The week was spent with Laura and I monitoring the situation with her exhibition at the Palazzo Bembo in the 55th Venice Biennale. First as we were following the progress of her paintings which had been shipped several weeks ago, we found out that the package had arrived at the palazzo and was ready to be installed. Then the package of her postcards that will be given to visitors to the exhibition during the next six months was delivered to UPS for shipment to Venice. A bit of a hassle with that, but finally confirmation that they had indeed arrived at our hotel in Venice, there to await our arrival on May 28. Then last evening for the first time we learned who the other artists are and to our surprise and delight saw Yoko Ono's name on the list ! That would be quite a thing to meet Yoko at the Palazzo Bembo Opening. Then Laura discovered that another friend of hers was attending along with yet another person adding to a growing group of followers. Meanwhile I continue trying to shape our two week trip to first Orvieto, then Florence, and then Venice, ending for two days in Padua.
My third class at New Paltz Lifetime Learning was again marred by projector failure, rebooting, and starting the machine over. The oddity here is that after 10 mins the projector dies, and then the presentation continues for the next hour unabated. A wonderful group of students some of whom hate my laser pointer, so that will have to be discarded in favor of my metal pointer. Otherwise the class went very well as I led the group via Milan to the area of Western Tuscany and Cinque Terre, two extraordinary places in Italy. The photos were excellent, and my presentation was crisp and very well received. Next week I take the class to my special, Florence, where we will tour my favorite haunts.
Meanwhile Alan's Italy Show # 60 celebrated yet another milestone with an outstanding narrative by my friend and compatriot Ric Hirst who spoke brilliantly about this extraordinary town in Alto Lazio going back to the Etruscan era. His familiarity with this charming and historic town and obvious passion carried most of the show, as he usually does, interspersed by questions that honestly interested me as well as most likely the audience. It was a big success, and now he and his wife, Sharon, leave for Italy soon. When next we team up for another show we will look first at the Orvieto Cathedral and then the whole story of the Etruscan influence on Italy, but that will have to wait until their return in mid June. Ric, therefore, will not return to Alan's Italy until probably July; until then I will have to carry the day on my own.
Next week I deviate from my regular Italian themes for a look at the story of the origins of Woodstock Public Access Television with two of the founders of the TV station, Bart Friedman and Tobe Carey. We were supposed to do this show several months ago, but when Bart became ill on the morning of the show, we had to scrap the idea. Here we are again, and hopefully it will happen. We have some early footage of some of the early features, some portraits of several of the original participants, and generally I will inquire of Bart and Tobe why they settled up here in the early '70's, how they became interested in public access television, and some of their early adventures in broadcasting. They continue to make their living as videographers. The show will not be without mention of Italy, however, as Tobe does have a connection with my favorite topic.
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