Catching Greg Maddux with your Eyes Closed
How good is Greg Maddux’ accuracy and control? Good enough for San Diego Padres bullpen catcher Ben Risinger to attempt catching a pitch from Maddux with his eyes closed. If you think it’s easy, consider this:
It took three times, but Risinger successfully nabbed one blindly. Impressive indeed.
Before & After: Living Room
Last Saturday I had the first meeting with my realtors to begin the process of selling my house in South Philadelphia. Now that the place is just about finished, I’ve been able to take a step back and see how nicely it’s all come together. I’m in no way a handyman, so I was fortunate that the place mostly required cosmetic work. My goal was to modernize a typical row home by using contemporary colors and furniture. See below for before and after shots of my living room.
(Yes, the previous owners of the place had orange walls. Even better, what you don’t see in the first pic was the Grimace-purple that ran up the entire wall and into the 2nd floor hallway. What a combo.)
Utley Ties Record for Most Plunks
In today’s Phillies win over the Mets, which incidentally ran their winning streak against the Mets to nine games, Chase Utley tied a major league record by getting pegged three times at the plate. He also got nailed in the back another time by an errant throw while running the bases. And here I thought I had a rough day at work.
Apartment Therapy “Small is Cool” Contest
Whether or not you have a small apartment, Apartment Therapy’s annual “Small is Cool” contest opens up a world of inspiration for interior design. The site will be posting new entries everyday through April 25.
Mossberg: No Clue When 3G iPhone is Coming
Don’t you love how everyone and their mother jumped on Mossberg’s 3G iPhone prediction last week? Well, it turns out that he doesn’t have any real dirt and he was simply basing his speculation on the same information that’s been floating around the web. Funny that no one really seemed to ask this question:
Twenty-Five Most Valuable Blogs, According to 24/7 Wall St.
24/7 Wall St.’s dubious attempt at ranking the twenty-five most valuable independently-owned blogs puts MacRumors at number-two with a valuation of $85 million. Are you kidding me? Sure, they’re a Top 200 blog according to Technorati, but there’s no way in hell they’re monetizing their traffic to the tune of $12 million of annual ad revenue, which is what 24/7 Wall St. guesses.
How are they generating these numbers? Well, it’s a very scientific calculation that takes publicly accessible traffic data (via Alexa, Compete and Quantcast) and assigns a made-up CPM that’s based on what advertisers are running banners on each site. This from a site that doles out financial analysis and advice. I can only imagine what their methodology is for picking stocks.
In 24/7 Wall St.’s own words, “the task of valuing the largest blogs is impossible.” As a publisher, if you’re admitting this, then what’s the point in wasting your time compiling such a bogus list?
If I’m wrong and MacRumors is indeed bringing in that kind of cash, I think it’s time to bid farewell to advertising and get back into the Mac world with a site that doesn’t do anything but link to other site’s gossip and hearsay.
Dieting with Memphis’ Derrick Rose
When you’re one of the top college basketball players in the country and on your way to becoming one of the first picks in June’s NBA draft, you would think diet would be something you’d sorta focus on. For Memphis’ Derrick Rose, that surely isn’t the case.
Perhaps a veggie or two would have helped him hit one of those free-throws last night.
FRONTLINE: Bush’s War
FRONTLINE’s Bush’s War, a two-part series from producer Michael Kirk, is an exhaustively detailed look at the series of events that lead us to the Iraq war. Even though this has all taken place in recent memory and the key points are obvious to most, seeing it in one entire narrative is powerful stuff.
Amazon & iTunes Payout the Same
You know how the record companies have complained in the past about their deals with Apple being unfair? Well, according to Digital Audio Insider, they’re getting the same exact payout from Amazon’s MP3 store. The site, which posted sales information based on revenue through CD Baby, also has some details on Amazon’s four pricing tiers.
NY Times: Writers Blog Till They Drop
The NY Times looks at the business of full-time blogging and the associated stress that comes along with “blogging for dollars.”
Matt Richtel points out that being first to break a news story is wreaking havoc on bloggers’ well-being, causing everything from obesity to heart attacks. Michael Arrington from TechCrunch has put on 30 pounds in the last three years and most people in the tech world know about Om Malik. The 41-year old had a heart attack in December. Worse, ZDNet’s Russell Shaw died 2-weeks ago of a heart attack.
Is blogging to blame? To me, this is just a manifestation of work habits and addictions that would likely be brought out by any job that rewards timely performance. It’s no different from anyone who’s a work-alcoholic and compensated exclusively, or at least largely, by their performance (ie. most sales positions).
But eerily enough, Shaw’s last email to his editors at ZDNet summarized just how committed he was to blogging:
Pizza.com Domain Sold for $2.6 Million
A Baltimore man has sold the pizza.com domain name for a cool $2.6 million. Chris Clark, who had previously netted $3 million for vodka.com, auctioned the site off to an anonymous bidder this past week. It makes me think about testing the waters with some names I have recently registered. Curious to see what a domain like wouldahadaids.com would bring in, for instance.
Lollapalooza ‘08 Lineup Leaked
If anyone wants to be a really, really good friend, how about a trip to Chicago for Lollapalooza ‘08 as a 30th birthday gift? The Sun Times leaked some of the lineup, which will be officially announced on Monday. Radiohead, Wilco, Rage, Kanye, Raconteurs, Broken Social Scene, Grizzly Bear, Bloc Party, Cat Power, Malkmus, Go! Team, Battles, etc. Oy!
Ballsy Spot for Pontiac G8 GT
Love, love, love the Pontiac G8 GT vs. BMW 5-Series spot that has been airing on CBS during the Final Four tonight. Very reminiscent of the early Madden ads that Odiorne and co. created. It’s about time a domestic car company finally grew some balls. Well done, Leo Burnett.
(The commercial also clarified something I never knew. Apparently the Pontiac logo is meant to be a dart.)
Kevin Love’s Full-Court Bomb
Have you seen this clip of UCLA’s Kevin Love nailing half-court and full-court bombs with the flick of his wrist? It’s kind of like the LeBron Powerade spots from a few years back, except, of course, these shots are real.
iTunes: Number One Music Retailer
As most people probably saw yesterday, Apple announced it is now the number one music retailer in the world, officially surpassing Wal-Mart.
Next time you ponder the impossible, think about this: less than five years ago, Apple had zero music sales. And now, 1 out of every 5 songs purchased in the entire world is done through iTunes. Impressive indeed.