Friday, May 17, 2013

Soon, On Our Way

The show, the Gardens of Italy, was conceived several months ago when I was preparing the show about the Bobili Gardens. I felt it was a fitting tribute to the beauty of Italy, by first focussing on the most famous gardens in Italy with its stunning Palazzo Pitti, but then expanding to other magnificent gardens around the country. Both shows were prepared at about the same time, refined together, and appeared back to back on May 10 and May 17, tonight. Except for a weird red figure that kept jumping up and down on the bottom dock of my computer every so often, the show was flawless, except for my usual switching of names that occurs more from my mind working faster than my lips. I called Matteo Cocci Lidia's friend, when I meant to say Laura's friend, because Lidia was the next name on my list to discuss.

I then spoke about the plan of our trip which begins on Monday, May 20. The entire plan was outlined complete with some of the shows I hope to come home with for my audience. Other than Laura's spectacular exhibition at the Palazzo Bembo whose openings occupy four consecutive evenings, from May 28 through May 31, we have some very special things planned. There will be two synagogue interviews in Florence and Venice, side trips from Florence to Ravenna, Colle di Val d'Elsa (Tuscany, near Siena) to visit Matteo Cocci, well known Italian artist, Pistoia (where Lidia's family will host us for a Tuscan Celebration), dinner at Luca's and Mary's house, an interview with the leaders of the Movimento Cinque Stelle (5 Star Movement), a day in Orvieto with Franco Sala showing us around, perhaps a cooking demo in Orvieto at La Palomba and Florence at La Spada, lunch at one of the stunning hills towns on the Tuscan/Umbrian border, Citta della Pieve, and on and on. In Venice Laura and I have Press Credentials, and hope to photograph and interview to our heart's delight. Then of course there's Laura Gurton's grand occasion at the stunning Palazzo Bembo. If that weren't enough excitement we then spend two days in Padua visiting the Giotto Frescoes at the Scrovegni Chapel, plus a stroll around this wonderful town.

So this will be my last blog entry here until the evening of Friday, June 7, the date of my next live show, already planned, on the Byways - roads, streets, pathways, alleys, etc - of Italy planned several weeks ago. Then another show on June 14 on the Palazzi of Florence, also planned long ago, and then I hope to get into my new material. My course at New Paltz ended two days ago and I will miss the excitement of imparting my passion for Italy with this very attentive and wonderful audience. My future with continuing ed programs will now be dependent upon my future return, hopefully, to community college mathematics teaching.

Those fans who wish to follow a day by day account of our travels in Italy are welcome and encouraged to read all about them by following this link:

http://blog.travelpod.com/members/alanjgreenhalgh

Until then, buona notte e buona fortuna !!! Grazie per la lettura.


Friday, May 10, 2013

Creating a Show on a Shoestring

Laura and I had extensive photos of the Bobili Gardens, but not enough substance to sustain a 60 minutes TV show. I began to research the gardens and found substantial information about the history, and some of the great personalities who made their mark with regard to this topic. I still lacked the substance for an hour show. I decided to also focus on the great Palazzo Pitti as well which fronts the gardens. The history and development of the building, how it changed hands during the 16th century, how it was enlarged, and eventually turned into museums is quite fascinating. Also I planned to concentrate on each gallery especially the most famous, the Palatine Gallery which houses some of the great art of some very well known artists such as Raphael, Corregio, Caravaggio, and Titian. It turned out to not only be long enough to sustain a show, but very interesting and informative as well. A great deal of research went into the creation of the show as I studied the history and art, and obtained several photos off the internet. The result, Show # 64: The Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, is a great guide for anyone wishing to have a fun and fruitful day in Florence. The production of the show in the studio was flawless, so all in all, this was a wonderful experience.

On other fronts my teaching at the New Paltz Lifetime Learning Institute comes to a close this coming Wed, May 15. It was a wonderful experience, and I owe a great deal to the organizers and my very enthusiastic participants. Although the number of students varied from week to week, all in all it has been fabulous and I hope to do it again someday.

I have set up an interview with the organizers of the Palazzo Bembo exhibit known as Personal Structures, a Collateral Event of the 55th Venice Biennale. Now that I have been granted Press Credentials, I have free reign to create as many interesting topics and ideas for shows as I want. Along those lines my interview with the spokespeople and newly elected representatives of the Movimento Cinque Stelle in Italy appears to be coming to fruition as we have set up a time, date, and pace for our meeting in their hometown (and oddly also my friend Luca's) of Figline Valdarno. It is my wish to return with as many interviews with people as possible, including of course the directors of the synagogues in both Florence and Venice, which have already been scheduled. The ideas as almost endless, and with any luck, I can return with 25 or more potential shows.

The trip now gets very close and next week I will start to pack, create lists of last minute things to do, and the worst job of all, confirm my flight reservations with Alitalia. They are a bit unpredictable and it is always a challenge using their services.

Next week's show, # 65, will focus on the Gardens of Italy, many of the most famous I have personally seen, plus I will talk about my trip, and the shows I intend to bring back with me. Then that's it until June 7 when I do show # 66 - Pathways of Italy which focusses on roads, streets, alley ways, and any other method getting from point A to point B in Italy, whether big cities, or small towns, or country roads. I will begin with a history of Italian roads with some of the most famous Roman Roads.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

A Member of the Press

Armed with letters from the Mayor of Woodstock and the Director of the Woodstock Artists Association, plus my numerous TV shows, blogs, etc. I applied for Press Credentials for the 55th Venice Biennale. Yesterday via e mail I was notified that the necessary credentials had been granted to me. I am now qualified to attend all press events, interview anyone at the Biennale who consents, and most importantly gain access to the exhibition during the preview period, May 29 - 31. I am very proud and happy about this achievement.

My class at New Paltz winds down with class number 7 this week (on Rome), and 8 and final one the week later (on Campania). It has been fun, and I will miss it. Not sure of my continuing ed ventures as I may be teaching mathematics next fall, and my stamina could be in question if I decide to do both types of teaching.

Friday's show was a success although new problems with the broadcast were discovered by my engineer. Hard to believe there are actually new problems we have yet to encounter always waiting in the wings. This time the mouse was not functioning which precluded Ellen's ability to use the Tricaster. In retrospect the Focus System, the alternative, worked fine, and she did the usual masterful job, except for a blank free screen during the first 5 seconds of the broadcast. I felt quite comfortable, however, felt rushed since I was scheduled to attend a gallery opening in Rhinebeck right after the show, which incidentally I made on time. I conceived this production many months ago as I was rummaging through our extensive photos and realized there are arches all over Italy. I placed the images in order first talking about well-known arches all over the world, then a history of them going back to the Etruscans, following the progress through Ancient Rome, and then just meandering through many of the places we have visited over the years showing my favorite and most beautiful. Next week I start a two week tour of gardens starting with the Boboli and continuing around the country, but focussing only on the ones I have personally visited. I will also give a tour of the great Pitti Palace which fronts the Boboli Gardens. Those last two shows will be it until June as we will then be off on the next trip.

Meanwhile I opened my other blog which charts my day to day travel experiences, and really should make for an interesting read, finding out what is happening as the trip unfolds. I penned the introduction which describes generally what the trip will look like. The first entry en-route will not occur until May 21 at the earliest. Just go to the Activities Page on my website and follow link to Travels in Italy. We have extensive plans for the trip including the 2 interviews at the synagogues of Florence and Venice, interview with artists and political figures, new places to visit such as Ravenna, Padua, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Pistoia, among others, cooking demos on Orvieto and Florence, dinner at Lidia's family house (I hope they let me do a show on that meal experience). We will cover the Venice Biennale extensively at their main area of Arsenale and Giardini as well as many of the Collateral Events such as Laura Gurton's work at the Palazzo Bembo. For that Palazzo Bembo I hope to interview the organizers of that exhibition, and yet have time to kick back somewhat and relax to do my usual enjoying of Italy.