17 March 2015

 Birthdays
Julia Winter b. 1993 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Eliza Bennett b. 1992 (Inkheart, Nanny McPhee)
Olesya Rulin b. 1986 (Powers, Halloweentown High)
Olga Fedori b. 1984 (The Wolfman)
Brittany Daniel b. 1976 (Skyline)
Gina Holden b. 1975 (LA Apocalypse, Teen Wolf, Avalanche Sharks, Dracano, Fringe, Mysterious Island, Sand Sharks, Saw 3D, The Legend of the Seeker, Smallville, Flash Gordon, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, The Butterfly Effect 2, Supernatural, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Fantastic Four [2005])
Natalie Zea b. 1975 (Under the Dome)
Jennifer Lothrop b. 1974 (Fantastic Four [2005], Flatland, Good vs Evil)
Janaya Stephens b. 1974 (Hemlock Grove, Death Race, Category 7: The End of the World, Category 6: Day of Destruction, Mutant X, Relic Hunter, Lexx)
Brent Roam b. 1971 (Deep Blue Sea)
Mathew St. Patrick b. 1968 (Alien Raiders)
Rob Lowe b. 1964 (Apocalypse Slough, The Invention of Lying, Salem’s Lot, The Stand)
Bill Marchant b. 1964 (Chappie, Godzilla [2014], The 100, Supernatural, Painkiller Jane, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Stargate SG-1, Millennium)
Casey Siemaszko b. 1961 (Storm of the Century, Chameleon II: Death Match, The Phantom, Black Scorpion, Back to the Future I & II, Amazing Stories)
Cameron Thor b. 1960 (SeaQuest 2032, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Jurassic Park, Hook, Freddy’s Nightmares, Space)
Arye Gross b. 1960 (Fringe, Dollhouse, Minority Report, The X-Files, Good vs Evil, Arthur’s Quest, Millennium, Timelock, House II: The Second Story, Knight Rider)
Laurene Landon b. 1957 (Marilyn: Zombie Hunter, Wicked Stepmother, It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive, America 3000, Hundra, The Stuff, Full Moon High)
Gary Sinise b. 1955 (The Forgotten, Mission to Mars, The Green Mile, Apollo 13, The Stand)
Mark Boone Junior b. 1955 (Halloween II [2009], Batman Begins, Carnivale, Frankenfish, Armageddon, Vampires, Quantum Leap)
Lesley-Anne Down b. 1954 (Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus, Munchie Strikes Back, Supernatural [1977], Countess Dracula)
Kurt Russell b. 1951 (Sky High, Vanilla Sky, Soldier, Escape from L.A., Stargate, Big Trouble in Little China, The Thing, Escape from New York, The Strongest Man in the World, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Lost in Space)
Patrick Duffy b. 1949 (Alice in Wonderland [1985], Man from Atlantis)
William Gibson b. 1948 (won 1985 Hugo and Nebula for Neuromancer)
Tanya Lemani b. 1945 (Star Trek, My Mother the Car, I Dream of Jeannie)
Don Mitchell b. 1943 died 8 December 2013 (Wonder Woman, Scream Blacula Scream, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie)
Patty Maloney b. 1936 (Star Trek: Voyager, A.J.’s Time Travelers, The Addams Family [movie], Legend [TV], Amazing Stories, The Ice Pirates, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Star Wars Holiday Special, Far Out Space Nuts)
Ken Barr b. 1933 (illustrator)
Charles Lampkin b. 1913 died 17 April 1989 (Cocoon, The Incredible Hulk, Gemini Man)
Frank DeKova b. 1910 died 15 October 1981 (The Incredible Hulk, Atlantis, the Lost Continent, Teenage Cave Man)
Brigitte Helm b. 1906 died 11 June 1996 (Metropolis, Queen of Atlantis, The Lost Atlantis)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Slot was awarded to Brigitte Helm from Metropolis and author William Gibson. This year, it's Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, a picture I've used before when Escape from New York was quoted as a prediction source. Other possible candidates were Patrick Duffy from Man from Atlantis and Rob Lowe from The Stand, but seriously, they aren't Snake Fucking Plissken, are they?

2. Spot (most of) the Canadians! Laurene Landon's career doesn't have a lot of Canadian genre shows so I wouldn't expect most folks to know her birthplace. There are three more Canadians on the list, all younger than she is, and I think they can be sussed out by experienced Canadian spotters. I rate the difficulty level as 4.1 of 5. Good luck.

3. MST3K. Frank DeKova, best known to baby boomers from F Troop, was in Teenage Cave Man, starring a very uncomfortable looking Robert Vaughn.

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

Predictor: John Langdon-Davies from his 1936 book A Short History of the Future

Prediction: By 1975 sexual feeling and marriage will have nothing to do with each other.

Reality: Meet our new Tuesday regular, John Langdon-Davies, writing in 1936 about what he saw happening in the rest of the 20th Century. My early quotes are gleaned from The Experts Speak, which means we will get a bunch of stuff that's crazy wrong, but I've been able to find a reasonably priced version of his book, so I will also pull some quotes that aren't quite as goofy as the ones you'll see in March and April.

Yay, new sources!


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's another technological prediction from our 1901 pal George Sutherland.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
   

18 December 2014

 Birthdays
Bridgit Mendler b. 1992 (The Wizards of Waverly Place)
Tiger Darrow b. 1992 (Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D, Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams)
Ashley Benson b. 1989 (Time Warrior, Eastwick, Supernatural)
Katie Holmes b. 1978 (Batman Begins, Muppets from Space)
Josh Dallas b. 1981 (Once Upon a Time, Thor, Doctor Who)
Anna Walton b. 1980 (Mutant Chronicles, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Vampire Diary)
Baron Vaughn b. 1980 (Cloverfield)
Amy Grabow b. 1979 (Supernatural, Charmed)
Erin Simms b. 1976 (Eureka, Fringe)
James Payton b. 1975 (The Shadow of Bigfoot, Captain America: The First Avenger, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)
Julian Arahanga b. 1972 (The Matrix, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Victoria Pratt b. 1970 (Dracano, Mongolian Death Worm, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, House of the Dead 2, Mutant X, Cleopatra 2525, Xena)
Casper Van Dien b. 1968 (Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine, Sharktopus vs. Mermantula, Sleeping Beauty [2014], Mortal Kombat: Legacy, 500 MPH Storm, Dracula 3000, Sleepy Hollow [1999], The Time Shifters, The Omega Code, Modern Vampires, Starship Troopers, Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus)
Len J. Phillips b. 1966 (Naked Alien Massacre, Zombie #1)
Robson Green b. 1964 (Being Human, Rocket Man)
Brad Pitt b. 1963 (World War Z, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Being John Malkovich, Meet Joe Black, Twelve Monkeys, Interview with the Vampire, Cool World, Freddy’s Nightmares)
Allan Kayser b. 1963 (Night of the Creeps)
Lucas Donat b. 1962 (Damien: Omen II)
T.K. Carter b. 1956 (My Favorite Martian [1999], The Thing [1982])
Jeff Kober b. 1953 (The Walking Dead, Lost, Reaper, Supernatural, The Hills Have Eyes II, Buffy, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Charmed, Seven Days, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Kindred: The Embraced, Tank Girl, Earth 2, The X Files, Alien Nation, Twilight Zone [1985], V)
Su Elliot b. 1950 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Worst Witch)
Steven Spielberg b. 1946 (director, War of the Worlds, Minority Report, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Jurassic Park, Hook, Always, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
Alan Rudolph b. 1943 (director, Breakfast of Champions)
Keith Richards b. 1943 (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Michael Moorcock b. 1939 (writer, Elric of Melnibone)
Roger E. Mosley b. 1938 (RoboCop [TV], The Sixth Sense [1972])
Norma McCarty b. 1920 died 27 June 2014 (Plan 9 from Outer Space, the Adventures of Superman)
Ossie Davis b. 1917 died 4 February 2005 (Bubba Ho-Tep, Doctor Dolittle, The Android Affair, The Stand)
Alfred Bester b. 1913 died 30 September 1987 (won 1953 Hugo for The Demolished Man)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year, it was Steven Spielberg. This year I considered it a four way race between Brad Pitt, Casper Van Dien, Oh That Creepy Guy Jeff Kober and Hugo winner Alfred Bester. Without question, Brad Pitt is an A-list movie star and Casper Van Dien isn't, but when it comes to iconic, Johnny Rico from Starship Troopers trumps the most iconic genre role in Pitt's career, or at least it does in my never humble opinion. So what about next year? Is it Pitt vs. Kober? Well, then I'd say Brad Pitt wins by a wide margin on pretty points. In Kober's defense, without him on the list, we wouldn't have any Star Trek, The X Files or Whedonverse in the labels.

2. Canadians, pre-spotted for your protection. There are three today, but not easy to spot. Erin Simms has only two credits, as does non-Canadian Amy Grabow. Victoria Pratt has a lot of credits, but not a lot in the usual Canadian genre TV shows. (Her C.V. did let me type Mongolian Death Worm, so there's that.) Len J. Phillips is Canadian, but he shows up in the INCREDIBLY CHEAP movies he produces himself. If you have never seen a Len J. Phillips production, then you cannot fairly say you have wasted your whole life.

3. The Guy at the Door. Regular readers know the drill. Everyone born before Roger E. Mosley is dead and everyone born after him is alive. He's best known for Magnum, P.I., but he had two roles on genre TV, so he's our Guy at the Door at only 76 years old.

Many happy returns to all the living on the list, most especially Roger E. Mosley, and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.

Movies released
Avatar released, 2009
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers released, 2002
 

Irwin Edman 1896-1954

Predictor: Irwin Edman, philosopher and professor at Columbia University, quoted in 1932, collected in the book The Experts Speak by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky, published 1984

Prediction: By 1982, sex will have become much less a theme for either poetry or analysis. Much of the romanticism and all of the hypochondria on the subject will be over.

Reality: A few weeks back, The Experts Speak had a regular weekly spot, but when they quoted H.G. Wells' Anticipations, I found that text online and gave it the regular spot instead. Now that we have had our last Lee de Forest prediction, The Experts Speak will be our Thursday regular for the foreseeable future.

And now the prediction. Complete jackassery. There are many mathematicians who were also philosophers. I always like their math more than I like their philosophy. Edman was not a mathematician, so he had almost nothing going for him. One of the links I found on Google for him was to a page called Forgotten Books. Some of the books deserve to remain forgotten.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Yet another look into the future by H.G. Wells, working from the difficult year of 1902.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!