17 July 2014

 Birthdays
Jessica Amlee b. 1994 (Absolute Zero, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Stargate: Atlantis, Jeremiah, Andromeda, Smallville, Dark Angel)
Tom Cullen b. 1985 (Last Days on Mars)
Melanie Thierry b. 1981 (The Zero Theorem, Babylon A.D.)
Mike Vogel b. 1979 (Under the Dome, Cloverfield)
Eric Winter b. 1976 (Witches of East End, Charmed)
Jason Clarke b. 1969 (Terminator: Genesis [2015], Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Death Race, Farscape)
Alex Winter b. 1965 (The Borrowers, Freaked, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Lost Boys)
Santiago Segura b. 1965 (Pacific Rim, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Hellboy, Blade II)
Heather Langenkamp b. 1964 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Perversions of Science, Shocker, Nightmare on Elm Street)
Robin Shou b. 1960 (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Mortal Kombat)
Tim Rose b. 1956 (Wizards vs. Aliens, Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader [TV], Howard the Duck, Return to Oz, Return of the Jedi, The Dark Crystal)
J. Michael Straczynski b. 1954 (writer, World War Z, Thor, Babylon 5, Jeremiah, The Twilight Zone [1980s], Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, She-Ra, He-Man)
David Hasselhoff b. 1952 (Anaconda III, Knight Rider, Click, 3rd Rock from the Sun, NightMan, Starcrash)
P.J. Soles b. 1950 (Alienator, Knight Rider, Carrie)
Catherine Schell b. 1944 (Doctor Who, Space: 1999, Moon Zero Two)
Donald Sutherland b. 1935 (The Hunger Games, Frankenstein [2004], Salem’s Lot, Space Cowboys, Virus, Fallen, The Puppet Masters, The Lifeforce Experiment, Buffy the Vampire Slayer [movie], Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, Castle of the Living Dead)

Last year, the Picture Slot went to Donald Sutherland, a guy who has been working longer than most of the people on the list have been alive. This year, I decided to feature the work of the puppeteer Tim Rose and his best known alter ego Admiral Ackbar. Next year, I'll likely feature J. Michael Straczynski, whose best work Babylon 5 is unfairly the object of scorn on the modern nerd touchstone show The Big Bang Theory.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list and... hey! Everybody's alive! Yay!
 

Predictor:Moran, Daniel Keys. The Armageddon Blues. New York: Bantam, 1988.

Prediction: A young woman travels back in time from the 28th century to 1962 to forestall a nuclear Armageddon on July 17, 2007 known as The Big Crunch, a disaster which led to a prolonged nuclear winter and a five hundred year dark age. In her own time, women are warrior/hunters, and men are blamed for the war and are not allowed to fight. Radioactive fires still burn and mutants exist. She joins forces with a two-century old immortal who ultimately tries to trigger the war she is trying to prevent, as a means of ending his burdensomely long life.

Reality: Damn those two hundred year old immortals and their secret agenda!

As is often the case with our nuclear holocaust predictions, the description is lifted from the website of Paul Brians, a great resource I am glad I found.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Fridays are Edgar Cayce day here at the blog, still not as popular as Taco Tuesdays.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

15 May 2014

 Birthdays
Alexandra Breckinridge b. 1982 (True Blood, American Horror Story, Buffy, Charmed, Vampire Clan, Wishcraft)
Caroline Dhavernas b. 1978 (Wonderfalls, The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne)
David Krumholtz b. 1978 (This is the End, Serenity, Addams Family Values)
Grant Heslov b. 1963 (The Scorpion King, Bug, The X-Files, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Congo, M.A.N.T.I.S., Harry and the Hendersons, The Twilight Zone [1987])
Jamie Harris b. 1963 (American Horror Story, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Green Hornet, Night of the Demons, The Prestige, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Highlander [TV])
Larry Holden b. 1961 died 13 February 2011 (Batman Begins, Charmed, Timecop , NightMan)
Rob Bowman b. 1960 (director, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Night Stalker, Elektra, The Lone Gunmen, The X-Files, VR.5, M.A.N.T.I.S., Dark Shadows [1991], Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation [TV], Werewolf)
Nicholas Hammond b. 1950 (Stealth, Farscape, The Lost World [TV], 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997], The Martian Chronicles, The Amazing Spider-Man, Logan’s Run [TV], The Fantastic Journey)
Ralph Steadman b. 1936 (illustrator)
Joseph Wiseman b. 1918 died 19 October 2009 (The Greatest American Hero, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Twilight Zone)
James Mason b. 1909 27 July 1984 (The Boys from Brazil, Frankenstein: The True Story, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1954])
Joseph Cotten b. 1905 died 6 February 1994 (Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Soylent Green, Baron Blood, Lady Frankenstein, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, City Beneath the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon)
L. Frank Baum b. 1856 died 6 May 1919 (The Oz universe)

It may be that I'm just old, but I would say on today's list the most famous names are the four dead guys at the end. The Oz universe is having a revival now that the original books have entered public domain. The one surprise in research today was discovering how many low budget movies Joseph Cotten made in the 1960s, including The Abominable Dr. Phibes starring Vincent Price.

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


Movies released The Matrix Reloaded released 2003

Predictor: Steven Leigh in Flamestones, published 1985

Prediction: Set after the May 15 Mistake, when New York, Moscow, and Tel Aviv had all died in radioactive fire. Civilization continues, but with food shortages, mounting civil disorders, and worsening international tensions. An old man hunting mysterious flamestones in this hills witnesses a nuclear explosion which signals the final cataclysm. Strange new people arrive to dominate the postholocaust world. There is a poetic allusion to the nuclear winter theory: the winter would have come early on wings of ash.

Reality: The description is again lifted from Paul Brians' comprehensive database of nuclear war fiction. It was a very good day when I found this source and I am grateful to Professor Brians for letting me use it.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We are back to the schedule just in time for another prediction for Dr. Paul Ehrlich, one of the least accurate predictors of anyone who has had a regular weekly slot.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

27 April 2014

 Birthdays
Emily Rios b. 1989 (Grimm, Almost Human)
William Moseley b. 1987 (The Chronicles of Narnia)
Jenna Coleman b. 1986 (Doctor Who, Captain America: The First Avenger)
Ari Graynor b. 1983 (Fringe)
Sally Hawkins b. 1976 (Godzilla [2014])
Elle Downs b. 1973 (Hemlock Grove, Cybergeddon, Earth: Final Conflict, 2103: The Deadly Wake)
David Lascher b. 1972 (Sabrina, The Teenage Witch)
Matt Reeves b. 1966 (writer, Let Me In, Future Shock)
Anna Chancellor b. 1965 (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, FairyTale: A True Story, Jupiter Moon)
Lisa Wilcox b. 1964 (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures [TV], Star Trek: The Next Generation, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5, Something is Out There)
Russell T. Davies b. 1963 (showrunner, Wizards vs. Aliens, Doctor Who, Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures)
James Le Gros b. 1962 (Phantasm II, *batteries not included, Solarbabies, Near Dark)
Kevin McNally b. 1956 (Supernatural, Pirates of the Caribbean, Demons, Doctor Who)
John Shrapnel b. 1942 (Merlin, Alien Autopsy, The Tenth Kingdom, Invasion: Earth, Space: 1999)
Robert Donner b. 1931 (Alien Nation: Dark Horizon, Starman [TV], Mork & Mindy, The Incredible Hulk, Damnation Alley, Six Million Dollar Man)
Jack Klugman b. 1922 died 24 December 2012 (I Dream of Jeannie, Twilight Zone)

If I were going to pick my favorite actor from the list, it would be Jack Klugman from one of his four(!) appearances on Twilight Zone, which ties him with Burgess Meredith for roles on that important show in the history of sci-fi on TV. But we also have two actors and the main writer from Doctor Who celebrating birthdays today, and the Pretty Girl = Picture Slot rule is invoked with Jenna Coleman, the current companion on the show.

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

Predictor: Greg Bear in Eon, published 1985

Prediction: In 1993 a limited nuclear war called the "Little Death" involving strategic defense space weaponry leads to an all our-war with four million casualties. "The Death" proper ensues, killing two and a half billion of Earth's inhabitants and bringing in its wake the Long Winter.

Reality: As usual, I point out that we did not have a nuclear war in 1993 or any of the other dates yet predicted, but this particular story is the first to bring up the concept of nuclear winter. A lot of nukes spread out around the world could do this much in the same way as volcanic eruptions have done it in the past, but it should be noted that the dust in the air produced by a single nuclear explosion is dwarfed by a big volcano like Mt. Saint Helens or Pinatubo.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The OMNI Future Almanac is consulted once again, the best investment for predictions I have made so far.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!