Greetings loyal airmen.  Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful summer season.  Our son, Scott, is up from Conn. with his wife Katie, and two adorable kids, Taryn & Logan. It's so much fun for us to have them home. 

Last week we announced the release of our children's book.   ALERT NOTICE – Within the last 48 hours we learned that the printer had upgraded their entire system and in this process, several accounts were randomly deleted.  One of these was our for Yard Elves Visit Inspiration Playground.  So if you have attempted to log on to our link (on the Air Fare Page) only to get nowhere, we apologize.  Please bear with us.  Sadly the only way to fix the problem is to download the entire file all over again. Our designer says it should be done by Monday night, next week, ergo you should be able to log on Tues. and find the book.

Also, do take note that we have purposely held off selling this book through the big distribution channels like Amazon and Barnes & Noble so that you, our friends, family and loyal airmen, could buy the book at the discount price of $15.50 direct from the printers.  In a few weeks we will be taking it to those high-selling centers and when that happens, the price of the book will go up across the board.  Sorry, but that is out of our control.  Once a our printer offers the books to Amazon & Barnes & Noble, and they raise the price to add their profit margin, then the printer brings their price up to match.  So, once again, the $15.50 is a special, limited time price for you reading this. Please, after Monday, avail yourself of it before it is gone.

LETTER FROM THE GOVERNATOR

Back in the late 1970s I had the fun of writing the TERMINATOR comic series for Now Comics.  The book, at that time, was based on the first blockbuster movie of the same name, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.  And as most of you well know, after a very successful acting career,  Mr.Schwarzenegger went into politics and is now the Honorable Governor of California.  What you do not know is that one of his bodyguards went to college with our son, Alan, and they remain close friends.  A few months back, Alan reminded his pal that his stepfather had once written Terminator comic books.  One thing led to another until both of them thought it would be very cool if I sent the Governor autographed copies of the books.  I was only to happy to oblige and put together a package of sixteen issues, signed them all, and sent them to Alan.  He in turn forwarded the package to his old college chum, who then presentend them to the Governor.

Thus, a week ago I found an envelope in my mailbox from the Office of the Governor, Sacramento, CA.  Inside was a short, wonderful thank you letter from Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator himself.  In his note he said getting those comics brought back lots and lots of wonderful memories of when he made that movie.  He also added that he has absolutely no time to read for pleasure these days, the duties of his office keeping busy 24/7.
But he did promise, one day, in the not too distant future, to read every single one of them.  He finished by thanking me sincerely for thinking of him and sending them along.  What a truly gracious letter from a man I truly admire.  You have to know it will be framed and given a place of honor on the walls of the Batcave.  Too cool.

STAR TREK RULES THE UNIVERSE

Loyal airmen, if you ever entertained the idea that there was one part of our American culture not affected by the world of Star Trek, guess again.  The above ad was sent to me this week by my friend, Joe Morneau, himself an avid golfer and big-time sci-fi fan. When I initially saw it, I thought Joe was pulling my leg.  A golf putter in the shape of the Starship Enterprise!!  Oh, please, I thought.  But then I checked the manufacturer, Golfsmith, and they are one hundred percent serious.  This putter is real and they are selling it!  I haven't stopped laughing yet.
What next, Star Wars 9 Irons?  Truly, life is always way-way stranger than anything we could ever imagine.

And there you go for another week at the old Airship 27 Hangar, amigos.  Thanks, as ever, for stopping by.
Ron – Over and Out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  We've got some big news this week.  After almost two years, our first children's book is now on sale.  The beautiful cover above is by the book's artist, Gary Kato, a noted graphic artist with over thirty five years experience.  This project began many years ago when my stepson, Alan Horne, began his landscaping business in Fort Collins, CO.   At his urging, I came up with the name, YARD ELVES, and Gary did up small elf pictures for Al to use in advertising his company.  Soon his trucks with the cute elves painted on the doors began to become a familiar sight in the community.  Children loved the elves.

I always saw the entire concept as having much potential to grow, along with Al's business.  Several years ago, Gary and I produced a 20 page Yard Elves Coloring book that was printed up and given out freely to the children of Fort Collins, and the company's customers.  It was a whopping success.  Which only fueled my idea of us doing a full out children's book starring those same elves.  When I approached Al with the idea, he liked it and for the next couple of years, every time Val and I went out to visit him, his lovely wife Nickie, and our grand kids, Cora and Alex, the subject of the children's book always came up.  But Al never felt the time was right, or what tack he wanted to take with the project.

You see, the more Alan became a part of his new hometown, the more he wanted do something for the community.  He's a firm believer in giving back.  Fort Collins had been good to him and his family, then it was only proper that he in turn do something special for the city.  Thus, the tone of our planning shifted drastically to how can we make this book better for the community?  What had started out as a simple children's book was now aimed at doing even more.  The final piece of the puzzle arrived when the city decided to build an amazing new playground that would be accessible to both diabled and healthy kids.  Then Al became associated with a non-profit group called REALITIES FOR CHILDREN that helps and protects abused children in the Fort Collins area.

What if we centered our little story around a make believe playground, much like the real one the city was actually constructing?  And what if our magical elves offered their services in creating this unique and marvelous play area?  We kept nodding our heads like those bobble head figures you see in the back of cars.  And then Al added the icing on the cake by stating he would donate a portion of the profits to charities like Realities For Children and others.

Those were my marching orders.  I wrote the story, Alan, and Val edited it, made suggestions for revisions and over a period of several months it was done.  Gary Kato drew 21 full page color illustrations and Matty Ryan, of Atlanta GA, designed and assembled the entire package into the beautiful book we are all so very proud of.  It went on sale yesterday and already sales have started.  Please, if you would like to be a part of something super special and geared to helping kids, I beg you to go to our AIRFARE page, click on the link next to the book cover and check it out at the sale site.  There is even a free 8 page preview there for you to look at and see how much fun the story and art really are.  This has been a personal adventure for my family, and I hope lots of you will want to come along for the ride.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and the Elves thank you too.   Ron – Over and Out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  As we head into this Father's Day weekend, several diverse topics rise to the surface of our weekly get togethers.  The first is the loss of our beloved microwave that gave up the ghost late last night.  I was in my den (better known as Ron's Batcave) when Valerie called from the top of the stairs asking if I'd like some popcorn.  Having just munched on several handfuls of mixed nuts, I declined.  A few minutes later I could  hear her opening the cellophane wrapper and then the familiar click of the microwave starting up.  Two minutes later an unholy crackling noise arose and began sputtering weird electronic notes that made the hairs on my arm stand up. I could hear Val scrambling to shut it off and then she called out,  “I think the microwave just died.”  To which I responded, “Don't eat that popcorn.”

Thus our first topic of conversation this morning was the death of our beloved household appliance of sixteen years.  That's a long time and the thing served us well throughout.  Not only those late night popcorn snacks, but it was used to remove harmful fats from meats, to warm breads that had hardened in the fridge.  All kinds of uses that we, who live in this marvelous electronic age really do take for granted.  How on earth our parents and their parents ever got along without these modern gizmos is beyond me.

Two hours after our first morning coffee, we were in the car on our way to a wholesale club store and three hours later were driving him with a brand new Sharp microwave.  Val was delighted, as this new model is smaller and able to fit almost anywhere in the kitchen she wants to set it.  Meanwhile I was looking through the booklet and the list of special features it provides.  (Adjustable power levels.)  If you write sci-fi and comics like do, those words can have ominous significance.  (Automated defrost.) Gotcha.  (Adjust time during cooking).  Meaning if smoke starts coming out of the thing, you might need to adjust those power levels we mentioned earlier.  (Child lock.) Okay, this one caught me by surprise.  It supposedly deactivates the panel controls to prevent young children from playing with the buttons.  My question.  How does it know it is a child playing with the control and not some confused adult trying to fathom what all those darn buttons mean?  This could be a problem. There were at least another 8 function features, but I won't bore you with all of them.  Also long as the thing doesn's start talking to me in a HAL-type voice, I think we're safe.  As for the old mircowave, now sitting in the garage corner, it's landfill time.  Considering the disposal society we live in, any time you can get sixteen years from a gizmo, consider yourself lucky.  We do.

                                    
I want to thank all you airmen who wrote after reading last week's log entry about my hunt for a publisher.  All of you were too kind in wishing artist Rob Davis and I luck finding a home for our DAUGHTER OF DRACULA graphic novel.  Sadly, no nibbles from the posting,   I do appreciate the suggestions foks sent in.  Trust me, as I stated last week, we are not giving up.  I've a few other ideas and eventually, should no one want to join us in the venture, Rob and I are completely ready to self-publish.  It's out intention to have DAUGHTER OF DRACULA available for sale before this year is out.  Regardless under what imprint.

Whereas that project is on hold, another is coming to fruition rapidly and I wanted to share that news with all of you.  The first paperback I ever had published was TRAIL OF SEAHAWKS and it was co-written with Texas fantasy great, Ardath Mayhar.  We sold it to TSR and after they accepted it for publication, they requested we write another for them in the same workd, so we produced MONKEY STATION.  It too was published by TSR.  (A digression note, Wildside Books has picked up both these titles and will soon be reprinting them, both in hardback and electronic formats…I'll keep you posted when they are due out.)  Finally, Ardath and I turned our attention to writing a modern fantasy thriller, WITCHFIRE.  It tells the story of young French girl, Morgan Rein, who is raised by a loving, Scottish matron, Mother Kalavela, who just happens to be a white witch.  And of course she teaches Morgan the ways of her pure and wholesome magic.   Later, Morgan, as an adult living in a modern U.S. city, must use those skills to stop a fiendish warlock bent upon death and destruction.

Thing is, although both Ardath and I were happy with how the book came out, we could not find a publisher for it.  Ultimately we went on to other individual projects in our own careers and WITCHFIRE was relegated to our files to collect dust for the past twenty years.  About four years ago, I took the actual manuscript out of my file drawer and decided to re-write it from start to finish, and at the same time get it into my PC files.  And I am very, very happy I did so because a month ago, through a friend's prompting, I met independent publisher, Michael Poll, who asked to read the manuscript.   Michael's outfit is Cornerstone Publishing and happily, he liked the book and has agreed to publish it for us.  Of course I wasted no time recruiting Rob Davis to provide some truly wonderful interior illustrations plus the cover, when the time is ready.  Above is one of his nine illos for the book, it featuring a young Morgan and her magic teacher.  All of us, Rob, Ardath, Michael and yours truly, are tremendously excited about this book finally getting out there.  I really think you are going to like it.  More as things develop.

Lastly, Sunday is Father's Day and I want to wish all you loyal airmen who are dads, a truly wonderful, happy day.  And I want to remind my five kids, Scott, Kevin, Heather, Michelle and Alan, just how much I love them, how proud of each and every one of them I am, and being their dad has been one of the greatest honors of my
life.  Thanks for being such beautiful people.

Take care, Ron, over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  This week I want to use this space to hopefully find a courageous comic book publisher. One who is willing to go out on a limb and publish something other than your typical super-hero fare, or traditional horror book.  Almost four years ago I decided to write a comic script that would combine two things that I truly enjoyed.  One was a long forgotten Universal horror movie, DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, and the other my fascination with the World War I flying aces.

After the success of Universal's DRACULA, with Bela Lugosi, the studio wanted to do a sequel immediately.  Alas Lugosi was tired of the role, he'd played the count hundreds of times on stage before bringing the role to the movies, and opted out of the project.  A quick rewrite and Universal released a truly gothic, highly sensual little movie about Marya Dracula, ala DRACULA'S DAUGHTER.  It starred a hauntingly beautiful actress named Gloria Holden and is considered by most horror fans a superior movie to its predecessor.   It has remained one my favorites.  After seeing the modern remake of THE MUMMY, I took it upon myself to redo this little classic into something altogether different.

In my tale, Marya meets and falls in love with Manfred Von Richtofen of Germany.  All this takes place prior to the start of World War I.  When the hostilities begin, Marya travels to Berlin to find him, only to discover he has become the very famous air ace known as the Red Baron.  They begin a torrid love affair which leads to…Well, that would be giving everything away.  I'd much prefer you had the opportunity to read it.   My partner, artist Rob Davis, spent two full years illustrating the entire 108 pages, doing all the assignments; pencils, lettering and gray-scaling.  It is by far his masterpiece of graphic story-telling.  Now we are trying to find a publisher for it.

                              
Here are three pages from the graphic novel, as marvelously rendered by Rob.  I'm hoping by posting these pages and this plea, someone out there will pass this along to an enterpising publisher willing to take a chance on this venture.   THE DAUGHTER OF DRACULA is finished and ready to go.

Of course if no such publisher appears, then Rob and I are considering self-publishing.  This project is just too good to let go unseen by all you loyal airmen.  And that's it for this week.
Ron – Over and Out.

           
Greetings loyal airmen.   With the advent of warm weather, flowers are beginning to bloom all over our back yard and in particular one variety we've been anxiously awaiting for ten years; our purple lilacs.   Ten years ago our oldest daughter, Michelle, and her family were leaving their apartment home in the nearby town of Berwick, ME, for their newly purchased home further north in the rural community of Lebanon, ME.  Before packing up to make the nine mile move, Michelle clipped 22 saplings from her healthy lilac bushes and brought them to me to transplant.   Valerie and I had hoped to make a buffer along the left side of our property, one that would eventually yield a very beautiful fragrance every Spring.  The thing is, once you've planted saplings, if they survive, it takes a full ten years before they actually bloom.  Thus over the last decade, every Spring, I would be out there adding fertilizer, plant food, whatever else to those thin, long sticks in hopes their roots would take hold and that some day they would indeed flower.  Well, over that time, we lost four of them, the ground is not the best on that side of the yard. But somehow, both through perserverance and dumb luck, 18 of them did take root and this year,  marking the tenth anniverseary of their going into the ground, several of them actually bloomed.  See picture above.

Watering these beautiful flowers the other day, I began musing at all the changes that have occured, both personally and nationally, since the time I first got down on my hands and knees and put them in the ground.  Wow.  The memories began to stack up and I was really taken aback by just how much can happen in just ten short years.  Some good and some bad.

In 1997 we had a Democratic President who just loved women.  All of them except his own wife.  Now, ten years later that same woman, whom he cheated on repeatedly and made a national joke and embarrassment is now campaigning for that same high office.  Have you ever wondered why she didn't divorce old Bill?  Although it would have shown her to be a woman of character, she feared it would hurt her political future.  Thus answering the question, which does Hilary Clinton put first in her life, her marriage and family, or her own ambitions.  I leave you to answer for yourselves.   It still amazes me that so many Americans put up with their “arrangement” as if it were an insignificant matter.   Of course, to be fair, George and Laura also have an arrangement of their own.  It's called mutual love and respect.   How old fashion of them!

Ten years ago there was no reality TV.  No SURVIVOR, a show predicated on the concept that if you lie and cheat in this world, you will win and be amply rewarded for your less than noble efforts.  Now there's an uplifting show!  And let's not forget AMERICAN IDOL, which allows people from all over the country to public humiliate themselves and ultimately becomes the biggest popularity contest ever conceived.  And here I thought I'd left that kind of juvenille mentality when I graduated from High School.  I would be lying if I said I've never seen either of these programs, whereas over the years, while surfing the channels, I have tripped over snippets of both.  Again, enough to know both are not worth my time.  Thus I can say, with some degree of pride, I have never watched a complete episode of either and have no plans to ever do so.

Ironically the digital revolution of the last ten years has provided us with a wonderful escape from today's mundane TV programming.   The DVD explosion has allowed studios to package and release old TV shows that we all grew up watching and enjoying.  Series with substance that we can now purchase and watch instead of the junk we are currently offered by the three major networks.  Who, by the way, are still scratching their heads at the steady decline in viewer numbers year after year.

Then again the same digital magic also brought us the cell-phone, something wonderfully missing from our lives in 1997.  Today I cannot drive one mile from home without seeing a passing driver with a plastic dohickey jammed in his or her ear as they attempt to navigate traffic.  What happened to the training manuels I had to adhere to when getting my drivers license lo those many years ago?  The one that stated a driver must give his or her full attention to the task at hand, driving the automobile!!   I consider it a miracle that every day hundreds of people aren't killed on our highways because of those things.  But give it time, now we're putting TVs in cars.  Duh! What's next, a mobile bar?

Ten years ago Valerie and I were still working and had yet to retire.  The subsequent years since we left the factory have truly been a blessing to us.  Ten years ago my play about how my Mom and Dad met and fell in love prior to World War II hadn't been produced.  The night it was, in 2002, was a truly joyous occassion for my mother and our entire family.  Ten years ago I hadn't started my new pulp career, and now I have ten volumes on my library shelf with my name on the credits.  With lots more to come.  Ten years ago only two of our five kids were married and we had only four grand kids.

      
Nine years ago Scott and Katie were married and today, we have six fantastic grand children, having added the two above, Taryn and Logan.  Making our lives that much happier.

Oh yeah, ten years goes by in the wink of any eye.  I was 50 then going, now I'm 60.  And I didn't have that tatoo that's on my left shoulder ten years ago.  What is it?  That's a story for another log, but I promise, I will tell it one day. One of my favorite songs from the musical, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, is Sunset-Sunrise.  The refrain goes, “Sunrise, sunset, quickly go the years, one season following another, laden with happiness and tears.”  Here's hoping the last ten years were filled with much happiness and only a few tears for all you airmen.

Ron – Over and Out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Well here we go into Memorial Day weekend, with Americans across our great land all ready to celebrate and kick off the official start of the summer season.   And hopefully, somewhere in all that partying, we take a few minutes to remember the brave men and women who gave up their lives so that we could enjoy the freedoms that we hold so dear.

What with the warm weather finally here, I found myself out mowing my yard for the first time this past week  This has always been a Zen like chore for me, as I really enjoy being outside (allergies not withstanding) and pushing that little machine back and forth across the grass in a set pattern.  All too often my mind begins to wander and I get reflective.  What with Memorial Day coming, my thoughts centered around our current world situation and the war in Iraq.  A war foisted upon us by Islmatic fanatics who desire nothing less than our complete subjugation.  I am constantly befuddled when I hear Americans denouncing the war and demanding our withdrawal.  Have I missed something?  I mean, we did not ask for this conflict.  We have no grudges against these people.  But they certainly do against us.  They desire nothing less than the complete and utter destruction of our society and way of life.  They don't even try to hide these goals, but preach them whenever they are given a platform to do so.  They oppose freedom of speech and religion.  Islamic terrorists have only one goal and that is a world ruled by fundamental Islamic law.  Women would become no more that slaves, and all of us would have to bow down to the Ayatollahs as semi-gods.  Certainly not a world I want to live in.

And yet, again, there are those among us who think by simply getting out of Iraq, these madmen will be placated and leave us alone.  Duh?  Sheer naivete.   Let me assure you, if we pull out of Iraq without the people there able to self-govern themselves, then the fighting will continue…here on America's streets.  And the people being bombed and butchered will be our women and children.  Yet people like TV personality, John Stewart rants about how sick he is being accused of giving aid and support to the enemy when he criticizes the war.  I'm sorry he's so sensitive, but again, Islamic terrorist don't see our peace-marchers and protests as signs of America's strength.  Remember, they have no concept of a true democracy.  They see our protests as a lack of will on our part.  They are resolved to destroying us.  That our own people rail against our President and actively campaign against his policies of defending our shores certainly bolsters their cause and determination.  So, yes, John Stewart, protesting the war publicly does indeed give comfort to those madmen.  It lets them think they can win.

I'm also sick to death of TV anchors who night after night continue the falsehood that all Americans oppose the President and this war.  Another lie.  There are hundreds, nay, thousands of us, who do not want to see these battles fought on US soil and we continue to pray and support both our beleagured President and our armed forces.   I just have a hard time understanding people who just don't get it.  To which my wife, in her wisdom, one day answered my quandry with, “They've never worn the uniform, nor taken the oath.”  And she was right.  Every young man and woman who joins the armed forces, raises his right hand and swears an oath of fidelity to America and her constiution.  They make a sacred promise to fight, and if need be, die for what America stands for.  And I don't know one single soldier, marine, sailor or airmen who has ever taken that oath lightly.

This weekend we honor the memory of men and woman who honored that oath to the end.  They were more than just citizens, they were patriots.  John Steward may be a citizen of the USA, and I respect him for that status, but he will never be a patriot nor have a clue what it is to be one.   My father served in World War II, I was in Vietnam and my son spent six years with the Army Reserve.   We know what that word means, and when we sing the national anthem, “..home of the brave and the land of the free.” will always tug at our hearts.
God bless America.

Ron – over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Seems like once again Mother Nature had chosen to withhold the warmth of Spring from our faces.  After what appeared to be a few short weeks of warmth and sunshine, we are once more waking up daily to gray skies and dark clouds.  Rain falls steadily and the word gloom seems to pervade every single aspect of our daily routine.  In a nutshell, airmen, it's just plain depressing and takes every ounce of energy to maintain some kind of positive attitude these days.

Yesterday morning, seated by our big bay window that looks down over the yard, the street, then to the copse of pine trees to the river at the bottom of the gulley, I was simply comtemplating as yet another gloomy day.   At which point, out of the scrub and brush, almost directly opposite our driveway, a deer materialized.  It was a female, a doe, and a very good sized creature she was.   She stood for a few seconds, her back to the trees and river, looking up and around.  Thankfully there was no traffic on the road and she began to sniff the air.  By now I was sitting up and taking notice of her with all the attention I could focus.  Deer are beautiful animals and she was no exception, with a mottled fur of light brown over her back, on tall, thin legs, she made her way along the dirt apron beside the roadway, staying near the tree line all the while.  Then when she was directly across from me, she turned and casually walked back into the forest and dissappeared.

In the almost twenty five years we have lived out here, on the outskirts of town, along the river, Valerie and I have seen a managerie of woodland creatures from the usual assortment of squirrel, groundhogs, beavers and skunks, to the more exotic foxes, wild turkeys.  One time a huge, bull moose, appeared at that same bay window, standing
eye to eye with Valerie when she opened the curtains that morning and got the shook of her life.   All in all it is truly part of the charm of living out from the center of town, this ability to enjoy and marvel at nature's creatures in their own, unfettered domain.   They remind us, as did the deer yesterday, that we do not inhabit this world alone and that these magnificent creatures are also the work of the Divine Creator, for us to respect, admire and care for.  Seeing that beautiful doe turned my day into a happy one, despite the gray skies.  Which only goes to prove, there is always something to lift your spirits, if you stay awake to see it.

Finally, just so you don't think I've been completely lazy these past few weeks, I thought I'd post a few preliminary pencils from the new childrens book Valerie and I have been putting together with artist Gary Kato.  It is almost completed and will be published to help support a brand new childrens park being built out in Colorado, where our son, Alan, lives.  More on all of this, and where and how to purchase a copy, when the book is completed.  Hang in there.

                

The above are a couple of rough sketches of the cover and some of the characters..   Not to worry, it will be in full color when done.  It's a fun project and we are so anxious to have it done and out there.

And that's it for another week from Hanger 27, airman.  Take care, Ron.  Over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  Well, last week at this time I was in a plane flying to Chicago where I would attend the Windy City Paper & Pulp Convention.  It was my first time at this particular convention and I didn't know what to expect.  I'm very happy to report it was one of the most enjoyable weekends I have ever experienced.  My good of some twenty-five years, artist, Rob Davis, was decent enough to pick me up at Midway Airport.  We would be sharing a room during the show.  It was the first time Rob and I had ever met face to face, and it truly was as if we've known each other all our lives.  He's a great guy and terrific roomate.

Once we were registered in our hotel, we headed for the Sheraton where the convention was being held.  This all taking place in a suburb known as Arlington Heights.  It is truly a beautiful area.   Once at the show, we again signed, received our badges and went to set up our table.  I don't know for a fact exactly how many vendors were at the show, but I would guess betweeen 80 and 100.  It was just a colorful gathering of pulp and comic collectors ala Moonstone's truly amazing booth (above) manned by their Publisher/Managing Editor, Joe Gentile.  Joe was another one of those people I'd spoken with over the phone over the years and was now putting a face on that voice.  He's a really fun guy and happily part of the weekend was our opportunity to discuss a project that he wants to publish.  I'm very excited about this will divulge more as I am able.

The gentlemen above is artist Doug Klauba, one of the most talented painters I've even encountered.  Doug did the cover for the SPIDER CHRONICLES that Moonstone published a few weeks ago and that I had a story in.  I got Doug to sign my copy on the cover with silver ink.  It looks so cool.

Looking at Doug's table above, if you moved to the right of it, you would come to writer Van Plexico's table.  Van was our con neighbor above and he is the author of several exciting Science Fiction novel, which I picked up from him the first day we met and were setting up.  Van, Rob, Doug and I are all members of an interent club known as The Pulp Factory and this get together was really fun for all of us.  Of course you can't tell from the angle, but that is a Pulp Factory sweatshirt I am wearing.   Rob, who snapped these pictures with his digital camera sat to my right with his comics and he actually did sketches for several people at the show.  Whereas you can see that stack of my own pulps in front of me.  Well I came to the show with 40 copies of my stuff and by the time we packed up Sunday to noon, I only had 8 books!!  It was by far one of the most successful shows I've ever gone to.  We met so many cool fans.

And before heading out, I managed to get all of us together in front of Joe's booth for this group shop.  Left to right, Van Plexico, Rob Davis, yours truly, Joe Gentile and Doug Klauba.   A wilder bunch of fun loving amigos you won't find anywhere.   As Rob was driving me back to the airport, we were both in awe had just how fast the weekend had flown by.  But then again, that's what always happens when you are having such a good time.  I hope to return to Windy City Con next year and many after that.   And let me publicly tip my fedora to the two gentlemen who produced this con, Doug Ellis and John Gunnison.  Gentlemen, take a bow…and thanks.

Okay, so I'm home again.  Battling allergies and trying to get back to a writing routine.  Here's hoping all of you remember your mothers on Sunday, not so much with a gift, but with a hug and heartfelt thank you.  Mothers are the true angels of our world.

Ron – Over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  I'm jotting this down early Thursday evening, as by the time you read this entry, I'll be winging my way to Chicago to attend the Windy City Pulp Con.  This is the first time I attend this particular show and I'm really excited.  It will be the first time I meet artist Rob Davis, though we've been correspondence pals for almost twenty-five years.  I'll also get to meet Moonstone Publisher, Joe Gentile, another wonderful industry professional I've talked with over the phone on many occassions.   Moonstone is the publisher of the excellent new SPIDER CHRONICLES anthology that is currently on sale and features one of my stories.  Joe and I hope to get together and discuss a very special pulp project we are doing together.  More on all that as it develops.  I also hope to meet other Pulp Factory members like writer Van Plexico, editor Howard Jones and artist Doug Klauba.  It really looks to be a fun weekend.  And knock on wood, Mother Nature seems to want to cooperate at long last.

Aside from the excitement of this trip, things have been rather routine around the old Hangar 27.  The one major event was my finally buying a new suit after almost twenty-four years.   The old green one is still in pretty decent shape but Valerie wouldn't take no for answer this time.  I've a niece getting married in Cambridge in July and Val put her foot down that it was time to wear something else.   Obviously the reason the old suit lasted so well is that I rarely wore it, save for the special family occassions ala weddings or funerals.  I do lector in church on a regular basis, but often can get away with dress slacks, a shirt and tie and my comfortable cardigan sweater.  On special church services I'd pull out the green suit.

Try to understand, I went to a Catholic High School where I had to wear and tie and suit coat five days a week for four years.  Now my normal attire is jeans and a sweatshirt, in the winter, a tee-shirt in the summer.  And of course sneakers.  Anyway, I now on a brand new, really nice, dark suit which is at the present being tailored for me.   While shopping for the suit, I started thinking about how very little men's attire has changed since the days of the 1930s and 40s.  Look at the above illustration from an old Sears catalogue and you'll see what I mean.  I'd guess you could dress anyone in those outfits today and they could easily get away with looking modern.  Simply because the basic suit, tie, coat and pants, have not really changed all that much.  In fact looking at this picture you can easily point the only true fashion evolution of the last 75 years, the extinction of the headwear.   Men, and most women, just do not wear hats any more.  Growing up in the 50s, I never ever saw my father or uncles go out socially without wearing a hat, mostly fedoras.  But then somewhere in the 60s, our generation decided long hair needed air to breathe and we stopped buying hats.  Habadashers went out of business across the land.   By the time I was an adult, you rarely ever saw a chapeau of style on a man's head.   Of course when Harrison Ford arrived on the big screen in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ART wearing a battered brown, wide brimmed fedora, I wondered if this might reverse the trend and bring back hats.  Alas, it wasn' to be.

Oddly enough, after several decades of not wearing anything, it seemed like overnight I had once again changed my habits and was donning a baseball cap daily.   For whatever reason, these long billed, comfortable pieces of clothing found a life outside the sports arena and today they come in every shape, color and price…most having absolutely nothing to do with any particular ball club.  Interesting.  What it signifies socially, I haven't a clue, but then again, this is a just an essay on what happened, not why.   And if on the subject of baseball caps, you have to know my favorite, of the many I own, is my Boston Red Sox cap with the big red B.  The Sox are doing great this year and I'm very encouraged, barring any serious injuries to key players, they have a real shot at making it to the play-offs.   Hope does spring eternal, and to that I'll tip my hat.

Have a great week, Ron, over and out.

Greetings loyal airmen.  As the past week moved along, I began wondering what my theme would be for this entry. Very often, like this week, I go to the last minute before something pops up idea-wise.  Then two events  ocurred back to back that had me itching to tell you about them.  And as luck would have it, there was a very real thread connecting both experiences.  
                      
Once upon a time, I was an avid comic book buyer/collector.   Over the years I've found myself buying less and less of the current new titles on the market.   Maybe this happens with every generation, but still there is a part of me, acquired via my own career in the business, that believes the quality of stories and art in today's comics just doesn't measure up to what I was reading twenty years ago.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  There are still classics being produced by some very super talented people, and I do still collect a handful of titles religiously, but for the most part, the bulk of stuff out there today is just fair to really awful.

So imagine my surprise when I tripped over an issue of DC's TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED and found a true comic gem in the back of the book.   You see, since this title doesn't focus on any particular DC hero, it harkens back to the old anthology books of the late 1050s which filled newstands racks by the dozens.   Most of these books would have a featured series in the first half and then what was appropriately called a back-up story.  The thing was, much to readers' delights, many of those back-up series were just as much as the featured strip.  And that is very much the case with the current incarnation of TOFT.  The starring strip is a very bland Specter story that I forgot two minutes after reading it…sorry DC.   But when I got to the second story, one starring a really long forgotten B hero named DOCTOR 13, I was immediately bowled over by the gorgeous artwork.  Then I  began to take note of the bizarre collection of characters in the adventure; a vampire, a caveboy frozen in ice, a pirate helming a floating Spanish galleon and talking Gorilla Nazis!!!   Well, I read through these pages so fast and immediately wanted more…much more.  Thankfully a friend of my was collecting the title and allowed me to read the previous chapters I'd missed.

DOCTOR 13, written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Cliff Chiang, is one of the most imaginative, beautifully illustrated comics I've encountered in the past ten years.   That it is the back-up feature in this title is the real crime here and I for one, am begging DC, once the story runs it course, to please collect all these chapters into a collected edition.  And then, give us more of Doctor 13!!  A whole lot more.  Thank you.

Now lets jump from B comic book heroes to yet another class of underrated, unappreciated folks, the hundreds of actors who perform on both televsion and films as “extras.”   I'm sure, if you watch televsion dramatic shows on a regular basis, you've at one time or another, wondered exactly who all those other people are on the sets.  For example, if you are watching the current medical winner, GRAY'S ANATOMY, and your favorite starring actors are walking down a hospital corridor, just who exactly are all those “other” people walking past them…to fill up the frame and add credibility to the shot?  They are EXTRAS, people from all walks of life who moonlight by filling these crucial elements.  Most of them are non-speaking gigs, but that in no way lessens their importance to the entire process.

One such extra is my colleague, and good friend, writer Andrew Salmon of Vancouver, British Columbia.  That's Andrew above in costume for his most recent televsion appearance.  I'll get to it in a second.   When we became friends via my pulp work on the internet, Andrew informed me that beside his writing, he also did a lot of acting work.   Canadian labor is cheaper than the American film unions, so for years Hollywood companies have been traveling north to produce both movies and televisions shows.  Andrew was in the very popular comic book movie, FANTASTIC FOUR, last year, and appears on camera in a street scene behind Michael Chiklis as the Thing and Jessica Alba as the Invisible Girl.    About a month ago he wrote to tell me he'd just finished a very good role on WB's weekly action thriller, SUPERNATURAL, wherein he played a prison guard who roughs up the two stars when they are imprisoned while on an assignment.  Of course at the start of the show, which aired last night, we are told this is all taking place in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Ha.  It was all filmed in Vancouver.  And ture to his word, Andrew had a really terrific role and was on camera quite often, to include one really great close up.  It was such a blast to be watching a nationally syndicate TV show and be able to say, “That guy is a friend of mine.”  Hell, I even passed up watching the Red Sox game to catch Andrew's performance.  And it was worth it.

He's a great guy and I would be remiss if I didn't take a second to plug his science fiction novel, THE DARK LAND.  The book is still on sale at (www.Lulu.com) and I recommend it highly.   He's one gifted writer…and extra.   Oh, and his next small screen appearance will be in a forthcoming episode of the Anne Heche show, MEN IN TREES.   Now that you've seen a picture of Andrew, keep a sharp eye for him.  He tells me he appears in the church scene, cheering on the minister.   Of course I'll be watching like a hawk, and Hollywood, start dusting of an Emmy.  This guy can act.

Take care, airmen, have a great week.
Ron – over and out!