Marvelous Views of Rome

 I have long awaited the opportunity to create a show on Franc Palaia's incredible photos of Rome. Of course we have had a couple of Rome Shows and put on some wonderful photos. Fran's pictures, however, uniquely capture the beauty of this amazing city from a different point of view. His photos from atop the Victor Emmanuel Monument are really something, as well as the images of the Piazza Navona, my favorite piazza in Rome. I very much look forward to my broadcasts with Franc, as it gives me a chance to spend the hour discussing my favorite subject with another lover of all things Italian. I was given the chance to place the photos in whatever order I preferred, and so I chose the photos I loved best I knowing the time element wouldn't abbreviate our discussion. Nonetheless, the hour just sped by, and before we knew it, Ellen held up 3 fingers indicating that we had just a few minutes to go. Sadly we focussed on one final image, and that was it for now. Franc is on tap for another show, this time concentrating on his Photo Sculptures and Light Boxes. He gave me the DVD with those images that I will place in a show for the future, probably in about a month and a half. As the show ended, the phone rang and someone called to tell me she loved the show and the beautiful photos of Italy. That was really nice. This week two of the founders of Woodstock Public Access, Bart Friedman and Tobe Carey agreed to come on the show in two weeks for interviews which will deviate from our normal Italy format in favor of a historical retrospective of the TV station going back into the late 1970's. Tobe does have a quick Italy story, but other than that, there will be no major theme related to Italy. It is a bit strange for me to deviate from my very comfortable, and set pattern of focusing on Italy, but this should be quite good, as we will take a look at how WPAT started and emerged to become the wonderful station it has become. In the meantime the people at Saugerties Lighthouse TV Channel 23 will be debuting Alan's Italy starting this Tuesday, twice a week. They will take a DVD and show it 6 times over a three week period and then go to another broadcast. To help me keep things in order I am starting from the beginning with Show # 1 on Venice, and although the shows were definitely not quite as good as they are now, to keep things in order and easy to implement on my part, I have started with # 1 and will just move forward. I gave them 10 DVD's which should last them until next January ! I have written a letter to the editor of the Saugerties Times as well as placed an ad in that newspaper for this week to introduce people of the Saugerties viewing area to my show. In two weeks I start to teach my course, Alan's Italy in the Saugerties Lifespring Program which begins on Oct 3 and will continue for six weeks. Branching out to our neighboring town. Meanwhile one of my books, the first on producing the TV show, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Televison Show will come out very soon, and I have decided to contribute part of the profit, assuming anyone buys the book, to the Woodstock Public Access Television Station. Buona note e buona fortuna.

The Tale of Two Cities

I hope I don't get sued by the ancestors of Dickens, but this choice of name of a show on Pisa was perfect. Since 1995 I had stayed away from visiting Pisa, I decided to do an overnight to see the famous Leaning Tower. When we arrived we were quite taken by the charming nature of the city, it's lovely streets, beautiful river, and most of all its warm and friendly people. Staying in the grand Hotel Royal Victoria we got to meet and interview the owner, Nicola Piegaja, and then had a lovely dinner at La Pergoletta, and got to meet its charming owner, Valentina. I just viewed the show in full and except for having to trim the beginning and the end (which I have yet to do), it is a nice presentation. There is a lot of hesitation on my part at the beginning as I was viewing a screen that had the tool bar for videos on the bottom that did not go away as it usually does. At first I didn't quite know what to do. And then undaunted I excused myself in mid sentence and fixed the problem - quite a departure from the early days, 9 months ago when a comparable situation would have thrown me for a loop. Although Ellen indicated that the sound was a bit poor on such an extended video, in a room with poor acoustics, and our smallish camera, I found the audio quite acceptable. Nicola was quite informative and interesting as he talked about the history of the hotel, and his illustrious family. The Hotel Royal Victoria is very, very special, hundreds of years old and in his family for several generations. I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wanted a special hotel experience in Pisa, complete with history, charm, and comfort, oh and very good prices. Try to select the front rooms with balconies on the Arno River. The Campo dei Miracoli, containing the famous Campanille, Cathedral, and Baptistery, along with a centuries old cemetery by the name of Camposanto form the basis of a remarkable sightseeing experience, but if you visit Pisa, make sure to visit the area surrounding the famous Campo, including the ost charming little church I ever saw, the Church of Santa maria della Spina, right on the river.

On my book front, after several days of constantly finding errors and changes, I finally signed off on the book about the show named, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show. It will go to publication and be out on the market soon. My other book, much longer, and detailed about my 20 trips to Italy, named Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey has yet to be copyedited, and will take a few more months. I begin my teaching at Saugerties Lifespring, a continuing ed program up here, in about 3 1/2 weeks and have recently been told that 29 students have already signed up with possibly more to come. This will be my first chance to teach a class since May 2010 at my former college, where I taught math. Really looking forward to the human contact after 9 months now of speaking into a camera. Also my teaching at the New Paltz College Program has been confirmed as an eight week course. The Saugerties is only 6 weeks. Other than that I am quite bored, ha ha.

Next week on my show, number 35 I am back with Franc Palaia who will be presenting stunning and interesting photos of Rome. Then next week after will be Ric Herst talking about the Museum of the Duomo in Florence and then a few weeks later the Marino Marini Museum also in Florence. Ric and I worked for 2 hrs this past week on both shows, rearranging photos so that they made sense to his presentation.

Until then buona notte e buona fortuna.

Il Narratore

I had a very interesting week visiting with the program director for the Saugerties Public Access Television Studio. Through Ellen, I had met her friend, Bart Friedman, one of the early founders of the Woodstock station who introduced me to Anastasia Redmond. She offered me the opportunity to submit my DVD's of the shows I have performed on Alan's Italy  to be broadcast on their station for three week periods, twice a week. I delivered the first ten shows I had already performed, and she has already sent me the schedule which will begin on September 18. I told her several stories of my experiences both in Italy and at the station, and she told me that I was quite a storyteller (Il Narratore in Italian). She gave me a tour of their facility and it was quite impressive, much more elaborate than the one in Woodstock. Nonetheless, probably because I have gotten so used to the one I use weekly, I was pleased to get back "home" to WPAT last evening for my first show in two weeks, having been away for the previous Friday. Filled with enthusiasm for the show that I have wanted to perform for a long time on Western Tuscany, I eagerly prepared that program the past week. My main theme would center around the drive Laura and I took across the region known as the Alpi Apuane through the mountains of North Western Tuscany, the Garfagnana. Although that trip was quite harrowing, I love to talk about how difficult the driving was with the ice and snow we encountered. Also I love the fact that I had insisted to Laura that the white capped hills we faced were really the marble tops of the Carrara region, long used as a quarry for sculptors going back hundreds of years. She insisted that they looked like snow, and, of course, was quite correct ! We eventually turned back after traveling along winding, steep roads for over an hour getting nowhere fast. Since I didn't have enough photos for a whole show on that experience we had back in 2009, I also threw some very wonderful photos of Lucca and Chiesina (Lidia's house), plus some internet photos of where we would have wound up had we not turned back on our route, the town of Bagni di Lucca and the famous Devil's Bridge, amid some splendid scenery. I called the show, Western Tuscany, leaving out a part 2 which would focus on the City of Pisa reserved for next week. On the air we had our usual broadcasting issues. First the DVD failed to kick in for the first few minutes, which necessitated our starting for a minute, then stopping, and starting a second time with the introduction. Then my voice was inaudible during the first few seconds, as Ellen had been slow revving up the sound of my microphone after the initial music segment of the introductory video. That cannot be corrected so people all over the world will see a few second muting of il Narratore. Laura at home thought that we accidentally played the ending credits instead the beginning segment, because when she turned on the show live on our television set at exactly 5 PM, the previous show (also one of mine which was actually a repeat of a previous show) had still contained a few seconds of broadcast time left. I told her today that I had the 4 PM slot AND the 5 PM slot, so one just swept into the other without much of a pause. She didn't quite know what was happening, thinking we had started, stopped, started again, stopped  again, and then started a third time !!!! An even greater horror than even I would have been aware. Always an adventure !!! Part of the charm, huh ? So one of my books is nearing completion, but I may take my time, because the second one is really the one I have greater confidence is the better of the two. That one still has some time to go as it is in some kind of editing stage. Thanks for reading and buona sera e grazie per aver letto questo.

Cameras and a Very Special Guest

Professor Eve D'Ambra stole the show with an extraordinary performance tonight. Her focus on Roman Portrait Busts and Female Beauty was an amazing presentation that was fabulous. This was her second and final appearance on the show for this summer. She is now back to work at Vassar College which she teaches Art History. I invited her to return any time for any show she wants. I hope she will take me up on it. It is a joy to share the stage with a brilliant professor of art, for me a dream come true. Just before the start of the show her husband and excellent artist, Franc Palaia, who has been with me on the show several times, decided to show his expertise with the camera and asked to handle one of them with Ellen. I had some doubts that they could pull this off with no preparation, and sure enough at the beginning of the show there were some problems. I am seen talking into the wrong camera, because I was talking into Ellen's camera, while apparently Franc's was on the screen. It straightened out, but I was a bit dismayed by that. From  now on Ellen runs the show. No other problems, however, no other people using the studio just before we did, no community center activity, no extraneous noise, no console issuers. Everything was smooth. I will be away next week, so Ellen will show another broadcast, Michelangelo in Florence, one of her favorites. That was a fine show. Otherwise I will be back for the Aug 24 show, which will be the first part of a two part show on Western Tuscany, with part 1 focussing on the area known as the Alpi Apuane, and also Lucca, Barga, Chiesina, where my friend Lidia has a townhouse. Then the week after will be Pisa. Meanwhile my first book nears production and second one has been submitted for review. The first will be called, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show and the second, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey. Please look for both. Also I will be starting a web site, which will incorporate all my projects, my two blogs, TV show, books, lectures, and teaching of classes all summarized into one easy format (I hope !). Be well, and thanks for your time ! See ya in two weeks.

The Long Wait and a Late Start

I had arrived very early to take photos of the studio for my book, Alan's Italy: The Birth of a Television Show, and work proceeded on schedule as she photographed some shots as one enters the parking lot of the Community Center, where the studio is located. As we were parking to go inside the studio, Ellen was waiting outside to tell us that there was a show which has been given the 4 - 5 PM slot and we had to wait until 5 PM to set up for the 5 PM show ! Doing some quick mathematics, I soon came to the conclusion that we would not have enough time to get set up. Ellen assured me that we would get on the air, and she would shortcut her show which normally comes right after mine at 6 PM.At first we spoke with local personality, Joe Barton, who is having some problems with the legal system at the current time, as we waited patiently outside, but then I ducked into my car and tried to take a snooze, with my air conditioning on, and radio playing some of my favorite tunes. Just as Jimi Hendrix' Along the Watchtower came on, Ellen knocked on my glass and indicated that we could try to get in a bit earlier than 5 and see what happens. Of course, I had to wait for the end of the song, because, hey, you just cannot interrupt Jimi Hendrix in mid song. Eventually we entered the studio and began frantically to set up as quickly as possible. Somehow we managed to start, but almost twenty minutes late at 5:20 PM. I tried to be relaxed and I think succeeded for the most part as I began a show that I was looking forward to, the story of Luca and Mary taking us to eastern Tuscany for the via dei Sette Ponti, not really a street, but a country road through the mountains just south and east of Ltheir home in Figline Valdarno. The scenery was lovely, and the towns among the most charming and unique I have ever seen in Italy. The show came off flawless, except that once again Ellen had to use the Focus Method instead of the Tricaster. Otherwise everything went like clockwork, and thank goodness Ellen was the producer just after me, because otherwise I can't imagine what would have happened. So on the other front, my book about my show changed its name to the one above, and my second book, now almost finsished will be called Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey. So that's it for now. Buona notte.

What's Happening in My Italy Life - An Update

Well, I feel it is incumbent upon me to fill my readers in on some of the things that are happening to me in my Italy life. Not sure how well this will be received by my readers (I do apparently have a following according to the continual increase in the number of people who are reading this ), because I promised that everything on here would be related to producing Alan's Italy. But here goes. My first book, Alan's Italy, My Personal Journey, is about half way through the production stage. I have no idea when it will be "out", but I think the editing stage is over. It is about 50 pages long; I thought it would come out longer after production, but hey, what can you do. So it will be easier to finish. I am somewhat excited about it, but my real excitement comes from my second book, now slightly more than half done, Alan's Italy, Friends and Other Miracles (so far the working title). It covers everything I have ever experienced in traveling around Italy, but not in chronological order, like my other blog on Travelpod.com, but in another order that relates to my friendships with people who live in Italy, Laura's impact on my life and work, which is enormous (!), my friends Ric and Sharon, and the TV show. I think it is good, really good, and that is very very exciting. It is a memoir, but focussing on my traveling experiences as opposed to my work experience as a math teacher, assistant principal, and college teacher. My third book will cover my 41 year career as in education, with particular emphasis on my 26 years as a supervisor. I have a bushel full of stories to tell, as only someone who was close to the power base of a NYC high school could possibly have, and I wasn't as close sometimes as I wish I had been, so much of this will be my view of things from the second rung down the ladder. It will give a view of the running of a high school that few people have ever seen. I only hope that after I finish book number 2, I have any energy and creativity left. I wrote some of book 3 while walking around the track at the Y this morning, and I think it will be very good. I hope XLibris works out because having a book self published is a very good experience so far and there will be many more books to come as long as my mind hangs in there. I am also, of course, teaching a course this fall in the Lifespring Program, which is basically a continuing ed program up here. I have that ready to go, with written materials and 6 lectures just about totally planned. The course I am doing for New Paltz Lifetime Learning in the spring 2013 will use the same format, but will require 2 more lectures to be created. I am also planning a trip for us for next May and June (2 1/2 weeks) to Orvieto, Figline Valdarno, Florence, Venice (for the Bienale), and perhaps the Dolomites and Lake Como, like in terms of days 2,1,5,5, 3. It will be expensive, but hey ya only live once. I am also batting around the idea with Laura to have our 10th anniversary party in Florence in May 2014. A bunch of people will be invited, but I have no illusions about how many people may come; I know it will be small, but I want to try. We haven't decided yet. We would have a day long celebration in which I would provide a tour of Florence in 2 parts separated by a pizza party at our fav pizza place, cocktails at the hotel, and dinner at La Spada, and gelato on the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Everyone who came would have to purchase their own plane ticket, pay for all hotels, and everything except that day's activities. I would get a low rate for people who stayed at Croce di Malta, and I would try to arrange for lesser priced dinners at La Spada in case anyone wanted to eat there during their stay. I would also provide assistance for anyone who wanted to travel around Italy, but we would plan our own trip, Laura and I which I am hoping will include a long awaited trip to Sicily. A few people actually said they would think about it when I broached this a party recently. That's what is happening, plus of course I play the guitar usually 4 or 5 times a week in my den, and walk and swim at the Y. It can be done, and I only hope for one thing: GOOD HEALTH. Without that all is lost.

A Series of Minor Disasters, Then Tranquility

I hate when this blog starts out with all these negative things that go on at the studio, but since the blog is about the experience of doing the show, it is appropriate to do that. Nonetheless, unless you like hearing about horror stories, I apologize, but this is reality. I arrived at the studio and Ellen and I spent a lot of time talking about the history of the studio for a book I am writing, my week off from doing the show which will cause her to show an old show on August 24, and a variety of other things. Suddenly she told me she lost power, and started to work on the power strip which is right next to my table, unable to get it working. We plugged in the system to another outlet, and suddenly that darn bulletin board fell down again, and there I was with ten minutes to go, holding up the power strip with one hand and the bulletin board with the other. We got that all squared away, she returned to the console, and said she couldn't get the Tricaster to work. I don't care that much anymore, because after last week, when the same thing happened and we did the show using the Focus Method (whatever any of these things actually are !!!!), and I liked it. The photos were just slightly off, and I like that little window in the right hand corner with my picture, although it obscures some of the photos I am showing. Then suddenly everything clicked into place, and the magic words that I just love to hear, "quiet on the set," rang out by Ellen, and everything just became very mellow as I started the Opening Segment of the show. Ya know I should say those words when I can't quite fall asleep at night and see what happens, because when I hear that I immediately relax."Quiet on the set" sort of harkens back to my childhood when my mother would close the book she was reading to me, kiss me on the cheek, whisper "good night" and turn out the light, and I would fall peacefully into that wonderful sleep that only a happy, secure, young child could possibly enjoy. The movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" kind of epitomizes that feeling that even amid the absolute incredible unrelenting horror of World War I, there could possibly be some peaceful moments. So back to the show and as I stared vacantly, but happily at the images and listened to that music for the umpteenth time, I never get tired of it, but actually to me it is like taking a tranquilizer. Then into the show on Orvieto with all the videos and images left over from the previous week. The wonderful video of Gianpiero at the restaurant, La Palomba was the highlight for me. It was so much fun that night when Franco Sala took us there for dinner, and we were treated like kings. Gianpiero and his family are wonderful people. Then the photos of the other restaurant we loved, La Grotta with Franco (another person) and his waitress, Mirella being taught by me how to fold a napkin using my "special" technique, which I will demonstrate next week before the main part of the show. I wanted to do a video of Mirella, but she felt that after a whole night of serving people, she didn't look her best; actually she looked beautiful. Also, after a while it gets weird always taking videos in every place we go, my new life. Even when we were in Rome in an outdoor restaurant, our favorite in Rome, Teatro di Pompeo, we vowed not to even mention Alan's Italy, but wound up talking all night about it and taking a video of a bunch of people. The show was fine, and that's it for Orvieto until perhaps next year, when Gianpiero promised some kind of cooking demonstration that I would like to take him up on, only of course if Alan's Italy is still in existence. I mean how long can this thing go on ?