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.

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.

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.

Back to Rome

I never get tired of Italy. Duuuuhhhhh ! Actually I have been to Rome a dozen times over the years and have seen just about everything, and finding a different slant so that I can revisit my favorite places is always prominent in my mind. Strolling around the town lingering on the great piazzas is not only an excellent way to spend an afternoon in Rome, but has become a favorite pastime of Romans through the years. I chose the piazzas of which I was the most familiar. It is impossible to cover all the piazzas in one show or even two, but on these over the years I have spent most of my time in Rome. Tonight's show was one of my most relaxing to do. After a week of study, as I do whenever I produce a program, the show came off exactly as I had planned. After the frenetic show we did last week, when my poor engineer, Ellen, was trying to do so many different things, and was having trouble with the equipment, this production was smooth as silk. We were both relaxed, and it was pure joy, although once again midway through the broadcast I became very hungry. No matter how mush food I eat before the show, I cannot help getting starved at about 5:35. Nonetheless, I was very pleased, and just watched about half of it on Youtube, and it was very well done.

The week was smooth as well, as the technician at New Paltz College fixed the mechanism that projects my images to my weekly class in the Lifetime Learning Institute. The projector used to shut off after fifteen minutes and the tech figured out that it was programmed to shut off at the same time each day just in case a professor forgot to turn it off. He fixed the setting and now the rest of the semester should be very low stress. The presentation was on Tuscany and it was fun once again. With only three classes left as the term winds down, I will miss teaching once again. I will, however, with any luck be back soon to mathematics teaching somewhere on the east coast.

Meanwhile as Laura's opening draws near, we are still learning about people we know who are planning to be present, and I just advised an old friend of her's on places to stay in Venice. I succeeded making reservations at the famous Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, where we will spend the last two nights of our trip. This is the third reservation I have made there in the past ten years, always paying in advance, and the previous two times canceling for one reason or another. I will try very hard to get there to see the amazing Giotto frescoes. Also I would like to spend time around the town photographing and videotaping material for a future show. In fact over the two week vacation I have about two dozen possible ideas for show. One of which will be an interview with the Director of the Florence Synagogue. Then this week I finally heard from his counterpart in Venice and have an appointment with the Director and Rabbi. The Jews of Italy will be a theme I will try to develop from material gathered in both Florence and Venice, together with photos I have of the Jewish neighborhoods in Rome and Pitigliano, plus whatever other information I can gather in my research, will be able to fashion a series of shows, and perhaps some lectures.

I also noticed on my Youtube Channel that the show I did on Dining in Italy had the largest number of "hits" in a three week period of any show I ever did, over two hundred. Therefore with that in mind I will be doing several after my trip in May/June. I have several cooking demos reserved with friends of mine who own restaurants in Florence and Orvieto. That plus other material I will gather will form the nucleus of a series on Italian Dining once again. One of the most popular shows has been those on Venice, and since I will be there for five days, a number of shows will be developed on that as well. Plus, of course, we will spend more time at the Biennale than ever before, and that will form several more programs. If I am accepted for Press Credentials, I will be able to interview artists at the exhibitions that I run into; otherwise, I will not have the status to do such a thing. Nonetheless, either way I intend to come back with a lot of Biennale material.

Well Worth the Additional Challenges

As unaccustomed to creating a show with any other theme than Italy, I nonetheless diligently set out to orient myself to the origins of Woodstock Public Access Television by speaking with many people and reading the book Video Days written by one of the early creators of the station in the 1970's, Nancy Cain. The story seemed fascinating to me, and even though it would deviate from my usual Italian themes, and the format of the show would be strictly interview in nature, I braved ahead with the project. After the initial cancellation several months ago, we breathed new life into the project and tonight it finally came off fairly well. The show itself was excellent, and Bart and Tobe appeared to enjoy talking about the early days of public access. Ellen had many challenges to overcome, and did a wonderful job of running back and forth from the camera to console, engineering a really fine program. It was quite challenging for both Ellen and me, and we clearly have an easier time when it is just she and I, but we both knew we just had to try this project, and it was very successful. There are some production issues, as you will see when you view it on Youtube, such as delays in showing images, interruptions, and a shortened ending. Nevertheless, I am pleased we finally recorded the history of public access in the Hudson Valley of New York State.

Meanwhile, I created a link to Laura Gurton's Photos and you can now view hundreds of stunning photos of Italy. Just go to my website at www.alansitaly.com and go to the Activities Page, and you will find the new photos link (actually 2 links) at the bottom. The website previously contained only ten photos, but now many of the wonderful images she has taken over the years are there for everyone to enjoy.

Meanwhile more people viewed my Youtube site this week, 215, than any previous week since it began a year and a half ago. Cannot figure that out other than perhaps many of my students at New Paltz Lifetime Learning Institute may be taking a look. Other than that I am bewildered by the turnout. The class continues to be a joy, despite projection issues. We are half through the course, four down and four to go. Next week, Tuscany.

Next week's show will be Piazzas of Rome, a creation that I am very excited about featuring a dozen or more of the most exciting places to hang out in Rome. Back to the quiet studio with just Ellen and me, and my nice relaxing photos of Rome.

A Week of Venetian Treats and Ric's Tuscania

The week was spent with Laura and I monitoring the situation with her exhibition at the Palazzo Bembo in the 55th Venice Biennale. First as we were following the progress of her paintings which had been shipped several weeks ago, we found out that the package had arrived at the palazzo and was ready to be installed. Then the package of her postcards that will be given to visitors to the exhibition during the next six months was delivered to UPS for shipment to Venice. A bit of a hassle with that, but finally confirmation that they had indeed arrived at our hotel in Venice, there to await our arrival on May 28. Then last evening for the first time we learned who the other artists are and to our surprise and delight saw Yoko Ono's name on the list ! That would be quite a thing to meet Yoko at the Palazzo Bembo Opening. Then Laura discovered that another friend of hers was attending along with yet another person adding to a growing group of followers. Meanwhile I continue trying to shape our two week trip to first Orvieto, then Florence, and then Venice, ending for two days in Padua.

My third class at New Paltz Lifetime Learning was again marred by projector failure, rebooting, and starting the machine over. The oddity here is that after 10 mins the projector dies, and then the presentation continues for the next hour unabated. A wonderful group of students some of whom hate my laser pointer, so that will have to be discarded in favor of my metal pointer. Otherwise the class went very well as I led the group via Milan to the area of Western Tuscany and Cinque Terre, two extraordinary places in Italy. The photos were excellent, and my presentation was crisp and very well received. Next week I take the class to my special, Florence, where we will tour my favorite haunts.

Meanwhile Alan's Italy Show # 60 celebrated yet another milestone with an outstanding narrative by my friend and compatriot Ric Hirst who spoke brilliantly about this extraordinary town in Alto Lazio going back to the Etruscan era. His familiarity with this charming and historic town and obvious passion carried most of the show, as he usually does, interspersed by questions that honestly interested me as well as most likely the audience. It was a big success, and now he and his wife, Sharon, leave for Italy soon. When next we team up for another show we will look first at the Orvieto Cathedral and then the whole story of the Etruscan influence on Italy, but that will have to wait until their return in mid June. Ric, therefore, will not return to Alan's Italy until probably July; until then I will have to carry the day on my own.

Next week I deviate from my regular Italian themes for a look at the story of the origins of Woodstock Public Access Television with two of the founders of the TV station, Bart Friedman and Tobe Carey. We were supposed to do this show several months ago, but when Bart became ill on the morning of the show, we had to scrap the idea. Here we are again, and hopefully it will happen. We have some early footage of some of the early features, some portraits of several of the original participants, and generally I will inquire of Bart and Tobe why they settled up here in the early '70's, how they became interested in public access television, and some of their early adventures in broadcasting. They continue to make their living as videographers. The show will not be without mention of Italy, however, as Tobe does have a connection with my favorite topic.

A Week of Italy

I cannot recall ever doing so much work to prepare for a show as I did for this show on Loggias of Italy. As fond as I am of the unique architectural features that distinguish Italy among the great countries of the world, this was one of those that always intrigued me. We had many photos of loggias and with the extra I found on the internet, it made for an excellent show, very esoteric, but also interesting to the viewers, I hope. I have decided in fact to not only explore loggias as a feature to discuss, but also arches, fountains, and other distinguishing characteristics of Italy. I loved starting with the well known loggias of Florence of which I have become very, very well acquainted over the years. In fact the most famous in Florence, the Loggia dei Lanzi, was the first and I did quite a background history. All of the Florentine Loggias are spectacular and meaningful to me. Then I went to Venice, and around the country seeking out the most unusual and famous. First I started the show with a history of temples and porticos from ancient times beginning with Greek Temples and going right to Roman Temples and private residences. A fine show, very rewarding for me and I hope the same for my audience.

Two days ago I taught my second class at New Paltz Lifetime Learning Institute. I am having computer/projector issues that are giving me significant anxiety. The projector turns off after several minutes, and after I restart it comes back for the remainder of the class. I allowed time at the end for questions and there were quite a few from restaurant opening times to traveling around the country. The people are wonderful and responsive and seem to like it very much, although I must say that the original number is steadily decreasing. I suppose that is ok, since it is better to weed out people who do not like the class, than have them finish it to the end and then criticize. I found myself becoming very tired teaching, and perhaps not being that used to teaching anymore, it just might be something to get back into; not sure. That also is a lot of work for no compensation. I wanted to work as a volunteer when I retired and this is it, I suppose, although I am working harder than I ever imagined. I am still pursuing getting back to math teaching, but those prospects are not looking that great right now.

On the Woodstock front, I tried to get some kind of announcement of a schedule of special events for our public access channel by having people submit small blurbs to me summarizing a special show they would like to let their know audience know about. The local newspaper has not been that helpful, but I keep trying nonetheless. It would be nice to be able to let our viewers know what's going on, so I will keep trying. For me personally I use my website for advertise shows, but I think I may be alone in their regard for advertising shows.

This week, Ric Hirst and I finalized our joint show on the Lazio town of Tuscania of which Ric is very well informed. That show debuts next Friday. Cannot wait. Two weeks from now I will host a show different in nature from the usual when I interview two founders of public access in the 1970's, Tobe Carey and Bart Friedman.