And there I was, preoccupied with spending less time working on the computer and spending more time interactiving, watching films and catching some great performances.
The highlight for me was the BBC 2 Showcase @ The Austin Music Hall with full sets from Morrissey and Goldfrapp both of whom are still delivering sexy performances in the, shall we say, later years of their careers. Although Morrissey ripped his shirt off no less than 4 times, unfortunately the same could not be said of Alison Goldfrapp.
The whole week, in addition to some knowledge and culture was a much needed break from the Chicago grind. I am please to report that I have returned to Chicago recharged and refreshed, free from stress. I only have my wonderful host(s) to thank for that.
I do believe the best part of the week was time spent with good friends.
I was just listening to Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse
In the spirit of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, this SXSW Interactive panel did a presentation on a “what-if” redesign for Craigslist. Really informative and good ideas for lists and information design - they have posted the redesign and panel presentation:
http://designeye.org/listguy/
I was just listening to Interpol - Leif Erikson
Premiering in the United States at SXSW, Brothers Of The Head is a strange film about conjoined twins who become the frontmen in a 1975 punk rock band, The Bang Bang.
That’s what I had to go on based on the synopsis provided by SXSW. It was a spur of the moment decision to see the film. Nobody I talked to in line had really heard anything about the film so I viewed it with blind expectations. Had I done the research I have done now on the film, I believe the film would have been less effective.
The film is described as a narrative and drama but in all practical terms, is a documentary. The filmmakers are best known by the 12 Monkeys documentary as well as Lost In La Mancha - so they are documentary filmmakers. To decide to tell the story as not as a mockumentary but as an actual documentary is a risky choice but effective. They definitely pulled it off and most of the audience, as revealed by the Q&A did not really know if the Howe Brothers, The Bang Bang and supporting characters actually exist and if it was “real”.
Perhaps this was also the intent of the book for which the screenplay has adapted. The book was written by cult sci-fi author Brian W. Aldiss who, as an audience member pointed out, claims to have had his first “introduction” to Tom and Barry Howe in 1975 on his website.
The “is it real or not” has always been a successful gimmick, perhaps first wielded in RTF by Orson Wells reading of War of The Worlds. It has definitely been used a lot lately - I would assume a reaction to the success of The Blair Witch Project. And I would assume that this is why I felt Brothers Of The Head felt gimmicky. I’m not sure if telling this story, true or false, was best told by a documentary film. But I congratulate the filmmakers on their success of execution - I wasn’t 100% sure that the conjoined twins were not actually conjoined until the credits rolled for prosthetic make-up artists.
I was just listening to Led Zeppelin - Your Time Is Gonna Come
It’s been over 2 years since my last (brief) trip to Austin and things have changed/stayed the same. It’s definitely back to the boom town track it was when I first moved here.
I’ve been enjoying the warm weather (beats the rainy, drab cold sludge of Chicago) the food, and the company - it’s this kind of stuff that recharges the ol’ batteries.
As for SXSW - well, it’s all the hype in Austin right now. I registered without too long of a wait and toted the classic canvas tote bags filled with well designed postcards, promotions and magazines that I will never check out.
I’m looking forward to the panel discussions but also enjoying being back in my favorite city.
I was just listening to nothing
Apple Computer has been disappointing me lately.
First, it was the lame sideshow from Steve Jobs. An Intel Mac Mini, a “better” Bose TuneDock and some lame leather iPod cases?
Then it was the fact that software I need to use on a regular basis (Adobe, Macromedia) does not have universal binaries ready to run on Intel based hardware. I was forced to spec out a G4 Powerbook for our department - a lost Mac Book Pro sale.
And today, I read this. Not good news…especially if you’ve ever had to deal with phone support from India.
I don’t mean to be hating on India. I’ve never been to India but I’ve spent a lot of time with Indians. I love the food* and the culture but from my experience, communicating with Indians can be very difficult.
That being said, it’s totally inappropriate to have foreigners (i.e. people with strong accents and/or poor english) offering technical support over the phone to Americans. Apple used to pride themselves that they were one of the few, perhaps the last PC company that had all of their support centers in North America.
*Devin and I had some crazy Indian pastries last week and let’s just say we’re okay if we don’t go there again.
I was just listening to Placebo - Sleeping With Ghosts