The face of courageous sacrifice and suffering, Jean d'Aire – sculpture by August Rodin

On August 1, 1347, the city of Calais in France had fallen. The siege had been long, over 8 months, and the citizens were proud of their massive castle which was over 1,000 yards wide, surrounded by two moats, and protected by the sea at its back.

The terms of the surrender were the lives of the six noblest men in the city. These men, called burghers, were to leave the city with a noose around their neck and present themselves and the keys to the city to the conquering king, Edward III of England.

The most prominent of them all was Jean d’Aire and his face says it all.

Over 500 years later the citizens of Calais asked sculptor August Rodin to commemorate that day with a statue of all six burghers marching to their doom. He complied and ended up creating one of his best masterpieces.

The bust you see above is but one part of the statue, albeit the most famous. In later years Rodin would create several copies of that face for busts and in giant size. Today, you can find these copies all around the world at museum, parks, and in Calais.

But, first the original:

Continue reading “The face of courageous sacrifice and suffering, Jean d'Aire – sculpture by August Rodin”

Video game trailers rival Hollywood in artistry and star power

Gamers have high expectations for the previews, which is not surprising considering the video game industry now rivals Hollywood in artistry, pulls a fair amount of star power, and makes considerably more money than the movies.

…

Though dozens of video games (and the creative minds behind them) will be honored at the Video Game Awards Saturday night, the real stars of the event will be the trailers.

Spike is debuting 10 trailers for highly anticipated games at the ninth annual VGAs, among them Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Metal Gear Solid: Rising, The Amazing Spider-Man video game and the mysterious new PlayStation 3 title, teased online as The Last of Us.

Call of Duty trailer w/ Sam Worthington, Dwight Howard, and a skinny Jonah Hill

Check out many more at the Hero Complex from LA Times

10 things you need to know about MLB’s new labor deal

There are several thorough and full summaries of baseball’s new labor deal, also known as MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). I’ve read through them and found some interesting pieces:

1. Houston Astros will move to the AL West – starting in the 2013 season and new owner Jim Crane is receiving $70 million off his purchase price for allowing it to happen.

2. Hide the tobacco – players, managers, and coaches will be prohibited from using smokeless tobacco during televised interviews and team appearances. Once stadium gates open, players, managers and coaches must conceal tobacco products and may not carry tobacco products in their uniforms or on their bodies, but they can still use it.

3. Instant replay – in addition to home run balls will be used on fair/foul and “trapped” ball plays (close catches).

4. All-Star Game mandatory participation – players chosen must participate unless injured or given a note from the Commissioner.

5. Two Wild Cards – a second wild card will be instituted in each league. In this system, the two wild cards in each league will play a one-game playoff, the winner will play the team with the best record in the league, even if that team is in the same division.

6. New 100 mph helmet – a new Rawlings helmet designed to protect against 100 mph pitches will be required for the 2013 season.

7. No more low-density maple bats – no new player entering the major leagues can use a low density maple bat.

8. Signing bonus – are being reined in, subject to limitations, taxes, and all that.

9. Minimum salary – in majors $480,000 and in the minors $78,250.

10. Steroids – all players will be test for steroids in spring training, can be tested anytime during the season, and there will be 200+ random tests during the off-season.

10 things you need to know about MLB's new labor deal

There are several thorough and full summaries of baseball’s new labor deal, also known as MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). I’ve read through them and found some interesting pieces:

1. Houston Astros will move to the AL West – starting in the 2013 season and new owner Jim Crane is receiving $70 million off his purchase price for allowing it to happen.

2. Hide the tobacco – players, managers, and coaches will be prohibited from using smokeless tobacco during televised interviews and team appearances. Once stadium gates open, players, managers and coaches must conceal tobacco products and may not carry tobacco products in their uniforms or on their bodies, but they can still use it.

3. Instant replay – in addition to home run balls will be used on fair/foul and “trapped” ball plays (close catches).

4. All-Star Game mandatory participation – players chosen must participate unless injured or given a note from the Commissioner.

5. Two Wild Cards – a second wild card will be instituted in each league. In this system, the two wild cards in each league will play a one-game playoff, the winner will play the team with the best record in the league, even if that team is in the same division.

6. New 100 mph helmet – a new Rawlings helmet designed to protect against 100 mph pitches will be required for the 2013 season.

7. No more low-density maple bats – no new player entering the major leagues can use a low density maple bat.

8. Signing bonus – are being reined in, subject to limitations, taxes, and all that.

9. Minimum salary – in majors $480,000 and in the minors $78,250.

10. Steroids – all players will be test for steroids in spring training, can be tested anytime during the season, and there will be 200+ random tests during the off-season.

Adsense funds creativity – big time! – Online advertisers spending 100s of millions

I pay attention to advertiser spending because it’s how I make my living. It’s also how Google has come to dominate the world, making $3 billion a month on advertising.

Which makes it all the more interesting to see who is funding all this. Here is the top ten list, in millions.

The top spender is IAC/InterActiveCorp, owner of Ask.com, Match.com, Citysearch and other companies that depend on buying long-tail search terms in bulk.

The numbers don’t include the fourth quarter, typically the heaviest for advertising in general and particularly for search.

Google’s top 20 biggest advertisers via Ad Age

The perfect waves of Fall from California to Jersey to Africa

“It was just a classic California fall day,” explained photographer Matt Kurvin. “The waves were perfect all day with warm, blue skies, offshores, a good amount of swell and a light crowd. I surfed myself for about five hours and then came in and got this shot.”

Good to epic – a tribute to perfect waves

Twelve days of Christmas – the cost of all twelve gifts

Check out this whimsical video by PNC Wealth Management based on the gifts in the holiday classic, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

Total cost of all 12 gifts in 2011 – $24,263.18

“A sluggish economy coupled with weak demand has kept the 2011 PNC Christmas Price Index to a moderate gain of 3.5 percent.”

Also, check out the PNC website for a more immersive interactive experience.

 

How to watch sports online, packages from NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, and ESPN

**Update: There is a 2012 version of this post.**

 
I’m doing some research on the future of TV and found that all our major professional sports, and ESPN, have online packages you can purchase. Each one offers far more capability than you get with cable TV, including a full archive of the season’s games and the ability to watch multiple games at once.

Prices range from $60 – $350 per season for 2011, not a bad deal if you’ve cancelled your cable and need some sports. Also, check back for each new season as the features available continually improve.

MLB

Major League Baseball offers MLB.TV which is $120 for the entire season and includes any out-of-market game and, depending on your broadband, up to six games at once. Audio to any game, anytime and a full on-demand archive of all the games.

They also offer an offseason package for $25 which allows you to watch any game of the season and playoffs in full HD and includes next year’s spring training.

NBA

The National Basketball Association offers up NBA League Pass for $110-190, with more options at higher prices. The general package includes up to 40 out-of-market games per week, an ability to watch three games at once, DVR-like controls to instant replay your own highlights, and a full archive of the season.

NHL

The National Hockey League offers NHL GameCenter for $170 which includes all out-of-market games, DVR functionality for replays and highlights, radio broadcasts, and a new slow motion feature.

NFL

The National Football League is the laggard, but Direct TV does offer the NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go for $350. It’s only available you’re “not able to subscribe to DIRECT TV service at your current address.” The package includes all out-of-market games on Fox and CBS, a Red Zone channel which shows the final yards of every scoring drive, and instant stats.

There are also options from the NFL itself, including a $30 package called NFL Game Rewind that includes all past games on-demand from the 2009-2011 seasons, and for $25 NFL Audio Pass which includes every radio broadcast live and on-demand.

On a side note the NFL Network recently tested out a free broadcast of one of their Thursday night games using their NFL ’11 iPad app.

MLS

Major League Soccer also has a package called Match Day Live for $60. This includes 221 games, live games on an iPad, HD quality, DVR ability, the ability to watch up to three games at once, archived games, and condensed (20 min) games.

ESPN

Finally, ESPN offers up an ever-increasing array of video products, including SportsCenter. The more interesting feature is the team and city specific videos they are putting out on individual pages. Think differently by visiting your favorite team, like the Los Angeles Angels or San Diego Chargers, and view your videos directly from there. You can also get regional news at city sites, like ESPN Los Angeles.

You don’t get the full hour of SportsCenter but within 20 minutes you’ve seen all you wanted, and saved some time!