Defining Alan's Italy

As I have told people over the course of the past year, the name Alan's Italy was chosen purposely because the various projects that developed from the TV show are a personal statement of my view of Italy. Through my experiences over the past twenty years of travel I have come to define a journey that is an outgrowth of my personality, with all its flaws. All of my abilities and deficiencies have clearly emerged in this endeavor, just as they have in my professional life. Indeed as a mathematics educator I had to reach goals that were sometimes hindered by aspects of my various jobs that were beyond my capability. Even becoming a high school supervisor would not have been possible had I been forced the pass the New York City Mathematics Chairman Exam that existed prior to the mid 70's. I was never a math scholar, as many of my fellow chairmen were, and only because the nature of the requirement had been modified was I able to compete, and indeed to succeed.

When I began the television program and the other projects such as my lectures, blogs, and books, I knew there would be things that would cloud my quest for "perfection." I cannot speak fluent Italian, for example, which honestly only hurts me in two ways. First, and foremost, it may have prevented me from becoming closer with some of the native Italians who are a part of my life, like Luca's partner, Mary, Mary's daughter Maria Cristina, Luca's daughter Greta, and many members of Lidia's family. I have tried at least three times to learn the language, and given up in the middle after having made significant progress each time. It is partly that reason that prevents me from trying again. Second, people are always asking me if I speak fluent Italian, and that is more of an embarrassment than anything else. The fact is that during my seventeen years of Italian travel when I held down full or part-time jobs, I just didn't have the time. Now that I am retired, I am heavily into TV production, writing, and lecturing. I get by, but there is always the cloud that follows me around like that cloud of dust that goes wherever that character goes in the comic strip, Peanuts. I was at a party recently where two friends of mine were really getting to me over this issue. I hope my irritation did not come through too much, but I fear that someday it will.

There are other "deficiencies" like my inability to perform the perfect show. As I watch them afterward, there are always faux pas along the way, some of which I correct on a subsequent show, and some I don't bother with. I really try to be better, and I study my performances constantly focussing on ways to improve. There IS a marked difference as time has gone on. Also, my knowledge of Italian culture, history, and art are lacking primarily due to my lack of ANY formal education. Everything is self taught. Yes I have audited courses at Bard College, but without the pressure of tests and papers, I only have only superficially enhanced my overall knowledge. Another thing is that I have never spent more than 2 1/2 weeks at a time in Italy. Many people with whom I come into contact have spent much more time there, and are always shocked that I haven't. They are also shocked that I don't ever want to live there. In fact so many things "shock" people that after a while I just don't even want to talk about the Italian passion thing at parties. At first I did, and when people brought up the show or books, it pleased me. Now it has become an irritant, and I dread having to yet again make excuses. ENOUGH !!!!

I am who I am. I know what I know. Everything I am and know is Alan's Italy, not Bob's Italy, or Sidney's Italy, or simply Italy. Leave me alone already ! You get what is there, no matter how tainted it might be. I never claimed to be an expert, and in fact made that clear on my first show, and many subsequent ones trying vainly to express the fact that I am presenting Italy as I see it, feel it, and experience it, and now that I have yet again expressed this fact in this blog, I feel much better.

So with all of these deficiencies I have somehow managed to get to Italy twenty times, make friends with several natives, three of whom are very dear to me, experience some amazing things, visited extraordinary places and gotten quite a bit out of that experience, and produced a cable TV show, written two books, numerous blogs, lectured before as many as thirty-five people, planned several dozen trips for people, taught in two continuing education programs, developed and maintained a website (www.alansitaly.com) and finally, and most importantly have had a wonderful time, and even, dare I say it, made somewhat of an impact on the Italian Fascination, Italian Mystique (what is it
called ? Sigh, yet another deficiency of mine, the inability to define the pervading amazement with Italy).

Nonetheless, I cherish my blogs one of which you are now reading, as well as my "mysterious" readers who refuse to reveal themselves to me, ever. I see that perhaps 80 to 100 people have come to this site on a weekly basis, growing by the weeks, and I like that and hope I have entertained and interested you. A little encouragement would be helpful, but it is not necessary. I have no trouble sustaining this narrative of my experiences with Alan's Italy, so thank you once again, and I do hope you understand me a little better now.

Adventures in Broadcasting

It was 4 PM and I was ready to leave for the studio. Ellen called to say, "Time Warner cable is not working. We do not seem to be broadcasting." "Impossible," I replied, "I am watching it now." We agreed to try to do a show and Ellen suggested that Laura call us at 5:05 to let us know if there was indeed a show being broadcast. I arrived at the studio, set up for the show, found out the Spanish Dancer would be practicing next door in the Community Center, and off we went into the evening's broadcast. As I was into the first few minutes, my wife called me on my cell indicating that there was nothing coming across her TV at home related to Alan's Italy. There was, however, the usual public service announcements that come across when no scheduled program is on. Suddenly Ellen realized that she had failed to pull a switch and did so immediately it was indicated to me over the phone that all was working well. I asked Ellen if we should start over, but she said that the DVD machine was working well, and that was the most important. I went back a few minutes reiterating some announcements for the people who watch live and missed those items I had spoken of at the outset. And off we went. It was fun talking about my favorite museums, but it is always a challenge with the Spanish Dancer doing her thing right beyond the door.

I spoke a little about our trip to Venice in May/June 2013 (see my next blog entry).Other than that first show a year ago on Venice, I haven't created much on it, so this is a great opportunity. I hope to obtain press credentials for the preview period which will permit me to interview some of the Biennale participants. I would also like to tour the city with several shows in mind such as the Jewish Ghetto, some famous bridges and churches, and perhaps some other famous museums. A significant portion of the material I will bring back will center around the 55th Biennale itself. I will also take day-trips to two cities that have always eluded me such as Padua and Ravenna. Padua if a short train ride from Venice, but Ravenna more of a challenge since it requires a change of trains, probably in Bologna. I am determined to finally get to view the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua after making and breaking two reservations during the past decade. For one reason or another there was always an issue that prevented me from getting there. Ravenna is the venue for the extraordinary Byzantine Mosaics

Tune in to Youtube for tonight's show # 46 - Secret Treasures of Florence focusing on the extraordinary eleven museums that are among my favorites in Florence. Next week we return to the Illuminated Photo Sculpture of Franc Palaia picking up where we left off last time.

A Celebration Dampened by Tragedy

I awoke Friday morning eager to celebrate my first year of Alan's Italy. It was hard to believe that the project that started on December 9 as a pilot, but really began the next Friday, December 16 as a live broadcast, had been repeated 43 additional times, and blossomed into a whole enterprise (not for profit, of course) which has included lectures, books, and some minor acclaim. I had my car repaired, spend two hours at the Y, walking two miles and swimming laps, and then came home to hone the final design of the show. I sat in my den as I reviewed the slide show I had prepared highlighting the most beautiful and meaningful photos I had shown during the previous year. I modified the choice of my favorite videos we had taken since 2006 when we first started to use digital photography, and then was satisfied that I had a show which I wanted.

A few minutes later my friend texted me about the terrible tragedy that had occurred in Conn, and I turned on the TV to witness the unspeakable and unimaginable horror that had befallen citizens of this country. It is almost impossible to imagine the thought of sending your child to school, and having them murdered by a madman. As a father and grandfather I can empathize, but really as my mother told me when her daughter, my sister, in 1981 was killed in a car accident, "Alan, there is no feeling that even comes close to the overwhelming sadness that overcomes a parent when they lose a child." I was riveted to the TV for about an hour, but could not stop tearing up, so after a while I turned off the Television.

I had in this space originally a paragraph on how I thought schools throughout this country could prevent violence, but then changed my mind about voicing my opinion about a topic about which I am hardly an expert. About 4 or 5 people may have read it, and I honestly feel better about dealing with this national tragedy by letting the professionals advise. I apologize to those people for voicing my opinion about such a calamity. I think I will stick to opinions about Italy and my own issues with my TV show. I do believe that the United States has to come to grips with this problem happening way too often.

Please tune in to the show or Youtube next week for what is so far planned to be a study of the sculpture of Marino Marini as found in the wonderful museum in Florence which honors his outstanding work, and/or to this blog for further reflections on Alan's Italy.

Sigh, Almost Perfect (except for several errors)

During the week prior to doing a show I put together the entire presentation on Monday at the latest, and it is assumed that throughout the coming week, I will be altering a variety of aspects. I also check spelling of names and places and dates trying my very best to be perfect. This previous week was no different, as I combed through everything working diligently. On Friday evening, I arrived at the studio very early, about 4:15 and Ellen and I set up everything, and did the various sound checks, lighting arrangements, and made sure everything was ready. Then I took a 10 minute nap, and at about 4:55 went back to the table checked a few things on my computer, and proclaimed to Ellen that I was ready and just await her word and we will be on our way yet again, for the 44th time. We did everything and I launched into a show that I had been planning and looking forward to for months. I love the churches of Florence. Ever since my first visit in 1992 I have been studying the art in just about all the churches but with an eye to 3 of them, Ognissanti, Santa Trinita and Santa Maria Novella. I have never been to Florence and not visited those three. I know quite a bit about them, and also continued to do some research the week before. One of the reasons I love these so much and have spent so much time there is that they display the art of Domenico Ghirlandaio in situ, that is in the spot they were created. The chapels he had adorned are among the most amazing in the world. The Tournabuoni in Santa Maria Novella, and Sassetti in Santa Trinita are unbelievable in their realism, linear perspective, and color. I have studied Ghirlandaio for years and have a giant book about his life and work. As I indicate on the show I love the story told by Irving Stone in the Agony and the Ecstasy of how Ghirlandaio gave Michelangelo his start in the year 1488. When I began to do the show I just knew it was going to be amazing, and the only problem I could foresee was to temper my enthusiasm or else I might lose my concentration. As I performed the show, I was about as excited as I have ever been, and even during the show said to myself, this is just going to be the best show ever. Then as I viewed the slide showing the famous self portrait of Ghirlandaio with the dates of life indicated at the bottom, I realized that instead of indicating "1449 - 1494" I had printed "1949 - 1494". (Incidentally look at those numbers !!!)I felt like crawling under the table and never coming out. I was so angry with myself, that it was all I could do maintain my calm as I plowed through the next few minutes. That's what happens when you do a live show; there is absolutely no room for error. I didn't cave in, but carried on very well, much better than I thought I would. A year ago, I would sat there wondering why I did this project of Alan's Italy at all, probably telling the audience what a dunce I was. I indicated on this show that it was an error indicating some consternation, but then I was fine.

As I was reviewing the uploaded version to Youtube, I realized that I had made even more mistakes. I refer to the special anniversary show as being shown on Dec 7 instead of Dec 14. I also referred to the long part of the church as the "apse" instead of as the "nave". Perfection and I have not yet met and probably never will. Ah the essence of the live show !!!!

As my readers have already realized, although I have an outstanding life with excellent health, life is indeed a challenge for me. Nothing has or ever has for that matter come easily. Some of this has been revealed here in my blogs, and some in my two books. My third book also talks about that. I struggle with just about everything, good or bad, and continually fight myself amid my proclivity for being anything but perfect. Most friends and family have told me that it is impossible to be perfect for anyone, not just me. Why I even try to be so is a mystery to me. Nonetheless I carry on, do well, at least as I suspect people think of me, and as I have indicated, manage to somehow entertain and interest people with my passion for Italy. And of course thank you so much for putting up with me and reading these blogs. Next week, Dec 14, I will celebrate the one year anniversary of Alan's Italy with a special retrospective slide show and some never before seen videos of my travels. I hope you tune in to take a look. On December 21 I start my second year with Ric Hirst narrating a show on the very underrated and largely unknown artist Marino Marini.

BP and AP - Before Panic and After Panic

I just read an article in Time Magazine which discussed the Obama/Romney campaign, before the first debate and after. Before the debate Obama had a 3.3 % lead in the popular vote and after Romney had pulled out in front, indicating the concept as BD and AD (Before Denver - the location of the debate - and After Denver). I admit my show does not carry as much prestige as a national presidential debate for example 65 million people watched the first debate and perhaps 65 people watch my show live at 5 PM on Woodstock Public Access Television (actually there is not way to tell, but I keep hearing about more and people who apparently watch it live). Of course many more people watch Alan's Italy on the "carousel" a device used by the TV station to broadcast the show as a repeat - as many as 19 times during the week- two weeks after the live broadcast. Then, of course, probably about 125 people watch me on Youtube each week.

Nonetheless, an event occurred on my show at about 5:35 PM slightly more than half way through which replicated the concept of Before and After. In this case it was that I sort of had a very minor "panic attack." I suffer from anxiety disorder and have had a number of anxiety or panic attacks over the course of my life, but deal with chronic anxiety regularly. To me it makes the idea of doing a weekly TV show live an even more amazing feat, but I have never let my problems prevent me from realizing my dreams and goals (as I talk a lot about in my second book and I indicated to a minor degree in my previous blog). I even spent my professional life as an assistant principal, which obviously necessitated conducting meetings, lecturing, and making speeches before sometimes hundreds of people. Ok, so here I am between 5 and 5:35 completely relaxed, "strolling" through the piazzas of Florence having a great time reliving experiences I had there over the past 20 years. Then at 5:35 I glanced at the clock and realized I had only about 15 minutes to do perhaps 30 minutes of show. Although most people probably didn't notice, perhaps nobody did, from that point on I started to make more mistakes and forget things I know normally on the tip of my fingers, so to speak. BP (P = Panic) I remembered everything I had reviewed about the show, names of places, years, dates, people, and AP I could not remember things that I would never forget. For example when I got to the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, one of my favorite 3 piazzas, and one on which I have spent perhaps 100 hours, and know every nook and cranny, I forgot the name of the hotel right at the crease between the cloister of the Church of Santa Maria Novella, and the spot where the commercial enterprises begin. The hotel, which every Florentinophile knows is, of course, the Hotel Minerva. When I got to the Piazza Italiana dell'Unita I forgot both hotels, the Majestic and one of the most well known hotels in Florence, the Hotel Baglioni. When I got to the Piazza Cestello, I referred to the church as the Church of Cestello instead the actual name Church of San Frediano in Cestello, a church I have stared at from my balcony at my hotel on via della Scala, Hotel Croce di Malta for years as I sit there staring at the southern view of Florence. I can go on and on, but the point is that before 5:35 and after that, the show changed and I was a different person, although as I watched it closely a few minutes ago don't see how anyone would have noticed a difference, except that I was obviously rushing, but from my face and manner there was no noticeable difference. Someone who knows Florence may have noticed something, but otherwise my problem was, duh, in my head, as it always it.

So here was a peek into the mind of Alan, and at my age who cares who knows. In fact perhaps those people who have experienced anxiety know what I am taking about. A variety of things happen when a person is undergoing an anxiety attack, and for each person it is different. For me it is forgetting things, but much worse than that is getting nervous about forgetting things - in fact what psychologists call "fear of fear." Then there are two problems that manifest itself, the problem itself and the fear of the problem. From 5:35 until the show ended at 6, I fought through it, which is good news for me, because knowing that it is not debilitating is a big plus. Experience is the best teacher, so for everyone who experiences anxiety, maybe this story will be helpful. As always, thanks for reading or graze per la lettura.

Book writing and other horrors

I have never been that successful in any endeavor in which I ever engaged, except perhaps teaching and supervising mathematics, my professional career for 41 years. I have always considered myself a "6" on the scale of 1 to 10 in everything I ever attempted such as swimming, guitar playing, TV production, and now book writing. Nonetheless, I never let that stop me from pursuing my dreams and goals. Even as a blogger I am a "6". Lately with these two books I have written, this is becoming more obvious to me. My two books are not great, really, except the second one is greater than than the first, maybe a "7". I do have a story to tell and can be interesting to listen to in conversation or in blogging (or hosting a TV show). I will just not let my limitations prevent my story from being told regardless of how imperfect I am as a writer of blogs, books, etc. Even my story might also be a "6" who knows. That being said I will now tell you how difficult it is to write a book. My goal in writing books first of all was to tell my story, but especially for my descendants to know who I was. My biggest frustration is not having known anything about my ancestors ! Even my own father and sometimes mother were a mystery to me. I will not let that happen for my grandchild, great grandchildren, or anyone else who might be interested to know who I was.

I am using the online publisher Xlibris as many of you know. They have been fairly wonderful, but the process has its limitations. For one thing, although they claim to provide editing services, they do not proofread to a large degree, especially names of people and places, and Italian words. Because of that my first book seems to have a few mistakes (as I have indicated here). Other than spelling Ric Hirst's name wrong, I apparently also misspelled the name of my friend and frequent guest on my show, Franc Palaia, the great artistic genius with whom I love talking. In the Table of Contents, no less, I spelled his first name, Frank. He also told me a few hours ago I also spelled the Biennale wrong (Bienale in the book). To me this is very bad, although in the long run, I meant no harm, only to laud those who have been kind to me and have had great impact on my life, and tell my story. Both gentlemen have been wonderful even though I botched their names, but that's probably why I love them as I do. In the second book, I have made those corrections, but who knows how many other errors are lurking. I have even made those corrections in the first book for yet another fee. Xlibris will publish your book and it will look professional. They will provide a lot of service for not that much cost, and many of their representatives are outstanding individuals. Some are not, however, that good at calling or e mailing back to me, although I must admit I ask for a lot from them usually. I would surely use them again, but with the understanding that it won't be the perfect process. They have even given me my own website (paid for actually), and even that has been a hassle. It is certainly for me better than writing a book and leaving it in a pile of papers somewhere in my house or on a computer, where someday nobody will know the story waiting to be told.

All that being said, I can tell you how difficult the book writing has been for me, reading, rereading, rereading again and again and again....., and suffering through a process that is very hard. Nonetheless, I have somehow managed to tell two of my stories in print, one out already and the other soon to be. I guarantee that the second book, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey will not be perfect. I can guarantee that it will be a heartfelt, readable account of my experiences, truly honest, straightforward, and expressed from me to my readers with a sentimental and grateful slant. I have been to amazing places throughout Italy, and made wonderful friendships, and I believe those stories are very interesting. I have been a privileged person, and my only desire during my final years on the planet is to give back as much as I can to a world that has been very kind to me. I hope that anyone who reads my books forgives me for being imperfect, but can appreciate the story, the difficulty in telling it, and my sometimes poor judgement in revealing a really personal and intimate part of me that just yearns to be shared. Thanks again for reading.

Near disaster, an apology, & stunning creativity

At about 1 PM today as I began preparing for my show for 4 hrs hence, I suddenly realized that my cables were missing. Without them my show is non existent !! I was stunned and couldn't figure out where they were. At first I thought someone had stolen them, then realized that last Friday night with all the excitement of Ric being there, things being exchanged (books etc), and all the conversation and distraction that ensued, I must have left the cables in the studio. I panicked, called Ellen and dragged her out of her house to take me to the studio and see if we could find them. Eventually we did find them on the console, where she and I had left them 7 days earlier. We were very lucky. I wasn't even sure where and how I came by them over a year ago, when the show started. I came home, relaxed a while, grabbed something to eat, and then headed back to the studio to do the show, another disaster averted. I was angry with myself for being so careless with equipment that are absolutely essential and critical to my being able to do the TV show. How could I be so careless I kept telling myself, pointing a finger at myself for being so distracted whenever Ellen and I have a guest speaker to interview. Tonight I really concentrated, and have hopefully learned a lesson. I like my solo shows, when it's only Ellen and I quietly going about our business.

I started the show with an apology to Ric Hirst for constantly spelling his name incorrectly, Herst instead of Hirst. I indicated a lack of concentration, more evidence of my having way too much on my mind lately. I also spoke about the legend of the bull's testicles in the Milan Galleria; watch the show, Then Franc Palaia did the show I had been looking forward to for a long time, his Illuminated Photo Sculpture. His genius as an artist blows me away; he is so incredibly creative and imaginative it is amazing. The show was very smooth and I just watched about half of it. Franc is amazing and we will do Part 2 in a few weeks. We also spoke about two future shows for the winter and spring.

I also during the show revealed my still a bit unfinished website to my viewing audience. Although about 90 % finished, I just couldn't wait to show the link. I was notified by my publisher that my second book should get here in about 2 weeks. Cannot wait for that.

Buona notte.

Alan's Italy Website - www.alansitaly.com

My new website is now operational, and although not totally complete does serve the purpose of unifying links to all my various activities related to Alan's Italy. You will be able to go to that site and from there get to my two blogs (including this one), view my teaching activities, go to all the episodes of my TV show, and take a look at my books, Alan's Italy: The Birth of  Television Show and Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey. There will be also be links to the purchase of the books although the second one is not quite ready as yet. Eventually, probably in a few days, there will also be a summary of my current and impending events and activities that my audience might find interesting. The website also contains twelve favorite photos, all personally chosen by my photographer, Laura Gurton. The blog you are now reading will, however, continue to be the definitive guide to my inner feelings and thoughts about all aspects of the TV show. I welcome any and all current followers as well as anyone new to this blog to take a look, visit frequently, and as always, feel free to e mail me at Alansitaly@gmail.com with any comments or requesting travel advice. Tomorrow's show # 42 will focus on some well known views of Italy through the artistic and talented eyes of Franc Palaia in the most unusual presentation format I have ever seen. Please join us live at Woodstock Public Access Television or on Youtube.

A Dedication, A Correction, and Ric's Magic

As I was preparing the show which would focus on the second part of the analysis of the Museum of the Duomo's great art in Florence, I decided to include a couple of items of note. First after I recalled that the Sistine Chapel was not actually completed on November 1, 1512 as I had implied the week before, only the ceiling, I showed the corrected slide indicating that fact. I used the opportunity to do a small history of the Sistine Chapel which was built earlier, in the 15th century. Then I decided, after watching the John Stewart TV show The Daily Show a few hours earlier to include a dedication to the President of the USA, which was not newly elected to his second term, Barack Obama, but Nate Silver whose statistical analysis of the recent election was perfect. USA, in this case, stood for United States of Arithmetic noting the fact that his calculations were quite simple in relation to many of the more accepted prognosticators. Nate Silver has now predicted correctly two presidential elections in a row, 2008, and 2012, with stunning accuracy. Then we proceeded to do the show, Alan's Italy Show # 41, in which Ric focussed on several of my favorite sculptures at this great museum right behind the incredible Cathedral. I was really looking forward to hearing his analysis of Donatello's Mary Magdalene and  il Zuccone, and the highlight of the museum, Michelangelo's Deposition. His narrative were, of course, outstanding, interesting, and fun. I hope the audience derived as much enjoyment as I did. Ric is scheduled for many more appearances in the future analyzing the work of Marino Marini,  helping me narrate the Lazio towns of Viterbo and Tuscania, and doing several more shows to be named later. Ric is absolutely amazing in his ability to analyze great art.

The course I was teaching at the Lifespring Saugerties Program ended this past week after the abbreviated five sessions rather than the scheduled six due to storms. I had to end with Tuscany rather than continue down to Rome for the finale. I asked to return next Fall to continue with Rome, Umbria, Campania, Lazio, perhaps some more Tuscany or switching gears and focusing on Great Piazzas of Italy and also Great Churches. I have not heard as yet as the Curriculum Committee must decide who is selected as Presenters. It was fun presenting to "real" people instead of talking to a camera as I do each week on my show. Meanwhile I will start to prepare for my presentation in the New Paltz Lifetime Learning Program (eight classes instead of six) which starts in mid March, and the two library forums I will be doing in Woodstock and Saugerties in February. I am waiting for the editing process of my second book, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey to be completed, and publication to begin, before the two forums.

In the meantime my new website, www.alansitaly.com, will debut hopefully on Monday, November 12 if the promise one of my book representatives gave me last week comes to pass. The website simply unifies all of my projects in one easy to reach place. On the "News Page" will be located links to all my projects: teaching, forums, blogs, and Youtube site, Alan's Italy Channel. It will also have some of my favorite photos of Italy (in color), and a way to access each of my two books for purchase. I will keep you informed, but until then please enjoy my shows on Youtube and this blog. Gazie mille per lettura e buona sera.

Interviews and a Perfect Show

Past the horrors of last week, Ellen and I embarked upon this very special show which highlighted five interviews I did with people who have not been to Italy a lot, just regular travelers who happened to have spent time there and had a memorable story to tell. This idea was conceived many months ago, and for a period I tried vary hard to wrangle people into giving us an interview. I was successful in perhaps 20 % of my requests to people. Most people were quite reluctant to speak, but after some arm twisting and gentle coaxing, they did indeed sit for the video taped interview. These people except for my daughter were friends of ours and we did most in our home. Many people who had promised to be interviewed by me disappeared. I would rather they told me that from the beginning, but it doesn't matter much, because what I did get was very enjoyable and I am very grateful for their participation on the show. Everyone was excellent, and I really do not have any favorites, although it was nice seeing my daughter on television, reliving that first vacation I ever took to Italy back in 1992. We have the same recollections about that first magical trip when I fell in love with the country. I have a few more I did back a few months ago and they will appear in about 2 months for Part 3 in the series. In the meantime I would like more participants to come forth with their stories because this was a great show. If anyone is reading this who live in the Hudson Valley, please contact me. I will go to you or vice versa for a brief, 5 - 10 minute interview. Next week Ric Hirst returns for part 2 of his Dumo Museum show and then Franc Palaia will be on to talk of his astounding artistic genius.

In the meantime the events of the past week with that awful hurricane has really troubled me. All those lives destroyed, lives lost, houses demolished, and people without power including my own daughter, and several friends. I do not think this is coincidence, and horrors like this might continue.

And finally I encourage people to read Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show all proceeds to be contributed to the Town of Woodstock NY for their public access television station. Go to xlibris.com or amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com among many others.

Grazie !

Well aren't I the horse's petoot !!!!!!!

After 48 hrs of heavy work trying to figure out what went wrong Friday evening, the problem has been solved, presumably. It was nobody's fault but my own. The engineers at the studio came to the conclusion that the studio was fine, but my computer or my cables or my adapter was at fault. I went to Best Buy and a guy name Earl, one of the geeks (and therefore resident geniuses !) found the problem, which is too complicated to discuss. It was not the cable or the adapter. It occurred when my engineer, Ellen, was doing her pre broadcast test of the sound 5 minutes before the show was set to begin, I accidentally did something, which even Earl couldn't figure out, and put the computer into a strange mode. Earl fixed it and showed me how to solve the problem if it ever came up again.


In the meantime the show is back on the air, I think ! The show that was supposed to be on, namely Alan's Italy Show # 40: Italy in their Own Words Part 2 will appear, assuming the town of Woodstock is still intact after the big storm, Friday, Nov 2 at 5 and will hopefully be on Youtube a few hours later. There are a lot of assumptions here, however, including 4 things:

1. Earl really did fix the problem
2. Woodstock still has power.
3. I have the internet
4. My generator works, because we will certainly lose power (we lose power when someone sneezes too hard up here)

There are just too many maybes there to give me any solace, so I will continue to sleep 3 - 4 hrs hrs a night for the next week. In the meantime, have fun reading of my adventures and misadventures, and buona sera !

Why Me ?

The past two Fridays I have asked this question. Waiting patiently for a system that always seems to be on the brink of exploding into oblivion, I sat yesterday waiting to begin while a problem which we had never seen before materialized. Usually it is the same stuff, but this time scared me, because it was something different and weird, too complicated to explain. It seemed to actually have something to do with my computer this time, and that's what was so peculiar. I am not sure how much of this stuff I can take, honestly, I am telling you, my valued and dedicated followers. I am too old for this stuff. I spent 26 years as an assistant principal and I'll you flatly, if a school ran like this, it would be closed by the superintendent in 5 minutes with just cause. I spent hours planning for the show with 5 interviews from people who all expected to see themselves on the air, so it was not just I who was disappointed, but now I have to write to them and tell them know about this debacle. If show # 39 were my last one, I wouldn't be surprised, so a number 40 might never actually happen. Who knows ? Check back next week, but don't get your hopes up, and I will use my time to come grips with what may be the demise of Alan's Italy.

Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show

Well, it's out there now for everyone to read ! The entire process took several months, and relates the whole story from beginning to end. Those loyal readers of my blog may find some meaningful additions to the story they have already been following for several months, and there are some fine pictures, albeit black and white. The second book, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey is about a month from away from publication, and my third book, Walking with the Angels: My 41 Years in Education is still being written by me and will most likely take about 6 - 8 months to finish. I have an idea for a fourth book, but would rather not to discuss that until much later. So here it is and I hope you consider buying it for no other reason than to support the Woodstock Public Access Television Station, which is not for profit and barely gets by. Proceeds from Birth of a Television Show will be donated to the township and will go directly to the studio. As always graze per la lettura.

Bumps in the Roads, Detours, & Assorted Wonders

I met a fellow at the studio whom I instantly bonded with who was receiving a lesson from Ellen. He and I spoke amiably while Ellen set up and looked like she was having some problems. When I sat down at the table, she indicated that she couldn't get anything to work and immediately called the tech guru Richard. While we waited and chatted, as I prepared myself for another week off ! I gave her a copy of my first book, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show, autographed, with a lovely card, all to give partial thanks for her herculean efforts to get me on the air each week for the past 10 months. Richard arrived, looked very serious, but in that commanding sense of competence that he displays when he is working to get us on the air, gave me the impression that I would not be having another week off. Surely enough he pressed that switch, this button, another flick of a switch and voila, we were on the air. Off we went a few minutes late, but immersing myself into my intro photos and my first "good evening, welcome to Alan's Italy." I started to tell the audience about my book, and then Ellen said loudly, in that voice that only means, there are more troubles, "Alan, the DVD didn't start to record." Unperturbed I said, "Ok let's start again," and off we went into another take thinking, how did live TV go on for so long ?" Finally things started to roll, and I began yet again by showing my new book just published, and explained to the audience that proceeds from the sales will be contributed to the Town of Woodstock to be used for the Woodstock Public Access Television Station for their expenses. Just go to xlibris.com, and help out the TV studio. My second book, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey, the topic of which are my 20 years of Italian travel, will be published within the month, and will hopefully defray some of the costs I have incurred getting on the air and sustaining this show. I then reviewed a topic about which my recollections were a bit muddled during the last show. I was flummoxed by the different styles of capitals on Greek and Roman columns, so gave a short lecture on that topic, feeling very proud of myself for finally figuring out a not so difficult topic that an Italophile like me should know by now. Then off into Milan by starting with a brief set of reasons why someone would not want to stay in Milan if they are flying out of Malpensa Airport, 45 mins north-west of Milan. I revisited two of my favorite places, Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, and also Lake Lugano in Switzerland, and the town of Bergamo, all within a short drive to the airport. Then I made up for the Milan "put down" by establishing Milan as the center of world class art, fashion, and beauty that it rightly is. I focussed on the things I have always visited during my many, albeit brief stops in Milan waiting for my plane back to the USA or someone for my connecting flight. My favorite museum, Poldi Pezzoli, favorite piazza, Piazza del Duomo, Favorite Church (in the world), the Milan Cathedral, and some favorite hangouts such as the Cathedral piazza, via Dante, and a couple of hotels. I also focussed on two of the greatest pieces of art in the world, the Last Supper by Leonardo daVinci and Rondanini Pieta, by Michelangelo, both worth the trip and quickly came to the conclusion that I must return to Milan soon strongly making the case that Milan is indeed a worthwhile stop for a few days. But I knew that anyway, since it was after all, I who created this show ! I know my great places, no mystery there regarding Milan's brilliance! Next week we will have interviews with five wonderful and interesting people, all friends and family. My daughter, Jen, makes her debut along with several Woodstock neighbors. So for now, thanks for reading and Buona notte e buona fortuna.

A Friday Vacation Day After a 'Hard' Week

Show # 39 resumes next Friday Oct 19 with Milan: Italy's Northern Treasure. I need a Friday off occasionally, so this was it to visit the Living Room Gallery in Cold Spring for the carl Van Brunt Projects show in which carl himself was participating. Excellent show in a beautiful venue. I taught my second class in the Saugerties Lifespring Program, taking my 30 plus students from Venice north to the Dolomites, west to Lake Como and even further west to Lake Maggiore. Wed is Class # 3 with a trip south to Milan, and then Cinque Terre and North Western Tuscany ending up in Pisa. So far teaching the class is very enjoyable. My first book is now available at Xlibris.com, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show, with the second one not far behind. Developing many new shows, and also planning for our next trip in late May. Be well and see ya next week.

My Apologies for the Delay

To my many followers, please forgive me for being tardy with this blog. I was in a 48 hour funk for a variety of reasons, none of which had anything to do with Alan's Italy. I actually had an excellent show (forgive my immodesty), which looked good on the screen and uploaded beautifully to Youtube. Ellen had some problems at first, but as usual it all came together. The show centered on the area of Italy known as Campania which included the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Hurculaneum, Capri, Ischia, Naples, and Sorrento. To produce this show I had to borrow photos from four different people including Susan, Franc, and Donna. When I had been to that area back in 2006 we weren't using the digital camera much and we lacked a bunch of images to which those fine people gave me access. I dedicated the show to Susan who gave me the most photos of her's and her husband Ed's trip there many years ago. The show took the viewer on a one week tour of Campania as if I were leading the tour myself, which is basically what I do anyway, but this was more detailed in terms of days, and how to spend one's time. I will be taking a week off to be with friends and partaking in the Woodstock Film Festival (which occurs this weekend). I already miss not doing the show, but must do that occasionally. I started to teach my course at Saugerties Lifespring and it was a sensational experience, with lovely and enthusiastic people. I started with Venice just as I did with Alan's Italy ten months ago, and it was very well received; we'll see if anyone returns on Wed for a second dose. I also spent a lot of time researching my third book about my teaching and supervising for the 41 years of my real career, which then became absurd since neither of the first two have come out yet. That book was out on hold while I am edited the second one. It is really starting to become a bit confusing. I managed to get to the YMCA four times last week which is very good, except that it may have caused the funk ! The timing is definitely off there somewhere. Maybe too much exercise dulls the mind contrary to what we have always believed. When I figure all this out, I'll let you know. Buona notte e buona fortuna.

A Day of Disasters

I awoke Friday morning thinking that everything was worked out and ready to go with the show entitled The Origins of Woodstock Public Access Television. I was going to spend the day writing my third book related to my experiences as an educator for 41 years. I have really gotten into that concept and have loads of memories and material from which to draw. At 11 AM I received a call from Tobe Carey telling me that his partner on the show Bart Friedman was not well and we would have to cancel the show. Bart and Tobe were among the early pioneers of videography and public access television, and that show had been weeks in the planning. I even had written a letter to the editor of the local paper indicating that the show would focus very much on the town and its public access TV. I told Tobe to tell Bart that we would reschedule the show and that Bart should just get better soon. I then went to my back up show on the town of Fiesole, just north of Florence. I always have a "back up". I place that in quotes, because the show has already been composed as an album with the appropriate photos, but other than that I have not really done much research, and yet if I had an emergency (such as this), it would be a possible backup. All I really needed would be perhaps an hour to get ready. A bit out of whack, I started to move things around in my iPhoto list, and accidentally mixed the Woodstock TV photos with the Fiesole ones, and not only were they combined. but completely mixed up and out of order. Now I panicked, not because I thought I wouldn't have enough time, because I did have 6 hrs to air time, but because I just have a hard time with change and confusion. Laura suggested I just skip that night and show an old show on video, but I just had to get this done, and spent the next several hours frantically getting ready. Finally I did, went to the studio, perhaps a little unprepared, and did the show. At the end of the show Ellen gave me the DVD and off I went. When I got home I realized the DVD didn't have any sound, and called Ellen. She said the DVD player must have malfunctioned, would try to have it repaired and we could do the show over again either the next day or whenever. I always back up a broadcast by DVRing it at home, so I tried to take the show off the TV to then download into my computer and then upload to Youtube. I had a miserable time with that and after 3 hrs gave up. I came to the conclusion that I would have to do the show at another time, perhaps Sunday or who knows when. I then called Dan, my technical expert, who walked me through the proper way to DVD a show off the TV, and after a long while getting right finally had everything going well. The show I subsequently uploaded to Youtube wound up being only slightly flawed. The broadcast was fine, but I saw that on air I had some difficulty with some of the details as my normal study time had been upset. Nonetheless, I did have a chance to talk about Florence a bit, and Fiesole, which is a really lovely town filled with Roman ruins, spectacular views, and we even did a video pastry demonstration with a master chef, Febo Ticci, the husband of someone we knew who lived in Fiesole. I would like to mention something I forgot on the broadcast. Febo was adopted by the owner of the shop Alcedo Falli, and took him on as an apprentice pastry chef. When Febo had I had spoken (translated by his wife, our acquaintance Loretta) about his adopted family, I indicated that my own father had been adopted back in the 1920's. The show about Fiesole was very satisfying. It reminded me of teaching school, when some lesson I had planned was hard to teach, because some equipment had malfunctioned. Although I was flummoxed and disoriented at first, the lesson itself was very good. Just get me in front of a class (or in front of a camera) and I am ok. Sorry to my followers for this slight delay. Buona sera ! E grazie !

Ho Hum, Just Another Night on Alan's Italy

This was to have been a very special night, Show # 36. My friend and art assistant on the show, Ric Herst, was to be explaining the incredible works of art at the Museo del Opera del Duomo in Florence, one of the truly great museums in Florence. He and I had worked very hard to create the "perfect" show, albeit a bit on the long side. We were sitting at the table, about to go into the mode during which all the sound checks take place and Ellen was to be doing all the things necessary to begin the show. Suddenly Ellen said that the photos were not coming through as color photos, the TriCaster was not working properly, and who knows what else. I, of course, took it all in with a grain of salt, as has become my style of late, but I was worried about Ric. I kept reassuring him that everything will be ok, just give her time to get it all straightened out. At a little after 5 we, nonetheless, began and everything just flowed along very smoothly, although Ellen by now was using The Focus Method, which only means that instead of having two images side by side, she was broadcasting the main image in the center and the "picture in picture aspect" (as everyone reading this has seen on regular TV's), at the corner, somewhat obscuring the main picture. Ric was his usual sensational self really analyzing the photos and giving the audience incredible background, history, and analysis of the technique used by the artist. I was mesmerized, as Ric took over most of the narrative. Suddenly the phone rang. It was studio technician, Richard Spool, whom Ellen had called (and usually calls when there is a major problem) earlier, calling back, now that he had time to give advice she had earlier requested. Not knowing it was Richard, Ellen handed me the phone thinking it was a viewer calling in a question. Instead Richard and I had a brief conversation, and I even asked him if he had a question. He asked us if we knew the name of the fifth pope. Of course we didn't, but I gave instead gave him the name of the first pope, St Peter. (Incidentally the fifth pope was Evaristus who served from 97/99 - 105/107. I will even show a picture of him at the beginning of next week's show) When Ellen took back the phone, she didn't realize that her brief conversation with Richard was being broadcast concurrently with Ric's analysis of the art. Laura noted this fact back home, but when I saw on the playback, it didn't seem much of a problem. Just another night on Alan's Italy. Anyway shortly after that fiasco, I realized that Ric was only half way through his presentation with only about 12 minutes left to go. I suggested on the air that we stop there and just continue on his next scheduled appearance. After all some of the greatest art was yet to come. We agreed that instead of his doing a show on the well known 20th century sculptor, Marino Marini, which is scheduled for Nov 16, he would simply pick up where he left off. With that he finished his narrative, and off we went into the conclusion, and that was that ! Incidentally for anyone interested in reading my first book, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show, you can go to "xlibris.com" and order it. All proceeds from the book will be donated by me to the Woodstock Public Access Television Station, so you would be making a contribution to this very worthwhile endeavor. They function on a very low budget and can use all the help they can get. In the meantime, buona sera e buona fortuna !

Marvelous Views of Rome

 I have long awaited the opportunity to create a show on Franc Palaia's incredible photos of Rome. Of course we have had a couple of Rome Shows and put on some wonderful photos. Fran's pictures, however, uniquely capture the beauty of this amazing city from a different point of view. His photos from atop the Victor Emmanuel Monument are really something, as well as the images of the Piazza Navona, my favorite piazza in Rome. I very much look forward to my broadcasts with Franc, as it gives me a chance to spend the hour discussing my favorite subject with another lover of all things Italian. I was given the chance to place the photos in whatever order I preferred, and so I chose the photos I loved best I knowing the time element wouldn't abbreviate our discussion. Nonetheless, the hour just sped by, and before we knew it, Ellen held up 3 fingers indicating that we had just a few minutes to go. Sadly we focussed on one final image, and that was it for now. Franc is on tap for another show, this time concentrating on his Photo Sculptures and Light Boxes. He gave me the DVD with those images that I will place in a show for the future, probably in about a month and a half. As the show ended, the phone rang and someone called to tell me she loved the show and the beautiful photos of Italy. That was really nice. This week two of the founders of Woodstock Public Access, Bart Friedman and Tobe Carey agreed to come on the show in two weeks for interviews which will deviate from our normal Italy format in favor of a historical retrospective of the TV station going back into the late 1970's. Tobe does have a quick Italy story, but other than that, there will be no major theme related to Italy. It is a bit strange for me to deviate from my very comfortable, and set pattern of focusing on Italy, but this should be quite good, as we will take a look at how WPAT started and emerged to become the wonderful station it has become. In the meantime the people at Saugerties Lighthouse TV Channel 23 will be debuting Alan's Italy starting this Tuesday, twice a week. They will take a DVD and show it 6 times over a three week period and then go to another broadcast. To help me keep things in order I am starting from the beginning with Show # 1 on Venice, and although the shows were definitely not quite as good as they are now, to keep things in order and easy to implement on my part, I have started with # 1 and will just move forward. I gave them 10 DVD's which should last them until next January ! I have written a letter to the editor of the Saugerties Times as well as placed an ad in that newspaper for this week to introduce people of the Saugerties viewing area to my show. In two weeks I start to teach my course, Alan's Italy in the Saugerties Lifespring Program which begins on Oct 3 and will continue for six weeks. Branching out to our neighboring town. Meanwhile one of my books, the first on producing the TV show, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Televison Show will come out very soon, and I have decided to contribute part of the profit, assuming anyone buys the book, to the Woodstock Public Access Television Station. Buona note e buona fortuna.

The Tale of Two Cities

I hope I don't get sued by the ancestors of Dickens, but this choice of name of a show on Pisa was perfect. Since 1995 I had stayed away from visiting Pisa, I decided to do an overnight to see the famous Leaning Tower. When we arrived we were quite taken by the charming nature of the city, it's lovely streets, beautiful river, and most of all its warm and friendly people. Staying in the grand Hotel Royal Victoria we got to meet and interview the owner, Nicola Piegaja, and then had a lovely dinner at La Pergoletta, and got to meet its charming owner, Valentina. I just viewed the show in full and except for having to trim the beginning and the end (which I have yet to do), it is a nice presentation. There is a lot of hesitation on my part at the beginning as I was viewing a screen that had the tool bar for videos on the bottom that did not go away as it usually does. At first I didn't quite know what to do. And then undaunted I excused myself in mid sentence and fixed the problem - quite a departure from the early days, 9 months ago when a comparable situation would have thrown me for a loop. Although Ellen indicated that the sound was a bit poor on such an extended video, in a room with poor acoustics, and our smallish camera, I found the audio quite acceptable. Nicola was quite informative and interesting as he talked about the history of the hotel, and his illustrious family. The Hotel Royal Victoria is very, very special, hundreds of years old and in his family for several generations. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wanted a special hotel experience in Pisa, complete with history, charm, and comfort, oh and very good prices. Try to select the front rooms with balconies on the Arno River. The Campo dei Miracoli, containing the famous Campanille, Cathedral, and Baptistery, along with a centuries old cemetery by the name of Camposanto form the basis of a remarkable sightseeing experience, but if you visit Pisa, make sure to visit the area surrounding the famous Campo, including the ost charming little church I ever saw, the Church of Santa maria della Spina, right on the river.

On my book front, after several days of constantly finding errors and changes, I finally signed off on the book about the show named, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show. It will go to publication and be out on the market soon. My other book, much longer, and detailed about my 20 trips to Italy, named Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey has yet to be copyedited, and will take a few more months. I begin my teaching at Saugerties Lifespring, a continuing ed program up here, in about 3 1/2 weeks and have recently been told that 29 students have already signed up with possibly more to come. This will be my first chance to teach a class since May 2010 at my former college, where I taught math. Really looking forward to the human contact after 9 months now of speaking into a camera. Also my teaching at the New Paltz College Program has been confirmed as an eight week course. The Saugerties is only 6 weeks. Other than that I am quite bored, ha ha.

Next week on my show, number 35 I am back with Franc Palaia who will be presenting stunning and interesting photos of Rome. Then next week after will be Ric Herst talking about the Museum of the Duomo in Florence and then a few weeks later the Marino Marini Museum also in Florence. Ric and I worked for 2 hrs this past week on both shows, rearranging photos so that they made sense to his presentation.

Until then buona notte e buona fortuna.

Il Narratore

I had a very interesting week visiting with the program director for the Saugerties Public Access Television Studio. Through Ellen, I had met her friend, Bart Friedman, one of the early founders of the Woodstock station who introduced me to Anastasia Redmond. She offered me the opportunity to submit my DVD's of the shows I have performed on Alan's Italy  to be broadcast on their station for three week periods, twice a week. I delivered the first ten shows I had already performed, and she has already sent me the schedule which will begin on September 18. I told her several stories of my experiences both in Italy and at the station, and she told me that I was quite a storyteller (Il Narratore in Italian). She gave me a tour of their facility and it was quite impressive, much more elaborate than the one in Woodstock. Nonetheless, probably because I have gotten so used to the one I use weekly, I was pleased to get back "home" to WPAT last evening for my first show in two weeks, having been away for the previous Friday. Filled with enthusiasm for the show that I have wanted to perform for a long time on Western Tuscany, I eagerly prepared that program the past week. My main theme would center around the drive Laura and I took across the region known as the Alpi Apuane through the mountains of North Western Tuscany, the Garfagnana. Although that trip was quite harrowing, I love to talk about how difficult the driving was with the ice and snow we encountered. Also I love the fact that I had insisted to Laura that the white capped hills we faced were really the marble tops of the Carrara region, long used as a quarry for sculptors going back hundreds of years. She insisted that they looked like snow, and, of course, was quite correct ! We eventually turned back after traveling along winding, steep roads for over an hour getting nowhere fast. Since I didn't have enough photos for a whole show on that experience we had back in 2009, I also threw some very wonderful photos of Lucca and Chiesina (Lidia's house), plus some internet photos of where we would have wound up had we not turned back on our route, the town of Bagni di Lucca and the famous Devil's Bridge, amid some splendid scenery. I called the show, Western Tuscany, leaving out a part 2 which would focus on the City of Pisa reserved for next week. On the air we had our usual broadcasting issues. First the DVD failed to kick in for the first few minutes, which necessitated our starting for a minute, then stopping, and starting a second time with the introduction. Then my voice was inaudible during the first few seconds, as Ellen had been slow revving up the sound of my microphone after the initial music segment of the introductory video. That cannot be corrected so people all over the world will see a few second muting of il Narratore. Laura at home thought that we accidentally played the ending credits instead the beginning segment, because when she turned on the show live on our television set at exactly 5 PM, the previous show (also one of mine which was actually a repeat of a previous show) had still contained a few seconds of broadcast time left. I told her today that I had the 4 PM slot AND the 5 PM slot, so one just swept into the other without much of a pause. She didn't quite know what was happening, thinking we had started, stopped, started again, stopped  again, and then started a third time !!!! An even greater horror than even I would have been aware. Always an adventure !!! Part of the charm, huh ? So one of my books is nearing completion, but I may take my time, because the second one is really the one I have greater confidence is the better of the two. That one still has some time to go as it is in some kind of editing stage. Thanks for reading and buona sera e grazie per aver letto questo.

Cameras and a Very Special Guest

Professor Eve D'Ambra stole the show with an extraordinary performance tonight. Her focus on Roman Portrait Busts and Female Beauty was an amazing presentation that was fabulous. This was her second and final appearance on the show for this summer. She is now back to work at Vassar College which she teaches Art History. I invited her to return any time for any show she wants. I hope she will take me up on it. It is a joy to share the stage with a brilliant professor of art, for me a dream come true. Just before the start of the show her husband and excellent artist, Franc Palaia, who has been with me on the show several times, decided to show his expertise with the camera and asked to handle one of them with Ellen. I had some doubts that they could pull this off with no preparation, and sure enough at the beginning of the show there were some problems. I am seen talking into the wrong camera, because I was talking into Ellen's camera, while apparently Franc's was on the screen. It straightened out, but I was a bit dismayed by that. From  now on Ellen runs the show. No other problems, however, no other people using the studio just before we did, no community center activity, no extraneous noise, no console issuers. Everything was smooth. I will be away next week, so Ellen will show another broadcast, Michelangelo in Florence, one of her favorites. That was a fine show. Otherwise I will be back for the Aug 24 show, which will be the first part of a two part show on Western Tuscany, with part 1 focussing on the area known as the Alpi Apuane, and also Lucca, Barga, Chiesina, where my friend Lidia has a townhouse. Then the week after will be Pisa. Meanwhile my first book nears production and second one has been submitted for review. The first will be called, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show and the second, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey. Please look for both. Also I will be starting a web site, which will incorporate all my projects, my two blogs, TV show, books, lectures, and teaching of classes all summarized into one easy format (I hope !). Be well, and thanks for your time ! See ya in two weeks.

The Long Wait and a Late Start

I had arrived very early to take photos of the studio for my book, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show, and work proceeded on schedule as she photographed some shots as one enters the parking lot of the Community Center, where the studio is located. As we were parking to go inside the studio, Ellen was waiting outside to tell us that there was a show which has been given the 4 - 5 PM slot and we had to wait until 5 PM to set up for the 5 PM show ! Doing some quick mathematics, I soon came to the conclusion that we would not have enough time to get set up. Ellen assured me that we would get on the air, and she would shortcut her show which normally comes right after mine at 6 PM.At first we spoke with local personality, Joe Barton, who is having some problems with the legal system at the current time, as we waited patiently outside, but then I ducked into my car and tried to take a snooze, with my air conditioning on, and radio playing some of my favorite tunes. Just as Jimi Hendrix' Along the Watchtower came on, Ellen knocked on my glass and indicated that we could try to get in a bit earlier than 5 and see what happens. Of course, I had to wait for the end of the song, because, hey, you just cannot interrupt Jimi Hendrix in mid song. Eventually we entered the studio and began frantically to set up as quickly as possible. Somehow we managed to start, but almost twenty minutes late at 5:20 PM. I tried to be relaxed and I think succeeded for the most part as I began a show that I was looking forward to, the story of Luca and Mary taking us to eastern Tuscany for the via dei Sette Ponti, not really a street, but a country road through the mountains just south and east of Ltheir home in Figline Valdarno. The scenery was lovely, and the towns among the most charming and unique I have ever seen in Italy. The show came off flawless, except that once again Ellen had to use the Focus Method instead of the Tricaster. Otherwise everything went like clockwork, and thank goodness Ellen was the producer just after me, because otherwise I can't imagine what would have happened. So on the other front, my book about my show changed its name to the one above, and my second book, now almost finsished will be called Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey. So that's it for now. Buona notte.

What's Happening in My Italy Life - An Update

Well, I feel it is incumbent upon me to fill my readers in on some of the things that are happening to me in my Italy life. Not sure how well this will be received by my readers (I do apparently have a following according to the continual increase in the number of people who are reading this ), because I promised that everything on here would be related to producing Alan's Italy. But here goes. My first book, Alan's Italy, My Personal Journey, is about half way through the production stage. I have no idea when it will be "out", but I think the editing stage is over. It is about 50 pages long; I thought it would come out longer after production, but hey, what can you do. So it will be easier to finish. I am somewhat excited about it, but my real excitement comes from my second book, now slightly more than half done, Alan's Italy, Friends and Other Miracles (so far the working title). It covers everything I have ever experienced in traveling around Italy, but not in chronological order, like my other blog on Travelpod.com, but in another order that relates to my friendships with people who live in Italy, Laura's impact on my life and work, which is enormous (!), my friends Ric and Sharon, and the TV show. I think it is good, really good, and that is very very exciting. It is a memoir, but focussing on my traveling experiences as opposed to my work experience as a math teacher, assistant principal, and college teacher. My third book will cover my 41 year career as in education, with particular emphasis on my 26 years as a supervisor. I have a bushel full of stories to tell, as only someone who was close to the power base of a NYC high school could possibly have, and I wasn't as close sometimes as I wish I had been, so much of this will be my view of things from the second rung down the ladder. It will give a view of the running of a high school that few people have ever seen. I only hope that after I finish book number 2, I have any energy and creativity left. I wrote some of book 3 while walking around the track at the Y this morning, and I think it will be very good. I hope XLibris works out because having a book self published is a very good experience so far and there will be many more books to come as long as my mind hangs in there. I am also, of course, teaching a course this fall in the Lifespring Program, which is basically a continuing ed program up here. I have that ready to go, with written materials and 6 lectures just about totally planned. The course I am doing for New Paltz Lifetime Learning in the spring 2013 will use the same format, but will require 2 more lectures to be created. I am also planning a trip for us for next May and June (2 1/2 weeks) to Orvieto, Figline Valdarno, Florence, Venice (for the Bienale), and perhaps the Dolomites and Lake Como, like in terms of days 2,1,5,5, 3. It will be expensive, but hey ya only live once. I am also batting around the idea with Laura to have our 10th anniversary party in Florence in May 2014. A bunch of people will be invited, but I have no illusions about how many people may come; I know it will be small, but I want to try. We haven't decided yet. We would have a day long celebration in which I would provide a tour of Florence in 2 parts separated by a pizza party at our fav pizza place, cocktails at the hotel, and dinner at La Spada, and gelato on the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Everyone who came would have to purchase their own plane ticket, pay for all hotels, and everything except that day's activities. I would get a low rate for people who stayed at Croce di Malta, and I would try to arrange for lesser priced dinners at La Spada in case anyone wanted to eat there during their stay. I would also provide assistance for anyone who wanted to travel around Italy, but we would plan our own trip, Laura and I which I am hoping will include a long awaited trip to Sicily. A few people actually said they would think about it when I broached this a party recently. That's what is happening, plus of course I play the guitar usually 4 or 5 times a week in my den, and walk and swim at the Y. It can be done, and I only hope for one thing: GOOD HEALTH. Without that all is lost.

A Series of Minor Disasters, Then Tranquility

I hate when this blog starts out with all these negative things that go on at the studio, but since the blog is about the experience of doing the show, it is appropriate to do that. Nonetheless, unless you like hearing about horror stories, I apologize, but this is reality. I arrived at the studio and Ellen and I spent a lot of time talking about the history of the studio for a book I am writing, my week off from doing the show which will cause her to show an old show on August 24, and a variety of other things. Suddenly she told me she lost power, and started to work on the power strip which is right next to my table, unable to get it working. We plugged in the system to another outlet, and suddenly that darn bulletin board fell down again, and there I was with ten minutes to go, holding up the power strip with one hand and the bulletin board with the other. We got that all squared away, she returned to the console, and said she couldn't get the Tricaster to work. I don't care that much anymore, because after last week, when the same thing happened and we did the show using the Focus Method (whatever any of these things actually are !!!!), and I liked it. The photos were just slightly off, and I like that little window in the right hand corner with my picture, although it obscures some of the photos I am showing. Then suddenly everything clicked into place, and the magic words that I just love to hear, "quiet on the set," rang out by Ellen, and everything just became very mellow as I started the Opening Segment of the show. Ya know I should say those words when I can't quite fall asleep at night and see what happens, because when I hear that I immediately relax."Quiet on the set" sort of harkens back to my childhood when my mother would close the book she was reading to me, kiss me on the cheek, whisper "good night" and turn out the light, and I would fall peacefully into that wonderful sleep that only a happy, secure, young child could possibly enjoy. The movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" kind of epitomizes that feeling that even amid the absolute incredible unrelenting horror of World War I, there could possibly be some peaceful moments. So back to the show and as I stared vacantly, but happily at the images and listened to that music for the umpteenth time, I never get tired of it, but actually to me it is like taking a tranquilizer. Then into the show on Orvieto with all the videos and images left over from the previous week. The wonderful video of Gianpiero at the restaurant, La Palomba was the highlight for me. It was so much fun that night when Franco Sala took us there for dinner, and we were treated like kings. Gianpiero and his family are wonderful people. Then the photos of the other restaurant we loved, La Grotta with Franco (another person) and his waitress, Mirella being taught by me how to fold a napkin using my "special" technique, which I will demonstrate next week before the main part of the show. I wanted to do a video of Mirella, but she felt that after a whole night of serving people, she didn't look her best; actually she looked beautiful. Also, after a while it gets weird always taking videos in every place we go, my new life. Even when we were in Rome in an outdoor restaurant, our favorite in Rome, Teatro di Pompeo, we vowed not to even mention Alan's Italy, but wound up talking all night about it and taking a video of a bunch of people. The show was fine, and that's it for Orvieto until perhaps next year, when Gianpiero promised some kind of cooking demonstration that I would like to take him up on, only of course if Alan's Italy is still in existence. I mean how long can this thing go on ?

Computer Failure, Wonderful People, Stunning Scenes

After shooting the breeze with Ellen for quite some time, as I arrived to the studio early, Ellen suddenly realized that she could not get the TriCaster to work. In the past they has usually meant an inferior quality of photos, but I just looked at the video of the show, and the photos came out pretty good, so in line with my limited knowledge of the whole technical aspect of the production, I have no idea what's going on. That's why Ellen is there ! She gave it a while to figure the whole thing out, and eventually decided to use what she refers to as "the Focus" (again from my point of view, no clue !) At first I was disturbed, but then settled into a really wonderful show. The show highlighted one of the great hill towns of Central Italy, Southern Umbria, Orvieto, where Laura and I had a marvelous time back in May of this year. We were treated very well, had interviews with several residents, dined at great restaurants, and showcased the whole experience over two shows, #'s 29 and 30. Show 29 was tonight and centered around Franco Sala, my friend who lives in Orvieto, but whom we met in Civita at his restaurant Antica Forno. His is charming, talkative, funny, and a great friend who showed us around the town, stopping to talk to many people. Going out to dinner with him requires leaving a half hour early, because he will stop 10 times to converse with just about everyone going in and out of shops and restaurants. We call him Orvieto's Unofficial Mayor. He was one reason for our visit to Orvieto and visiting with two of our best friends who live in Lanesville up here, Sharon and Ric, so we hope visiting Orvieto will become a regular part of our Italian experience from now on. I can't talk too much about the actual broadcast, there by now that has become more routine. I never thought I would get to say that, but even when there are minor difficulties, as the night of the show, we continue relatively unfazed ! Very happy to have reached that place. I can say that putting together the show, a process which takes me basically all week, was fairly straight forward once I decided that it would be over the two weeks. That certainly relieves a lot of pressure to get everything in. In a more relaxed manner, I can really settle down and take my time. Incidentally when I say the show takes all week, I don't mean working continuously; I actually work for an hour or so, and then leave it for another time. Different times and days always gives me different perspectives, and usually things change over the course of the week. For example,  it became obvious to both of me that, because I had the 3 short videos of the Etruscan Necropolis, I didn't need so many still images, and I removed many of them. Unfortunately I forgot to remove many from the ending segment, so there are just too many of those. That will be corrected during the next show. The best part of the show was the weaving in and out of the video interviews with first Franco twice, one back in 2009 and the other during our last trip in May 2012, and the interview of Gianni, the owner of Hotel Duomo. I must do more of those in the future. I mean I have many more to show, but personally I love the interviews. It makes everything more personal (as if the show is not my personal statement !). Everyone always asks me why I travel to Italy so much, and I never quite know what to say, but when you see these interviews with some of the people we have met over the years, it is clear that my passion centers around being treated as if we were family by the residents. I suppose that is the real reason for my absolute love for Italy. The people are just so charming, down to earth, and pleasant. On a related matter, here is an update on my second book (the first one has been edited by Xlibris and awaits my final approval). I have changed the theme for the 87th time !! I just keep changing, honing a narrative that presents my unique perspective. There have been so many books written about Italy, that it is hard to find a different perspective, so I have settled on the theme of people. Each part of the book will be titled by the people who have had the most influence on my life of Italian Travel, namely Lidia, Luca, Laura, Franco, and Ric and Sharon, and of course my engineer, Ellen. Then the chapters will focus on the actual experience that took place, because of these people. So forward I can now go with the different direction for which I have been searching and I hope and pray I can finally finish something after 15 years of trying to put these thoughts down on paper. Thank you for patiently reading these blogs, and have a great week. Buon giorno e buona fortuna !

High Noon on Alan's Italy

Ya know the famous scene from the great movie High Noon, with Gary Cooper, with the theme song playing in the background during the last few minutes before the clock struck high noon. For those of you who may have only seen this movie, oh perhaps 20 times, and don't remember (I have seen the movie, I would say at least 500 times - mostly because my mother loved this movie and very often it was the only movie on Million Dollar Movie during the 50's and 60's when I was growing up(on Million Dollar Movie the movie of the week played each day at I think 7:30)), the character played by Cooper, Will Kane, the sheriff of this town, is scheduled to meet a train off of which will step the criminal he put behind behind bars, and now is out of prison and with his 3 cohorts waiting, has vowed revenge. No one in the town will help him, so he must face these 4 killers alone. After trying in vain to gather up a group of town citizens to help him, he is now alone in his office with his head down on his desk, exhausted after a furious fight with his deputy(played by Lloyd Bridges of Sea Hunt Fame), waiting for the clock to tick out the final seconds. As it does the music, which is great, is playing with the cadence which hightens the suspense until at exactly high noon, the train whistle marks the climactic moment. By now you are wondering what the heck this has to do with Alan's Italy Show # 28. Well last night I was privileged to have Professor Eve D'Ambra, an expert on Ancient Roman History, to help me explain the various elements of the Roman Forum, and casually with perhaps 15 minutes to go until air time, decided to show her the presentation I had put together. On the very first slide, I indicate her professorship at Vasser College, which, of course, was spelled wrong. It should have been Vassar. So with the clock ticking down the final minutes, tick, tick, tick, and High Noon playing in the background (in my head of course), I tried frantically to change that only slide in 2 places, the actual presentation and the ending montage that is played to conclude the show. I have to create a new slide by going into my word processing program, select the image that accompanies the text, copy it, place it into the album, and then place the same slide into the ending montage at the exact location, tick, tick, tick. All this with Eve, her husband, Franc Palaia (one of my favorite guests, whom you probably remember), and their daughter, Lily, sitting close by, Ellen preparing her part, and the screen of the computer already altered for the presentation of the show. Let me say that prior to this moment each week, I have spent hours getting ready and go through at least 3 or 4 dry runs, just to see it everything works. Nobody knew this but I felt like crying, and was hoping she would say to me, don't worry no one will ever notice the "e" instead of the "a". Well she didn't and rightly so, because, as I agreed, for this show, really everything had to be perfect. So picture the music, the clock ticking down the seconds, tick, tick, tick, the killer coming off the train, getting his guns, asking if everything is ready, and Kane feeling quite nervous knowing he would now have to face the 4 killers alone. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on, because I was too nervous; I never like to work under pressure, and even in college started to study for a test weeks in advance, not like those famous last minute cram sessions made so popular by, well, just about every other college student I ever knew, ya know the one the last hours on speed or tons of coffee trying to stay awake. I usually watched TV the last day before and even now do that the day of the show.Eventually I did it (Just as Will Kane killed the outlaws (helped by his wife, played by Grace Kelly)), somehow, someway, and the show was very successful with Eve doing an amazing job of explaining my favorite location in Rome. Her expertise was obvious, and even if no one got anything out of this, I surely loved the hour of pure joy. Eve will be back in 3 weeks to do a show on Roman Portrait Busts, and I just cannot wait. Nest week and the week after will be my long awaited double show on Orvieto, my favorite and one of the prettiest hill towns in Italy. Me alone and no matter how screwed up I made it (I hope not of course), the show WIll go on. So thanks a bunch to long deceased Gary Copper and the composer of that famous song that my mom and I loved, High Noon.

Warning: Don't Watch on an Empty Stomach

That was the warning I gave to people I knew would be watching Alan's Italy Show # 27 - Culinary Masterpieces at La Spada of Florence. On an empty stomach as I had for the show, one will end the show and make for the nearest cache of large quantities of food. We went out to dinner afterward at The Bear Cafe in Woodstock, the best restaurant in town, and I never ate so much. I blamed it all on the show, which made me starved to death. So back to the show. Lidia introduced me to this restaurant 15 years ago, and I have been having meals there, alone and with friends and family ever since. The place is owned and operated by Giuseppe, who, with his brother Claudio, and friends Agostino and Claudio (who are cousins) run the best restaurant in Florence and certainly my favorite. Since I know virtually nothing about cooking, and people are continually asking me when I would be doing a cooking demo, I asked Lidia, before our last trip to Italy, if she could ask Giuseppe to give us an interview (deep down hoping he would at least talk about how he cooks such amazingly delicious food). Tonight's show highlights an interview we did with him last May 21 at the restaurant and a 25 minutes cooking demonstration in which Giuseppe cooks us a 3 course meal. It was outstanding to present such a wonderful show with Giuseppe as the star. He is a wonderful man, charming, handsome, talented, and gracious. Although Lidia translated for him in the first 2 interviews, when he gave Laura and me the cooking demo, he spoke English very well. So I would like to thank Giuseppe and his co owners for not only the demo, but for their extraordinary kindness to us this past visit and also over the years. If you are planning a trip to Florence, please stop by La Spada at # 62 via della Spada and tell Giuseppe Alan's Italy sent you. Otherwise the evening was uneventful. Thank God !!!! Everything went very smoothly, no hassles as the ones which have plagued my show for weeks. Smooth as silk, a pleasure to produce and perform, but not so exciting to write about to you ! On the book front, I just cannot decide on a topic for my next book. First I thought it should be on Florence, but just cannot muster the enthusiasm. I thought I would start with some obscure towns in Tuscany, but I don't have enough of them yet, perhaps only about 10 or so, so I may venture into Umbria and Alto Lazio for additional material. I'll keep you posted. I do not wish to write about well known places such as Siena, Sam Gimignano, Montalcino, etc. but rather something entirely different. My first book already written, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey is currently being edited by the company XLibris, which seems excellent so far, despite some bad reviews I have recently read. I will keep you posted. Bouna note e buona fortuna.

Two False Starts and Then Success

Arrived at the studio early so that Ellen could show me the newsletters she had created during the early stages of the history of Woodstock Public Access Television, when the station was still broadcasting on Channel 6. They are fascinating, and in their time, they served to assist their viewers via articles and monthly schedules. It was also used as a fund raising technique as "members" of the studio were mailed copies. Also copies were available in local stores. I told her that if I had the time, it would be something I would like to reinstate. Then my guest, Franc Palaia, arrived and we set up his visual aids for his presentation on Ancient Roman Aqueducts. Ellen then shut the air conditioning (on arguably the hottest day of the year so far), because the noise interferred with the audio of the broadcast, and off we went into Show # 26. After the introduction, during which time both Franc and I studied the photos (I never get tired of seeing the photos), I began to introduce the evening's show. Suddenly the studio phone rang, and someone who was watching it live at home, called to say that there was no sound on the broadcast. We get so few calls during the show, that I just had the feeling this was not going to be a good call. Ellen told us to stop immediately, and she and Richard (who designed the studio and maintains it) fixed whatever was wrong (I never know what's going on there), and off we went once again. On the second try the show was very enjoyable, and Franc's photography just amazing. His knowledge and interest in this area of Roman history made for an excellent show, complete with an abundance of beautiful images. On another matter, earlier in the week I had an idea to write a book about Italy using my slant on things, ya know, truly ALAN'S Italy, but quit after 2 chapters, because I lost interest and found the things I was writing just restating many things that every other guidebook contained. I instead decided to write a book about the amazing experience I have had producing the TV show, and the total experience of first getting it on the air, my myriad illnesses that derailed the project, and finally, how I conceive of and create shows weekly. I called it Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey, and although I talk a lot about the show, also spend a lot of time relating stories of my experiences in Italy, and why I became so passionate about it. It took about 6 days, writing for perhaps 3 or 4 hrs a day to create what appears to be about 120 - 150 pages (as far as I can tell). When I tell people that, they appear to be amazed at how quickly the book was written. I, in my continued attempt to be as modest as possible, use the line used by James Cagney in the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy, one of my favorite movies of all time. The character he plays, George M. Cohan, has somehow gotten into the dressing room of the famous actress and singer, Faye Templeton, to try to convince her to let him write her a show. Faye indicates that she has no time to talk to him, because she is in the middle of doing a performance now, and afterwards tries to get home quickly to Westchester (which she indicates is only 45 minutes away, but a world of difference), because she likes to get as far from Broadway as possible. When she exits to go back on stage, he writes her a song, Only Forty Five Minutes From Broadway. Then when she returns after the next act she is performing, and he presents the song. When, amazed, she asks how in the world he wrote a song so quickly, Cagney, or Cohan, explains that the lighting was bad, otherwise it would have been faster ! That's what I said, but I am quite considerably less famous that the incredible song and dance man, who also composed some of the world's greatest music. I then found an online publishing company who will publish the book for a few hundred dollars, complete with editing and marketing services, although I will be able to also market it myself. Perhaps someone on the planet will buy it, but since my mom and dad have passed away already, and I would have doubtless sold an additional four or five hundred copies right there !  This, however, fulfills yet another dream of mine. The company has already started the editing process, and the book may be published within the next few months in hardback. I immediately started to write another book, this time focussing on places in Tuscany that most tourists never see, because all the guidebooks focus on places like Siena, Montalcino, San Gimignano, etc. I will talk about and show some stunning images of places to which my native Italian friends have taken me over the past few years, relatively obscure, out of way places that are, nevertheless, amazing and wonderful. It's called Alan's Italy: Tuscan Adventures, and will doubtless take more than a week to write (perhaps two).Have a great day and thanks for reading this blog !

Balloons, Tillies, and record Number of Phone Calls

To celebrate my 25th show (amazing is all I can say) I wore my Tilley Hat, the characteristic hat I wear whenever I am on a trip and that everyone sees me wear in the photos of the show. So for the first time there I was hat on and asked the audience for phone calls to tell me how it looks. Just as I was telling people that this was the hat I wear when traveling, the phone rang, and there was Laura telling me that I should relate the reason I am wearing the hat. Since I had just finished telling the viewers that this is the famous hat they see in phtoso, I thought Laura had called to remind me to talk about the incredible reputation that Tillies have. I did that, but Laura thought that I should have shown photos of my wearing the hat on trips we have taken, so that may have to added. During the next few minutes two friends of mine called to reassure that the hat was a good idea. Nonetheless, I believe that I will only wear the hat for special occasions. This was the first time I here had 3 phone calls on one show. It was great, but while spending time on the phone, once I started the show quickly learned that those five minutes would set me back time wise from my initial planning. This show would be very special, because I was focussing on my favorite street in Florence, via della Scala, where I have spent the better of each trip to Florence at the hotel, Lidia's store, and several other places. It was a very personal story and I only hoped my viewers would enjoy it. I had some nice interviews with people from the hotel, with Lidia and some nice hotel pictures. The street itself is not very pretty, and charming as many others in Florence, but that wasn't the point, or was it. It was as if someone says something negative about a family member you have disparaged many times. Family is family, after all, and Alan's loves of places in Italy are also off bounds. LOL So, I had to do this show probably to satisfy some narcissistic reality. As the show was starting, and I began the initial segment, Ellen quickly told me to can it and start over. We did that and the show progressed flawlessly (except that I ran out of time without about 5 additional minutes of air time needed, so I did the usual rush job). When I came home to view the show in its entirety, I realized that when I placed the show on Youtube, I would have to cut that first aborted 30 second segment. As I was doing that, I realized that just as the introduction was beginning, balloons could be seen moving across the screen. At first I wanted to remove them, but then realized that conforming to the concept of this being the celebration of my 25th show, I should leave the balloons. Ellen later revealed to me that the balloons had been a mistake, a left over from a previous show. I told her today that it was genius of her to show the ballons in line with the festive air of the milestone I had achieved. Now I only hope I can have those balloons again for the 50th show; I could certainly wear the hat again ! Once again if you see the show and like the hat send me an email (Alansitaly@gmail.com) and let me how you like it. Thanks again.

Luca's Gift Turns into a Show

I get ideas for shows at odd times. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night with an idea and start writing my thoughts and composing as show using the photographs. Or perhaps while driving in the car, with my rock music playing something hits me, most inconvenient, since I usually hope I remember by the time I get home. The idea for last night's show came from a book given to me by my friend Luca during our most recent trip to Florence in May. I always admired photos Luca and Mary have on their walls of photographs of 19th century Florence. The book contains a bunch of such photos, and when he gave it to me, I immediately thought that this would make for a good show. While I was in Florence one evening just before we went to bed, it came to me that a show which consists of showing a 19th century photo, and then the modern one, and even perhaps showing them side by side would make for an interesting presentation. From that point on while I was in Florence, I endeavored to go to the spot in the city where the old photo had been taken, some as long ago as 150 years and try to take the same picture or at least something similar. I did that for many of the photos in the book. When I got back to the USA, I began to put together all the material I had, scanning photos from the book, searching out older photos Laura had taken during previous trips, and adding to that the ones I personally took just after Luca gave me the book. I worked perhaps harder than I ever did before for a show, and the result was last night's show, Show# 24 - Florence, Then and Now. Luca had also showed me additional photos of places not even covered in the book, such as the excellent photo of the Piazza Repubblica showing the slums located there in 1860, and he also focused my attention on the loggia from that same spot which had been moved to the Piazza dei Ciompi after Florence became the national capital after the Unification of Italy in 1871 by Victor Emmanuel. Laura had taken this loggia photos a few years ago, but we could never figure out where or what it was. It simply sits peacefully in the middle of a piazza near the Synagogue. Coupled with the modern photos, it makes for excellent viewing. While back home in Woodstock, I also figured out how to present 2 or 3 photos side by side in a frame, and Florence, Then and Now became a reality. I prepared for this show, as I said, for many hour, but after I did the show complete last night, I must say I had a bit of a let down. Fortunately I now will be doing some shows that will be deeply personal. Another idea struck me to focus on my favorite things in Florence such as streets, piazzas, parks, and restaurants, not to mention my favorite hotel, Croce di Malta. So, next week is the beginning and the first of such shows will focus on my favorite street in Florence, via della Scala, highlighting the hotel, gelaterria on the corner, Lidia's store, Gioia Chiara, the Herb Store from the 15th century, my second favorite restaurant in Florence, Grotta di Leo, and a sweets and chocolate store, Dolceforte. There will be interviews, especially at the hotel, and interesting facts about the venues. From this point on I will also be using many of the interviews we did at hotels and restaurants, so I will once again recharge my batteries and delve into new territory. This show was dedicated to my dear friend, Luca Rolloni. Thank you Luca !

A Bottle of Cough Medicine Saves the Day !

When I awoke this morning, I still had a lingering cough from that allergy thing I have had for the past few weeks. I was worried I would not be able to do the show, since I did not want to cough my way through one hour, so I went to the doctor. When I arrived there to get the medicine, I was told I had to make an appt, because they did not want to just give me it without having me see a doctor. I made the appt for later in the morning and went walking at the reservoir (2 miles) while I was waiting for the appt. I then came back, saw a new doctor I had never seen, got the cough meds, promised the doctor I would help her plan a trip to Italy, and scampered home to write a plan for the doctor. I took the cough meds at 1 PM just to test it out and found that I needed the full dosage of 2 teaspoons so had another 2 hrs later, went to the studio, and did the show, flawlessly !!! Thank goodness for modern medicine. First Ellen and I were told some people were going to be using the adjoining community center for summer stock rehearsals, but it was not a Flamenco Dancer so that was an improvement. It turned out I didn't even notice them. I was a bit apprehensive about doing this kind of show with all videos and perhaps 15 minutes of my introductions. Laura and I had done several interviews with a lot of very interesting people, and this night inaugurated the concept of Alan's Italy: In Their Own Words. It was pretty good I guess, as I viewed it later. Once it was uploaded to Youtube, I realized it had to edited front and back, so that is going on now, so if you go to it before the editing process is complete, which takes a few hours, you will hear some extraneous noise at the beginning and end. Otherwise, Show # 23 is there now for all to see with some very interesting stuff by four extraordinary people. Susan Chalkley, Resident Artist, at the Villa La Palagina, where we stayed while visiting Luca in Figline Valdarno, is the first. She was a lovely, fun person we got to know, and we took her to dinner in Florence soon after the video was made. Andrea Martellini, a Spokesperson for the Five Star Movement in Italy, a movement to try to root out corruption in the Italian Government was just a charming and wonderful guy with a great plan and plenty to say. Drs Roger Crum and Bill Shuerman, Professors at University of Dayton had brought a group of students from their University to study in Florence for a month. We met them at La Spada where we ate every night of the stay in Florence. They are both extremely nice people, fun, intelligent, with great knowledge of Florence and interesting stories to tell. I hope to do more shows with the same theme in the future. I have a bunch of interviews I have taped in Woodstock of people we know who have an Italian story to tell, so if this goes over well, I will continue with the theme. I would like to interview Andrea again, but on Skype, live on the show this time with him in Italy and me in Woodstock at the studio; I hope we can work that out. I felt a little strange, because I just did a lot of listening to the videos, instead of talking so much, but this is, I believe, a great idea for a show. Next week using a book my friend Luca gave me about the 19th century photography of Florence taken by the Alinari Brothers, I will do a show called Florence Then and Now discussing the old photos and the newer ones 150 years later. I will compare the same venues with the changes that have occured. It looks good with what I have done so far. Stay tuned. Thanks for tuning in to the blog and the show.