Ack, American Airlines! To get to Austin, they had me on a connecting flight through Houston. But on my way there from New York, the captain let us know that the connection had been canceled for reasons unknown — or never revealed. (On top of that, they tried to charge me US$3 for a “snack box”!) When we landed, passengers heading on to Austin — and there were lots of us SXSW-types — were handed taxi vouchers and instructed to hail cabs to our final destination. So after flying for four hours, I just spent another three on the road, trawling the lonely midnight highways of Texas. As it happened, my cab driver was gregarious and entertaining, and we had a nice little chat until I laid myself down and caught some sleep. I’m just into Austin now, and my first impressions are that, damn, this is a college town. It’s not as bustling as Manhattan, but there are a surprising number of young kids dressed in their best Gap gear, wandering the streets a little drunk and enjoying themselves. Not me, I’m beat.