Jon Favreau b. 1966 (producer, Iron Man, Revolution)
Roger R. Cross b. 1966 (Continuum, Arrow, Eureka, The X Files)
Ken Stott b. 1954 (The Hobbit)
John Lithgow b. 1945 (Shrek, Third Rock from the Sun, Buckaroo Banzai, Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Day After)
Jim Starlin b. 1949
Michael Gambon b. 1940 (Harry Potter)
Tor Johnson b. 1903 died 12 May 1971 (Plan 9 From Outer Space, Bride of the Monster)
While Michael Gambon as Dumbledore would be the most recognizable face to put in the Picture Slot, I was very tempted to go with Tor Johnson. In the end, my comic book loving inner child got the final say and we have a picture of artist Jim Starlin's greatest contribution to the Marvel Universe, the cosmic villian Thanos.
Many happy returns of the day to all the living on the list.
Predictor: Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) poet and author, asked for her predictions of 1983 on the occasion of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Predictions in italics (realities in parentheses):
In 1993, the government will have grown more simple... railroads and telegraphs will belong to the state, thus lessening the dangerous power of large monopolies and vast corporations. Otherwise, in less than a century, our boasted American freedom would cease to exist.
(Tee hee. It's funny to read "freedom", the worship word of the Tea Party, used to promote the thing they hate the most.)
Instead of prohibition, the control of alcohol and crime will be achieved by forbidding the offenders to propagate.
(Oh, yeah, because that will be so much easier to enforce. Welcome to the 21st Century, Mrs. Wilcox. What I just used is sarcasm. It has gained great popularity in the modern age.)
The Western United States will be irrigated and fertilized, furnishing food for all our population... Airships will facilitate travel, and the pneumatic tube will be the means of transporting goods.
(Okay, Mrs. Wilcox gets a few hits at last. The West doesn't produce all the food for the whole country, but it certainly produces a lot. By airships, she meant blimps, but let's still give her a point there. And, of course, any mention of pneumatic tubes scores a point in my book, regardless of their rarity today.)
America shall produce the greatest authors who shall be living in 1993. In musical achievement it will still be behind older countries.
(This is a matter of opinion and hard to judge. No one can say what Mrs. Wilcox would think about jazz, Broadway musicals and rock 'n' roll, but all of them are distinctly American in origin and have enjoyed worldwide popularity.)
(Except for jazz. Nobody likes jazz.)
The occult sixth sense will be the predominant element in medicine and theology...
(Okay, stopping you right there. Let's just say NO and move along.)
Woman will be financially independent of man, and this will materially lessen crime.
(Compared to 1893, this is certainly true in 1993.)
Men will learn the importance of proper prenatal conditions, and children will be reared with the same care now given colts, calves and dogs.
(Girl! Oh no, you didn't. I thought I had to introduce you to sarcasm. My bad.)
Government will establish colleges for the training of servants...
(Hmmmmmm... no. Next.)
If our men keep with our women in athletic development and in clean morals,the race will be larger and handsomer. Otherwise we shall produce splendid Amazons and pygmy men.
(The book I am getting these predictions from, Today Then, compiled by Dave Walter in 1992, used the phrase "Splendid Amazons and Pygmy Men" as the title for Ms. Wilcox's predictions. Nice to know I'm not alone in thinking that is a striking image.)
Chicago will be our greatest city because she knows she is not, and desires to be, and has the energy and zeal to become so.
(I think the denizens New York City would respectfully disagree. I might be wrong about the "respectfully" part.)
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
Sundays mean Ray Bradbury, giving us updates on the progress of the colonization of Mars.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
