FCBD16 15yrsFree Comic Book Day has come and gone! Wooosh! Like a daydream.

15 years of Free Comic Book Day and I don’t think I’ve ever missed one since it’s been going on! 15 years visiting my favorite comic book shops out in Los Angeles! (15 years since Spider-Man came to theaters!) Wow!!!!

I love Comic Books and this day is a fun one. Comic Books for all ages! For the past 5, maybe 6, years I’ve taken my nieces out along for the comic book ride and it is a special day for us all! Yup!

IMAG8201This year my nieces, Celia and Effie, and my Guy Dave were ready for FCBD 2016 and at 9:30 a.m. we hit the road! We didn’t start at Golden Apple as usual, but made our way to North Hollywood for Blastoff’s ComicsFest by the Federal Bar. There were comic book writers/artist signing books, some vendors selling comic themed goodies, the Laemmle NoHo7 gave out free popcorn, and popcorn coupons, there were food trucks with delicious ice cream and even a beer garden!  But there were Free Comic Books! We all got a random grab bag that had old random back issues and a mix of the free comics available that day! After having some Thai Tea ice cream as our appetizer and grabbing our comics we all took quick break to flip through our goodies! Then we drove on down to Blastoff Comics store just down a ways and grabbed a few more Free Comic Books! They had a 50% off trades sale going on and though we didn’t buy any we had fun browsing. There was a good crowd inside and there’s nothing like seeing a full comic book shop, it makes me happy!

     We Are Ready For FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!!!!!!!

Ice Cream For Breakfast!!!!! Feed Me! Feed Me!!

Ice Cream For Breakfast!!!!! Feed Me! Feed Me!!

comic book day

We Love Reading Comic Books!

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BLAST OFF!

After that it was time for real food and we got a quick breakfast break to energize us up for the rest of our day! So it was more VROOM VROOM-ing around town!

NextIMAG8207 up on our Comic Book route was the newly opened shop The Perky Nerd, in Burbank! This fine new shop was ready to go on FCBD! Yup! Here they had some signings going on, Free Comics (OF COURSE!) and I finally got a chance to browse around a bit!

The Perky Nerd has new Comics, Toys, Original Artwork, Board Games (especially Star Wars X-WING) and COFFEE! They sell Cold Brew coffee at the shop and you can take a seat on their nice couch or table to read a book and sip your drink.

Celia browsing the inventory!

Celia browsing the inventory!

Awesome Artwork! The Perky Nerd herself in Super-Hero action mode!

Awesome Artwork!

READING BREAK!!!! COMIC BOOKS!!!!!

READING BREAK!!!!                COMIC BOOKS!!!!!

The store was buzzing with kids and parents exploring the world of Comic Books! Trash Panda was signing and giving away little tote bags, writer Bryan Hill and artist Isaac Goodhart of POSTAL were signing POSTAL #1.

Isaac Sketching Booster Gold for ME!!! Wheeee!!!

Isaac Sketching Booster Gold for ME!!! Wheeee!!!

Artist Isaac and I got to chatting, he drew a Spider-Man for my nephew (who wasn’t on the ride but couldn’t be forgotten about!) and in our chatting I mentioned my love of BOOSTER GOLD so Isaac was awesome and drew me a BOOSTER GOLD! Yes I will always admit my undying love and devotion of BOOSTER GOLD to anyone who will listen! Thanks again Isaac!

Booster Gold is my hero!!! Stay Golden Booster!

Booster Gold is my hero!!!                    Stay Golden Booster!

And with that we gathered our Comics and said bye bye to The Perky Nerd to venture off to the next shop on our list!

HOUSE OF SECRETS was busy! There were tons of cosplayers outside the shop posing for photos with kids and it was of course adorable and awesome! The shop was packed too and we all got to add another three Free Comics to our collections.

Green Lantern teaching the Green Lantern Oath!

Green Lantern teaching the Green Lantern Oath!

We had time to browse and we bought the last MUNCHKIN trade paperback (Celia, Effie, Dave and I love playing Munchkin together! Yup!) and the latest MY LITTLE PONY comic book!

Inside House of Secrets!

Inside House of Secrets!

In line at House of Secrets!

In line at House of Secrets!

Then, last but never least we were on our way to one more store! GOLDEN APPLE!

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I’ve been going to Golden Apple FOREVER, it’s been my go to shop since I began buying weekly comics oh so many, many, many, many moons ago. I remember those first FREE COMIC BOOK DAYS at Golden Apple when they were still further down Melrose. So many people, comics and good times! Golden Apple has always puts together a big event for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! They do not disappoint! Celia and Effie agree that we can’t ever miss out on visiting them! Yup!

So we were there later in the day and the line to get Free Comics wasn’t so bad, we didn’t wait long before we were snagging our books. I was actually able to find some that I didn’t see at the other shops! SCORE! 

One of the fun things that GOLDEN APPLE does is having a prize raffle game and this year it was buying dum dum lollipops for a chance at more free comics or other big prizes. We went for the big 12 dum dums for $10 deal and the four of us got to pick 3 dum dums each. Celia and Dave were the big winners! They got a hello kitty eraser puzzle and the Funko Frozen Pocket Pop Set! SCORE!

UNDEROOS!

UNDEROOS!

Whew!! What a day of FREE COMIC BOOKS! It really was an excellent adventure! I had a fun filled day with my nieces and my guy Dave! We got comic books a plenty, ate lots of sugary treats and had a super, duper, golden, perky, happy, fun filled blastoff blast!!! I can’t wait for another FREE COMIC BOOK DAY but have plenty to read until then. 😉

Remember: COMIC BOOKS KICK ASS! Yup!

 

Hey there, I’ll have what she’s having! Movies and Booze, baby! I have found some more fancy beverages from movies that I have been watching these past few months and I’m rounding a few of them up right here for a drinking party! This time out I’ll share a little bit more on these films that caught my fancy, in fact it’s making feel a bit tipsy.

It’s got be cocktail hour somewhere, right? Salud!

C of NYTHE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK (1958): This one was a bit heavy! A super smarty smart selfless scientist, Dr. Jeremy (Ross Martin), is on his way to make the world a better place, even winning a Nobel Peace Prize, when he suddenly dies! The sad is his death is basically his son’s fault! (The lesson here, don’t give your kid a toy that you may have to chase after into oncoming traffic, D’oh!) But, Dr. Jeremy comes from a science family and his father Dr. William is a brain surgeon, his brother Dr. Henry has dealings with robotics! From here Dr. Williams saves the brain with Henry’s help they revive him as a Colossus robot creature. You can bet the happy reunion doesn’t stay happy for long!

In the movie they drink a Martini, but made with two olives and an onion, so it’s like a cross between a Dirty Martini and a Gibson!

Here’s a recipe for a Martini:

It is one part Dry Vermouth and six parts Gin: Pour 1/2 oz of Dry Vermouth and 3 oz of Gin, into a mixing glass filled with ice cubes. Stir well and then strain it into a chilled martini glass, now you can garnish with an olive or some oil from a lemon peel.

wine and roses

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (1962) – I had never seen this movie and finally caught it on TCM one afternoon. This is a truly sad movie, but so good thanks to the actors and the story they told. Jack Lemmon is Joe Clay, a PR man who’s on the rise. When he makes the acquaintance of secretary Kirsten Arnesen, played by Lee Remick, the two fall in love and have a kid which seems to be the start of nothing but happy times. The thing is alcoholism comes into play, drinks each night grows to a need for drinks during the day and Joe and Kristen both develop some bad habits. A quote from the movie that beautifully illustrates the struggle is “Anything worth having, is worth suffering for.”

Before all the suffering the happy times began with a drink called a Brandy Alexander. It’s the drink Joe offers to Kristen to show that not all drinks have to taste alcoholic as it has a splash of chocolate. That Kirsten was a sweet tooth.

Brandy Alexander

You need Cognac, Dark Crème de cacao and fresh cream. Take a cocktail shaker filled with ice and add 2 oz of Cognac, 1 oz of Dark Crème de cacao and 1 oz of cream. Shake. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with nutmeg, freshly grated.

 

busy bodyTHE BUSY BODY (1967) – This funny little film was featured in my recent movie tally post. Something about it just gave me the giggles and some silly eye rolls. It’s a comedy directed by William Castle, starring Sid Cesar. Sid, as George Norton has to retrieve a body that was recently buried with $1,000,000 hidden in the suit. A series of mishaps and double crosses ensue. Richard Pryor is also in the movie as a police chief.

During a key scene where George is trying to get some info out of a woman he is asked to mix a Scotch Sour. The whole time George is distracted by the flirty woman that he grabs a glass, some cracked ice and lemon juice, which he shakes vigorously. Upon tasting he realizes he had forgotten the scotch. What was really on his mind?

Scotch Sour

You need blended scotch whisky and lemon juice. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, then pour in 1 and 1/2 oz of blended scotch whisky and 3/4 oz of lemon juice. Shake it up well. Strain it all into an old fashioned glass filled with ice.

Life at Stake cheersA LIFE AT STAKE (1954) – This is one hot movie and more than a few drinks are had to cool off! Just look at that saucy Angela Lansbury! Meow! It all starts with an out of work architect named Edward. He’s feeling sorry for himself and down in the dumps due to some bad deals leaving him pretty broke. Then in noir fashion an offer that’s too good to refuse comes knocking on his door. Angela Lansbury is Doris Hillman, a rich married woman with an eye for land as a relator. She offers Edward the chance to build and design property for her to sell, but the catch is he needs to be insured to get her husbands ok. There’s nothing to be suspicious about, right?

When Edward and Doris first meet, Edward makes himself a whisky soda, and then when the two meet again it’s a Scotch light, with lots of water for them both! “Maybe a little music will get this party airborne.” (That’s what she said!)

Whisky Soda

This is Scotch Whisky and Soda Water, it’s 1 part Scotch and 2 parts soda. Take a chilled glass filled with ice and pour in 1/2 oz of whisky and 1 oz of soda water.

Scotch & Water 

Pour 2 oz of Scotch whisky, and 5 oz of water into a highball glass filled with ice cubes. Stir well. Serve and Sip. Sip.

Oh and last but not least, something I learned from A LIFE AT STAKE;  Champagne, “is for good things” and you want to toast like this: “here’s to fun and love!”

But,…if you’re in a Noir movie and celebrating with Champagne you should take it with a grain of salt, something bad is around the corner. Yup.

Now I lift my glass high and say cheers to you for making it this far! May you be happy, healthy and wise! Drink, but drink safe and again never drink and drive! It’s time to find a Happy Hour! Yup!