Greetings loyal airmen. If any of you attempted to stop by Hangar 27 last weekend, you may have discovered we were nowhere to be found.  Let me apologize for that and explain what happened.  Our site is managed by Scott, my oldest son and he carries it on servers he has set up in his home in Bethel, Conn.  Well, last Satuday afternoon Scott's house was struck by lightning!  Thank God, there was no major damage to the structure of the house itself or any major electrical appliances.  But still, the jolt of juice from Mother Nature got into his lines and fried all his server connections and thus down went our site.  As it was a weekend, Scott's attempts to get any kind of customer service assistance was futile and the best he could do was wait until Monday when a technician from his provider arrived and put in new lines.  By Monday evening we were back on the world wide web once again.  A mere bump in the road, although I'm guessing Scott has been shopping for new electrical grounding systems so that this never happens again.  Lightning is really scary stuff.

As most of you familiar with me know, I once wrote a play which told the story of how my mother and father met shortly before the start of World War II.  Their romance had to be put on hold while Dad went off to fight in the South Pacific and the two actually fell in love in their letters to each other over a three year period.  I wrote the play years after Dad had passed away because my own children, so small at the time, never got to really know him and that was something I wanted to correct.  So by the gift of my imagination I was able to bring those events back to life for one memorable weekend in a small theater in Springvale, ME for my family.  Part of my message to the audience that first evening was to not let their own individual life stories simply die with them.  To share them with their children and grand children so that they would live on and become a living heritage.

When doing the production, we needed to do up a poster and I remembered a truly wonderful portrait of my mother taken when she had just turned seventeen.  This was the same year she met my Dad and they started dating, 1942.  I found the portrait and we used it for our poster.  Gabrielle Marie Richer at the age of 17, so lovely and so optimistic about what life would bring her.

This past week I had the opportunity to revisit many of those themes when I was asked to show a video tape of the play to the residents of the Wentworth Home in nearby Dover, NH.   Mom is now a resident there having moved in eight months ago.  She's 83 and her health made independent living no longer feasible and so with our help and support, she found this truly marvelous home and applied for residency.   The care of seniors in our country today is a crucial topic as more and more Americans, through the wonders of modern medicine, are living longer than ever.  And I'm sure all of you airmen of heard the horror stories of some of these so called “nursing” homes where old people are merely dropped off to and forgotten.  Those places do exist and need to be exposed and either corrected or put out of business.  The care of our seniors should be a top priority in our society if we wish to call ourselves civilized.  We all owe them safety, security and the best care possible.  All of these attributes are present at the Wentworth Home and we were so thrilled when they accepted Mom's application.  The change in her life these past eight months has been remarkable.  She is exercising daily and has become more active and outgoing than ever.  It's as if she were a plant needing water and sunshine and that is what this facility and its staff have provided her soul.  Not to discount that she now has 40 new friends, all of whom share her enthusiasm for life and its continued adventure.

The picture above was taken a few weeks ago after a group of these fun loving “kids” went bowling.  Gabe is the good looking one in the red blouse.   Trust me, loyal airmen, spend just ten minutes with these people and they will have you laughing till your ribs ache, so full of the joys of life are they, every one of them.  And as I said, this is only a small group of the entire company.

A side note, Mom was worried because we were going to show the play tape on their big screen TV after lunch and she knew lots of her friends might nod off when the lights went down.  I told her not to concern herself, that I was well aware of how comfortable the body becomes after eating well and how easily it is to take an unintended nab.  If they fell asleep during the presentation, so be it.  I wasn't going to complain.  Well, to my utter surprise not only did they remain wide awake and alert during the entire two hours, but they loved the play and all of them in attendance made sure to shake my hand and tell me so.  Of course it helps that the story was all about their generation and they appreciated it for what it was.  I ended my afternoon with them once again urging all of them to tell their life stories to others. Not to let them be lost.

And that's my message to you loyal airmen today who have seniors in your family, be they grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles.  Get them to tell you their stories.  Please.  Get a tape recorder and sit down some afternoon and interview them.  Learn what America was like fifty, sixty, seventy years ago.  Get their personal accounts of the Great Depression and World War II.  Document their lives so that one day, after their gone, you can share them with your own kids.  Trust me, there is no greater treasure you can give them then the story of their ancestors.  Only by the lessons of the past can we truly understand the present and challenge the future.

Ron – Over & Out.
                                      

For many, many years, one of the real eating treasures of our little town, Somersworth, NH, was a place called Ned's.  It was a seafood take out business that served up the best fried clams in the entire world.  It was a very tiny place, located near an old parochial grade school and run by the same fellow and his family for dozens of years. There were no seats or such as it was strictly take-out.  You either walked in and stood in a little packed area with lots of other hungry folks or you wisely called ahead and had your order ready when you arrived.  Regarless, the place was always mobbed during the dinner hours and on weekends.  They did a whopping good business. I tell you all this, loyal airmen, as a set up for what comes next.  Read on.

When Valerie and I first started dating, both of us were struggling to make ends meet.  We'd both been through a divorce and were dealing with the ramifications of these both alone and together.  Falling in love, we knew that together we could pick up the pieces of our lives and make them better but that it was going to take lots of hard work and sacrifice.  One of our goals was to save up enough money so that when we did get married, we'd be able to put a down payment on a house.  But it wasn't going to be easy.  So we started a mutual high yield savings account and made a pact that we would put every penny we earned into that account from our individual pays that wasn't used for bills.  I had child support bills and she, on her own again, had her own lists to include rent, food, etc. As I said at the start, we didn't have a whole lot.  But we had each other and those five wonderful kids.  Anyway, we made the pact and we lived it by it.  For almost two years there were no movies, no eating out, no books, no new clothes, etc.etc.etc.  Slow but sure that special bank account began to grow and with it our dreams for the future.  It was tough, but so were we.

One particular Saturday afternoon, when the kids were with our respective ex-es, we decided to go for a walk.  It was summer and the weather absolutely gorgeous.  So off we went just walking along the streets of town chatting away up nothing and everything.  Just happy to be alive and together.  As we walked along we both began to smell a very familiar aroma in the air.  Realizing we were only a few block's from Ned's Seafood, we immediately knew we were smelling fried clams.  Our mouths began to water.  Ah, to taste those golden delicious fried clams. I stopped and asked Val if she had any money on her at all.  She began to dig through her jacket pockets and I did the same.  Here was a crumbled dollar bill.  Here was another one.  And a quarter, then two and three.  Eagerly we put all our loose change and bills together and hurried over to Ned's front window menu display.  Counting what we had against what was listed there, we were thrilled to learn we had just enough to buy a half pint of fried clams!!  Laughing, we rushed into Ned's and gave the girl behind the counter our order.  It being mid-afternoon the place only had a few other customers and within mere minutes we were being handed this little white cardboard box filled to the brim with fried clams.

We walked away enjoying our small reward, each clam tasting as if it had been prepared in heaven, the were so damn good.  Of course I often think back on that day and realize it was the circumstances of our partnership, our sacrifices etc. that made those clams taste far better than any I'd ever had before, or since.  In a world of excesses, we all too easily forget the simple things that bring us joy and contentment.   To finish the tale, we did stick to our guns, saved that money and eventually married and bought the house that has now been our home for the past twenty-five years.  And in it we've created twenty-five thousand happy memories. That's what life is all about.  Making memories like being without and pinching pennies to taste the best fried clams ever made!!

Ned eventually retired and some of his kids tried to keep the place going but it was never the same and finally they shut it down.  It just sits there now, all boarded up.  But I swear, some days when I drive downtown with the window open and pass by, I can still smell that delicious aroma and my mouth begins to water.

Ron – Over & Out.

            
                                         Writer Larry Young and the Airchief

Greetings loyal airmen.  Well, the rain continues to pound New Hampshire with no signs of letting up any time soon. It's gotten so that we can easily imagine we're all living in Merry Old England, the constant patter on the rooftops and the damp, moldy atmosphere is really depressing.  Hey, Mom Nature, it's suppose to be SUMMER!  Get with the program and give us some sunshine.  PLEASE!!!

Speaking of happy times, that's exactly what your old Airchief had last week at Larry Doherty's ond day show in Chelsmford, MA.   Fellow writer, Larry Young of Arundel, Maine, and I drove down early last Sunday morning to the Radisson hotel and got a very big surprise upon entering the place.  Larry informed us his hall was over booked with seventy-six vendors and there was simply no room available for his few creator guests.  So the decision was made to put us folks in the lobby fronting the entrance to the hall.  A table was set up in front of a small sofa and that's where Larry and I held court for the next six hours.  I'll confess to being a little unsettled at first, but then the realization quickly dawned on me that for the first time in all the years I've attended such events, I wouldn't be sitting on some hard, unforgiving metal chair.  Nope.  Larry and I were comfortably situated on plush, padded cushions as we met and greeted all the wonderful comic fans who came by.  By the end of the day, I was delighted not to have a sore backside or derriere.  That's French for…well, you can figure it out.   It all turned out to be a really fun, new experience.

The show was also a very profitable one as lots of fans stopped buy and picked up our Airship 27 pulps books, many of them being past customers who were anxious to see what new titles we had to offer.  As much as I love meeting new fans, and there were lots of those here, it is also an added treat to renew acquaintances with those of you who've become our valued supporters over the years.  So thanks to one and all for stopping by last Sunday.  And for all of you who picked up a pulp or a comic at the show, please, when you've finished reading it, drop me a line and let me know what you thought of it.  Your feedback is important to us.

Of course a big thanks to promoter and pal, Larry Doherty, for hosting another really great show.  I was Larry's first ever guest at his first show back more years than either of us care to remember. Ha.  Also a tip of the hat to my pal, artist, Kris Carter, who was another guest at the show.   Kris and I working on a new sci-fi adventure comic series I've mentioned before called EPOCH.  It's Kris's concept and I'm on board helping him flesh it out.  It's always fun to get together with Kris, a really great artist and fun guy.  I always want to say hi to another really talented fellow I met for the first time, Jarrod Courtemanche.   Jarrod is an independent filmmaker and writer who really has a zest for all creative endeavors.  I left the show with two of his films from his Mindside Studios and upon watching them, have to tell you he's the real deal.  He knows how to make movies.  Both THE KILLING HAND and VIRTUE (The Way of the Modern Samurai) are low-budget classics that I strongly recommend to all loyal airmen.  Go on-line, Google Mindside Studios and check these out.  I'm hoping to have Jarrod contribute to some of our future pulp anthologies.

And while talking about comic shows, let me announce the publication of my latest comic work.  Several years ago I wrote a short comic story starring my jewel thief,  Satin Wei.  It was pencilled by Chilean artist Gonzalo Martinez, inked by Terry Staats and lettered by my pal Jaymes Reed.  A few weeks ago, fellow writer Bobby Nash, put me on to a new black and white comic anthology, REAL MAGICALISM, being produced by writer – artist, James Burns.  Burns was assembling the book to debut it at Dragon Con in a few weeks and still looking for contributions.  I contacted him, told him about our little story and after looking at the pages, he accepted it for the book.  Much to our delight.  That's the cover above.  So if you have plans of being in Atlanta for Dragon Con, do hunt up Burns and pick up a copy, or you can order on-line at Catawba Publishing.  The link is posted below. (http://catawbapublishing.com/bookstore/view_details?book=113)  Tell him the Airchief sent you.

Finally, last week we applauded the departure of Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox.  Well here we are a full week later and new left fielder, Jason Bay, is proving with every game that he is perfect cure to Manny-malaise. Bay is a no-nonsense ball player who obviously loves to play the game and gives it 100%.  Prior to his arrival, with all the Manny silliness going on, the team had lost six in a row.  With Manny gone, and Bay in the mix, they've won five of their last six and it is so obvious to everyone watching them that the Red Sox are back to playing good ball.  Things look real good for a play-off run.  There's still a lot of season left, but now there's a real hopeful attitude infusing both the team and fans.  GO SOX!

Have a great week, Loyal Airmen.  Ron- Over & Out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  The above shot was taken by Valerie this past Monday night at Fenway Park in Boston.  This was my second ever visit to this historic baseball field.  The first time, back in 2004, we saw them lose to the Chicago White Sox.  I was hoping to see a win this time.  Alas they were facing the best team in baseball this season, the Los Angeles Angels and they were soundly beaten.  Still somewhere in the ninth inning, slugger Manny Ramirez hit a home run.  Little did any of us that night realize it would be Manny's last home run in a Red Sox uniform.

Minutes before the official trade deadline yesterday, Thursday 31 July, the Red Sox traded the famous slugger to the Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League.  And I, and thousands of Red Sox fans across the land, say good riddance.  Manny Ramirez was a home run hitting machine, of that there is no doubt.  And with those home runs, he did contribute greatly to the team's two World Series Championships in 2004 and 2007.  No one can dispute those facts and he surely will be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame one day.  But who the hell cares?  You see, aside from his ability to hit a ball over the outfield walls, Manny Ramirez is not a good baseball player or teammate.  He is a selfish, arrogant, self-centered jerk who thinks he is better than other players.  Other players who give their all every time they step out onto the field, regardless of their level of talent.  Manny, on the other hand didn't think he had to run the bases hard because he hit home runs.  He didn't think he had to catch every ball hit towards him in left field because he hit lhome runs.  And he certainly didn't think he had to be alert during a game because of his marvelous ability to hit home runs.  Duh? What a role model for kids just learning the game.  As long as you can hit home runs, you don't have to do any of that other silly stuff.  Don't tell ever tell me Manny loves and respects the game of baseball.  All he loves is his paycheck.

For years now his teammates have had to put up with this immature, egotist who, whenever criticized for his awful, non-professional behavior would only laugh and say he was just having fun.  Yeah, right, fun…at everyone else's expense.  Well the fun is over and Manny is bye-bye.  Maybe tonight when the Red Sox take the field, they can devote all their energies again to playing the game they truly love.  The clown has left the ballpark!  Amen.

So, loyal airmen, have you all gone to our Links page and ordered a copy of our latest comic book, BROTHER BONES – BULLETS OF JADE?  No, you haven't?  Well don't worry because if you are in Western Massachusetts this coming Sunday, you can pick one up from me directly.  I, and a few other New England comic creators are going to be guests at a one day comic show hosted by Lowell's own Larry Doherty.  The show itself will be held at – The Radisson – 10 Independence Dr. – Chelsmford, MA 01824 – From 9 A.M. to 4. P.M.  So slap that address in Mapquest and if you are nearby, please, come on down and say hi.  I always enjoy meeting loyal airmen and talking comics, pulps and baseball.  Speaking of such, beside issues of the new comic, my table will also be crammed full of our recent pulps as well, so lots of good stuff for you to get your hands on and have me autograph at the same time.  Hope to see lots of you there.

Finally, Val and I are hoping to see the MUMMY 3 – TOMB OF THE EMPEROR KING this afternoon.  The trailers for this latest Mummy adventure have had me drooling, as I love the idea of our heroes coming up against Yeti (or Abominable Snowmen).  It looks to be a beautifully filmed fantasy adventure and I for one am not going to miss it.

So there you, airmen.  August has arrived ans Summer is racing towards a finale.  Here's hoping the next four weeks are just tons of good fun for all of you.

Ron – Over & Out.

There's an old Yankee adage that goes, “If you aren't happy with the weather in New England, stick around five minutes and it will change.”  Well, loyal airmen, that's what happened yesterday afternoon when a severe weather pattern descended on the New England seacoast propelled by powerful winds.  Starting down in the Hartford, Conn. area, this front which combined hot humid air from the south with cold, biting air from Canada whipped itself into a frenzy by the time it had moved over Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  It was the perfect weather cocktail for tornados. 

Winds in excess of 70 miles an hour ripped through the middle of the Granite State without warning, devastating over a hundred homes, most in the Epsom and Barnstead regions.  These are rural, lakeside communities.  One poor woman lost her life, while her husband and grandson miraculously were spared.

We here in Somersworth were spared this kind of horrendous damage.  At one point, Valerie and her mom were out grocery shopping and had to deal with the steady, torrential downpour.  Meanwhile I was manning Hangar 27 and saying lots of prayers that they were okay.  No one was happier than your Air Chief when they rolled up the driveway a few hours later.  Then all three of us stayed glued to out TV set watching local stations continue to report the effects of this foul weather.  Although no one actually caught photage of funnels, they were sighted and today the National Weather Service has agents in the area examining the aftermath.  Areas where mighty trees, some hundreds of years old, were mowed down for miles as if they were toothpicks.

The Governor has toured the areas hardest hit and promised the complete resources of state and national agencies in helping the victims as they attempt to access their loses and come to grips with what the future holds for them.  Still, when we realize the severity of the event, it is clearly a miracle that only one poor soul was lost.
Crazy, crazy, weather.

Moving on to lighter topics, the amazing box-office success of the movie, DARK KNIGHT, pretty much rewarded the stellar work of director Chris Nolan and his truly outstanding cast of actors.  If you'll recall, he, and Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, totally jump-started this particular comic book franchise that had fallen on hard times.  The old series had become broad slapstick cartoons that no one took seriously.  Nolan and his team set about correcting that image and returning this DC icon back to his somber roots, as the haunted vigilante who is Gotham's protector.  With BATMAN BEGINS, they succeeded and all we comic fans kept our fingers crossed that first film was not just a lucky fluke, that these people know what they were doing and would give us another adult melodrama we could sink our teeth into.  Well, here it is, and your Old Air Chief is declaring it the BEST MOVIE he's seen thus far this year.   Don't get me wrong, I loved IRON MAN and still do.  But that movie catered to the eternal 13 year old in me, thank you very much.  DARK KNIGHT plays to the adult with intelligence and I appreciate that a great deal.  If you haven't seen it yet, what are you waiting for?

I've had the true good fortune (blessings if you will) to see many of my dreams come true.  One that still remains unfulfilled is to someday see one of my own comic tales brought to the big silver screen.  I'm hoping DAUGHTER OF DRACULA is that dream-maker.  At present a good friend who works as a composer in the movie business is passing around copies to various producers in Hollywood.  We keep our fingers crossed and hope you'll do so as well.  Good karma is always appreciated.

And that warps up another week.  One a little hairy, weather wise.  But again, that's New England!
Ron – Over & Out

Yahoo, loyal airmen! Look at that gorgeous comic cover above..  Outstanding!  Naturally our big news of the week is the release of our newest Redbud Studio comic, THE UNDEAD AVENGER – BROTHER BONES.  Of course as you loyal airmen all know, Brother Bones is one of our Airship 27 Prod. original pulp characters that's been entertaining readers since his pulp title came out earlier in the year.   If you closely at the upper right hand corner of this cover you'll see our familiar flying dirigible logo.  Yup.  This is the first time we've taken one of pulp heroes and adapted him to comic action.   All of us involved with the project are extremely excited about this and hope to follow it up with lots of these adaptions.

In BULLETS OF JADE, an assassin from the Far East comes to Cape Noir and begins killing Chinese Tong leaders.  It is up to the Undead Avenger to put a stop to his killing spree.  But can even the Brother Bones withstand the power of assassin's magical ..BULLETS OF JADE!   The script is by yours truly, with all interior art by the amazing John Polacek.  Lettering and design work, to include the pencils for this dramatic cover were by Rob Davis, the same artist who graced the pages of our BROTHER BONES pulp book.  After Rob turned in his pencils they were digitally painted over by Shane Evans of New Zealand, a fanstic artist in his own right.  And when I said John Polacek was a unique stylist, I wasn't exaggerating one little bit.

Take a look at the above full page.  Now that's one scary hombre!!!  This comics is ONLY available from the on-line store (www.IndyPlanet.com).  To find exactly where, go to our Air Fare page.  There you'll find the cover and link to take you right to the store posting.  The book sells for $3.50 plus shipping and handle.  Rob, John and your old Air Chief are really hoping you'll pick up a copy and let us know what you think.  The book was released only four days ago and already Indy Planet is reporting sales!!!  Amazing!  But then again, I'm not suprised.  Loyal airmen are the best damn fans in the world.

Speaking of good fans, I'd like to take a second to talk about “bad” fans.  This past Tuesday night the city of New York, and in particular the Yankees Baseball Organization hosted the annual All Star game, the summer classic pitting the super stars of the American League against the best of the National League.  Unless you've been working out on an offshore oil rig for the past four days, you are well aware how the game became a marathon event going all of 15 innings and ending in the wee hours of Wednesday morning with the AL winning their 12th consecutive contest by the score of 4 to 3.  The Most Valuable Player award (named for Red Sox great, Ted Williams) went to new Red Sox star, J.D. Drew, much to chagrin of the Yankee fans still in the stadium by game's end.

The rivalry between these two teams is well known and has made for some truly memorable games in the past; not excluding a few on-field fights.  None of which is unexpected as every year these two teams seem to go head to head in battling for their division championship.  We all get that.  But underlying the rivalry there has always been a mutual respect amongst fans were for the opposing team.  I've several pals who are diehard Yankees fans and I think the world of them.  Most Red Sox and Yankees fans are decent, knowledgeable fans who truly love the game of baseball.  But not the group that inhabited the seats in Yankee stadium last Tuesday night and showed their idiocy by booing each and every Red Sox player when they were announced and later went to bat or took to the field.  Never mind the booing, they also went out of their way to rattle pitcher Jonathan Papelbon because of misquoted statements that appeared in one of the city's sleaziest rags that morning.

A newspaper with a reputation for stirring up controversy, claimed that Papelbon had somehow disrespected the Yankees' veteran closer, Mariano Rivera.  Which was totally BS!!  Papelbon has been quoted time and time again in the press and on the air as praising the seasoned pitcher.  He even called him, “the Godfather of Closers.”  Hardly what you would call dissing someone?  Yet the morons who came to the game that night were ready to defend their team's honor for some fabricated insult.  This they did by booing  Red Sox players who were in effect, on this night, their HOME TEAM!!!  Watching the game and listening to how they tried to humiliate and shake up Papelbon when he came out to pitch was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen in my life.

So one more time so there is no misunderstanding here.  I think 99% of the Yankees fans in the world are fantastic, wonderful people.  On the other hand, those so called baseball fans who were in that staduim Tues. night booing Jonathan Papelbon and his teammates were the dumbest bunch of moronic idiots ever to attend a ballgame.  The sign below, a Father's Day gift from son Scott and his family, is solely for them!

And that warps another week at Hangar 27, loyal airmen.  Stay cool, enjoy the summer and see you back here in seven days.
Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting loyal airmen and welcome to another week's Log Entry where the old Air Chief's ego takes flight, soaring to new heights of humility.  Ha.  But before launching into what that's all about, we want to give a sharp Airship 27 salute to Airman Wayne Reinagle who provided us with that amazing picture of the USS Akron on one of its flights over Manhattan.  Simply majestic, these grand and graceful cloud cruisers.  Is it any wonder your old Air Chief loves them so much?  Thanks again, Wayne.

If you're a fan of the TV cops and robbers shows, you'll know that every time detectives interview possible suspects in a murder investigation they will invariably ask about the victim, “Did he have any enemies?”  Many times while watching those shows I'll wonder about that question in regards to my own life.  It would be really wonderful to go through life and never have a single enemy.  Sadly, we humans being imperfect souls at best, just can't seem to get through this life without at one time or another offending others, be intentional or not.  I sometimes imagine a story wherein the TV investigator would look at the widow and ask instead, “Did he have any friends?”   You see, at the end of the day, its not whether we have enemies or friends, but rather how many of both?

A few years ago I had Valerie snap the above photo of yours truly.  It was intended for the back of the very first pulp book we ever had published.  I purposely posed ala those serious “author” shots you always see in books.  Whenever I look at it now, it just makes me laugh.  Why?  Because as serious as I might want people to take me, the most honest thing about this picture is the Captain Specter lightning patch on my jacket identifying me as a member of the Lightning Legion.  Yeah, that's how serious I get. 

How do others see us?  One night while surfing the web, I pulled up the free encyclopedia site, Wikipedia and punched in the name Ron Fortier.  Holy smokes, what came up stunned your old Air Chief!  There was this humongous entry detailing 98% of my writing career in chronological order.  It was so detailed, I simply couldn't believe it.  Or that someone out there on the net, obviously devoted loyal airmen, had spent so much time doing up this truly marvelous history of my writing career.  Whoever you good people are, my sincerest and most humble thanks.  Looking over that long lists of credits (way more than I've got listed here…ha), was a trip back in time for sure.  One I had the good pleasure of repeating again this past week on the air.

About a year ago, a loyal airmen named Chuck Moore invited me to join his growing website, Comic Related.  He was kind enough to offer me my own dedicated forums at this terrific site.  He wanted me to have a place where I could go one on one with all of you.  Something we never added here.  So I signed on and within weeks Chuck and I became fast amigos.  I know of very few people who love the world of comics and everything about them as does Chuck.  He recently started doing a series of weekly Comic Related podcast and they are so much fun to listen to.  A few days ago Chuck asked me if I'd like to be his next podcast subject.  Owing him so much for my forums at CR, I happily agreed.  He gave me a call one night and we spoke for almost two full hours about comics, pulps and my blessed career in the field.  It was all about the Air Chief, loyal airmen, and I got to tell many of my “war” stories.  So if you've ever wondered what the Air Chief actually sounds like, or are curious at all about some of the things I've briefly touched upon in this journal, you really should check these out.  Simply go to our Links page, click on the Comic Related logo there and away you go.  Chuck broke our conversation into two one hour podcasts ( # 21 & # 22) and they are both right there on his front menu page.  As Chuck is another loyal airmen who stops by here every single week, THANKS AMIGO!!!  It was so much fun rapping with you about things we both love dearly.  I only hope I didn't put too many of your listeners to sleep.  Ha.

On to other fronts.  I've just finished one of the finest fantasy adventure books ever, LAMPLIGHTER by D.M. Cornish.  Click on my Pulp Fiction Review link above this column for my full review.  If you love this kind of imaginative fiction, don't miss this truly amazing work.  It's a rare find.

Saw the movie version of GET SMART with my daughter, Heather, last week.  It, and dinner afterward, were her belated Father's Day treat for me.  Both of us really liked the movie a great deal.  It is funny and captures the warm zaniest of the original Don Adams TV series.  The Air Chief gives it thumbs up.  Of course my Canadian colleague, Andrew Salmon swears up and down he will not see this movie.  Andrew's a diehard fan of the TV show and is boycotting this flick.  Too bad.  He's missing a really funny time.  Then again, I've been keeping the guy busy writing our newest pulp blockbuster, GHOST SQUAD.   Andrew and I finally slapped THE END on the 127 page manuscript two days ago and now the book is in production with Rob Davis getting ready to do his illos and design work.  Fingers crossed we'll be announcing its release within a month or so.  You airmen are going to love this one.   Tons and tons of pulp action from page one to the climatic finale.  Hang in there, its on its way.

This coming weekend marks the half-way mark of the baseball season.  The Red Sox are holding on to second place behind those come-out-of-nowhere Tampa Bay Rays.  Here's a team that was in last place last year as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Now they take the word devil out of their name and all of a sudden they can't lose.  Hmmm, think about that for a while.  Anyway, next week is the All Star game, and then it's back at it. GO SOX!!

Ron – Over & Out.

Happy 4th of July, loyal airmen, and anyone out there who just happens to stumble on this site.  Today is July, 4th, 2008, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by our Founding Fathers.  The bravery of those congressional delegates in Philadelphia was matched by the citizen farmers who took up arms against a government that unjustly taxed them without fair and equal representation.   Men like the brave Massachusetts lads depicted above in the Battle of Bunker Hill, who were willing to lay down their lives for a country free of the yoke of tyranny, where every man, woman and child could live in peace and pursue their dreams without fear of reprisal or religious and political persecution.  What our ancestors did in 1776 was create an ideal and from it they shaped an amazing land, the United States of America.

To this very day it stands as the very beacon of hope and democracy in a world still suffering from ideological monsters and modern day tyrants.  Having served in the military and seen foreign lands, I came home to the belief that she is worth fighting for and dying for, as those brave Massachusetts lads did long ago.  So today my heartfelt thanks go out to all those who have ever worn the uniform of our military forces, past and present.  Those of you now in service, both home and on those far off distances shores, God bless and keep you strong, safe and soon bring you home to this “home of the brave.”

                
Now in reflecting on America's history, I found myself remembering all those glorious stories of heroic men and women I was taught as a child in grade school; from Paul Revere to George Washington and Betsy Ross.  They seemed like figures of myth to me, way larger than life.  As a teenager I loved Walt Disney's efforts in regards to celluloid patriotism with their JOHNNY TREMAINE, the story of a Boston boy who becomes a member of the Sons of Liberty.  Then there was the SWAMP FOX, a series of about Francis Marion, the Southern soldier who practically invented guerrilla warfare, using his knowledge of the land to confound the British troops.  These were lots of fun but they were really glamorized in the Hollywood fashion.  No one made a real effort to show how it truly must have been.

Until, that is, historian David McCullough wrote is two books, 1776 and JOHN ADAMS, the latter winning him a Pulitzer Prize for history.  Then along came Tom Hanks and HBO.  They adapted McCullough's epic into a memorable, inspiring sever part mini-series that is now available on DVD.  The joy of this book, and the series adapted from it, is that the characters we thought we knew now appear as real flesh and blood, imperfect people, all of them filled with fears and doubts about the events that ensnared them.   Somehow seeing them with all these misgivings suddenly allows us to realize just how courageous they truly were.   Had the American Revolution failed, and at the time of the signing, the odds were very much against us, all our leaders, both military and political would have been hunted down by the British and tried and hung for treason.  This is one of the most profound, eye-opening series I've ever had the pleasure of viewing.  If you, like me, are enthralled and fascinated by history done to this excellent caliber, then I recommend you pick these up, both the book for its dept of fact and research and the DVD for the deft performances of Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney and John Adams and his wife Abigail and Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson.  Believe me, you won't be disappointed you did.

Of course one of the hallmarks of a free society is commerce and after telling you all about our new Airship 27 store (go to Air Fare Page), I had to share the above with all of you.  Your beaming Air Chief is tickled pink (or this that an off rouge?) with his Airship 27 baseball cap, coffee mug and that awesome Brother Bones Comic Cover tee.  I know, the book isn't even out yet.  Ha.  Patience, loyal airmen.  We'll be making that announcement within the next few weeks for sure.  Anyway, here's the deal, guys and gals.  We are so happy with the quality of the gear on-sale at the shop, I'm making you this offer.  Any loyal airman who approaches me at a convention wearing any of our Airship 27 gear, or carrying an Airship 27 cup, notebook or whatever purchased from our shop will get to buy any one Airship 27 pulp title on our table for 50% off the selling price!   That's our way of saying thanks for supporting us and joining in on all the fun.

So there you have it, loyal airmen.  Now before this happy day is over, go out and barbecue and set off a few dozen firecrackers.  HAPPY 4th of JULY & GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

Ron – Over & Out.

Greeting loyal airmen. It's been a really terrfic week around Hangar 27 thanks to your enthusiastic response to the release last week of our latest Captain Hazzard adventure – CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK.  I've received so many gracious e-mails from many of you excited about the book's debut and sales kicked off the day we announced it's availability.  Thanks so much to each and everyone one of you for your continued support of this series.  And remember, after you've read the darn thing, drop us a line and give us your reactions.

At the same time we were busy releasing this volume, our publisher, Michael Poll of Cornerstone Book Publishers was also burning the midnight oil in a really fun way.  Michael thought it would be very cool if we could provide all you loyal airmen with some authentic Airship 27 gear and fun items.  Thus he went and opened up a huge on-line merchandising shop simply cram-packed with tee-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, notebooks etc. etc., all with Airship 27 book logos and cover images.  The idea here was simply this.  If you've purchased any of our books recently, and enjoyed them, we thought you might like wearing something to publicly show your support of Airship 27 Prod.  To help promote this nifty shop, Michael whipped up this new version of our familiar logo.  See above. 

The very cool coffee mug and baseball cap shown above are two of the three items I've already ordered for myself.  So please, go to the Air Fare page on this site, find the new logo image and click on to the link and that will take you to the store.  Believe me there is so much stuff to look at, take your time and browse.  We're betting you'll get a big kick out of what you find there.

Finally, less you think I'm a heartless capitalist, here is a story about nature and its resiliency.  Over the twenty-five years since we've lived in our home, Valerie and I have tried to spruce up the back yard.   Every Spring we plant all kinds of flowers, both perenials and annuals.  My favorite flower has always been the rose and my success rate with them has been dismal at best.  Two years ago I planted sevearl new rose plants by the back fence and hoped for the best.   Not two weeks later, while mowing the lawn, I forgot all about one particular plant and cut it down.   When I realized what I'd done, I was more than a little upset.  But I still had two others intact and concentrated on keeping them alive and healthy.  Both these plants did so-so and then at the end of the season died out over the winter months.  The following Spring, while planting new assorted flowers, I came upon the plant I'd mowed down and lo and behold, its shoots were coming up out of the ground.  Amazed, I carefully nurtured it with plant food and water all last summer and to my utter bewilderment, it actually grew.   Thing was, it only yielded four or five roses, and then stopped blooming altogether.  Now the plant continued to grow and weave itself around our fence, but it would produce no more flowers.  What the heck?   I simply could not figure out this stubborn plant that refused to die, but then again was only giving me new branches and leaves.  I continued to nuture it nonetheless, wondering what a third Spring would bring.

Well the picture above is the answer to that question.  Not only did this plant survive perhaps the coldest, snowiest winter we've had in the last thirty years, but all of a sudden it was growing taller and sprouting blooms everywhere.  Thus far I've counted almost two dozen roses and they keep coming.  It's become the center piece of the yard and looking at it every day simply buoys my spirit.  The plant that simply would not die!  Nature is truly miraculous and always beautiful.  Sometimes when we least expect it, we are rewarded more than we could ever imagine.  The lesson here is that if you give life a chance, then you allow for these kind of wondrous surprises.  Think about that and while you're at it, go plant something.  It will put a smile on your face at the same time making the earth a little greener, and that's always a good thing.

Till next week, Ron, Over & Out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Every now and then events both public and private seem to cross the flight path of my life and just naturally provide me with a theme.  Thus was the case over this last week.  Which ended up my being able to discuss heroes with all of you, especially three of them.
 
                                

                                                             STAN WINSTON 1945 – 2008

Last weekend, while the country mourned the loss of cherished newsman, Tim Russert, the movie community suffered their own loss in the Father's Day passing of special effects genius Stan Winston at the young age of 62.  For those of us who love the fantastic, Stan was an invaluble part of so many of our favorite movie moments from TERMINATOR to JURASSIC PARK.  In fact Stan's last work was developing the marvelous IRON MAN suit now seen in that current blockbuster.   He always appeared, when seen in interviews or documentary features to have that childish twinkle in his eyes and you just knew here was a man who truly loved what he did for a living.  After the late Willis O'Brien and his protege (still with us to this day) Ray Harryhausen, Stan was easily the most successful FX guru ever.  Thanks for all that magic, Stan, and God bless.

                                                                                   KG

People who love what they do.  A nice way to segue into our second hero this week, basketball superstar Kevin Garnett.  Unless you've been living a cave all year, you may have heard that at the end of last year's basketball seaons the Boston Celtics had the worst record ever.  They were a team being sucked into a constantly losing spiral.  Then management, under the guidance of former player Danny Ainge, went out and recruited two incredible players to assit their own team star, Paul Pearse.  They signed on Ray Allen and the man with perhaps the biggest heart in the entire world, Kevin Garnett, known to one and all as KG.   All of these three men were veteran players who had never won a championship.  That was all about to change.  Coach Doc Rivers, another genius of the courts, was able to preach his philosophy of team work and total defence to this ultra talented trio.  If they could leave their egos at the door and all work towards a common goal, success would be theirs at the end of their journey.   All of a sudden Celtics fans woke up one morning to see that their beloved team was in the win column and they would stay that way throughout the entire season compiling the best record in the entire NBA.  This past week, the Boston Celtics won their 17th Championship, another NBA record.  Every member of that team from management to the guys on the bench contributed to this astounding come-back year of victory.  Still one man was the passion, the heart of the Celtics.  That man was KG!!!  Bravo!

                                                         20008 World Champion Celtics

Above (left to right) are the great Bill Russell with Ray Allen, Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett & Paul Pearse. 
                                                            THE CELTICS!!!

Finally, loyal airmen, we come to one more hero, one of the fictional variety, but still oh so important to your old airchief.  CAPTAIN HAZZARD – THE CHAMPION OF JUSTICE.

As promised last week, the fourth book in this new series starring this classic pulp hero from the 1930s is now available for purchase at our on-line store.  See the Airship logo to the left of this column. One click takes you to the store where you can buy this volume and seven other Airship 27 titles at a special discount price off retail.  In this all new adventure, two evil madmen scientists devise a way to bring the city of New York to its knees under a mountain of freezing snow.  Only Captain Hazzard and his Fighting Five can save the day, but to do so they will first have to conquer an army of mutated cavemen.  CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK is an all new, original pulp novel by ye old airchief, with interior art and design by Rob David and an absolutely stunning cover by Mark Maddox.  Guys, I put everything but the kitchen sink in this one.  Please, check it out.  I'm on pins and needles here until you do so and let me know if its a winner or a dud.  So pick it up, read it and then drop me a line.  I always appreciate your feedback. 

And there you go, airmen.  Another week, albeit a busy one, has flown by.  Summer is officially here now, according to the calendar and I hope all of you are enjoying it to the max.  Valerie and I did see THE INCREDIBLE HULK last week and both of us give it thumbs up.  Great special effects coupled with a good story and really good acting.  It stands toe to toe with IRON MAN.  Wow, Marvel movies are really taking off aren't they?  Talk about feeling like a kid again.  I love it.

Ron – Over & Out!