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.