logistics

Progress continues apace on the Memorial Day show, and it's starting to come together! I have the notes for my dad's interview, and have a preliminary Skype call scheduled with him. And today I got the Italian audio (not yet translated) in hand. I listened to the untranslated audio file and even though I don't speak the language, it's fascinating. I understood words here and there, and sometimes was able to figure out what they were talking about. For instance I'm pretty sure Signor Bucca said that the fascists stole all their farm animals and they had very little food, just potatoes and whatever wild animals they could catch. Also, I think he said that the American mafia were involved in preparing for the invasion of Sicily! I'm sure I heard him say "cosa nostra Americana" and "resistenza" in the same sentence. I had heard a rumor about that, and I had wondered if it was true. I can't wait to get the translation and find out for sure what he was saying. Even in the places where I couldn't understand at all, it was really nice to hear the rhythm of their voices.

The logistics for this show have been intense, what with two long distance interviews, one of them intercontinental. (Which means a language barrier, and a six hour time difference, but otherwise far fewer complications than there would have been ten or even five years ago.) It wouldn't have been possible without Skype. All the planning with my dad and with Francesca has been worked out through email and Skype calls and chats. Last night Georg and I tested the ability to get additional audio from iTunes into a Skype call in case that's necessary. (There are two methods: the crude but effective "hold the mic up to another computer's speaker", and a cleaner-sounding but clunky to do method using another application called Soundflower to reroute system audio into Skype). And the day before that I set up an FTP account for Francesca, which I did wrong the first time, and had to do over on another server. Seems like every day there's something to do or arrange or work out.

I feel guilty that so much of the work has fallen to Francesca: she interviewed her father last week, recorded it on her MP3 player and FTPed the files to me. This week she'll record herself translating his interview and send me those files the same way. Next week my dad and I will record our interview. We'll do it over a Skype call just like last time, and I'll use Audio Hijack Pro to record the call. Once both interviews are recorded, then I'll edit the files with Audacity, clean up the "ums," and divide them into manageable segments. Then plan the music selections, and (cross my fingers) have it all ready to go by May 25. I don't know how the pros manage to do this every week, much less every day! I've been working on this show for weeks, and will probably spend at least some time on it every day from now until it airs.