To all my loyal fans around the world all I can say is, as disappointed as many of you are, I am having an even worse time. The last broadcast was show # 117 back on October 9, 2015, almost 5 months ago. My engineer just told me to prepare for a show for next Friday evening, March 4. I spent yesterday and today trying very hard to get back into it. It was not easy having not only lost some (although as it turned out not much) interest, but also forgetting how to do some of the computer stuff on IPhoto. But as of this moment, I have a very nice show prepared Show # 118 - Montefioralle, the day we spent with Lidia, Sabrina, and Giulio showing around the stunning area of eastern Chianti. In fact I became so enthused that I actually had prepared 115 photos, way too much and spent the last hour paring that down considerably. Of course, I always have a very hard time dropping beautiful photos from a potential broadcast.
Now I wait. Next Friday I not so confidently place myself into the hands of my engineer who will probably be doing her first show in the new studio. Very, very scary!!!!! I am fully prepared to do the show, and then do it over again; that attitude is very unusually for me who always gets upset when I have to do a show over. I haven't even seen the new studio, but, again, I place myself in the hands of the person who has taken me this far - which is very far indeed. If it comes off successfully, I then must remember how to download to my computer and upload to Youtube. Gulp!!!
We shall see what happens but I also prepared for the next show # 119 which will focus on the day out in the heart of Chianti with Mary and Luca when they took us up the steep hill to the amazing town of Volpaia. We had a spectacular lunch made slightly less wonderful by the fact that my chronic gastro intestinal problems were bad that day. Still that show was quite nice ending up at Luca's and Mary's house and spending time with Luca marvelous daughter, Greta, who also took us back to Florence on the train. Then I still have two shows (which may become one) on two side trips from Varenna on Lake Como, a lunch several hundred feet above the town of Bellagio and a stroll along Lake Como to the tiny town of Fiumelatte which has a wonderful small waterfall on what is billed as the world's shortest river.
Then I would like to do two shows which I do not know if my audience will like. I would like to spend two shows talking about how to plan a trip to Italy and then how to actually navigate through the many difficult anxious aspects of actually taking such a trip. One of my followers, my friend Shawn from Chicago, loves the idea and even wants to contribute his own experiences with planning a trip. I wish other people would email me their thoughts. The show will not feature a lot of photos, but merely be me speaking directly at the camera using lists and some visuals. I have thought this for quite some time, but never actually did anything. Now I have the skeletal outline of such a series of shows. I hope that will be a public service to assist people who are thinking about taking a trip to Italy. Please let me hear from you at alansitaly@gmail.com Thanks!!!
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Friday, November 6, 2015
Update
I consumed the last few weeks agonizing over watching my favorite sports team, the New York Mets, labor through the playoffs successfully and the World Series unsuccessfully. I still have vivid memories of the horrific plays in the field in the World Series that led to some of the losses and the insane managerial moves made by Terry Collins which were simply inexplicable at the time and in retrospect. I won't bore my Alan's Italy followers with details, although if you would like an analysis on a semi-expert level, I am the one to provide it. I have studied what could have been a wonderful end to an already stunningly surprising season which back in April nobody could foresee. Back then I would taken this season complete with the incredible disappointments. We all assumed that the Mets would be as mediocre as they have been in recent years, so actually getting to the World Series was an extraordinary achievement. Nonetheless true Met fans by the time the series began had long ago forgotten all the gratitude they should had and simply wanted, prayed for a series victory. It is not easy being a sports fan.
The Cable Access TV show known as Alan's Italy in still on hold pending the removal of all the equipment from the makeshift studio in the trailer to the new digs in the refurbished Woodstock Community Center. Fans will have to be content with the previous 116 shows (remember that the one which would have been the 117th show - actually Show # 116 - has been removed because the subjects of the show disapproved of the final content). In the meantime it would make perfect sense if I spent the interlude developing new shows. In a very sporadic manner I have tried to accomplish this despite the honest appraisal of having lost some of my enthusiasm. I have tried to reignite my passion and will continue to try, and perhaps when I am truly able to once again broadcast, I will have some kind of epiphany and begin anew. For now I have several ideas, have created four new albums for shows that will probably be broadcasted at some future time and about a dozen total ideas for new shows. Since in all probability we will not go to Italy in 2016, missing only our second year in the past 14, the shows may be few and far between once production continues probably in December or January. I will do my best, mostly for my now very devoted audience which approaches 28,000 views as I write this with 101 subscribers, and over 9,000 reads on this blog. Even though Youtube videos which have gone viral amass much higher numbers, I am content that the very esoteric, intellectual, and refined nature of the show appeals to a small, albeit dedicated audience. It is for this audience primarily that I will attempt to sustain the show. I will keep you informed.
The Cable Access TV show known as Alan's Italy in still on hold pending the removal of all the equipment from the makeshift studio in the trailer to the new digs in the refurbished Woodstock Community Center. Fans will have to be content with the previous 116 shows (remember that the one which would have been the 117th show - actually Show # 116 - has been removed because the subjects of the show disapproved of the final content). In the meantime it would make perfect sense if I spent the interlude developing new shows. In a very sporadic manner I have tried to accomplish this despite the honest appraisal of having lost some of my enthusiasm. I have tried to reignite my passion and will continue to try, and perhaps when I am truly able to once again broadcast, I will have some kind of epiphany and begin anew. For now I have several ideas, have created four new albums for shows that will probably be broadcasted at some future time and about a dozen total ideas for new shows. Since in all probability we will not go to Italy in 2016, missing only our second year in the past 14, the shows may be few and far between once production continues probably in December or January. I will do my best, mostly for my now very devoted audience which approaches 28,000 views as I write this with 101 subscribers, and over 9,000 reads on this blog. Even though Youtube videos which have gone viral amass much higher numbers, I am content that the very esoteric, intellectual, and refined nature of the show appeals to a small, albeit dedicated audience. It is for this audience primarily that I will attempt to sustain the show. I will keep you informed.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Better But Far From Perfect
Perhaps I am asking too much for perfection in an experience that clearly is not in my hands. Requesting exactly what we want in life when so many factors may mitigate the actual performance is probably unattainable for me in this endeavor. I have spoken very often about that concept on this blog, but being sort of a perfectionist or at least someone who wants to be as good as I am capable of being, I have come to expect difficulty. Last evening exemplified that. I arrived at the studio a bit later than usual because I am just so busy doing many other things.
It all began with the studio tech calling and leaving a message that the studio will be closed starting Monday so that he could move everything back to the new one in the refurbished community center. I was happy about that for several reasons. First, I need a break so that I could develop some new shows. Second, it would be nice to have a bathroom handy. It is just too stressful to not have one available for the one hour broadcast plus the extra time before and after. Third, perhaps more room would benefit my engineer who is clearly cramped most of the time. In fact we are both continually tripping over wires, equipment, and each other. Fourth, the actual workings of the console and cameras might also be better. Ellen corrected me when I told her that Richard had called me indicating that the closing would be next week not this. I told her for me this will be the last show for a while; she indicated probably December, but I will not use that as my target.
With only about 10 minutes to air time, Ellen gave me the video for show # 116 that she had edited, and then I sat at the table getting organized. With about five minutes to go, she lost the color on the tri-caster called Richard who told her what to do to fix the problem and off we went through the broadcast. From that point on things were very smooth. After all that is the only time I am actually in almost total control, and I was ready having already performed that show several weeks ago. As we concluded the show and the "outro" was being played, she inexplicably closed down the video with the song and the visual images not quite finished. She suggested that I give her the dvd and she would edited the full "outro" back into the video, but I declined and told her that I would edit that part of the show myself when I uploaded to Youtube so that the new ending would stop after the first song instead of both songs as we are used to doing.
On the way home I stopped off at an event at the Woodstock Artist Association for about an hour and then hurried home for dinner, to get ready for the start of the Division Series between the Mets and the Dodgers, and the hopefully spend time with the two videos. The first video of show 116 was perfectly edited by Ellen and I uploaded to Youtube, but there was a problem. I am used to choosing the lead photo that people see when they look at the video on my Youtube Channel, but that was not going smoothly. Otherwise Youtube chooses the image themselves randomly which is rarely suitable. I couldn't be bothered at that time, so I went ahead to the video for 117. The first thing I realized was that the intro sounded a bit strange, and even worse when I began speaking there was an echo. The echo only lasted slightly less than 60 seconds, so I uploaded anyway to Youtube. So....if you hear the sound as a bit strange, be patient because the sound improves very quickly thereafter.
In the morning I told Laura my dilemma with the lead photo on the channel for the two shows and she showed me another way to compress the photo on my computer than I had been using. That was the problem and now I have it exactly how I want it, EXCEPT those first 45 or so seconds when my voice has an echo.
So now I take a well earned hiatus, step back from the show for a couple of months. I will try to get some of my enthusiasm back that I had during the first three years. Honestly, I am getting a bit tired of the whole thing especially when I have all this extraneous stuff with which to contend. If I am successful I will finish the show # 118 on Fioralle, a stunning small town near Badia a Pasignano, and then I have about 10 more ideas including some on the air interviews. If I am able to get the enthusiasm back to continue, my biggest issue will be that we are not going to Italy next year!!! There are several reasons for this, but I will not get into them here. I anticipate, if possible, to return to Italy during April of 2017, although the details are far from being worked out. So if I must sustain the show, I will have difficulty finding suitable material for future broadcasts, but as I told Laura, "I have about 25,000 photos from trips going back years. I should be able to come up with something!!!" Stay tuned.
It all began with the studio tech calling and leaving a message that the studio will be closed starting Monday so that he could move everything back to the new one in the refurbished community center. I was happy about that for several reasons. First, I need a break so that I could develop some new shows. Second, it would be nice to have a bathroom handy. It is just too stressful to not have one available for the one hour broadcast plus the extra time before and after. Third, perhaps more room would benefit my engineer who is clearly cramped most of the time. In fact we are both continually tripping over wires, equipment, and each other. Fourth, the actual workings of the console and cameras might also be better. Ellen corrected me when I told her that Richard had called me indicating that the closing would be next week not this. I told her for me this will be the last show for a while; she indicated probably December, but I will not use that as my target.
With only about 10 minutes to air time, Ellen gave me the video for show # 116 that she had edited, and then I sat at the table getting organized. With about five minutes to go, she lost the color on the tri-caster called Richard who told her what to do to fix the problem and off we went through the broadcast. From that point on things were very smooth. After all that is the only time I am actually in almost total control, and I was ready having already performed that show several weeks ago. As we concluded the show and the "outro" was being played, she inexplicably closed down the video with the song and the visual images not quite finished. She suggested that I give her the dvd and she would edited the full "outro" back into the video, but I declined and told her that I would edit that part of the show myself when I uploaded to Youtube so that the new ending would stop after the first song instead of both songs as we are used to doing.
On the way home I stopped off at an event at the Woodstock Artist Association for about an hour and then hurried home for dinner, to get ready for the start of the Division Series between the Mets and the Dodgers, and the hopefully spend time with the two videos. The first video of show 116 was perfectly edited by Ellen and I uploaded to Youtube, but there was a problem. I am used to choosing the lead photo that people see when they look at the video on my Youtube Channel, but that was not going smoothly. Otherwise Youtube chooses the image themselves randomly which is rarely suitable. I couldn't be bothered at that time, so I went ahead to the video for 117. The first thing I realized was that the intro sounded a bit strange, and even worse when I began speaking there was an echo. The echo only lasted slightly less than 60 seconds, so I uploaded anyway to Youtube. So....if you hear the sound as a bit strange, be patient because the sound improves very quickly thereafter.
In the morning I told Laura my dilemma with the lead photo on the channel for the two shows and she showed me another way to compress the photo on my computer than I had been using. That was the problem and now I have it exactly how I want it, EXCEPT those first 45 or so seconds when my voice has an echo.
So now I take a well earned hiatus, step back from the show for a couple of months. I will try to get some of my enthusiasm back that I had during the first three years. Honestly, I am getting a bit tired of the whole thing especially when I have all this extraneous stuff with which to contend. If I am successful I will finish the show # 118 on Fioralle, a stunning small town near Badia a Pasignano, and then I have about 10 more ideas including some on the air interviews. If I am able to get the enthusiasm back to continue, my biggest issue will be that we are not going to Italy next year!!! There are several reasons for this, but I will not get into them here. I anticipate, if possible, to return to Italy during April of 2017, although the details are far from being worked out. So if I must sustain the show, I will have difficulty finding suitable material for future broadcasts, but as I told Laura, "I have about 25,000 photos from trips going back years. I should be able to come up with something!!!" Stay tuned.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Pure Chaos
The worst broadcast we ever did due largely to a host of technical problems Ellen was having with the system from video to audio issues. I was also tentative because after installing a new operating system, Yosemite to my MacBook Pro. My problems paled by comparison with what turned out to be almost pure chaos!!!
First she couldn't get the microphone to work, and then after trying all three in the studio, finally got something working. Then as we began, the visual feed stopped working so I couldn't be seen and then we had severe interference. When I went home and saw the DVD of the show, I was horrified by the end product - positively awful. I thought after all that hassle at the studio I could go with an imperfect show and indicate to my audience what it is like to do public access, but it was so terrible that it would have been an embarrassment.
Called Ellen today and indicated that perhaps we should not attempt to broadcast until we have relocated back to the now completely renovated studio, but she felt confident that we can do it, so I acquiesced and we are trying the same show again next Friday. The content appeared excellent. I focused on the Tuscan adventure we had with my friend Lidia and her friend Sabrina and Sabrina's husband Giulio. I asked them to take me anywhere they felt best in Tuscany, preferably somewhere I had never seen. They chose a fabulous day which consisted of morning at the Badia a Pasignano, just west of the Chianti Region, then lunch at a charming restaurant with spectacular views near where Sabrina and her family used to spend their summers, topped off by the hill town of Fioralle not far away. Show # 117 will focus on Badia a Pasignano with two wonderful video interviews, followed by part 2 or Show # 118 on the lunch at Rignana and afternoon at Fioralle. Good plan, lousy broadcast facilities.
Things were so bad yesterday that I began to once again think about doing my own production. I would buy a video camera, set it up meticulously on me sitting at a table, and simply do my own DVD to be uploaded to Youtube. The trouble is that I like public access, feel loyalty to Woodstock and to Ellen, and might not be able to have the split screen concept using the tri-caster. I will give this more time, especially in the new studio which should become a reality in a few months.
First she couldn't get the microphone to work, and then after trying all three in the studio, finally got something working. Then as we began, the visual feed stopped working so I couldn't be seen and then we had severe interference. When I went home and saw the DVD of the show, I was horrified by the end product - positively awful. I thought after all that hassle at the studio I could go with an imperfect show and indicate to my audience what it is like to do public access, but it was so terrible that it would have been an embarrassment.
Called Ellen today and indicated that perhaps we should not attempt to broadcast until we have relocated back to the now completely renovated studio, but she felt confident that we can do it, so I acquiesced and we are trying the same show again next Friday. The content appeared excellent. I focused on the Tuscan adventure we had with my friend Lidia and her friend Sabrina and Sabrina's husband Giulio. I asked them to take me anywhere they felt best in Tuscany, preferably somewhere I had never seen. They chose a fabulous day which consisted of morning at the Badia a Pasignano, just west of the Chianti Region, then lunch at a charming restaurant with spectacular views near where Sabrina and her family used to spend their summers, topped off by the hill town of Fioralle not far away. Show # 117 will focus on Badia a Pasignano with two wonderful video interviews, followed by part 2 or Show # 118 on the lunch at Rignana and afternoon at Fioralle. Good plan, lousy broadcast facilities.
Things were so bad yesterday that I began to once again think about doing my own production. I would buy a video camera, set it up meticulously on me sitting at a table, and simply do my own DVD to be uploaded to Youtube. The trouble is that I like public access, feel loyalty to Woodstock and to Ellen, and might not be able to have the split screen concept using the tri-caster. I will give this more time, especially in the new studio which should become a reality in a few months.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Oh Where Oh Where Have I been?
On Friday, September 25, 2015 I will attempt to broadcast my 117th show. The topic will be related to an extraordinary day I sent with some of my friends in Tuscany. The 116th show on an amazing bead store in Venice is currently being edited and may be published soon; who knows. The 115th show is permanently shelved as far as I am concerned due to the dissatisfaction the participants in that show had with the finished product (see my previous blog post). Alan's Italy is still alive, well, with a very strong beating heart. I have not gone away, yet.
The challenges of Public Access Production as opposed to getting easier seem to be getting harder for a variety of reasons. We are still in the makeshift studio instead of our new digs in the refurbished community center. My engineer continues to have difficulties with the broadcasts. Our desire to produce as close to a perfect show continue to haunt us. My time is even more limited than before, but I feel an obligation to my very loyal fan base, and my mission to present a watchable version of Italian adventure from my point of view.
I have many new shows in the very elementary stage of planning. They are very good ideas based both on my personal experiences and my fertile imagination. I do not know what the future will bring. We will close up shop probably soon to move back into a regular studio. Based on past experience the hiatus should last a couple of months at least. That will be a blessing in disguise as it will provide the time to create several new shows. Stick around.
As always, thank you for your support!!!
The challenges of Public Access Production as opposed to getting easier seem to be getting harder for a variety of reasons. We are still in the makeshift studio instead of our new digs in the refurbished community center. My engineer continues to have difficulties with the broadcasts. Our desire to produce as close to a perfect show continue to haunt us. My time is even more limited than before, but I feel an obligation to my very loyal fan base, and my mission to present a watchable version of Italian adventure from my point of view.
I have many new shows in the very elementary stage of planning. They are very good ideas based both on my personal experiences and my fertile imagination. I do not know what the future will bring. We will close up shop probably soon to move back into a regular studio. Based on past experience the hiatus should last a couple of months at least. That will be a blessing in disguise as it will provide the time to create several new shows. Stick around.
As always, thank you for your support!!!
Friday, August 28, 2015
What If Someone Hates the Show? The "real" Alan revisited. Sigh.
Those of you who regularly read this blog may notice that there is something amiss here. Where's the previous blog post? Those real fans of Alan's Italy may also have noticed that the last show vanished from Youtube. Hey is Alan going bonkers? Well, do me a big favor and do not answer the last question because there may be ample evidence of that happening from quite a ways back. Only kidding. Actually here is what happened; you deserve to know.
I never had a show which the people in the video, i.e. hotel owners, restaurant owners, etc, did not like the content. Actually I came close once but we solved that problem before the show went on the air. The last show I did regarding a certain person who owns a restaurant in a certain place we visited was removed because the people did not like several aspects of the broadcast. Well, ok, I never claimed to be Ken Burns or anyone for that matter. In fact I have gone out of my way (several times early on in this blog) to point out the amateurish nature of my productions, all the imperfections, etc. In fact I do that almost every time I do a show - the "what went wrong" segment of the blog. You know this. Hey, I am not a producer of TV shows. I am a trained, educated, licensed and recognized educator of note in the field of remedial mathematics at one of the largest (if not the largest) community colleges in the world!! I pride myself on that as I cherish the air I breathe. You know this. I have indicated that many times.
So despite telling the person who wanted a show about his endeavors exactly what I just wrote here, the person nonetheless wanted me to do the show. I even made counter suggestions for that person to not only save him money, but also have a better production. I have a witness to that effect. The person wanted ME, and got what I am capable of producing. Then I was told there were too many flaws, and that I needed to change it. Fine, but I have few methods of editing that I am capable of. I could teach anyone basic mathematics, but I cannot edit a broadcast except in small doses. So I removed the show from Youtube and the associated blog. Very simple. Alan's Italy is really very simple, and easy to get along with.
Several years ago I did an interview with a hotel owner. The person had a bad cold and hated the way he looked, so we did not broadcast that interview. The show went forward without that aspect and it was a fine show. So what happened here with the last show I did? Honestly I am not sure. True I have only a 142 IQ, so there are obviously things I don't know; otherwise I would have a 180 IQ like Thomas Jefferson. It could have been a language thing (but this never happened before), or just a misunderstanding. I do not know. I apologize to the person for not delivering what was expected, but once again folks, when you appear on Alan's Italy do not expect a CNN broadcast!!!! I have made this so abundantly clear to people that I am getting tired of it. Before I do a show about a hotel or restaurant or anything, I tell the people to go to my Youtube site and watch my shows, especially about commercial establishments with interviews. If they don't like what they see, then fine, no problems. I move on as I have with 115 broadcasts. So one last time......hello out there......Alan's Italy is a hobby, like model airplanes or stamp collecting. By profession I am a mathematics educator. If you want a broadcast about you or your projects, go to Rick Steves. If you want advice about learning mathematics, send me an email.
I never had a show which the people in the video, i.e. hotel owners, restaurant owners, etc, did not like the content. Actually I came close once but we solved that problem before the show went on the air. The last show I did regarding a certain person who owns a restaurant in a certain place we visited was removed because the people did not like several aspects of the broadcast. Well, ok, I never claimed to be Ken Burns or anyone for that matter. In fact I have gone out of my way (several times early on in this blog) to point out the amateurish nature of my productions, all the imperfections, etc. In fact I do that almost every time I do a show - the "what went wrong" segment of the blog. You know this. Hey, I am not a producer of TV shows. I am a trained, educated, licensed and recognized educator of note in the field of remedial mathematics at one of the largest (if not the largest) community colleges in the world!! I pride myself on that as I cherish the air I breathe. You know this. I have indicated that many times.
So despite telling the person who wanted a show about his endeavors exactly what I just wrote here, the person nonetheless wanted me to do the show. I even made counter suggestions for that person to not only save him money, but also have a better production. I have a witness to that effect. The person wanted ME, and got what I am capable of producing. Then I was told there were too many flaws, and that I needed to change it. Fine, but I have few methods of editing that I am capable of. I could teach anyone basic mathematics, but I cannot edit a broadcast except in small doses. So I removed the show from Youtube and the associated blog. Very simple. Alan's Italy is really very simple, and easy to get along with.
Several years ago I did an interview with a hotel owner. The person had a bad cold and hated the way he looked, so we did not broadcast that interview. The show went forward without that aspect and it was a fine show. So what happened here with the last show I did? Honestly I am not sure. True I have only a 142 IQ, so there are obviously things I don't know; otherwise I would have a 180 IQ like Thomas Jefferson. It could have been a language thing (but this never happened before), or just a misunderstanding. I do not know. I apologize to the person for not delivering what was expected, but once again folks, when you appear on Alan's Italy do not expect a CNN broadcast!!!! I have made this so abundantly clear to people that I am getting tired of it. Before I do a show about a hotel or restaurant or anything, I tell the people to go to my Youtube site and watch my shows, especially about commercial establishments with interviews. If they don't like what they see, then fine, no problems. I move on as I have with 115 broadcasts. So one last time......hello out there......Alan's Italy is a hobby, like model airplanes or stamp collecting. By profession I am a mathematics educator. If you want a broadcast about you or your projects, go to Rick Steves. If you want advice about learning mathematics, send me an email.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
A Great New Hotel in Venice: Palazzo Sant'Antonin
It was my original intention to return from Venice and immediately do a show about the Hotel Palazzo Sant'Antonin. I should have known that it would be impossible to organize all the photos and get everything ready before about two months. This broadcast actually took less time than that from the day we returned from our trip on June 9 to yesterday, July 31, so excited was I regarding the extraordinary experience staying at this amazing hotel. Also, whenever we are graced with a video interview of such quality that just adds to the excitement. So I worked very hard to create the perfect show given the great material I had and, of course, the subject.
As I indicated during the show, staying at this hotel came by surprise as we decided was to stay close to the Biennale at Arsenale and Giardini with no idea of where we would choose. After some research on the Internet, I found this treasure and immediately emailed them reserving a room. I read all the wonderful comments people had made about it, and just knew that this (and oddly not visiting the Biennale) would be the best part of this stay in Venice. I was correct. The title of the show, Oasis in Castello, Venice, was suggested by Elena Scarpa, the hotel manger and daughter of owners. I actually added the "Venice" so that people looking for a hotel in Venice would immediately been taken to the hotel in a google search. Very few people, I would assume, look for Castello as a place to stay unless they either wanted to also stay close to the Biennale or knew the fact that this is a wonderful, charming, and peaceful neighborhood in which to stay. We came upon Castello during our last trip in 2014 with another hotel which at first did not have a room for us this time, but then "relented" a few days after I had already booked the Sant'Antonin. Incidentally the name derives from the church of the same name which is nearby; I do not believe we even got to see it, as we were so busy with three days at the Biennale. Seeing everything at the Biennale is a huge undertaking, and probably impossible. The temperatures were very high during our stay and after several hours of seeing the amazing art in extremely uncomfortable circumstances, we happily would have a nice lunch somewhere and return to our special treat, a twenty minute stroll from Arsenale and a bit longer to Giardini. Coming back to the hotel was such a wonderful experience that when we left Venice, all I could think about was returning soon to stay there once again. Also, after many years of staying in Dorsoduro, I believed that we had found a new location in which to spend time. We also made contact with two lovely people who owned a beed store near the hotel. That experience will be the subject of a future show.
The actual broadcast did not go smoothly. What else is new? First of all because the air conditioner always makes so much noise, we usually turn it off just before going on the air. The studio became stifling hot. I thought about opening the front door, but I realized that someone was mowing their lawn somewhere close by and making loud noises. I did not want to take my sport jacket off, so I did the show feeling quite uncomfortable. Second, just before going on the air Ellen, my engineer, had trouble with the mouse which did not permit her to do her work on the tri-caster. Third and most disturbing, the video interview with Elena was not being broadcast properly with voices not in sync (a common problem), and also a lot of static. Needless to say by the time the show ended at about 5:45 PM, I was a physical and emotional wreck. I told Ellen that if the video was not viewable, we would do it all over again as soon as possible. When I got home and watched the DVD, everything was absolutely perfect!!! After 114 broadcasts I should know by now that public access is just such a challenge that I can never expect a smooth ride.
Once again, I would like to thank Elena and her family for their amazing hotel and kindness towards us during our stay. Their story is so sweet and charming that I hope everyone who watches the show will wish, as we do, that the Scarpa Family not only succeeds in their venture for many years to come, but flourishes as well!!
As I indicated during the show, staying at this hotel came by surprise as we decided was to stay close to the Biennale at Arsenale and Giardini with no idea of where we would choose. After some research on the Internet, I found this treasure and immediately emailed them reserving a room. I read all the wonderful comments people had made about it, and just knew that this (and oddly not visiting the Biennale) would be the best part of this stay in Venice. I was correct. The title of the show, Oasis in Castello, Venice, was suggested by Elena Scarpa, the hotel manger and daughter of owners. I actually added the "Venice" so that people looking for a hotel in Venice would immediately been taken to the hotel in a google search. Very few people, I would assume, look for Castello as a place to stay unless they either wanted to also stay close to the Biennale or knew the fact that this is a wonderful, charming, and peaceful neighborhood in which to stay. We came upon Castello during our last trip in 2014 with another hotel which at first did not have a room for us this time, but then "relented" a few days after I had already booked the Sant'Antonin. Incidentally the name derives from the church of the same name which is nearby; I do not believe we even got to see it, as we were so busy with three days at the Biennale. Seeing everything at the Biennale is a huge undertaking, and probably impossible. The temperatures were very high during our stay and after several hours of seeing the amazing art in extremely uncomfortable circumstances, we happily would have a nice lunch somewhere and return to our special treat, a twenty minute stroll from Arsenale and a bit longer to Giardini. Coming back to the hotel was such a wonderful experience that when we left Venice, all I could think about was returning soon to stay there once again. Also, after many years of staying in Dorsoduro, I believed that we had found a new location in which to spend time. We also made contact with two lovely people who owned a beed store near the hotel. That experience will be the subject of a future show.
The actual broadcast did not go smoothly. What else is new? First of all because the air conditioner always makes so much noise, we usually turn it off just before going on the air. The studio became stifling hot. I thought about opening the front door, but I realized that someone was mowing their lawn somewhere close by and making loud noises. I did not want to take my sport jacket off, so I did the show feeling quite uncomfortable. Second, just before going on the air Ellen, my engineer, had trouble with the mouse which did not permit her to do her work on the tri-caster. Third and most disturbing, the video interview with Elena was not being broadcast properly with voices not in sync (a common problem), and also a lot of static. Needless to say by the time the show ended at about 5:45 PM, I was a physical and emotional wreck. I told Ellen that if the video was not viewable, we would do it all over again as soon as possible. When I got home and watched the DVD, everything was absolutely perfect!!! After 114 broadcasts I should know by now that public access is just such a challenge that I can never expect a smooth ride.
Once again, I would like to thank Elena and her family for their amazing hotel and kindness towards us during our stay. Their story is so sweet and charming that I hope everyone who watches the show will wish, as we do, that the Scarpa Family not only succeeds in their venture for many years to come, but flourishes as well!!
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