Of all the guides to the 2004 NAB convention this week in Las Vegas, you have just started to read the one most trusted with the most accurate information and all the tips you need to survive the crush and have a good time too. Don’t worry, the Restaurant and Golf Course Guide is at the end. Now pay attention.
First, we must have an acronym lesson. That is, "What did you mean when you said, ‘AAPLDTV’?"
The person who just said that to you doesn’t know what he meant either—it’s just that he has said it so many times while trying to sell you or show you something that it has become part of his vernacular. Sort of like the word "dis." All the buzz at the show is gonna be letters. Not even people’s names or manufacturers’ names, unless they are acronyms too. I wonder if SONY is an acronym like BMG, CBS, NBC or IBM.
Let’s start with our first acronym. MPEG. "My Puppy Emits Gas." And you thought it was "Motion Picture Engineering" … something. How about FBXUniversal. I have heard that bantered around, but it really means a "Foul Ball [from a playground across the street] Crossed Cahuenga" with amazing velocity that broke windows in the technical building at Universal.
Let’s talk AVX. That was not a guy but a girl in high school who worked AV, but had a really tight sweater on all the time. And you guessed wrong that it had something to do with AVID.
MXF is a buzz acronym. Interoperability between files, servers, workstations and other techno stuff like that, right? Nope. It means "My Ex Filandered" and I got the house.
Let’s look at P2 from Panasonic. No, it is not related to DVCPRO in any way. It is where you left your car parked after the 4 a.m. closing of the Voodoo Lounge, where you also lost your cell phone.
XDCAM is another. It’s supposed to be some SONY pro-disc system. It is really a pill you take before you enter the Convention Center that makes you buy everything showing on the floor, and then you forget when you get on the plane to go home.
But seriously, the real buzz at the show will be speed and integration. From all I have seen and heard, many manufacturers are selling systems that will be shoot/edit/mix/release combos—things that editors want. Not necessarily what we all want. Mixers don’t shoot. Editors shouldn’t mix. But I guess I am in the minority.
What I am really looking for is better monitoring—bigger screens that don’t wear out and that have no or little delay of the audio. I am looking for something that my company can buy and I can put in my living room and everyone who sees it says, "Ah-ow, oh yikes!"
I want stuff we all can afford. The talent that operates it makes the difference. Not so complicated that it takes away from the creative process. The equipment and the software should be invisible and should never crash. LOL!!!
My absolute totally favorite part of the NAB convention is the "B" stock stuff for sale when the show is over. Those have always been our "best gets."
And when you have had enough of the show, there is another show to see. Las Vegas. What a show. Celine Dion, Danny Ganz, David Copperfield, Mamma Mia, O, House of Blues, Hard Rock and all the stuff you read on page six of the Post or see on Access Hollywood. Too bad about Siegfried and Roy, but the tigers are still there.
If it is too nice to be inside, try some golf. Shadow Creek is still the best, followed by Reflection Bay in Henderson. Others include Bear’s Best, Rio Secco, the Revere at Anthem and Paiute, with three courses and a lot of UFOs out by Area 51.
Now let’s do what is the most fun: the restaurants. You all know I like that the most.
Let’s do some new stuff with 808 at Caesar’s. A killer Hawaiian place named after the area code for Hawaii. Pan-Asian at its best. On a similar Asian note, Shintaro at the Bellagio and Nobu at the Hard Rock. Chinois from Wolfgang Puck is at Caesar’s too. And China Grill at the Mandalay. For you carnivores, the new hot place is Craftsteak at the MGM. Tom Colicchio from Craft in New York has shown how picking everything out—including your steak—in any combo can work in Las Vegas. I would try this first. Then you have Jean-Georges’ Prime at the Bellagio. Very formal, with a French-Asian steak-y twist. Charlie Palmer Steak at the Four Seasons is Chicago-style beef straight from the stockyards. The Palm is still where all the biggies will wind up. My picture should be on the wall but it’s not. Maybe I have to go more often.
Don’t miss Aureole at the Mandalay. The wine cellar alone is worth the stupid prices of the wine. The female sommelier’s skirt gets shorter as the lift takes her up to get your bottle from the stacks in the wine cellar. Aqua at the Bellagio is my all-time fave, as good as in San Francisco. Have the warm foie gras and the Tuna Tartare Napoleon with potato chips and crème fresh.
Now for the late stuff. I won’t waste your time, but if you must go … www.vegas.com/nightclubs. More than you’ll ever need.
Don’t forget: Whatever happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. WHILVSILV. I’ll see you there.
