Here’s what Day One looked like at SXSW:
I had coffee at Annie’s Cafe. We got there at 10:33 after picking up our badges and walking around in the spectacular weather in Austin. They stopped serving breakfast at 10:30. We were three minutes late to get breakfast; and we were 27 minutes too early for lunch. We had a single cup of coffee. Then we left.
We walked to South Congress Cafe. That’s by the University of Texas campus. Nothing in Texas is close. It was the first of many long treks on Friday. I had a wild boar and chipotle Hollandaise sauce eggs benedict. That wasn’t the hottest thing I ate there. We had the world’s spiciest bloody marys.
When we left the cafe, there was a guy standing near a light pole wearing a purple velour jacket. My eyes got as big as Texas. Quentin Tarantino. I followed him as he walked down Congress. Finally I mustered the courage to say hello. Said I was a big fan. He stopped. Shook my hand. Asked me my name. Said he appreciated me saying I like his work. Yeah, I’m a QT fanboy. He was super cool. I’m going to see him talk tomorrow at the conference. Highlight of the day.
I went to my first interactive session, which was titled Why Austin is the Killer App. The woman running the session started out by saying, “This is an interactive session. So, put away your iPhones and computers; put your chairs against the wall. We’re going to stand up and interact with each other.” I interacted with a big group of people who walked out. I was in 3rd Grade a long time ago. I don’t need that kind of interaction with people who are still popping zits.
I met up with Loren and Michelle Feldman. That made me really happy. Loren gave me a cool shirt from ScottVest, which I have to say is terrific. They also took me to the SoBe and Nokia parties. It’s cool to hang around with internet celebrities. I’m going to do more of that today.
Attended Battledecks, which is going to be on my SXSW highlight reel. They show these random and crazy slides and the contestants have to weave them into a story. It’s super hilarious. Thousands of people in the room hooting and hollering. Really really fun. Got another t-shirt.
I went to a talk called Ukelele for Geeks: Secrets of the Pentatonic Scales. Geeks were there in abundance. Then this incredibly loud alarm went off. Really loud. Right when the guy was about 10 minutes into his demo. We had to evacuate the Austin Convention Center. Every geek in the known universe was forced to walk down the fire stairs and get thrust into the streets of Austin. Likes tens of thousands of people. We all stood around for 20 minutes, then the police said it was a false alarm. Rumors swirled about a bomb threat, a fire, and a broken water pipe. Never did find out went back to the talk. Got another t-shirt.
Went to watch Shawn and Andy play pool at Lovejoy’s. Definitely a beer and billiards place. $2.50 beers. We left to go see the world premier of Kick Ass. We have platinum passes. We went an hour early. At least 2,000 of our closest friends went before us. We stood in line for about 20 minutes, realized we weren’t getting in, and decided to go get something to eat. I didn’t get a t-shirt.
We walked (that’s a theme, folks) to The Jackalope. It’s pure Austin. Bikers. Tattoos. Rough dudes. And hippies. We ate, had a couple of beers, and went to a movie.
We saw The Good Heart. It was amazing. And super disturbing. I had a physical reaction at the end of the movie.
After the feel good movie of the year, we walked to Momo’s to see Shawn’s friend, Topaz, and his band, Mudphonic. That show was really great — high energy music. By that time I had little energy left. I left the night to the young guys and headed back.
Daily tally: 3 new t-shirts. Walked about 6 miles. And bought an In a Gadda Da Vida album. It was the first album I ever bought. I was 10. (I felt nostalgic.)
