Five days after I posted show # 130 related to the art of Raphael, show # 131 was just uploaded. This was quickest posting of one video after another in five years. This show, centering of the fifteen minute interview with the owner Antje D'Almeida of the amazing store "Mio," also focuses on spending a lovely three hours on a 100 meter stretch on via della Spada. We begin by visiting the great and very unheralded Marino Marini Museum, then having lunch at our favorite restaurant, La Spada, ending up down the block at Mio, a very unusual, unique, and fun store. It took a long time to put together, although no where near the time spent on the Raphael show, but now opens the way for a project that I have thought about for five years, but never followed through on. It also clears the deck of material I planned for during our last trip to Italy. Although there are still a few loose ends from that trip that we photographed back in May and June, I can wait until after this project is competed to continue.
I will now do a show on How to Plan a Trip to Italy, followed by a nuts and bolts look at each major city, Rome, Florence, and Venice. I will also take a look at Tuscany, Milan, Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast. Of course it depends on how long a person will spend in Italy to either focus on the "big three" of Florence, Rome, and Venice or add in the other few. All that will be covered in the series of shows. Some older material will be familiar to many of my long time viewers, but with my new concepts I learned on IMovie, it should be a clearer, crisper, and more efficient presentation. The idea germinated over the past several years as people continually wanted me to help them plan trips for them to Italy. I still will be happy to do so as I have, but now I can say, "Look at the series of shows, and see if that is helpful to you. It may be or not; that remains to be seen." Certainly it is much less difficult when an expert on planning like myself is doing the work, but I still like this idea.
Meanwhile over 30 people have viewed the Raphael show in five days, a new record for me. The only explanation could be that at Laura's opening at the Wired Gallery, I made several new contacts as evidenced by the dearth of business cards I seem to have in my wallet. To them I say, welcome aboard and I hope you enjoy all 131 and more episodes.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
40,000 Views
In early January 2012 the experience of producing a TV cable access show was so delicious and exciting that I needed an outlet for my emotions. I began this blog with the intention of telling the story of how I managed to do Alan's Italy. It was simply an emotional outlet and perhaps an intent to tell a little history to anyone who might be interested in my tiny slice of life in Woodstock, New York. I can't seem to fall asleep tonight, but now I know why. Somewhere deep in my soul I just knew something monumental had occurred and until I digested it, I would not be able to sleep, so here it is. I awoke, checked my Youtube Channel; I apparently just went over 40,000 views on my channel. A few days ago I hit 140 subscribers. So I share the news now with my friends, family, and many supporters around the world. Thank you.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
The Art of Raphael
I spent longer creating this show on IMovie than I did any other show since I started doing my own videotaping and editing with show # 124. The reason was that although I have good knowledge of art history, especially from the Florentine Renaissance, there was a lot to be desired with regard to Raphael. I then had to video several parts to the show which took place over the course of weeks. Most of the responsibility for the delay in finishing the project, however, had to do with the fact that over the past week and a half, I was out of the house for about 75 % of the time.The end product is very satisfying, and although art history is still largely uncharted waters for me, I think I did ok. The other show regarding a solo analysis of the art of a famous Italian Renaissance artist was the one I did on Ghirlandaio. This was better than that, although that show has had a lot of viewers. Recall I have done several art shows with help from Rick Hirst, my dear friend and artist. The improvement was based on my new method of creating episodes on Alan's Italy. Each time I use IMovie, I find another aspect of the process I didn't know before. This always seems to enhance the finished product. There is no telling where I can go with iMovie, but it is both fun and exciting. Laura pushed me forward with this and as always I am very grateful to her. I tend to move slowly to change. She knows this and although it is very frustrating for her, she stays with it until I move myself in the right direction; it has never been the wrong direction. She has very good instincts. Laura herself has been heavily involved in curating a gallery show for Saturday, November 26, but still has given me a lot of her time including today when we honed the product to its current, finished form. The video was uploaded to Youtube only minutes ago.
It was, of course, challenging to try to give proper regard for anything involving one of the greatest artists of all time, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. I was assisted by the fact that I love his work, and have seen much of it throughout Italy and France (the Louvre has a significant number of pieces stolen by Napoleon during his occupation of Italy in the late 18th century). I did have several favorites at the Palatine Gallery which helped to narrow down the scope of the show. Nonetheless, to provide appropriate background material, I had a lot of research to do. One hold-up centered on the famous portrait of Agnolo Doni. The story I originally heard centered on Doni's relationship with Michelangelo. In the early 16th century Florence was privileged to have living in it at the same time the three giants of the High Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Imagine that. All three played a prominent role in my show, but the story revolving around the so called Doni Tondo was the sticking point. The story I always believed was the one which Vasari told in his famous Lives of the Artists used by the author Irving Stone in the Agony and the Ecstasy, a book I read in 1992 before my first trip to Italy on the advice of a friend who told me it would enhance my visit to Florence (which it did). I then re-read the book twice more until I fell in love with Michelangelo and Ghirlandaio. That story told by Vasari of the Doni Tondo was widely accepted in the art world as well. Then I read another interpretation leading to the theory that the Dono Tondo should have been called the Strozzi Tondo. I didn't know what to tell my audience was the real story, so solved the problem by telling both stories. Other than that pretty much everything else was accepted by the art world. It is fascinating and reminded me once again that iconic figures in history were as human and "normal" as anyone who ever lived. I once sat on a bench in Florence and imagined seeing pass by me all three of the greatest artists of Florentine History. If I spoke Italian fluently, I wouldn't know what to say except that they had no idea how famous they would become; or did they?
My next show will center on an interview we did in an extraordinary shop on via della Spada in Florence. I then realized that this street is a favorite of mine and will throw in some talk about our favorite restaurant, La Spada, and one of our favorite museums, the Marino Marini, both of which are on that street. I will not do too much on the two last ones, because each of them had their own shows years ago. I, of course as my viewers and readers know, love streets in Italy having already produced shows on via della Scala in Florence and via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome. I think I also did one on streets in general in Florence as I recall focusing on via Tornabuoni, via Calzaiuolo, etc. Anyway that will be show # 131 which I am eager to begin and will do so soon. My semester at the college ends soon and I will have plenty of time to get into a lot of themes that I am eager to do namely shows on the "perfect tours of..." I will include Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, and Tuscany in separate shows. Then I will do my long desired show on explaining to my audience how to plan a trip to Italy the way Laura and I travel. I would also like to choose my favorite photos which have some extraordinary characteristic and base a show on that. So there is a lot to do and I cannot wait to begin.
It was, of course, challenging to try to give proper regard for anything involving one of the greatest artists of all time, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. I was assisted by the fact that I love his work, and have seen much of it throughout Italy and France (the Louvre has a significant number of pieces stolen by Napoleon during his occupation of Italy in the late 18th century). I did have several favorites at the Palatine Gallery which helped to narrow down the scope of the show. Nonetheless, to provide appropriate background material, I had a lot of research to do. One hold-up centered on the famous portrait of Agnolo Doni. The story I originally heard centered on Doni's relationship with Michelangelo. In the early 16th century Florence was privileged to have living in it at the same time the three giants of the High Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Imagine that. All three played a prominent role in my show, but the story revolving around the so called Doni Tondo was the sticking point. The story I always believed was the one which Vasari told in his famous Lives of the Artists used by the author Irving Stone in the Agony and the Ecstasy, a book I read in 1992 before my first trip to Italy on the advice of a friend who told me it would enhance my visit to Florence (which it did). I then re-read the book twice more until I fell in love with Michelangelo and Ghirlandaio. That story told by Vasari of the Doni Tondo was widely accepted in the art world as well. Then I read another interpretation leading to the theory that the Dono Tondo should have been called the Strozzi Tondo. I didn't know what to tell my audience was the real story, so solved the problem by telling both stories. Other than that pretty much everything else was accepted by the art world. It is fascinating and reminded me once again that iconic figures in history were as human and "normal" as anyone who ever lived. I once sat on a bench in Florence and imagined seeing pass by me all three of the greatest artists of Florentine History. If I spoke Italian fluently, I wouldn't know what to say except that they had no idea how famous they would become; or did they?
My next show will center on an interview we did in an extraordinary shop on via della Spada in Florence. I then realized that this street is a favorite of mine and will throw in some talk about our favorite restaurant, La Spada, and one of our favorite museums, the Marino Marini, both of which are on that street. I will not do too much on the two last ones, because each of them had their own shows years ago. I, of course as my viewers and readers know, love streets in Italy having already produced shows on via della Scala in Florence and via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome. I think I also did one on streets in general in Florence as I recall focusing on via Tornabuoni, via Calzaiuolo, etc. Anyway that will be show # 131 which I am eager to begin and will do so soon. My semester at the college ends soon and I will have plenty of time to get into a lot of themes that I am eager to do namely shows on the "perfect tours of..." I will include Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, and Tuscany in separate shows. Then I will do my long desired show on explaining to my audience how to plan a trip to Italy the way Laura and I travel. I would also like to choose my favorite photos which have some extraordinary characteristic and base a show on that. So there is a lot to do and I cannot wait to begin.
Monday, November 7, 2016
More Tuscany
Yet another amazing day spent traveling in Tuscany with our friends. As I indicated in the show, the best days we spend are those with our friends, and this was no exception. This type of show is so easy to put together that the only thing that worries me is that I do justice to these wonderful people. Typical of the hospitality shown by people I have met and become close with over these 24 years, the show portrays their warmth, knowledge of their surroundings, and unflinching attempt to do everything to please us. We are very lucky to know such extraordinary people. It all began with Lidia more than 20 years ago and has blossomed into one of the finest parts of the great life I have been privileged to lead. After this last trip, we decided to double the amount of time we will spend in Florence giving us greater opportunities to experience these special moments.
The show went smoothly in production. I began using scripting from IMovie instead of creating text on my word processing program, taking screen shots, and downloading to IPhoto and then IMovie. It went well and today I did more research so you will see more of this. Otherwise I pretty much followed the same procedure I have in the recent several shows.
I continue to try to figure out how to provide newer shows to Woodstock Public Access, but so far to no avail. I will continue to try out of loyalty to the network and my wonderful engineer.
I now begin to create the next show # 130. That will focus of one of Florence's great museums, the Galleria Palatina at the Pitti Palace. I always liked that museum because it contains probably more paintings by Raphael than any other in Italy (the Louvre might have more, not certain). I will discuss those paintings as a layman not an expert, but then that is what my show has always been about, my thoughts and feelings about things. I will do my best, but a lot of research might be necessary so it could take a while. Stay tuned.
The show went smoothly in production. I began using scripting from IMovie instead of creating text on my word processing program, taking screen shots, and downloading to IPhoto and then IMovie. It went well and today I did more research so you will see more of this. Otherwise I pretty much followed the same procedure I have in the recent several shows.
I continue to try to figure out how to provide newer shows to Woodstock Public Access, but so far to no avail. I will continue to try out of loyalty to the network and my wonderful engineer.
I now begin to create the next show # 130. That will focus of one of Florence's great museums, the Galleria Palatina at the Pitti Palace. I always liked that museum because it contains probably more paintings by Raphael than any other in Italy (the Louvre might have more, not certain). I will discuss those paintings as a layman not an expert, but then that is what my show has always been about, my thoughts and feelings about things. I will do my best, but a lot of research might be necessary so it could take a while. Stay tuned.
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