Hellebration 2008 #4

So as me and wife make our trek to the premiere...i give the cliffnotes version of the first Hellboy film...as hard as it is to believe ,my wife has never seen Hellboy.my office is cover with so much Hellboy paraphernalia it's not even funny...oh well.Having filled her in,we finally arrive in the Westwood villiage.we get there as Guillermo's bus arrives with everyone in tow.The cast Ron Perlman,Doug Jones ,Selma Blair, and Guillermo all walk the fan line.pretty damn cool.I stop to wave at Doug and say hi to his publicist, John . and continue on to pick up our passes.All this time, even after Guillermos' emails and Maurice reassuring me that everything was cool,i still had this feeling that i was going to walk up to will call and they were gonna tell me that there were no tickets left for me....just me being paranoid.finally found the willcall desk and 'lo and behold there was an envelope waiting for me...YES!!! so ,now the wife and i decide whether or not to walk the red carpet ...i choose not to..who the hell am i?but we were being ushered into the theatre so that they could take a head count anyway.In the lobby i spot Guillermo Navarro (cinematographer)and Mike Elizalde(make-up god)...it seems so surreal...(i will use that word a lot,cuz no other word fits).Guillermo hooked me up, we have seats in the balcony right in the front.i jet back downstairs to indulge myself in some complimentary popcorn and soda, when i see Helen Chavez( Doug's webmaster and my dear friend) and Laurie Jones (doug's lovely wife). We greet eachother like it was only yesterday that we had the 2004 fan screening.The film is about to start so everyone takes their seats...The film is introduced by the man himself,GdT.

Two and a half hours went by in a flash.the movie was not what i expected ...but i really enjoyed it.

The one thing that my wife wanted to do was meet GdT and The Mignola's ( i talk about them incessantly) I was hoping that i could fulfill her request.As we're walking out of the theatre i run into Steve Niles(that's a story for another time).I'll just say that he is one the coolest people out there...we chat for a bit and i ask him where his lovely girlfriend ,Sarah is(that's another story also) and he says that she is in the Ladies room..."Oh" so i keep moving along.

It's kinda weird being on the other side of the "velvet rope"...cuz you kinda feel special and at the same time, i'm saying to myself..."self ..what the fuck are you doing here?"...i see Luke Goss and I immediately look for Jeri Shultz(Luke's webmaster..yet another tale for another time).she nowhere to be found...I start hearing people scream..."Seth".."Seth...come on man sign my picture"They were shouting at Seth Macfarlane( who supplied tha voice for Johann in the film and of Familt Guy fame)..he's oblivious to the fans and keeps on walking...yikes!

So were walking to the after party and who do i see by himself...?

Hellebration :Numero Tres

Well my Hellebration started Thursday.I had dinner with my buddy, Maryann to basically just catch up and talk about the events of the week coming up.I told her that I had a secret surprise to tell her.i told her how i got invited by Guillermo to attend the Red Carpet and she was jazzed for me.(she thought that that was the surprise).I then continued to tell her that Guillermo had also invited a select few to dinner prior to the fan screening(she thought that was the surprise).i then told her since she was my guest for the fan screening ,that she was going to be joining all of us for the dinner(That was the surprise).She seemed surprised,I hope she was surprised.(i guess you'd have to ask her).
Friday came and I was going to meet up with Maurice for dinner. To catch up and to talk about all the cool things that were gonna go down.
The First Big Day!!!
The Red Carpet Premiere of Hellboy II The Golden Army
I've been waiting for this day ever since i got the invite from GdT.
Rocking a brand new suit ,while my lovely wife,Lupe was rocking a beautiful dress...
we were ready to walk and rock the red carpet...

Hellebration 2008 Part: Deux

Well, fast forward four years and here we are...Hellebration 2008!!!
Older,Chubbier,and Balder,but only one constant...my friendship with my fellow Hellions!!!
Throughout the past four years,my friendships with these individuals have gotten better and more fulfilling.within the past four years we have all met up occasionally...with the always the same result...a stronger relationship.
According to Maurice ,Hellebration 2008 has been in the works since the last one ended.knowing him...i believe it! Well, once the buzz was being tossed around that ther might be another Hellebration to celebrate Hellboy II :The Golden Army...i started to get giddy...no plans were concrete but constant contact between Maurice and GdT kept it alive.Then the word was official and the RSVP's were sent out(via messageboard thread).knowing that the original Hellebration of 25 attendees was not possible..the daugnting task of keeping track of 100 fan fell on Maurice's capable shoulders..additions and deletions to the list werew also changing.the RSVP's spanned every facet of fandom.del Toro fans. Hellboy fans.Doug Jones fans,Ron Perlman fans.Selma Blair fans(probably just me)and thanks to me,again (a new fan of Luke Goss) and Jeri Shultz(webmaster of the Luke Goss fan site)Luke Goss fans.I was even lucky enough to convince Maurice to let my buddies Gerry and Tony attend.The list is set .trip plans made and we're off...

Hellebration 2008

WOW! WOW!WOW!

What can i say?It's been a week of truly memorable experiences.

let's start at the beginning...back in 2004 ,I was lucky enough to attend the First Hellebration.Thanks in part to Maurice (Spyda).

like this time around...we (the fans) were treated like royalty.special treatment all the way.

Had an exclusive meet and greet with Guillermo del Toro,Mike Mignola, and Hellboy himself Ron Perlman.We all shared dinner at The Buddah's Belly in Hollywood.don't remember eating much.I think I was awestruck to be in the presence of my heroes.Tales were exchanged and fun times were shared.Here was the genesis that would be the start of my friendships with my fellow Hellions.I had met Rick Cortes briefly,prior to this dinner and have since forged a friendship that still still intact today.I think that other than introducing myself to Maurice that first time ,didn't have much interaction that evening.spent most of my time with Andrea and Paul Delaney my table mates.pictures were taken ,swag was given, and hugs were exchanged.Speaking of pictures being taken,a guy was there to save the day for me and take a picture of Me, Guillermo, and Mike.That man is the one and only Kirk Nelson.A man who still to this day is one of my buddies whose friendship i hold dear.

The next day we all attended WizardWorld..here's where I i got to know my buddy Maurice better we hung out pretty much all day.it was fun.we all stood in line to get autographs from Guillermo,Mike, Ron, and Selma(i think this is where Maurice's love affair with Selma began).

We then attended the press and preview screening on Hellboy.It was the drive down to the theatre that i got to know another of my dearest friends Helen Chavez and Pat Paone.We shared free refreshments and laughs during the screening.We all ended the evening with our very own private Q &A with del Toro over pizza and beverages at The Soffitel Hotel in Hollywood.I hated the evening to end ,but we all knew that it was bound to happen.we shared hugs again and vowed to keep in touch and to this day my friendships with all these fine folks are stronger that ever.

Babe Tour Part I

Those who know me ...know that i go to alot of signings....and i mean ALOT of signings.so the past couple of weeks have been pretty busy.It started last Saturday.My son and i are BIG Star Wars fans .Well at the weekly con that we go to there gonna be a coupple of people from the Star Wars universe....One of them was Ray Park,he played Darth Maul. and another one was a weird choice,( i guess the whole everyone gets 15 mins. concept is working here) was the Stormtrooper that said the "famous" line "These aren't the droids we're looking for" was there and he would tell anyone his story about his claim to fame.After a pit stop at home we left for the signing and premiere of the new Fox series Terminator:The Sarah Conner Chronicles.This was at the Golden Apple comics store(one of my favorite shops)Lena Headey(Queen Gorgo of 300, Summer Glau(Firefly),Tom Dekker(Heroes) were all in attendance.we got there just in time they had capped the line...but I know the owner and he let us in.Thanks Ryan!I talked to Summer(Cute!) for a bit and told her that I had seen her that week on the KTLA Morning News...she said that it was a weird experience because not only did she promote the show she sat in and talked about current events(something different for her)Then I talked to Lena (Cute!)...she was cool and signed all my stuff.It was a cool event except for the handlers ...i know that they are there to represent the studio and the talent but the body guards were kinda rude to folks and the stars were disturbed by the way the bodyguards were acting,,,still a cool event though.Last stp on our tour that day was a gallery opening for artwork inspired by Bruce Lee.I am a BIG Bruce Lee fan I grew up watching all the movies and tv shows.and would always do the whole Bruce Lee imitation"WAAA-TAH!"(yeah i know...I'm weird...my kids always remind me of that)The Gallery was cool and the reason for being there was to meet Bruce Lee's daughter ,Shannon(Cute!)..she was cordial and very attentive cool lady.She signed a print for me of one of the lithographs ..well that's week one...i'll post on week two in a couple of days

SDCC 2007

Wow ...what a week! Spending the last four days at the San Diego Comicon is,was ,and always be an experience.A Mecca shall we say of all things that are related to pop culture.I've been attending for over 25 years,and it's grown from a small show to this must-see,must -be -at event.Exhausting?Yes.Bank breaking?Yes.Will I be there in 2008?YES!For the passed couple of years I've the pleasure of spending the week with two of my closest and best friends,Gerry and Tony.What a motley trio we are.But from my Star Wars post you already know how important these"gentlemen" are to me. We arrived Wednesday for Preview night (a three hour frenzy of wanting to be in ten different places at one time. The whole week I feel like I'm missing out on something cool).Checked into the hotel and grabbed a bite at Seaport Village.We then picked up our badges and waited to enter with the sea of humanity.We were finally let in and I ran into John Zander and his son Gibson.John is Doug Jones' publicist.Truly a nice guy.Wednesday was such a blur ,ii really don't know what I did first.I think i got tickets for the 300 screening that Warner Bros. was going to have at Petco Park on Friday.Than got some tickets for the Clive Owen movie "Shoot 'Em Up".I got in line to buy the Neca Leonidas exclusive figure.Bought a couple sketchbooks that were on my list.Than I stop by and stopped by to say "Hi" to the wonderful Mignola Family .I picked up the sketchbooks and prints that Christine Mignola had put aside for me.I've started this habit of collecting mike's prints and sketchbooks with the #333 and #666.(don't ask me why..i just do,and Christine is always kind and accommodating to put them aside for me.Thanks Christine!!!) Now,this next moment just blew me away...I next said hi to Mike and he told me that he had read my comments about his fantastic novel Baltimore on the Hellboy.com messageboards.I was shocked to say the least..hoping that all my grammar was correct.Mike was very gracious to me, saying that he was very appreciative of my comments. WOW!After I collected myself ,I went on to tell him what a great novel it was .As the release comes nearer ,I'll blog about this excellent adventure,that is called Baltimore.If it's possible,after this weekend.I appreciate the Mignola Family even more.I then stopped by the J.Scott Campbell table ,but that line was waaay too long.I then decided to see if my buddy, "Spyda" Maurice was around.Let me tell you how I become associated with my friend Maurice...

TRANSFORMERS

What a summer it's been...I've spent waaaay too much $$$ watching every blockbuster that has been released.Spiderman 3....was okay.Pirates...was okay.Transformers was GREAT!!! I think even after Harry Potter's big weekend,Transformers is the movie of the summer.I even saw it twice.Once with my kids(they loved it) and the next day again with my son.We saw it at The Arclight(formally the Cinerma Dome,for us oldsters)probably THE best place to see a movie.The reason why I saw it for a second time was because the Arclight had the actual cars from the movie.I thought that my son would get a kick out of seeing the cars up close.The cars looked great.I want that Camaro.Heck, I really want the Ironhide truck(if i only had an extra 100 grand sitting around ).Well here are the pix of the cars.Enjoy!!!