Patience, Patience, Patience

Patience is not something of which I have an abundance. This is a trait of mine that my followers know all too well. Walking out of the studio on Friday evening after doing what I assumed to be a very successful show without the DVD of the show in hand was a peculiar feeling for me. Friday turned into Saturday into Sunday into Monday and I heard nothing, except that apparently Ellen had left a message on my phone indicating that she would drop off the DVD of the show Monday afternoon. It occurred as scheduled, and I watched it and did the uploading to Youtube, as my viewers already know by the stunning image of Lake Como which appears as the lead image.

It is in fact a nice, crisp show and I looked and sounded more relaxed than I have been recently. Back in the groove again I was confident about my material and looking forward to the broadcast. People always tell me how relaxed I look, but the truth is sometimes very far from that. In this case I was very at ease. Unfortunately I made a couple of errors calling a "vaporetto" a "wheel chair" during the segment at the beginning initiated by one of my viewers who asked about the access ramp at the Florence Santa Maria Novella Train Station. With respect to accessibility for the physically challenged I spoke about the wheel chairs I have often seen around Venice, one of the "easiest" places for the physically challenged to navigate around because of its predominate flatness - except for the bridges which are the only hindrance.  Later in the show I misused a word,  "pummel" instead of "plummet." Attempting to describe the fall of the Fiumelatte water I interspersed the two words. The water plummets not pummels. I am not that upset about those errors, since, after all, I am an amateur. If I had made such a mistake in a mathematics classroom of such a magnitude, then it might be a matter of concern.

Nonetheless, I had a wonderful opportunity to describe two of the truly amazing times we had on Lake Como, a destination for us that has been filled with incredible moments. The Trattoria Baita Belvedere with its spectacular views of the lake and Bellagio and the town of Fiumelatte with its charming town and small water fall were memorable times. I now turn to a show that began to be formed in my mind when, sitting in the lobby of our hotel in Varenna, Hotel du Lac. I noticed a book of 19th century photos. Yes, dear viewers, it will yet another Then and Now show, so if you like that kind of thing, please tune in, hopefully, Friday evening, May 6.

So even though I have a dearth of patience, thanks nonetheless for your's.

Almost There, But Not Quite......

I wouldn't have believed it possible. When I finished the show, and feeling very relaxed that it was a good one, I actually felt that we have finally mastered the new equipment. I confidently gathered together my things, cables, computer, notes, etc. but heard mutterings coming from the console. Never a good sign. Ellen was desperately trying to "finalize" the DVD but was having trouble with the remote control. Who would have thought it! Yet another issue that we had yet to have. After 120 shows there was actually something left that hadn't been screwed up. While I was seated and watching her go through this process, someone came into the studio who knew me, but, of course with my poor memory for such things lately,  I didn't know her. She and her husband were producers of their own cable access show, and wanted to know why I wasn't at the Board of Producer's meeting last week. I told her that I didn't know it existed, but would like to attend. Yet another thing I have committed myself to. We finished the show at about 5:45 and it was now about 6:15 and still no video. I left and told Ellen to keep me informed. I have yet to see the finished version. That is the reason that the show has yet to be uploaded to Youtube. It should be a few days away, but if I have to do the show over (which would make me very upset), it could be longer.

Farewell to Tuscany.....For Now

The last show in the "Tuscany Series" was more or less successfully recorded yesterday evening. I use the word recorded as opposed to broadcasted because apparently Ellen forgot to flick the switch which would have made the show live! I didn't realize this until I got home and Laura wanted to know if we did a show. I told her we did and I have a supposed DVD of the effort. I had a feeling something might have been up when I looked at one of the monitors and noticed the WPAT Channel 23 Logo was on the screen. Then I simply forgot to say something because generally I don't have much of an idea what goes on behind the console. Fortunately I did have the DVD. We went out for the evening and didn't get back into the house until after 11, but then I broke down and watched the show which was recorded well enough even though the volume was too low and the photos appeared to be not quite the usual standard. I went to sleep annoyed, once again (or I should say "yet again") determined to end the whole project. As usually occurs for me, after a good night's sleep (actually "good" might be stretching the point), I changed my mind and downloaded to my computer, uploaded to Youtube, and made copies for Woodstock Public Access and Panda TV (Tivoli, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Rhinecliff). Now I am putting the punctuation mark on show # 119 with the blog post!!

The experience of traveling around Tuscany with both Lidia and Luca has evolved to the point where that in itself is worth the trip to Italy. In this case last time we were in Italy we simply told both of them to take somewhere amazing. We were not disappointed. So for shows 117 and 118 Lidia was the hostess and architect of a wonderful afternoon, and for show 119 Luca planned the trip. As I indicated on the show last night, we had made an almost circular journey around the town of Volpaia when we were in Chianti in 2009 and again in 2010, but this time visited this almost perfectly charming town. The video of the show clearly shows our fascination with small, quaint Tuscan villages. All the towns came into existence as outposts during the various wars between rivals Florence and Siena during the Middle Ages and transitioned to vacation destinations in the late 20th century. Both Lidia and Luca chose extraordinary lunch locations, Lidia in Rignana and Luca in Volpaia. I described the later in great detail, even asking Luca in an email to indicate the various bruschette (plural for bruschetta). He and Mary, as Laura later reminded me, ordered appetizers only while I (for some reason) ordered a lasagne. Next time I will probably go along with whatever my friends choose. For our upcoming trip in late May/early June I have chosen Siena and again asked Lidia and Luca to take us to places that actually I have chosen. Maybe THAT is a mistake. We shall see.

I now pivot back to Lake Como doing the next two shows related to the town of Varenna, the first, # 120 related to day trips while staying in Varenna that were easy and very rewarding and # 121 yet another in the long line of "Then and Now" type presentations. I am excited although both are in moderate to severe states of incompleteness. I have my work ahead of me. Those last two will complete the material obtained from the trip we took in May and June of 2015.

Success!!!!!

After some trepidation about broadcasting tonight during the half hour preceding the beginning of the broadcast, we began right on time at 5 PM. The process was relatively smooth on Ellen's side of the console, but my computer betrayed me and I had some difficulty which you will be able to view on Youtube. I think I had too many programs open at the same time and the memory did not permit so many things to be going on simultaneously and froze at times. For now I can simply solve the problem by closing down the programs I do not need which is all except Photos. Other than that I felt very relaxed and Ellen looked very calm as the broadcast continued just like old times. In the future I may have to add memory to my computer or buy a new one. I only have 4 GB memory; I could use at least 8 GB if not even 16 which Laura has and her computer is lightning fast.

So thus finishes a sequence of shows dedicated to a wonderful day out with Lidia and her friends that began with Show # 117 back in early October, 2015 and was finally put to rest yesterday, March 25, 2016 with Show # 118. The almost six month hiatus is the longest I have gone without doing a broadcast. At first I needed the rest from the sometimes arduous task of creating and then executing a show. Then I just kind of gave up the possibility of continuing, and finally when it looked promising, I began putting a show together and here I am.

However, I just cannot complain after finally getting back on TV and most importantly successfully uploading a new video after the 6 month hiatus. I have many more show scheduled and will discuss my ideas on the next show in two weeks. That show # 119 will focus on a day out at the Chianti village of Volpaia with Luca and Mary as our guides. Quite simply at this stage of my travels around Italy, I just cannot drive any longer. If not for Luca, Lidia, and Franco we would be confined to major cities (not a tragedy) or take trains and buses to the countryside which is just not so rewarding as driving. I will discuss all future plans in two weeks, but for now, yes, success!!!!

Relentlessly I Move Ahead

So on Friday, March 25 I will once again try to broadcast Show # 118 - Montefioralle. The original broadcast had some weird noise which both Ellen and Richard assure me will not be present again. I have made some modest "improvements" in the show and hopefully will download it to Youtube this Friday evening the first Alan's Italy in over 5 months.

A New Beginning, Perhaps

Last evening I arrived at the studio at 4PM, about a half hour before my usual arrival time to find a studio which appeared to be about three times the size of the old studio. Also Richard, the studio technician told me he was there to help inaugurate the equipment for my first live broadcast in five months. He and Ellen then spent quite a lot of time getting things ready while I tried to do the same on my computer. Having downloaded yet another update last week, some things were again different and I had to find the correct way to make the presentation. I succeeded and off we went at about 4:50, about ten minutes ahead of schedule. I indicated to Ellen that I doubted whether my usual Friday evening audience was waiting with bated breath for the possible broadcast, so let's just get started. I did the show quite flawlessly except that some of the images with writing on the bottom were clearly being cut off. The cause was unknown to me, but that might be an easy thing to correct on my end. Other than that I felt quite strange and nervous doing the show, although as always happens to me, nobody would know there was anything different from my demeanor. The show was shorter tan usual at about 37 minutes, and I knew this by looking at the clock, but I was really happy to gotten that far. I took the DVD and went home where Laura told me she watched the show live on TV and it was good although I forgot to say some things that I honestly had forgotten about the places we visit. I did not show Laura the show beforehand, as I usually do, so that was a another problem which can easily be corrected. She did say that she heard a strange noise throughout the show. That noise is very prevalent on the DVD and I labored all last night with the possibility of doing the show over again. Ellen did not know what the noise was. I will probably do the show over again IF Richard can figure out what the noise was. If so, then I will make some necessary changes, talk with Laura about several things and try it again on the air. All this rests on what Richard can determine and I will keep you posted.

The show itself # 118 focused once again on the Tuscan adventure we took with Lidia, Sabrina and Giulio last May, 2015. It shows some very beautiful images of Tuscany in close to proximity to the region known for for its wine, Chianti.  I hope you get to see it, and we will try to make that happen.

The Flu Grounds Alan's Italy

Sorry to all my fans, but I have the Flu and cannot do my show on Friday evening. Perhaps next Friday. Shooting for March 11.