South by Southwest

There were some beautiful days in Austin. When we arrived it was a Summery 78 degrees and we went to the Iron Cactus in the early evening for some fresh salsa and papaya steak salad. Yummy. Our hotel was downtown so it was great to be able to walk everywhere. Austin has a lot of charm and the warm/artsy feel that people describe. By the end of the week, I felt like I had a connection with the city. Highlights were strolling through the Soco district with all its festive little shops on a sunny day and lingering in lots of cute restaurants.

Also, a highlight was attending the premier of the film 21 staring Kevin Spacey, which was very red carpet-exciting. The actor, Jim Sturgess (from Across the Universe) came out at the end as a surprise and the crowd went crazy. He looked super British wearing pointy shoes and a stiff trench coat. He was really entertaining during his Q & A, doing uncanny impressions of Kevin Spacey etc.. I wanted to ask him how he researched roles for his 2 movies that were connected with the American experience, but it was hard to put into words so I didn’t. Besides, one could hardly get a word in edge-wise with all the quesitons. I found it strange that all a room full of film makers could think to ask about was how the real life “Ben”, who happened to be there as well, actually cheated to get the money (presumably so they could re-create his efforts) and then what he did with it. Oi vey I guess they wanted to fund their films. As part of the discussion it came out that Jim Sturgess was offered $1000 to sing the Beatles “Girl” in one of the bars on Sixth Street. Had I been there, that may have been another highlight.

The interview with Helen Hunt was really interesting. She talked about the process of making her film “And Then She Found Me” in which she co-stars with Colin Firth and Bette Midler. The film was puzzling but that’s another story. It was purchased by a distributer so you’ll get to see it for yourself someday. One film that hasn’t been bought yet, but that was really sweet and riotously funny was a movie called The Promotion with John C. Reilly. There’s a tap dancing scene and he’s fabulous. I hope it gets distribution. It’s the story of two grocery store employees that are vying for the same promotion. So cute.

Complaints? People were smoking in Austin like it was the eighties or like they were in a Francois Truffaut movie. By the end of the week, after being in enough dives and movie theaters, I was hacking away and confined to the hotel room with Stephen and Rachel running to CVS every hour. This is a little thing called the South by Southwest flu my friends, which as one attendee described it “runs longer than Cats on Broadway.” I caught something else on the plane and I have just recovered fully 3 weeks later.

Stephen has a whole different side to share seeing as he spent the week with designers and makers of websites. I think he made some great contacts for the future and got to talk to people as super brainy as he is.

I don’t know why we didn’t really take pictures…busy I guess. Here’s one in front the The Driskill hotel with leftovers.