24 August 2015

Birthdays
Rupert Grint b. 1988 (Harry Potter)
Chad Michael Murray b. 1981 (Agent Carter, Left Behind, The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghost of Georgia, House of Wax, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2)
Beth Riesgraf b. 1978 (Caper)
Alex O’Loughlin b. 1976 (Moonlight, The Invisible, Man-Thing)
James D’Arcy b. 1975 (Agent Carter, Jupiter Ascending, Cloud Atlas, Them [2007])
Kwesi Ameyaw b. 1975 (Continuum, Supernatural, Man of Steel, Once Upon a Time, Riverworld, Fringe, Stargate, Kyle XY, Fallen, Eureka, Blade: Trinity, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Jake 2.0, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Dead Like Me, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Jeremiah, Dark Angel, Strange Frequency, The Lone Gunmen, The 6th Day)
Jennifer Lien b. 1974 (Star Trek: Voyager)
Barret Oliver b.1973 (Twilight Zone [1986], Tall Tales & Legends, Cocoon, D.A.R.Y.L., The NeverEnding Story, Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again, Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk)
Eric Edwards b. 1966 (Blade, Candyman)
Dana Gould b. 1964 (Mystery Men, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
Jared Harris b. 1961 (Poltergeist [2015], The Quiet Ones, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Fringe, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Lost in Space [1998], Tall Tale)
Mark Protosevich b. 1961 (writer, Thor, I Am Legend, The Cell)
Steve Guttenberg b. 1958 (Lavalantula, Short Circuit, Cocoon 1 and 2, High Spirits, The Day After, The Boys from Brazil)
Stephen Fry b. 1957 (The Hobbit, The Borrowers, Alice in Wonderland [2010], V for Vendetta, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, MirrorMask, Doctor Who: Death Comes to Time, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride)
Kevin Dunn b. 1956 (Transformers, Lost, NYPD 2069, Small Soldiers, Godzilla [1998], Ghostbusters II)
Orson Scott Card b. 1951 (won 1986 Hugo and Nebula for Ender’s Game, won 1987 Hugo and Nebula for Speaker for the Dead)
Charles Rocket b. 1949 died 7 October 2005 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Star Patrol, The X-Files, Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark, Hocus Pocus, Quantum Leap, Earth Girls Are Easy, Max Headroom)
Joe Regalbuto b. 1949 (Amazing Stories, Mork & Mindy)
Anne Archer b. 1947 (Nico the Unicorn, The Sixth Sense [1972])
Ronnie Blakley b. 1945 (A Return to Salem’s Lot, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Beyond Westworld)
Castulo Guerra b. 1945 (The Purge: Anarchy, Touch, Invasion, Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, Lois & Clark, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beauty and the Beast [1987], Starman [TV])
Kenny Baker b. 1934 (Star Wars, U.F.O. [1993], Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader [1989], Willow, Labyrinth, Time Bandits, Flash Gordon)
William Morgan Sheppard b. 1932 (April Apocalypse, Mysterious Island, Doctor Who, Legend of the Seeker, Star Trek [2009], Transformers, The Prestige, Charmed, Star Trek: Voyager, Timecop, American Gothic, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Babylon 5, SeaQuest 2032, Needful Things, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Max Headroom, Werewolf, The Day of the Triffids [1981], Hawk the Slayer)
Jimmy Gardner b. 1924 died 3 May 2010 (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, My Hero, The Company of Wolves, Doctor Who, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [1967], The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb)
Helena Carter b. 1920 died 11 January 2000 (Invaders from Mars)
James Tiptree, Jr. b 1915 died 19 May 1987 (author, Tales of the Quintana Roo, Up the Walls of the World)
Jorge Luis Borges b. 1899 died 14 June 1986 (author, The Book of Imaginary Beings, Labyrinths)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I used pictures of Rupert Grint and Barret Oliver. The people I considered today were the authors Orson Scott Card and Jorge Luis Borges, the actress Jennifer Lein and the winner, Kenny Baker, the guy inside R2-D2.

2. Spot the Canadian! I'll give one hint. Today's lone Canadian is less than 50 years old.

3. Nepotism FTW. Jared Harris is the son of Richard Harris.

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

Predictor: OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Skies crowded by personal planes, along with increased need for corporate material delivery and energy control, will make civilian aircraft carriers a necessity.

Reality: Yikes! This one is awful. But as I have written before, I kind of love the OMNI Future Almanac because they were not afraid to be bold. After last week's really good prediction about the Internet, we get a complete strikeout like this.

Not that it matters. I still love them.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Tuesdays belong to Heinlein and his novel The Door Into Summer.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

20 August 2015

Birthdays
Demi Lovato b. 1992 (From Dusk Till Dawn [TV])
Thomas Tulak b. 1984 (Hook)
Andrew Garfield b. 1983 (Amazing Spider-Man, Never Let Me Go, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Doctor Who)
Meghan Ory b. 1982 (Dead Rising: Watchtower, Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Knight Rider [2008], Flash Gordon [2008], Painkiller Jane, Merlin’s Apprentice, Smallville, Vampire High, Dark Angel, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven)
Ben Barnes b. 1981 (Westworld, The Chronicles of Narnia, Dorian Gray, Stardust)
Ali Liebert b. 1981 (Paranormal Solutions Inc., Strange Empire, Lost Girl, Apollo 18, Fringe, Kyle XY, Fallen [TV mini-series], The 4400, Dead Like Me)
Corey Carrier b. 1980 (The Adventures of Pinocchio,The Witches of Eastwick)
Amy Adams b. 1974 (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Enchanted, Smallville, Buffy, Charmed, Psycho Beach Party)
Misha Collins b. 1974 (Supernatural, Stonehenge Apocalypse, Charmed)
Chaney Kley b. 1972 died 24 July 2007 (Darkness Falls, Buffy)
Jonathan Ke Quan b. 1971 (Encino Man, Tales from the Crypt, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
David Walliams b. 1971 (Doctor Who, Stardust)
Colin Cunningham b. 1966 (Falling Skies, Impact, Stargate, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Elektra, Andromeda, Smallville, Dark Angel, Strange Frequency, The 6th Day, The X-Files)
Duncan Bravo b. 1964 (Extant, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)
James Marsters b. 1962 (Witches of East End, Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Warehouse 13, Three Inches, Supernatural, Smallville, Caprica, Moonshot, Torchwood, Angel, Buffy, Strange Frequency)
Sophie Aldred b. 1962 (Doctor Who)
Ravil Isyanov b. 1962 (The Last Ship, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Fringe, Space Race, Arachnid, Buffy, Seven Days)
Geoffrey Blake b. 1962 (The Man in the High Castle, Beauty and the Beast [2014], The Event, Charmed, Mighty Joe Young, Contact, Apollo 13, Deep Space Nine, Critters 3, Alien Nation [TV], ALF, The Last Starfighter)
Ukee Washington b. 1958 (The Happening, Signs, Unbreakable)
Joan Allen b. 1956 (Death Race, Pleasantville, Twilight Zone [1986])
Jay Acavone b. 1955 (InAlienable, The Hills Have Eyes II, Stargate SG-1, Terminated 3, Charmed, The X Files, The Invisible Man, Sliders, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Dark Skies, Independence Day, Beauty and the Beast [1990], Werewolf [TV])
Peter Horton b. 1953 (Thoughtcrimes, Brimstone, From the Earth to the Moon, T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous, Children of the Corn)
Greg Bear b. 1951 (won 1995 Nebula for Moving Mars and 2001 Nebula for Darwin’s Radio)
Patrick Kilpatrick b. 1949 (The Zombinator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Minority Report, Roswell, Dark Angel, The X Files, Angel, Star Trek: Voyager, Charmed, Deep Space Nine, Timecop [TV mini-series], Beastmaster III, Babylon 5, The Stand, Lois & Clark, Time Trax, Class of 1999, The Toxic Avenger)
John Noble b. 1948 (Forever, Sleepy Hollow, Fringe, Stargate SG-1, Lord of the Rings, The Lost World, Time Trax)
Ray Wise b. 1947 (Night of the Living Deb, The Lazarus Effect, Agent Carter, Jurassic City, Big Ass Spider!, Nuclear Family, X-Men: First Class, Dollhouse, Pandemic, Reaper, Cyxork 7, Jeepers Creepers II, Charmed, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, RoboCop, Cat People, Swamp Thing)
Sylvester McCoy b. 1943 (The Hobbit, Doctor Who, Leapin’ Leprechauns!, Starstrider, Dracula [1979], Roberts Robots)
Anthony Ainley b. 1932 died 3 May 2004 (Doctor Who, The Land Time Forgot, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, The Champions)
Bernard Archard b. 1916 died 1 May 2008 (Krull, Doctor Who, The Horror of Frankenstein, Village of the Damned)
Alan Reed b. 1907 died 14 June 1977 (Batman, The Addams Family, My Favorite Martian, The Flintstones)
H.P. Lovecraft b. 1890 died 15 March 1937 (author, The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. Previously, I used pictures of H.P. Lovecraft and Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. Removing them from the competition still leaves a lot of actors with iconic roles, the top four in my book being Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man, John Noble from Fringe, Jonathan Ke Quan as Short Round and the winner, James Marsters as Spike from Buffy.

2. Spot the Canadians! Meghan Ory and Alie Liebert were born north of the border, Colin Cunningham is one of those shiftless southerners who crossed the border to take work from honest Canadians.

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

Predictor: Morris Enrst in the 1955 book Utopia 1976

Prediction: One great authority estimates that by 1976, 6% of our energy will be produced by the sun.

Reality: One great authority should sit down and shut up. Solar has grown dramatically this decade, but that still means it’s gone from 0.2% to 1.1% in about five years.
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Friday means another chance for all of us to think a little less of Herbert George Wells.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 August 2015

Birthdays
Garrett Ryan b. 1999 (Insidious, Teen Wolf, Oculis, Heroes)
Cassi Thomson b. 1993 (Left Behind, Grave Halloween)
Mila Kunis b. 1983 (Jupiter Ascending, Oz the Great and Powerful, Ted, The Book of Eli, Piranha)
Nick Holmes b. 1981 (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Zack Whedon b. 1979 (writer, Fringe, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog)
Christopher Gorham b. 1974 (Once Upon a Time, Jake 2.0, Odyssey 5, Buffy)
Raoul Bova b. 1971 (AvP: Alien vs Predator)
Michelle Lintel b. 1969 (Battle Planet, Black Scorpion)
Catherine Bell b. 1968 (The Good Witch, Threshold, The Triangle, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Alien Nation: Body and Soul)
Ben Bass b. 1968 (Dead Like Me, Jeremiah, Strange Frequency, The Lone Gunmen, The 6th Day, Stargate SG-1, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, The Hunger, Bride of Chucky, Forever Knight)
Adrian Lester b. 1968 (Merlin [2009], Doomsday, Being Human, Afterlife, Day After Tomorrow, Jason and the Argonauts [2000 TV])
Halle Berry b. 1966 (Extant, X-Men, Cloud Atlas, Catwoman, They Came from Outer Space [TV])
Brannon Braga b. 1965 (writer, Salem, Terra Nova, FlashForward, Threshold, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Cristi Conaway b. 1964 (Timecop, The Advanced Guard, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, Batman Returns)
Andrew Kevin Walker b. 1964 (writer, The Wolfman, Sleepy Hollow [film], Perversions of Science)
Emmanuelle Beart b. 1963 (Date with an Angel)
David Aaron Baker b. 1963 (The Leftovers, Revolution, Beauty and the Beast [2014])
Marcia Gay Hardin b. 1959 (The Invisible, Space Cowboys, Flubber, Superman 50th Anniversary)
Tony Moran b. 1957 (American Poltergeist, Halloween)
Greg Bradford b. 1955 (Zapped!)
James Horner b. 1953 died 22 June 2015 (composer, Star Trek New Voyages, The Amazing Spider-Man, Shoestring Space Opera, Avatar, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Bicentennial Man, Mighty Joe Young, Deep Impact, Jumanji, Apollo 13, Casper, The Rocketeer, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Cocoon, Willow, *batteries not included, Aliens, Amazing Stories, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Brainstorm, Krull, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Wolfen, The Hand, Battle Beyond the Stars, Humanoids from the Deep)
Carl Lumbly b. 1951 (Hope: The Last Paladin, Battlestar Galactica, Strange World, M.A.N.T.I.S., The X Files, SeaQuest 2032, Buckaroo Banzai, Lifepod, Caveman)
Jim Wynorski b. 1950 (director, so much cheap crap I’m a little ashamed I know who he is)
Lou Wagner b. 1948 (Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The UFO Incident, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Beneath of the Planet of the Apes, Pufnstuf, Hello Down There, Planet of the Apes, Lost in Space)
Susan Saint James b. 1946 (Love at First Bite)
Antonio Fargas b. 1946 (Heroes, Good vs Evil, Homeboys in Outer Space, Firestarter, Kolchak: The Night Stalker)
Wim Wenders b. 1945 (director, Until the End of the World, Wings of Desire)
Steve Martin b. 1945 (Little Shop of Horrors, The Man with Two Brains)
Robert Viharo b. 1942 (The Evil, Dark Shadows)
Alexei Panshin b. 1940 (winner of 1969 Nebula for Rite of Passage)
Candace Hilligoss b. 1935 (The Curse of the Living Corpse, Carnival of Souls)
Alice Ghostley b. 1924 died 21 September 2007 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Small Wonder, Bewitched, Captain Nice)
Angela Clarke b. 1909 died 16 December 2010 (The Outer Limits, House of Wax)
 Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Halle Berry and Mila Kunis, both iconic, both fabulous. This year, I felt it was a contest between two artists I love turning 70 today, Steve Martin and Wim Wenders. Wings of Desire won.

2. Nepotism FTW. Zach Whedon was willing to start at the ground floor, but it did help that his brother Joss was running the show.

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

Movies released.
District 9 released, 2009

I still remember walking home from this movie, polishing the Big Ugly Stick. I really, really hated it.

Predictor: H.G. Wells in his 1901 book Anticipations

Prediction: The law that dominates the future is glaringly plain. A people must develop and consolidate its educated efficient classes or be beaten in war and give way upon all points where its interests conflict with the interests of more capable people. It must foster and accelerate that natural segregation, which has been discussed in the third and fourth chapters of these "Anticipations," or perish. The war of the coming time will really be won in schools and colleges and universities, wherever men write and read and talk together. The nation that produces in the near future the largest proportional development of educated and intelligent engineers and agriculturists, of doctors, schoolmasters, professional soldiers, and intellectually active people of all sorts; the nation that most resolutely picks over, educates, sterilizes, exports, or poisons its People of the Abyss; the nation that succeeds most subtly in checking gambling and the moral decay of women and homes that gambling inevitably entails; the nation that by wise interventions, death duties and the like, contrives to expropriate and extinguish incompetent rich families while leaving individual ambitions free; the nation, in a word, that turns the greatest proportion of its irresponsible adiposity into social muscle, will certainly be the nation that will be the most powerful in warfare as in peace, will certainly be the ascendant or dominant nation before the year 2000.

Reality: It's pretty much a given that any time Wells uses the phrase "People of the Abyss", I get an overwhelming desire to dig up his grave and punch him in his smug British nose. There has been an advantage in the 20th and 21st Centuries for the technologically superior, of course, but there have been a lot of wars won by the people who refused to give up. In the year 2000, after industrialized nations got over their propensity to fight wars directly against one another, the two dominant nations were the United States and China, not because of intellectual or moral superiority, but instead a willingness to produce wealth in different but definitely ruthless ways. 
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

On the Saturday Soapbox, looking at the predictions of overpopulation.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

6 August 2015

Birthdays
Romola Garai b. 1982 (The Last Days on Mars)
Karl Davies b. 1982 (Game of Thrones)
Adrianne Curry b. 1982 (Light Years Away)
Marisa Miller b. 1978 (R.I.P.D.)
Jennifer Lyons b. 1977 (Professor Creepy’s Scream Party, The Amazing Spider-Man, Return of the Killer Shrews, Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman)
Melissa George b. 1976 (Gothica [TV], 30 Days of Night, The Amityville Horror, Charmed, Dark City)
Soleil Moon Frye b. 1976 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Piranhas)
Jason Rogel b. 1976 (Swamp Shark, The Quick and the Undead)
Ever Carradine b. 1974 (Supernatural, Eureka, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Vera Farmiga b. 1973 (Source Code, Neverwas, Snow White: The Fairest of Them All)
Paolo Bacigalupi b. 1972 (won 2010 Hugo and Nebula for The Windup Girl)
Jason O’Mara b. 1972 (Terra Nova, Resident Evil: Extinction, Eastwick, Space Truckers)
Merrin Dungey b. 1971 (Once Upon a Time, Beyond, Good vs Evil, Deep Impact, Babylon 5)
M Night Shyamalan b. 1970 (director, After Earth, The Last Airbender, The Happening, The Lady in the Water, The Village, Signs, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense)
Alan Cox b. 1970 (The Odyssey)
Michelle Yeoh b. 1962 (Babylon A.D., The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)
Leland Orser b.1960 (Revolution, Touch, Star Trek: Enterprise, Daredevil, Alien: Resurrection, Star Trek: Voyager, Invader, Escape from L. A., Deep Space Nine, The X Files, Eerie, Indiana)
Ian R. MacLeod b. 1956 (author, The Great Wheel, The Summer Isles)
Stepfanie Kramer b. 1956 (The Man with Two Brains, The Secret Empire)
Kevin Jarre b. 1954 died 3 April 2001 (writer, The Mummy)
Catherine Hicks b. 1951 (Child’s Play, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Tucker’s Witch)
Jack Klaff b. 1951 (Red Dwarf, Whoops Apocalypse, Space: 1999, Star Wars)
Dorian Harewood b. 1950 (The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Kyle XY, Stargate SG-1, Earth: Final Conflict, Time Trax, Solar Crisis, Amerika, Desire, the Vampire, Looker)
Michael Anderson Jr. b. 1943 (Highlander [TV], The Martian Chronicles, Logan’s Run, Land of the Giants)
Louise Sorel b. 1940 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Incredible Hulk, The Curse of Dracula, Star Trek)
Paul Bartel b. 1938 died 13 May 2000 (Good vs Evil, Escape from L.A., Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Amazing Stories, Munchies, Heartbeeps, Death Race 2000)
Peter Bonerz b. 1938 (director, ALF; actor The Addams Family)
Barbara Windsor b. 1937 (Alice in Wonderland [2010], Doctor Who, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
Piers Anthony b. 1934 (author, Xanth)
Norman Barthold b. 1928 died 28 May 1994 (Capricorn One, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Westworld, My Favorite Martian)
Frank Finlay b. 1926 (Merlin [2008], The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns, Lifeforce, A Christmas Carol, The Thief of Baghdad [1978 TV], Count Dracula, The Deadly Bees, Target Luna)
Robert Mitchum b. 1917 died 1 July 1997 (Scrooged)
Lucille Ball b. 1911 died 26 April 1989 (The Magic Carpet)
Charles Crichton b. 1910 died 14 September 1999 (director, Alien Attack, Space: 1999, The Day After Tomorrow [1976 TV movie])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, I went with fabulous babes who fell for Capt. Kirk, Louise Sorel and Catherine Hicks, and this year I go with Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl, a novel I read earlier this year.

2. Nepotism FTW. As you might guess, Ever Carradine is from the Carradine clan, daughter of Robert.

3. MST3K. The one I know for sure is The Deadly Bees with Frank Finlay

4. Today's surprises. I checked on Lucille Ball and Robert Mitchum expecting nothing, but she had one early in her career and he had one late.


5. Living Canadian free! One of those strange days.

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

Predictor: Morris L. Ernst in Utopia 1976, published in 1955

Prediction: As for water usage, with weather and rain control, the amount of water we need for irrigation will be what we make of it.

Reality: Controlling the weather is not quite as popular a prediction as flying cars or moving sidewalks, but this is definitely not the first prediction.

It doesn't make the prediction correct, but Mr. Ernst might be happy to know he's got company in his mistaken view.

Never to be Forgotten: George Cole 1925-2015
British actor George Cole, known best in his country as the star of a TV show Minder, has died at the age of 90. He is pictured here as the young Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. His other genre credits include Mary Reilly, UFO and The Vampire Lovers.

Best wishes to the family and friends of George Cole, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten. 

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Once again, I will the writings of the young H.G. Wells to ruin that charming view some of us had of him when Malcolm McDowell played Wells all those years ago.
  
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

22 June 2015

Birthdays
Portia Doubleday b. 1988 (Her, Carrie [2013], Legend of the Mummy)
Joe Dempsie b. 1987 (Game of Thrones, Merlin, Doctor Who)
Douglas Smith b. 1985 (Terminator Genisys, Antiviral, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The X-Files)
Lindsay Ridgeway b. 1985 (Star Trek: Voyager)
Amanda Brooks b. 1981 (Chillerama, Dragon Wars: D-War)
Stephanie Jacobsen b. 1980 (Star-Crossed, Quantum Apocalypse, The Devil’s Tomb, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Battlestar Galactica, Farscape)
Jeff Hephner b. 1975 (Interstellar)
Sarah Edmonson b. 1977 (Continuum, Fringe, The Dead Zone, Andromeda, Stargate SG-1, Vampire High)
Donald Faison b. 1974 (Kick-Ass 2, Skyline, Clone High, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch)
Benz Antoine b. 1972 (Death Race, Gothika, Seven Days, Strange World, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, NightMan, Stargate SG-1, Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, Millennium)
Mary Lynn Rajskub b. 1971 (Safety Not Guaranteed, Dude, Where’s My Car?)
Laila Rouass b. 1971 (Conan the Barbarian [2011], The Sarah Jane Adventures, Primeval)
Michael Trucco b. 1970 (V [2010], Meteor Storm, Battlestar Galactica, The Big Bang Theory, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Charmed)
Paula Irvine b. 1968 (Phantasm I, II and III, Doin’ Time on Planet Earth)
James McCauley b. 1966 (The Amazing Spider-Man 2, True Blood, I am Legend)
Uwe Boll b. 1965 (director, Blubberella, Seed, BloodRayne, House of the Dead)
J.J. Cohen b. 1965 (3rd Rock from the Sun, Back to the Future, 976-EVIL, V [1985], Amazing Stories)
Amy Brenneman b. 1964 (The Leftovers, Casper)
Heidi Kozak b. 1963 (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Twilight Zone [1987])
Catherine Disher b. 1960 (Good Witch, Forever Knight, War of the Worlds [TV])
Bruce Campbell b. 1958 (Ash vs. Evil Dead, Oz the Great and Powerful, Spider-Man, Alien Apocalypse, Sky High, Man with the Screaming Brain, Terminal Invasion, Bubba Ho-Tep, Timequest, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena, The X-Files, Weird Science [TV], Assault on Dome 4, Escape from L.A., American Gothic, Lois & Clark, Congo, Army of Darkness, Mindwarp, Waxwork II: Lost in Time, Darkman, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Moontrap, The Evil Dead I and II)
John Murray b. 1958 (Scrooged)
Tim Russ b. 1956 (Star Trek: Voyager, Asteroid vs. Earth, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari [2006], Star Trek: Generations, SeaQuest2032, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Journey to the Center of the Earth [1993], Eve of Destruction, Alien Nation, Beauty and the Beast, The Twilight Zone, Spaceballs, Timestalkers, Starman [TV], Amazing Stories)
Chris Lemmon b. 1954 (My Dog the Space Traveler, Wishmaster)
Graham Greene b. 1952 (Defiance, Twilight Saga, Phil the Alien, Big Wolf on Campus, The Green Mile, Poltergeist: The Legacy)
Meryl Streep b. 1949 (Into the Woods, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Defending Your Life, Death Becomes Her, Alice at the Palace)
Lindsay Wagner b. 1949 (Warehouse 13, Alphas, A Light in the Forest, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
David L. Lander b. 1947 (Zoom, Black Scorpion, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, The Tick, Homeboys in Outer Space, Freddy’s Nightmares, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Octavia E. Butler b. 1947 died 24 February 2006 (won 2000 Nebula for Parable of the Talents)
Murphy Dunne b. 1942 (Deadly Swarm, The Mothman Prophecies, Faerie Tale Theatre, Twilight Zone [1985], Space)
Michael Lerner b. 1941 (X-Men: Days of Future Past, Kingdom Hospital, My Favorite Martian [1999], Tale of the Mummy, Godzilla [1998], Tales from the Crypt, Omen IV: The Awakening, Amazing Stories, Strange Invaders, Threshold, Wonder Woman)
Kris Kristofferson b. 1936 (Blade, Planet of the Apes, NetForce, Millennium)
Amrish Puri b. 1932 died 12 January 2005 (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom)
Prunella Scales b. 1932 (Wolf, The Boys from Brazil)
Ralph Waite b. 1928 died 13 February 2014 (Carnivale, Timequest, Time Trax)
Richard Eastham b. 1916 died 10 July 2005 (Galactica 1980, Salvage 1, Wonder Woman, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Invaders)
H. Rider Haggard b. 1856 died 14 May 1925 (author, She)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slotters were Bruce Campbell and Nebula award winner Octavia E. Butler. There are several good choices even with those two worthies excluded, the best known of whom is clearly Meryl Streep. But in terms of iconic roles in genre, Ms. Streep is probably just on par with her exact same birthday girl Lindsay Wagner. If I was going for the youngest iconic actor, I would have chosen Joe Dempsie as Gendry in Game of Thrones, but the Slot went to Tim Russ as Tuvok, the first black actor to play a recurring role as a Vulcan in the Star Trek universe.

2. Spot the Canadians!  There are five today and as often happens, it's easier to spot the younger ones, though not always. Native American actor Graham Greene would more properly be called a First Nations Canadian, but much of his career took place south of the border. Catherine Disher's resume shows some Canadian tendencies, but not as much as Benz Antoine's or Sarah Edmondson's. And then there's our youngest Canadian Douglas Smith, who does more movie work than Canuck-fi TV shows, so is just as hard to spot as Mr. Greene. Thanks to Art Velasquez for pointing out my earlier error excluding Smith.


3. Nepotism FTW. Two guys born in the 1950s have famous relatives who likely helped their careers. Chris Lemmon is Jack Lemmon's son and John Murray is the least well known of Bill Murray's siblings.

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

Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac, published 1982

Prediction: Unmanned aircraft will be used for freight delivery, most especially to remote regions. Using advanced robotic technology not yet available, they will be controlled from the point of origin and unload cargo automatically.

Reality: This one gets full marks since no exact date was given nor was size of the drone specified. The OMNI Future Almanac was not shy about discussing military applications, but none were mentioned in this case, which has to count as an oversight.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

It's the regular Tuesday schedule, so we get another Commie prediction from John Langdon-Davies, Commie.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

9 June 2015

Birthdays
Danielle Chuchran b. 1993 (SAGA: Curse of the Shadow, Snow Beast)
Lauren Socha b. 1990 (Misfits)
Logan Browning b. 1989 (Powers)
Mae Whitman b. 1988 (Boogeyman 2, Bionic Woman, Phil of the Future, Independence Day)
Colin Theys b. 1985 (director, Banshee, Alien Opponent, Remains, Dead Souls)
Natalie Portman b. 1981 (Thor, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, V for Vendetta, Star Wars, Mars Attacks!)
Michaela Conlin b. 1978 (Enchanted)
Katharine Cullen b. 1975 (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Girl from Tomorrow)
Haley Peterson b. 1968 (Cyborg)
Gloria Reuben b. 1964 (Mr. Robot, Falling Skies, Timecop, The Flash [1991])
Johnny Depp b. 1963 (Pirates of the Caribbean, Into the Woods, Alice in Wonderland, Transcendence, Dark Shadows [2012], The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, From Hell, Sleepy Hollow, The Astronaut’s Wife, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare, Edward Scissorhands, A Nightmare on Elm Street)
David Koepp b. 1963 (writer, Snow White and the Huntsman 2, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Zathura: A Space Adventure, War of the Worlds, Spider-Man, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her, The Shadow)
Megan Edwards b. 1963 (Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)
Rodman Flender b. 1962 (director, Idle Hands, Millennium, Dark Skies, Tales from the Crypt, Leprechaun 2, The Unborn)
Michael J. Fox b. 1961 (Clone High, Mars Attacks!, Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories, Tales from the Crypt, Back to the Future, Teen Wolf)
Kelly Connell b. 1956 (Spider-Man 2, K-PAX, Early Edition, Sliders, Buffy, Star Trek: Voyager, Eerie, Indiana)
Mark Jeffrey Miller b. 1953 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, Constantine, Sleepy Hollow, Revolution, Black Knight, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles )
James Newton Howard b. 1951 (composer/orchestrator, Maleficent, The Hunger Games, After Earth, Snow White and the Huntsman, Green Lantern, The Dark Knight, Signs, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, The Devil’s Advocate, Waterworld, Outbreak, Twilight Zone: The Movie)
David Troughton b. 1950 (The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, Doctor Who)
Joe Haldeman b. 1943 (author, won 1976 Hugo and Nebula for The Forever War, won 1990 Nebula for the novella The Hemingway Hoax, won 1993 Nebula for the short story Graves, won 1999 Hugo and Nebula for Forever Peace, won 2006 Nebula for Camouflage)
Joe Santos b. 1931 (The Postman, Quantum Leap, Twilight Zone [1986], The Greatest American Hero)
Joan Marshall b. 1931 died 28 June 1992 (Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Men Into Space)
Lin Carter b. 1930 died 7 February 1988 (author, Callisto, Conan)
Leo Summers b. 1925 died 1 April 1985 (artist)
Keith Laumer b. 1925 died 23 January 1993 (author, Imperium, Retief)
Gerd Oswald b. 1919 died 22 May 1989 (director, Twilight Zone [1985], Star Trek, Out Limits, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea)
Robert Cummings b. 1919 died 2 December 1990 (Bewitched, My Living Doll, Twilight Zone)
Rosa Turich b. 1903 died 20 November 1998 (Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Keith Laumer because I loved his character Retief and Natalie Portman because I am a heterosexual male. Not wanting to repeat myself, the two best choices remaining are Johnny Depp and the winner, Michael J. Fox from Back to the Future.

2. Spot the Canadians. Neither Canadian on our list stayed in Canada long. One is our Picture Slotter Mr. Fox and the other is Gloria Reuben.

3. Nepotism FTW. David Troughton has had a very successful career, but it is worth noting his first big break was on Doctor Who in 1972, after his dad's tenure as The Doctor.

4. The Guy at the Door. Regular readers know the drill. On today's list, 1931 is the year that separates the living from the dead. While Joan Marshal was born on this day in 1931 and is dead, Oh That Guy actor Joe Santos is the oldest living person on our list and everyone younger than him is still alive. This is more like a demographic fluke than it is an ominous portent, but in any case, I like to wish the person in this situation a special wish for many more happy birthdays to come.


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

Movie released
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier released, 1989  

Predictor: Oxford University researcher Tipu Aziz, quoted in 2008

Prediction: By 2015, micro-computers in the brain with a range of applications could be self-powered and controlled by hand-held transmitters.

Reality: As of 2015, this is still Ray Kurzweil level stuff, which means it hasn't happened yet and it's possible it never will.

Never to be Forgotten: Mary Ellen Trainor 1950-2015

The actress Mary Ellen Trainor, who was for a time married to director Robert Zemeckis, has died at the age of 64. Seen here in a still from one of the Die Hard films (she was in all of them), her genre credits include Roswell, Congo, Death Becomes Her, Back to the Future II, Ghostbusters 2, Tales from the Crypt, Scrooged, The Monster Squad and Amazing Stories.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Mary Ellen Trainor, from a fan. She is never to be forgotten. 
 
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Wednesdays belong to our sensible pal George Sutherland, predicting 20th Century inventions in 1901.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

24 May 2015

Birthdays
Gina Sarno b. 1989 (The Avengers)
Ricky Mabe b. 1983 (Ghost Ghirls, This Is the End, Nightmare Man, Big Wolf on Campus, Frankenstein and Me)
Naomi Ryan b. 1977 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Who)
Will Sasso b. 1975 (Southland Tales, The X Files, Sliders, Doctor Who, The Odyssey [1994 TV])
Dash Mihok b. 1974 (Gotham, Punisher: War Zone, I Am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow)
Greg Berlanti b. 1972 (writer, The Flash, Arrow, The Tomorrow People, Wrath of the Titans, Green Lantern, No Ordinary Family)
Garett Maggart b. 1969 (Vampire)
Dana Ashbrook b, 1967 (Welcome to Paradox, Charmed, W.E.I.R.D. World, The Hidden Room, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Ghost Dad, Return of the Living Dead II, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!)
John C. Reilly b. 1965 (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dark Water)
Michael Chabon b. 1963 (won 2008 Hugo and Nebula for The Yiddish Policeman’s Union)
Kristin Scott Thomas b. 1960 (The Golden Compass, Code 46, Gulliver’s Travels)
Doug Jones b. 1960 (The Flash [2015], Arrow [2015], Hellboy, The Strain, Teen Wolf [TV], Falling Skies, The Watch, Dragon Age: Redemption, Fallout: Nuka Break, The Guild, Legion, Super Capers: The Origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion, Quarantine, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Lady in the Water, Pan’s Labyrinth, Doom, Men in Black II, The Time Machine, Side Effects, Alien Hunter, Monkeybone, Buffy, Mystery Men, Bug Buster, Mimic, Tank Girl, Batman Returns, Warriors of Virtue, Galgameth)
Alfred Molina b. 1953 (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Spider-Man 2, Species, Ladyhawke, Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Nell Campbell b. 1953 (Shock Treatment, The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
Jim Broadbent b. 1949 (Cloud Atlas, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Chronicles of Narnia, Comic Relief: Doctor Who – The Curse of Fatal Death, Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Brazil, Time Bandits, Erik the Viking)
James Cosmo b. 1948 (Game of Thrones, Flashforward, The Color of Magic, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrome, The 10th Kingdom, Super Gran, Highlander)
Sybill Danning b. 1947 (Virus X, The Lair, Grindhouse, Superboy, The Phantom Empire, Amazon Women on the Moon, Warrior Queen, Howling II: … Your Sister is a Werewolf, V, Hercules [1983], Battle Beyond the Stars, Meteor)
Gary Burghoff b. 1943 (Wonder Woman)
Tommy Chong b. 1938 (Evil Bong, Sliders)
Mai Zetterling b. 1925 died 17 March 1994 (The Witches, H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man)
Carmine Infantino b. 1925 died 4 April 2013 (illustrator, DC Comics)
Lilli Palmer b. 1914 died 27 January 1986 (The Boys from Brazil)
Willis Bouchey b. 1907 died 27 September 1977 (The Munsters, My Mother the Car, Twilight Zone, Panic in Year Zero!, Them!, Red Planet Mars)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Doug Jones from Hellboy and Alfred Molina from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This year, I decided on Nell Campbell as Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, one of several excellent possible choices.

2. The hard to spot Canadians. No one has one of those obvious resumes today, but we do have three people born north of the border, Tommy Chong, Will Sasso and Ricky Mabe.

3. Sorry, sweetie, I'm going with last year's numbers. Last year when I was compiling the list I added both Sybill Danning and Jim Broadbent and I remarked to a friend that Ms. Danning was two years older than Mr. Broadbent. Ms. Danning was never a star, but I lusted after her back in the 1980s. (As much as I enjoy his work, I must admit I have never lusted after Mr. Broadbent.) This year on both imdb.com and Wikipedia, Ms. Danning's year of birth is list as 1952, magically trimming five years off her age. Her first role was in a German soft porn film in 1968. It possible that she lied about her age, making herself 21 instead of 16 when that was filmed and now she is correcting that fib. The other possibility is that she'd rather be 63 now instead of 68. Whichever it is, I'm going with last year's numbers.

4. The Guy at the Bong... I mean, Door. This is one of those lists with major gaps in ages. The oldest living person is Tommy Chong at 77. The next people on the list were born 13 years before him and both are dead. This makes Tommy Chong the Guy at the Door, the cutoff between the living and the dead on today's list. As always, special birthday wishes to the person who has this random demographic distinction.

5. Wait... they did genre? I clicked on Gary Burghoff's name on imdb.com because I recognized it, not knowing he had a guest starring role on Wonder Woman. I was likewise unaware of Tommy Chong's roles in Evil Bong and Sliders.

6. Hey... no Star Trek! In April, every day had a birthday of someone who was on one of the many incarnations of Star Trek. In May, there have now been four days without any Trek reference. Go figure.

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

Movie released
Epic released, 2013

 

Predictor: Robert A. Heinlein in The Door Into Summer, serialized in 1956, published in hardcover in 1957.

Prediction: I was surprised as anyone when it turned out we had divisions stashed away at Thule and other places no one suspected. It has been known since the ‘30s that the human body could be chilled until it slowed down to almost nothing. But it had been a parlor trick or a last-resort therapy, until the Six Weeks War.

Reality: A few "predictions" here and a change of what was supposed to have happened in the past from Heinlein's point of view in the late 1950s. Let's take them separately.

1. People can be frozen and thawed and the technology has been around since the 1930s.  Umm... no. It's vital to the plot of Heinlein's exciting adventure, but there isn't any technology like this even today.

2. There was a big nuclear war sometime between 1956 and 1970. Also, no, thank goodness. As I have written many times, fear of nuclear war was a huge part of life in the late 20th Century, but this years marks the 70th anniversary of the last time a nuke was used during warfare. Nukes were used twice, three days apart in August of 1945. That means the "no nuclear war" streak is currently at 25,490 days and counting. I do not say this to claim that there will never be another nuclear weapon used as a weapon of war, but when measured on a human scale, seventy years is a long time.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Is tomorrow Monday already? This means another dip into The OMNI Future Almanac. (I'll also give you the heads up that it's Towel Day, just in case you forgot.)

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

7 May 2015

 Birthdays
Destiny Whitlock b. 2001 (Tooth Fairy)
Maxwell Perry Cotton b. 2000 (Elysium, Radio Free Ablemuth)
Alexander Ludwig b. 1992 (The Hunger Games, Race to Witch Mountain, The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising)
Roxane Hayward b. 1991 (Dominion)
Brandon Jones b. 1988 (Supernatural)
Robbie Jarvis b. 1986 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Genie in the House)
Val Tasso b. 1977 (Wolf People, Charmed)
Arnold Chun b. 1976 (The Man in the High Castle, The Big Bang Theory, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
Carrie Henn b. 1976 (Aliens)
Breckin Meyer b. 1974 (Heroes, Escape from L.A., The Craft, Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare)
Ivan Sergei b. 1971 (Vamps, Warehouse 13, Charmed, 10.5, Kindred: The Embraced, Bionic Ever After)
Tracy Lords b. 1968 (Black Mask 2: City of Masks, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, D.R.E.A.M. Team, Blade, Virtuosity, Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II, Highlander [TV], The Tommyknockers, Super Force, Not of This Earth)
Patrick Read Johnson b. 1962 (director, When Good Ghouls Go Bad, Spaced Invaders)
David Franklin b. 1962 (Farscape, Xena: Warrior Princess, The Matrix Reloaded, Time Trax)
Ned Bellamy b. 1957 (Resurrection, Under the Dome, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Twilight, Being John Malkovich, Starman [TV], Twilight Zone [1986], The Greatest American Hero)
John Fleck b. 1951 (True Blood, The World, Star Trek: Enterprise, Carnivale, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Modern Vampires, Millennium, Waterworld, Lois & Clark, Babylon 5: The Gathering, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mutant on the Bounty, Max Headroom, Howard the Duck, Hard Rock Zombies)
Randall “Tex” Cobb b. 1950 (The X-Files, Highlander [TV])
Marilyn Burns b. 1949 died 4 August 2014 (Eaten Alive, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Lee de Broux b. 1941 (The Day the World Ended, Mars, The X-Files, Quantum Leap, Pumpkinhead, RoboCop, Max Headroom, Voyager from the Unknown, The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman, The Terminal Man)
Roger Perry b. 1933 (Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Thing with Two Heads, The Return of Count Yorga, Count Yorga, Vampire, The Invaders, Star Trek, The Munsters)
Gene Wolfe b. 1931 (won Nebula for The Claw of the Conciliator)
Albert Band b. 1924 died 14 June 2002 (director, Prehysteria!, Robot Wars, Ghoulies II, Dracula’s Dog, Hercules and the Princess of Troy)
Anne Baxter b. 1923 died 12 December 1985 (Batman)
Darren McGavin b. 1922 died 25 February 2006 (The X-Files, Millennium, Captain America[1990], Firebird 2015 AD, The Martian Chronicles, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Six Million Dollar Man, Mission Mars)
David Tomlinson b. 1917 died 24 June 2000 (Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Mary Poppins)
Ishiro Honda b. 1911 died 28 February 1983 (director, Godzilla [1977], Mecha Godzilla, Ultraman Returns, Godzilla’s Revenge, Yog: Monster from Space, Latitude Zero, Destroy All Monsters, King Kong Escapes, The War of the Gargantuas, Invasion of the Astro Monster, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Ghidorah, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Atrtagon, Matango, Varan, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Gorath, Mothra, Battle in Outer Space, The H-Man, The Mysterians, Rodan, Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Godzilla [1954])
Valentine Dyall b. 1908 died 24 June 1985 (Doctor Who, Blakes 7, The Haunting, Stranger from Space)
Val Newton b. 1904 died 14 March 1951 (producer, Isle of the Dead, Cat People, The Curse of the Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Carrie Henn, the little girl from Aliens, and the cover from Gene Wolfe's Nebula winner The Claw of the Conciliator. This year, I considered Oh That Guy John Fleck, but instead went with Darren McGavin as Kolchak.

2. Spot the Canadian! Only one today and hard to spot: Alexander Ludwig.

3. Living MST3K free. Ishiro Honda directed a passel of Japanese giant monster movies, but none of them got the MST3K treatment, oddly enough. I couldn't find any other movies from any of our other credit lists either.

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


Movie released
Iron Man 2 released, 2010

Predictor: Business Week, Jan. 17, 195, re-published in The Experts Speak, 1984

Prediction: Though import car sales could hit 425,000 in 1959, they may never go that high again.

Reality: It's hard for non-geezers to remember how strong a grip American car manufacturers had on the domestic market back in the day. The authors of The Experts Speak thought this was funny enough to mock back in 1984, which is now 31 years ago. Suffice it to say, this prediction scores no points.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Fridays belong to H.G. Wells and his 1902 book Anticipations.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

  

30 April 2015

Birthdays
Dianna Agron b. 1986 (I am Number Four, Heroes)
Gal Gadot b. 1985 (Justice League, Wonder Woman, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice)
Drew Seeley b. 1982 (I Kissed a Vampire, Locusts)
Kirsten Dunst b. 1982 (Melancholia, Spider-Man, The Crow: Salvation, Small Soldiers, Jumanji, Interview with the Vampire, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Kunal Nayyar b. 1981 (The Big Bang Theory)
Sam Heughan b. 1980 (Outlander)
Alexandra Holden b. 1977 (Wishcraft)
Johnny Galecki b. 1975 (The Big Bang Theory, In Time, Hancock, Vanilla Sky)
Michael Chaturantabut b. 1975 (Charmed, The Time Machine, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue)
Kevin Sizemore b. 1972 (Resurrection, Under the Dome, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Dollhouse, Supernova)
Ralph Lister b. 1971 (Oz the Great and Powerful)
Allison Serofim b. 1968 (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Steven Mackintosh b. 1967 (Robot Overlords, Kick-Ass 2, Underworld, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Doctor Who)
Adrian Pasdar b. 1965 (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Heroes, House of Frankenstein [1997 TV], Near Dark, Solarbabies)
Paul Gross b. 1959 (Eastwick, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea [1997 TV], The Ray Bradbury Theatre)
Lars von Trier b. 1956 (director, Melancholia, The Kingdom)
Thom Bray b. 1954 (The Horror Show, DeepStar Six, Prince of Darkness)
Perry King b. 1948 (The Day After Tomorrow, Tales from the Crypt, Slaughterhouse-Five)
Allan Arkush b. 1948 (director, Salem, Witched of East End, Defiance, Heroes, Timecop, Mann & Machine, Twilight Zone [1986], Heartbeeps)
Bertrand Cadart b. 1948 (Mad Max)
Jill Clayburgh b. 1944 died 5 November 2010 (Phenomenon II, The Terminal Man)
Antonia Ellis b. 1944 (UFO)
Burt Young b. 1940 (The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Tales from the Crypt, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Carnival of Blood)
Gary Collins b. 1938 died 13 October 2012 (Watcher Reborn, The Fantastic Journey, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Sixth Sense [TV], King Kong vs. Godzilla)
Larry Niven b. 1938 (winner of 1971 Hugo and Nebula for Ringworld)
Cloris Leachman b. 1926 (Lake Placid 2, My Boyfriend’s Back, Hansel and Gretel [1987], Wonder Woman [1975], Young Frankenstein, Twilight Zone)
Al Lewis b. 1923 died 3 February 2006 (The Munsters, Lost in Space)
Phil Brown b. 1916 died 9 February 2006 (Superman, Star Wars: A New Hope, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Journey to the Unknown)
Eve Arden b. 1908 died 12 November 1990 (Amazing Stories, Faerie Tale Theatre, The Girl with Something Extra, Bewitched)
David Manners b. 1901 died 23 December 1998 (The Mummy [1932], Dracula [1931])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, we had the two birthday boys from Big Bang Theory and Gal Gadot, the actress who will be Wonder Woman in several films over the next few years. If I want to stay with 21st Century stuff, Adrian Pasdar in Heroes or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would count as iconic, but I decided to go old school with the great Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher.

Wait... was that a horse?

2. Spot the Canadians! No way to spot David Manners as a Canadian, but he was. It's not obvious that Paul Gross and Drew Seeley were born north of the border, but they were, too.

3. I'm used to it, I don't have to like it. When I clicked on Jill Clayburgh's page on imdb.com today, I remembered she had died, but it was a shock five years ago and it still makes me sad.

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

Predictor: Dalek, and episode of Doctor Who aired first in the U.K. on 30 April 2005.

Prediction: In 2012, a Dalek is reawakened in a bunker in Utah and kills 200 people before the Doctor is able to deactivate it.

Reality: There were a lot of Doctor Who episodes that were set in the not too distant future, which for people like us moving in time in our boring linear way is now the not too distant past.

Still no Daleks, so we've got that going for us.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

A new month, a new splash photo, and the regular prediction schedule is interrupted for a stunning tale of suspended animation.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

29 April 2015

Birthdays
Taylor Cole b. 1984 (Supernatural, The Event, The Green Hornet, Surrogates, Heroes)
Firass Dirani b. 1984 (Power Rangers Mystic Force, Pitch Black)
Alex Vincent b. 1981 (Child’s Play)
Tyler Labine b. 1978 (Deadbeat, Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011], Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Reaper, Invasion, Jake 2.0, Evil Alien Conquerors, Dark Angel, Dead Last, The Immortal, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], NightMan, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Millennium [TV], The X-Files, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch)
David Sullivan b. 1977 (Karma Police, The Astronaut Farmer, Primer)
April Telek b. 1975 (Strange Empire, Supernatural, Reaper, Tin Man, Stargate SG-1, Dead Like Me, The Immortal, Replicant, First Wave, The Hunger, Millennium, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, The New Addams Family, Highlander [TV], Sliders)
David Belle b. 1973 (Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Babylon A.D.)
Derek Mears b. 1972 (Sleepy Hollow, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, True Blood, Grimm, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Team Unicorn, Predators, The Hills Have Eyes II, Zathura: A Space Adventure, Cursed, Star Trek: Enterprise, Men in Black II, The Tick, The Wonder Cabinet)
Darby Stanchfield b. 1971 (Jericho, Angel)
Uma Thurman b. 1970 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Paycheck, Gattaca, Batman & Robin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen)
Paul Adelstein b. 1969 (Bedazzled)
Vincent Ventresca b. 1966 (Flying Monkeys, Dollhouse, Mammoth, MorphMan, The Invisible Man [TV])
Bruce Harwood b. 1963 (The Flash, The X-Files, Supernatural, The Last Mimsy, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Alienated, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, The Lone Gunmen, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids [TV], The Fly II, Earth Star Voyager)
Robert J. Sawyer b. 1960 (won 1996 Nebula for The Terminal Experiment, won the 2003 Hugo for Homonids)
Michelle Pfeiffer b. 1958 (Dark Shadows [2012], Stardust, Wolf, Batman Returns, The Witches of Eastwick, Ladyhawke)
Eve Plumb b. 1958 (Nowhere, Lois & Clark, Wonder Woman, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters)
Kate Mulgrew b. 1955 (Warehouse 13, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek: Voyager, Gargoyles)
Leslie Jordan b. 1955 (American Horror Story, Undead or Alive: A Zombedy, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, FreakyLinks, Weird Science, Star Trek: Voyager, Lois & Clark, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Frankenstein General Hospital, The Wizard)
Gavin O’Herlihy b. 1954 (The Descent: Part 2, Star Trek: Voyager, Space Riders, Willow, Superman III, The Amazing Spider-Man [TV], The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Robert Towers b. 1952 (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Angel, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Masters of the Universe, Bewitched)
Nora Dunn b. 1952 (Southland Tales, Three Moons Over Milford, The Chronicle, What Planet Are You From?, The X Files)
Ellen Crawford b. 1951 (The Man From Earth, Soldier, Tales from the Crypt, The Invisible Kid, Werewolf, Otherworld)
Reb Brown b. 1948 (Night Claws, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Space Mutiny, Robowar, Howling II, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Yor, the Hunter from the Future, Brave New World [TV], Captain America [TV], Strange New World [TV], The Six Million Dollar Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Ssssss)
Wayne Robson b. 1946 died 4 April 2011 (Survival of the Dead, The Timekeeper, The Incredible Hulk [2008], Lexx, Cube, RoboCop [TV], The Twilight Zone [1989])
Richard Kline b. 1944 (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Harry and the Hendersons, Shadow Chasers)
Lane Smith b. 1936 died 13 June 2005 (From the Earth to the Moon, Alien Nation: The Udara Legacy, Lois & Clark, The Twilight Zone [1986], Amazing Stories, Duplicates, V)
Akira Takarada b. 1934 (Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, King Kong Escapes, Godzilla [2014 and 1977 and 1954], Invasion of Astro-Monster)
Irvin Kershner b. 1923 died 27 November 2010 (director, SeaQuest 2032, RoboCop 2, The Empire Strikes Back)
Celeste Holm b. 1917 died 15 July 2012 (Wonder Woman, Cinderella [1965 TV])
Richard Carlson b. 1912 died 24 November 1977 (The Valley of Gwangi, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays, Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space, The Magnetic Monster)
Jack Williamson b. 1908 died 10 November 2006 (author, The Legion of Time, Starchild, The Man from Outside, Land’s End)
Ken Tyrell b. 1094 died 8 March 1966 (Master of the World, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Sabu and the Magic Ring, Brain from Planet Arous, Daughter of Dr. Jekyll, The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, Indestructible Man, Son of Sinbad, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Zombies of the Stratosphere, Radar Men from the Moon, Flying Disc Man from Mars, The Invisible Monster)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. A lot of famous names and iconic faces on the list today. In earlier years, Kate Milgrew from Voyager and Akira Takarada from the original Godzilla got the slot, but this year I was thinking it was a competition between Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman or Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. But thinking better of it, I realized I like The Adventures of Baron Munchausen much more than I liked any Batman film and Ms. Thurman's entrance as Venus made a much stronger impression on me.

He wrote, euphemistically.

2. Spot the Canadians. The late Wayne Robson is hard to spot from his credit list, but our other two Canucks are alive, kicking, born in the 1970s and not impossible to suss.

3. MST3K. Between Richard Carlson and Ken Tyrell, there must have been something one of them was in that got the MST3K treatment, and yes, it's Tyrell in Radar Men on the Moon. We also have Akira Takarada in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.

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

Predictor: George Sutherland in the 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: The telegraphic wire in the home and street will fulfill a very important part in the economy of the twentieth century. For conveying intelligence, as well as for heating, cooking and lighting, the electric current will become one of the most familiar of all the forces called in to assist in domestic arrangements.

Reality: Sutherland deserves nearly full points for this one, though he could not quite foresee the telegraph going obsolete. If anything, he underestimates how important electricity would become in our lives. There were already electric lights in use and patents for electric stoves had been granted. The closest thing to visionary is that the first practical electric heater was patented in 1905.

He's not the only person in 1901 who could see that electricity was the wave of the future, but that's a quibble. My two favorite kinds of predictions are the spectacularly right and the spectacularly wrong. This belongs in the first category.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

We interrupt our regular schedule for a re-awakened Dalek. I'm sure that will go well.  

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!

14 April 2015

Birthdays
Arthur Bowen b. 1998 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2)
Abigail Breslin b. 1996 (Ender’s Game, Zombieland)
Skyler Samuels b. 1994 (American Horror Story, Wizards of Waverly Place)
Graham Phillips b. 1993 (Ben 10)
Jo Osmond b. 1987 (Jupiter Ascending, Maleficent, Snow White and the Huntsman, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Doctor Who)
Claire Coffee b. 1980 (Grimm)
Sarah Michelle Gellar b. 1977 (Buffy, Angel, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, The Grudge, Southland Tales, Scooby-Doo)
Rob McElhenney b. 1977 (Lost)
Adrien Brody b. 1973 (Midnight in Paris, Predators, Splice, King Kong, The Village)
Langley Kirkwood b. 1973 (Dominion, Dredd, The Prisoner [2009], Dracula 3000, Atlantis: End of a World, Birth of a Legend)
Anthony Michael Hall b. 1968 (Zombie Night, Warehouse 13, The Dark Knight, Stephen King’s The Dead Zone, No Ordinary Family, Poltergeist: The Legacy, Edward Scissorhands, Weird Science)
Tim Holmes b. 1967 (Oz the Great and Powerful, Real Steel, Highlander)
Lloyd Owen b. 1966 (The Originals, Apollo 18)
Bob Clendenin b. 1964 (Star Trek [2009], Reaper, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Tick, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Charmed, Dude, Where’s My Car?, Roswell, Star Trek: Voyager)
Gina McKee b. 1964 (MirrorMask, The Lair of the White Worm)
Robert Carlyle b. 1961 (Once Upon a Time, SGU Stargate Universe, 28 Weeks Later, Eragon)
Mark Pillow b. 1959 (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace)
John D’Aquino b. 1958 (Sliders, Xena, Lois & Clark, 3rd Rock from the Sun, SeaQuest 2032, M.A.N.T.I.S., Quantum Leap, Nightmare Café, Pumpkinhead, Amazing Stories)
Peter Capaldi b. 1958 (Doctor Who, World War Z, Torchwood, Smilla’s Feeling for Snow, The Cloning of Joanna May)
Chris Ellis b. 1956 (Warehouse 13, The Dark Knight Rises, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Island, Birds of Prey, Armageddon, Godzilla [1998], From the Earth to the Moon, The X-Files, Apollo 13, Addams Family Values)
Richard Jeni b. 1957 died 10 March 2007 (The Mask)
Bruce Sterling b. 1954 (author, Islands in the Net, The Difference Engine [with William Gibson])
Dave Gibbons b. 1949 (artist, Watchmen, Breakthrough)
John Shea b. 1949 (Agent X, Mutant X, Lois & Clark, Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Freejack, Man From Atlantis)
Berry Berenson b. 1948 died 11 September 2001 (Cat People)
Julie Christie b. 1941 (Red Riding Hood [2011], Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, DragonHeart, Fahrenheit 451, The Andromeda Breakthrough)
Arlene Martel b. 1936 died 12 August 2014 (Battlestar Galactica, The Six Million Dollar Man, Bewitched, Star Trek, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, Twilight Zone)
Erich von Daniken b. 1935 (author, Chariots of the Gods)
Jack McDevitt b. 1935 (won 2007 Nebula for Seeker)
Jay Robinson b. 1930 died 27 September 2013 (Dracula [1992], Transylvania Twist, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dr. Shrinker, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Planet of the Apes, Bewitched, Star Trek)
Bradford Dillman b. 1930 (The Incredible Hulk, Piranha, The Swarm, Wonder Woman, Bug, Escape from the Planet of the Apes)
Gerry Anderson b. 1929 died 26 December 2012 (writer, Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, Lavender Castle, Space Precinct, Space; 1999, UFO, Joe 90, Stingray, Fireball XL5, Supercar)
Rod Steiger b. 1925 died 9 July 2002 (End of Days, Modern Vampires, Mars Attacks!, The Kindred, The Illustrated Man)
Joseph Ruskin b. 1924 died 28 December 2013 (The Scorpion King, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Sword and the Sorcerer, Captain America [1979], Project U.F.O., Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Planet of the Apes, Land of the Giants, Star Trek, The Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Twilight Zone)
Philip Stone b. 1924 died 15 June 2003 (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Flash Gordon, The Medusa Touch, Star Maidens, A Clockwork Orange, Unearthly Stranger)
Mary Healy b. 1918 died 3 February 2015 (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.)
Sir John Gielgud b. 1904 died 21 May 2000 (Merlin, DragonHeart, Gulliver’s Travels, Frankenstein [1984], Frankenstein: The True Story [1973], Alice in Wonderland [1966])

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. A lot of strong candidates for the Picture Slot today. Previous winners are Sarah Michelle Gellar and Peter Capaldi, and we also have three actors who got Never to be Forgotten posts, Mary Healy, Joseph Ruskin and Arlene Martel. (Jay Robinson should have had one, but I missed his obit. My bad.) Even with all those people eliminated, there are plenty of iconic choices, but I decided on Julie Christie from Fahrenheit 451 because she is so very pretty.

2. Nepotism but not much win. Berry Berenson is the sister of Marissa Berenson and married Anthony Perkins, but she didn't spend long in front of the camera. She was aboard one of the crashed planes on September 11, so far the only person listed here in two and a half years to die that day.

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

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

Prediction: There will be no war in Europe for the next five years, but eventually war is inevitable. The war will begin as a holy war between Germany and Japan on one side and Russia on the other. Germany will keep out of war as long as possible, but will finally attack Russia unless checked by England and France. In which case Germany will become the next great Communist state.

Reality: Langdon-Davies was a right Commie bastard, to use a British-ism. He was wrong about the timing of the war since it started in 1939, about three years after he wrote his book. I'm not sure I'd call it "a holy war", but he did get all the sides right. Did Germany become "the next great Communist state"? Maybe not the way Langdon-Davies predicted, but East Germany did become Communist, so he gets partial credit there.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another visit from our sensible friend George Sutherland, gazing ahead into the 20th Century for the important inventions to come.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
 

1 April 2015

Birthdays
Asa Butterfield b. 1997 (Ender’s Game, Hugo, The Wolfman, Merlin [TV], Nanny McPhee Returns)
Matt Lanter b. 1983 (Astronaut’s Wives Club, Star Crossed, Vampires Suck, Heroes)
Sam Huntington b. 1982 (The Throwaways, Being Human, Warehouse 13, Superman Returns)
Taran Killam b. 1982 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2014], Roswell)
Hannah Spearritt b. 1981 (Primeval, Seed of Chucky)
JJ Feild b. 1978 (Captain America: The First Avenger, Blood: The Last Vampire)
Bijou Phillips b. 1980 (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead, It’s Alive [2008], Venom)
Yuko Takeuchi b. 1980 (The Ring)
Anamaria Marinca b. 1978 (Europa Report, Doctor Who)
David Oyelowo b. 1976 (Interstellar, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, A Sound of Thunder)
Alan and Albert Hughes b. 1972 (directors, The Book of Eli, From Hell)
Lachy Hulme b. 1971 (The Matrix Revolutions)
Jane Adams b. 1965 (Poltergeist [2015], Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Carnivale)
Thomas Alfredson b. 1965 (director, Let the Right One In)
James Robinson b. 1963 (writer, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Cyber Bandits)
Tony Guma b. 1962 (Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Star Trek)
Jennifer Runyon b. 1960 (Carnosaur, Quantum Leap, Space [TV], Ghostbusters)
Ivan G’Vera b. 1959 (The Village, Terminator: Salvation Alien Nation [TV])
Denise Nickerson b. 1957 (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Dark Shadows)
Barry Sonnenfeld b. 1953 (director, Pushing Daisies, Men in Black, The Addams Family, The Tick)
Annette O’Toole b. 1952 (Smallville, It, Superman, Cat People)
Heather Young b. 1945 (Galactica 1980, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Batman)
Samuel R. Delany b. 1942 (won 1967 Nebula for Babel-17, won 1968 Nebula for The Einstein Connection)
Don Steele b. 1936 died 5 August 1997 (Gremlins, Death Race 2000)
Gordon Jump b. 1932 died 22 September 2003 (Hard Time on Planet Earth, Amazing Stories, The Incredible Hulk, The Fury, The Bionic Woman, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Bewitched)
Debbie Reynolds b. 1932 (Halloweentown)
George Baker b. 1931 died 7 October 2011 (The Canterville Ghost, Doctor Who, The Prisoner)
Grace Lee Whitney b. 1930 (Star Trek, Batman, Bewitched, The Outer Limits)
Betsy Jones-Moreland b. 1930 died 1 May 2006 (The Outer Limits, My Favorite Martian, Creature from the Haunted Sea, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent)
Jonathan Haze b. 1929 (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Terror, Viking Women and the Sea Serpent, Not of this Earth, It Conquered the World, The Day the World Ended, Monster from the Ocean Floor)
Michael O’Herlihy b. 1928 died 16 June 1997 (director, Logan’s Run [TV], Star Trek)
George Grizzard b. 1928 died 2 October 2007 (Twilight Zone, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
Anne McCaffrey b. 1926 died 21 November 2011 (author, Dragonriders of Pern series, The Ship Who… series)
Ned Glass b. 1906 died 15 June 1984 (Kolchak: The Night Stalker, I Dream of Jeannie, Mr. Terrific, Bewitched, My Living Doll, Twilight Zone, War of the Worlds)
Lon Chaney b. 1883 died 26 August 1930 (London After Midnight, The Phantom of the Opera)
Edgar Wallace b. 1875 died 10 February 1932 (writer, King Kong)

Notes form the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to writer Samuel R. Delany and Heather Young from Land of the Giants. Even with those two excluded, these plenty of iconic choices. Being a geezer, I'm often not up to date on the work of the youngest actors on the list, but Asa Butterfield was Hugo in Hugo and Ender Wiggins in Ender's Game. On the other end of the age spectrum, a poster of King Kong to honor writer Edgar Wallace or a picture of Lon Chaney (Sr.) as The Phantom of the Opera would still count as iconic. But as luck would have it, we've gone a week without fabulous babes, So Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Rand from the original Star Trek gets the nod.

2. Nepotism FTW. Bijou Phillips is the daughter of John Phillips from The Mamas and the Papas and his third wife Genevieve Waite.

3. No nepotism here. George Baker has Doctor Who on his resume, but he is not related to either Tom Baker or Colin Baker, both of whom played The Doctor. (Tom and Colin are not kin, either.) George was one of the Number Two actors in the first episode of The Prisoner. American audiences of a certain age probably know him best as Tiberius in I, Claudius.

4. MST3K. The only two movies I know for sure were on MST3K are Viking Women Versus the Sea Serpent and It Conquered the World.

5. Living Canadian free! Somewhat surprising to have no Canadians on a list this long, but that is the case today.

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

Movie released
The Incredible Shrinking Man released, 1957
 

Predictor: George Sutherland in the 1901 book Twentieth Century Inventions

Prediction: The circular fan, placed in the centre piece of the ceiling and controlled by an electric switch on the wall, is the principal type of apparatus applicable to the purposes of ventilation. As electric lighting of dwelling-houses becomes more common, and ultimately almost universal within cities, the practice will be to arrange for lighting and for ventilation at the same time. But, unfortunately, the current now principally employed for electric lighting and consisting of a series of impulses, first in one direction and then in the opposite, "alternating" with wonderful rapidity, is not well adapted for driving small motors of the types now in use.

Reality: Regular readers will know I am keen on George Sutherland because he is practical and well-informed, which does not guarantee accurate predictions. This prediction is accurate, as fans and lights on the same switch are very common, but there were already patents in place for A/C motors in the 1880s, in the United States by Nicola Tesla and in the U.K. by Elihu Thomson. It's possible not all the bugs had been worked out when Sutherland was writing this, but it was due to lack of intellectual firepower working on the problem.

 

This month's splash illustration: Back when special effects in movies were not all that special, pulp magazines were the prime source for fans who wanted science fiction (or scientifiction, as this magazine called it) and plenty of it. I wanted to use one of the many logos from the magazines back in the middle of the 20th Century and this version of Amazing Stories just beat out the Weird Tales logo.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another clunker from The Experts Speak.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
  

23 March 2015

 Birthdays
Vanessa Morgan b. 1992 (My Babysitter’s a Vampire)
Steven Strait b. 1986 (10,000 BC, Sky High, The Covenant)
Anastasia Griffith b. 1978 (Once Upon a Time)
Nicholle Tom b. b. 1978 (Gotham, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [2006], Welcome to Paradox)
Michelle Monaghan b. 1976 (Source Code)
Keri Russell b. 1976 (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Dark Skies, Honey I Blew Up the Kid)
Jaume Collet-Serra b. 1974 (House of Wax [2005])
Melissa Errico b. 1970 (Frequency)
Marin Hinkle b. 1966 (The Haunting of Molly Hartley, Quarantine, Frequency)
Sarah Buxton b. 1965 (Freddy’s Nightmares, Otherworld)
Hope Davis b. 1964 (Real Steel, Flatliners)
John Pinnette b. 1964 died 5 April 2014 (The Punisher)
Jason Schombing b. 1963 (Supernatural, Alice [2009], Watchmen, Smallville, Tin Man, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Fantastic Four, Mutant X, Seven Days, Stargate SG-1, The New Addams Family, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, NightMan, Early Edition, Timecop, The X Files, I Still Dream of Jeannie)
Jenny Wright b. 1962 (Enchanted, The Lawnmower Man, Near Dark)
Charlene Ferenetz b. 1960 (Sabrina the Teenage Witch [Movie and TV], Mann & Machine)
Catherine Keener b. 1959 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Where the Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich, S1m0ne)
Amanda Plummer b. 1957 (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Vampire, Battlestar Galactica, The Vampyre Wars, Dark Skies, The Prophecy, Needful Things, Freejack, The Hidden Room, Tales from the Crypt)
Teresa Ganzel b. 1957 (Hexed, They Came from Outer Space, The Charmings, The Twilight Zone [1986], Transylvania 6-5000)
Sal Lizard b. 1955 (Young Blood: Evil Intentions, Hillbilly Bob Zombie, I Am Legend [2007])
Kim Stanley Robinson b. 1952 (won the 1993 Nebula for Red Mars, 1994 Hugo for Green Mars, 1997 Nebula for Blue Mars, 2012 Nebula for 2312)
John William Young b. 1951 (Frankenstein General Hospital)
Barbara Rhoades b. 1947 (Quark, Tabitha, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Ghost Busters [1975], Far Out Space Nuts, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Scream Blacula Scream, Bewitched)
Terry Alexander b. 1947 (Day of the Dead, Salvage 1, The Werewolf of Washington)
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough b. 1947 (won the 1990 Nebula for The Healer’s War)
Tony Burton b. 1937 (Poltergeist: The Legacy, Hook, The Shining, The Incredible Hulk, Gemini Man, The Invisible Man)
Kenneth Tobey b. 1917 died 22 December 2002 (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Honey I Blew Up the Kid, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Innerspace, The Twilight Zone [1986], Gremlins, Strange Invaders, The Howling, Galactica 1980, The Vampire, It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Thing from Another World)
Joan Crawford b. 1905 died 10 May 1977 (The Sixth Sense [1972], Trog, Night Gallery)
H. Beam Piper b. 1904 died 11 November 1964 (author, Little Fuzzy, Flight from Tomorrow)
Philip Ober b. 1902 died 13 September 1982 (I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, The Brass Bottle, Twilight Zone)

Notes from the birthday list.
1. The Picture Slot. In previous years, the Picture Slot went to Michelle Monaghan, certainly fabulous but questionably iconic in genre, and Kenneth Tobey, who showed up in several 1950s monster movies. While we have an honest to Odin movie star in Joan Crawford, I think the writers on the list today are more iconic than the actors, so the Picture Slot goes to the three Mars books of Kim Stanley Robinson, each of which won either a Nebula or a Hugo, a rare feat for a trilogy. For example, George R.R. Martin currently has a total of... let me check... ZERO Hugos and ZERO Nebulas for the first five books of the Song of Ice and Fire.

2. Canadians, true and false. If you followed the standard operating procedure for Canadian spotting, the obvious choice is Jason Schombing, but he was born in Philadelphia and I can find no independent confirmation that he moved to Canada, though it certainly looks like he did. The native Canadians are Charlene Ferenetz and Vanessa Morgan, but their nationality is not made clear by their credit lists.

3. Nepotism FTW. Amanda Plummer is the daughter of Christopher Plummer, a Canadian, and Tammy Grimes, a Yank. Amanda was born in New York City and there is no sign of her claiming dual citizenship.

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


Movie released
The Hunger Games released, 2012

 Predictor: The OMNI Future Almanac, published in 1982

Prediction: In the future, plants that stand in a farm field will be only one part of a carefully controlled agricultural chain. The husks will be used after harvest to make gasohol to run the machines that preserve the harvested crop. The water that nourished the plants will be carefully recaptured and used again the next season. Nutrients lacking in the soils will be provided by farmers growing genetically engineered plants in the off season that spew the need nutrients from their roots into the soil. The future farmer will be the model of efficiency and his farm a self-contained eco-system.


Reality: It's a little odd to read such a pro-environment prediction that speaks well of genetically engineered plants, but it was written thirty three years ago when there were more pro-science environmentalist types than there are today. According to the best information we have here in drought-stricken California, the modern farm is hardly self-contained and they want their water NOW and FUCK ALL THE REST OF YOU!

I may be paraphrasing.

Never to be Forgotten: Gregory Walcott 1928-2015 Gregory Walcott, who died this week at the age of 87, had 114 credits, both film and TV, starting in the 1950s and continuing through the 1990s. One of his luckiest breaks was to catch the eye of Clint Eastwood, who cast Walcott as the foil to Eastwood the star, destined of course to fail, regardless of whether Clint was the good guy or the bad guy. But as Walcott well knew and his obituaries prove, he is best remembered for being in Plan Nine from Outer Space, incorrectly billed as the Worst Film Ever Made. Fans of MST3K can likely name five films just as bad or worse, from Manos: The Hands of Fate to Red Zone Cuba, with a few Gamera films thrown in for good measure.

Several of the other actors had next to no career after Plan Nine, some because of actual death and others merely career death, but Walcott's career was unscathed by appearing in this turkey, as was Lyle Talbott's. (Note: I am not saying Plan Nine is good, I just question its ranking as the worst.) Walcott's other appearance in genre include  House II: Second Story, The Six Million Dollar Man, Land of the Lost, Gemini Man and The Invisible Man [1975].

Best wishes to the family and friends of Gregory Walcott, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.


Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!

Another prediction from John Langdon-Davies 1936 book A Brief History of the Future.

Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!