Yet Another Delay

The show that was scheduled for Friday, Jan 30 was once again called off because of technical difficulties. We will try again next week, Friday, February 6.

Progress Report

Danielle Maloney of Panda TV sent me the video of the show that she and Matt had put together with a tremendous amount of editing. Piecing everything together, each component of my broadcast, they created a beautiful version of Alan's Italy Show # 104. Considering the small amount of time we spent on the project, they did a magnificent job!! I would first like to thank them for a great job. There were a few problems with the synchronization of the voice with the photos, but all in all it was quite wonderful. I decided to do the same show on my usual broadcast medium, Woodstock Public Access Television and compare. That WPAT version is scheduled to air live on Friday, Jan 30. Then I will have the dilemma of which to upload to Youtube. I may place both, and let my viewing audience compare the two, but not sure as yet. Some feedback from my viewing audience would be helpful, but that ain't happening!!!!!

Thus, this Friday I may be back on the air in the usual way and I am very excited. That studio will be yet another broadcasting challenge for any WPAT producer, small, cold, shakes with the wind, but, sigh, home sweet home! Then I will probably return to my usual one show every two weeks. Although I now have a supply of about 6 or 7 shows, that will run out fast if I try to do too much too fast. I spent the entire day yesterday working on honing shows and planning for future ones. Then hopefully we will return to Italy at the end of May and create more.

I hope you get to see show # 104 some time Friday evening on Youtube.

Back on the Air (I hope)

Ellen just called to tell me we are scheduled to be in the temporary studio on Fri, January 30, 2015. Alan's Italy may be on the air, live and on Youtube once again!!! If so I am going with Show # 104: Monterosso al Mare, Part 2 featuring Bar Colpi di Timone and the interview with the owner, Giancarlo Basso. If we are really producing our first show in 3 months, then expect a new video on Youtube sometime soon afterward. Meanwhile, we are gradually approaching 20,000 Youtube views. Probably in a few weeks at the current rate. We are also approaching 8,000 reads on the blog. Stay tuned!!!

Good News

After spending two hours with the people at the PandaTV studio, it appears that I will be able to create more shows using their facilities! We start next Monday with shows 104 and 105. I will then get the DVDs and subsequently upload to Youtube. The techs at Panda are so competent with computers, it was astounding to me, a mere neophyte, to see what they are able to do. Apparently they will tape my voice doing an actual show, save my photos on a separate drive, along with the intro and concluding slideshows, and everything will be synced and overlaid to produce a show. I sort of knew all of this could take place, but with the process that we did in Woodstock being do different, I never gave it much thought. There might also be a way to edit, which would defeat the whole concept of my making mistakes - with which I have always been simultaneously frustrated and charmed! Therefore, on Monday evening I will keep you informed of the goings on at their studio and maybe even be able to upload two more shows to my Youtube channel. Stay tuned.

Stirrings and a New Direction

My small hiatus of 5 weeks from broadcasting have produced movement from my inertia to begin to think about a different approach to getting the show on the air and on Youtube. I have contacted PandaTV which services Tivoli, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and Rhinecliff on the other side of the Hudson perhaps 35 minutes from Woodstock. The director of the Panda TV public access, a big supporter of mine, has consented to help me get my computer hooked up to their system for some live broadcasting while we wait for eternity or the new broadcasting facilities to be up and running in Woodstock, whichever comes first. My appt with a system geek is set for Wed, Jan 7 at 11:30 AM. We shall see. I have about 8 shows on the drawing board and it would take a bit of work to get them organized for broadcast. Yet I miss the whole thing and look forward to moving ahead making things happen instead of waiting for the water to wash over me as I lay lazily on the beach. (my feeble attempt at metaphor!).

I will keep you posted.

Update on Alan's Italy

No end in sight for any new broadcasts. I was told that the equipment from the studio has been moved into the new location for the year which is basically a trailer. Ellen just left me a message that I shouldn't expect to go on the air either this or next week. As far as I know there is no end in sight. I could broadcast from Panda TV in Tivoli, but since I am still working at the college for another week, I can wait. The repeat system used by the town of Woodstock for their off-hours shows might be up and running much sooner than any live broadcasts, but that doesn't help anyone who watches my show regularly on Youtube. Those people will just have to surf through the 103 previous episodes.

My own feelings about this situation is a combination of resignation to something I cannot help, plus a feeling that perhaps I needed a respite. It's been almost four weeks since the last live broadcast, and I really haven't missed it much, partly because I have been very busy, and partly because I may be tired of it. I need to be told that there is a target date for a new show, and to then do my usual routine of getting ready and doing a performance. That may give me a greater feeling of connection to the show than just sitting here not knowing what is going to happen.

Meanwhile, I have shied away from thinking much about our plans for our Italian adventure for next May/June, because with Laura's recent accident, we have to see how she is doing. I assume we are going since it is a bit far in the distance. I certainly will not have trouble now extending the shows until next May since this hiatus gives me more flexibility. I may even combine some of the almost planned Tuscany shows from my last trip. Many of these shows were intended to be stand alone shows on some of the small towns, but since I will not need to create so many shows since it is already December, I may just combine a couple. The experience only lasted a couple of hours of actually visiting the towns.

Will keep you informed.

Hotel Villa Steno, Monterosso al Mare, and Racing the Clock

I think I may have just made it to do this show before we close the studio for an indefinite amount of time. We have been notified that the process of moving the equipment from the studio into a smaller trailer would begin shortly. There would be at least a one month hiatus to do another broadcast, and then perhaps a year when we would be able to get back into the studio. Assuming that is true, I will not be missing anything more than perhaps one broadcast. However, when it comes to contractors, schedules, deadlines, and promises, I have become very jaded, so it was with great relief that we finally got this show completed, although there was the some difficulty that occurred during the early part of the show.

People always ask me how it is possible to perform a show on Italy for so many broadcasts. I respond by saying that I simply relate the story as it happened while we were at a particular place, whether it were an attraction, hotel, restaurant, or whether I was taking a car, train, or ferry. Accompanied by videos and photos, the process happens almost by itself. Nothing was more true than our stay at the Hotel Villa Steno in the Cinque Terre town of Monterosso al Mare. For the hotel, I went through the entire process of choosing a place to stay using a variety of criteria such as location, convenience, quality of room, and responsive characteristics of the people at the hotel during the e mail phase of the selection. To me the place we decide to stay is more important than anything else. Being 4,000 miles from home, we want to be in a hotel which offers a down-home experience with as much charm and beauty as possible. Price is considered, but within certain parameters, I do not spare our budget while traveling. I wanted also a nice view, and of course, a town or city that held great promise for the length of our stay.

The Hotel Villa Steno was not only the highlight of our three day visit to Monterosso, but perhaps the best part of our two week vacation, excluding the time we spent with our three closest friends, Luca, Lidia, and Franco and their families which is always pure joy. In fact, as I indicate in the show, it had been our dream since 2009 when we were in Monterosso for the first time, to stay in a hotel on or near the beach. However, reading about the Hotel Villa Steno on Trip Advisor as reviewed by the actual guests who have stayed there made me want to see what this excitement was all about. When a hotel is rated number 1 out of 20 hotels, then it is indeed special. Not only were we not disappointed, but the hotel surpassed our expectations by virtue of the kindness and graciousness of our hosts, owners Matteo and Carla Pasini. Alan's Italy Show # 103 focused on our experiences at the Hotel Villa Steno and also our visit to the Old Town of Monterosso al Mare. The intention is to concentrate on the New Town on the next show, # 104.

The interview had been set up by Matteo and me through e mails. I knew that would be the central point of this show. Taken together with video of our room, and photos of everything else in the hotel, and the Old Town of Monterosso, this would constitute an entire show. The charming, informative, and intelligent demeanor of Matteo, to me, was the highlight of the presentation. Surrounded by the overall experience of staying in a superlative hotel with extraordinary features made for one of the best shows of my series which began three years ago. The views from our balcony, of course, were amazing, the same views basically that one gets from their breakfast terrace. The surrounding area was extremely evocative, a perfect Italian town.

I told Matteo beforehand that I would have to speak on the air about the two negative aspects of the hotel and Monterosso. As might have been expected, he understood. The trip to this marvelous town by car was difficult, but could have easily been overcome by traveling there by train, as I explained on the show. And the fact that the hotel was at a very high point in the town (providing stunning views) would necessitate climbing a lot of steps. That problem also was solved by taking a taxi to the front door; however, if one has the mobility to climb, gorgeous gardens awaited the journey to the top. Laura and I plan to return, possibly in two years, and will certainly not let these two problems get in our way.

Anyway, the result of this show was a marvelous portrait of a charming and gracious family and their equally wonderful hotel placed amid the extraordinary town of Monterosso al Mare. It is my hope that Alan's Italy Show # 103 was appropriate in conveying our profound appreciation for one of the best three days stay at a location in Italy during our past thirteen years of Italian travel.