THE BURGERMEISTER ...

It was Lights, Camera, Action this morning in Berlin as the Internationale Funkausstellung -- or IFA as it's more commonly called -- one of the world's largest consumer electronics shows, officially opened its doors to the public. My role here is to talk about future home entertainment technologies and, let me tell you, things were hopping all day. Moments after the show opened, I heard that a Local Political Bigwig -- the Burgermeister of Berlin (pictured above) -- was on his way over. "Hmmm," I thought, "Maybe he'll present me with the keys to the city." Nothing, as it turned out, could be further from the truth. No sooner did he arrive, then a swarm of Pesky Paparazzi swooped in out of nowhere and elbowed me aside. It was hard to tell whether they were more attracted by the Burgermeister or his Tour Guide, "Miss IFA," the Ubiquitous Red-Headed Spokesmodel, famous for posing suggestively with all kinds of consumer electronics products. The Happy Couple spent a few minutes checking out our demonstrations, then continued along their merry way.