Luke M&M SkywalkerI've already told you about my brush of celebrity with meeting Twisted Sister lead hair man Dee Snider, but with the 4th of July coming up, I suppose it's high time I tell you about my favorite Independence Day memory.

It was probably about 12 years ago in beautiful sunny San Diego. It was July 4th weekend and I was out there for work at the big annual Comic Con event. (It's a monstrous comic book/toy/sci-fi convention full of all sorts of shiny things, tons of freebies and loads of has-been actors like the guy who wore the Boba Fett costume or the guy who played Mike TV on the original "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" movie. I kid you not.) Anyways, I worked for a magazine about comic books, so I was at the show working our booth and shmoozing it up with all our industry contacts. It just so happens that one of my contacts was for a company called Dark Horse Comics (they put out all the Star Wars comics, Hellboy and a slew of other good stuff. Free plug for DH!) At the time, there was a new mini-series coming out called The Black Pearl, which was written by Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill.

Since the comic was just coming out, Mark (yes, I can call him Mark) was at Comic Con that year promoting the book and doing a signing. So I was hoping to at least get a quick handshake with Luke, er, Mark courtesy of my Dark Horse contact. I was way off. My DH contact did me way better. He invited me and my editor to a real nice dinner with him, Mark and about 10 other industry type people. Dinner with Luke Skywalker. In San Diego. On July 4th. No way I was passing that up!

We got to the restaurant, met Mark and then sat down at one end of the table next to 2 other guys who I don't even remember where they were from. Mark, unfortunately, sat alllll the way down at the other end. Sigh. Well at least we're at the same table. Now, besides playing Luke in the Star Wars films, Mark's also a huuuuge comic book geek too. And he voiced the Joker in all the Batman and Justice League cartoons. So he was putting on the voices, talking comics and me and my editor were being professional, yet having fun (all the while foaming at the mouth inside). And just as we finished eating, it happened...

Mark stopped in mid-sentence, and then said, "Y'know, I want to go sit and chat with the comic guys now." So he got up and walked over right next to me and my editor and sat down with us (the other guys shifted over to make room) and chatted with us for the next 30 or 40 minutes. I don't recall anythign we talked about, but it was just fun, geeky stuff. He was seriously a very nice, funny all-around kind of guy. Then we all walked out, talked some more. I even got his home phone number so I could follow up with any sort of interviews later on. That's worth it's weight in gold to a comic/sci-fi geek like me.

COUPON TIME:

All this talk of sunny weather and San Diego has me thinking of travel. And with gas prices the way they are, it may be cheaper to fly somewhere rather then drive! So here are some pretty sweet travel deals for you jetsetters.

$50 off select 3+ night vacations at CheapTickets.com
Use promotion code SUNSALE50.
Valid through: July 6, 2008
Book a qualifying hotel or flight + hotel package by July 6, 2008, for 3 or more nights for travel by August 31, 2008, via CheapTickets and instantly receive $50 off your purchase through the use of the promotion code. Limit one discount per hotel room and one promotion code per purchase. Discounts are not redeemable for cash for any reason. Any attempt at fraud will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted. CheapTickets reserves the right to change or limit the promotion in its sole discretion.

4th of July - save up to 30% at Expedia.com
Good for travel July 3 through July 6, 2008
Use this link for details.
Valid through: July 4, 2008

Theme Park Vacation Deals: Save up to 30% on hotels
Book by July 6; Travel by September 30
Use this link to get all the details.

Up to $100 Rebate on your Hotel stay
Use this link to view the coupon.
Get $20 with a 3-Night Booking
Get $30 with a 5-Night Booking
Get $50 with a 8-Night Booking
Get $75 with an 10-Night Booking
Get $100 with a 12-Night Booking
Valid for reservations booked online through July 31, 2008
Must travel by September 30, 2008