Fighting Murphy's Law

By now you would think that having been through almost 3 1/2 years of public access misery, I would have gotten used to the various impediments to a well run TV broadcast. Clearly I haven't, but what occurs to me is that just when I thought everything that could go wrong had gone wrong, something else crops up. Arrived at the studio armed with my next show's notes and album, and eager to talk about Tuscany for the last time in the current series. I met someone Ellen introduced me to who had been hired by the township to do computer work. She told him I was a mathematician and an Italophile. Right off the bat I began by explaining that I wasn't really a mathematician, even though I have taught the subject for 43 years in high school and college. Real mathematicians, I assume, remember what they learned in Topology, Numerical Analysis, and Complex Variables courses; I don't! Then I had to explain why I cannot speak Italian fluently, once again using the excuse that my friends in Italy, in their eagerness to better learn the English language to help them in their work, would rather not speak Italian when I am around. Even though this is probably true, by now this fellow probably assumed that all the wonderful things Ellen told him about me were probably not true.

We got everything ready for the show, when at 4:50, Ellen said, "well we have about ten minutes and I cannot get any sound out of that mike. Try that other one." Nothing worked and yet again, I began to unwind with the expectation of going home very soon. At 4:58, when I was already starting to close the computer lid, she suddenly said, "I have it!" We started on time and I meandered through my material on San Miniato and Vinci for the latter focusing primarily on the great Leonardo da Vinci, the most famous resident of the lovely Tuscan town. Of course, I have had bad allergies (or a cold, who really knows) for the past week, and even had trouble finishing my second lecture at the college on Thursday because my voice gave out with about an hour to go. This time after about a half hour my throat started to bother me, and I had forgotten to bring water with me to the studio. Nonetheless, the show came off pretty much as I had wanted it to. I did make a few mistakes, and even forgot the word "background" when I was trying to describe the location of the Leonardo Museum in a photo I was showing.

It WAS fun, however, and it is impossible to tell from the actual video that I had a hard time getting through the show. That finishes off all the material we came home from Italy with last June. Twelve shows covering Lake Como, Cinque Terre, and Tuscany. Of course, I would never have made it this far with that material had the studio not been closed for three months. In that case I would have had to use a lot of albums I have prepared that I intend to use to cover the next two shows before we go and a couple of more when we return to the USA after our trip. Sometimes ideas for future shows come to me faster than at other time, and I am in a creative period right now. The next broadcast will be something I have thought about for quite a while focusing on shopping in Florence, a topic with which I am well acquainted. Then I will concentrate on the most famous street in Rome, the via dei Fori Imperiali. You would think that I couldn't get 40 minutes out of talking about just a street, and this WILL be a challenge, but I think I have enough material to do, especially if I talk about previous shows I did on streets and roads, and throw in some old photos. Then we go to Italy, and when I come back I will do a show on the Renaissance art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That material was obtained during a recent visit when I photographed their extensive collection of wonderful art using my IPhone. Then I have an idea about doing a show on Bridges of Italy, with special focus on Venice and Florence, but also talking about a lot of them around the world. You wouldn't think there would be so many interesting things about bridges, but there surely is. Then I have to work, but by then we will probably have come home with a lot of material from the trip to Venice, Florence, and Lake Como.

So I merrily came home, had dinner, and watched the show to see that there was a period of several minutes when every time the camera was on me, the screen lost its color! I look old enough in color, but in black and white, even older. Yet another problem, and even further infuriating that this had never happened before. Is it possible that there are other issues just around the corner to mar a future broadcast? Murphy would surely have said, oh yes, just you wait!

Almost Missed the Show

Never happened before. At about 3:45, about 30 minutes before I leave for the studio and all ready to do a show, I sat half asleep on my couch, or so I thought. In actuality I was totally asleep soon after I sat down. I suddenly awoke at about 4:25, groggy, I did not know what I was supposed to be doing, glanced at the clock on my wall, and suddenly bolted upright realizing I had been asleep and was supposed to be driving to the studio roughly 15 minutes away. I rushed out of the house, got into my car, and hastened to the town, where I arrived at 4:45, the latest I had ever gotten there. Nonetheless, the show started without a hitch, except for the fact that sound didn't start until about 15 seconds into the opening segment, not an atypical glitch considering all the problems of broadcasting we usually have. The only thing I was afraid of was not being sharp enough to concentrate on the broadcast, so I tried to wake myself up.

As I look back at the show, I do not see any indication of the fact that I was indeed groggy, once again too critical of myself. The show was part 3 of our Tuscan segment of last year's trip. During this segment I asked Lidia to drive us to two close to her house, yet evocative Tuscan towns. She chose two similar and dissimilar towns, typical for Tuscany. Alike in that they both originated as fortified, castle towns, growing up around the "rocca" and yet preserving the early Medieval flavor. Unlike in that the first town, Montecarlo, was bustling with people, while the second, Seravalle, was completely quiet and subdued. In fact the latter was so devoid of activity of any kind that we could not even find a restaurant or for that matter any person on the streets. Our car was the only one parked at the foot of the town, and the only place we could find to eat was a snack bar where we discovered some ice cream, hardly the typical Tuscan meal we had expected. First of all we arrived a bit too late, about 3:00. Even though in most Italian towns, lunch is served until 3 or 4, this one may have stopped serving at 2 or 2:30. We saw tables outside restaurants, but clearly the action was over, if it had ever started at all. Second, Sunday is not an exciting day to be out and about in Tuscany. Empty of tourists apparently, but no other town activity as you might find on a weekday, as we found out the next day when we went to two bustling towns.

I originally had decided to make Montecarlo one show and Seravalle another, but changed my mind when I realized that the Montecarlo part could not possibly give me anywhere near 40 minutes of broadcast time. I combined the two naturally considering the whole day as a show complete with the tour of the two towns and the pizza party back at Lidia's house with her family. The next show, San Miniato and Vinci, was also supposed to be two shows, but I again will combine them into one, as we did both on the same day. Then I run out of shows based on the May/June 2014 trip to Italy, and unless I want to suspend broadcasting for two months, have to come up with some more material.

In that regard I have two shows on the burner which I haven't looked at for months. Yet they will form two very nice shows. One will be a show I always wanted to do, Shopping in Florence, and the other on the Streets of Rome. The later may be changed to a show in which I focus solely on one street, arguably the most famous, via dei Fori Imperiali. That will finish up the season before heading back to Italy for more material. When I get back I could hustle to create more broadcasts or work on another idea I had during a recent visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. While I was there last time alone, I photographed the Renaissance art of which there is plenty. I will call that show, Italian Renaissance Art at the MET. I like that actually but it will require a lot of work.

In the meantime I must begin to think seriously about what I intend to develop while we are away. It's gotten to the point where before we go anywhere, I first decide where to go based on future shows. The list has begun to be formed and in all likelihood there will be once again a Tuscan part with Lidia and Luca, and a Civita di Bagnoregio part with an anticipated tour by local celebrity, Franco Sala. Next it's Venice where we are staying at a new hotel, in a new area, very closely the Venice Biennale where we will both be as nonparticipants this time around. The off to Lake Como for probably more villas and some spectacular scenery.