Doug Van Pelt

SXSW.08.02

Sitting in the lovely Paramount Theater on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin, there's a hub-bub of activity as people get seated. Ushers in red vests help people get seated, sometimes keeping someone from sitting in the "wrong" seat (one that is reserved for someone else). It reminds me a lot of the Dove Awards, where a din of people talking in almost hushed undertones provide a white noise type audio backdrop. Memories of that "high school attitude" of trying to be seen or seeing someone cool or famous float by. While it's a very insignificant event (finding a seat), it takes on an air of pre-event excitement. I don't know, it's just kind of a different atmosphere for about 15 minutes. Exciting, superficial, and a way to pass the time.


My first movie of the film festival was Crawford, which began with some gorgeous shots of the countryside. The cozy little town was changed when George W. Bush and family bought a ranch and moved in. The multiple slices of life show various reactions to the new makeup. For a time period there were multiple tourists coming in. The protests led by Cindy Sheahan grew large in number. A high school teacher reveled in the increased interest in government and politics. Like Palosi's Journeys With George documentary that showcased in this same theater a few years ago, Crawford provides a glimpse of the president and the swoth of influence and opinion that he cuts in his wake. Afterwards the director showed up for a Q&A (which is one of the priceless ingredients to these film festival screenings), along with the teacher, pastor, and other townfolk featured in the film. One of the good ole boys featured in the film (he's the horse trainer that rode a white horse into the anti-war demonstration, with painted messages like "You don't speak for me, Cindy" and "God bless the USA." He couldn't make it to the screening, but passed on his take of the movie after seeing the dvd that was sent to all the principle participants: "Ya'll did some Bush bashin, but it's pretty even."




Gonzo
This documentary of Hunter S. Thompson is a full, 2+ hours long. Like the object of the film, it was wild, funny, political, and depressing. I learned more about George McGovern than I ever knew; as well as learning about Thompson's close but failed attempt to run for Sheriff in Aspen, Colorado. His brave but crazy interaction with the Hell's Angels was well documented, as was his love for guns, drink, and drugs.




Prior to seeing the films I had a chance to take in some of the Interactive portion of the conference/festival. I watched several bloggers play kickball at a Movable Type party. I met and chatted with a guy from a wireless security system when I crashed a press party that I presumed was the Movable Type get together. Over a couple breakfast tacos I learned about the possibilities of this guy's company, uControl. I wish I could afford his services, which allow you to monitor a location remotely via the internet (or even tv screen). At the Movable Type shindig I forced myself to talk to someone I didn't know to get some information on the "Personal Publishing System" that we use at HM for this website. I now definitely plan on ugrading to the newer version of Perl and the latest version of Movable Type. One of the immediate benefits will be the elimination of some of that robot spam stuff that shows up as comments.





I popped into the Screenburn arcade in the Austin Convention Center, which was a wild and crazy room full of flat screen monitors and hot gaming devices. Along with a gazillion places to game, there were guys playing Dungeons & Dragons. It was like a giant Las Vegas casino -- only the gambling was just done with pride and bragging rights ... and it was all free. One booth (Austin Laser Art) was doing free laser engraving on iPods, notebooks, and anything else solid. There was lots of Guitar Hero shredding and Rock Band playing. It's always fun to see little kids blow these games away. Too fun.