Restaurants, Gifts, and Arenas: The B-day Weekend Wrap-Up

Thursday:

I celebrated my b-day. My big bro and housemate gave me my first gift, the 3-disc Stone Cold Steve Austin DVD collection. Me likey!!! I went to the the Vault on Highland for the Karaoke Smackdown!! Shout out to David H. for his gift of Mark Ronson's compilation album Version. It's an album of remakes that includes artists like Amy Winehouse. Joe gave me a book about Hollywood and filmmakers. Cool! I stayed for a little while,but it was kinda boring because a lot of my friends weren't there. Sean was watching the Lakers-Celtics game (they won, he's happy), and Chris Haley, his girlfriend April Steele (ccol name), and Curt Franklin were at a convention in New York promoting Chris and Curt's minicomic Let's Be Friends Again. It'a funny little comic starring them as they discuss what their minicomic should be about. I liked it. For more info, check out www.letsbefriendsagain.blogspot.com.

Friday:

I went to Jordan's, the karaoke bar and grill near my house. Jordan's closed on Saturday. I decided to order all-you-can-eat catfish for the last time and say my goodbyes to people. Nancy and her family were always kind to me. I am sad that Jordan's is no more.

Saturday:

I got my hair cut early in the morning, and my barber and I talked sports. He picks the Celtics in 7. I am torn because I want Kobe to get a ring without Shaq, but I also want the Celtics' big 3 (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen) to get championships before they retire.

Later, I went out to Comics and Collectibles. My buddy Antone Wade was signing copies of his comic, Jetta/Shi: Arrows of Destiny. His character, Jetta, teamed up with another comic book creator's character (Shi), and they beat up ninjas. Good stuff. I got it signed by Antone and the whole creative team: his wife, Janet (aka saltygirl), Adam Shaw (back cover), and the editor, Kevin Williams. Kevin also has a comic bout a talking mule called Muley the Mule (www.muleythemule.com). Trust me, it's funny.

I was also a part of two podcasts: The Geekland Podcast and Entertainment Overload. These podcasts were hosted by Justin Vactor, Willie, and Chris. You can check out Episode 37: The Return of Seaberry, at www.geelandpodcast.com. You can check me out on Entertainment Overload on eopodcast.wordpress.com.

After that, I went to the Brentano's in the Oak Court Mall and used a birthday coupon from Waldenbook's/Borders to purchase Eddie Guererro's autobiography Cheating Death, Stealing Life. Eddie was a popular wrestler in the WWE who died about 6 months after this book was published.

After that, I celebrated my birthday with a dinner Carrabba's, an Italian joint. My guests' gifts will be in parentheses. Shout out to Nick Jones and Courtney Wright ($20 gift card from Malco), Paul West and Denna Greer (Mushmouth figurine, latest Gnarls Barkley CD, latest Del the Funky Hompspaien CD), Shomari Gant (Japanese Power Rangers on DVD, yeah!!), and Terra Hollis ($20 bucks). Shouts out also to Bryan Newcomb, and Terrance and Jill Young who came later. After this great meal and excellent conversation, I went home.

Sunday:

I had an audition for a film at Master Video Studios in Bartlett. Chris Mackey and D.M. Carter are casting for two short films. They mainly talked to me and asked me what films I have been in. I told a few, but then I had to stop myself. My reply was "Not to be egotistical, but I could go on and on". That's not arrogance, I have done a lot of films in a short time. It looks like I would be a better fit for Chris' short film, so we'll see.

After that, I chilled out at home for a while until about 3 PM. I got up, showered, and went over Paul Briggs' house. I rode with him to the TNA (Total Nonstop Action) pay-per-view event held at the Desoto County Civic Center. It was awesome!! I had never seen this wrestling organization live before. It was Briggs' first live wrestling event ever!! We had seats in the middle of the arena. One side of the ring was right in front of us. Shout out to Donovan Turner, Shomari Gant, Terra Hollis, Denna Greer, Paul "P-Dub" West, Nick Jones, and Courtney Wright who also attended.

After that, Paul and I went to the Karaoke Smackdown at the Vault. Shout out to David H., Joe, Phyllis, and Sean. I performed "Frontin" by Pharrell featuring Jay-Z. Unfortunately, no one really seemed to care. I was tired, and I went home.

I am hoping I get a call concerning Chris Mackey's script this week. I have a pass to an advancs screening of The Incredible Hulk tonight, and I have passes to a screening of The Foot Fist Way on Wednesday. It's a funny film about a martial arts instructor. Free stuff can be cool. Be easy, readers!!!