Letters to the Editor
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Has success ruined SxSW?
No. Tourists have.
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Has success ruined America's friendliest filmfest?
I'm not sure why Andrew asks the question when his answer is, "Who gives a shit as long as I'm having fun."
He's so quick to deny any possibility of negative effects, I'm sure he wouldn't notice what's been ruined if he spilled a drink on it.
One of the reasons I don't mind the financial and logistical obstacles which have kept me away from SXSW are all the journalist so intent on informing readers about the great party they can't attend the description of the cultural product come up short. It's sort of a Received Wisdom camp for the alt-press, where they get their liscense to employ "was all the buzz at SXSW" to describe some product for the rest of the year.
The effect is on full display here, with O'Hehir displaying nearly uncritical enthusiasm for a list of pictures he hasn't seen just because they're playing the festival. Including what is clearly a by the book "vegas true story" pic because "festival head and compulsive blogger Matt Dentler and his staff wouldn't have slotted it as the opening night film, now would they?" Or perhaps it's standard practice for smaller film festivals to screen big studio product for opening night in exchange for some underwriting of the event.
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One gets the impression
O'Hehir might not think so highly of SXSW if he lived somewhere warm in March where they make good salsa.
Austin collapsed under its own hype 10 or 12 years ago, but they had already pulled off the civic-boosting coup of all time by scheduling SXSW in March. Genius, really.
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Battle In Seattle
Battle In Seattle was produced independently by Canadian financiers. It is being self distributed. Can't get more independent than that. So why is it being called a studio/semi-studio picture.
Having stars in a film doesn't neccessarily make it a studio pic. It usually means that the message of the story resonated with the actors for them to commit to working for little or no money.
AC
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From Austin
Enjoy it--and then get the heck out of town. It's not cooler than cool Austinites who disparage this festival, it's those of us who have to live with, drive around, wait for, and generally avoid the ever increasing number of "cultural" festival disruptions year after year so the bars can rake it in. There ought to be more to a place than going along with every Chamber of Commerce scheme to prostitute the city's image for one sector of the economy.
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Ruby's is for suckers.
Ruby's is among the worst BBQ in Central Texas. It's a place that everyone mentions because they think it gives them some Austin cred when in reality it just makes them look like a sucker.
Rudy's is unquestionably better than Ruby's, and it's a chain. Or go to Ironworks. It's right downtown. Then there's Green Mesquite on Riverside--right by Chuy's. And County Line and The Salt Lick. Hell, I even like Pok-E-Joe's better than Ruby's. If you want the best though, there's only one: Smitty's in Lockhart.
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Re: "pop quiz, math geeks"
Yes, you do improve your chances by switching your answer.
If I have 3 choices and I select 1, there is a 33.33333% chance I got it right (This leaves a 66.66666% chance that the correct choice is 1 of the other 2).
Whatever the game show host decides to do at this point has no material effect on the original probabilities, and by removing the incorrect choice of the 2 I didn't pick, I am left with the only remaining possible correct choice (assuming my original guess was incorrect--which I would assume). So, in effect, by switching your choice, you have increased your chances by 33.33333% and now have a nearly 67% chance of winning the Corvette.
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Ruby's
You're right about Ruby's sucking, but your attitude is exactly why I moved from Austin 10 years ago after living there five years. It grew exasperating to see such a mediocre, if manifestly pleasant, town taken so seriously by its denizens.
"Austin cred" is cheaply enough come by, my friend. It ain't exactly Berlin or San Francisco. However much it wants to be in the same class, it never will. Meanwhile, all new development is identical to Dallas, and hipsters, such a hot commodity in 1993, are more common than cockroaches in almost any American city. Austin is and ever will be dependent on kids from Temple or McAllen who come to UT and are dazzled by their "big-city" experience.
Nice swimming holes nearby, though, that's for sure.
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Ruby's
You're right about Ruby's sucking, but your attitude is exactly why I moved from Austin 10 years ago after living there five years. It grew exasperating to see such a mediocre, if manifestly pleasant, town taken so seriously by its denizens.
"Austin cred" is cheaply enough come by, my friend. It ain't exactly Berlin or San Francisco. However much it wants to be in the same class, it never will. Meanwhile, all new development is identical to Dallas, and hipsters, such a hot commodity in 1993, are more common than cockroaches in almost any American city. Austin is and ever will be dependent on kids from Temple or McAllen who come to UT and are dazzled by their "big-city" experience.
Nice swimming holes nearby, though, that's for sure.
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Godmonkey
Hey hey, Godmonkey, I agree with you. I didn't mean to imply that there is such a thing as "Austin cred," or that it's a great city or anything like that. I no longer live in Austin, but I was pretty indifferent to the city.
The music scene is way, way overblown in my opinion. People get a false impression because so many people come to town for sxsw, and then go home thinking that it's like that all the time. In reality, there isn't that much going on in a normal week and in any case, the really good bands from Austin are probably out on the road playing somewhere else.
If there is one thing worth taking seriously, though, it's the barbecue as it is amazing. Ruby's gets a reputation because it's the "hippie" barbecue. That appeals to outsiders--it combines two things that Austin is supposed to be known for: "weirdness" and Texas. You and I know that Austin isn't weird, but people from other areas want to experience "the real Austin," which is, naturally, fake. So they eat at Ruby's and miss out on all the great experiences the could have at better restaurants.
If there are two things worth taking seriously, it's the barbecue and the tacos. Loved it.