The studio was perhaps 100 degrees when I arrived at 4:35 PM. Ellen indicated that we should perhaps forget tonight, but we trudged on only to find that it became unbearable. I shed my jacket, and tried to deal with the intense heat. There were a few glitches clearly caused by the equipment being too hot as well. Therefore during the show the viewer gets to see some strange things such as close-ups and then a quick reversal on my image, unique fading in and out, a blacked out image of me, colorful lines going every which way. Ellen just asked me if we should do it over, and I said, nah, it's part of the charm and aura of public access and I want to keep it just as it is. In the future, however, it would be folly to try such a thing again, but for health reasons. Ellen and I became physically ill when we got home from the intense and extremely uncomfortable heat.
Meanwhile, the show carried itself through the maze of shopping that makes Florence, Italy not only the center of the Italian Renaissance, repository of some of the greatest art in history, but also what I referred to as "one giant department store." Leather goods, clothing, jewelry, food, and just about anything you can think of is exhibited in every venue, markets, stalls, department stores, along the Ponte Vecchio, via Tournabuoni, via della Scala, piazzas and the sides of the river called Lungarni. Featured is a ten minute video interview of one of the nicest stores in Florence, Dolceforte at number 21 via della Scala. The owner of the food specialty store is Elena who gives a wonderful tour of her amazing gourmet food. I also have a pasta making video from a nearby osteria, and finally a great video of street performers entertaining the people along the via Pallazuolo.
We have one more show, My Favorite Street in Rome, via dei Fori Imperiali, and then we are off to Italy for my 23rd and Laura's 16th trip. Hopefully we will bring back a lot of great stuff. Now I will submerge my body in ice water to cool off.
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