Looking Down My Nose into the Mirror
23 March 2006
Thursday, 1:56 PM
I have a disappointing capacity for insufferable snobbery. I won’t deny it. But I’m not beyond accepting my comeuppance, however quietly self-administered it may be.
Last night, I attended a free screening of Thank You for Smoking, a new comedy which satirizes the tobacco legislation debate. It’s a film designed to hook mainstream audiences with simple, recognizable caricatures of the players on both sides of the issue, and an unfaltering confidence in its own cleverness. Each and every gag winks smugly at the viewer, as if to say, “I knew you would get it.”
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South by Southwest 2006
20 March 2006
Monday, 10:39 PM
Although most people are completely unaware that it encompasses anything other than music, South by Southwest is one of the world’s largest interactive conferences. 2006 was the biggest SXSW Interactive ever, or so assumes this second-timer, for whom the scope of “ever” begins in 2005. There were more panels, more parties, and most importantly, more people, many of whom were old friends, and many of whom are now new friends.
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Leaving on a Jet Plane
02 March 2006
Thursday, 11:37 AM
If anyone is still reading, I’ll be leaving for Austin in a little over a week for South by Southwest, where I will be immersed in symposiums, cinema, and suds-soaked socialization for five glorious days. Last year’s SXSW was a big part of what made 2005 the best year I have had in a long time; it was a steel-toed inspirational kick in the pants, and a networking free-for-all whose participants generally inhabited more warmth and sincerity than I even imagined was possible at an industry event. If the How-to-Make-a-Zillion-Dollar-Web-2.0-Application frenzy doesn’t transform everyone into a slobbering horde of cash-crazed zombies, I fully expect this year to be just as exhilarating. I’m looking forward to seeing many old friends and meeting just as many new ones. So if you see a badge that says “Rob Weychert” attached to a big red beard with some pale limbs jutting out of it, please don’t hesitate to come say hello, or at least wonder aloud if I’ve ever stood in direct sunlight.
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