Austin I have been excited about day light savings time for a while. In fact, I think it's George W. Bush's second best move as president. Here's my entire list of great things Bush has accomplished. 1. Gave more money toBono than any other president for AIDS in Africa. 2. Shorten day light savings time. That's it. That's the list.
Well, SXSW has a way of making someone forget about the rest of the world. I woke up at 9:15 a.m. which quickly became 10:15 a.m. once it dawned on me, and luckily I was able to make it to my 11 a.m. screening of "Some Assembly Required."
It's a documentary about middle school kids creating and designing a toy for a national competition. About 20 kids and teachers were in the audience watching for the first time with the rest of us. It was fantastic. If you saw "Spellbound" it tapped into some of that energy but the kids were not as over-the-top, home-schooled, nuts. It was the perfect way to wake up, and it even got misty a couple time in the theater.
Since the film was at the convention center I decided to walk around the ScreenBurn Arcade which was part of the Interactive section of SXSW. I expected tons of the latest video games. I got a lot of Rock Band/Guitar Hero. My band RO AD ("Black Sheep" reference) could have brought down the house. Though I did see a very impressive six-year-old rock the joint.
Then I made it a lazy Sunday. I wrote and drank a honey-cinnamon latte at Seattle's Best in the afternoon. It was good, not great.
Afterwards, I met up with some friends at the Ginger Man, a great bar with tons of beers on tap. The only beer the bartender excitedly recommended was Live Oak (an Austin brew). He was correct. Fantastic.
Then I headed over to the Paramount to see "The Promotion." It's directed by Steve Conrad, who currently lives in Lakeview. The film is about two men (Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly) vying for the same promotion at a Chicago grocery store. I know, it doesn't sound riveting, but it's a quality film with laughs and it always stayed based in reality, which was my favorite part. I had an interview lined up with Conrad and Scott tomorrow, and I decided against mentioning this to Scott when we were both in the restroom after the film. No good Stifler jokes came to mind.
That night I went to Home Slice, a pizza place on South Lamar. They serve thin-slice, which I actually prefer. No, I don't need a lecture about living in Chicago and how deep dish is the greatest thing since (fill in the blank)