I musta been high on something really high-i-tee when I thought to invite my girl-child along to this year’s SXSW. It seemed like a good idea at the time. She’s way cooler than me – me at like 80 – her like almost 18. Her musical tastes are waaaaaaay cooler and hipper’n'mine. So I thought, why not?

I’ll tell you why not.

1. I planned, packed and prepared to leave the house in Dallas at precisely 7:00 AM. Very very un-Cindy-like…packing and preparations and planning. But I did did and was. The girl-child, however, neglected to wash the 150 lbs. of hipster clothing she planned to bring along – until around 11 PM last night….so she stayed up “all night” to finish it up. Rousting her outta bed at 6:30 this a.m. proved impossible. Time of departure – 9:34 AM.

2. I wanted to leave Dallas early so’s I could make some early shows – like Arthur Yoria, Dougie Burr, Airline, Pleasant Grove, etc. at B.D. Riley’s and the Denton show at Momo’s and some of the acts at the GvB shindig at Mohawk. I assumed the girl-child would load up ready to mingle the minute we hit town. Um. No. Not to be. We hit Austin around 1ish. Checked into the hotel around 2ish – made it over to the Mohawk around 4ish. Missed every damn act I wanted to see/film/record. Sigh. HOWEVER, mad props to Chris Cantalini for his awesome hostest-with-the-mostest in getting us upstairs in the VIP area for some much needed nutrition. He be good people. In the 45 minutes or so we were there, not one drop of alcohol consumed, nor any audio/video/photos to show for the ordeal – I lost my license and my sunglasses. Not a good start.

3. From there we ventured over to Congress to (hopes held high) catch some of the Combo Plate Booking showcase with Milton Mapes. Matt the Electrician, Moonlight Towers, Eric Hisaw, et al and grab a real bite of food. The moment the girl-child took a look at the laid-back, invitingly divine scene at Guero’s backyard – she proclaimed, “eeeewwww, no mom – this looks so booooring.” We dined and dashed.

4. A rush back to the hotel to change out of rain-drenched threads – hoping to make my boy Mike Damron’s set at Room 710, along with my beloved Theater Fire, Grand Champeen, Brothers & Sisters and more – sprinted out the side of the Hilton – only to scurry off in the wrong direction. I ran into darling Grant Dickerson on the street who spun me around and pointed me in the right direction – which was simply too damn far to go with all my gear in tow. So I did, just as TFG predicted – landed back in my room for some Everybody Loves Raymond and a hopeful outlook for a new day tomorrow. The girl-child? Oh, she found some friends from school and is out shoe-gazing at Emo’s.

30-seconds upon arrival into our room – I guess her suitcase exploded…

I managed to get my badge. I ran into Garrison Reid (a huge plus) and I didn’t lose my entire wallet, just my driver’s license – all pluses.

My pathetic first night…

Now let’s discuss the damn Hilton. This, my 4th or 5th year at SXSW, I splurged and pre-paid months ago for the opportunity to stay at Hotel central, the magnificant Hilton. Whaddaloadacrap….

1. Parking in their semi-empty garage – $15.00 a day
2. Internet access – $9.95 a day
3. Fitness club access – $$$ a day
4. Mini-bar Miller Lite – $5.00

Fancy Hilton Coffee Cups

Go see Hunter. He done real good on his coverage of every damn show I had planned to attend, as did Sam. Aaaah youth.

I’m sure I’ll have tons more to complain about tomorrow so check back. Hopefully, though, I’ll have some interesting audio or video or gossip or hilarious anecdotes to share…yeah…right…