This was year 7 of volunteering my way to platinum. I I took 2 weeks off from work and this time around I stayed at my own place (Yay for living close to downtown!).

(You should go back and read the daily recaps. I put this stuff out on the internet for you, little readers)

Total # of bands: ~11 Theophilus London, Foster the People, Noah and the Whale, Portugal. the Man,  Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band,  TV on the Radio , Ellie Goulding, Smith Westerns,  Matt and Kim,  J. Roddy Walston and The Business,and Wanda Jackson.

Total # of movies: 19 ( the Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, Little Deaths, Documentary Shorts,  Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey, Super,  Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Narrative 2, Medium Cool, Something Ventured,  El Bulli: Cooking in Progress, Fambul Tok, Blacktino, Hesher, the Other F Word, Our Day will Come, A Matter of Taste: Serving up Paul Liebrandt, Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW, and PressPausePlay.

Total $ spent: ~61 tips, 2 dinners and a Go Local card.

Carbon Footprint: I biked at least 58 miles (from my house to downtown is about 7 miles round trip).  The car was used once during the two week period (I was lazy and drove to the Alamo Lamar).

And now for the Rants/Raves (mostly rants though). (more…)

Yesterday morning I was so tired that I debated if I wanted to finish out this race.  I made breakfast, wrote for a bit and decided to see my 18th film.  It was the documentary about SXSW.  I was surprised that the machine has survived all of these years with the amount of growth.

Since it was the last day, I decided that I should go see some music and attempt to find M (I think I hung out with her once in the last week).  Wall to wall people and no bike parking (People go home, I would like my city back).  Luckily the line for the party at Stubb’s moved quickly in comparison to the hunt for something to lock my bike to.

I walked in during the end of the Bravery’s set (not a fan).  I grabbed a beer and found M. The next band was really good.  J. Roddy Walston and The Business.  M saw them the night before and said I should check them out.  I stayed for Wanda Jackson.  I was curious if she had given into the machine and altered her sound.  Nope.  She was the same as always, sass, jet black hair and a fringed jacket.

After Wanda’s set and 3 beers I headed back to the ACC for air conditioning and a film.   PressPausePlay.  Netflix this one.  It talked a lot about the film and music industry being diluted with artists who make art because they have the tools, but most of them just don’t have  the human aspect.  My thoughts exactly. There are a lot of bands out there that have made a name for themselves on the internet but they just can’t put on a good live show.  This is why I spent most of this SXSW in the movie theater.  I wanted to feel something.

I made another pass at Style X.  This time it was the fashion show.  I was curious to see if there was anything new and innovative.  Other than the awesome boots from Helm, the only thing that I liked was a yellow jacket (I need to find out who the designer was).

I checked in with M after the show and headed to Bar Congress for dinner with 2.0 and his friends from out of town.  After dinner I made the executive decision to bike home.  I wanted to shower and wash the SXSW out of my hair.

Free stuff: 3beers

Money Spent: $3 on tips and $23 on dinner

I decided to stay in and write for a bit.  I checked in with my mom (to let her know that I didn’t get hit by a car on St. Patty’s day).  I looked at the schedule and decided that there was nothing worth biking into town for until about 2.

Movie time.  #17 was A Matter of Taste: Serving up Paul Liebrandt.  If you are into food and art, check it out.  After the film I explored the convention center.  I was curious about Style X and I was tempted to go to the 70s house of porn American Apparel Garage Sale.  It was Style X’s first year so I didn’t have high expectations.  I had also surveyed some of my artist friends and it turns out that many locals were rejected (there was also a pricey booth fee).  I am curious how Style X was curated,  I may have to interview the man behind it at some point.  I’ve been to his store and this was not what I expected.  There was a mix of corporate (Keds), out of town vendors, and one or two locals. [BTW.  I know that it is really hard to spend a whole day in your booth vendors.  I've been there, but please, please find reps that know your products.  Yesterday some guy tried to sell me glasses and he said that they had a deal going one price for all prescriptions.  I told him that my eyesight was bad (not eligible for lasik bad) and he said that it didn't matter.  I double checked with the owner and he said that I would probably have to pay extra.]

After a disappointing stroll, I left the convention center in search of free beer.  I headed to  Fader because I was curious about Smith and Westerns and I wanted to see Matt and Kim.  I found a place to lock the bike and stood in line for about 5 minutes before someone came up to us and said the line was closed and that no one would be allowed in the rest of the night.  I decided to stick around.  They say that every year. Crowd turnover happens after every band.

…30 minutes later, I am in.  Fiat Fader was ok.  I still miss the Levi’s Fader though.  Specifically, the one that was at Youthworks (aka The Honeycomb Hideout).  After last nights trampling, I decided to steer clear of the front.  Matt+Kim= Mosh Pit (You would think that they would be more careful after Matt messed up his back a few years ago.  Nope)  Great Show.  I look forward to seeing them play this summer with the Thermals.

I biked to the ACC after the show to charge my phone and check in with a few people.  I was on the other side of tired.  I decided to go home early.  I was in bed by 10:30.

Free stuff: 2 beers and 2 bottles of water

Money Spent: $3 on tips

My tolerance for “special” people is tanking.  I don’t know if it is related to the string of violent films I have seen or what,.  My field notes from TV on the Radio at Stubb’s say the following: To the girl with the “serenity” tattoo on the back of her neck,  I have all I can do not go go Rainn Wilson on your ass with my bike wrench. [For those of you who don't know, that is a reference to Super.  Watch the trailer.  I am glad a wrote that down.   In reality, I would turn her in to security.  I would tell them that she was a danger to herself and that she was probably on drugs.  Why the passive aggressive approach?  Umm, APD doesn't like brown people.] I think that my surrounding concert mates would have liked to have a go at all the drunkards who felt the need to mosh around to a band that deserves more respect.

Let’s rewind to the start of my day. (more…)

I started the day by going to the grocery store.  I have done really well living off of the contents of my fridge and free items since last Tuesday. Sadly, the cupboard was bare and I needed to buy food or do a better job of foraging.

My legs were tired  (I hate that hill on Bouldin) so I decided to unpack the groceries and drive to the Drafthouse South. I was hoping to hop the film shuttle to the State Theatre, but I found out that the number of film shuttles has been reduced from three to one now.  Lucky for me Catch a Chevy Volt was in the area [BTW.  I told them our current shuttle situation and they plan to make themselves available to the awesome film people vs. the hipsters downtown].

My first film screening was Fambul Tok.  (more…)

I started the day with Yenta at the Vimeo Theater.  Her friends were in town to promote their film Something Ventured.  Another winner for me. I like documentaries and it was cool to see the evolution of the VC field.    After the show we grabbed lunch and walked over to the Fader Fort to wait in line for a wristband.  It took over an hour.  We have yet to figure out if it will be worth the wait,  but really, we didn’t have anything else to do and it was an excuse to spend some time out in the sun.

After Fader, we hit the Trade Show.  I found some useful products (sliderocket.com, stuffpal, endurancediary, triviatize, and minus) to check out post SXSW. The most useful booth, so far, was the WordPress one.  They had some new features that I should implement on the blog (I have been reluctant to move to the newest release).

I met a few of my peeps at the tradeshow and we moved on to the Go Local happy hour for food to counteract the number of free beers consumed.   Then I wandered around with @jakerella and ended up at the HP Mobile park (more beer and a slightly overwhelmed Michael Cera.  He looked like he was wishing for the power of invisibility).  I took advantage of the phone charging station.  I also had a conversation with another volunteer about the merits of volunteering and was it worth it.  He was a bit of a dick about it.  My advice to him, make this your first and last year for volunteering.

After more roaming and a final goodbye to @jakerella, I biked to the Long Center for El Bulli: Cooking in Progress).   Before the movie I made some friends in line.  [Tired me also recalls asking the guy from Foursquare what he would offer me to switch over from Gowalla.  Apparently the social networking world does not work like the cell phone or cable company.  All he could offer was some stickers.  I guess I will stick with Gowalla for now] The film was good, but a little slow for an evening flick.  I nodded off somewhere in the middle.

Note to self:  Do not watch subtitled movies when you are sleepy.

Free stuff: 2 beers, one shot of tequilla, and sunglasses.

Money Spent: $2 for tips

I was in a foul mood. 1) Because I did not have a Gowalla wristband, and 2) because I was going to miss a bunch of things because of the fashion show at Plutopia (Once again, this is the last time I will agree to an unpaid gig during SXSW).

I spent the morning in the movie theater watching mediocre shorts at the Drafthouse South. Out of  2 sets of shorts, Narrative 2 and Medium Cool,  the following stood out: Animal Control, Flow, and Clear Blue.   I really wanted to love Scenes from the Suburbs, but I didn’t (it had nothing to do with my foul mood either).

I went home after the movie and chilled out for an hour before taking the film shuttle back to ACC to grab my bike.  Then I decided that I should procure a beer at the PepsiCo Playground before heading over to MACC (where I had a sneaking suspicion that NOTHING would be free).  One of the best decisions EVER!

As expected Plutopia was a bit of a cluster.  At this point in time I will yield to the old saying, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  I will say, that I wished I was dancing it out to Matt and Kim.  @jakerella, Yenta, and CollectiveSelection were nice enough to come out to lametopia to watch my show.  @jakerella bought me a $4 beer.   For those of you who were having way more fun elsewhere you can view the video of my friend Shawna on the runway here.

After the show we took a quick look around and decided to go on a free beer run. @jakerella and I finished out the night at Mashable House at  Buffalo Billiards drinking Golden Monkey [umm, the Monkey is dangerous. Weighing in at 9.5% it will knock you on your butt].There would be no bike ride home.  I stumbled to the film shuttle and walked home from the Drafthouse.

Free stuff: 4 beers and 1 shirt.

Money Spent: 0 (thank @jakerella)

Today I slept in, made breakfast, and biked in. The plan was to catch Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop at the Paramount Theatre.  I am a fan so I laughed the whole time (I needed that after a string of emotional films).   I ducked out early (and managed to trip and fall on the way out of the theater) so I could hop back in line for the Greatest Movie Ever Sold.  [Dear SXSW execs, can we have queue cards at Paramount?I know that there are 1200 seats, but sometimes, after all that free beer, you need to go to the restroom or get food and can't stand in line for the WHOLE hour].

The line wasn’t super long so I decided to dart across the street to the IFC House to use the restroom.  I ran into 2.0 on the way out and he joined me in line.    At some point he needed to use the restroom as well.  Lucky me,  I saved his seat while he went to the restroom and he came back with BEER.  Sweet.  The 1st free beer of the day is always the best one.

I was supposed to meet @jakerella after the film but I decided to swing by the Gowalla Trailer to turn in my passport and get my wristband for the party with Matt & Kim.  Sadly, they just ran out.  They said to try again, and in the meantime I could pick out a shirt because I had 15 stamps.  I told them that I REALLY needed a wristband because I couldn’t get to the party early.   I had to be at Plutopia (PS.  I wish I hadn’t signed up for that runway show.  There are other things I would rather be doing instead of camping out at Plutopia for 3 hours.  Like parties with Matt and Kim and Flosstradamus) .

I found @jakerella and proceeded to find some free beer to drown my sorrows in.  We ended up at the Meebo party at Six Lounge.   We stayed long enough for free beer and a game of twister.  Sadly we found no food.  The next stop was ACC to lock up my bike for the night.

We headed to Emo’s for  BeerCamp (the backup for the evening was the Onion Party at DeVille). I met some interesting peeps while I was there.  M and 2.0 stopped by as well.  M attempted to broker a deal for the use of my cell phone charger.  I have yet to figure out what I am getting.  I wanted a sandwich from Austin Daily Press but that didn’t happen.

By this point in time I was tired and hungry.  There were no parties with food in the vicinity so I decided to head home via the film shuttle (Thank you SXSW for the film shuttle to Alamo Lamar).

Free stuff: 3 beers and 1 shirt.

Money spent: I can’t remember.  I think @jakerella tipped for most of my beers.

I started the day with Documentary Shorts at  the Drafthouse South.  Some shorts were slow, but others were great.  Check out 100 Bands, 100 Days (the reason I attended the shorts to begin with), Library of Dust (How they saved the Oregon State Hospital), and Tugs (I am a New Yorker. I am glad someone acknowledged the stewards of the harbor).

I skipped out on the Q&A in the hopes of catching the film shuttle to the ACC.  After 30 minutes, one of my line-mates decided to phone Catch a Chevy Volt [umm, they usually don't give out their number].  We made it to ACC in no time.  I managed to sneak into Being Elmo: A Puppeteers Journey.  (Yes, I know that Elmo can be annoying little creature, but the man behind him is an amazing human being).  If you are a Muppet/Sesame Street fan, you need to watch this film.

After yet another emotional movie, I decided to get some fresh air and sunshine. [I also thought it was a good idea to stay out of the Convention Center.  People, please walk faster or move aside. SXSW staff, if you are listening, please create a lane for the fast walkers.  I am envisioning something like the check in area at the Chicago Airport.]  I stopped at the Gowalla Airstream and made the rounds to fill my passport.  I made good time once I knew where I was supposed to go [Thanks Major Thom].  One perk of racing around town was finding where free food and booze were.  @jakerella made fun of my quest, but when the line for Diggnation at Stubb’s was wrapped around the building, I dragged him to Club de Ville (The Good , the Bad, and the Thirsty) where he got to pet a llama and get a decent meal [Dear Event Organizers,  I had to hunt around the internet to figure out who the party sponsor was.  Maybe you should put a banner or something by the food area or llamas next time].

Once we were fed and had two drinks, we headed to the Interactive Opening Party.  As we expected, there was a line.  I decided that I should roll to the  Paramount Theatre to get in line for Super.  I know I had originally said that I would be in line around 9pm, but US Premier means, “wait in line for an hour and a half to insure you will get good seats.”  [Dear Readers, The Paramount seats 1200. Most of the seats are good.  The key is to get in line before it wraps around the theater to the 7th street side and the alley.   Another tip is that the event volunteers are monitoring the line so that no one cuts.  You can save seats just not spaces in line (or they will take you out of the line).]

In my opinion, Super was worth the wait. I love Rainn Wilson and Ellen Paige.  I am not a comic book reader, but the film did a good job of explaining the evolution of a comic book hero.  It started off pretty similar to Kickass but it was based a little closer to reality.

Free stuff:  2 beers, 1 shirt, 1 pr of boxers

$ spent:0

Technically my 1st day of SXSW was on Tuesday  (pre-conference volunteering and cat herding).  After a few days of making the internet, registration, and the connection centers happen, I set off at 5 pm to find myself a free beer.  I met up with @jakerella at the  Chevy Volt Recharge Lounge [My phone was dead and I did not have the charger with me.]

Here is the part where I admit that I haven’t spent much time coming up with my SXSW game plan.  My days have been busy with vol-tech stuff and when I get home I want to crash (but I don’t because I have a million things to do). For those of you who read our Twitter feed (check the sidebar), you know we have been RSVPing for EVERYTHING, but really, we haven’t done much in the way of deciding where we need/want to be.  I think this year is all about keeping our options open.

Post beer, we made our way to The Mix at Six presented by SapientNitro.  On the way there we realized there was an opportunity for scotch so we made a pit stop at the The Macallan Registrants Lounge.   Wise choices all around.  I needed to wind down and catch up with @jakerella and I needed to get food.  Done, and done.

Yenta met us at the party and we snacked and planned out the rest of the evening [Dear Event organizers, Thank you for the healthy snacks.].  I was torn between a movie at the Ritz and cupcakes+ burlesque [I was later informed that there were no cupcakes at this party].  The movie won out, I was tired.  We caught the Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye. (Yenta met the director of the film the night before.)  A very emotional and moving start to the film portion of SXSW.  You should check it out if you get the chance.

The next stop was the SXSW Film Opening Party.  I wasn’t really feeling it though.  There were TOO many people there.  I voted to bail early and relocate the bikes.  The plan was to use the film shuttle as transport to Drafthouse South and we would take the shuttle into town in the morning.

We didn’t catch the shuttle,  a friend was on her way south and gave us a ride.  We got there just in time to see the midnight screening of Little Deaths (and Tim League launching SXFantastic Fest in a dog costume and a beef stroganoff chugging contest).  I had picked the film based on the blurb in the Austinist.   Umm, I was prepared for psychological thrillers, not a mix of horror and porn/fetish.  Whoa! I know the midnight shorts are usually rated R and beyond but OMG!  Yenta and I walked home and hoped that we could sleep free of nightmares.

Note to self: Do a better job researching movies to avoid being traumatized.

SXSWisms
Dorksplosion- coined by@adamholz
Ellis Island- term coined by one of my vols when referring to the registrant badge pick up area in ACC

Free stuff: 1 scotch (no bourbon) and 2 beers.

$ spent: tips for free drinks