food

We understand they'll be built right here in Australia (at the Rode factory), and the demo we saw was nothing short of gobsmacking. If you want to catch part of the presentation we saw (not the demo), then have a peek here.

No doubt we'll be publishing heaps on this event over the next weeks and months, because it was a trip that has left indelible memories on all of us.

But this post is about beer & bulls**t in Las Vegas. It can happen anywhere. Try clothes shopping in Vegas "oh honey, that looks great on you" etc... Tone and I decided to sit and grab a pitcher of beer each while Dean was playing the slots at the airport.

So, we're faced with a small selection of tapped beers at the little 'bar and grill' at McCarran International. Budweiser, Bud Light, and a couple of beers we'd not yet had a go at. One was a stout, and we thought 40+ degrees Celsius was simply too hot for a stout. So we asked about the fourth beer on tap. "We've never had a #$%^ before, what's it like?"

"Oh, sure...have you ever had Stella Artois? It's just like that"

"Great...2 big ones please, and don't hold back on the froth"

What a crock. It tasted very similar to (yes, we've had many beers in this life) Carlton Draught served out of the dreg-i-est pipes imaginable, with a couple of tabs of artificial sweetner chucked in each pitcher for good measure.

So what's the point?

We simply can't imagine saying it with a straight face. What happened to "I don't know man, I haven't tried it." How about cutting out the bulls**t and giving it to us straight. If you know about it, then talk about it...if you don't know, then say so. That's what we do, so it's what we expect. At least I suffered no ill effects from the hotdog he served up.

And while we're at it, hats off to Peter Freedman. He took us 3 simple blokes from Factory Sound all the way to deep in the heart of  bulls**t-ville Nevada, and through all the smoke and mirrors allowed his new Event Opal monitors speak for themselves. Sure his presentation was snappy, and the surrounds intoxicating (very intoxicating). But the fact remains that when we finally heard the speakers we'd flown halfway around the world to hear, we were all smiles after hearing sounds in songs we'd never heard before.

No Bulls**t.

Onya Opal, and congratulations to Peter and your team. We look forward to getting some Opal love in store before we kiss 2008 goodnight.