I never have written a blog BEFORE a show, only after, and then usually the next day, but here is the exception. Sixty-four people have gone to this site to read my blog since last Saturday. I always wonder if people read them through from beginning to end, or just take a look, sort of like TV channel surfing, except on the internet. Web browsing, right ? Isn't that what it's called. I am mulling the idea of presenting a prize to the first one who reads this and emails me some kind of response, anything to let me know who you are. Like you get a free ticket on our plane to Italy if you contact me within the next 48 hrs. Be the first on your block to receive a free ticket to Rome with Alan's Italy !!!!
So to the issue at hand. I spent the week looking back over past shows, not all of them, of course, but a few of the first and then a few of the most recent. There is a marked difference. First, of all I have gained about ten pounds in reality and it is obvious from the photos. Second, it is clear what my thinking was back then. I never knew what to do with my hands. At first they were all over my face. Then when friends told me, I kept them at my side, but that made me look like I was tied to the chair. Then I tried folding them on the desk or playing with my pen. That is the most acceptable. Third, the presentation on the computer has changed. There are more graphics, writing, especially in the conclusion. Fourth, Ellen seems to be producing clearer images even using the "focus" which I always thought produced poorer images. Fifth, and most importantly, I look and act much more relaxed. It has finally gotten through to me that I am not making the famous "King's Speech" that required so much prep by Edward VI or Roosevelt's "Today is the day that will live in infamy," or Lincoln's "Four score and seven year ago." (The latter, Gettysburg Address, I know by heart. Yeah I know crazy. Also while I am here, I should tell you that I know every American President and when they served. Trivia.) I think I have finally truly relaxed, and perhaps even kept this thing in perspective.Who knows. Tonight I may self-destruct right before my audience. I never know with me.
My friend and former colleague Sima who has never seen my show and is one of the fifteen people in the USA who does not have a computer, has requested to see the show. She does have a DVD player, so I will send her three old shows, and copies of both books. One show I happen to have a copy of Rome Part 2, Show # 8. Then I will send # 41 with Ric Hirst doing the Museum of the Duomo Part 2 to show her a broadcast with a guess appearance. And finally either the Florence Church Show or Piazza show I did recently. Those are arguably my favorites. I'll make that decision when I finish this. For those shows I need to burn a DVD from my computer. The computer which used to take 2 hrs to burn a DVD of a show now takes 3 1/2 hrs and scares me, like is my computer getting worn out. So Ellen, my engineer, will do the copying on better equipment.
Tonight's show Alan's Italy Show # 48 will focus on my amazing last day of our trip back in May, when we spent the day simply strolling around Rome. We had originally planned to visit the MAXXI Museum, but when we saw how beautiful the weather was and how many people were out and about, we decided to join the multitude and right there at our lunch table at Ristorante La Grotta Teatro di Pompeo, I drew up an alternate plan. Tune in for the show. The images are very mundane shots of just about everywhere in Rome including a place at which I have spent precious few minutes, the Jewish Ghetto.
Probably I will write a blog afterward to pick up the pieces. See ya later, or tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment