>I was appalled not only with Mr. Vila's cavalier attitude >towards the furnishings and other artifacts in the museums he visited, >but also with his often equally cavalier attitude towards the people who >were showing him around. He frequently cut them off in mid-sentence and >generally made it readily apparent that he often wasn't listening to what >they were saying. This was particularly obvious in his treatment of the >guides at the Ace of Spades house in Texarkana and at one of the houses >in Natchez. It was very clear that his tours were very rushed - he >often appeared to flit from one piece of furniture to the next - fondling >everything in sight - with little or no focus to his activities or to his >presentation. I'd add that I find this to be a criticism which might be aimed at _all_ of Vila's television presentations. He's just as rude to the builders and homeowners he meets in his other series. I find that his rushed, often disjointed and superficial treatment makes it nearly impossible to watch and learn anything from his TV work. I can't imagine that many homeowners learn enough about the various projects he presents to actually accomplish anything in their own homes. All this is too bad. The basic idea of developing a TV series around visits to museum/historic house settings is a good one. Bob just "dropped the ball." We should all be relieved that he didn't drop anything else! Chris Geist ****************************************************************************** Christopher D. Geist Phone: (419)372-2981 Chair, Department of Popular Culture FAX: (419)372-2577 Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, OH 43403 E-Mail: [log in to unmask] Visit Our World Wide Web Site: http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/popc/home.html