Darryl Wilkinson

Sunday is the day of the week when I like to sit back, relax, and ponder the unanswered questions in life. On the third and final day of the Home Entertainment show, I was startled to discover that both April Music and May Audio were here in the hotel. Was it by sheer coincidence, or was something more sinister going on? Then, of course, there's the follow up question of why April and May were the only months involved? What devious mastermind could be behind this - and does it have anything to do with fluoride in the water supply?

The doors to the Home Entertainment 2005 show officially opened to the public in Manhattan Friday, and five floors of the New York Hilton were jammed with attendees. It's truly an international, multicultural event. I personally heard at least five languages being spoken - English, French, Spanish, Audiophilish, and Wowish (none of which am I fluent in). Here are some highlights of what could be found the first hectic day of HE2005 (and the press day that preceded it).

Those of us still mourning the imminent and unstoppable demise of VOOM, the ill-fated HD-centric satellite service, are being offered a reduced price on a second chance at HD nirvana from DIRECTV. Although it's small consolation to the thirty-some thousand VOOM devotees who are at this moment longingly stroking their VOOM remote controls and asking, "Why? Why me?", at least it's something.

After a short pit stop, HDNet and NASCAR are once again putting the pedal to the metal. Both organizations jointly revealed the schedule for the second season of NASCAR's HDTV package to be telecast by HDNet. The pioneering HD network will feature a total of 20 live HD telecasts from NASCAR Grand National Division races. The NASCAR Grand National Division (for those living in blue states who have no earthly idea what we're talking about) includes two independent NASCAR series, the Busch North Series and the West Series (the West Coast's oldest stock car racing circuit), which feature drivers competing using identical race cars. (Well, they're not exactly identical or we wouldn't be able to tell them apart.) HDNet will provide additional coverage of some races from NASCAR's AutoZone Division. With each car in the race powered by a 350 to 358 cubic-inch V-8 engine and weighing a minimum of 3,300 pounds, the series of telecasts will be a high-definition orgy of minimum miles per gallon and maximum emissions. (Oh, what the heck. We all need something to keep our minds off the ever escalating price of gasoline.)