RossHarmes.net

Improving your self esteem since 2003

SxSW and Austin

Mar 17 2008

32

Photo by Dustin Diaz

I was in Austin for a week for the South by Southwest Interactive conference. I was able to convince work to send me because we had a book talk and author signing scheduled for the first day (which went pretty well; co-author Dustin handled the talk while I… uh… supervised). The conference itself was made up of hundreds of panels taking place over five days. As you can see by my intended schedule, I was planning on going to see a lot of them; in the end, it didn’t quite work out that way. Most of the blame for me missing panels falls on a girl by the name of Erin that I met during the book signing (she was in charge of corralling the authors into sitting and interacting with their fans). By way of establishing her street cred for this audience, let me tell you that the first movie we watched together, at her suggestion, was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, during which she was able to recite every line from memory. Yeah, I’ll just give you a moment to let that feeling of overwhelming jealousy die down.

I spent most of my free time with her (ignoring Tristan almost entirely; sorry, buddy), getting a tour of Austin from the view of the locals. The city is nice; lots of good places to eat, and, as you would expect from a college town, tons of places to drink (my personal favorite place had to be the movie theatre that served food and alcohol, kind of like Mugs and Movies but much, much better). Wanting to spend as much time with Erin as possible, I stayed out way too late and got absolutely no sleep, which means I was in no condition at all to attend the early morning sessions; I was lucky to stumble in by noon. The sessions that I did make it to were fantastic, and I want to try to listen to as many of the others as possible when they are released as podcasts later in the month. Overall it was a great trip, and I’d definitely go back to Austin.

I’m really looking forward to the end of this week. Erin’s flying up for a long weekend and I’m taking a few days off of work. Now that I’ve got my taxes done (the governments of California and the United States of America really bent me over the table this year), and with no more book or conference stuff to worry about, I can actually relax and enjoy myself.

Posted by Ross at 20:11

Comments

  1. She likes Fear and Loathing…

    Posted by Wu on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 12:09

    …but does she like 40’s of Smirnoff Ice?

  2. God I hope not…

    Posted by Rza on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 17:47

    Just hearing the words “Smirnoff Ice” makes me feel ill.

  3. Enjoy yourself……

    Posted by Mom on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 8:49

    hope you have a great weekend.

  4. the test

    Posted by Schmekle Magiliculki on Friday, March 21st, 2008 at 3:54

    Yeah, but can she compete in the brookie challenge and live?

  5. The most manly: Hair gel vs glasses

    Posted by Flannel and cotton socks man on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 5:30

    I must say, Ross looks positively burly compared to that angst-ridden hipster with the Ryan Seacrest skinny tie, tight jacket, hair-gel fauxhawk and emo single-strap computer bag. That guy must be scowling because he’s cooler than I am.

  6. Ross…

    Posted by Wu on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 11:51

    …have you still not finished reading your own book? I mean, I know it must be good, but seriously…you wrote it.

  7. A Literary Gem

    Posted by His Most Rossness on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 8:30

    I’m finished with it. I found the authors’ tone to be a bit arrogant and egotistical, almost as if one of them had some sort of god complex (if you take the first letter in each of the first seven chapters and put them together, it spells “rossgod”). The code examples were also a bit mechanical, as if written by a cybernetic or mechanical being. Overall though, it was very good.

  8. Please tell me…

    Posted by Wu on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 12:00

    …that what you said about the letters spelling Rossgod is true, you beautiful holy robot.

  9. Apologies to the Ross deity

    Posted by Flannel and cotton socks man on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 12:06

    Since my tasteless comment has been blackballed, I’d like to apologize to Ross, the manly man-machine (machine-man?), whose testosterone-fueled beard and adams apple intimidate bears (at least smallish ones).

    The actual object of my derision was Tristan, last spotted here: (http://www.niata.net/cropshop/faux_hawk/fauxhawk1.html)

  10. UF Medical School admits student from political family without faculty backing

    Posted by The meth-and-gay-prostitute-driven life. on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 8:01

    http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20080404/NEWS/804040366/1007/NEWS

    —–

    In a move that breaks with the norms established by medical school accreditors, the dean of the University of Florida’s College of Medicine has opted to admit a student from a politically connected family, even though the student didn’t have the backing of the Medical Selection Committee.
    …
    Kone wouldn’t name the student, but sources close to the situation identified him as Benjamin Mendelsohn, the son of Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, a Hollywood ophthalmologist and a Republican fundraiser who was a grassroots organizer for Gov. Charlie Crist during his 2006 campaign.
    …
    In 2006, the Mendelsohn family gave at least $33,257 to political candidates, 94 percent of which went directly to Republicans, according to the Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections. Of that money, $1,682 went to Crist, including a $500 donation from Benjamin Mendelsohn himself.

    Alan Mendelsohn is a known fundraiser in the medical community. In 2005, he held a fundraiser in his own home where more than 150 physicians raised more than $100,000 for Crist, according to a news release from the Florida Medical Political Action Committee.

  11. To the victor…

    Posted by Flannel and cotton socks man on Friday, April 4th, 2008 at 8:28

    Well, those other students should have given more money to The Party.
    I for one choose my doctors on the basis of their political loyalty, just like my levee inspectors, army generals, judges and air traffic controllers.
    I would, however, appoint Ross as my Sec. of Computer Junk, but that’s only because he knows which side his bread is buttered on.

  12. From Berlin to Beijing

    Posted by An anticommunist socialist on Wednesday, April 9th, 2008 at 13:34

    Why does Homeland Security allow a platoon of Chinese secret policemen to move through our cities in force, threatening our citizens and brandishing incendiary devices?

    What’s Beijing trying to prove? That it can find a few dozen freaky tall and fast people out 1.4 billion Chinamen? Of course they can. Plus, I hear Westerners can’t breathe China’s sulfur-dioxide atmosphere.

    The only Olympic event I would watch is a gridiron match between the Baltimore Ravens and the Communist gerontocracy. Ray Lewis is an enemy of the people.

  13. 10.0

    Posted by Crza on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 13:31

    The judges would certainly give Ray Lewis high marks for his sound technique and superb sense of style while decapitating Hu Jintao.

  14. Your welcome, Rza.

    Posted by Crza (and on behalf of Mr. Flannel a.k.a. Jimmy Vaandaarsaandaarlingjaagt)) on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 13:39

    Thanks to the last two posts (and your pink-down-to-its-underwear-except-for-its-yellow-belly-because-it-conspires-with-red-Chinese-censors company), your site will no longer be available to hundreds of millions of your asian fans. Don’t worry though, your true-blooded American audience will still be here for you. Now, if we can just see about banning those pesky Euros from defacing this site (I’m talking about you, Alec).

  15. …another added benefit of the Chinese ban…

    Posted by Crza on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 13:43

    …will hopefully be the merciful end of Wu’s radical Maoist/suck comments.

  16. Do you know how this shit works?

    Posted by Earl Simmons on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 14:02

    I’m glad to see that Johnson has such a copious amount a free time to post an endless string of nonsense on this site……..others, such as myself, have been entrusted with the task of providing future generations an institution where there young minds can be sculpted into powerful tools…….and by that I mean play basketball, get into fights, and smoke cancer sticks in the woods nearby.

  17. Reasoned discourse

    Posted by Jacob Vaandaarsloot on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 15:58

    I hope the Red Chinese don’t censor this site, because I see our role as fostering a responsible dialogue.
    So here’s a little something for the Hu’s down in Hu-ville:

    http://ihatechina.ytmnd.com/

  18. Live in the Now

    Posted by Wayne Rossi on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 16:22

    Please, Crza, get with the picture. This site has been unavailable on the Chinese mainland for years. Which isn’t really that surprising, given the PRC’s stance on strangling hookers with shoestring.

    Also, it’s nice to see that DMX is able to take some time away from his busy schedule of abusing dogs and speeding through small east coast towns to post a comment here.

    Indeed, our responsibility to the youth of the future is a powerful one. I hope that such posts as this one can be used to instruct our children, and our children’s children, on the ancient technique of filtering SR 200 through a Brita filter. Imagine if this knowledge was lost, and they had to drink their Steel Reserve raw?

  19. I don’t listen to soft-ass shit…

    Posted by Crza on Friday, April 11th, 2008 at 13:50

  20. UF Med School risks accreditation over favortism charge

    Posted by disgruntled alumnus on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 14:50

    http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20080410/NEWS/804100319/1007/NEWS

    For those of you keeping track of UF’s Med School debacle, the politically connected kid admitted by the Med School Dean hadn’t even taken the MCAT, but was still selected over the faculty’s objections out of more than 3000 applications.

  21. SpottieOttieDopaliscious

    Posted by Rosse 3000 on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 15:25

    Damn, damn, damn, James….

    I think we need to start a new blog for you to post your political links to. This forum is really meant for the trading of veiled insults and the occasional music trivia contest (as long as the prize is significant).

    I highly recommend WordPress; it’s what I use to run this site, and they will create a blog for you for free.

  22. My Bad

    Posted by Jzandingham on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 10:37

    Ross, I appreciate your concern that I’m trying to hijack your blog with my political posts, so I won’t anymore. I just thought people might be concerned with this particularly egegious case regarding our common alma mater, but I admit I could have phrased those posts better.

    But I understand where you’re coming from. You see these skinny people in California and they’ve been undersized, emaciated, for 25 years and nothing’s changed. And they were skinny through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow their frame was going to fill out or regenerate and it hasn’t.

    And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to computers or soccer or antipathy to the blog postings of people who aren’t skinny like them, or anti-malt liquor sentiment or anti-dance machine sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

    So in the future, I’ll phrase my politcal posts in form of a veiled insult.

  23. Well Said, van Jzanderlingham

    Posted by Ro on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 16:09

    I personally like to couch all of my political speech as Nascar insults and pro-robot propaganda.

  24. A final political statement…

    Posted by Mr. Crza Goes to Washington on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 13:12

    …free Wesley Snipes — do these federal prosecutors know what they are asking the judge to do? Three years without a Snipes film is too much for the world to bear in this time of need, what with climate, military, food and energy crises looming. A crisis of the Arts could be the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back. And so my fellow Americans (that does not include you, Wu or Alec), ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you… and that is to free Mr. Snipes.

    P.S. — “Jzanderlingham” is the best thing I have heard since “Coming to a theater near you: Blade Trinity.”

  25. Sedition!

    Posted by Jzandingham on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 14:39

    I’m shocked and appalled that a councilor of the people would advocate leniency for an enemy of the state. I believe the proper attitude of a prosecutor is that society’s problems can best be solved by incarcerating as many people as possible.

    Today, only 2.3 million Americans — or just over 1 percent of the adult population — is in jail or prison. This is a national disgrace. But there’s a way forward — life incarceration of every heartless criminal who commits a misdemeanor, “mistake” on their taxes, moving violation, troop unsupportness, or violent crime (especially vampire slayings).

    Remember, freedom isn’t free. Because it’s in prison.

  26. Escape from America

    Posted by Jzr on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 6:47

    Hey Ross, do you have any contacts in Europe who would know about possible jobs for a copywriter, public policy analyst or dishwasher?

    I’m seriously thinking about emigrating, but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have to speak Dutch to work in Holland, or are there European companies where mainly English is spoken?

  27. While it’s true…

    Posted by Wu on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 10:09

    …that Mr. Snipes is a hardened and dangerous criminal, in his case an exception must be made. Without him out there working to protect us, the vampire ninja problem in our country will only get worse and worse.

  28. Bigger Concerns

    Posted by Ross Trinity on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 12:22

    You don’t have to speak Dutch to work in Holland (you might be able to get away with English in Amsterdam), but it’s probably a good idea to know at least some of the language. The real problem will be the EU work visa, which is fairly hard to get, as far as I’ve heard.

    Wu, I think the problem is bigger than just vampire ninjas; without Snipes, who will keep a cryogenically frozen Stalone and a parachuting Busey in check? I personally am much more afraid of Gary Busey than vampire ninjas (whose population is kept relatively under control already, due to the prevalence of sunlight in the US and parts of Western Europe).

  29. Blade

    Posted by Jzarmstrzonathan on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 12:33

    Crza, I’d agree with you if Wesley Snipes weren’t an inveterate tax scofflaw. (from the sentencing memo) “[E]ven beyond the enormous tax harm caused by Snipes, the multifarious nature of his schemes and the deterrence value of a substantial prison sentence for this truly notorious offender call for a full 36 months in prison.”

    Clearly the prosecutor is a familiar.

  30. Noooooooooooooooo!

    Posted by ax4crza on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 9:00

    We are all doomed. Watch your backs — the vampires are coming. Our Protector is going to prison for three years.

  31. This could be a good thing.

    Posted by Wu on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 18:51

    The way I see it, our overcrowded prisons are probably full of vampire ninjas in disguise - 30-40% would be a conservative estimate. When Blade goes to prison he’ll clear all of them out to make room for more “real” criminals…like himself.

  32. dHAERHONNtLfDy

    Posted by Stella on Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 at 6:04

    And I was just wnordenig about that too!

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