Every industry attracts its fair share of nerdlingers, nut balls and sociopathic weirdoes. For instance, if you’re looking for a heated debate with serious thought and well-reasoned point and counterpoint rhetoric on which Star Trek is the best Star Trek, then head to ANY comic book store. (Or for any derivative discussions such as “who is better, Kirk or Picard," "Who wins in a fight between Superman or Batman,” “DC versus Marvel” or the new classic “Harry Potter vs Lord of the Rings." ) To rile higher brow nerds, stop into a computer store and declare that supremacy of Unix/Linux/Windows/Mac OS and how all other operating systems are garbage. And then be prepared to defend yourself.

But in my experience, the A/V press and PR world seems to attract an abnormally high percentage of cool people.  Not only people that know their A/V stuff in and out, but people who seem to be funny and clever and actually knowledgeable about real flesh-and-blood things outside of their supposed realm of expertise. The kind of people that you could sit across from at a dinner table and talk about shark tattoos (Pippa from Runco), how real wasabi is made and rate restaurant ever opened (Sparky from Niles), the inevitability of a drunk, naked and Asian future (Ashley from Caster) or just someone who will let you eat the lobster off their plate (Josephine from Russound). Quite of few of these A/V people are actually even married. To real people!

On my trip to Russound’s New Hampshire HQ last month, I got to spend some serious time with my latest cool-person find, Darryl Wilkinson; THE Darryl Wilkinson of Home Theater Magazine. Of course, with the incestuous circles that we press run in, I was definitely familiar with Darryl. As in, “Hey, look! That guy! That’s Darryl Wilkinson.” But not familiar as in “Hey, Darryl. Why don’t you go to the bar and get me a drink. You knows hows I likes it.” Want to know what gets you to that next level of knowing Darryl? Spending a forced hour in the back of a limo together. What I found is that Darryl is (frighteningly) a lot like myself. He is also one of the few other A/V writers that actually have a background in working with this stuff (Darryl pulled a near 13 year tour at Bjorn’s Audio Video). So that earns him a TON of respect and street cred from me. (Note: Street cred from me carries a good ris of LOWERING your actual street cred...)

So, when I got back from the trip, I reached out to Darryl, and I thought I’d share some of our e-mails.

Darryl:

Wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed getting to know you these past couple of days. I love the irreverence and biting wit! Seems like a lot of times it is difficult or awkward to reach over the fence to really get to know someone from another book, but I feel like we’re really cut from the same cloth. Hope you'll get a chance to check out my blog and won't immediately delete me from your iPad RSS feed. Siri says, "NO!!!" :-) (Siri is an app for iPhone/Pad that Russound’s Senior technology researcher, and principal worshiper at the Steve Jobs’ Church of iPad Holiness, Michael Stein turned us on to.)

Cheers, and I hope you made it home without too much drama... (My flight from Boston landed an hour late, giving me 10 minutes to cross Charlotte from B to D. I grabbed a handicap shuttle and dashed over just in the nick....)

John

Hey Mr. Sicacca, (A cruel reference to the misspelling of my name on the limo placard)

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. Blackberries (the edible kind, not the horrendous phone-calling thingee that I had in NH) and apples are ready for picking/prepping; the grass is growing like weeds (which it mostly is); and the rest of our “farm” is keeping me quite busy these days.

I also really enjoyed getting to you know better at Russound, and I’ve really appreciated reading your blog. It’s filled with humorous wit and biting sarcasm, which is not always easy to do.  I don’t know how you find time to work a job full-time and also write – but keep it up.

I made it home without any drama at all, although the hotel I stayed at near the airport was unfortunately near the airport so I got very little sleep that night.  

BTW, I didn’t appreciate the dissing you gave to the iPad in one of your latest blogs. It will retain its value, and eventually everyone in the world will have one. You obviously didn’t get enough hands on with it at Russound. Michael Stein, Steve Jobs, and I will be at your house soon to beat you up for your comments.

Another BTW – the Droid X phone is almost as awesome as the iPad. I’ve begun sleeping with both of them, which makes me a two-timing gadgetophile, but I don’t care. (Unfortunately, I’ve had to move my blow-up doll to the closet.)

Darryl

Darryl:

Blackberry picking takes me back.....my aunt owned a house in Oregon and we would pick ourselves silly. And then come home and lick the blackberry juice from our wounds. Those vines are right vicious bastards!

I'll tell how I find the time for the full-time job, writing and blogging... I've hired out a team of Chinese girls that write for $.001 per word. They work in a small, poorly lit, under-ventilated room with just a single Commodore 64 computer between them and a 14.4 modem as their only connection to the outside world. When they aren't stamping out some silicon IC or sewing counterfeit Polo ponies on T-shirts or turning some piece of plastic crap into a Prada, they collaborate together on "my" writings. I've told them to channel the writings of a brilliant, powerful, incredibly virile and desirable man. And then filter it through their own anger, rage and bitterness over being trapped in a dark and musty room with no sense of hope or light at the end of the tunnel.  However, what you say about the negative iPad comments concerns me greatly! I've told them that absolutely under NO circumstances are they to disparage the iPad in anyway. I'll be sure and give them an extra ration of motivational beatings today, and reduce them to one 20 second standing potty break.

I think that I would rather get between a mother grizzly and her cub than try and take Michael Stein's iPad away. I think his eyes would roll back, he would start foaming at the mouth and he would just bludgeon you to death and then scratch your eyes out, all the while moaning, "Noooooooo!!!!!" If I were on a jury in his case, I would accept "he tried to take my iPad away" as a clear case for justifiable jealous rage.

Regarding your two timing the iPad with the droid... Clearly, the iPad is SO sexy that it is safe to consider it a "she." However, I don't see any way to consider the Droid X anything but a "he." And, frankly, it surprises me that you would be "into" a Devil's three-way....

Let me know when you're up for a game of Pad shuffle....

Best,

John "i before c, expect after S" Sciacca

PS: Did you see my shout out to you in my Sky Mall 2.0 blog post? It is the IR system pulling a Houdini with the projector. Props given where props are earned.....

John

Saw it. Thanks for the mention. I was curious as to why I didn’t see my title, “Best A/V Editor in the World”; but that’s ok.

Darryl:

Would you settle for "SECOND BEST A/V editor....." :-)

Give in...Follow Me on Facebook. You know you want to..... (Frankly, that bit of advice goes for the lot of you. Apparently something magical happens when I get to 20 followers. I think I am assigned my own personal unicorn Pegasus or something. Don't you be the one that is keeping me from flying around jabbing things with a one-horned killing machine...)

Darryl:

See that you're Following me now... Knew you'd come around! :-)

Thanks,

John "First Best A/V Editor" Sciacca