After spending some time at the lounge getting organized we set out on our way to get our badges and wristbands dialed in.

We waited in an excruciating long line to get our passes and our camera’s tagged. The process is annoying but I really don’t see any other way around it. It’s pretty damn ridiculous that they actually get away with charging press $500 for a badge when just about every event on the planet just gives them to press for FREE. I guess it just goes to show you that if you have the lock on the market you can pretty much do whatever you want and people will pay for it not matter what. Granted I understand that if we choose to not write about it in the long run it would make a difference but if 100 or 500 or 1,000 media outlets / websites said “fuck it” you have to wonder how long it would take to taper off into nothingness. Now that will more than likely never happen so we’ll continue (just like everyone else) to pay through the nose to cover and continue to build the event which we all actually love no matter how much we have to fork over to cover the goddamn thing.

After that we ended up at the Austinist.com party at Mohawk which was not only a great venue but a great way for us to kick off SXSW 2008. We caught the second half of the We Barbarians from Long Beach, California. Between the free Miller High Life and an amazing set by We Barbarians it was a great kickoff to our SXSW 2008 experience. Plus we love the Austinist.

After that we popped into the Creekside Lounge to see a few song from Joseph Arthur - more on that is coming from James Barone.

From there is was off to see our friends at the Fader for this years Fader Fort party.

We saw this guy in a completely rad Elvis shit - he takes the prize for shirt of the day.

Our hommie Allen Chen over at The Austinist just shot me an email to clue me in about the launch of the SXSWist microsite which will be stacked with all of your forthcoming SXSW needs and questions regarding your upcoming Austin experience. Austin - for the record - is our favorite city (next to Chico - which isn’t really a city I guess - more a pre-city) and we’re looking forward to consuming a massive amount of Lone Stars while stacking massive amounts of content for you to enjoy.

Let’s just hope Texas votes Obama next Tuesday.