2.14.08

Well I got the series on Travel Channel.  We will be filming over the summer and it should air in the fall.  Most - if not all - of the episodes will be international as that is where I do my buying.  I am now working with the production company and Travel to hammer out those locations, which is actually quite an enjoyable process:  sitting around picking places on the various corners of the globe to go.  The show is going to revolve around my buying trips (technically each trip will be a bonafide buying trip for me - Bjorling & Grant has to keep on keeping-on after all), going to far off places looking for locally made things that are desirable for my business, as well as antiques, rummaging through bazaars, hanging out with the locals, getting lost in mountains and jungles looking for that one special ceramicist, that one particular village where that special festival costume is made, trying to find the ever illusive cure for run on sentences.  In essence it's the same some thing that I have always been doing on buying trips for the last 9 years, the only difference is instead of me wandering around talking to myself and pointing at things, now I will have cameras and microphones following me around filming me talking to myself and pointing at things, getting involved in the process of how all of these things I bring back are made.  Going into the jungle to find dead fall wood for furniture, throwing 4 foot tall pots, pouring molten metal into casts for sculptures, dismantling old delapidated buildings for their timber to reuse in projects.  The show is also showing the viewer how to manage on their own in these places, how to find things that have not only meaning to themselves, but also cultural signifigance, whether it's old or new.  Showing what not to buy, if its something that just shouldn't be leaving the country for any number of cultural reasons.  How to haggle in different countries without offending or being the ugly tourist, doing it in an enjoyable way where everyone wins in the end, how to follow the web of clues through a particular market place to find the truly original piece.  In the end, showing people the possibilities that are available to find that certain something that will forever instantly bring to mind that fantastic trip you took all those years ago.  

Below is my favorite part from the pilot episode in New York for those of you that haven't seen the show.  For those of you that have seen the show, hopefully you have better things to do than watch embeded videos of some yahoo bidding at an auction, so I won't be in the least bit offended if you skip it.

Lastly to all of you who did watch, who went on line and voted, left comments at Travel's web site, thank you, thank you, thank you.  It's certainly a very exciting time for me.