Dear colleagues:The year is almost over. The air has grown cold. Our rivers are stuck in deep, deep thought. Outside my 6th-floor window, countless, swirling bits of snow are decorating this gray city like little answers blowing in the wind, like so many true loves: A sure sign that the annual Consumer Electronics Show in glittery Las Vegas is right around the bend. It opens on Thursday, January 8th and runs right on through Sunday, the 11th. I will not be there this year. I will miss you. In June, when our managing editor, Elizabeth Donovan, packed up her red pens and her Kleenex and her carrot sticks to become president of the parents' association, leaving us with her well wishes and the freedom to spit and scratch and curse howsoever we pleased, I took on many of her responsibilities (not to mention her larger office). The biggest of these responsibilities is ensuring that each issue of Stereophile makes it to the printers on time and dressed to kill, like a dude out on the prowl. As it turns out, the ship dates for our March issue coincide with that massive hi-fi schmooze-fest we call CES. And, while it is possible that I could have achieved both without sacrificing too many virgins, it would have been very bloody indeed. You would have had one angry, frustrated, stinking Stephen to spar with. And that's not cool. But, above and beyond all—dare I even think it?!—stuff might have:
through
the
cracks! Sigh. And so I must admit: Even this superhero (me) can't capture all the world's falling snow in his hot, manly hands. Even my powers are finite. Thus, I will stay behind, in chilly New York City, and admire CES from afar. Do not fear: We will represent in full-effect. Stereophile's Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Division (SHIELD), will be on hand to keep the audio fools in check. Invite us to your conferences, your demos, your private parties. We will blog the hell out of it all. It will be interesting to see how things turn out. Seriously. How will the Consumer Electronics Show stand in this dismal economy? Will it bring good news, bad, or more of the same? To those of you who will be there, I ask that you give Vegas a big, fat kiss for me. If Music Hall's Leland and Roy offer you a single-malt, take it. Take it! If On A Higher Note's Philip O'Hanlon pours you a glass of something warm and red, drink it. If Anton Dotson of NFS Audio over at THE Show tells you he's got something good for you, believe him. If you see Sara Stokes, tell her I love her and I'll never leave her. If you run into Jon Iverson, buy him a chocolate milkshake. If you hear the call of the gorillas, follow it: John DeVore will take care of you. If you find Tim de Paravicini sleeping on the floor, do not join him. Wake his ass up. If you find the entire Vandersteen family asleep in their demo room, um... take their picture. If you can catch up to Mikey Fremer, run a Big Record Brush right through his wild hair and ask him about demagnetization. That's it. That's all, folks. Have fun. Have fun. Heedless of the wind and weather, have fun. Make it a party.
Stephen
