Mar. 13, 8:11 AM. Whole Foods Market, across

Lamar from Waterloo Records, is the place to go for hotel-room provisions, from

Powerbars to pinot noir. Austinites have become addicted to the many healthy

splendors of this impeccably executed supermarket, part health-food store

(c.f., Mrs. Gooch's in L.A.), part gourmet warehouse. But if you pick up a

coffee beverage at the espresso bar, be warned: the tops don't fit the to-go

cups very well. Yesterday I managed to pour the contents of a double latte on

my shorts while attempting to sip and steer at the same time. I still haven't

seen a bat (although the smell of guano is overwhelming as you cross under the

Congress Ave. bridge on the running trail), but I did see Batman yesterday as I

cruised "the drag" -- the local name for that boutique-lined portion of

Guadeloupe (pronounced GuadaLOOP by Austinites) that fronts the campus of UT.

This Batman, who looked nothing like George Clooney or his predecessors, was

hawking free haircuts. I passed. Speaking of the running trail, the section

between Congress and the power plant on the north side of Town Lake was closed

yesterday for the laying of pipes or something, forcing joggers, etc., to use

the sidewalk on First St. Haven't been out there yet today, but it's likely

that this fenced-in section won't reopen till the weekend. Last night we

[Scoppa and his ASCAP associates] took an eclectic group, including Austin

singer Kris McKay (Ritz, Sat., Mar. 16 @ 10 PM), underground-comic artist Roy

Tompkins and Village Recorder manager Jeff Greenberg (whose Santa Monica

recording studio is sponsoring the official SXSW lanyard this year) to

Threadgill's for the annual bubba-food feast. (Get the chicken-fried chicken.)

Today's plan involves going over to the Convention Center precisely at noon in

order to beat the crowds of pre-registrants that will be storming the place

today. Wish us luck. This morning, when I went down to get some coffee, I

overheard Four Seasons veteran staffers explaining to first-timers just how

crazy things will be getting by later today. The neophytes seemed amused by the

horror stories . . . they'll have horror stories of their own soon

enough.

(ASCAP's SXSW coverage, which is being overseen by Mr. Scoppa, can

be found at:

www.ascap.com/sxsw/sxsw.html)