Back from Minneapolis, Boots and All

Just back from a great couple of days in Minneapolis, MN. My first trip there though I've several good friends from the area. Loved the look of the small bit of downtown we drove through. Big impressive buildings - substantial. Some wonderfully old, many new and beautifully designed. Had a lot of fun sharing what makes Austin such a great media/film town in the all day summit of media professionals and regional leaders. And had a particularly great later dinner out. Twelve of us. Smart, funny, highly entertaining locals mixed in with the few out-of-towners like Brian Newman of Renew Media, and Laura Ivey of Odd Lot Entertainment. Somehow the table dynamic worked perfectly - small enough for us to converse together, toast enthusastically, and also to enjoy quality one-on-ones. Really a good time! Particular thanks to Jane Minton of IFP North and Hafed Bouassida and his wonderful students at MCTC.

Going through security on the way out of Austin: my chock-full shoulder bag, my clothes bag, my laptop, John had the liquids, I bump into the detector pulling my boarding pass from my back pocket and have to go through again. They stop to check my boots. "Need to run a test on these..." Across the aisle the female guard runs them through a machine, and hands them back as her male co-worker exclaims, "Nice Boots!"