I began to realize this show, # 81: Citta della Pieve, was going to be a little weak on significant images, historical background, and material in general to sustain a 50 minute show, as the week progressed. I added a segment on News From Italy, an idea I had actually begun to include into the show a while back not only to create some "filler," but also as an interesting way to focus on the current situation in various parts of Italy. My friend Luca always sends me the Florentine Newspaper which has a lot of current events in that great city. I liked the idea of finding an extension for the show in this manner, so added four segments in that regard, one on the recent eruption of Mt Etna, two on Venice, and one on the trial of the captain of the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Western Tuscany. I then began to embellish the show with as much historical background as I could considering Citta della Pieve was not one of the most famous Italian Hill Towns. I also intended to give my usual background of why we visited this town. The latter was one of my favorite stories, and I made the most of that throughout the show.
When I arrived at the studio and saw the empty parking lot, I was cheered by the fact that obviously there would be no major events at the Woodstock Community Center that evening. Whew ! I immediately settled down, because sometimes the noise is really annoying. Well, just as the show was about to begin we heard the occasional sounds of castanets and the tap-tap-tap of that Flamenco dancer who sometimes practices in the empty community center. Throughout the show I was constantly having a difficult time concentrating with that horrid noise. Of course, as I have explained many times, being in such close proximity to the community center, we, the Woodstock Public Access Television Producers, must always know that we may be sharing the whole space with people who have an equal right to the facilities, so I just gritted my teeth and bore the burden. Throughout the show I felt very distracted and had a very, very hard time concentrating. I just knew my discomfort would come through on the video.
When I came home Laura told me it was a good show, but I felt that it was probably going to be disappointing. I just viewed the first half hour, and was pleasantly surprised at how professional I sounded. It is obvious that after almost two years of broadcasting, perhaps I have come to deal with small annoyances with a certain level of acceptance and aplomb. That was great to see. Meanwhile the experience of having first "discovered" Citta della Pieve seven years ago, always vowing to return and finally doing so came across very well. I looked forward to including a whole show on that amazing small town in north central Umbria, just east of the Tuscan border for a long time. Ellen loved the "News From Italy," the general tour of this charming town, and the restaurant scenes. I liked the show and now have finished the three-part series on the towns of Central Italy we visited during our most recent visit. I now turn to my next show, which remember, will not be the usual next week, but two weeks hence. I am now on an every other week schedule. The show will be very different, a number of videos one after the other taking the viewer on a rather stunning series of water rides down the "Main Street" of Venice, the Grand Canal. Although the viewer will also hear the sounds of the great pathway from the train station to the lagoon, I will also be narrating as we go along. In addition to seeing the sights and hearing the commentary, the audience will also see how the experience of taking a vaporetto ride by a passenger occurs. Some great scenes, and the pure excitement of Venice punctuate this very unique broadcast in two weeks.
I also will be honing several of the upcoming shows namely the Ric Hirst narration of the incredible Orvieto Cathedral and my three shows on the 19th century photos of Italy broken down into three parts, Florence, Part 2, Tuscany, and Italy in general. Then Ric is back with his take on the Doors of the Florence Baptistery, and his extremely amazing photos of the former Roman town of Carsulae, rarely visited and hardly known. I will also try once again to create the show about the Venice Biennale which occurred at Giardini and Arsenale. The problem here is that I have so much material and very little knowledge of contemporary art that I may not be able to do this. I keep trying. Stay tuned !
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