: The Final Conflict)
William Shatner b. 1931 (A Christmas Horror Story, Horrorween,Star Trek, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Perversions of Science, TekWar, SeaQuest 2032, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, The Six Million Dollar Man, Mork & Mindy, Kingdom of the Spiders, The Devil’s Rain, The Sixth Sense [1972], The People, Incubus, The Outer Limits, Twilight Zone)
Stephen Sondheim b. 1930 (composer, Into the Woods)
Karl Hardman b. 1927 died 22 September 2007 (Night of the Living Dead [1968])
Marcel Marceau b. 1923 died 22 September 2007 (Barbarella)
Ross Martin b. 1920 died 3 July 1981 (Mork & Mindy, Quark, Wonder Woman, The Invisible Man, The Immortal, Twilight Zone, The Colossus of New York, Johnny Jupiter)
Werner Klemperer b. 1920 died 6 December 2000 (Tabitha, Batman, Lost in Space)
Karl Malden b. 1912 died 1 July 2009 (Alice in Wonderland [1985], Meteor)
Joseph Schildkraut b. 1896 died 11 January 1964 (Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In the Picture Slot in 2013 and 2014 were William Shatner and... William Shatner. Before I did today's research, I didn't think there was anyone else who qualified as iconic. Reader James Marshall VI recommended Mary Tamm from Doctor Who, very pretty and died much too young, but I instead decided to go with Swiss actor Bruno Ganz from Wings of Desire, who definitely counts as iconic in my book.

2. Canadians spotted for your convenience. Lots of Canadians today, the oldest being Shatner. Besides The Captain, we have Adrien Dorval and Katie Stuart born and bred, and Kandyse McClure moved with her family from South Africa at a young age.

3. Nepotism FTW. Werner Klemperer was the son of Conductor Otto, Cole Hauser is the son of actor Wings.

4. Fun facts to know and tell. Jeremy Clyde was in the pop duo Chad and Jeremy. He moved from that to acting without a hitch, still getting steady work mainly on British TV, including a role on Downton Abbey. I had no idea.

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

Movie released
The Croods released, 2013

Predictor:Robert A. Heinlein in his 1956 book The Door Into Summer.

Prediction: But while I was awake, part of me was dead. I know what they used on me: the “zombie” drug, Uncle Sam’s answer to brainwashing. So far as I know, we never used it on a prisoner, but the boys whipped it up in the investigation of brainwashing and there it was, illegal but very effective.

Reality: The drug Heinlein describes doesn't exist, thank goodness. The person who takes it has next to no will left. If it did exist, Bill Cosby alone would have kept the manufacturer in business.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The week begins again and we dip into The OMNI Future Almanac once more.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 July 2013

Birthdays
Fran Kranz b. 1981 (Dollhouse)
Gil Birmingham b. 1953 (Twilight)
Cheech Marin b. 1946 (Spy Kids)
Harrison Ford b. 1942 (Star Wars)
Sir Patrick Stewart b. 1940 (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Today presents a difficult decision. Harrison Ford or Sir Patrick Stewart? Star Wars or Star Trek?

Kingdoms have swayed in the balance of simpler decisions.

But this year, I found out a few things about Sir Patrick that give him the nod in the first 13th of July this blog will celebrate.

He does charitable work for two causes, ending domestic violence and helping people with post traumatic stress disorder. Here's a video from a comic convention where he talks to the crowd about why.

Sir Patrick is a wonderful mensch as well as an A-Number-1 Tip-Top Actor. Many happy returns to everyone on the list.

(Thanks to Laura Eakins for pointing out an earlier error on my part. My data base erroneously had Mr. Ford's birthday on 14 July.)

Songs of the Future!

For the next few Saturdays, this blog will celebrate popular songs that predicted future events, with dates included that have already passed or will happen soon. With this last criterion, a song like In the Year 2525 is not going to be included.


Song and songwriter: Marathon by Jacques Brel, 1968, English lyrics by Mort Shuman and Eric Blau

Lyric:
And the Seventies flash and the Eighties bang
And the Nineties whimper and the century hangs
Robots working in the cotton fields
Vacations on Venus just a tourist deal
Fornication on tape, instant happiness...

Reality: The predictions about the decades are vague, but flash, bang and whimper sound like a war and its aftermath. This is written at a time of great nuclear anxiety, but as we know, there wasn't a big nuclear war and with any luck there won't be one.

So let's go with the specific predictions.

Robots working in the cotton fields: Big machines driven by humans, yes. Robots, no.
Vacations on Venus: No. Way too hot and a poisonous atmosphere.
Fornication on tape: Video taped porn? Yeah, absolutely.
Instant happiness: There are mood-altering drugs that could be called "instant happiness", but they don't work in all cases.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The next few Mondays will be predictions from OMNI Future Almanac, so I'll be handing Sunday chores over to Popular Mechanics.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!