Anthony Bourdain's FAN-atic special
 

Hi everybody,
I realize that this is shameless self-promotion, but I know there are a lot of Italophiles on this site and so I figure I'd post it anyway.

I entered Anthony Bourdain's FAN-atic special contest. If you win, you take your proposed trip with Anthony Bourdain himself. I proposed a trip to Naples because I don't want it to be forgotten because of the recent problems it has had.

If you like Anthony Bourdain and you want to see him go to Italy for an episode, go check it out. I've been notified by the Travel Channel that I am in the top 20, but I'm sure more views and votes wouldn't hurt. (Viewing is no commitment; voting requires registration and then clicking on the stars below the video.)

Anyway, thanks for your time. Here is the link:
http://yourtrip.travelchannel.com/cl...D7D2F7B614C537

I just watched and LOVED your presentation!(As a retired middle school teacher, I loved your visuals!) Need to go back and register and vote. I would dearly love to watch you and Tony go to Napoli. One suggestion: many people log on at work so i suggest you make sure this gets topped and/or re-posted often on MOnday! Good luck!

Thanks so much for viewing! I really appreciate it.

You're good, amazingly good. Tony would be a fool not to pick you. And Naples seems ready made for him. I can't wait to see the episode.

Congrats nnolen-- great video. "That's my dog" made me laugh.

I hope you make it! I'd love to see that show---I went to Naples solo a few years back and I have to say that my experience was less than stellar mostly because I went there clueless as to all of the best places to see. I checked into a 1/2 star hotel that I only found out later was sandwiched between two brothels near the train station. Interesting times...

Do you teach Italian?

Nope, I teach English as a Second Language to middle school students. My college major was Italian, though.

The description of the hotel near the train station is great - that's sort of what a good portion of that area is like, but I still love it!

Thanks for the comments.

I hope you win! Let us know if you do. Your dog made laugh too. :-)

Count me in for smashing stingrays!! That was fabulous... best of luck to you!

Loved your video! And voted for you too! Keeping my fingers crossed that I get to see you and Tony in Napoli! :)

Nice work, Nicole!! You can prove that we Wisconites can be thin and cute, and show the world the right pronunciation of "brat". Can I come, too?

Eccellente! You've got my vote! I think Anthony would be ucky to have you take him to Napoli.

SusanSDG-
Thin? You just made my day!!

Thanks again everybody. I think the Fodorites have helped my ratings. :)
-Nicole

Nicole, you are adorable and have my vote as well.

I mostly agree with Grassshopper but I think Anthony would feel more lucky than ucky to have you take him to Napoli. :-)

If your dog wasn't a prop it was a great addition.

Good luck!

oops, I meant lucky! :-D

Loved it! I am also an ESL teacher (college level) and so also appreciated those clear, low-tech visual aids. I'm voting for you; you would be so much fun to travel with.

Had to laugh at the Vesuvius/safety comment...but don't forget Anthony's show where he wheezed his way to the top of some mountain somewhere. Be gentle with him!

Fabulous job. You have to win.

Yipper

Loved it too, but I registered so I could vote and can't figure out how to cast a vote. Any help out there?

Hi tuscan,
To vote, you just click on the stars under the video. Thanks so much for even looking!

Actually, the low-tech visual aids have nothing to do with my ESL background - I just really can't draw!!

And the dog was not a prop, she just has extremely inappropriate timing. :)

-nicole

Nicole: don't they all?

I hope you win!

TTT for Nicole.

I was actually kidding about the dog prop but he/she added to the video. I loved your visual aids as well.

Best of luck to you!

Dogs are great aren't they? My brother's huge Lab mix would have been "helping" in the video. At least yours was polite enough to go warn everyone else to stay out of the room.

I voted too for you. Good luck!

Great video - looks like you're in the top 3 now!

That was fun, I really wish you luck. I wasn't able to register successfully so couldn't vote... sorry.
GOOD LUCK though!

I think you should post again under something having to do with Italy...There are a lot of regulars who contribute info on Italy who haven't seen this!And I know they would love the video!!!!

I was able to register and still can't figure out how to vote! Oh well, the video looks good and I'll keep looking for the voting booth!

Good job! You have my vote. I just have to figure it out. Best wishes and good luck!

To vote, just click on the number of stars you want to give it.

Thanks - I'll try reposting with a different subject line. Thanks again everybody for voting!!

ttt for nn

Apparently I will have some news by Tuesday (3/25). I had to send in all my employment history and personal information for a background check. I guess they want to make sure I'm not a homicidal maniac or convicted stalker. :)

And I know I've said thank you (a lot), but I really do appreciate the time everybody took to view and vote.

Any new yet on who was selected? I hope it was you!

You did a great job with your video. Hope you win the contest.

This is a cut and paste from the website for the competition that Nicole entered ... I hope she doesn't mind me updating her results here.

"Sadly, that didn't do me any good. I was in the top 20 but not the lucky top 3 who get to go and meet Tony. Sigh."

It looks like you didn't make the cut which is pretty astounding as your pitch was perfect! We are headed to Naples in October and I am going to use your video as a reference. It is very fun and informative. And to be a BIT more exact, we are staying in Sorrento and visiting Naples so any thoughts you have on Sorrento would also be tremendously appreciated. Great job on the FAN-atic Special.

Sadly, I was not selected in the top 4, but I am still happy about being in the top 20. I get a signed copy of Tony's newest book and might be featured on a clips special coming up this season. Did this get me a free trip to Italy? No. I must now think of other ways to get free trips to Italy. :)

Thanks everybody for the kind words. I think they did a good job of picking the top 4 and I notice that they all had video editing and production, unlike my one-shot attempt.

Sorrento is a good base, but it is pretty touristy (specifically geared toward the English). Easy access to the Circumvesuviana train which will take you to all the cities up and down the bay. If you want any more specific information on anything I mentioned in the video, just let me know and I'll try to get it to you.

Darn, it's a shame! Next year maybe!

I was X-ed by Anthony Bourdain

As many of you are already aware, I entered a competition several months ago to take No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain on the trip of my choice. I was to create a video and submit it to the Travel Channel to be posted online and reviewed by Tony and his staff.

I spent virtually no time and wasted absolutely no technical talent on the video itself. Low tech in the extreme, the video was a single shot, 3 minute whirlwind of insanity. I wanted to take Tony to Naples, and had none of my pictures from my lengthy time there, so I drew my own (tongue-in-cheek) pictures of Naples and the surrounding area. Approximately halfway through my 3 minute debacle, Cassidy came home, the dog started barking, and I mentioned it in the video. Sadly, I think this was everyone’s favorite part.

So, with no expectations, I submitted the video. To my great surprise, people started watching it. And commenting on it. And then, not too much later and to my even greater surprise, the Travel Channel contacted me and informed me that I was in the top 20 of videos submitted and would be contacted for a phone interview by Zero Point Zero staff. I must admit, considering the vast array of slickly produced videos on the website, I was actually stunned that they picked me for anything.

Of course, as naturally happens, even though I thought I had a snowball’s chance in hell of ever being picked, I started to want it. I desired it. I spent sleepless nights creating the perfect list of things that I would do with Tony. I would take him up Mount Vesuvius. We would find local wine and drink it and spend the remainder of the episode making snarky comments about the surroundings, the locals, and anything else that came to mind. It would be legendary, this trip. I might have obsessed just a little.

Then, on the website, the naysayers started chiming in. How could my video be in the top 20, they said. They thought it had no redeeming aspects. Clearly, they were not noticing my charm, my wit, my commanding knowledge of Italian and all things Naples. Honestly, would Tony pick someone who didn’t have a vast knowledge of the country they were going to visit? He needed a fixer, a source, an Italian prodigy.

To my dismay, I found that my dream of showing Tony the wonder of Naples would never be a reality. I was not in the top 3. I would not meet Tony in New York. I begrudgingly had to admit that the winning concept of Saudi Arabia was far more intriguing and television worthy. Tony had never been there, unlike Italy. He had someone who lived there to show him the ropes. She seemed to have some idea of how a videocamera worked. I sucked up my disappointment and contented myself with an email from the Travel Channel in which I was told I would be featured in a FAN-atic clips special.

Cut to today, a lazy Sunday afternoon. With nothing to do and nowhere to be, I had some time to watch a little television. Of course, with a Bourdain marathon on, my viewing choice was clear. Suddenly, in the middle of the Laos episode at about 3:30 in the afternoon, I was on national television. In a commercial. A 30 second clip of my video with the pictures and the dog and, at the end, a giant red X through my face.

I had been gonged by Bourdain. Bourdain X-ed me.

Should this have surprised me? I guess not. But it did. I expected some sort of introduction of the top 20 finalists, and then a snarky comment or two from the Tone-ster. But an X through my face? How rude.

Things only got worse when I saw the OTHER commercials they were airing. A man who stood in the snow with a stick, sang a little song about drinkinandsmokinandeatin and then whacked a snowman. A man who creepily unwrapped a napkin while talking about showing Tony the reason he should be picked. A man wearing only a crayfish apron. And me.

And suddenly, the reality of the situation hit me. On American Idol, approximately 50% of the people they pick are legitimately talented. And the other 50% are a joke, a calamity, a disaster waiting to happen. And the light dawned on marble head, and I knew that Anthony Bourdain saw me as a joke.

I can’t help but feel a little like a jilted “X”-ed girlfriend, only instead of love notes and trinkets I’m left with a signed copy of No Reservations and the memory of national humiliation. Regardless, tomorrow night I will watch the FAN-atic special. I can’t avoid it; Bourdain is like a drug. And the concept for the Saudi Arabia show was a good one. And while the experience was educational, I fear that my forays into potential television host-dom are over. So, if you happen to see me on television, take pity on me, and pretend like you didn’t see me get X-ed.

If it makes you feel any better, I sort of doubt he personally chose you to be X'ed. And, I wasn't following this thread initially, but just saw your video and thought it was charming.

Hey nnolen, it could have been worse, no acknowdegement that you existed in this contest. The X on you will make someone curious and could open up a door...hopefully.

Nicole, are you kidding?? It wasn't a joke, and people can't BUY that kind of attention! This is the kind of quirky thing that could get you a gig on another show, for another producer or another network because somewhere someplace there's a show in need of a Naples expert - wear your X with pride!
And I'm with you on the Bourdain obsession - didn't you want to immediately go to Colombia after his last show??