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The Best for Show Reporting
Coverage of Top
Audio & Video 1999
from Milan, Italy, September 9-13
| Special Feature -
Around Town with SoundStage! |
Getting a little bored with our
suburban hotel location, we decided to take a quick trip into downtown Milan, and we
wanted to invite you along.
Where does all that power for the Top Audio & Video show come from? Right out back of
our hotel, that's where! Perhaps that's why there appeared to be no power problems despite
the massive amount of equipment in use at the show. Can this be good for one's health?
A bit down the street, just before the subway, we encountered one of Italy's famous
canals. Hmmm.... I guess next time we'd better go to Venice.
To get downtown our preferred (only) method of transportation is the subway. However, as
with many cities, the subway can be quite dangerous because you don't know just who you
will meet when riding. They didn't let him into Canada, but somehow he got in Italy. Enjoy The Music's Steve
Rochlin (left) is so excited to meet up with the SoundStagers that he can hardly contain
himself.
In Italy we saw many cars that are much smaller than we're used to seeing in North
America. Of these, we thought that the Smart car was pretty darn cool.
Once in the heart of downtown, you can't miss the magnificent Duomo, which is the
centerpiece of the city. DAS stands left enjoying his Coke while Ian takes photographs.
Front row and center at the Duomo is awe-inspiring.
Also front row and center at the Duomo is a mime working the crowds.
It took a few moments (and a few thousand lira) for the mime to come to life, so Ian (far
left) figures it works the same here at this display. He waits and hopes and waits and
hopes and...
Failing to see any movement from the cardboard models, we moved on. We quickly found the
Virgin Mega-store, which is to the right side of the Duomo, where we did some shopping.
To the left of the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is another really
popular spot.
If you want real shopping, this is the place to go.
Or for sightseeing, there is plenty of that too.
It was getting late and we went walking out a bit further into the shopping district. It
was there we noticed bright lights, a large crowd and plenty of expensive cars. We pulled
out the camera, rushed over and snapped a picture of the first thing we saw,
which....wasn't really too much.
After talking with the local folks
we figured out that this was the Hugo Boss store's grand opening in Milan and we may see
some celebrities if we hang around long enough. Figuring we had an "in" to this
event, we pulled out our press badges and tried to get by security. Unfortunately we were
bounced. So among the crowd with the other paparazzi we waited and waited and waited
and...
...then about an hour later Ian recognized Italian football star Albertini as he arrived
for the gala. Like the rest of the people, we got this picture of him and then waited and
waited and waited for well over an hour until...
...the crowd started cheering, people started rushing forward and flash bulbs began
flashing. In the excitement we took a picture too, but the truth is we don't even know who
this beautiful blonde lady is that everyone was so enamored with. We thought we heard
someone say she was a model and that seemed to make sense. Still, we never found out her
name. If you know who this is, please e-mail feedback@soundstage.com
and perhaps it will make us feel better about waiting some two hours to get her picture.
Krispy Kreme donuts in Las Vegas obviously pale in comparison to gelato in Italy. Ian
White attempts to stuff the entire cone down his throat in one gulp. "Gelato, is
there anything it can't do?"
- Show Coverage: Doug Schneider and Ian White
- Additional Editing: Marc Mickelson
- Digital Photo Editing: Doug Schneider
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