post 

Here is what we have learned so far...

Adrian Gonzales is willing to "pretend" they are still working on a contract with the Sox to help the Sox avoid luxury tax- that's mighty big of him.

Whomever holds the purse strings on the Washington Nationals, is apparently going to take a page from the playbook of Jerry Colengelo, and basically pay to play. If they get Cliff Lee as well, I expect they will be the Chicago Cubs of the East Coast.

The Yankees have to be frustrated that they are resigning a 36 year old shortstop, icon or not, and potentially losing out on the biggest pitcher in the Free Agent market.

If the Nationals do sign Lee, and get a Brandon Webb that returns to his previous form, then I might be concerned if I are an NL East team.

More as it develops...

Oh, and the D'backs got rid of Doctor Strikeout.. yeah.

"Wie wins CN Canadian Open for second LPGA victory"

It's lookin' like she's over you, in a fairly big way....

This year's nationals was good. This was my first since '07, and I pretty much got to see everyone I wanted and was able to witness some compelling work, amongst the other work that seems to be pretty prevalent each year.

- I missed out on Semi's and Finals, being as I had to drive home, still a little hung over from that drive too.

- I got to see Bill on a Nationals Stage again, and I enjoyed it. I hope it is not the last time.

- I got to see Scott Woods blow it up on stage, on page and just throw it in the face of the conventional slam wisdom. Those very same poets cheered for him. I'll describe that only as an "eyebrow raiser". If the slam community doesn't realize how good they have it with him in charge, then they are silly.

- Overall, it was good... seeing Nick Fox and Eirean Bradley was fun... these are legends in the slam community that I remember when they were kids.

Mostly, though, it was about seeing people walk up to Bill and pay their respects- it happened alot, and everytime it did it brought a smile to my face.

& More

I'll have to post some more later, stuff going on...

 Hello,

My name is Bob Nelson, and I am writing to invite you (and all your friends, and their friends, of course) to come and see our independent film, Sacrifice, on July 30th, 2010 at the Madcap Theaters in Tempe, AZ. We were the crazy booth at the Phoenix Comicon this year with the people that kept asking if you liked Giant Monster Movies.

Well, we finished ours, and in truly independent fashion, we’d like to share it with you.

When, and How Much?
We are doing two showings, one at 7pm and one at 9pm, and we will be having an ongoing reception before and during, where you can meet the actors, ask questions of the crew and get your poster/trading card or whatever else we gave you signed- don’t worry, we’ll have more posters at the show.

While the shows are all ages, you will be wrist banded as there will be “adult beverages” available*.

Tickets for either show are only $5- IF you order them online at Brown Paper Tickets, here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/119859
(I would suggest not waiting until the night of the show, they will be $8 at the door)

You are also welcome to view the page at Madcap’s website here: http://www.madcaptheaters.com/calendar/2010-july-30

A New Trailer Just for You...
We have a couple trailers out there for you to peruse, including a special- Just released this week for you, a trailer at our YouTube page, located here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BrickCaveMedia

Who’s Going To Be There?
Well, I am as the director. Kent Markwart, who did most of the filming will be there, as will Mike Robinson, who did much of the conceptual art, and is working on the Sacrifice Comic. Most all of the actors will be there, but I’ll be updating our twitter/facebook pages with specifics as they come in.

Can’t Come?
Well, if you are unable to attend- then make sure that you join up with one of our many linky places, and we’ll make sure you get the info on ordering a DVD once they are available.

Also, please consider helping us out on another project we are working on, called Subterfuge (apparently, we are big ‘S’ titled people). Subterfuge is going to be a web serial that are looking to shoot this fall and show in January. We are currently using Kickstarter.com to try and raise some funds for some additional equipment, and we have a short teaser video release for it at out Kickstarter page, located here:
http://kck.st/cmM8wC

If you like what you see, please consider supporting us with a few dollars on that page.

And finally, if you’d like to stay in touch with us, please consider one of these multitude of ways. Out of respect to the fact that you provided us with your email address just to receive this invite, I don’t want to send you messages you don’t want to get obviously.

So, hook up with us...

On our Email list: http://www.brickcavemedia.com/emaillist/?p=subscribe&id=1
On our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brick-Cave-Media/192332196384?ref=share
Our aforementioned Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/brickcavemedia
We think someone still uses MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&vanity=brickcavemedia&__preferredculture=en-US&__ipculture=en-US
And Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/brickcavemedia

So, in conclusion, thank you for supporting us at the Phoenix Comicon this year, and I hope that we get to see you next week at our premiere!

Bob Nelson
Director, Sacrifice
http://www.brickcavemedia.com/

* A portion of the proceeds from the reception sales will be donated to Anthology, Inc., an Arizona literary nonprofit. http://www.anthology.org/

Canned. The proverbial Heave-ho. The old baseball "management has decided to go in a different direction".  I feel like A.J. Hinch, except that I've been through puberty.

The slam announced last night that the 29th of July would be the last "Mesa" in Mesa Slam. The slam will be moving to an as yet unannounced location (a fact I find disconcerting). And while some would ask how such a thing could happen, I am strangely at peace with the whole change, with the exception of the sadness (again) that there may be no slam in Mesa after 16 years.

The core of the community is now fairly close to downtown Phoenix, making it more of a challenge for them to come out to Mesa, exacerbated by the summer audience doldrums that the slam has gone through. So, last night, in a move that has been discussed at various times but not committed to until last night, the community informed me that they would be moving the slam. After a moment of "Wha?", I merely let them know that I would be unable to make that move with them. The venue was informed, an announcement made. After that they just kinda took over, and I, almost quietly, relegated myself to a table with Bill, watched the feature and poets, caught up with Aura, and went home. 

My feeling comes from a place that I tried to identify in a recent Facebook note, that I think that the slam, Mesa Slam, is fundamentally flawed. I think that we had done some work to change that, a nice lineup of local and out of town features I thought was starting to pull out some of the locals.

I am not upset by the change, but I do think there is an unfair element of blaming the slam's trouble's on it being in Downtown Mesa. I will stick to my point that the show had become uninteresting to audience, and far too centered around the poets themselves instead of the show as a whole. Those issues will need to be addressed, because there are too many entertainment choices for people on a Thursday night. Queens bore that out, that their receipts had improved in the last month, in response to the changes and features that we had made in June and July.

In the end, however, my energy and enthusiasm are lacking to continue the push, and as I think more about it, I begin to think that this is the best way for me to bow out gracefully. I am proud of the slam, I am proud of the slammers. I am satisfied that the slam is important enough that people want to try and take it to the next level.

So, the slam will still be an Anthology event, and there are some things that need to be discussed in that, and I am sure at some level, I will still know what's happening, guest hosting now and then and the like. There are no hard feelings, some sadness, but nothing that a little time and space won't cure. I went through this in the period after Essenza finally closed for good and we started trying to do Del Sol.

 So what of me?

In the immediate future, nothing. Between spending alot of time travelling in the second half of the year, and working on film projects, I won't have time for much else.

And that's it. How appropriate that David Tabor features next week, and Cat Klotsche on the final night.

I am curious to see what is done with the slam, where it ends up and how it ends up doing.

The Great Brick Cave Media Guide to:




( Pictures and Names in here... )

I think the impending doom of Phoenix Summer is starting to get to us all here in The Valley of the Sun. I've had no fewer than 3 of my closest friends express that they are in various states of frustration, sadness or general malaise- do I even know how to spell malaise? I myself started this week witha really shitty outlook towards the future, so much so that I had to stop myself yesterday, in all seriousness, and make sure I was drinking anough water...

People, pick it up... there is so much going on, and so much to look forward to, no matter what it is.

You are loved- by me.