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Today is Press Day at the <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/montreal_audio_show_starts_friday/">2010 Salon Son & Image</a>, located at the extraordinary Hilton Bonadventure, a penthouse hotel perched above the Place Bonadventure exhibition center, built for the 1967 World’s Fair. At the moment, exhibitors and members of the press are just getting acquainted with the unusual hotel, which has an extremely tempting heated outdoor pool and garden views at every turn. Lines are just beginning to form at the registration desk, where I couldn’t help but say hello to the charming staff.

The <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/news/montreal_audio_show_starts_friday/">Sal… Son & Image</a> hi-fi show opens on Friday, March 26, in Montreal, one of the world’s friendliest and most colorful cities. Tomorrow morning, John Atkinson will arrive at my front door, and we’ll drive the 376 miles from Jersey City to Montreal’s Hilton Bonaventure, where its rooftop garden and two floors of music await us.

<I>Stereophile</i>'s John Atkinson, Stephen Mejias, Robert Deutsch, and Art Dudley will be reporting live from the 2010 Salon Son & Image show in Montreal.

Years ago, when I taught high school choirs, I had many types of kids in my ensembles. Though none exclusively fit the overly stereotypical lineup of kids on Fox TV's <I>Glee</I>, I always managed to have a nice assortment of jocks, preps, goths, motorheads, geeks, wastoids, and dweebs. One of the things that always fascinated me was how the big, tough jocks would turn out to be the most sensitive, emotional singers. It was always a touching moment when an otherwise stoic football star or wrestler would get all misty while singing the final song of the year-end concert. It showed me that the toughest exteriors often hide the creamiest creampuffs.

I miss the High End Shows. Not the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas&#151;no thanks. I can do without the overpriced hotels, the 45-minute taxi lines, the frantic racing from venue to venue. No, it's the <I>Stereophile</I> shows I miss, with the centralized location, the rubbing shoulders with readers ("Hey, you're the cheap-speaker guy! Check out room 206!"), the listening to live music, and maybe even playing a little of it.

The 23rd <A HREF="http://www.salonsonimage.com">Salon Son & Image</A> high-fidelity show, cosponsored by <I>Stereophile</I>, takes place in Montreal's Hilton Bonaventure March 26&#150;28. (An additional day, March 25, is reserved for the trade and press.) With 10,000 to 12,000 attendees expected, including a sizable American contingent and several thousand Canadians from outside Quebec province, who will take advantage of bilingual presentations and literature and the anticipated absence of snow, SSI remains the largest North America audio show that is open to the public.

You might’ve noticed my big smiling mug on the stereophile.com home page today, calling attention to my review of <a href="http://www.stereophile.com/headphones/monster_cable_beats_by_dr_dre_stu…’s Beats by Dr. Dre headphones</a>. When I posed for that picture&#151a few months ago and with a hellish hangover from a night of fun spent at <a href="http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/at_the_monkeyhaus/">John DeVore’s Monkeyhaus</a>&#151I had no idea that I’d be today’s top model. The photo was the work of our sneaky web monkey, Jon Iverson. I came into the office, went to our site, and spit coffee all over my monitor. Hilarious.