After winning their season and home opener last weekend over the Las Vegas Gladiators 57-36 Austin traveled to the Philips Arena in Atlanta and lost to the Georgia Force 60-51 Sunday afternoon. After trailing for most of the game Austin got within two with 46 seconds left and made a failed onside kickoff attempt which led to another Force touchdown and the Wranglers' first loss of the season. Quarterback Adrian McPherson completed 30 of his 45 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Kevin Nickerson led Austin in receiving with 13 receptions for 146 yards and two touchdowns. The Wranglers travel to Orlando on Friday for another challenging Southern Division matchup against the Predators at 6:30pm. That game can be be heard on AM 1300 the Zone and www.austinwranglers.com.

“Oh man,” says Pastor Richard Gazowsky as he approaches the mic following a packed and noisy screening of the competition documentary about him, Audience of One. “Look guys, you know I’m crazy, or else you’re not very intelligent,” he tells us in what must be one of the best Q&A’s I have ever witnessed at this or any other festival. For most, Gazowsky’s presence is a post-screening surprise; for me and a few others who had been tipped off to his presence by Austin-based editor Kyle Henry, it has been a source of some intense worry throughout the screening. One can’t help but wonder what he and his family and congregation would think of their representation, while laughing and cringing to the ethically harrowing story of Gazowsky’s impossible dream to shoot a Christian blockbuster, “Star Wars meets The Ten Commandments,” as Pastor Richard describes it.

How else would they title a story about a gay (former NBA) basketball player who recently inked an endorsement deal to pimp bald-head razors?

While the crowds at the Screenburn Arcade were obviously drawn by the pimped-out Yaris games-mobiles, and or pit their talents against all-female pro-gamers the Frag Dolls, they were also looking for cool kit. Hands down that still went to Shadow Garden, an interactive projection game where your shadow is the controller. Created by local IT genius Zach Simpson, it's more intuitive than a Wii-mote, and a better interface than Vista. there were cues of kids, teens and adults wanting to spend time crushing the color out of sim-sand, or attracting virtual butterflies.

If you missed it, it's part of the the Austin Children's Museum permanent collection, about five minutes walk from the ACC.

The premiere at the Paramount last night of What Would Jesus Buy?, a feature-length doc about performance artist-cum-prophet the Rev. Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping was amazing for several reasons. The first of which being simply how awesome the flick was, following Billy from his NYC base through the heartland in December to protest the commercialization of Christmas and our unsustainable, consumption-driven society with humor and direct action. But just as sweet was the good reverend and his choir's spirited performance and Q&A after the screening. The last question of the evening came from a young man in the balcony (producer Morgan Spurlock was the first moderator I've seen pick the cheap seats). To paraphrase, he said, "Reverend Billy, we've got a Wal-Mart coming to Austin. Will you come back and help us?"

"We will return!" boomed Billy. "[We'll fight] the Wal-Mart coming to Northcross! We will be sweat free!" he screamed to the shrieking audience.

So good to know the reverend's on top of everything.

I found the mystery stairs! They're next to the escalator on the southern most side of the building facing west. Pristine and well lit. Someone riding in the sarcophagus that is called an elevator told the assembled that the stairs are only for use in case of fire. I began having evil thoughts.

For many indie films, fests like South By Southwest function as cast and crew screenings. Moms and Dads fill the seats. Cousins and extras and gaffers laugh at anything and everything. But the crowd at the Dobie to see Love and Mary Sunday night might set a new record for homerism. First a second screen had to be opened to handle the masses who made the trek from Houston for the love story about a girl caught between two very different twin brothers (but played by the same actor, natch). Then they applauded the credits with genuine enthusiasm. Finally, they dominated the Q&A like GOP plants at a Bush rally. "Was this based on your family members?" a family member asked. "Had you worked on this script long?" a cousin quizzed. (Five years was the answer from writer/directer Elizabeth Harrison.) "Do you expect to win an Academy Award?" intoned, well, nobody. One obvious complaint about the amiable flick would be the high quirkiness quotient, but there in the third row is Pappy, the model for the film's Pappy. Over there the brother who battled allergies with a special plastic bag suit. Well, the guy in the audience at least opted for cotton. But there's something special about watching a film girded by hometown supporters clad in rose-colored glasses. For a moment you're living the dream. Fof a moment anything is possible.

Spotty to non-existent WiFi. The geeks are unhappy. Sure, we (if I may include myself among the geek throng) can exist without checking our e-mail for an hour but why? I came to my panel early, willing to sit through a panel on the scourge of spam, thinking I could read my e-mail but no. I'm sure there's a geek out there rolling their eyes, thinking what a weenie I am.

Sunday, March 11: Oh, it seems it was only a few short years ago that I sat in on a SXSWI panel on online confessionals. The agony and ecstasy of realizing different versions of one's self online was heady and scary, and freaky for those new to the concept. Today, we have LonelyGirl15 and the Plain Layne blog. Now, the question is not about if, but how, why, and by whom are online characters created. In other words, what is the range of the continuum between a lie on one end and good fiction on the other? What are the ethics of fictional blogs? These were a few issues addressed at the all too short panel led by Liz Henry of Social Text and Odin Soli of Aveso, Inc (aka Plain Layne).

As a writer, Soli took on the character of a 20-something year-old woman, seeking to immerse himself in a persona, not to create a hoax. He was the last to expect that his fictional Layne would draw so many readers. Some suspected early that Layne was not all that she said she was, but continued to participate in the fiction, while others were shocked to discover that Layne was not a young woman, but a 30-something year old man who. This was revealed one day when his face was splashed across his morning newspaper.