On my Youtube site is a list of the most popular shows. Show # 4: Civita di Bagnoregio has been # 1 on the list for a long time, but today it was surpassed by Show # 28: The Roman Forum with Professor Eve D'Ambra. That show nudged ahead after a steady increase in viewers. It nows stands at Show # 28: 838 views and # 4: 836. Eve also did Show # 32 with 200 views, so that the Professor from Vassar College now has over one thousand views in the past 1 1/2 years!
Meanwhile, Riffman 42, one of my viewers indicates to me that two of my photos from Show # 90 were misidentified. One photo which I indicate as the city of Positano is really Amalfi, and another which I identify as Mt. Vesuvius is really Mt. Etna. I checked back with the book I used for the photos and he is exactly correct. What makes me feel badly is not that I made the mistake, but that I failed to go back and review my notes, because in the book I used it is very clearly labeled as he indicates. My apologies to him and to my audience. It is clear that I am too busy. Teaching at the college, writing a book, working out at the YMCA, writing this blog, and also doing this TV show appears to be too much. I have just finished my book, so things should ease up a bit. Another problem here is that when I stray too far from what I am most acquainted, I tend to "wing it" a bit too much. When I do a Florence show or one related to Venice, Lake Como, Tuscany, Rome, and Umbria, I am in my milieu. However, in trying to show pictures of the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento, I have strayed a bit too far afield from my main expertise. I have only been to the Amalfi Coast once in my life for 4 days back in 2006. Once to Sorrento as well back in 1998, and never to Sicily where I would have been able to identify Mt Etna. I apologize, but you can well imagine trying to produce a show of this type every week or even, as now is broadcast, once a month can be very difficult. Nonetheless, without offering too many excuses, I certainly do apologize for the mislabeling.
This is one of the reasons we will be returning to Italy to gather more information focusing on Cinque Terre again, Western Tuscany, Florence, and Lake Como. This 12 day trip should gather together, I hope, about 15 - 20 new shows for your viewing pleasure. Meanwhile my next two shows concentrate on first My Favorite Streets in Florence (of which I am well acquainted), and Photos of Italy taken from above, from towers, hills, etc. I call that show, Italy, Top to Bottom. Then there will be a month long hiatus, and when I return in mid-June I will spend an entire show talking about the trip we just will have taken. I will start with the planning stage, how I created this trip from scratch, the process of planning, and then a brief synopsis and preview of what will be coming during the next 12 months of broadcasts with special emphasis on what I consider to be have been the highlights, yet unknown. Part of the plan will be to document the as yet undetermined drive from the autostrade to the town of Monterosso. Despite my already anxiety over this ride, I will ask Laura, my photographer and videographer, to videotape the ride, which should be spectacular. I will also try to do some interviews with hoteliers and restauranteurs. Those have always been very popular. Lidia has promised to drive us to some beautiful towns near her home in Western Tuscany, and Luca will be taking us to Medici Villas, such as Villa Artimino, Poggio ai Caiano, etc. We will also photograph a villa on Lake Como we have yet to see, Villa Melzi just south of Bellagio. I will then spend the summer getting everything together, that's 2 months to download, edit the photos, and create shows to last the year. I return to the college on August 28, so I will have over 2 months to plan.
That's the news. Congratulations to Prof D'Ambra, apologies and thanks to Riffman42, and a renewed dedication to my wonderful and dedicated audience.
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