Texas Book Festival: 2023

The Texas Book Festival took over the Texas State Capitol building, including nearby streets, churches, and theaters. The two-day schedule featured many esteemed authors, including Ann Patchett, Abraham Verghese, Roxanne Gay, and Walter Isaacson. However, I suspect the organizers were biting their nails about this weekend. On Saturday morning, a Veterans Day parade, ceremony, and 21-gun salute also took place on the Capitol grounds. On Sunday afternoon, a huge pro-Palestinian protest was held on the north side of the Capitol building. As far as I know, everything peacefully coexisted.

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SXSW 2023: Reflections

Bill and I were glad to attend SXSW 2023 in person. Except for watching movies at home, last year’s virtual experience wasn’t great. I don’t know the final attendance numbers, but Interactive and Film seemed almost as crowded as back in 2019. In his 2023 Opening Remarks, SXSW Chief Programming Officer Hugh Forrest had said that 30% were international attendees, and that seemed to be true: I heard many different languages while waiting for sessions, movies, or music.

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SXSW: March 18 2023

The last day of SXSW 2023 is always bittersweet. Even after a tiring ten days, it’s a little sad to return to real life. This year’s last day was odd though. Not much was happening until midday, when Bill and I watched an excellent comedy, Theater Camp, at the Paramount. Afterwards, we wandered over to the Austin Convention Center, but everything related to SXSW was being disassembled and packed up. We attended a comedy podcast, ate dinner at a favorite restaurant, Moonshine, and then looked for some music without much success. We finally ended up watching the UT men’s basketball playoff game on TV. That turned out to be a good decision: UT won the game to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

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SXSW: March 16 2023

SXSW Music was in full swing today. I listened to sets at three different venues. The Radio Day Stage was still in the Austin Convention Center, although it was banished to Ballroom A on the far southeastern corner near Cesar Chavez. The International Stage became an outdoor tent at the SXSW Registrants Lounge, also banished to a run-down warehouse on the south side of Cesar Chavez. Central Presbyterian Church remained as an evening venue, but St. David’s Church was closed due to renovations. A thunderstorm came through downtown about 9 PM while I was safely seated listening to Madison McFerrin in Central Presby.

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