18 January 2015

Birthdays
Matt Kane b. 1991 (Once Upon a Time, The Dinosaur Project)
Zane Holtz b. 1987 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Vampires Suck, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief)
Samantha Mumba b. 1983 (Boy Eats Girl, The Time Machine)
Antje Traue b. 1981 (Man of Steel, Pandorum)
Jason Segel b. 1980 (This is the End, Gulliver’s Travels)
Jay Chou b. 1979 (The Green Hornet)
Rebakah Jean Morgan b. 1979 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes)
Derek Richardson b. 1976 (American Horror Story, Reeker)
Dave Bautista b. 1969 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Riddick, Smallville)
Jesse L. Martin b. 1969 (The Flash, A Christmas Carol: The Musical [2005], The X Files)
Mark Collie b. 1956 (The Punisher)
Kevin Costner b. 1955 ( Man of Steel, Waterworld, The Postman, Testament)
M.C. Gainey (Revolution, Haunted High, Lost, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The X-Files, The Haunting, M.A.N.T.I.S., Knight Rider, Starman, Wizards and Warriors, Time After Time)
Paul Freeman b. 1943 (Tales from the Crypt [TV], Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
David Stollery b. 1941 (Jack and the Beanstalk, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court)
Basil Hoffman b. 1938 (Eerie, Indiana, Beauty and the Beast [1987 TV], Small Wonder, Love at First Bite, Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
John Boorman b. 1933 (director, Excalibur, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Zardoz)
Robert Anton Wilson b. 1932 died 11 January 2007 (author, The Illuminatus Trilogy, Schrodinger’s Cat)
Orville Sherman b. 1916 died 1 October 1984 (Westworld, The Twilight Zone, The Brain Eaters, The Adventures of Superman)
Danny Kaye b. 1911 died 3 March 1987 (The Twilight Zone [1985], Peter Pan [1976 TV], Pinocchio [1976 TV], Wonder Man)
Cary Grant b. 1904 died 29 November 1986 (Topper)
Oliver Hardy b. 1892 died 7 August 1957 (Babes in Toyland [1934])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. The geezer in me looks at the bottom three names on the list - Oliver Hardy, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye - and thinks "THOSE are movie stars." I could use Kevin Costner from Waterworld, but that feels cruel. Earlier Picture Slot folk were Jay Chou (the most recent Kato) and Antje Traue (the Kryptonian villainess from Man of Steel), and again I am going with an up-to-date choice, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy. While Bautista had genre roles before this year, this is the first one I consider iconic.

I am not the first to point this out, but making a Guardians of the Galaxy movie shows just how confident the people at Marvel Studios are. This was a book that almost no one read and they turn it into an enormous hit. The people who make movies from DC Comics are so timid, they are dithering as to whether they can make a Wonder Woman movie or not. To match the chutzpah of making Guardians, DC would have to make a movie about the Legion of Super-Heroes, Challengers from the Unknown or Doom Patrol. 
   
2. One unspottable Canadian. Zane Holtz is Canadian, but most of his credits are in movies instead of TV, so hard to spot.

3. The Guy at the Door. The folks born before John Boorman are dead, and he and everyone born after him are alive. I give him special best wishes on his 83rd birthday. He directed Excalibur and Zardoz, both movies I enjoyed but thought MST3K should have taken a shot at them. I don't see any movies on the list that got the Best Brains treatment today.

4. Hey... no Star Trek! This should be rare, but this is the fourth time in nine days our birthday list has nobody from any of the incarnations of Star Trek.

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

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in The Door Into Summer, published 1956

Prediction: Facing me through the window of the bar was a sign that kept changing. First it would read: WORK WHILE YOU SLEEP. Then it would say: AND DREAM YOUR TROUBLES AWAY. Then it would flash in letters twice as big:

MUTUAL ASSURANCE COMPANY


Reality: Here, Heinlein is predicting suspended animation as a way to make money by putting it in an interest paying account that you will be able to access when you awake in the future. No one has made suspended animation work yet, and given that the brain loses function when it gets too cold for too long, the odds it will ever work are not good.

Again, I want to thank Lockwood DeWitt for pointing me in the direction of the valuable book.
 

Never to be forgotten: Greg Plitt 1977-2015

Greg Plitt, a fitness model and actor, died after being hit by a Metrolink train in Burbank yesterday. Reports say it looked like he was filming some video when he was hit. He was in Terminator Salvation and his body was the model for the CGI of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Greg Plitt, who died far too young. He is never to be forgotten.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The NFL experts at ESPN have strong consensus that both the home teams will win today in the conference championships. Tomorrow, we will check in and see how they did.



Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

17 January 2015

Birthdays
Laura Surrich b. 1988 (The Cure, King Kong)
Ray J. b. 1981 (Mars Attacks!, Steel)
Diogo Morgado b. 1981 (The Messengers)
Zooey Deschanel b. 1980 (The Happening, Tin Man, Bridge to Terabithia, Once Upon a Mattress [2005 TV], The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Elf)
Leigh Whannell b. 1977 (Insidious, The Matrix Reloaded)
Keith Robinson b. 1976 (Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue)
Anne Stedman b. 1976 (Space Cowboys)
Freddy Rodriguez b. 1975 (Planet Terror, Lady in the Water)
Genndy Tartakovsky b. 1970 (Artist, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory)
Naveen Andrews b. 1969 (Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Sinbad, Lost, Planet Terror, Rollerball [2002], Mighty Joe Young [1998])
Jeff Chase b. 1968 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Revolution, Looper, Swamp Shark, Star Trek [2009], Undead or Alive: A Zombedy, The Punisher, Black Knight)
Sofia Shinas b. 1968 (The Hunger [TV], The Crow)
Kang-ho Song b. 1967 (Snowpiercer, The Host)
Joshua Malina b. 1966 (Extant, Knights of Badassdom, The Big Bang Theory, American Horror Story, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Stargate SG-1, From the Earth to the Moon, Sliders)
D.J. Caruso b. 1965 (director, Tin Man [2014], I Am Number Four, Smallville, Dark Angel, VR.5)
Chris Casamassa b. 1963 (Sci-Fighter, Mortal Kombat)
Jim Carrey b. 1962 (Kick-Ass 2, A Christmas Carol [2009], Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Bruce Almighty, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Truman Show, Batman Forever, Earth Girls are Easy, Once Bitten)
Denis O’Hare b. 1962 (American Horror Story, True Blood)
Brian Helgeland b. 1961(writer, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, 976-EVIL, Tales from the Crypt [1996], A Nightmare of Elm Street 4: The Dream Master)
Mitch Vogel b. 1956 (Wonder Woman, Ark II, Isis, The Immortal)
Sharon Duce b. 1950 (The Tomorrow People [1995 TV], Doctor Who, Outland)
Andy Kaufman b. 1949 died 16 May 1984 (Heartbeeps)
Todd Susman b. 1947 (Angel, The Burning Zone [TV], Weird Science, The Invaders [1995 TV], Lois & Clark, Coneheads, She-Wolf of London, ALF, Twilight Zone [1985], The Amazing Spider-Man [1978])
Randy Boone b. 1942 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Twilight Zone)
Tom Lowell b. 1941 (Escape from the Planet of the Apes, The Invaders, The Addams Family, The Twilight Zone)
Stuart Nisbet b. 1934 (They Came from Outer Space [1990 TV], Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Project U.F.O., The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Bewitched, The Green Hornet, My Mother the Car, The Munsters, Twilight Zone)
Sheree North b. 1932 died 4 November 2005 (Freddy’s Nightmares, Future Cop, Destination Inner Space)
James Earl Jones b. 1931 (The Big Bang Theory, Star Wars, Stargate SG-1, Lois & Clark, The Meteor Man, Fairie Tale Theatre, City Limits, Conan the Barbarian, Exorcist II: The Heretic, The UFO Incident)
Eartha Kitt b. 1927 died 25 December 2008 ( Erik the Viking, Batman [1967])
Betty White b. 1922 (Lake Placid)
Nevil Shute b. 1899 died 12 January 1960 (Author, On the Beach)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previous years saw Naveen Andrews from Lost and James Earl Jones in the Picture Slot, and there are plenty of good choices in terms of household names on the list. As usual, iconic status in a genre role is also a major criterion and given that, it was a two-person contest and Eartha Kitt topped Jim Carrey because... reasons. Kitt got the role in the third season because Julie Newmar was filming something else, but Yvonne Craig brings up an interesting point. In the third season she played Batgirl and one of her duties was fisticuffs with Catwoman. Craig is quoted as saying she comes up to about Julie Newmar's navel and it would have been hard to make the fight convincing. Eartha Kitt is much shorter. As for ranking the Catwomen, my heart is with Newmar, but no matter how you rank Julie, Eartha, Lee Meriwether, Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry and Anne Hathaway, the person in sixth place is crazy gorgeous.

2. Canadians incognito. Neither of our Canadian actors has a credit list that gives away their place of birth. Jim Carrey is a movie star and is not one to hang around Vancouver hoping the agent can swing a guest spot on Continuum. The lovely Sofia Shinas is also Canadian, but she only has 13 credits total on imdb.com and only two in genre.

3. MST3K. In a late addition, I completely forgot about City Limits! The cast list gives Dr. Forrester one of my favorite lines of his. "This week's experiment is City Limits, with James Earl Jones in one of the worst films he ever made and Kim Catrall in one of the best films she ever made."

That still makes me laugh.

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

Predictor: Mary Elizabeth Lease, lawyer and columnist, asked to predict the world of 1993 in honor of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition.

Prediction: The railroads, channels of communication, light, water and all public improvements will be managed by the state and owned by the government. Gold will cease to be the basis of the monetary system. Temperance laws will be unnecessary, as every man will be a prohibitory law unto himself. Woman's dependence on man will be a thing of the past. The accumulation of great wealth will dwindle. Corporations will be controlled. Three hours will constitute a long day's work. Science will condense the nutrition found in plants into concentrated food, a small phial will furnish people with subsistence for days. Killing animals for food will be a horror of the past. We will communicate with beings from other planets and Sunday excursions to the moon will be commonplace. 

Reality: She might dress like a society dame, but it's obvious she's a Commie hippie, right? She gets full points for guessing the gold standard would vanish and giving the best reason why, and she gets partial credit for predicting women would be less dependent on men. I guess the concentrated food prediction is also close enough for some credit, but the rest... well, what do you expect from a Commie hippie?

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another look into the exciting future of 1970, courtesy of Robert A. Heinlein.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

16 January 2015

Birthdays
Yvonne Zima b. 1989 (Iron Man 3)
Mason Gamble b. 1986 (Gattaca)
Birgitte Hjort Sorensen b. 1982 (Automata)
Aaliyah b. 1979 died 25 August 2001 (Queen of the Damned)
Nick Dash b. 1974 (R.I.P.D., Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Josie Davis b. 1973 (Wizardream, The Cursed, In the Land of Merry Misfits, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, Dead at 21, Free Spirit)
Eriko Tamura b. 1973 (Reaper, Heroes, Nuclear Hurricane)
Dameon Clarke b. 1972 (Supernatural, A Scanner Darkly)
Annika Peterson b. 1972 (The Man from Earth)
Garth Ennis b. 1970 (writer, Constantine, Ghost Rider, The Punisher)
David Chokachi b. 1968 (10.0 Earthquake, Army of the Damned, Abner, the Invisible Dog, Rage of the Yeti, Bats: Human Harvest, Witchblade, Psycho Beach Party, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Heather Elizabeth Parkhurst b. 1968 (Perversions of Science, Witchboard 2)
Kathy Evison b. 1963 (Highlander [TV], SeaQuest 2032)
Mark Steger b. 1962 (The Pact I & II, Mr. Jones, Heroes: Going Postal, I Am Legend, Modern Prometheus LLC, Men in Black II)
Debbie Allen b. 1950 (Quantum Leap, Alice at the Palace)
Caroline Munro b. 1949 (Vampyres, Demons 6: De Profundis, Starcrash, Space: 1999, At the Earth’s Core, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Dracula A.D. 1972)
John Carpenter b. 1948 (director, Ghosts of Mars, Vampires, Escape from L.A., Village of the Damned, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, They Live, Prince of Darkness, Big Trouble in Little China, Starman, Christine, The Thing [1982], Escape from New York, The Fog, Halloween, Dark Star)
Kate McMullan b. 1947 (Author, Dragon Slayer’s Academy)
Keith Wayne b. 1945 died 9 September 1995 (Living Dead [2012], Night of the Living Dead)
Fred Coffin b. 1943 died 31 July 2003 (The Invisible Man [2000 TV], Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, NightMan, The X-Files, Something is Out There, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone [1986])
Michael Pataki b. 1938 died 15 April 2010 (Halloween 4, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Automan, The Amazing Spider-Man [1978], The Invisible Man [1975], The Bat People, Grave of the Vampire, The Sixth Sense, The Andromeda Strain, The Return of Count Yorga, Star Trek, Mr. Terrific, Batman, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Susan Sontag b. 1933 died 28 December 2004 (Zelig)
Sherry Moreland b. 1922 died 24 February 1995 (Pyro… The Thing Without a Face, Adventure of Superman, Mesa of Lost Women, Rocketship X-M)
Elliot Reid b. 1920 died 21 June 2013 (Small Wonder, The Munsters, Son of Flubber, The Absent-Minded Professor)
Steve Conte b. 1920 died 1997 (The Kindred, Bewitched, Batman, The Wild World of Batwoman, Face of the Screaming Werewolf, Teenage Zombies, I Was a Teenage Werewolf)
Stirling Silliphant b. 1918 died 1996 (writer, Space, Charly, Village of the Damned )
Leslie H. Martinson b. 1915 (director, Small Wonder, Manimal, Small & Frye, The Powers of Matthew Star, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Immortal, The Green Hornet, Batman: The Movie, Topper, The Atomic Kid)
Ethel Merman b. 1908 died 15 February 1984 (Batman)
Alexander Knox b. 1907 died 25 April 1995 (Holocaust 2000, The Son of Dr. Jekyll)
Jason Johnson b. 1907 died 24 November 1977 (The Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman, The Invisible Man [1975], The Andromeda Strain, The Cape Canaveral Monsters, Twilight Zone, Adventure of Superman, Invasion of the Saucer Men)
Karl Freund b. 1890 died 3 May 1969 (cinematographer, Metropolis, Dracula, The Golem)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Last year I used a picture of Caroline Munro and I doubt any heterosexual male could blame me. Choosing not to repeat myself, my top two picks were Aaliyah from Queen of the Damned, which I didn't see, or Michael Pataki as the Klingon who taunts Scotty into a fight in The Trouble with Tribbles, which I have seen plenty of times though not recently.

2. The Camouflaged Canadians. Alexander Knox stopped working in the mid 1980s, so he's not even available during the Golden Age of Canuck Sci-Fi. Dameon Clarke was on Supernatural, but lots of Yanks show up on that show as well. His credit list is short here because he is largely a voice actor and I only list voice work in special instances.

3. Calling Willard Scott! I often point out the people who died young on the birthday lists, morbid bastid that I am, but to the best of my knowledge, we have our first centenarian today with Leslie H. Martinson, director of lots of TV shows from the 1950s through the 1980s and a few feature films as well. Congratulations to Mr. Martinson and I wish him all the best.

4. MST3K.  The actors who appeared in movies that got the Best Brains treatment are Sherry Moreland in Rocketship X-M and Steve Conte in The Wild World of Batwoman and I Was a Teenage Werewolf, as Zombie Rotten McDonald was kind enough to correct me.

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

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1902 book Anticipations

Prediction: The Twentieth Century will see the effectual crowding out of most of the weaker languages--if not a positive crowding out, yet at least (as in Flanders) a supplementing of them by the superposition of one or other of a limited number of world-languages over the area in which each is spoken. This will go on not only in Europe, but with varying rates of progress and local eddies and interruptions over the whole world...

What will these aggregating world-languages be? When one comes to look closely into the question one is surprised to discover how slow the extension of English has been in the face of apparently far less convenient tongues. English still fails to replace the French language in French Canada, and its ascendancy is doubtful to-day in South Africa, after nearly a century of British dominion. It has none of the contagious quality of French, and the small class that monopolizes the direction of British affairs, and probably will monopolize it yet for several decades, has never displayed any great zeal to propagate its use.

Reality: Wells thought the odds of English becoming the dominant language in the world were low and he put the job on the Brits. He had no idea how much the 20th Century would be the American Century. English has supplanted French as the language spoken by educated people around the world.

Looking one day ahead...  INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1893 to get predictions from one of few women who were asked their opinions.


Join us then...  IN THE FUTURE!

15 January 2015

Birthdays
Ryan Corr b. 1989 (Where the Wild Things Are)
Jessy Schram b. 1986 (Once Upon a Time, Falling Skies)
Victor Rasuk b. 1984 (Godzilla [2014])
Trent Ford b. 1989 (The Vampire Diaries, The Island, Smallville)
Zachary Bostrom b. 1981 (Power Rangers Time Force, Aliens for Breakfast, Harry and the Hendersons [TV], Twilight Zone [1987])
Aubree Miller b. 1979 (Ewoks: The Battle for Endor)
Eddie Cahill b. 1978 (Under the Dome, Haunted, Charmed)
Jimmy Smagula b. 1976 (The Island)
Ernie Reyes Jr. b. 1972 (Ninja Apocalypse, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Charmed, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Red Sonja)
Regina King b. 1971 (The Big Bang Theory, The Strain, Mighty Joe Young [1998])
Aonika Laurent b. 1971 (Fantastic Four)
Chad Lowe b, 1968 (Poltergeist: The Legacy, Target Earth, The Hunger [TV], Highway to Hell)
James Nesbitt b. 1965 (The Hobbit, The Deep, Fairy Tales, Jekyll)
Kelly Asbury b. 1960 (director, Shrek 2)
Mario Van Peebles b. 1957 (Highlander: The Final Dimension)
Andrea Martin b. 1947 (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Prince Charming, Meego, Harrison Bergeron, Deep Space Nine, Maniac Mansion, Innerspace)
Margaret O’Brien b. 1937 (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [2015], Frankenstein in Love, Dead in Love, Tales from the Darkside, Death in Space)
Robert Silverberg b. 1935 (won 1972 Nebula for A Time of Changes)
Joanne Linville b. 1928 (Star Trek, The Invaders, Twilight Zone)
Phyllis Coates b. 1927 (Lois & Clark, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, The Incredible Petrified World, Topper, Invasion U.S.A., Adventures of Superman)
Maria Schell b. 1926 died 26 April 2005 (The Martian Chronicles, Superman [1978])
Thelma Carpenter b. 1922 died 14 May 1997 (The Wiz)
Frank Thornton b. 1921 died 16 March 2013 (Old Drac, Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World, The Tomb of Ligeia)
Lloyd Bridges b. 1913 died 10 March 1998 (Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Alice in Wonderland [1985], Battlestar Galactica, Rocketship X-M)
Torin Thatcher b. 1905 died 4 March 1981 (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Jack the Giant Killer)
Marjorie Bennett b. 1896 died 14 June 1982 (The Reluctant Astronaut, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, My Living Doll, Mary Poppins, Twilight Zone, Have Rocket – Will Travel)
Ernest Thesiger b. 1879 died 14 January 1961 (A Christmas Carol [1951], The Man in the White Suit, The Bride of Frankenstein)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In past years, I used Torin Thatcher and James Nesbitt. This year it's Joanne Linville playing a Romulan commander from the original Star Trek series.

2. Not the Canadian! I found no Canadians on our list today. I fully expected Andrea Martin to be Canadian since she was a mainstay of SCTV, but she was born in Maine. Who knew?

3. MST3K. Lloyd Bridges was in Rocketship X-M. If there are other movies the show used on the list, I don't know them, but one of my readers might. (I was right. Zombie Rotten McDonlad remember Invasion U.S.A. and let me know. Thanks, ZRMcD.)

4. The Gal at the Door. Phyllis Coates, one of several actresses who played Lois Lane opposite George Reeves, is the oldest living birthday girl today and everyone younger than her is still alive. Special best wishes to her on her 88th birthday.

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

Movies released
The Book of Eli released, 2010  
 

Predictor: Morris Leopold Ernst in Utopia 1976, published 1969

Prediction:Foods will be sterilized by split-second exposures [to atomic radiation], thus extending the shelf life of fresh foods practically indefinitely. Fission rays will immunize seeds, oats and other grains against disease.

Reality: Most predictions from The Experts Speak are wrong, but in fact food irradiation has been used for many decades now, both for increasing shelf life and killing insect pests.

More importantly for the blog, I can now look up Utopia 1976 to see if it has any other usable predictions, right or wrong.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1902 to hear from a young H.G. Wells.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

14 January 2015

Birthdays
Grant Gustin b. 1990 (The Flash, Arrow)
Kacey Barnfield b. 1988 (World War Dead: Rise of the Fallen, Jabberwock, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Lake Placid 3)
Zach Gilford b. 1982 (The Purge: Anarchy, Rise: Blood Hunter)
Jordan Ladd b. 1975 (Awaken, Embrace of the Vampire)
Kevin Durand b. 1974 (The Strain, Garm Wars: The Last Druid, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Resident Evil: Retribution, I Am Number Four, Lost, Legion, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Kyle XY, Threshold, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, The Butterfly Effect, Dead Like Me, Taken, Andromeda, Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1)
Davis S. Hogan b. 1974 (Z Nation, Bigfoot, Grimm)
Katie Griffin b. 1973 (Annedroids, Earth: Final Conflict, Total Recall 2070, The Adventures of Sinbad, Forever Knight, RoboCop)
Jason Bateman b. 1969 (The Invention of Lying, Hancock, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Teen Wolf Two, Knight Rider)
LL Cool J b. 1968 (Rollerball [2002], Deep Blue Sea)
Emily Watson b. 1967 (The Water Horse, Equilibrium)
Kerri Green b. 1967 (The Goonies)
Mark Addy b. 1964 (Atlantis[TV], Game of Thrones, The Time Machine)
Steven Soderbergh b. 1963 (director, Solaris, Contagion)
Suzanne Danielle b. 1957 (Hammer House of Horror, Flash Gordon, Doctor Who)
Lawrence Kasdan b. 1949 (writer, Dreamcatcher, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi)
Carl Weathers b. 1948 (Sheriff Tom Vs. The Zombies, The Sasquatch Gang, Alien Siege, Predator, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Stuart Baird b. 1947 (director, Star Trek: Nemesis)
Vonetta McGee b. 1945 died 9 July 2010 (Brother Future, Repo Man, Blacula)
Marjoe Gortner b. 1944 (Otherworld, Food of the Gods, Starcrash)
Holland Taylor b. 1943 (Spy Kids, Strange Frequency, The Truman Show)
Faye Dunaway b. 1941 (The Gene Generation, Anonymous Rex, The Handmaid’s Tale, Supergirl)
John Castle b. 1940 (RoboCop 3, 1990, The Prisoner)
Tom Tryon b. 1926 died 4 September 1991 (I Married a Monster From Outer Space)
Warren Mitchell b. 1926 (A Christmas Carol [2000 TV], Jabberwocky, Moon Zero Two, Blood Beast from Outer Space, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Crawling Eye)
Guy Williams b. 1924 died 30 April 1989 (Lost in Space, Captain Sindbad, I Was a Teenage Werewolf)
Joe Seneca b. 1919 died 15 August 1996 (SeaQuest 2032, The Blob [1988], Amazing Stories)
Joseph Losey b. 1909 died 22 June 1984 (director, X the Unknown, The Boy with Green Hair )
Hugh Lofting b. 1886 died 26 September 1947 (author, Doctor Dolittle)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I used Mark Addy from Game of Thrones and the writer Lawrence Kasdan. I could gone new school and used Grant Gustin, star of the new show The Flash, but instead I went old school with Guy Williams from Lost in Space. Other good options include Carl Weathers from Predator and Faye Dunaway from The Handmaid's Tale.

2. Spot the Canadians! There are two, they were born after 1970. With those hints, it's possible to find them.

3. MST3K. I know of two on the list: Warren Mitchell was in Moon Zero Two and Guy Williams was in I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Zombie Rotten McDonald has added one, since Mr. Mitchell was also in The Crawling Eye.

4. Wait... she's dead? I didn't know Vonetta McGee had died. Very pretty actress, her heyday was in the 1970s.

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

Predictor: Anonymous writer in the New York World, predicting the year 2011 in 1911

Prediction: When they rose from the table after dinner Mr. Barrett expressed the hope that Mr. Smith would pass the evening with them and suggested that they go to the theatre. His daughter suggested the opera. Mr. Barrett thought Mr. Smith might like to hear that ancient classic Chantecler which was being given at Daly's.

"I like those old-fashioned simple things" said the host, "and in music I confess I do not understand the new composers beyond Strauss. Mother, will you join us?"

The aged Mrs. Barrett shook her head. "I will leave you. I have my own theatre, that of the old folks."

"My mother has a photocinematograph and is never tired of making it unroll the films on which her whole life is registered." said Mr. Barrett. "Daughter, put out the lights and put us in communication with the Old Theatre."

Mr.s Barrett had the telephototheatrophone in his house.

Reality: This is the last of the predictions from The New York World. Here our anonymous pal is predicting some sort of home theatre for playing films the owner has made and something else like television. The first one is not such a great leap forward in 1911, but predicting television is several technical advances away from the state of the art in 1911. We got similar predictions from the 1905 book A Hundred Years Hence and Looking Backward: 2000-1888, so while this is bold and correct, it is not completely original. The in joke here is that Chantecler, allegedly ancient, was a verse play released in 1910.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tomorrow is Thursday and we get another incorrect prediction from The Experts Speak. 

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

13 January 2015

 Birthdays

Beau Mirchoff b. 1989 (The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, I Am Number Four, The Grudge 3)
Julian Morris b. 1983 (Once Upon a Time, Cry_Wolf, Something Wicked)
Ruth Wilson b. 1982 (The Prisoner [2009] )
Liam Hemsworth b. 1990 (The Hunger Games, Knowing)
Jill Wagner b. 1979 (Teen Wolf [2014 TV], Splinter, Stargate: Atlantis, Blade: The Series )
Orlando Bloom b. 1977 (Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Pirates of the Caribbean)
Michael Pena b. 1976 (Ant-Man, The Martian, Battle Los Angeles, Roswell)
Nicole Eggert b. 1972 (Devil Winds, Amanda and the Alien, Annihilator, The Clan of the Cave Bear, I Dream of Jeannie… Fifteen Years Later)
John Asher b. 1971 (Space Cowboys, Weird Science [TV], Double Dragon, The Haunted)
Traci Bingham b. 1968 (Black Scorpion, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight)
Patrick Dempsey b. 1966 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Enchanted, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997], Outbreak, The Stuff)
Bill Bailey b. 1965 (Doctor Who, Nanny McPhee Returns, Spaced)
Penelope Ann Miller b. 1964 (Robosapien: Rebooted, The Relic, The Shadow, Tales from the Darkside)
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss b. 1961 (Troll)
Dwight H. Little b. 1956 (director, Sleepy Hollow, From Dusk Till Dawn [TV], Tekken, Dollhouse, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, The X Files, Strange World, Millennium, Freddy’s Nightmares, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers)
John McNaughton b. 1950 (director, The Borrower)
Malcolm Story b. 1948 (New Worlds, Jekyll, Star Trap. The Princess Bride)
Richard Moll b. 1943 (Jurassic: Stoned Age, Ghost Shark, Smallville, Evolution, Spiders II: Breeding Ground, Big Monster on Campus, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Weird Science [TV], Galaxis, Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Beanstalk, Highlander [TV], The Munsters Today, Monsters, Wicked Stepmother, Survivor, Ragewar, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Through the Magic Pyramid, Mork & Mindy, Evilspeak, House [1986], Caveman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Carol Cleveland b. 1942 (Life of Brian, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Old Drac, Moon Zero Two)
William B. Davis b. 1938 (Continuum, Singularity Principle, Behemoth, Something Evil Comes, Caprica, Supernatural, Stargate SG-1, The X-Files, Kingdom Hospital, Snakehead Terror, Smallville, Andromeda, Mythquest, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Sliders, Omen IV: The Awakening, It [TV Mini-series], Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, The Dead Zone)
Billy Gray b. 1938 (The Vampyre Wars, Werewolves on Wheels, Adventures of Superman, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters)
Rip Taylor b. 1935 (Virtual Combat, The Charmings, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Ron Goulart b. 1933 (writer, Flash Gordon, TekWar, Vampirella)
Jon Cypher b. 1932 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The Invaders [1995], RoboCop [TV], Spontaneous Combustion, Probe, Masters of the Universe, Knight Rider, The Greatest American Hero, The Food of the Gods)
Charles Nelson Reilly b. 1931 died 25 May 2007 (Millennium, The X Files, Amazing Stories, Lidsville, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir)
Ian Hendry b. 1931 died 24 December 1984 (Damien: Omen II, Supernatural [1977 TV], Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Theatre of Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, Children of the Damned, Alice Through the Looking Box, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Frances Sternhagen b. 1930 (The Mist, Tales from the Crypt, Communion, Prototype, Outland)
Gregory Walcott b. 1928 (House II: Second Story, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Lost, Gemini Man, The Invisible Man [1975 TV], Plan 9 from Outer Space)
David Sheiner b. 1928 (Automan, Manimal, The Amazing Spider-Man [1978 TV], The Six Million Dollar Man, Planet of the Apes [TV], The Invaders, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone, Tom Corbett, Space Cadet)
Rosemary Murphy b. 1925 died 5 July 2014 (The Visitor, [1998 TV], The Hand, ‘Way Out)
Gwen Verdon b. 1925 died 18 October 2000 (Cocoon, Damn Yankees!)
Robert Stack b. 1919 died 14 May 2003 (Butt-Ugly Martians, )
Osa Massen b. 1916 died 2 January 2006 (Rocketship X-M, Cry of the Werewolf)
Jeff Morrow b. 1907 died 26 December 1993 (Twilight Zone [1986 and 1960], Octaman, The Giant Claw, Kronos, The Creature Walks Among Us, This Island Earth)
Clark Ashton Smith b. 1893 died 14 August 1961 (author, Hyperborea, The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis)

Notes on the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Today we have a lot of choices. In 2013, when I hadn't done as much research, I went with Liam Hemsworth, who is not as well known as his brother Chris, but still has an important role in The Hunger Games. Last year it was William B. Davis in his most famous role as The Smoking Man. This year I went with Orlando Bloom, and honest to Odin movie star in his iconic role Legolas. If I wanted to go old school, Jeff Morrow was in a lot of 1950s monster movies.

2. Canadian spotted! Sometimes an actor will gain fame in a genre role and get a lot of work on the Canadian sci-fi shows regardless of nationality. As I stated earlier, William B. Davis got famous on The X-Files and then gets a lot more work in Canada. The thing is, he's actually Canadian as well as iconic. Good on ya, Mr. Davis.

3. Fun Facts to know and tell. In The Celluloid Closet, a film about gays on film, they talk about The Sissy Man role, a guy who is never said to be gay directly, but acts in a flamboyant manner. This was popular in the era before homosexuality could even be mentioned on film. We have two great Sissy Men born today, Rip Taylor and the late Charles Nelson Reilly.

On a different note, the arc of some actors' careers is from big budget films and then slipping into smaller budget films or TV, while others start in small budget stuff then catch a big break. On the other hand, we have Gregory Walcott, whose credit list is pretty much in reasonably budgeted TV and films, but also showed up inexplicably in Plan 9 From Outer Space. Go figure. 

4. Hey... no Star Trek! Usually, this happens a few times a month. In October, there were four. We are less than halfway through January and we already have three.

5. MST3K. There may be others, but I know This Island Earth was the movie used in the feature film episode and Rocketship X-M was also an episode, which contain one of my favorite lines "Well, thank you, Mr. White Male Reality!" This was long before mansplaining became a thing. Zombie Rotten McDonald has added Moon Zero Two as well.

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

Predictors: The ESPN group of fourteen pro football experts

Predictions (Reality):

Seattle over Carolina: (14 right, 0 wrong)
New England over Baltimore: (11 right, 3 wrong)
Indianapolis over Denver: (1 right, 13 wrong)
Green Bay over Dallas: (7 right, 7 wrong)

Tally: 33 right, 23 wrong
This week, the experts got the same overall percentage as last week 58.9% right. More than that, they got there in pretty much the same way. There were three games where the consensus was very strong and one of those games was an upset. In the fourth game, there was nearly no consensus, so it made little difference to the overall score which team came out on top, The overall totals of 66-46 puts this group in the 97th percentile of guessers if we assume the odds are even that either team could win, which is not a perfect assumption but good enough for our needs. This compares very well with the baseball experts' guesses for the playoffs, but they stunk the place out because the World Series had two wild card teams, the Giants and the Royals.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Back to 1911 to see the predictions for 2011.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

12 January 2015

Birthdays
Nathan Gamble b. 1998 (The Hole, The Mist, The Dark Knight)
Luke Bromley b. 1944 (The World’s End, Torchwood)
Tiler Peck b. 1989 (Donnie Darko)
Will Rothhaar b. 1987 (Grimm, Battle Los Angeles, Fringe, Radio Free Albemuth, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Buffy)
Naya Rivera b. 1987 (Frankenhood)
Vanessa Johansson b. 1980 (Day of the Dead)
David Mitchell b. 1979 (author, Cloud Atlas)
Kaja Foglio b. 1970 (illustrator, Girl Genius)
Rachel Harris b. 1968 (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Star Trek: Voyager, SeaQuest 2032)
Chris Gartin b. 1968 (Transcendence, True Blood, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
Vendela Kirsebom Thomessen b. 1967 (Batman & Robin)
Olivier Martinez b. 1966 (Cybergeddon)
Barbara Scolaro b. 1966 (Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 2, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion)
Rob Zombie b. 1965 (director, The Lords of Salem, Halloween I and II [2007 and 2009], The Devil’s Rejects, House of 1000 Corpses)
Simon Russell Beale b. 1961 (Penny Dreadful [2015], Into the Woods, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [2011 TV], Alice in Wonderland [1999 TV])
Oliver Platt b. 1960 (Gods Behaving Badly, X-Men: First Class, 2012, Bicentennial Man, Lake Placid, Tall Tale, Flatliners)
Wanda Cannon b. 1960 (Andromeda, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Code Name: Eternity, Earth: Final Conflict, My Secret Identity)
Ralf Moller b. 1959 (The Scorpion King, Mutant X, Relic Hunter. Andromeda, Conan [1998 TV], Batman & Robin, Universal Soldier)
John Lasseter b. 1957 (director, Cars 1 & 2, Toy Story 1 & 2, A Bug’s Life)
Rockne S. O'Bannon b. 1955 (writer, Constantine, Defiance, Revolution, V [2011], Farscape, Creature, Invasion, Alien Nation, SeaQuest 2032, Twilight Zone [1986], Amazing Stories)
Kirstie Alley b. 1951 (Village of the Damned, Deadly Nightmares, Runaway, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Quark)
Haruki Murakami b. 1949 (author, 1Q84, Sputnik Sweetheart)
Anthony Andrews b. 1948 (Tales from the Crypt, Nightmare Classics, Doomwatch)
Roger Ewing b. 1942 (Bewitched)
Geoffrey Hoyle b. 1941 (author, 2010: Living in the Future)
Bob Dishy b. 1934 (The Twilight Zone [1985])
Bruce Lansbury b. 1930 (writer, Swamp Thing, The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Knight Rider, The Powers of Matthew Star, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
House Peters Jr. b 1916 died 1 October 2008 (Twilight Zone, Target Earth, Red Planet Mars, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Batman and Robin [1949], King of the Rocket Men, Flash Gordon)
Ray Teal b, 1902 died 2 April 1976 (I Dream of Jeannie, The Twilight Zone, The Absent-Minded Professor, Men Into Space)
Jack London b. 1876 died 22 November 1916 (author, The Iron Heel)
Charles Perrault b. 1628 died 16 May 1703 (author, Mother Goose)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. To be honest, the only person on the list today I consider to have a truly iconic genre role is Kirstie Alley in The Wrath of Khan and I used her picture before. German bodybuilder Ralf Moller was Conan on the TV show, but I never saw it and I don't know how many people did. So I thought about the birthday folk who are not in front of the camera and decided Charles Perrault's Mother Goose is the most important work in the fantasy field.  

2. Spot the Canadian. Oliver Platt was born in Canada, but his father was a United States diplomat stationed there, so he does not have Canadian citizenship or a credit list that shows Canadian tendencies. There is one Canadian native and the credit list does give her nationality away, though it's mostly from last century. Good luck!

3. The Guy at the Door. Producer/writer Bruce Lansbury turns 85 today. Everyone younger than he is alive and everyone older is dead, though it should be noted that the next oldest person, House Peters Jr., was born 14 years earlier, a large gap. Ignoring the randomness of being born on January 12, he also has an older sister named Angela who is still with us. In any case, Lansbury is The Guy at the Door today and I send out special best wishes for many happy returns.

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

Predictor: Arthur C. Clarke in both 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968] and 2010: odyssey two [1982].

Prediction: On 12 January 1992, The HAL 9000 becomes operational.

Reality: First a technicality. The 1992 date is from the Kubrick movie and Clarke's sequel book. In Clarke's book adaption of the movie, the date is 12 January 1997.

As for reality, computers still aren't anything like HAL, but I consider HAL and Skynet important enough to have their "birthdays" commemorated every year. They are by no means the first examples in science fiction of machines overtaking humans and making us obsolete, but both are given exact dates, an important distinction as far as the blog is concerned, and both are still cultural touchstones.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

The post-mortem for the picks from ESPN's 14 pro football experts of this weekend's four football games.


Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!