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I arrived at Latitude 30 an hour early to guarantee a spot in front of the stage for Youth Group's performance the final night of SXSW. My initial observation was how the small venue didn't seem large enough for the band. Having opened for Death Cab for Cutie and gaining rave national reviews for their latest release "Casino Twilight Dogs," I couldn't help but wonder why scheduling brought them to a place which at most could hold around 100 people. Then it occurred to me the scheduling mistake afforded me the opportunity to witness a uniquely intimate performance.

I was hoping to catch the band members hanging out to offer them a beverage of their choice. However, I didn't recognize any one in the evening's crowd from the publicity photos. Most likely they were caught up in the musical availability of the festival. I got in to position for an unobstructed view at the front of the stage. The crowd began to squeeze tight behind me as the roadie set up their instruments on stage. Just then, I noticed the band members filing in through the exit door. At that point, I realized getting them a drink would be at the cost of losing a good view, so I decided to defer until after the show. I was close enough to read the set list taped to the stage at the base of the lead microphone stand. The set list included all of my favorites.

During SXSW, I had a chance to visit with Jamie Babbitt, director of Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Knowing she had a fairly good standing as both a filmmaker and in the gay community, I expected it to be an enlightening talk. It proved to be even more so than I expected, as in talking with her and producer Lisa Thrasher of the non-profit Power Up, I got an education on many of the issues still confronting gay and lesbian youth today, the hooking up prospects through activism, and a kindred spirit in our general skepticism for the idiosyncrasies of the MPAA ratings board. The interview started solely with Lisa talking about the organization Power Up.

Enrique Gomez: Tell me a little more about Power Up.

Lisa Thrasher: Power Up is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization and film production company. Our mission is to promote the visibility and integration of gay women in entertainment and all forms of media. So it is a group of inclusion, not exclusion. Our membership is comprised of men and women, both gay and straight. We do workshops and seminars, and produce films. We've produced 12 short films over the last four years. For the last two years, we've been producing Itty Bitty Titty Committee. That is Power Up's first feature.

Knocked Up

The new comedy from Judd Apatow has most of the same elements as his previous hit The 40 Year Old Virgin. Paul Rudd returns in a similar man-child role to what he played in 40 Year Old. Hell, he's even got the same generic sort of guy name, going from David to Pete. There are lots of sly and not-so-sly references to various sexual functions involving the female lead, in this case Katherine Heigl. Actually, check that. There was very little sly about this.

The fact is, this isn't a bad film. I laughed a pretty fair bit throughout this comedy about two strangers drawn together by the unanticipated results of a drunken one night stand. If you liked 40 Y.O., chances are good you're going to find this one enjoyable as well.

But there's a bigger problem I have with some of the underlying message/theme of this movie, and others like it that have come down the Hollywood pipe in the last 10-15 years. It's something that I'd like to address in a broader scope, and will when the film gets its release on June 1st.

Friday, March 16, 2007 - Austin, TX

The sign on the rear of the stage at Stubb's Amphitheater reminds concert goers they are at a BBQ restaurant which just happens to double as a live music venue. For the final show of the SXSW Friday night showcase, this beacon was to be covered. A mural backdrop was chosen. The mural was a picture depicting London from sometime in the 19th century. Its purpose was to transfer the mood for the British invasion of The Good, The Bad, and The Queen.

The band actually does not consider The Good, The Bad and The Queen to be their name. The moniker actually refers to the project which they are participating members. Specifically, The Good, The Bad and The Queen are all the members who make up society in the city of London. This is the subject of their album by the same name. Having only the one album, there was no mystery to what the band would be playing once they entered the stage.

This year's SXSW Music Festival was a complete blast. I experienced more live music this year than I can ever remember in a four day span. Even though I experienced 23 different bands in those four days, at 2 a.m. early Sunday morning it was sad to realize I was going to wake the next morning with no more bands to see. As always, the number of badge holders and venues made it impossible for me to take in all of my top priorities in every case. However, I still made the most of my time as my second choices in all cases were still amazing experiences. Here are short summaries of each of the shows I attended. In the coming weeks, I will provide more in-depth reviews of some of these performances along with more pictures I took along the way.

Publisher's Note: View larger versions of the photos below in the Image Gallery.

On the first day of SXSW, I had the opportunity to interview Ashley Sabin and David Redmon, co-directors of the documentary Kamp Katrina. Because Hurricane Katrina has had such a significant impact on the city of New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast, I was surprised to see in their description of the film that Ashley and David do not regard Kamp Katrina as a post-Katrina film.

It was only in seeing the film itself did I understand that their focus was strictly on the people who came to the camp through the generosity of Ms. Pearl and their struggles with survival. After watching their film, I had a chance to sit down and talk with Ashley and David about the experience.

The Devil Dared Me To (2007) Director - Chris Stapp; Starring - Chris Stapp, Matt Heath, Bonnie Soper, Andrew Beattie, Phil Brough, Dominic Bowden; Screenplay - Chris Stapp and Matt Heath; No MPAA rating at press time; trailer and official website here.

My friends have accused me at times of not being able to just relax and enjoy a silly movie. The allegation usually incorporates some variation of the suggestion I'd smothered my inner child with a pillow. To those people, I'd point to The Devil Dared Me To, and say that my inner child is alive, well, and loves the hell out of this movie.

Randy Campbell (Chris Stapp) comes from a long line of professional stuntmen and daredevils. That all previous generations have died spectacular deaths doing stunts does not deter him from trying to pursue a dream of following in their footsteps. As a child, he is thwarted in that endeavor by his overly protective Uncle Norm and Aunt Debbie, who took Randy in when the latest family stunt took the lives of his mother and father. Fate, as is always the case in films of destiny, lends a hand and puts Randy in the care of professional daredevil Dick Johansonson (Matt Heath).

Dick, however, has no appreciation for the dreams of young Randy. He's a self-absorbed sod who is only concerned with looking good, making it with his fiancée Cindy, and making enough to keep his team of daredevils going. But when Randy steps in for an injured driver on the team, he succeeds beyond his wildest dreams and sets himself up as the direct challenger for Dick's title of the greatest working daredevil in the world. Will Randy surpass Dick? Will Dick crush Randy's aspirations? Will Randy win the heart of the one-legged stuntwoman Tracy "Tragedy" Jones (Bonnie Soper)?

When I was in elementary school, I used to ride my bike down these endless drainage ditches in my neighborhood with my friends after school. We'd find all kind of things down there: old Playboys, fireworks, toys, tools, exotic animals like box turtles and six-inch long cockroaches, and a long list of other treasures. We weren't playing with trash. What we found were treasures. My friends and I got a kick out of going on these "treasure hunts." We never knew what we'd find. And we always found something valuable in our little eyes. Who wouldn't be excited about finding a still-working Atari 2600 with a Pitfall cartridge in it? Well, at least we got excited about finding stuff like that. It was pure fun for us.

And it's fun for Davy Rothbart too. Davy is one of the creators of FOUND Magazine, collecting and cataloging found notes, photos, and other interesting items in a zine that gives a peek into the private lives of others. It's an intriguing and voyeuristic trip to read these notes, letters, and other things that were definitely not intended for a wide audience. His FOUND items have also been cataloged in books and on a web site. There is also a magazine called DIRTY FOUND, which catalogs the same type of items but of a more salacious nature. The web site features a "Find of the Day" and also offers a way for people to submit their FOUND items. And Davy has gone on nation-wide FOUND tours, reading favorite finds and asking audiences to bring their own finds to share.

I still remember the night I learned that genetic mutation and bunny rabbits could be a deadly combination.

The show was the late, lamented "Monstervision" with Joe Bob Briggs, and the film in question was a cinematic dud called Night of the Lepus. In it, Star Trek's DeForrest Kelley and Janet Leigh (probably wondering what her agent was smoking when he got her this flick) try to withstand the assault of genetically mutated rabbits that have grown to the size of cars and are ravenously carnivorous as they trample the countryside. In B-movie tradition, the effects were miserable, the dialogue almost as bad. Pet store bunnies were encouraged to scurry across obvious model train sets made up to look like the "town" they were destroying.