Greetings Loyal Airmen. A few weeks ago we reported that we had been recruited to write an new Avenger story for a forthcoming anthology from Moonstone books.

                
                       Cover of First Avenger mag 1939

Created by Street & Smith, this pulp hero was a late comer, first appearing on the magazine racks in 1939.  Richard Henry Benson is a world traveling adventurer.  When his wife Alicia and their daughter Alice are brutally murdered by gangsters, he suffers a physical shock that leaves his hair white and all the nerve muscles in his face dead. He can thus mold them into any shape and become the greatest disguise expert of them all.  Using this bizarre ability, plus many others he learned over the years, Benson creates an organization called Justice Incorporated for the sole purpose of going after criminals the law cannot touch.  He recruits a small, but loyal band of similarly motivated people and thus the series kicked off.

Being asked to write an Avenger story was both a thrill and a tremendous challenge. Our story is called VENGEANCE IS MINE and divulges the background on a particular aspect of the Avenger's life that was never completely explained in the novels.  We turned it in yesterday and are anxiously awaiting the editor's response and verdict with all fingers crossed.  In the fiction game there are never any guarantees.  We will of course keep you posted.

Two years ago actor Ben Stiller starred in a funny movie called NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, wherein he played a night guard in the New York Museum of Natural History and witnessed all the exhibitions coming to life.  All the mannequins, through an old Egyptian magic, were alive only at night.  Characters from Genghis Khan to Teddy Roosevelt, wonderfully played by Robin Williams.  Much to everyone's surprise, including the producers, the movie was a hit and this past summer they released as sequel, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM – Battle for the Smithsonian.  Having seen it at the theaters, we were very anxious to have it come out on DVD and it did so this past week.

               
                         Amy Adams & Ben Stiller

Of course as one would expect, most of the regular cast from the first movie were back in this new one, but the real fun here was the additional historical figures that were added.  Amy Adams as aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart totally steals the movie with her effervescence portrayal of the plucky flier who was so ahead of her time in so many ways.  She totally shines in this role.

               
                            Christopher Guest & Hank Azaria

The second delight of this sequel is comic actor Hank Azaria portraying the evil Pharaoh who wishes the Egyptian tablet to take over the world.  Azaria plays him broadly using his voice mimicking skills to speak like the late Boris Karloff.  From the moment he appears on screen, the entire film is elevated into a new comedic level and he never lets up once.  There are several times when he and Ben Stiller completetly improvise their dialogue into pure screen silliness that is hilarious.  This is a funny-funny movie, and Ye Old Air Chief and Val give it two big thumbs up.

On another terrific note, our oldest granddaughter, Kristi, received her first college acceptance notice yesterday.  She is a high school senior graduating next year and had applied to half a dozen schools in the New England area. Yesterday's letter was only the first.  She is such a talented, bright student, we know she'll receive more as the weeks go by.  And we couldn't be prouder of her than we are right now.  It will be fascinating to see which school she finally chooses.

Lastly, the temperature rose to 69 degrees here today.  On Dec. 3rd in southern New Hampshire.  The TV weather guy said that was a full eleven degrees over the previously recorded high for this date.  Wow. And of course we loved every single minute of it.  Winter will come all too soon, so we take advantage of these rare, beautifully warm days.

And that's it for another week, Loyal Airmen.  Hope you are getting your Christmas shopping done early to avoid those last minute stampedes.  Till next week, take care and be happy.
Ron – Over & Out

Greetings Loyal Airmen. Well here we are, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Now known as Black Friday because this has become the official first day of the Christmas shopping season. Let's not even bother to consider what that says about our culture, wherein we start wondering about things to buy instead of celebrating the coming of the Lord of Peace. Right. And before anything else, it is Christmas we celebrate and not some no-name generate Holiday.  We celebrate Christ-mas  because America was settled predominantly by Christians and to this day is still populated by a majority that call themselves Christians; followed by other religions with atheists coming last in numbers. We are sorry if those numbers offend them but those are the facts. We are a Christian democratic society.

Which is why this scramble to buy and sell is bothersome to many of us. Of course not everyone is out there fighting and clawing in stores and shops. We'd like to believe most of our Loyal Airmen are spending some very wonderful time with their families, after having enjoyed the bounty of our land yesterday.  Be it watching footballs, going hunting for the family Christmas tree or simply sharing a few minutes of lively conversation over a cup of coffee. It's a nice time for families to catch up with one another, to take a break from the scramble of every day living and relax, recharge the old spiritual batteries.

As most Loyal Airmen know, the Air Chief is a big, big fan of movie music.  One of our two favorite films this year was the new STAR TREK. (The other was Pixar's UP, if you are interested.)  Upon viewing that science fiction adventure in the theater, both Valerie and the Air Chief were immediately aware of the beautiful score that underlined the events on the screen.  It took us only a few cues to decided we would hunt up this disc and own it.
Thus the other day, while working on a new comic book script, we threw in the STAR TREK score and played it as we worked.  One of the things we've learned over the years is that Hollywood writer/directors often form long lasting partnerships with the composers with whom they are associated first.  Such is the case here.  When writer producer, J.J. Abrams launched his super successful TV series, LOST, he hired Michael Giacchino to write the music for that show.  At the time Giacchino was a virtual unknown in the business. Abrams wanted old fashion orchestra-produced music for the series.  Giacchino gave him a truly marvelous, original tableu of melodies and cues that have since become fully ingrained into the show.  It is inconceivable to imagine LOST today without hearing some of those familiar, haunting melodies.

Thus it was no surprise that when given the opportunity to relaunch the Star Trek franchise with a new, exciting re-boot feature film that Abrams would hire Giacchino to write the music.  And as we've already said, the guy delivered a truly grand, sweeping score that is filled with exciting and emotional motifs.  Aside from the half dozen familiar characters, the story is really about one man and his rise above adversity, that man being James T.Kirk.  Giacchino's score takes us on that life journey adding another beautiful layer to that tale.  It is one of the finest scores we have ever heard and discover something new in it with each new listen.

Segueing from that topic, this time of the season does often mean new block-buster film releases and we are truly looking forward to two of these.  The first being James Cameron's powerful FX sci-fi wonder, AVATAR.  It looks to be another ground breaking step up for film making.  The other is SHERLOCK HOLMES starring Robert Downey Jr. as the great detective and Jude Law as his loyal companion, Dr.Watson.  The Air Chief has loved these characters since he first discovered them as a teenager in high school and we are anxiously awaiting what looks to be a truly fun interpretation of these classic heroes.  We do love movies.

Once again, we hope all of you are having a great holiday.  Son Scott and grandson Logan popped up yesterday afternoon to brighten our own celebration and will be staying another day.  Yahoo.  Till next week, enjoy this time with your loved ones…and all those yummy leftovers in the fridge.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen, here we are a week away from Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. Once again the year seems to have sped by us in the blink of an eye. Lots of very cool things happening here at Hangar 27 and we want to update all of you on what the Air Chief has been up to.  But first a few words about that amazing Star Wars symphony concert that Valerie and the Air Chief attended last Wednesday night in Manchester. It was simply spectacular! The live music by the amazing John Williams was so beautifully played, against the backdrop of a giant HD screen on which scenes from all six Star Wars were projected. My fondest memory of that evening was looking across that huge stadium to the crowds seated in the stands opposite our box seats. In the dark, many youngsters in attendance were waving their glowing light saber toys. One particular fan, with a green glowing saber, was actually moving it in time with the conductor's baton, as if he, with that toy light was actually leading the orchestra. To all the people who created and put on this magnificent evening, our heartfelt thanks. It is playing at theaters and stadiums across the country. If any of you Loyal Airmen have an opportunity to catch it, Valerie and the Air Chief give two big thumbs up. Do not miss it.

         
                       Characters from Dr.Demise & the Space Gypsies by Eric Hurley

Earlier in the year, over at the Digital Webbing Presents website, the Air Chief struck up a friendship with a talented young artist named Eric Hurley. We liked his work a great deal and saw much potential in it. Enough so that we continued to applaud and encourage any new works Eric would post on that site. Then, as summer came along, we stopped communicating, as each of us obviously had lots of other things keeping us occupied. Then out of the blue, several weeks ago Eric contacted us with some terrific news.  He was planning on a starting up a web-comic strip and was wondering if Ye Old Air Chief would be interested in scripting it.

        
                                        Doctor Demise & Madame Destiny by Eric Hurley

Eric had an ideas for a wild space opera he called DR.DEMISE & THE SPACE GYPSIES. He sent along half a dozen really cool drawings and sketches and asked us to give them names and biographies.  Something we love doing.  Creating a fleshed out plot based on Eric's nugget of an idea, the project is coming together quickly.  As more of it develops, we will be certain to keep you posted, especially once it is up and running on-line. 

The pulp side of things, as yet more exciting news.  Once of the greatest classic pulp characters ever created was Richard Henry Benson, better known as the Avenger. His magazine, published by the same people who did the Shadow and Doc Savage, first appeared on the newsstands in 1940. Later in the 1970s Bantam paperback reprinted the entire run in their paperback series, the first of these reprinted above. It was here the Air Chief first discovered this great pulp hero. Last year Moonstone Books published an Avenger's anthology with all new stories by some of today's best thriller writers. Apparently the book was was extremely successful because two weeks ago they announced they would be doing two new volumes in this series and Ye Old Air Chief was invited to contribute a story for book # 2.  To say we are excited would be a whopping understatement.  Moonstone is a fine outfit and their series of new pulp titles have been wonderful.  We've already done stories for their Spider, Phantom and Domino Lady titles and this will be our fourth story for them.  Again we'll keep you posted on the book's progress and when to expect it.

Keeping on the pulp track, we want to remind you that this past Tuesday night we were the guest of Ric Croxton and Dr.Art Sippo on their podcast show, the Bookcave.  We discussed our Captain Hazzard novels, how we came to write them, the process involved and our plans for the series' future.  It was a lot of fun, Ric and Art making it so and we hope all of you will stop by the Bookcave website and give it a listen. The show ran just a little over an hour. (http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/) – The episode (#49) will be posted on Friday morning, 20th Nov. Thanks Ric and Art for making this so much fun.

And there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  We want to wish all of you and your loved ones a truly Happy Thanksgiving.  When giving thanks, remember, the real blessings in our lives are the people in them, our family and our friends.  Everything else is secondary. That said, part of my prayer will be thanking the Good Lord for each and every one of you.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen. This week's Flight Log comes to you early, as the Air Chief has a full plate this week.  Yesterday afternoon, Valerie flew home after a month in Colorado visiting our son Alan and his family.  We are so happy to have her back home, and getting our lives back to some semblance of routine.  But watch that get all twisted around starting tomorrow night no less.  We are heading down to Manchester to attend the Star Wars concert at the Verizon Center.  If you are unfamiliar with this program, it is an amazing show that features a one hundred member symphonic orchestra playing cuts from John Williams scores from the six Star Wars movies, while on the world's biggest High Definition screen, scenes from the movies are projected.

As an avowed, dedicated fan of film music, we were thrilled when we first learned of this engagement and scrambled to get tickets.  Happily a family relative came through for us and provided us with box seats for the show.  Realizing this would be happening within days of Val's return home, we went the extra step and booked a hotel room at the Radisson across the street from the stadium.  Thus the Air Chief and his lady are going to make a really nice, get away night of it all.  And thus why we will not be here to do up the Flight Log as usual.  Thus you Loyal Airmen get to see it early this week.

                          
A long while back, we had the good fun of reading and reviewing Max Allan Collins' thriller THE LAST QUARRY from one of our favorite publishers, Hard Case Crime.  Quarry is the stoic hitman, Collins created years ago and has appeared in a half dozen of his books.  Upon reading this terrific paperback, we learned that it was in fact the expansion of several other pieces starting with a short story called A MATTER OF PRINCIPAL.  This little tale was later used as the basis of a film script co-written by Collins Peter Biegen which was directed by Jeffrey Goodman as THE LAST LULLABY.

When we learned about this film, we went searching the web to see if it might be available somewhere. Sadly we came up empty-handed.  Being a fan of Collins' work, we were really anxious to see this movie.  Lo and behold, several weeks ago a package arrived in the mail from said writer.  Initially we thought it was his latest book and we were wrong.  It was a DVD copy of THE LAST LULLABY.  Talk about a wonderful surprise.  Several days later we threw in the machine and sat down to watch it.  Note, for whatever reasons, Collins opts to change the name of his protagonist in the film, where in he becomes Jack Price, rather than Quarry.  Veteran actor Tom Sizemore plays the laconic, world weary hitman who comes out of retirement to take on one more job.  He is excellent in the role, playing it with a quiet, understated drive that is nothing less than riveting.  He is aided considerably by a stellar cast headed by the lovely and talented Sasha Alexander.  This is a gem of a noir story and director Goodman deftly brings it along in a such a relaxed pace, we marveled at how perfect the entire viewing experience was.  Oh, don't get us wrong, there's plenty of violence here, but it serves the story but it is the characters that pull us along from scene to another.  THE LAST LULLABY has won numerous awards at various film festivals, which comes as no surprise.  And we are happy to say, it is available for sale on-line by simply go to (www.the lastlullaby.com).   Loyal Airmen, if you like tough, gritty, no-nonsense crime tales, please go and pick this up.  You can thank us later.

Moving back into the world of pulps, all you Loyal Airmen are aware that for the past two years we have been writing brand new novels featuring Captain Hazzard and his brave gang of five.  A few weeks ago we received an invitation by pulp fan Ric Croxton to appear on his popular podcast show, the Bookcave.  Ric, along with his co-host, Dr.Art Sippo, have come up with a pulp-book-of-the-month club wherein once a month they announce which pulp book they are going to read, hope their listeners will do the same and then fire off questions to them about that particular title.  All leading to a show where the author is a guest and answers the gathered questions.  And that is what is going to be happening next week.  Ric and Art have chosen as their first pulp book to read, our second Captain Hazzard novel, CITADEL OF FEAR.

Above is the cover to that book as it was published several years ago by Wild Cat Books.  WCB no longer has the rights to the book and I believe places like Amazon and Barnes & Nobles no longer have copies in their inventories.  WCB may still have a few, as we did see them selling such at this year's Pulp Fest in Columbus, Ohio.  Thing is, Loyal Airmen, early next year, Airship 27 Productions will be reprinting this very book, so stay tuned.  In the meanwhile, any of you who do have this first printing and would like to participate with next week's podcast, can send your questions about it (or any other Hazzard book in this series) to Ric at the following e-mail address (ric.croxton@gmail.com) – And please do so before next Tuesday, 17th Nov.  That is the evening we will be doing the actual show. Ric informs us, after he's edited it, it will be posted on his Bookcave site for the following Friday, 19th Nov.  So if any of you Loyal Airmen have ever wanted to ask the Air Chief about Captain Hazzard, here's your chance.

And there you go, Loyal Airmen.  Another week's Flight Log wrapped up.  Take care, stay healthy and we'll see you all back here next week at our regular Friday morning time.
Ron – Over & Out!

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  Several times in the past we've used the Flight Log to show all of you how we came up with the ideas for some of our pulp covers and the executions, in various stages, of those cover images.  Last week we announced the release of our Dr.Watson novel, SEASON OF MADNESS.  Today we'll show you how that dramatic cover came together.

We are always on the look out for classic pulp covers that, for whatever reasons, strike us as dramatic and with potential to be adapted for various scenarios.  Above is the cover an old Saucy Romantic Adventure that we found on the net months ago and saved in our Pulp Illos file.  Upon reading through writer Aaron Smith's tale of Dr.Watson, we came upon a scene in which the good doctor is in a dark, cellar maze hunting a mysterious, white skinned, bald fellow who has kidnapped a young lady.  As Watson moves through these ill-lit corridors, he is on guard, aware his prey may be waiting to pounce on him at any moment.  When reading that passage, we recalled that Saucy cover and pulled it up.  Sure enough, there was the composition we were after.  An unsuspecting figure walking into a deadly attack.  But of course ours would need to be altered by our ace art director, Rob Davis.

Since the character of the villain reminded us of the old film vampire, Nosferartu, we dug up this picture of him and sent it along, with the Saucy cover to Rob.  We explained how we needed that composition to be put into a cellar setting and the lovely Spanish lady turned into the robe wearing, bald fiend.  And of course we needed to change the dashing, sword wielding soldier into the cautious, gun carrying Dr. Watson.  It was time to strike a pose.

         
                  The Air Chief as Dr. Watson

So we hastily threw on a tie and jacket, grabbed an trusty toy-pistol and began stalking the hallway as Valerie snapped the picture above.  With these three images, it was time for Rob to do his magic and draw our cover sketch with the elements combined.

Within days, Rob delivered the stunning pencils you see here.  That was exactly the scene from Aaron's novel and the perfect choice for our cover.  Now it was time to whipped it off digitally to digital painter, Shane Evans in New Zealand.

And as always, Shane delivered above and beyond, turning Rob's sketch into a truly dynamic piece of art, ready for the final stages.  Back to Rob it went for design, logo and cover text.

And there you have the finished cover, as we debut it to the world last week upon the book's official release.  We hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into how a cover is put together from idea to conception and finally realization.  Working with artist like Rob and Shane is a pure joy for ye old Air Chief.  We hope you Loyal Airmen will give the book a try.  It really is a great pulp adventure.

Finally, we turned 63 years old today, 5th November.  Family and friends have been flooding us with such wonderful birthday greetings all day, both in our private e-mail box and over on Facebook.  Earlier this afternoon, Christopher Chance of Images 2 Icons sent along the picture of a truly perfect pulp birthday cake.

So, all you Loyal Airmen, imagine yourselves here in Hangar 27, sharing this yummy looking cake with the Air Chief, all of us having a grand old time.  Thanks to all of you who helped make this a truly wonderful day.

Ron – Over & Out!!

Greeting Loyal Airmen, and a Happy Halloween to all of you.  Hope it's a fun time with lots of parties, horror movies and plenty of Trick or Treating for every Loyal Airmen.  We here at Hangar 27 are excited to roll out our tenth and final Airship 27 Production Pulp title of the year.

SEASON OF MADNESS is a Doctor Watson by Aaron Smith.  When a deadly drug begins infecting the people of London, it is up to Dr.Seward (of the Dracula novel) to discover the origin of the deadly powder.  He seeks out Sherlock Holmes only to discover the great detective is out of the country on a secret mission for the government and so he enlist the aid of Dr.Watson.  Together they must solve the mystery before more people fall victim to a Season of Madness.  The book features interior illustrations by artist Pedro Cruz and a gorgeous cover (very appropriate for Halloween) by Rob Davis and Shane Evans.  Like all our Airship 27 pulp titles, it is available at our on-line store, reached simply by clicking on to the dirigible logo to the left of this column.  According to our publisher, our most successful book of 2009 has been SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE.  It is our hope that all of you who bought and enjoyed that volume will take a look at this gripping thriller.  Trust the Air Chief, you won't be disappointed.

As mentioned above, this is our last scheduled release for 2009.  This has been a banner year for Airship 27 Productions, but rest assured, Loyal Airmen, we are not resting on our laurels.  During the remaining months of the year, we will continue working on new titles in the works which will be debuting in 2010.  We are very, very excited about all of these.  Some are original works starring classic pulp heroes we've yet to work with like the Black Bat and Ravenwood – Stepson of Mystery, while others are returning ala our second volume of Jim Anthony Super Detective and a hopeful volume four of our favorite pulp hero, Secret Agent X.  We've also got a few full length novels we think you will enjoy.  So stay tuned.

               
                          The Fortier Family Celebrating Gabrielle Fortier's 85th Birthday.

In just a few days, our mother, Gabrielle Fortier will be turning 85, on Nov. 1st, All Saints Day.  Last Sunday afternoon the Air Chief and his siblings put together a party to surprise her. Seeing that it was a week early, Mom didn't have a clue and was truly bowled over when she arrived at the restaurant and found us all waiting for her.
One of the highlights was the family debut of Ms.Kylie Robinson, my niece's new baby daughter.  That's Emily and her husband Rob at the front left of this photo.  At the far end on the left, his gray head sticking up, is the Air Chief, and that's Mom at the head of the table with two month old Kylie in her arms.  Note, the little curly headed fellow to the right front is our grandson Logan and his bearded Dad, son Scott, the fellow responsible for creating and maintaining this site.

               
                           Gabrielle “Mom” Fortier and her third great grandchild, Kylie Robinson.

All of us had a grand time.  Sadly Val, who helped plan the event, is still in Colorado and couldn't join us.  Still the party was a ball, and Mom was truly happy to have her family all gathered together like this.

Speaking of Val, she and everyone out there in Ft.Collins, CO, have been dealing with a two day snowstorm that left over eight inches of the white stuff on the ground.  Here's hoping it stays out there.  Ye Old Air Chief is still picking up the millions of brightly colored leaves carpeting our front and back yards.  Will most likely be doing for another week before all the trees around the house are nude.

We want to thank all you baseball loving Loyal Airmen who commented on my Flight Log baseball rant last week.  We do stand by our words.  As we pen these words, Game Two of the World Series is on and the Yankees, having lost Game One, are battling to even things up before the teams travel to Philadelphia for Game Three.  We're going to be sorry to see the season come to an end. 

Finally, before we sign off, we'd like to remind you Loyal Airmen that we still continue to write our Pulp Fiction Review column. See the link underlined above this column.  This past week we had the good fun of reviewing a new children's book we wanted to bring to your attentions.

CROMWELL DIXON'S SKY-CYCLE is based on a true story of a 14 year old boy who in 1907 build a modified bicycle and tied it to a giant balloon and actually flew it over Columbus, Ohio.  The book is beautifully illustrated and the story is simply amazing.  There's even a black and white photo of Cromwell and his mother at the book's back.  If you, like the Air Chief, are a fan of aviation history, this is the book for you or some young dreamer in your family.

That's it Loyal Airmen.  HAPPY HALLOWEEN.  By this time next week, Ye Old Air Chief will be a year old, turning 63 come 5th Nov.  It's been a very wild sixty-three years, made special because of good people like you.
Thanks ever.

Ron – Over & Out!

Greeting Loyal Airmen. As we write this week's Flight Log, the fourth game of the American League Championship is on and after trailing 4 to 0 in the first six innings, the New York Yankees have scored 6 runs in the top of the 7th.  Just like that.  And it would be a good bet that before the evening is over, the contestants for this year's World Series contest, starting next Wed. night, will be between the Yanks and the Philadelphia Phillies, who won the National League crown last night for the second year in a row.  The Air Chief congratulates both teams and is really hoping for a good championship series.  All of which has brought to mind lots of thoughts we've had concerning American's favorite pastime this past season.

                    
                                 Mom, apple pie and baseball.
First of all some history.  Despite what you might have heard all your life, Abner Doubleday, the Civil War veteran General did not invent baseball.  That story is totally bogus.  Baseball's evolution is not clear cut but most experts believe it came from several British games to include two in particular; one called “rounders” and the other  “stool ball.”  And no, we did not make that up.

                     
                                               The Wind Up
What is the big deal about playing in lousy weather?  The long, six month season (for some teams) begins in April and if they are East coast teams, then the odds are very good they may be playing games in the rain and snow, the fans freezing their collective butts off.  We've seen enough of these horrendous ordeals happening at Fenway year after year. This having been an unusually rainy summer, a record number of games had to be postponed and rescheduled due to inclement weather.  Then we get to the end of the season, and East Coast teams in the play-offs are freezing, the players wearing caps with ear-muffs.  And in the midst of this suffering, the good people of the Minnesota Twins have proudly announced that after they tear down the eleven year old Metro Dome, the new stadium they are constructing will be roof-less!  Whoopee, the baseball announcers have been declaring.  Kiddies will be able to enjoy a baseball game as it should be viewed, under the open sky. And the Air Chief finds himself scratching his head.  Are these people daft?  This is Minnesota!  They have horrible Springs. I wonder how much the Twins fans are going to enjoy getting wet and cold in 2010?  What is truly frustrating is the fact that with today's technology, any ballpark can have the best of both.  Look at the Toronto Bluejays and their retractable roof.  When the weather is nice, its pulled back and games are played under the stars.  When it is raining, snowing or whatever, the roof is closed and the game goes on and the fans never suffer bouts of pneumonia inducing downpours.  No game at Toronto has ever been delayed or canceled because of weather. What the hell is the matter with the other clubs?  Every new field built today should have a retractable roof.  DOH!!

          
                                                                  It's a Hit!!
Another super pet peeve of the Air Chief is the constant belly-aching of baseball officials that games take way too long to play these days.  Oh, really?  Then why don't they stop the silliness we endure night after night and tighten them up.  Does a batter, after every single pitch, have to walk around for a minute to get himself set up again? And what's this constantly asking the Umpire for a time-out?  Are they little leaguers??  Want to speed up the game, then New Rule # 1. Once a batter steps into the batter's box, he can't leave it until he's either hit, been struck out or walked.  Period. And no more time-outs!

           
                                                                  SAFE!!!
And we aren't letting today's Prima Donna pitchers off the hook either.  How many times does a pitcher have to have people come to visit him on the pitcher's mound?  The catcher comes to clarify what calls they are using!!  Wasn't this discussed in the practice sessions?  And when a pitcher starts giving up runs, out comes the Pitching Coach to give him a little pep talk.  Oh, please.  If he's pitching in the Majors, he should have enough maturity to grit his teeth and either get the job done or not.  The only person who should be allowed to go out to that mound once the game has started is the Manager to pull the guy.  Period.  Rule #2, No more visits to the pitcher's mound!  Period. Now adhere to these two rules we guarantee you we've just shaved at least one hour from every game to be played.

                     
                                              JINXED by Ken Leiker
Finally, on a purely comedic note.  What exactly does a Bench Coach do?  Teach people how to sit on the bench?  Looking at the other coaches on a team, it's easy to understand their tasks.  The first base coach is there to advise runners on first.  Likewise the third base coach, etc.  But a Bench Coach?  Is there a right and wrong way to sit on a bench?  And with that thought in your heads, let me end this baseball rant by recommending a truly wonderful little book; JINXED by Ken Leiker. It is a collection of some of the wildest superstitions practice by some of the most famous players in the history of baseball.  It's a small little book that will leave you chuckling on every page.

And there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  Oh, and in the course of writing this log, the Angels have come back strong and are now retaking the lead in the top of the 8th.  It's 7 to 6 in their favor.  And here come the Yankees.  Got to run, Loyal Airmen.  This is getting good.

LAST MINUTE UPDATE –  No sooner did we wrap up this entry then the Angels beat the Yankees 7-6.
So it's on to Brooklyn tomorrow night (Sat.) for game six.  Our money is still on the Yankees.

Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting Loyal Airmen.  We at Airship 27 Productions and Cornerstone Book Publishers are extremely excited to announce the release of our 20th pulp title, LANCE STAR – SKY RANGER Vol. Two.  It's been a long time coming since we released Vol. One several years ago.

Unlike Volume One, which contained four new Lance Star adventures, Volume Two includes several other classic pulp aviators.  First up is Bobby Nash's Lance Star tale. There's two short adventures by Aaron Smith featuring the World War One squadron, the Three Mosquitos.  Van Allen Plexico has a Griffon story and we wrap it all up with the return of one of pulpdom's greatest flying aces, none other than the one and only Captain Midnight, by David Walker.  All in all, a jammed packed collection of high flying pulp thrillers.  And all you have to do is click on to our dirigible logo to the upper left of this column to go to our on-line store where this, and our other 19 titles are always on sale at a 25% discount over retail prices.

Two years and 20 titles!  The Air Chief and his partner, artist Rob Davis, are extremely proud of this achievement and we tip our pulp fedoras to Michael Poll, our publisher, who has made this all possible for us.  And within a few weeks we'll be bringing all of you our 21st title.  But let's not let the cat out of the bag yet, save to say it will be the official sequel to our most successful book of the past season.

Meanwhile here we are into October and all our Loyal Airmen are busy gearing up for the coolest holiday of them all, Halloween.  Since it's the time of hobgoblins and ghoulies of every sort, we thought we'd take a minute to remind you Loyal Airmen of two of our own best selling horror anthologies you might want to check out while visiting the Airship 27 on-line store.

Weird Horror Tales contains 13 masterful tales of extreme suspense and terror by the award winning writer Michael Vance, with interior illustrations by the master of the macabre, artist Earl Geier.  This is a perfect volume to help you Loyal Airmen get in the right creepy state of mind for the night of All Hallow's Eve.

And lastly here's Brother Bones featuring seven original tales of pulp horror featuring the Undead Avenger as envisioned by the Air Chief himself.  Art for this handsome volume, to include interior illos and that dynamite cover all by Rob Davis.  This is one of our hottest titles and if you haven't picked it up yet, you are truly missing a treat. 

Meanwhile, we continue to hold the fort at Hangar 27 while Val is in Colorado with our son and his family.  Baseball league championships have begun with the Dodgers battling the Phillies for the National League flag and the Yankees are taking on the Angels for the American League crown.  Our predictions, it's going to be a Yankees vs Dodgers World Series.  We were naturally sorry to see the Red Sox's post-season end so quickly, but not surprised.  The team was running out of gas these last few months and it's clear management has some weak links to shore up over the winter months.

Finally, we sign off with a heartfelt HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our son, Kevin.  At 36, our second son is a terrific young man who plays the guitar, enjoys fantasy books and movies, is devoted to his fiancee Melanie and adores their mischievous bulldog Zeke.  I am so proud to be his father.

Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting Loyal Airmen.  Here we are into October, the leaves here in New Hampshire have started to turn color and fall with the cool weather. Halloween is just around the corner.  Meanwhile, Valerie flew out to Colorado two days ago to help visit our son, Alan, and his family, leaving the Air Chief to hold down the hangar. Most of you Loyal Airmen are well aware of how much the Air Chief likes toys, especially action figures.  We've put up pictures of many in our collection right here over the past few years, from Sherlock Holmes to our life-size Yoda. Well, recently we added another very cool toy to the pack.

   
Last year, at a local Portsmouth comic con, I met artist Jay Piscopo for the very first time and we hit it off immediately.  Both of us have a love of all things comics and pulps.  Jay introduced me to a new pulp character he had just created called Commander X, the Man From the Future.  About a week after that initial meeting, Jay called and asked if we would like to write a Commander X short pulp story for a digital comic he was putting together. Thrilled, we accepted immediately and ended up delivering, The Thing in the Moon, which was published with several illustrations by British artist, Mike Fyles.  It all came out great.  Meanwhile, Jay had asked what we wanted in payment for the story and we told him it was a gift from one pulp fan to another.  We honestly didn't want any money for doing this fun project.  But Jay's a persistent dude and he offered, in lieu of cash, to give us one of his newly made Commander X mego action figures.  That, we were only too happy to accept.

Two weeks ago, Jay and the Air Chief finally hooked up again at Bang Pop, the Bangor Maine comic con and there he handed us the Commander X 1930s version mego figure.  This is such a cool toy.  Above you see it in its package.  Believe me, Loyal Airmen, the Air Chief never waste any time getting his toys free of their plastic cells.  Comics are meant to be read, toys are meant to be played with.  We've often believed that our own imagination was fired when we were young by the toys we were blessed to have and dream with.

               
                  Commander X on Easter Island.
As you can see, our Commander X action figure soon found himself in the South Pacific on another perilous mission to save the world.  Complete with his black boots, X belt, pistol, mask and Captain's hat.  Believe me Loyal Airmen, this going to be only the first of his many adventures. 

If any of you are at all interested in picking up a Commander X figure, and Jay has several of them in various guises from a cowboy, to spaceman., to an undersea avenger.  All of them super, super cool.  Simply  go to his website (WWW.CAPTNELI.COM) and there you'll find these Commander X toys.  Tell him the Air Chief sent you.

That's it for another week, Loyal Airmen.  As I write these words, the final 8 baseball teams in the play-offs are doing battle and thus far we've seen some great games.  The Red Sox have their hands full with the Los Angeles Angels and the outcome right now is anyone's guess.  Go Sox!!

Ron – Over & Out.

Greetings Loyal Airmen.  As October rolls around and the temps get a wee bit cooler, we've some exciting news for all you lovers of fast paced private eye tales.  Back in the 1957, the husband and wife team of Gloria and Forest “Skip” Fickling created a sexy blond private eye named Honey West.  She would be featured in ten paperback potboilers, all of them steamy thrillers wherein Miss West's secondary goal, after dodging bullets, seemed to be staying in her clothes.  Lighthearted romps, the books quickly amassed a loyal following of readers who appreciated the couples breezy style of writing.

                     
By 1960 the series came to attention of television producer, Aaron Spelling and he saw to it that Honey would appear in an episode of his cop melodrama, Burker's Law.  The lovely Ann Francis was cast as Honey and her appearance was so popular that Spelling was able to convince ABC to give the character her own show.  Thus between 1965 -1966, Honey West aired in 30 half hour episodes.  Of course as media people will always do, they changed the character slightly by adding to her set-up. Now she was aided by a male partner named Sam Bolt, played by the dashing John Erickson; lived with her Aunt Peg, and now own a pet ocelot named Bruce and drove a stylish Cobra convertible sportscar. 

                    
As a tough, martial arts expert and femme fatale, Honey West was a mold breaking lady far ahead of her time.  Still, despite strong ratings, the network canceled the show after only one season.  Happily VCI Entertainment has released the entire 30 episodes on a 4 disc set pictured above. We recommend highly, as the stories were a lot of fun.  And there is a Honey West revival in progress, soon to be spear-headed by Moonstone Books in a series of prose anthologies and comic books. While the Ficklings are producing a Honey West feature film set to be released in 2010.  Now that's great news.

              
                          Honey by artist Rob Davis

To that end, artist Rob Davis and the Air Chief are wasting no time in putting our services up in regards to this fantastic new project.  Both of us are long time Honey West fans, and as Rob's pin-up above attest, we totally understand the character and very much want to develop her into the graphic world.  So here is an unabashed shout-out to Moonstone Books!!!  We want to do Honey West for you!!!  If you Loyal Airmen agree that we are the team for such a project, feel free to add your voices and let the good people at Moonstone know we're here ready to deliver some rock & sock'em comic action.  We truly will appreciate all your support in this campaign.  And regardless of the outcome, we will certainly be supporting all of Moonstone's Honey West projects and hope you will as well.

Finally, we can't sign off without tipping our baseball caps to the Boston Red Sox for making the play-offs for the sixth time in seven years.  Sadly, the team hasn't been playing it's best baseball, but one thing about the play-offs, they are an entirely brand new season and anything can happen.  So pull it together, Red Sox, and let's win us another World Series.  Go Sox!!!

Ron – Over & Out!