Sunday, July 26, 2009

Rick Barry's 24 Most Incredible Celebrity Sports Adventures


Rick Barry's 24 Most Incredible Celebrity Sports Adventures

A 30 minute broadcast series with content re-purposed for web and mobile - starring Rick Barry - fantastic locations, once in a lifetime experiences and celebrity guests.
Created and Produced be Dennis Gelbaum and Rick Barry

Hall of Fame forward Rick Barry, (born March 28, 1944, in Elizabeth, New Jersey), is the only player ever to lead the NCAA, NBA, and ABA in scoring. His name appears near the top of every all-time offensive list. He scored more than 25,000 points in his professional career and in four different seasons averaged more than 30 points. He was named to 12 All-Star teams, four All-NBA First Teams, and five All-ABA First Teams. In 1966, Rick Barry was named by the NBA as one of the 50 Greatest Players in history.

'Rick Barry's 24 Most Incredible Celebrity Sports Adventures' is one part adventure and one part celebrity - a great recipe for success! Each episode will feature Rick and a celebrity participating in a sport/adventure at an incredible location/resort. Rick plays golf with Donald Trump, and then, together, they go up in a hot air balloon. Rick plays tennis with Jimmy Connors, maybe a quick game of ping-pong overlooking the Pacific and then they are off - fly-fishing in Alaska. Rick rides a horse with Billy Crystal - then they take off on ATV's through the desert. (Can't you see it - Rick and Billy taking a Yoga Class and indulging in a massage?) The idea is to take each celebrity out of their element and put them into an adventure they will remember for a lifetime. What happens will be unexpected, (and completely unscripted), engaging, fun and very entertaining. Each show is about the sport, the location, food and drink (yes they will eat and drink), friendship and adventure.

'Rick Barry's 24 Most Incredible Celebrity Sports Adventures' will be honest, simple and more about spending time with friends and going to exciting and beautiful places…than it is about learning the techniques of catching fish. The real success of the show will come from Rick Barry's presence and the way the series is shot (we will be shooting in HD) and edited. The pacing will be pleasant, relaxed (but not slow) and flawless and sometimes even a bit hectic. Interviews will be staged in interesting places and will appear to be very natural - as if the viewer is there, eavesdropping on the 'guys'. We'll never know what (or whom) they will be talking about.

'Rick Barry's 24 Most Incredible Celebrity Sports Adventures' is a countdown of epic hikes, killer climbs, backcountry rides, roller-coaster raft runs and much more. Adventures might include rafting, (Colorado River), dog sledding, (Brooks Range, Alaska), hiking, (Zion National Park, Utah), skiing, (Jackson Hole, WY), climbing, (Yosemite National Park), horseback riding, (Monument Valley, Arizona), road cycling, (North Carolina), fishing, (Salmon River, Idaho), mountain lion tracking, (Pocatello, Idaho), motorcycling up Highway 1, (CA), windsurfing, (Oregon and Washington), sailing (SF Bay), racing in the Birkebeiner, (Wisconsin) and more.

When we have a guest 'guide', they will be exceptional, smart, clever and very patient. The interaction with the guys' and nature will be pure magic. The 'guys' really appreciate where they are and viewers will be able to feel 'it' in each and every episode. Viewers don’t just watch this show - they experience it. They participate in it.

And throughout the season, viewers will learn how they can join Rick and a special celebrity guest on an adventure of a lifetime. It will be an online sweepstakes with winners chosen from a select group of viewers who answer questions correctly about show content. It will be fun and interactive.

Some of the celebrities we would be inviting to join Rick are: (and the list is not even close to being complete…there are unlimited opportunities but those listed have personal relationships with Rick…)
Tennis: Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras
Boxing: Roy Jones Jr., Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Carlos Palomino
Golf: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Raymond Floyd, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriquez, Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman
Auto Racing: Richard Petty, A. J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Tom Sneva
Entertainment - Donald Trump, Billy Crystal, Jack Nicholson, James Woods, Dennis Haysbert, Jimmy Smits, Huey Lewis, Bruce Hornsby, Alice Cooper, Rob Schneider, Adam Sandler, Dwayne Johnson, Hulk Hogan, Bill Cosby, Jet Li, Lance Armstrong, Boz Skaggs - musician

Sunday, July 19, 2009

'Ptolemais and the Red Sea'


'Ptolemais and the Red Sea'
Executive Producers, Dennis Gelbaum. Michel Pons and Steven Sidebotham

A broadcast 6x30 series, web based series of 3-minute updates and highlights, a 24/7 live 'webcast' from our liveaboard and a feature length documentary revealing a never-seen part of classical history - the ancient ports, anchorages and shipwrecks of the Pharaos - especially from the Ptolemaic, Roman and early Byzantine periods.

'Ptolemais and the Red Sea' is an archeological reconstitution of a portion of the antique sea trade route, with anticipated discoveries of ancient ports, anchorages and shipwrecks and antique settlements/cities. Our expedition will include both land and underwater investigations at stops along the ancient maritime routes linking the northern Red Sea with the Indian Ocean, in the countries of Sudan, Eritrea, and Djibouti.

'Ptolemais and the Red Sea' will be focused on a number of sites which may be associated with the ancient ports of Kleopatra’s harbor, Ptolemais Theron (also named Ptolemais of the Hunt, built by Philadelfus in 254BC and served as a hunting ground for the capture and the shipping of elephants to be used in Alexander’s army as war-tanks and the place where the circumference of the earth was discovered), Panchrisos, Berenice near Saba, The Altars of Konôn, the Grove of Eumedes and other ancient coastal cities along the African coast.

'Ptolemais and the Red Sea' will scientifically identify and date the occupation of the sites visited before, discover what the coastal ruins, spotted on satellite imagery, exactly are to confirm the locations of the Ptolemaic-Roman settlements known only through literature, and the two oldest fish-farm complexes from Pharaonic time.

Such a project has never before been undertaken.

'Ptolemais and the Red Sea' - is a four week adventure in the Red Sea - navigating as the Ancients did - searching for classical looking architecture, ruined ‘houses’, water management systems, underground cisterns and more… The danger to sail inside the reefs is real. The depth on charts is only approximate and on several occasions we are sure to experience zero depth below the keel.

'Ptolemais and the Red Sea' multi-media project provides us with a unique opportunity to educate and exchange cultural, historical and geographical knowledge one can’t read about in books or experience in a traditional classroom. 'Ptolemais and the Red Sea' will help define, give credibility to and/or rewrite the world's history and geoheritage - and Sudan's patrimony.

Arriving at Port Sudan, the Republic of Sudan's main port city, we board 'My Cuba Libre", a liveaboard powered catamaran captained by Ricardo and start our four week adventure - recreating conditions of ancient merchant ships in coastal navigation and facilitate access to many remote locations that would be difficult to approach from land. We will search for artifacts at natural moorings, identify underwater piers and classical looking ruins on land, and near obstacles to navigation.

Our adventure takes us between Port Sudan, Eritrea and fish farms near the border.

'Ptolemais and the Red Sea' expedition will help define the significance of Berenike, port of the Ptolemaist and reveal two, possibly three additional ports. These findings will demonstrate that global trading between Europe-Africa-India-China-started in these ports - in about 254 BC by Greek Pharao Philadelphus controlling ports down to Djibuti - and that the Roman Empire extended to the south along the coast and islands of the Red Sea, taking over the Ptolemaic places and constructing new buildings, cisterns and piers for boats.

By compiling and studying detailed satellite imagery and combining this with reading the ancient literary sources, Nautical charts, and sparse archeological literature published on this part of the Red sea, we will be able to select among the GPS positions of coastal remains that we believe are the most likely ancient settlements linked with the maritime trade route and that have not been previously published.

We will anchor the boat at moorings near the three sites that we previously visited and will try to date the occupation and identify them by collecting artifacts and ceramics. We will visit the three other sites (with GPS positions) that we propose to identify and consult with local residents and fishermen to locate other ancient remains. The discoveries will be documented precisely using GPS positioning, photography and, where feasible, the drawing of more detailed measured architectural plans. This data will form the basis for the publication of a gazetteer that can be used in more detailed possible follow-up investigations and excavations.