SXSW, Day 3: Friday, 3/14

Yes, it's Friday! And that means: It's the weekend! And that means: The Vampire watch begins!

But first, in order to guarantee that I'm inside the famous club Antone's when VW takes the stage at 11 p.m., I need to get there for the first act and stay put. Will I be lucky with the three unknown-to-me bands leading up to the main attraction? Ken Richardson here, yet again, inviting you to read on.

SXSW, Day 2: Thursday, 3/13

As I warned you in SXSW: The Night Before (under Rule No. 4), tonight is the night I make my pilgrimage to Soiled Mattress & the Springs. The photo at left is the opening image on the band's MySpace page — and I can't think of anything better to sum up their . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself again. Ken Richardson here, folks, inviting you to click below for another wild night at SXSW.

Bohemian Higher-Def Rhapsody

Have you got a favorite film that’s never been released on DVD? I have — in fact it never came out on laserdisc and is virtually impossible to get on VHS. I acquired a tape copy of Montparnasse 19 , also known as Modigliani Montparnasse 19 and The Lovers of Montparnasse while working at a certain video distributing company who didn't pick up the release rights. Neither did anyone else, except a small unit that no longer exists. Montparnasse 19 goes unrecognized in the history of cinema, even though its creator, Jacques Becker, is a renowned French filmmaker of such classics as Le Trou (The Hole) and Casque d’Or (Golden Marie). To my mind, though, it’s a masterpiece far superior to these titles, a film as perfect in its own world and form as Citizen Kane or Casablanca.

SXSW Keynote: Reed on Sound

"I have a B.A. in dope, but a Ph.D. in soul."

That, of course, is the line extracted for today’s front page of The Austin Chronicle, reporting on yesterday’s SXSW keynote interview of Lou Reed, conducted by producer and friend Hal Willner.

And sure, it’s a great quote, but it’s even better when you get the full context that preceded it, which the Chronicle never gives:

After reciting lyrics from "Rock Minuet," Reed said the following: "People say, 'Is this stuff real?' Dance to a rock minuet — when you dance hard, slow-dancing, repetitive, when you dance to a rock minuet. People say, 'How would you know that? You’re joking, right? You're supposed to give qualifications for lyrics. You gotta be joking.' "

And then came the answer: "I have a B.A. in dope, but a Ph.D. in soul."

Reed is indeed a man of many things. He and Willner were ostensibly at the Austin Convention Center yesterday morning to promote Julian Schnabel’s film of Lou Reed’s Berlin. But the musician aired out many of his passions in his talk with Willner. Most intriguing for readers of Sound & Vision, he spent more time discussing sound quality than anything else.

Pandigital Beats Microsoft to Kitchen HDTV Punch

Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show, Bill Gates likes to get up on stage and make a fuss about "the connected home of the future" and its associated gadgets, which often include a smart kitchen counter top, refrigerator and recipe screen. Gates has been yammering about this for years, but haven't yet seen a kitchen gadget for sale from Microsoft.

Tiny digital picture frame manufacturer Pandigital, however, just announced something we would have expected from MS: the $400 Kitchen HDTV/Digital Cookbook/Digital Photo Frame, available in June.

Canadians Blame Themselves for HD Ignorance

Oh, Canada. Your enthusiasm and honesty knows no bounds. You're ready to leap head-first into new technologies without bothering with minor details like how these technologies work.

In a study commissioned by Sharp Electronics, only 5% of Canadians defined themselves as "very knowledgeable" about high-def terms like 1080p and response times. Nearly 50% said they were "not at all knowledgeable" about HD basics." About 30% said they only get information about HDTV from television commercials. What refreshing forthrightness!

SXSW, Day 1: Wednesday, 3/12

Hey, here's an official SXSW logo! As you may have seen from the S&V home page, our Web man Rob Medich was able to grab one (those computer guys are, y'know, adept). So, inspired by his adeptness, I finally found one, too. No more ripping off The Austin Chronicle (see my previous post).

Anyway, yesterday was indeed Day 1 at SXSW 2008, and here's my report on what I heard. Apologies for the delay, but if you think it's always quick and easy to blog, think again! Computer troubles, band Web-site troubles, download troubles — you name it! Not to mention the fact that I did have to check out Lou Reed's keynote interview this morning, which included much of interest for S&V readers. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Read on for Day 1, by yours truly, Ken Richardson.

$1 Billion Charge to Format-War Loser: Did Toshiba Get Off Easy?

To design a consumer electronics product and ramp up its production costs lots and lots of money. To shut down the conveyor belts after marketing is already in full swing costs even more. Still, it sure hurt: Japanese business paper The Nikkei reported Thursday that Toshiba is expected to take a loss of nearly $1 billion in the financial year ending March 31.

Even More Flat-Panel TVs Go Sharp

In yet another move towards the total generic-ization of flat-screen TVs, LG said this week that it would buy 32-inch and 52-inch LCD panels from Sharp. Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic have all recently gotten on the Sharp LCD bandwagon as well. LG's largest rival Samsung's LCD TV sets still feature their own panels, though.

Blu-ray Buyers: Early Bird Catches the Bargain

Data from shopping site Pricegrabber.com showing that Blu-ray player prices have increased since the beginning of the year hammers home the sting of the early-adopter trade-off: Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

For savvy buyers of Blu-ray players just after the holidays, the win was big. Not only did they get to enjoy their Blu-ray movies nearly three months earlier than many of us, but they experienced the satisfaction that comes with supporting a champion format through a format war. Icing on the cake is the fact that every standalone Blu-ray player has gone up in price since Jan. 1 due to higher demand and lack of HD DVD competition.