I went home after work, changed clothes and set a VCR to tape "Playing it Straight" on Fox. About 6:45 or so I headed down to the warehouse district to catch the 7:30 showing of local guy Brian Poyser's "Dear Pillow." Poyser's name is familiar because he is a local filmmaker but I swear that he had something to do with SXSW a few years ago. I may be crazy but I also am thinking I saw his name on the credits of a "Show with No Name" episode a few months back.

Anyway, traffic was awful and parking was even worse. By the time I walked to the Alamo, after parking about 6 blocks away, it was almost 7:15. Johnny was already seated and the place was getting packed. I should have moved over to the other side of the Alamo, where I knew the cast and crew would be doing a Q&A, so I could gets some photos but it seems so pretentious to do stuff like that. I don't know. Maybe I was just in a blah mood after 8 days of movies and a day job that continues to spiral down into the toilet.

Some waiter guy stopped and talked to John for 3 or 4 minutes about some book he was reading but when I told him I wanted a drink, he just ran off, so I didn't buy a Goddamn thing at the Alamo. I probably would have drank 10 or 15 dollars worth of alcohol, but their staff has been so cruddy downtown lately, that I'm about to give up on the place. They'd rather sell T-shirts in the fucking lobby than actually take care of paying customers.

Some volunteer tried to get up and introduce the filmmakers but she couldn't find them and while she tried to make an introduction, someone in the projection booth started running the SXSW trailer. It was a fiasco. Then they started the movie and stopped it so they could run the short that was supposed to run before the film. Luckily the short, "The Virile Man" was by the Zellner Brothers and was funny, and clever and as good as their previous work and made it all worthwhile. I love the Zellners. I am yet to see something by them that isn't wonderful.

"Dear Pillow" was excellent even with the same sound problems that have plagued the Alamo's video screenings since the first night. (They've had 8 days to solve this problem but I guess they cannot). I was blown away by the film and just wanted to sit and vegetate on it for a few moments after it was over but John kept saying this and that and ruined the mood for me. It was annoying.

The Q&A went well with the Zellners answering a few questions first and explaining that the call made during their film was actually a real call to a real phone psychic. (That's pretty much the basis of the film, but it's so much more than that). They said they tried it several times with several psychics and some prayer lines but the psychics were always better. "The prayer lines just kept quoting scripture," David explained.

Poyser brought up his filmmaking partner, Jacob Vaughn, as well as the main cast. Rusty Kelley, the young star of the film kept rubbing his hair and face which John took for being high but we later theorized that he was probably just nervous in front of a crowd. Poyser met Kelley at a 48 Hour Film Festival event where the young actor also played some of his films. The Q&A was quite nice and very relaxed.

We had blown off going to a 10 o'clock movie because we knew with Q&A the "Pillow" screening wouldn't end until close to 9:30 or so. I had kinda wanted to see "24 Hours on Craiglist" but the timing was a little too impossible. We walked to our cars and dropped off some stuff then decided to walk over to Opal Divine's and get some food. The place was packed an noisy due to SXSW, so we decided to check out Frank and Angie's and see if it was better.

On the way we came across a young man sleeping, passed out really, in a parking space along the side street. I looked and thought I saw him breathing. I just assumed he was wasted and passed out. John kinda looked at him but we went on our way. What should we have done? The best case scenario is that we end up having to help him get home. Worse case, the cops or an ambulance gets called. I don't know. Maybe we should have done something.

We went to Frank and Angie's but their door said they closed at 10 and it was 9:50. I didn't want to be responsible for keeping some poor waiter schmuck late when it's a Friday night and he wants to go out. We decided to go back to Opal Divine's and when we went were the guy was passed out, some people were looking at him and there was a cab nearby. It looked like he was on a cell phone.

We went to Opal Divine's and got a seat on the porch. It was noisy and there were even some people with a dog there. Why dumbasses think they should be allowed to have an animal with them, even if it is an outdoor establishment, is beyond me. I hate fucking dogs and the only thing worse then them are the fucking people who keep them. We weren't there very long before an ambulance and a police car rushed by, sirens wailing, obviously stopping at the end of the block where the guy was passed out.

It's Austin. A college town. There were people everywhere. I didn't expect a moral dilemma just going to get some food. I feel bad. I know I should have probably done more to make sure that guy was alright. It's fucked up.

Anyway, there were some noisy people next to us that were disgusting and crude. They were college students and, of course, the girls were loud, crude and obnoxious. Girls are the new guys in the post millennium world. They worked my last nerve.

The menu was pared down for SXSW too. I guess some places do, don't offer as wide a variety of dishes as normal because it will be busier. That makes good business sense except for the fact that half the people you wait on probably live in your town and won't ever come back. I know I'll never waste my time and money at Opal Divine's again. I had a salmon sandwich, which was disgusting, and fries and two hard apple cider drinks (alcohol) and it was $17.00. The food was awful. The service was perfunctory and the price was far too high. Because of all this, I only tipped the waitress a dollar. I realize the price of the meal was not her doing but I tipped her according to what the meal and service was worth, not what her ignorant employer charged.

John and I walked back to our cars. The streets were even busier. Some guy who was obviously rolling was walking near us and kept stopping and starting when we did. It reminded me of that scene in "Prick Up Your Ears" where Joe and Kenneth pick up the trick in the park. But not in a good way.

Lodger@SXSW2004