SXSW 2016
Hello! My name is Nico Cordero, for those concerned, and this is my experience on my crowning achievement!
3/11/16
The day we, my sister and her boyfriend, get ready for day passes to the SXSW, which had a presentation of producers, designers, and especially entrepreneurs that showcased their work and talent to get them where they got from now.
Sadly, I didn’t get to get the part where an eleven-year-old has a story about how she had a bee sting, which encouraged her to study on bees, and had a cookbook on lemonade from her elder lings. As she remarked, “I got stung by a bee. Twice. Then my Great Granny Helen, who lives in Cameron, South Carolina, sent my family a 1940’s cookbook, which included her special recipe for Flaxseed Lemonade. I didn’t enjoy the bee stings at all. They scared me. But then something strange happened. I became fascinated with bees. I learned all about what they do for me and our ecosystem. So then I thought, what if I make something that helps honeybees and uses my Great Granny Helen’s recipe?”
That’s how BeeSweet Lemonade was born. It comes from my Great Granny Helen’s flaxseed recipe and my new love for bees.
3/12/16
First of all, my sister and I, and her boyfriend, went to the Samsung Studio to interact with the latest devices and services, access to exclusive events, unforgettable experiences, and special rewards for Samsung Galaxy Owners. The Samsung Studio will offer a new retail pop-up and for the first time ever, you can purchase the new Galaxy phone on-site at SXSW. Apparently if we have the Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge, you will receive the ultimate festival bundle turning your phone into an all-access pass to special programming and events and even free rides to anywhere.
Someone actually had one and let us unlock the opportunity to attend Galaxy Life Fest that included acts including the debut live performance from ColleGrove, featuring superstar duo 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne. Uunfortunately we went in there just for the design and what it looked like. Finally, we ate and left for a breakand then the day after, once we continue SXSW.
3/13/16
On this day, we had a break, celebrating my performance. Though I didn’t mean I deserved it, I’m sure I’ve worked hard for it. The party wasn’t much, it was just my family, my parents and siblings, went out to eat, going to Main Event. From Main Event, the gold, rock climbing, arcade games, bowling, and even lazer tag made my arms sore, yet I was ready for tomorrow.
3/14/16
After a day off, we found out that Powerpuff Girls series premiere was the craziest. Going to the Long Performing Arts Center, it was packed. The premiere had free things, snack bars, blankets, shirts, outlets, and photo booths. From my perspective, it was huge and had the best day to be laying on the grass, watching. While we were watching, my parents had an idea to get autographs from the executive producers, which we did. We were lucky enough to have gone up and gotten a picture, letting him sign my Bubbles doll, and getting more shirts for my family. Team Bubbles!
3/15/16
Sometimes it’s difficult living up to your name. Especially when your name is an ideogrammatic pun that really doesn’t translate well.
According to the website and at SXSW, that’s a core joke in I Am a Hero, Shinsuke Sato’s adaptation of Kengo Hanazawa’s epic zombie manga, and winner of the SXSW Midnighter audience award. Hideo, character actor Yo Oizumi, probably best known for his voice work on animes, including The Boy and the Beast, is a nobody, an assistant artist on a manga. Ever wondered who it is that slaves away on drawing all those architecturally detailed backgrounds in those comics you love? It’s people like Hideo, whose only claim to fame is that his name (when spelled out in kanji) uses the same letters as hero.
Of course, he’s far from it. He’s a daydreamer whose tedious job means he never has time for his girlfriend (Miho Suzuki), his ambitions to draw his own comic, or even his hobby of skeet shooting. Then the zombie apocalypse comes when the ZNQ virus starts turning everyone into flesh-hungry monsters. Is it time for Hideo to become the hero his name promises? Eh, not so fast.
My thoughts on the film: Hideo is still a manga artist’s assistant at the age of 35. Increasingly frustrated by his fruitless dreams, Hideo’s girlfriend, Tekko, kicks him out. Days later, Hideo returns to apologize to Tekko, but she’s been infected by the mysterious virus that turns humans into ZQN, and attacks him! Hideo flees Tokyo, taking his shotgun with him. The city is already overflowing with people infected with the virus. Amid the panic, Hideo meets high school student Hiromi, and they team together to escape. Hideo and Hiromi seek refuge, along with other survivors, on the roof of a shopping mall where they must shoot ZQNs on sight. Will Hideo be able to protect Hiromi and find a cure for the virus? Cliffhanger!
After the film, we went to SXSW Community Screenings: Austin School of Film’s Youth M.A.F.I.A. Screening, a showcase highlighting films and animations completed in ASoF’s SXSW Youth Outreach programs M.A.F.I.A (Make A Film In 24 Hours Competition) held at a local area High School for students ages 14-18 years old and Community Animation Workshop at the George Washington Carver Museum serving all youth community members, but yet, I was there to look, and some kids made outstanding films.
Also, that’s when interactive ended and had no one to go with for the 16-19. But whatsoever, I still enjoyed it and had lots of fun, especially the experience at SXSW, my crowning achievement.
