According to some of my family living in Austin, current predictions are that Hurricane Rita might be hitting the city about that time (the time for getting tickets, that is). We know how hurricanes have a mind of their own, so I hope that is NOT the case and that this goes well. I'm truly jealous of those of you in my old home town.

[ edited by palehorse on 2005-09-21 02:42 ]

palehorse | September 21, 04:40 CET

Huh. Austin is pretty damn inland. I've heard they're preparing for evacuees from the coast though.

KernelM | September 21, 05:43 CET

The brunt of the hurricane won't hit Austin, but the city is expected to get hit with rain and heavy weather, possibly even tornadoes, though more likely on Saturday.

jeebs | September 21, 07:20 CET

Where is this abandoned Old West town near Austin and how do you get to it?

batmarlowe | September 21, 10:53 CET

Sorry, folks, I shouldn't post when I'm sleep deprived, because I don't always make myself clear. Of course I was referring to the rain and tornadoes that are spawned by the hurricane as it goes inland, not the full-force winds and storm surge. But I am old enough to remember the damage caused far inland from Hurricane Carla in 1961, and Rita may be larger and more damaging when it hits. But now the estimates are that Rita may hit in the Galveston/Houston area, which would put Austin on the NW side of the hurricane, with less rain and fewer possibilities of tornadoes. (Although this does not mean I'm any less concerned for Galveston and Houston.) And, as jeebs has said, now they are projecting a later hit, anyway.

So there should be nothing to prevent people from getting the tickets to the early showing. Ya'll have fun!

palehorse | September 21, 15:46 CET

Um... er...

[Robogeek mutters as he scratches his head in slight confoundment regarding the tangent this thread has taken.]

Austin is about 200 miles from either Galveston or Corpus Christi, so we generally don't worry too much about hurricanes. But even given the potential for severe weather this weekend (most likely Saturday), it shouldn't prevent anyone from buying tickets Friday since they're, you know, being sold online. ;-)

But if you really want to play it safe (from freak power outages and such), you can of course go ahead and buy a Fantastic Fest badge now to avoid any and all risk, hint-hint.

(And happily the hurricane should be long gone by next Thursday's premiere, when we will blissfully bask in the glow of Jewel and River.)

P.S. to batmarlowe: It's a secret. ;-) But it's very cool. (I believe everyone will be given directions by e-mail after purchasing your badge or ticket, though many Austinites will likely be able to guess where we're doing it.)

Robogeek | September 21, 17:13 CET