South by Southwest 2014 Round 2

Home at last and the work continues. No rest for the weary. My first full South by Southwest experience is complete. Was it a success? How do you define success in a sprawling marathon of an event such as this?

If that means being better educated about social disruption for a greater good, as Chelsea Clinton spoke about in her keynote? Sure.

If it's learning that album reviews can still be used in a way as a transformer of people's tastes in music? Perhaps.  

Was it Rackspace's Robert Scoble talking today's tech trends (wearable tech) and tomorrow's innovation (driverless cars, home automation)? Fine.

Was it listening to George Takei discuss his embrace of social media, and being known for more than just the original "Star Trek"? Indeed.

Was it the Edward Snowden virtual chat, and how his whistleblowing has helped to make the Internet safer, raising the topic of tech privacy to a new level? Could be.

Was it listening to the members of Blondie about being musical pioneers and staying relevant more than 30 years after they came onto the scene? Of course.

Was it watching Blondie, 50 Cent, St. Vincent, Quiet Company, Grupo Fantasma, Damon Albarn, Soundgarden, Urge Overkill, La Femme, Sleigh Bells and Gary Numan perform live? Most definitely.
Was it watching a film, "Space Station 76," that has much potential and some good laughs (Verbot robots all over the place) but meanders without plot? OK, maybe not.

And I can't forget the tragic turn of events Wednesday night, not but a couple of blocks from where I was attending a concert. To think of the two people killed and the many others injured, it's painful to consider and my heart goes out to their families. Helping to cover a 2 a.m. press briefing near the crime scene, seeing my news tweets get retweeted in a story gone national, is still surreal.

SXSW2014, for me, was an overall solid event, but not spectacular. Many hard lessons learned for next year, and my knees are begging for a vacation following at the walking. See you next year, better prepared, but even that may not help toward success.

South by Southwest 2014 Round 1

It's nearly the end of South by Southwest Interactive. A good time for a blog update, no? I mean, four days after it started, right? By no means does my SXSW blog come even remotely close to capturing an effective fraction of South by interactive compared with most others, but I'm a journalist and I gotta post...something.

It's perhaps not the most original thing to say, that changing the digital/web landscape is a dominant theme in keynotes and sessions in this year's SXSWi. But those leading changes, politically and culturally, are no less notable. They have had a positive impact in their respective realms and even have uplifting news to report in areas that have been swamped with pessimism.

My biggest takeaways so far: In Latinos and new media sessions, according to one panel that - not a surprise -- many Latino advocacy/civic organizations and politicians for the most part still use Facebook to get their messages across the web. However, panelists say Twitter will soon take that role over. Some surveys of Latino tech users state such users are less political and more inclined toward cultural aspects on the web -- arts and entertainment -- but there is hope this will be leveled. There's also a petition drive, as part of the new Cesar Chavez movie, to have the president establish March 31 as a national call to action day of service.

Another Latino new media panel focused on Latina bloggers and how they're transforming not only various web platforms but overall cultural dialogue, how the mainstream public perceives Latinas. "I think it's given me a digital platform that wasn't there 10 years ago. As Latina bloggers, I think we have a powerful voice," said speaker Nicole Presley of Presley's Pantry.

Sara Calderon, a reporter turned president of Mas Wired, has a YouTube channel. One of her videos is of verbally smashing stereotypes of Latin women. "The digital landscape allows Latinas to set the agenda in a kind of way. I know in mainstream newsrooms, it's not very woman or Latino dominated," she said. She added whereas, in many newsrooms, an editor may not appreciate a story or beat of a particular cutlture. But when you have your own digital platform, "You think of what kind of Latino stories are important to you. Now people want to come to you and your agenda."

Native San Antonian Stephanie Guerra, founder of Puro Pinche (woo!), created the blog site as a means to spotlight events, individuals, organizations and other cultural aspects that are truly San Anto and perhaps less known, if at all, even by locals. "The gap is where people hadn't really seen this other side of San Antonio. The connection between our city, which is primarily Hispanic, and the culture that runs our town. Puro Pinche exposes the underground, the true identity," she said. These and other digital outlets are helping marketers to better understand Latinos, their communities and consumer power.

The leaders of xoJane, Jane Pratt and Mandy Stadtmiller, producer Issa Rae, and writer/performer Kristina Wong were in a panel about how women are using a variety of digital outlets to bring their personal brands of humor to the masses. Stadtmiller, Rae and Wong each told an anecdote that reflect not only their personal upbringing, but also adventures (or misadventures) in romance and sex. I'm a fan of Stadtmiller, and if you follow her on Twitter, she doesn't shy away from addressing the matters of sex and relationships with a sharp sense of humor.

Scott Havens, president of the long-standing Atlantic magazine, addressed how his publication has successfully transformed from a print news/commentary mag that's been around since the 1800s into a cross-platform that reacts quickly to news and doesn't tease readers with front paywalls. He criticized those print newspapers and magazines who have launched (and most not successfully) digital products mainly as a knee-jerk reaction to our transforming world. "A lot of the new things that newspapers and magazines did contained data hardly anybody wanted, it was just something they wanted to do," he said. Havens said now we're overloaded with data, but much of it useful and effective in helping readers to make a variety of decisions.

Havens said, like with The Atlantic, as long as the right of team of people is in place, performing the correct tasks in print or digital, can help curate solid content and lure readers with the promise of more quality content to come. "People will pay for quality content," he said, adding that media outlets should diversify revenue streams, roll out products faster yet more carefully, and embrace the art of high velocity and high impact. Havens also addressed daily metro newspapers, many of which he said have lost sight of their mission when mixing in national news. He suggested such papers to refocus on their communities and determine how to reenfranchise their community. "People will pay for information that they need and would help them.," he added.

Eric Carvin, social media editor for the Associated Press, and Mandy Jenkins, managing editor of Digital First Media, suggested there are ways to overcome challenges associated with ensuring ethics, accuracy and fairness of social/citizen journalists. Carvin cited two classic examples of so-called viral news that was literally wrong, such as a retweeted photo of Edward Snowden boarding a plane - a photo proved a fake - and a picture of a shark swimming post-hurricane in a city street, a piece that seems to have become the norm during coverage of big storms. "I've seen this same photo after four different hurricanes," said Jenkins who added it's right to do your best to verify by seeking out the original source of said photo or report, and ask about their identity, intent, and how they got into position to get said picture or report.

She pointed to several digital tools available that can aid editors in tracking down the original source of social news photos and stories, and best determine their veracity. Traditional legwork works, too, as in the case of a YouTube video that popped up during Election Day 2012, an image in which a supposed voter attempted several times to press a touchscreen voting machine in Pennsylvania in favor of Barack Obama only for the selection to turn out as Mitt Romney. The video proved authentic, and voting officials in the polling place in question had to remove the defective machine.

Prolific inventor Dean Kamen made his presence known in a keynote speech and in a meet-up involving For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). As select young FIRST members assembled as teams to showcase their skills in engineering and controlling robots in the meet-up, Kamen pointed to the youngsters, saying it's up to them to realize their interest in technology into careers to help the United States to remain a progressive technological power. "Where are the superstars of technology and telling these kids to take an interest in these careers? How do we reach them, give them a reason to study hard and work hard, so they can take on these careers and make sure the world doesn't fall into chaos?" he asked.

Kamen, sang the praises of organizations such as FIRST, which supports activities such as robotic competitions among primary and secondary students, and IEEE, which advocates tech innovation. "There's no reason why FIRST can't be in every school," Kamen said. "SXSW is an intersection of communication, technology, art, culture and media. I hope that it's not just a place talk about things, but after this is done, do things."

Speaking of young minds at work, the MakerFair was a sight to behold as many children and teens put their minds and hands to work, creating the fun stuff such as duct tape wallets to controlling toy drones and robots. The do-it-yourself attitude is getting re-emphasis at SXSW.

Science can be funny and fun, and the appearance of Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Tory Belacci and Kari Byron of "Mythbusters," among others, kept a small, cold, rainy wet and yet vocal crowd jazzed throughout the night at Stubbs about...science!

Trying to soak up the rest of the SXSW experience, there was my racing to the Jason Bateman interview (a failed bit on my part), and to the Neil Degrasse Tyson interview (in which he not only updated us on the latest scientific discoveries but reemphasizes the importance of being a scientifically knowledgeable culture). In other entertainment...funny how somebody recently on Twitter remarked "What has Josh Hartnett been up to lately?" The answer is in the form of a new Showtime series "Penny Dreadful." And just before a late-night drive back home, I got to see one of my local favorite (S.A.) bands, Nancy Silva Project. The gaming expo, with its coverage of contemporary and retro games, and the Game of Thrones exhibit left my inner nerd quite satisified.

And of course we can't forget Julian Assange, who did a satellite video chat. The founder of Wikileaks said new leaks are forthcoming, and called the intrusion of the Internet by the NSA and the surveillance state is tantamount to "militarization of citizen space," but that citizens, independent journalists and other like-minded whistleblowers can do much to help stem the tide. "I've realized you can achieve justice by exposing injustices," he added.

Last but certainly not least: While I couldn't personally be there, I enjoyed Edward Snowden's livestreamed virtual conversation...brought to us thanks to seven proxies.  My biggest takeaways from that: "Encryption does work. It's the defense against the dark arts in the digital realm," Snowden said. He added his whistleblower efforts were meant to inform the public so we could make better decisions about how we can best protect our communications. There's a growing feeling that Snowden's disclosures about rising government digital surveillance and cyber vulnerabilities have actually improved the overall security of the Internet, and not weakened it as some government officials suggest. "The goal is to make it so the government cannot spy on innocent people," added ACLU Principal Technologist Chris Soghoian.

Not really journalisting today on this Monday -- it's editorial deadline time here in San Antonio for my main job. But I'll be back in Austin for the end of interactive and the trade show. And then it's time to fully focus on film and music. Pray for me.

Bowl Championship Series, we hardly knew ye.

It's my favorite time of year. It's not so much a matter of stocking up on my "special" supply of eggnog, hot chocolate and cider. It's not so much a matter of enduring bad Lifetime holiday-themed movies. It's not even about commiserating over family dysfunction during a time that's supposed to be filled with positive personal reflection and cheer.

When it comes to the NCAA Division I football national championship, the holidays collectively have been a time to debate the fairness of the Bull Crap Series, errr, umm, Bowl Championship Series. Alas, this is the final time we get to fight over the BCS. I won't say Auburn and Florida State aren't deserving to play for the national title. I'll stop short of calling the Fighting Jimbo Fishers a juggernaut, but they've proven themselves efficient in almost all phases of their game.

And oh, the Tigers, they've made a near miraculous turnaround from last year. They knocked off the No. 1 team, the defending champs, in a spectacular fashion that almost killed Twitter. Auburn has a loss, but it was in September at LSU. You recall it's a tad difficult to win at LSU. This year's BCS championship game is what it is. It should be a decent match, although more and more people are flocking to Florida State's side. But aside from a few other bowl games this season, the undercard looks rather underwhelming. Again.

Consider...really, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl is still a thing? Why? Seriously, why? The matchup of East Carolina and Ohio (not State) isn't exactly a barnburner. The fact that GoDaddy.com manages to get a somewhat plum bowl spot the day before the BCS championship game is befuddling. Except that it's GoDaddy, with horrible cheesy commercials (yep, looking at you Danica Patrick) and it's only Arkansas State and Ball State. (Of course, if Texas State had finished strong and been invited to this bowl, I'd so be there. Screw work. ) How can Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl be a reward to anybody? Detroit, day after Christmas -- enough said.  And how many bowl games are there now...106?

Don't hate the program, hate the current system. That's been my feeling. It's been the feeling of many NCAA FBS college football fans. Next year we shall see the unveiling of a sort of overdue Division I college football "playoff system." A semblance if you will. But it's fun to ponder "what ifs" -- what if a computer didn't help to arbitrarily determine the two teams that'll play for a national championship this year. What if an actual - trumpets sounding - tournament existed?

The “powers that be” that help to determine BCS and non-BCS bowl contestants are primarily television executives and power conference presidents who only want to see and sell sex when it comes to bowl games. They'd rather arbitrarily pair two traditional powerhouses via a computer rather than let rising star schools settle such questions where it truly counts: on the playing field. Just like virtually every other level of sport. Wow. What a startling concept. Even the Kazahkistani kick-goathead league has a playoff. I’ve won some money there. I've lost a lot more there. Without the NCAA basketball tournament, schools like George Mason and Butler likely would have never made it to the Final Four. You see Gonzagas and Marquettes make their mark on the national scene. Without the College World Series, schools like Cal State-Fullerton and Long Beach State -- not so much a Texas or USC -- get to shine and quite often.

In most existing playoff systems/postseason tournaments, the most "deserving" teams make the playoffs, not necessarily the ones picked "the best." There's a difference. We can debate all we want about good losses, bad losses, strength of schedule, etc., during the regular season, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty to determine an absolute champion, why not go the way of a tournament?

Well, we won’t waste further time going into the minds of those myopically opposed to a NCAA Division I tournament of some kind. Even the “bowl games are a tradition” and “schools will lose money” and “you can’t make the student-athletes play that long or late into January” philosophies. Or that December playoffs would screw with students studying for finals. Welp, a tournament hasn't hurt FCS or Division II or III or NAIA schools. None of those arguments really work. Never did, never will. Some say the BCS hasn't been perfect, but it’s been a start.

So, what if a semi-comprehensive playoff system did exist for college football? My goodness, what fun that’d be. OK, let’s use the almost dead-BCS as a springboard. This is what I'd do to create a 16-team tournament. You start with automatic champions from FBS (Football Championship Series) conferences (regular-season champs and/or championship game victors). There is the thought that if an annual playoff system is allowed to mature, conference championship games might become relevant. That's fine. Until then let's play with what we have.

If there are co-champions, it’s up to the affected conference to determine who gets what we’ll call an FBS bid. You could combine the final regular season total average poll ranking with regular-season head-to-head outcomes for a tie-breaker. (Sound unfair? Good. You get to retain some semblance of unfairness in the process of arriving at a final national champion)

You could average the rankings of the AP, ESPN, USA Today, Harris, Legends and Coaches' polls, emphasizing which schools get the most place votes and arrive at a final aggregate Top 25 poll (a de facto BCS ranking system, if you will, without the computer interference). Those are arguably the strongest, long-standing, most popular and credible of Division I polls.

Here’s what a final 2013 FBS aggregate poll would look like, with current conference titleholder status and final regular season record:

1. Florida State (13-0 ACC champion)
2. Auburn (12-1 SEC champion)
3. Alabama (11-1)
4. Michigan State (12-1 Big 10 champion)
5. Stanford (11-2 Pac-12 champion)
6. Baylor (11-1 Big 12 champion)
7. Ohio State (12-1)
8. South Carolina (10-2)
9. Missouri (11-2)
10. Oregon (10-2)
11. Oklahoma (10-2)
12. Clemson (10-2)
13. Oklahoma State (10-2)
14. LSU (9-3)
15. UCF (11-1 American Athletic champion)
16. Louisville (11-1)
17. Arizona State (10-3)
18. UCLA (9-3)
19. Wisconsin (9-3)
20. Fresno State (11-1 Mountain West champion)
21. Texas A&M (8-4)
22. Duke (10-3)
23. Georgia (8-4)
24. Northern Illinois (12-1)
25. Miami, FL. (9-3)

Rice (10-3 Conference USA champion)
Bowling Green (10-3 MAC champion)
Louisiana-Lafayette & Arkansas State (8-4 & 7-5 co-Sun Belt champions)

Ultimately, FBS automatic bids would go to Florida State, Auburn, Michigan State, Stanford, Baylor, Central Florida, Fresno State, Rice, Bowling Green, and Louisiana-Lafayette. (Hey, it's my tournament and seeing co-champs in the Sun Belt, tiebreaker goes to the overall winningest school, ULL.)

You add the top independent team ranked high enough overall in polls for an FBS bid and/or four (or five) other highest-ranked schools, overall in polls. So this year these schools get an at-large bid: Alabama, Ohio State, South Carolina, Missouri, Oregon and Oklahoma.

The ultimate FBS tournament seedings in a 16 vs. 1, 15 vs. 2, 14, vs. 3, etc. format would be:

1. Florida State
2. Auburn
3. Alabama
4. Michigan State
5. Stanford
6. Baylor
7. Ohio State
8. South Carolina
9. Missouri
10. Oregon
11. Oklahoma
12. UCF
13. Fresno State
14. Bowling Green
15. Rice
16. ULL

Take into account the oldest, popular, most lucrative, traditional bowls and mix in some regional flair and considerate schedules. You can keep some of the best bowls. I mean, really. The glut of bowls is ludicrous. More and more are added each year, some from inauspicious sponsors. Heart of Dallas Bowl, that standard-bearer of non-BCS bowl games, this year has...meh, who gives a crap. Famous Idaho Potato Bowl features powerhouses Buffalo and San Diego State...in Boise. OH MY GOD, YES. Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. Sure, could be a nice game...but...what the heck is Royal Purple? At first, I thought it was Royal Crown and then it'd have my total attention.

Belk Bowl? What's a Belk? And how could I forget the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, a contest between the once mighty Northern Illinois and, umm, Utah State? Oh, we could so perpetuate a Roady's Truck Stops FreeCreditReport.com Pomegranate Cherry Salad Bowl presented by Franklin American Mortgage Company joke.

All joking aside, use 15 of those prestigious, richest, most famous (i.e. powerful, established) bowls as the FBS bowl matches. All other bowls, may remain independent and ongoing aside from the FBS contests, some may provide comedic fodder to those of us snarkiest bunches on Twitter. No changes needed there.

Rotate the FBS bowls as quarterfinal, semifinal and final games, all of which could retain and maybe even increase the number of ticket-buyers, TV viewers and payouts. One reason? There’s even greater incentive to play in such a bowl. Not just one bowl. But a series of true head-to-head games where all the conference champions (not just the typical, known powerhouses) and other top-ranked squads have a genuine (and fair) shot at an undisputed national title. Throw in serious regional considerations and, voila. Imagine that!

The younger, Decemberish bowls host quarterfinals on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, given this year’s calendar: 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, 4 vs. 13, 5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, 7 vs. 10, and 8 vs. 9.

December 17
Bowling Green vs. Alabama -- Advocare V100 Independence Bowl; Shreveport
Fresno St. vs. Michigan St. -- Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (Insight, Copper, whatever else it used to be); Tempe

Dec. 18
ULL vs. Florida State - Chick-Fil-A (Peach) Bowl, Atlanta
Stanford vs. UCF -- Hyundai Sun Bowl, El Paso

Dec. 19
Missouri vs. South Carolina -- Taxslayer.com (Taxslayer.com?) Gator Bowl, Jacksonville
Baylor vs. Oklahoma -- Valero Alamo Bowl, San Antonio

Dec. 20
Rice vs. Auburn - -- AutoZone Liberty Bowl, Memphis
Oregon vs. Ohio State -- National University Holiday Bowl, San Diego

Probable winners?
Florida State, Michigan State, Alabama, Stanford, South Carolina, Baylor, Auburn, Oregon

More bowls in following week's semifinals (two on Christmas Eve, two the day after Christmas) involve 1-16 vs. 8-9; 5-12 vs. 4-13; 6-11 vs. 3-14; 7-10 vs. 2-15.

Dec. 24
South Carolina vs. Florida State -- Capital One (Citrus) Bowl, Orlando
Baylor vs. Alabama -- AT&T Cotton Bowl, Dallas

Dec. 26
Michigan State vs. Stanford -- Rose Bowl, Pasadena
Oregon vs. Auburn -- Outback Bowl, Tampa

Probable winners?
Florida State, Baylor, Michigan State, Auburn

Final Four of sorts/Wednesday, Jan. 1
Michigan St. vs. Florida St. -- Sugar Bowl, New Orleans
Baylor vs. Auburn -- Orange Bowl, Miami

Championship game, Tuesday, Jan. 7
Florida St. vs. Auburn -- Fiesta Bowl, Tempe

Hey, how about that. Who wins? Well, let this unfold in reality. To those naysayers, I say: screw war, health care and the national debt, let’s have some MACtion.

The One About Edmond Losing His Mind By Visiting West Texas in July

I totally forgot to post a blog about my West Texas adventures. You know how much I travel. By that I mean hardly at all. So my going someplace far away...further away than, say, Austin...and for a few days is a huge deal in my life.

I posted these pics on my Facebook and through Twitter. There really isn't much to say that these samples can't tell. My solo jaunt was fun, educational and finally off my bucket list.

My five-day drive into Big Bend territory include quick stops at Fort Davis (well, the McDonald Observatory, anyway), Alpine (Museum of the Big Bend), Marfa (just my luck, a passing thundershower screws with my effort to see the lights) and the ghost town of Terlingua (where local craft beer was to be enjoyed).

Camping out in Big Bend itself was cool in that I didn't set myself up with ridiculously high expectations, such as attempting to climb Emory Peak. I settled for more scalable hikes...hikes in the mid-afternoons, completely by myself and virtually nobody else around for miles at times. Oh sure, Boquillas Canyon would've been more enjoyable if I could've actually step down to the Rio Grande's banks, had it not been for - ahem - friendly crossing illegals loudly reminding me not to look their way.

Then there was the 4-mile, 2-hour, round-trip walk to/from the Windows Arch. No shade, flat, rocky ground, NOBODY for miles around. I do believe I almost began hallucinating just before I could finally reach my car at the end of my journey. A 4-mile, 2-hour walk/hike may not be a big deal to you. It is when you barely have enough water to survive a relentless sun. Didn't help reading that, the week before, a Texas State geology student was found dead in Big Bend park while doing research. Eesssh.

Wish there were more time to hike other places around Big Bend. Wish there were more time to stop by all the other little towns in the region. Wish this for that, and so forth. I realize I'm far behind many of my friends and colleagues when it comes to traveling, to all those exciting adventures. An exhausting drive to and from the Big Bend, with all the hikes that came with it, in a few days may not seem terribly impressive to the veteran traveler or the experienced hiker.

For me, it was a trip to savor for a lifetime. I shot my mouth off about it plenty of times beforehand, never really able to take advantage of any seemingly clear opportunities previously. This trip, while preferable in spring or fall, came about by circumstances in my life and I made the most of it. Neither bears nor lions or javalinas could stop me. No regrets.

Lowered Expectations Could Make You Happier

Stop having unrealistic expectations about such hotly (and nervously) anticipated TV shows and movies such as the Netflix "Arrested Development." It's like some of you wanted it to be 2003-2006 all over again but then again you didn't. So what do you really want? It's like you're happy there are new episodes and then one episode in, you wish it would be dead for good. Stop. It.

And yes we knew it would be Khan as the villain in Star Trek Into Darkness and yes some of us knew it would be like The Wrath of Khan. (Don't blame just Entertainment Weekly for its oversight.) You want to really like "Into Darkness" and yet something holds you back from doing so? Good lord. It's got action, twists (silly as some of them might be). Oh, you really want your love for the movie to be validated. And yet, it doesn't happen.

Some of us have read most if not all the released "A Game of Thrones" books, so some of us knew the time for the infamous "red wedding" would be soon upon us. My God, it's like Twitter broke down and cried for three days after the TV series scene aired, finally, in its bloody glory and some of us are surprised it actually happened? What's with you people?

"Iron Man 3" ups the ante with its share of violence, in-your-face CGI action, anti-heroism, twists (including another Iron Man villain who doesn't turn out to the bad guy that many of us expected) and, while it's a vast improvement over "Iron Man 2," it doesn't come close to the first film.

It's true of human nature to have high expectations - or our ideal visions of what should be and what could be - when it comes to certain things in pop culture. The disappointment level in specific character turns in Iron Man 3 and the whole idea of even the existence of sequels to "The Hangover" are tantamount to our freak-outs over The Godfather Part 3, Star Wars Episode 1, and the Lost and Battlestar Galactica finales.

Now imagine all the irrational expectations that led up to the release of "Man of Steel." From the trailers early on, it looked kinda sorta kinda sorta like the original Superman except it appeared more more like Superman II. It ended up being both those flicks meeting Watchmen with a liberal dose of grandiose moroseness and numbing CGI'd violence.

I'm okay with the movie. I didn't terribly mind the non-linear style of storytelling. But with all the pre-screening conceptions and expectations, while I didn't think "Man of Steel" would ever top the original "Superman" movie in any way, I figured it would be way better than "Superman Returns." Instead, those two are roughly on par with one another. Henry Cavill makes a fine Superman (don't know yet really Clark Kent) and Amy Adams almost erases Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane from our memory banks, but the cons nearly outnumber the pros.

Think of the cons (in my opinion): No "kneel before Zod!"; we barely have a Jenny Olson instead of the ol' reliable Jimmy Olson; no slight campy comical feel that every comic book adaptation deserves; an exhaustible second half that almost makes the first half seem tame and moot by comparsion; an overwrought, overlong, mind-numbing Zod/Superman fight scene that nearly makes the alley fistfight scene from "They Live" between Roddy Piper and Keith David look like Oscar-winning material; a cartoonishly thorough demolition of Smallville and Metropolis where a body count soars and yet you don't care about anybody thanks to the emotional disconnect. And Zod gets dealt with like THAT? You're kidding. At about two hours into it, you instead care about how soon the movie ends. Not soon enough. You tried, Zack Snyder, you tried. But you also tried too hard. You and Christopher Nolan overthought it. "Man of Steel" is exciting yet joyless.

Now we get word that, indeed, Christian Bale won't play Batman once more and that, while "Man of Steel 2" is in the works, whatever Justice League movie becomes a reality won't do so for some time to come. Our insanely high expectations of a Justice League movie - our varying versions of what it proper one could and should be - are tempered by the mixed results of the DC Comics/Warner Bros. movies outside of The Dark Knight trilogy. Our cynicism in DC comic book adaptations such as Superman Returns and The Green Lantern makes us have pessimism for future DC film efforts to the point of developing ulcers.

If the violence was/is too much in "Man of Steel" and in "The Lone Ranger" -- itself a strange, loud, annoying, bombastic, outrageously violent, misguided, needlessly overlong TV-to-cinema adaptation -- there's too little of the graphic carnage translation from the book version of "World War Z" to the film version. There's too little of everything from the book that's missing from the movie. I guess we knew that, based upon pre-screening trailers and online reports, "World War Z" the film was going to be VERY LOOSELY BASED on the book. And boy, is it in almost every conceivable way. C'mon, not even hints of the battle of Yonkers, the South African solution or the hell on Earth known as Iceland?

As a movie in itself, not considering the source material, "World War Z" is a serviceable, entertaining flick. It's apparent that the story developers and the screenwriters, including interestingly enough Damon Lindelof and J. Michael Stracyznski, took cues from two Spielberg movie adaptations, "War of the Worlds" and "Jurassic Park," to put together a PG-13 zombie movie for the casual fan. But no doubt, "World War Z" is/was unfilmable in a Hollywood big budget way. What would work better? A TV series. The book works better as a TV series. I think the world is big enough for two serialized zombie dramas.

So here we are at the summer movie season midpoint (a summer of rage, one Twitter movie geek described it as) and, perhaps aside from some parts of "Star Trek Into Darkness," not one film this summer has wowed me.

What has met or exceeded my expectations.  Well, "This Is The End" - for one, amazingly enough - did the trick. Then there's "Pacific Rim," which only nourished my inner geek fandom for all things robots and giant monsters. Oh God, critic Roger Moore (not James Bond's Roger Moore)...take his critique of "Pacific Rim" as an example of simply not getting it: "dumb"..."suspend all belief."

Dude, IT'S GIANT MONSTERS VS. GIANT ROBOTS! What's there to understand? It is a fun movie from start to finish. My lord, you have: Charlie Day from "It's Always Sunny..." and "Horrible Bosses;" a relevation in Rinko Kikuchi; probably the next James Bond (or should possibly be the next Doctor Who) in Idris Elba; Ron Perlman doing his best Ron Perlman imitation; Owen from "Torchwood"; odes to "Independence Day" and "Starship Troopers"...what more do you want? Heck, I want Kaiju and Jaeger action figures. Really, you're gonna go see "Grown Ups 2" over this? It's not the most original, Oscar-worthy movie ever, but it's close to a near-perfect summer flick as you'll get in 2013...and before we get another Godzilla reboot on the big screen.

My hope had been that something during the latter part of this summer, on the big or small screen, would doubly reinforce my faith in television or cinematic entertainment. "The Wolverine" and "Elysium" didn't quite do that. " Sure, it's disappointing but not surprising "The Wolverine" didn't totally faithfully follow Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's famed 1982 comic book miniseries. Heck, the movie didn't even list Claremont or Miller as credit for the original story. But I think many of us expect different things from a Wolverine-only/not-so-really X-Men flick.

He kills a lot of Yakuza, yes.  Does he massacre a lot of ninjas? No. Is it a gritty, dark, noir-ish cinematic version of the comic book? For the most part, no, but in the same vein it's not comic bookish like most superhero movies. It's still a human drama about Wolverine/Logan trying to escape his mutant past. It's a crime drama that gets out of hand. We could've done without all the Jean Grey flashbacks. They almost remind us too much of the disasters that were X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The end is a tad absurd. But the end credit scene sets things up nicely for X-Men: Days of Future Past. A good try for director James Mangold, but not totally satisfying.

Not totally satisfying is a way to sum up "Elysium," Neill Bloemkamp's follow-up to his excellent "District 9." It's essentially the same story: A schism between two societies; a hard-luck case who's forced by circumstances to the extremes and ends up redeeming himself and practically changing "the way things are." But with District 9, Bloemkamp skillfully weaved some semblance of character development that's allowable in a sci-fi/action film, with decent acting, a solid script and a desire to keep you hanging until the very end to see how it all turns out.

That's not the case with Elysium. Visually like with District 9, it's stunning, with the 1970s conceptual art of future human outer space habitats come to life. The scenes of desolation, poverty, disease and desperation of 22nd century Earth contrasted with the almost surreal artificial perfection and beauty aboard Elysium are stark and overwhelming. Then you have a rather unoriginal plot, with stock characters portrayed by otherwise great actors, and a predictable ending. And you can't forget what is fast becoming a trademark of Bloemkamp films: lots of explosions or gory destruction of organic beings and robots.

Well, I'm still looking at you "The World's End" to provide me with some giddiness as this summer movie season comes to a close. But expectations aren't as high with that as they are with the now unfolding final episodes of "Breaking Bad" and - woo boy, JJ Abrams' Star Wars Episode 7.

The amazing awesomeness of "The Avengers" movie has us so giddy for more Marvel comic book adaptations that we fans are now overthinking the smallest things. Consider the worry some of us fans have about "S.H.I.E.L.D.," the Marvel TV series. Take a look at online talk of ongoing production for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Look at the chatter for Thor: The Dark World, which lost its composer and its director is under fire.

It's nice to dream of "what could and should be" in your favorite TV shows and films, but there's a reasonable limit. Perhaps some producers and writers want to take acceptable risks. If there's a sense that certain risks ultimately fall flat, maybe not all the fault lies with those writers and producers.

South by Central North West East Part 2 of Deux

Ballroom for first round and finals of SXSW Accelerator competition

Just another night on Sixth Street

Trade show block party was rockin'. No, really.

Revolucionario Awards and Party at Ballet Austin

Robert Scoble interviews Joanna Montgomery of Little Riot/Pillow Talk at Rackspace/Champions Sports Bar

HuffingtonPostWeirdNews/NASA/Illuminode party at The Garage

HuffingtonPostWeirdNews/NASA/Illuminode party at The Garage

British Music Showcase at Latitude 30

Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal in a keynote address

Fred Armisen headlines a short, unannounced appearance at the IFC Crossroads House.

Alan Weinkrantz and Jeff Pulver in an Israeli startups session

Silicon Valley Bank party

Obligatory crowd shot inside the Austin Convention Center. Ooh, Newton's Cradle in the left corner!

Rackspace Rackers talk with visitors at Champions Sports Bar

I didn't partake in the massage chairs at Rackspace/Champions Sports Bar.

Scene from Republic Square Park

Innovation and convergence were key words of 2013 South by Southwest Interactive.
Bwhahaha. When aren't they?

My half-hearted effort (read that, driving to Austin from San Antonio daily when I could) to cover SXSW yielded six panel sessions, one keynote session, a tiny bit of the Accelerator competition finals, two startup crawls, the trade show block party, a visit to the Rackspace/Champions Bar Cloud Experience...and a bunch of parties.

It's amazing I get any work done from SXSW mixed in with family life and Express-News regular work back in S.A. But one story about the local startup Kirpeep is up no online. My second article isn't a focus on, but does include, TrueAbility, another fledgling company led by former Rackspace Rackers.

TrueAbility underwent a sales pitch-type first round contest in innovative web technologies at the Accelerator competition before a packed room on Monday. TrueAbility advanced to the finals in its category the next day, but didn't win. Nonetheless, TrueAbility is on the map, offering cloud-based technical assessment tool to recruiters and hiring managers. I had a great, lengthy talk with co-founders Luke Owen and March Robertson between rounds and I'll have their story up shortly with the next North Central News edition.

Along the lines of covering locals, I got in a few minutes of the Israeli startups session involving Alan Weinkrantz from San Antonio. He spoke with Jeff Pulver, who spoke of his investing in about 40 startups in the past year or two. Pulver knows a good business plan when he sees it. But just as much, Pulver appreciates persistence.

"When you embrace something you're passionate about, it's awesome. If there's one guy with four business failures and there's one guy with one success, I'd rather invest with the guy with the four failures," he said. "The numbers will be in my favor."

I liked that this SXSWi included more space technology, One panel's question was whether 21st century space exploration will see any kind of golden era like the ones we experienced in the beginnings of space travel and the during the NASA space shuttle period.
The panelists agreed while it's good to have private companies and organizations such as Space X helping to usher in a new wave of innovation and experimentation post-space shuttle, objectives and expectations for the whole of humanity must be realistic.

"Space exploration is a worthy human endeavor but doesn't work well on balance sheet. But there are current on-earthly endeavors that don't look good on balance sheet too," Griffin said.

He added whatever lofty goals we all seek in space exploration will never be achieved in one or two lifetimes. It's something to keep in mind. Sara Seagar of MIT offered that interstellar travel shouldn't consist of humans merely landing on the moon - whenever that happens again - only to mine it for fuel to convert the moon as a launch pad of sorts. We could and should mine the moon and whatever other places filled with valuable minerals for those minerals that could help replenish our present and near-term resources terra firma.

Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal fame was -- it goes without saying -- entertaining in his keynote address, recalling his journey from just another online comics artist to the brains behind web comedy gold. But more than that, he lauded two crowdfunding campaigns -- one led to preserving the lab that once belonged to Nikolai Tesla. Inman got heat for his advocacy of shoring up Tesla's legacy.

Tesla comic wasn't meant to deify the man, but to make the man a man. He deserved a better legacy," he added.

I did pop briefly into journalisting sessions, led respectively by Jane Pratt and Texas Observer editor Dave Mann. Their insights into alternative approaches to newspaper and magazine publishing make me wish I had turned my attempted alt-newsmonthly from the late '90s, the San Antonio Scene, into a non-profit outlet. Either that, or I really wish Kickstarter had been around at that time.

I wish I could've had more time to get into sessions involving the Arrested Development crew, or Cory Booker, or Rachel Maddow, or Al Gore, or Deadmau5 and Richie Hawtin talking music tech, or the '80s party with Girl Talk. There's only so much I could do while balancing family and office newspaper deadline obligations back home.

I'd like to think I burned many calories with the dozens upon dozens of walks from my car, parked most often near the county buildings and state capitol, to the hubbub of activity around the convention center. And now there is the annual onslaught of criticism of SXSW interactive -- it's too crowded, too expansive and mired with corporate sponsorships, a 180 from the pre-supposed hipster, DIY attitude with which SXSWi began. That there are too many parties and free events (official and unofficial) and that, really, SXSW is just one big shindig where no "real work" actually gets done. (Hey, I contest that claim -- I handled work emails, wrote news copy and formatted photos during parties. You'd be amazed with the level of productivity when it's dark around you and you have only the drone of a good DJ's music or a decent live band to serve as your aural background for concentration.)

Indeed, there were fewer startups at this SXSWi, and many younger and mid-level firms ranged from having minimal involvement to no involvement in this year's festival. No doubt many Austinites feel, in general, the entire event (including film and music parts) have jumped the shark years ago.
While marketing was up, so is the expansion of panels and events addressing newer subtopics such as health care, biotech, public service, civic activism, sports and journalism.

That's the challenge -- for an event and a city that thrive(s) on a reputation of being a well for technological innovation to keep reinventing itself every so often, to be more creative and original -- even more useful to some extent -- while balancing costs and expectations. I'm relatively sure, right now, I'll return to cover 2014 SXSW and hopefully not just interactive. I'll just have to be more creative about my stay in the Austin area and how I cover the event.  Now if you'll excuse me, I must catch up on an estimated 20 combined hours of lost sleep and rest my poor feet.