40YRS AGO TODAY

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU! HAPPY STAR WARS DAY. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of STARSHIP EROS (1980) premiering in XXX theaters. A parody of 60's & 70's sci-fi shows, this goofy schlock is about an all-female crew on a spaceship who in traveling in the distant universe, spend plenty of time in gangbangs with their male droid -- a straight up C-3PO clone bordering HEAVILY on copyright infringement. Outside of the sex, everyone is then called upon to help stop an attack on earth by galactic Amazons. More amusing than arousing, SE is a short, cheap, cheesy, cheerful hodgepodge of stiff dialogue, low rent cardboard sets, dodgey camera work, bad stock footage, and lousy green screen fx. And this entire combo helps make the film all the more laughable.

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the publication debut of LEG SHOW magazine (1980). This was different from an early version that ran from 1961-65/66 (where one of the contributors was underground cartoonist & bondage fantasy/fetish artist Eric Stanton), and also a 2-magazine run in 1974. The final print issue was Aug 2012.


MAY 1980 ON THE WORLD STAGE The siege of the Iranian embassy in London has ended after a dramatic raid by SAS commandos. Five Iranian gunmen were killed, and one was arrested after an escape. Nineteen hostages were set free but one died and 2 were injured in the crossfire. Millions of people watched the storming of the building live on television as bank holiday entertainment on all 3 channels was interrupted to show the real-life drama unfold. More than 30 masked troops stormed the embassy building from the balcony, and front & back doors throwing grenades through the windows. Screams were heard from inside the building and some 15 minutes later the hostages emerged and were escorted by Scotland Yard police to waiting ambulances. The siege began 5 days ago when 6 gunmen took over the Iranian embassy in Kensington. After the terrorists had taken control they executed 2 hostages. Most of their hostages were fellow Iranians but also included embassy police guard PC Trevor Lock, BBC sound man Sim Harris, BBC news organizer Chris Cramer and tourists who had stopped by to collect visas. Four of the captives - including Mr. Cramer - were released over the last week for medical reasons. The terrorists belonged to a dissident Iranian group opposed to Ayatollah Khomeini, the religious leader who came to power last year in February. They wanted the release of 91 political prisoners held in Iran (to which their demand was refused) as well as an aircraft to take them and the hostages out of the UK. The Home Secretary William Whitelaw ordered the attack on the 6th day of the occupation after the gunmen shot dead Iranian press attaché Abbas Lavasani and dumped his body outside the building. Speaking through PC Lock who relayed the demands from an embassy window to police officers on the ground, they then threatened to kill the rest of the hostages and blow up the embassy if their demands were not met. The Iranian government approved the use of force and President Bani-Sadr announced the SAS raid as a victory. In a broadcast he said "We did not surrender, we became victorious." Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has visited the SAS barracks in Kensington to congratulate the troops on a successful mission, codenamed Operation Nimrod.

At least 9 people have died after the massive eruption of Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington State,USA. Many more are missing and the death toll is expected to rise along with many homes, railways and bridges being affected. A huge cloud of ash beleived to have risen some 80,000 feet into the atmosphere has turned day into night for towns & cities across northwestern America. As people have been told to stay indoors and wear gauze masks, many roads have been closed, trains halted and aircraft grounded. Financial damage is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions. Mount St. Helens exploded at 08:32AM local time, triggering an earthquake measuring 5.2 on the richter scale with the north face of the mountain collapsing in a massive landslide. At the same time, a giant mushroom-shaped cloud of ash rose 15 miles (24km) into the sky in just 15 minutes. Then avalanches of hot ash, pumice and gas known as pyroclastic flows poured out of the crater. Westerly winds have blown millions of tons of ash across the United States turning blue skies grey as far as Spokane,Washington - 250 miles (400km) away. Atleast another 11 states and some Canadian provinces are said to have also received some of the aftermath of the plumage. Nearly 150 square miles (240 sq km) of forest has been destroyed and it is believed thousands of wild animals have been killed. One of those who died was local celebrity 84yr old Harry Truman. The former president's namesake had consistently refused to leave his motel at the foot of the mountain beside Spirit Lake. He stayed with his 16 cats and 18 racoons while about 2000 people were evacuated from the area in the last few weeks as the mountain threatened to blow. The lake has been wiped out by the massive force of the eruption along with boiling mud flows activated by mountain snow that melted in the severely intense heat. With the explosion believed to equal the power of 500 atomic bombs, Dr. Bob Christiansen of the US Geological Survey who predicted the huge eruption said another major blast was unlikely.