Greetings loyal airmen.  It hasn't been all that great a week around the old 27 Hangar.  Two main causes of gloom are the weather and the Red Sox.  It seems while the rest of the country has been roasting and suffering awful forest fires throughout the west, we here in New England have had four steady days of heavy rains.  Rains, that would be heaven sent to all those fire-fighters battling those horrendous blazes.  We look out at our backyard every day and see our flowers bending under the never-ending downpours and wonder if the sun is ever going to show his face again?

Then we turn on the TV at night and watch our beloved Red Sox implode with some of the worst playing imaginable.  I'm worried that my talk about superstitions last week may have been a jinx in and of itself, because bad luck or karma (whatever you want to call it) seems to have made Fenway Park its home.   The pitching is at the heart  of their woes, with Julien Tavarez proving once and for all he is NOT a starter.  The guy can't get through three innings without getting into trouble.  And now their 51 Million Dollar Wonder Boy from Japan, Dice-K is looking to have as much talent as a Double-A rookie.  His performance his last two outings should have the front office sick to their collective stomachs.  July 31st is the trading cut-off.  The last day teams can trade players.  I'm betting, hell, I'm praying we're going to see some major changes come August 1st.  Because if we don't…well, that's too sad to contemplate.

Another sour note.  Yesterday it was announced in Hollywood that actor/comedian, Seth Grogen, was going to be involved with a new Green Hornet movie.  The Green Hornet is a character I was intimately involved with for several years, as the main writer of his adventures for Now Comics.  Thing is Grogen the pudgy guy who recently co-starred in the hilarious romantic comedy, KNOCKED UP.  If they are really considering having him portray the Hornet, then they cannot be serious in their approach to the material.  All I am envisioning is they will camp it up and turn it into a farce like Adam West did to Batman years ago.  The idea disgust me.  Let's hope it is just a stupid, Hollywood rumor.  They are really good at promoting those.

Of course there were glimmers of fun, happy moments.  One was having our granddaughter, Chelsea, spend a night with us this past week.  We took her to see the new Harry Potter (Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix) movie and all of us give it a big thumbs up.  The movie is very grim, but does convey the book it is based on and works extremely well in setting up the conflicts that will arise in the subsequent chapters.  Speaking of which, J.K.Rowlings's final installment hits bookstore shelves tonight at midnight.  I can't wait to dig into this  final volume of the boy wizard's adventures.  It's been a fun ride and my hat is off to Rowlings to proving once and for all that kids will indeed read, if you give them something that is worthwhile reading.  Something that grabs their imaginations and doesn't let go.  If you've never read a Harry Potter book, do yourselves a big favor and try one.  You might be surprised.

                                
Speaking of such, the good folks at Ace Books were gracious enough to send me a review copy of  the novel, 52 by Greg Cox.  It is the novelization of the year long comics series DC recently wrapped up.  I'm half way through it and enjoying it immensely.  Thank God for good books on rainy days.   Of course I'll be posting a complete review at my Pulp Fiction Reviews site when done.  But in the meanwhile, should you see the book, pick it up.  It is much, much fun.

And there you go.  A ho-hum, wet soggy week we seem to have survived.  Here's hoping that big yellow orb that rides the skies makes an appearance real soon.

Ron – Over and Out.