When it changed

40 years ago a film buff took all he could remember of Buck Rogers, Seven Samurai, World War II movies (both sides), and the Masterplots guide to The Hero with 1000 Faces, and made a movie with lotsa battles, unprecedented special effects, and magnificent scenery that the actors sometimes blocked our view of. That’s when sf became sci-fi.

ETA: It was also the year that Terry Brooks cut the interesting parts out of Lord of the Rings and created not only a bestseller but a template for the infinite replication of fantasy product. Anus mirabilis, or something.

Showbiz

Can we disrupt the symbiosis between ISIS and 24-hour news?

Thanx to andrewducker

satirists cannot work under these conditions

NRA person says the way to deal with someone who has a backpack full of explosives is to shoot him before he does any harm. Also blames “gender-bending.”