BASIL  POLEDOURIS   (1945-2006)

Greetings loyal airmen.   As most of you know, I am a big fan of movie music and thus was extremely saddened this past week when I learned of the passing of one our most gifted Hollywood composers.  On Nov.8th (just thtree days after I celebrated my own 60th birthday) Basil Poledouris died at the young age of 61 from complications due to cancer.  I was truly stunned upon learning this and now, days later, it still leaves me with a sense of tremendous loss.  Poledouris came on the music scene via his college association with director John Milius.  When Milius filmed his 60s cult favorite, BIG WEDNESDAY, he tapped his friend to write the music and thus was launched a fantastic twenty year career.   Poledouris went on to write the scores for CONAN,
THE BLUE LAGOON, ROBO-COP, STARTSHIP TROOPERS and FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME, amongst dozens of lesser known works.  He also composed LONESOME DOVE for the Emmy winning TV mini-series and a few years later did the music for Tom Selleck's rollicking Australian cowboy flick, QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER.

Poledouris claimed that his two biggest influences were the genius 30s Hollywood composer, Miklas Rosza and his own upbringing in the Greek Orthodox Church.  His music was filled with a tremendous range and he could provide sci-fi action thrills galore, or sweep you across westeran American plains ala Aaron Copeland.   As I write this, I'm listening to LONESOME DOVE on my stereo and saying a pray, Thanks Basil, for all the wonderful music…and a sweet, Good Night.

Having a little extra spending cash last week from my birthday haul, I picked up a few DVD movies that had long been on my wish-list.  One of the these was what I consider a very prophetic science-fiction melodrama called THE TRUMAN SHOW.  Released way-way back in 1998, it was the story of a fantastic television program that centered around the life of one man who did not know he was being filmed.   Truman Burbank is taken at the moment of this birth and put in gigantic artificial village that is in reality a giant set saturated with hidden cameras for the single purpose of capturing his every waking second of life.   Written by Andrew Niccol and brilliantly directed by Peter Weir, the movie starred Jim Carey in his first dramatic role and co-starred Ed Harris as the god-like director who watches over Truman.

The movie creeped me out when I first saw it theaters as I understood its warning.  Beware the Boob Tube.  If we allow it to, it will invade every single aspect of our lives.  Of course, movie audiences in 1998 couldn't have foreseen just how farseeing THE TRUMAN SHOW really was.   Today, ten years later, all one has to do is turn on TV any night of the week and see peoples lives displayed nakedly for the world to ogle.  They call it “reality TV”.   I call it a legal invasion of privacy and the human soul.   In his sci-fi classic thriller, 1984, writer George Orwell warned us to beware of Big Brother…that intrusive governement eye that would insinuate itself into our daily lives.  Sadly Orwell was off a wee bit, as it wasn't Government that became Big Brother…but us!

Finally, I received a wonderful fan letter yesterday from a gentlemen who had just finished reading my first Captain Hazzard novel, PYTHON MEN OF THE LOST CITY.  Here's part of it.   “…and enjoyed it tremendously.  I was a little reluctant to purchase it when I heard it was a re-doing of another pulp, but after reading the original tale about 2 weeks ago and being a little dissapointed with it, even though it did have some potential to be a really good adventure;  I thought I would check out what you did to the story.  Your contribution fleshed out the story in many ways and made it much more enjoyable.  I'm glad I decided to buy this along with the follow-up novel, and I will be buying your other pulp novels in the days to come.”  Tom Keenan.

Wow, thanks a million, Tom, I really appreciate your taking a chance on my books.   Airmen, both Captain Hazzard pulps…PYTHON MEN OF THE LOST CITY and the new THE CITADEL OF FEAR are still very much available.  Just go to my Air Fare page and check them out.   Like Tom, I think you'll be glad you did.

All done for another week.  Thanksgiving next week!!  Unbelievable how fast the year is flying by.  Have a great week, airmen.  Ron, over and out.