She speaks...

Hello all,

As some of you may already know, Nancy Reagan officially endorsed Republican candidate John McCain. This means that I have once again lost in the "Former First Lady Endorsements" pool. I thought for sure she would endorse one of the other..oh wait, there are no other candidates. So why did she wait weeks after he had the nomination sewn up to speak? Why is this news? Why is this news?

s

SXSW wrap up

Hello all,

Well I've been back home now for a couple of days. Still processing all of the info and events from the past few days. My brain is hurting as it deals with words like "Crowd Sourcing", "Wikis", "Ciphers", R&A", "P&A", "Torrent", "Track back", "Aggregators", "DRMs", "VOD" and "RSS", just to name a few. From my personal experience, a good time was had. This has to be one of the better organized festivals that I've ever been to and I can't imagine a more perfect host city. Thanks Austin!

Now that I'm back in the real world, it's back to political races, prostitution rings, economic recession, taxes and war.

forget this..I'm heading back to Austin.

s

SXSW Day 4

Hello all,

Typing a little slow today gang. After an afternoon of panels and one really good film, I went to a few patties last night.

The first party was the VH1 Rock Docs (I know, cheesy title). This party was to support the documentary featuring Bela Fleck and his trip to Africa. For those of you that don't know, Bela Fleck is a highly respected banjo player and has appeared on many albums. His trip to Africa was to actually trace back the origins of the banjo. The party invite claimed food, drinks and a performance by Bela, so I was really looking forward to it. Well, the line to get in was very long and they moved through that BBQ buffet like a school of piranhas eating whatever it is that piranhas eat. I managed to grab a drumstick and a little potato salad. As I scanned the audience for a place to eat my din, i noticed a familiar face in the crowd. That face belonged to none other than Jeffrey Tambor! I'm a huge fan of his work, going all the way back to his guest spots on "Hill Street Blues". Also in the audience was Morgan Spurlock of "Super Size Me". Bela got on stage and performed a few numbers and he did not disappoint...a true virtuoso. They had a camera locked off on the stage so that they could project on a big screen behind the stag all the monitors in the bar. I was actually standing at the back of the stage, so I could not see the big screen. But I looked over at one of the monitors and realized that from where I was standing I had been on camera this entire time, so on this giant big screen the only two people on the screen were myself and Bela ...rocking the house.

From there I moved to the "Technicolor" party. More food and open bar. Met some nice folks. Did I mention the open bar?

I would like to say the night ended there..it didn't. A friend from home was also in town, so bars were in order. It's like this town is trying to hurt me.

Woke up this morning to a huge storm blowing through. It has been raining all day. So you combine the cloudy weather with late night parties and Starbucks is doing great business today.

Well gang, off to another panel. more later

s

SXSW Day three

Hello all,

It is Sunday in Austin. A little overcast today, but Austin still shines through (Awww..so sweet). I actually broke away from the panels long enough to go see a film. The documentary "Beautiful Losers" was playing at the wonderful downtown theater the Paramount. The Paramount is a beautifully restored old one screen theater in the heart of downtown. If in Austin and a film lover, you have to check it out.

The film was about a collection of artists who all got together in New York in the late eighties and lived together in an abandoned building as they converted it into this alternative art gallery. The artists drew on everything for inspiration, graffiti, skateboarding, punk.all things street. The doc chronicles their initial struggles to survive to their eventual struggles with fame and fortune. A really well done film.

Going to try some more parties tonight, (it never stops for the Shanester..2 beers and zzzz)

more later

s

South by Southwest day 1

hello all,

I'm writing this post in downtown Austin, host of the SXSW Film, Music and Interactive festival. This has to be one of the better festivals in the country. Everything from the films to the panels to the parties has been (so far) really great.

I went to the opening night party last night at a bar on the famous 6th street, famous because this downtown street is lined with bars and restaurants and can get very rowdy and last night was no exception. Last night's party was hosted by A&E and consisted of two major party favors, open bar and free buffet. Thank you A&E!

As usual, one sees a lot of self promotion at these things and this year is no different. So many people walking around talking into their cameras, staging scenes, interviewing people etc. everyone is in their own little movies. During a film conference panel this morning, I watched a guy from the audience video tape himself asking a question to the panel all the while plugging his website. By the time he was done, I had forgotten the question.

That's all for now, off to another party and more free grub. I think I have three lined up tonight and more Sunday and Monday. At some point, I should probably see a film.

more tomorrow!

s