Kevin tore my ticket and told me that he was the "Member's Liaison" and that he would be in the theater shortly. Yes, the "Member's Liaison" is a nice way of saying "young cutie who goes and gets refreshments for the rich old gay guys who have paid an outlandish amount of money for memberships."

Not that I have anything against rich older gay guys who have paid an outlandish amount of money for memberships. In fact one of the members said hello to me and told me he had checked out my site and agreed with my review of "Blue Citrus Hearts" in almost every way. I was especially happy about this because "Hearts" is one of those films that some people just won't get. It's not just low budget; it's no budget. And it's very much a movie that is more about feeling than it is about story or acting or cinematography or any of that.

I called Johnny, because it was 4:58 and he was nowhere to be seen, and he said he was in the parking lot but it took him another 10 minutes or so to get to the theater. Luckily for him, the showing started very late. I think it was at least 5:15 before Scott Dinger got up and introduced the program. While I was waiting for that, and for Johnny, and sitting there all by myself, there was some techno song playing (one of those ones that has no singing but spoken word where they've slowed down the recording of the voice to a slower speed, so it sounds all trippy. This one had some guy talking about his girlfriend giving him some mushrooms or something.

Johnny came in and we talked about what he was seeing today. He wasn't seeing "Bear Cub" at 7:30 (nor was I). Instead he was seeing "Goldfish Memories" which would be considered one of the lesbian movies. I read a little of the synopsis/description in the program and I don't think it said anything about females though. Johnny said that he didn't notice it was a picture of two girls above the blurb in the program until today. I kinda wanted to stay and see it because I would like to see as much as I can during the festival, but I was just too burnt out.

A side note about Scott Dinger that occurred to me when he was up in front of the crowd doing his standard introduction: There's an interview with Austinites Bryan Poser and Jacob Vaughn who made "Dear Pillow" that is by John Pierson (of IFC's "Split Screen" fame) in this week's "Austin Chronicle." Pierson mentions the similarities to Richard Linklater's "Slacker" that the film has (which is more about theme than content) and mentions how "Scott Dinger's Dobie Theater" was the catalyst that got "Slacker" noticed. While I knew he had opened the Dobie several years ago, I didn't realize how instrumental he and the Dobie had been in getting "Slacker" such recognition. That's pretty cool. (Scott is leaving Agliff this year and I wonder what is in store for him.)

Scott introduced two directors before the screening, Todd Bartoo, whose film "Coffee" was supposed to be the first one shown, and Craig Cobb, who had a film called "Ron on the Roof" in the collection. Bartoo told us that his parents were in the audience and that this was the first time the film had screened in public. During the shorts, which were often very sexually oriented, I wondered just what his parents were thinking.

As it was, the program started with the Zellner Brothers "The Virile Man" (which oddly I had seen prior to "Dear Pillow" at SXSW this year). I didn't even know that short was in the festival. The Agliff trailer was not shown, probably because the showing was already running very late.

As the films started, two guys sitting behind us just kept talking and talking. It was annoying. These were the kind of guys who said the stupidest stuff like, "He's driving a truck" or "She has teeth." You know, those idiots who sit behind you in a movie and state the obvious. My last nerve was getting worked very quickly. Eventually, Johnny told me that I should "go all Lodgey on them," so I said, fairly loudly, "If I wanted to hear you whispering in my ear I would give you a twenty."

They talked so much at the beginning of the next short, "Spokane," that John and I agreed to move after it was over. Of course, it's about the longest short in the festival, running 28 minutes, but they shut up during most of it because it is so damn good. We did move at the end of it to the other side of the theater and even though the kids behind us talked a little bit, it was nothing compared to what we had had to listen to before.

During one of the films, I realized that another name for this collection of shorts called "Worried Straight Men" might also be "Coming out at 30" or "Questioning Your Sexuality as an Adult Male." While a couple of the films featured younger men, the majority here were middle-aged guys coming to terms with their sexuality. Only in a couple of the films did a sexual act not occur and this was, by far, the most "Adult" oriented collection of shorts that I've seen at the festival.

After the showing, as I filled out my ballot for the shorts, Johnny noticed Casper Andreas, writer/director/star of "Slutty Summer", and his hottie entourage filling out some ballots. Apparently they had seen the shorts as well. It's odd because Johnny fills out the ballots for features and documentaries but not for the shorts while I do the opposite. John says he can't remember some of the shorts from the name afterwards, so he doesn't think it's fair to fill them out after.

Johnny tried to convince me to stay and see "Goldfish Memories" with him but I was just too tired. We said out good-byes and I headed over to Culver's on Braker to get a pork tenderloin. (Another aside:) I grew up in the Midwest and pork tenderloin sandwiches were available in every restaurant and at every fast food chain for miles. They are non- existence in the South. It's not your typical cut of pork that you might buy at the butcher shop either. These are thinly sliced pieces of pork with a special type of breading served on a bun with ketchup, pickle, mustard and onions. It's a very specific sandwich. Point of the story: Culver's is the only place outside of the Midwest that I've ever found a breaded pork tenderloin sandwich. When my parents visited from Houston (where there is no Culver's) I took them to the restaurant and they were in heaven! I have to go at least once a month and get one even though the two restaurants Culver's have here in Austin aren't all that close to my home (North is on Braker near Burnette and South is on William Cannon and Brodie). Culver's also has awesome frozen custard, so I got a pint to go, went home, watched TV, ate some ice cream and then went to bed early. I am about exhausted.