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The music portion of the SXSW festival began Wednesday, March 17, and just after midnight, at St. David's Historic Sanctuary, Suzanne Vega performed. She has been a favorite of mine since she first hit the scene about 25 years ago. She's putting out a new series of CDs under the banner "Close Up," acoustic solo versions of some of her best work. The first volume is Love Songs, which Ms. Vega kindly autographed for me. I had the chance to tell her that her album 99.9Fº is one of my all-time favorites. SXSW seems to have inconsistent policies about videotaping, sometimes they stop you, sometimes they don't. They didn't during Ms Vega's performance, so I'm happy to be able to present you with a song from that 99.9Fº album, Blood Makes Noise.

Sunday was a very, very good day to eat. It started with a free bacon brunch courtesy Adobe. I got to hear an Adobe guy whine about how their relationship with Apple used to be soooo good, and now, not so much, because of Steve Jobs' opposition to Flash on the iPhone and iPad.

I stopped briefly at the SXSW interactive trade show. Its a bunch of software and hardware companies with little booths trying to sell you their products or services. I bought an extremely cute flash drive, but the real bonus for me was getting a demo of 3D-TV from Panasonic. They showed a number of clips, and the effect was terrific. Especially nice: video from 2008's Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing. Awesome. Gotta start saving some sheckle.

Microsoft's danah boyd, who like k.d. lang disdains capital letters in her name, gave Saturday's keynote about privacy and publicity. There was a lot to think about in her remarks. Rather than try to boil it down, I highly recommend that you read them yourself.

I next attended a provocative session called "Mind Control: Psychology for the Web." Ben Scofield, a web developer who studied the brain in college, gave a lot of good advice. He argued against using web analytics to figure out what works on a web site. Instead of describing where the users click, figure out WHY they click. "If we understand why people do what they do, we can make them do what we want them to do." Make your site likable. People like pretty sites. Get people to identify with what their peers are doing. He strongly recommended following these guidelines from Stanford University. It looks like good advice. Other tips: giving things away for free, as Google does with Gmail and many other products, builds brand loyalty. On the other hand, something scarce (like Gmail was in the early days, when you needed an invite) makes people want it.

I'm abandoning my old format of a long post about the day.

Instead, short posts of what's going on. This one doesn't have much: Saturday began with me sleeping in a bit too late, and cabbing it over to the Radisson, and being denied entrance to a packed panel on the iPad. You can read up on what I missed by using checking out these tweets from people inside.

After another long absence, its time to resume my blog, covering the SXSW Interactive/Film/Music convention in Austin, Texas.

Its interactive that first got me interested in the festival, and that's the first thing on the agenda.

Since the first sessions didn't begin until 2 pm, I felt it necessary to have some Texas Barbeque before I got started. I sated my appetite at Iron Works, conveniently located next door to the convention center. Just ahead of me in line was Leo LaPorte, host of my favorite podcast, This Week in Tech. I asked him if he had ordered his iPad, which just went on sale that day, and he said he had ordered two. Alas, I only ordered one.

One button. Sounds like an Apple idea. Appropriately, my first session was The History of the Button. It was an interesting talk about the abstract notion of the button, how it came to be, and how its changing; most notably in that many of the buttons we use on the internet don't appear as buttons at all. Instead, they are text, or a graphic, or anything else that you can click on to cause something to happen.

Then it was on to Successful Networking for Introverts, Rebels and Misfits. My friends don't believe it, but I am an introvert. There were some decent tips on how to more easily chat up strangers in social situations. I offered a tip: act like you are a reporter interviewing someone.

Then I attended PayTV vs Internet: The Battle for Your TV. Speaking for PayTV was Mark Cuban, maverick Mavericks owner and HDNet mogul. On the Internet side was Avner Ronen, founder of Boxee. About 5 minutes into their debate, a false alarm caused the evacuation of the entire convention center. But it was over quickly, and the debate resumed. Here's a nice little writeup of the exchange. I videoed the whole thing, but the audio is too crappy for me to post.

Then it was on to my first party, the Tocquigny Martini & Beer Marketing Mixer. I had a lovely chat there with Jenny Goddard, a young local filmmaker.

One of the events I skipped last year is called "Pastries and Pasties." I had a cupcake called "Sloppy Seconds" made from peanut butter & chocolate. Yum. And I watched burlesque-style stripping going on. It was amusing. The crowd even more so. And I was surprised that the performers included all shapes and sizes. I'm proud of the heavy performers and their self confidence!

I then spent a couple of hours at the official SXSW Film Opening Party at Buffalo Billiards. Here, the crowd was a lot bigger, and noiser. I had trouble acting sociable, but as I was about to leave, the aforementioned Ms. Goddard grabbed me from behind, and introduced me to some friends of hers. Still, I couldn't hear conversation, so I headed out and back to the hotel. A good start, but things will be getting better. I still haven't seen any films, and the music doesn't even get started until next week.

I'm not sure whether its the official motto of Austin, Texas, but there are t-shirts for sale everywhere reading "Keep Austin Weird." If South by Southwest is any example, they have nothing to worry about.

My feet have been aching, so I didn't do much traveling today. I began by having the best tasting barbecue I've ever had the pleasure to eat. Iron Works BBQ is located in a former iron works building right next door to the Austin Convention Center. If you're ever in Austin, and are not a vegetarian, eat here. I mean it. If you don't, I may have to slap you. If you are a vegetarian, well, I pity your loss.

Next, I went to Stubb's, which had hosted Metallica the night before. There I saw Parachute, a decent rock band from Charlottesville, Virginia. I guess they're best known for a song of theirs that is used in a Nivea commercial. I shot a bit of video, but haven't converted it yet for the web. I'll probably post it after I get home to Chicago.

It was already late in the day. I started walking towards West 6th Street, where there's music away from the mayhem of East 6th Street. I sat for about an hour outside a Starbucks, sipping some raw caffeine and utilizing the wifi, before I ended up at Opal Divine's Freehouse.

I saw three groups there, all from distant lands. First was Café Funquê, from Brazil. The lead singer was clad in a skeleton costume, her face painted white. Very tight band, a mix of rock, funk and bossa nova. Again, I have some video, but that will have to wait until my return.

But fear not: For the next two groups, I've got the clips processed and ready to go.

The Pepper Pots are not, as the name suggested to me, a bunch of Monty Python freaks. They are a troupe of three female singers, backed by a rocking band, who are trying to bring the dance music of the 1960s back to life. And they succeed! The group is from Catalonia, Spain, and its their first U.S. appearance. Here's their tribute to the Supremes.

Lastly, something that seems like the product of a somewhat questionable imagination. Vowing to change the world through the power of bikinis, Futomomo Satisfaction from Japan centers on three trombone players in bikinis. The keyboardist wears a bikini. The bassist? You guessed it, bikini. And smacking of inequality, the male guitarist and drummer do not appear in Speedos, they remain attired in more normal gear. Futomomo is Japanese for thighs.

Lest you think I'm imagining all that, here's the proof.

Futomomo Satisfaction from David Fell on Vimeo.

This posting is going up late due to the crappy internet service here at the Embassy Suites Downtown Austin. Aside from that, its a nice hotel.

As for day 10, there's not much to tell. I had some delicious barbecue at Artz Rib House, watched the bats fly out from underneath the Congress Street Bridge, and headed back to 6th street for some more music. It was a dead zone compared with the rest of the week. Streets weren't blocked. There were no crowds. And not too much music. I heard a Canadian singer named Krista Muir. She was entertaining, but there was only a sparse group of listeners. Both before and after her, there was a DJ. That holds no interest for me, so I head back to the hotel. Before I get picked up for my flight Monday, I plan one more barbecue excursion: Green Mesquite, which is just a block or two from the hotel, and was recommended by a cab driver.

So that's it! South by Southwest 2009 is history. I hope you've enjoyed sharing some sights with me.

-edited 4/6/09 to add Pepper Pots video

With all due respect to my female readers, are we not men? The answer in a bit!

Another excellent day at South by Southwest. I can easily imagine this becoming an annual trek for me. I continue to be delighted by most everything I see and hear. Actually, I'm relieved to say that my hearing seems fine, despite the pounding my ears took tonight.

I got up at a reasonable hour and took care of some personal errands, before going to the Austin Convention Center. Two rooms there have been set up as large TV studios, for some live broadcasts on DirecTV. I attended Ben Harper & RELENTLESS7, who put on a very strong show. Anti-photography rules were being strictly enforced, so I have no photos or videos to show you, but I should have a nice HD recording of it at home so I can enjoy it again, and try to pick my face out of the crowd.

Next I headed to the Hilton Gardens Hotel to see The Miserable Rich. But before they came on, I saw a performed named Denis Jones. A remarkable experimental performer from Manchester in the UK, he uses electronic looping devices to record bits of vocals, guitar and odd percussion, creating rich textures against which he performs. At one point he was using his thumb against the tip of a guitar cable, to make 60 hertz buzzing noises to add to the mix. It's difficult to describe. I suggest heading over to his MySpace page (linked above) and giving him a listen.

Then came the act I was there to hear, The Miserable Rich, from Brighton, UK. Their web site indicates a five piece band, but there were only four at this performance. The singer has a lovely voice, and the instrumentation includes a cello and a violin. An excellent group. Here's a bit of video.

The Miserable Rich from David Fell on Vimeo.

After that, I walked over to the Velveeta Room, a comedy club on 6th street, to see Janeane Garofalo. In fact, I got there early enough to see several of the preceding comedy geniuses, and had a great deal of fun. Eric Krug did some hilarious rap, and 18 year old Natasha Leggero of Rockford Illinois was also very funny. Garofalo began by squirting hand sanitizer into the hands of many audience members, including myself. She joked about an Austin mayoral candidate's name (think Bart Simpson phoning Moe), Twitter, aging and anti-depressants. She was rapid-fire and hilarious. Jack Bauer was nowhere in sight.

Because it was so short, I had some time on my hands. I enjoyed a hot dog topped with pulled pork, cheese and pickles from a street vendor. Delicious. And I went to Aces Lounge to hear a bit of Cut Off Your Hands, a hard rocking group from New Zealand. Very crowded bar.

After that, it was off to the Austin Music Hall for the answer to the question with which I began this entry: Are we not men? We are DEVO. Arrival was a bit of a pain. My camera bag was not permitted in, so I took one of Austin's pedicabs back to the hotel to drop the camera off, and then returned to the Music Hall. But once inside, I managed to find a place to stand off to the left, close to the stage, to see the end of the previous act, Tricky, a rapper/singer from Bristol, England. I didn't hear enough of him to get a real feel for the music.

Then came DEVO. I should tell you that this was the loudest music I think I've ever heard. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. But with every beat, my vision vibrated. It seemed like wind was going through my hair. Only half-way through the show, when I got to the very front of the stage, did I realize: I was about two feet from the biggest subwoofers I have ever seen. As for the performance, for a bunch of guys even older than myself, there was one hell of a lot of energy. A constant barrage of video played behind them, and members of the crowd were jumping up and down, one landing hard on my left big toe. I also found people rubbing against me uncomfortably. When I noticed they were female and cute, it became far more comfortable. Since I was forced to leave the decent photo gear back at the hotel, I only managed to capture a few snaps with my iPhone, including one in which Mark Mothersbaugh, just 6 feet from me, was working some pom-poms. The slow exposure made by the iPhone came out psychedelic. I like it.

That's all I have for now, dear readers. I shall be back again with more tales from Austin Texas in another day. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, which should give you plenty of leeway.

I have lots of video to share with you from Thursday!

I missed the two things I wanted to see at the Austin Convention Center. I slept right through a keynote address by Quincy Jones. I tried to make it to a panel discussion by DEVO, but got there late and found it full and closed to new arrivals. So I wandered over to the music hub of 6th street. You never know what you'll run across.

Katzenjammer hails from Oslo, Norway. Quoting their flyer, this fun-orchestra proves Norway has more to offer than chaos and darkness. It certainly does. It was the hilarious looking bass that drew me toward the all-girl quartet. Aside from this street performance, they appeared four times at SXSW venues, headlining Thursday night at the Rio.

Katzenjammer from David Fell on Vimeo.
I had a delicious meal called Chicken Poppicotti at The Old Pecan Street Café, then walked about half a mile to the Elephant Room, a dark basement club. There I saw a local Austin band called the Golden Arm Trio. Despite the name, there were five men on stage, and I'm told the band is even bigger, but they couldn't get any more people onto the stage. They performed an entire set of Duke Ellington numbers, and sounded fantastic, as you can tell from the video below. I was about 4 feet from the stage. I'm really glad I bought that wide-angle lens for my Sony HDV camcorder. This was by far the best music I've heard so far, proving you don't have to be a cutting-edge rock band to find a place at South by Southwest.

The Golden Arm Trio from David Fell on Vimeo.
Then another longish walk took me to Mother Egan's, where I heard a few songs by The Belleville Outfit. The MP3 they have on the SXSW web site sounded like Django Reinhardt, although they really are a bit more modern then that. They have a good sound, and a fetching violinist.

The Belleville Outfit from David Fell on Vimeo.
After that, I came back to the hotel, to try to get this done by a reasonable time.

Music has finally arrived in Austin Texas. Actually, it never leaves here, but there's never more of it than during SXSW.

I had a very musical evening, after sleeping most of the day. Boy, I'm gonna miss sleeping this much when I go back to work next week.

The first band I saw was called Canopy. According to the SXSW web site, the group is a live-performance project of a videographer. Mostly a four piece band, they were joined occasionally by two more musician, a cellist and a saxaphone player. They were good, their music had a bit of a 60s influence, with some modern sounds mixed in. The audience was sparse.

Next up, Ann Vriend. She was excellent. A Edmonton, Canada-based singer-songwriter who plays piano, she has a crisp and clear voice with great range. Her voice reminded me a little bit of Maria Muldaur. Elle magazine has compared her intensity to Aretha Franklin, her piano skills to Nora Jones, and her songwriting prowess to Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. I found her to be a complete delight. She has two more performances on Thursday. I encourage anyone here to see her. She's damned attractive, too.

Next, I saw Angus and Julia Stone. A brother-sister team from Australia. Their voices blended well, but the songs all sounded the same: dull.

So on I went to the evenings main event, Echo and the Bunnymen. This well-known band hails from Liverpool. I remember another band from there. I videoed one song of theirs, included in my video report below. I only stayed for about five songs. My feet were aching pretty badly, so I headed back to the hotel, getting here around 2:30. I spent the rest of the night writing this and editing the video. It's morning already. I can tell I won't get much done today.

A taste of 6th street, and Echo & the Bunnymen from David Fell on Vimeo.

The interactive folks have mostly gone home, the movie awards are over (although screenings continue), and musicians are arriving in droves. On to the next part of SXSW!

I continue to enjoy sleeping late, which has the unfortunate side effect of limiting which panels I can attend. Furthermore, I got goofed up today and went to the wrong place for one.

That panel was "Policy Trainwreck: How Copyright Law Failed the Digital Age." I ended up catching about 3/4 of the discussion, which was mostly about music and ways for musicians to control their works. Interesting stuff, but not directly applicable to anything I'm doing, at least not yet.

After that, I went to the reception for the Film Awards. There, I bumped into Becky James, a delightful young animator whom I met earlier on the shuttle bus between our hotel and the convention center. She introduced me to her friend Matt Boch, a creative designer at Harmonix, makers of Rock Band. We talked at some length about the excitement over The Beatles Rock Band game that will be released on 09/09/09 (Number nine. Number nine. Number nine). While Matt stuck to his NDA and didn't reveal anything new, he was able to tell me that Dani Harrison, George's look-alike son, has been instrumental in making the game happen, and frequently visits the Harmonix offices. Matt says the Beatles game is fantastic. He gets to play it every week. I am so freaking jealous!

After that, I attended the film awards themselves. It was great watching the excitement of the winners. The aforementioned Becky James won a special judges award for the poster she and Lydia Corkin designed for James' film "Snake."

For the full list of winners, see sxsw.com/film.

Following the awards, I got in line to see "Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie." Clown noses were passed out. I hopped into a seat and introduced myself to the guy sitting next to me, who turned out to be the film's producer, David Becker. SXSW is so cool! And I hadn't noticed, but in the fourth seat from me was none other than Wavy Gravy himself. I'd met him at a party a few days earlier and got a picture with him. But famed photographer Lisa Law set up to take a photo of the whole audience around Wavy, wearing their red noses! Becker had temporarily left his seat, and there was nobody between Wavy and me, so I popped into the chair right next to him for the photo. I can't wait to get a copy of that from Law.

The film itself was exceptional. In fact, they won me over with the very first bit of music, because the song was "Indian Lake" by the Cowsills, which just happens to be the very first record I ever purchased with my own money, back in 1968, when I was 10 or 11 years old. But the whole story of Wavy and his great kindness and charity was a delight from start to finish. Like his friends the Grateful Dead said, what a long, strange trip it's been.

The film ended after midnight, so I strolled over to 6th street, the main bar and music scene in Austin. I had a delicious burger at The Jackalope, and found friendly people who told me pirate jokes. This is a very friendly place to be.

Tomorrow: More movies and finally some music!

Here I am again, staggering in not drunk at 2 o'clock in the morning. With all the late night stuff here at SXSW, I'm finding it hard to get up in the morning. So I don't.

I did get up in time to see "TRIMPIN: the sound of invention." Its a documentary about a musician-inventor of the same name, who creates giant, incredible, sound machines. You really should check out the trailer. The film's centerpiece is a collaboration between Trimpin (he only uses his last name) and The Kronos Quartet. It was an amazing movie, and I got a chance to chat with the sound mixer afterwards. He said it was like being a kid in a candy store.

After that, I attended the Bruce Sterling session. Sterling is best know as a science fiction author. He did a very entertaining talk, even though part of it was about how journalists are fading away. I wish now I had videoed it; he had so many interesting things to day. Well, it should be available as a podcast when SXSW ends.

Then came Nuclear Taco. A very long line to get some free very very hot tacos. The first bite or two, I figured, ha! These tacos can't conquer me. But they did. Tears streaming down my face. And now, hours later, pain further on down. But it was worth it.

I then went to see "For the Love of Movies." This documentary traces the history of American film criticism. It was fascinating information, but I have to say it didn't make for a great film.

After that, I walked half a mile to the Mashable party, only to find a line several hundred feet long. I waited a while, but gave up and decided to hit another movie.

I was torn between "The Horseman," and "Lesbian Vampire Killers." I chose the former.

"The Horseman" is an Australian film about a man whose daughter has died of a drug overdose after appearing in a pornographic movie. The main character is set on revenge, and he gets it. I found it to be one of the most violent films I've ever seen, but then again, I don't generally go to very very violent films. That said, it was a good story, as long as you can stand up to the beatings.

Off to bed now. Good night, readers.

This will be a much shorter post than day 1. I did fewer things, but still am having a blast. Except for my blasted feet.

I slept until the clock went off at 10, and got out the door by about 10:30, taking the shuttle over to the Convention Center for my first session of the day, "Blog on Company Time and Get Promoted." This was an informal session in a relatively small room; perhaps about 30 people were there. Taught by consultant Daniel Hope, much of this was about how to convince numskulls at your company that they need a blog. Not a problem at the company where I work, which is getting more and more social-networking-savvy every day. Hope had a good suggestion called the "80/20" rule. 80 percent of a corporate blog should be relevant to the company or product(s) being promoted, 20 percent should be other stuff, such as links to interesting things, YouTube videos, photos from company parties, etc. I like that idea. He also listed a bunch of tools that he says can be helpful in blogging. I haven't checked them out in detail, but they were:

• Diigo, which allows you to highlight things and post annotations when linking to other web sites


• Posterous, which allows you to post items by emailing them


• Utterli, formerly called Utterz, another sharing tool


• Tumblr, yet another sharing tool


• Scribefire, a Firefox plug-in that integrates a blogging tool into the same window in which you're viewing the web, so you don't have to keep multiple tabs or windows open. This sounds useful to me.

After that session, I headed over to catch part of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh's keynote. It sounded interesting, but I couldn't stay long. I had to go to Jeffrey Tambor's acting workshop. It was actually a seminar, in which he conducted a seminar with two actors he brought along, who already knew their lines. The way Tambor was able to guide them through breaking through barriers to get to the heart of the scene was amazing. I've got it all on video, and will post some clips "when I get around to it." Probably after the festival.

Next, I went to the movies, at the amazing Alamo Ritz. With a full menu of food and libations, I think this is a great theatre chain. I had some delicious green chilli macaroni and cheese. The film I viewed was "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo," a fascinating documentary about Japan's obsession with insects. If you're at all interested in Japanese culture, try to find a way to see this movie.

After that, I headed to the party for "The 2 Bobs." It was damned noisy and crowded, but I got to spend some additional time with 3 of the cast members, including the lovely Tamara Jolaine, who greeted me warmly when she came in.

I skedaddled over to another movie, this time "The Last Beekeeper." There's an as-yet unexplained disease that is killing off bees in startling numbers. I knew that already. What I didn't know was the emotional toll that is taking on beekeepers. Dammit, the film brought a tear to my eye. See it if you can.

I have to say, AT&T is really falling down on the job with providing adequate data coverage. I could not pull up my schedule to save my life sometimes, which is why I missed the frog design SXSWi opening party. Frog design is one of the best industrial design firms on the planet, and I've read good things about their parties. Many of my twitter friends were shouting about the great fun at the Cog'aoke party. With no internet on my iPhone, it took a while to find out where it was. It was a 6 block walk, and I hemmed and hawed about whether my feet were to tired. But they carried me there and I enjoyed some enthusiastic karaoke performances by exceedingly drunk people. I found my Chicago friends Amy and Mary, and another friend of theirs who's name now escapes me, and we headed back to the hotel. And now I can't wait to go to sleep!

I just left a party where I was talking to a beautiful movie star, so that I could blog for you, my readers. I must be crazy.

It's day one of the South by Southwest Festival, or SXSW, a gathering of interactive, film and music makers and lovers, down here in Austin, Texas. And so far, it is glorious.

I began the day at 1:08 pm, when I woke up. Good thing: I obtained my badge the day before. I've been on a variety of sleep schedules lately, and had slept almost 12 hours. I downed an energy drink, showered, and headed over to the Austin Convention Center, for my first conference: "Getting the Most out of SXSW Film." It was a primer for uninitiated attendees like myself. Very informative, but sparsely attended.

After that, I made my way to the place where they handed out goodie bags. These bags contain guides to the festival, party invitations, and loads of free magazines. As I have the Platinum badge (interactive, film, AND music), I got three canvas tote bags filled with stuff. Most of it will be garbage, but there was no time to sort. I ended up running around with those 3 bags, which weighed something like 20 pounds, most of the rest of the day.

Next was a conference on the Ecosystem of News. Steven Johnson of outside.in presented, and then led a discussion. The room was jam-packed. The session talked about the changes in the news industry, and unlike Chicago's recent Journalism Town Hall, was pretty hopeful for the future. He tried to stem the panic about newspapers shutting down and presented a model in which news is gathered by pro journalists, non-profit journalists, bloggers of both the amateur and professional variety, and public data. On top of that is a layer of commentary provided by pundits, bloggers, and scholars. Above that he listed curators consisting of social media, professional editors, aggregators and group filters, with distribution through traditional media, aggregators and viral word-of-mouth. But he did admit that, yes, many newspapers will close, and yes, many good journalists will lose their jobs.

I took the microphone at one point and talked about my friend Sally Duros, who until a year ago edited the Home section of the Chicago Sun-Times. She's now a Huffington Post blogger, which is great, except HuffPo doesn't pay. See her articles on how journalists can be paid.

The man behind the Chicago Tribune's ColonelTribune Twitter identity spotted me when I was up at the mic. He and I have communicated before via Twitter, it was good to meet up with him in person.

After that, I grabbed a sandwich and then headed off to a conference called "Social Engineering: How to Scam Yourself into Anything or From Anybody. Hosted by Brian Brushwood of the internet tv program "Scam School," this presentation was mostly entertainment, but did have some common sense tips. Best part of this was the recommendation of a book, How to Read a Person Like a Book. Could improve my poker playing.

Next up, I went to a movie called "The 2 Bobs," a hilarious film about game developers. The title characters discover that their latest software masterpiece has been stolen by unscrupulous Christians. I won't spoil the film by telling you what happened, but it is a complete delight. The film needs a distributor. If you are a distributor, buy this film now!! More about the cast below.

I tried to catch another film about beekeepers, but got lost and ate dinner, while dinner was looking back at me.

Last order of business: The film party. I don't do well at parties where I don't know at least a few people; and outside of a lovely person named Kana I met on the shuttle bus, I knew no one here. But I forced myself to interact, and had a great time! I met the one and only Wavy Gravy of Woodstock fame, and as you can see from the appropriately blurry photo, got a photo with the man. I also introduced myself to Jeffrey Tambor, who's leading an acting workshop that I plan to attend. Then I met one of the Bobs. Devin Ratray, best known for the Home Alone pictures, turned out to be a hell of a nice guy. We chatted for about ten minutes. He told me about a sci-fi film he'll be making soon with Bruce Willis. Sounds very good. I wandered around the party awhile, and spotted Cody Kasch, also in The 2 Bobs, who you may know from Desparate Housewives as Zach. And seated with him, the delightful and beautiful Tamara Jolaine, who is one of the love interests in the film. We had a very nice talk about the making of the film, Tamara's budding music career, and our backgrounds. Turns out we both love Wikipedia, and Tamara may want me to write her Wikipedia entry. She also mentioned Devin's other upcoming film, in which he stalks Condoleeza Rice.

Sooner or later, in my case sooner, I began to think I was running out of things to say, and excused myself. From talking with a beautiful movie star who seemed interested in conversing with me. I will never learn.