Wow - What A Weekend!

So there's been a lot happening around the Mad Pulp Pad here in the bowels of Hollywood. Lot of events that have pulled me away from working at the computer which is sometimes a good thing. I'm not going to make a habit of it by any means, but this time it was worth it.

First off, Saturday was FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, a national event sponsored by publishers, distributors and retailers to get people interested in reading comics. It's a good deal for anyone unfamiliar with this "holiday" as it means you can walk in to just about any comic book store around the country and walk out with a free comic or five.

I went down to MELTDOWN COMICS on bright beautiful Sunset Blvd. It's a big place and filled to the brim with all sorts of comics, magazines, books, toys, games and DVDs for any member of the family. There's cute baby stuff there too.

Anyway, I picked my alloted five free comics from an assortment of about twenty different titles. It was fun to hear the parents bringing the kids into the store:

Parent or Grandparent: You sure you want that one? Wouldn't you like Mickey Mouse instead?

Kid: Nope, I want The Astounding Wolf-Man!

Parent: Okay, Sally - but don't tell your Mother (or Father or Grandparent).

For those interested in such trivia (because Lord knows someone is going to ask in the comments) I picked up:

THE TRAIN WAS BANG ON TIME: An episode of The Black Diamond Detective Agency by Eddie Campbell (FROM HELL)

THE LONE RANGER/BATTLESTAR GALCTICA from Dynamite Entertainment

VIRGIN COMICS SAMPLER

THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY from Dark Horse Comics.

Free Comic book Day is also an opportunity where stores pull out their "Quarter Boxes" and sell their backstock for bargain prices. I was able to pick up a couple of lost classics... I was very happy.

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Phase Two of the weekend is that I was invited to The HULLABALOO benefit concert for The Silverlake Music Conservatory. We've been doing some pro bono work designing the posters, passes, and programs for the event using our talents to give back.

Well, last week we were all surprised with free VIP guest passes to the concert last night held at the Henry Fonda Theater. Free food , drink and merriment as the Firebrain Inc. team got to rub elbows with the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Gabriel Byrne, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eddie Vedder and the teachers and students of the conservatory (who can throw down with the best of them). Acoustic, jazz combos and full out rock n' roll concerts entertained us until around 2 am...

It was nice to get that reward for our hard work, but to be honest we would have done it anyway. The Conservatory provides such a needed service that the public schools can't. There are so many kids (and adults) out there who need a creative outlet like music, and it's people like Flea and the staff at The Conservatory who have answered the call. We were happy to lend a hand in something that wasn't commercially motivated. I would urge everyone to find some charity they could be interested in and invest yourself.

It's a simple formula for making the world better.

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Phase Three of the weekend was going to see SPIDERMAN 3 at the fabulous Arclight Theater. Before we got inside, we saw the TRANSFORMERS trailer on the side of a truck trailer that was there to screen for patrons waiting to get into the movie. Talk about a cool promotion!

S3 was cool. Good, but not great and has a few scratches in the diamond that doesn't make it ugly, the movie's just not flawless. There were a few scenes that stuck out like sore thumbs begging for another hit with the hammer (most notably the scene where Harry's butler tells Harry he's certain his father died by his own hand).

I'll go into more detail later as I think things over. I'm way too tired and DOCTOR WHO is ready on the laptop.