It's been a pretty incredible week in Southern California
so far. With me scoring all sorts of stories that I'll soon be sharing via the
Huffington Post & JHM. But before I head back home to New
Hampshire, I want to share what happened at Amoeba
Music at Sunset & Caheunga last night.
Photo by Jim Hill
For those of you who don't know: Hollywood's
Amoeba Music is the Southern California branch of this
great independent music chain store. Though — last night — it was the movies,
not the music, which brought out the crowds.
Photo by Jim Hill
"So why where all these people lining up outside of
Amoeba?," you ask. So that they could then get access to this vending
machine …
Photo by Jim Hill
… which was loaded up with all these cool looking
"Captain America:
The Winter Soldier" flash drives that Walt Disney Studios Home
Entertainment was just giving away last night.
Photo by Jim Hill
Anyway … After you keyed in a set of numbers and picked up
your little blue box …
Photo by Jim Hill
… you were then encouraged to go down the street and get
on line outside that truck which was parked up on the sidewalk along Caheunga.
Photo by Jim Hill
You know? The one with the big S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the
outside?
Photo by Jim Hill
Once you got inside that panel truck, an agent of
S.H.I.E.L.D. would first unbox the 3D shield-shaped 512MB flash drive that
you'd been given.
Photo by Jim Hill
They then plug your flash drive into this mysterious
techy-looking machine that they had stashed inside the van …
Photo by Jim Hill
… and this piece of S.H.I.E.L.D. apparatus then determined which collectible
you won.
Photo by Jim Hill
In my case, it was a limited edition lithograph of some "Captain America:
The Winter Soldier" concept art. No. 263 out of an edition of a 1000.
Photo by Jim Hill
Mind you, while all of this was going on outside, hundreds
of people were lined up inside of Amoeba Music …
Photo by Jim Hill
… patiently waiting for their chance to get their copy of
the just-released "Captain America:
The Winter Soldier" Blu-ray & DVD signed by that film's directors,
Anthony & Joe Russo.
Photo by Jim Hill
And did I mention that — a half hour or so after this promotional event got
started — who shows up clear out of the blue but Mr. Excelsior himself, Stan
Lee (I apologize for the lousy quality of this photo. But Lee moves pretty fast
for a 91 year-old).
Photo by Jim Hill
After quickly checking out that S.H.I.E.L.D. truck, Stan
moved inside to join Anthony & Joe at that "Captain America:
The Winter Soldier" signing / sales event. Which Amoeba Music staffers
were compelling people along Sunset & Caheunga to take part in by heading
out these $3-off coupons.
Photo by Jim Hill
All in all, it was a fun night in Hollywood.
One that made you want to rush home and throw a copy of "Captain America:
The Winter Soldier" in your Blu-ray player. Or — at the very least —
catch an episode of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." when Season Two of this
ABC series finally gets underway on September 28th.
Copyright American
Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Mind you, this was just the media event that I caught on the
fly on the way back to my hotel last night. The other 10+ stories that I scored
yesterday as I ping-ponged back & forth between Sony Pictures Imageworks,
Walt Disney Studios, the Goddard Group and Universal Studios Hollywood … I'll
share with you guys shortly.