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!