Capitalogix

Show Me The Money - How Big Have Sports Broadcast Rights Become?

March Madness is upon us.

In case you missed it, sports is big business.

Here is a chart showing the broadcast fees paid to various sports leagues.

 

via Financial Times.

Is the bubble going to burst?  The trend of the past 20 years suggests that it won’t.

Broadcasters have been locking in their costs through long-term deals. That also makes it harder for tech companies — such as Netflix, Google or Apple — to buy into the market.

'Schoolhouse Rock' Bill Gets Schooled In 'SNL' Executive Order Skit

What a blast from the past!

 

He's "still just a bill sittin' on Capitol Hill," but Kenan Thompson's recent take on the classic Schoolhouse Rock! character on "Saturday Night Live" had a much harder time than "that sad little scrap of paper" from the original Saturday morning cartoon.

 

 

 

 

 

via YouTube.

 

In keeping with Obama's plan to enact executive actions on immigration reform, the president replaces the Bill with a new Schoolhouse Rock! character: the Executive Order.  In the wise words of this new addition: "I'm an executive order, and I pretty much just happen … and that's it."

 

 

Here is the original "Schoolhouse Rock!" clip.

 

 

 

 

 

via YouTube.

 

Wisdom in the Age of Information: The Future of Story-Telling

“We live in a world awash of information, but we seem to face a growing scarcity of wisdom,” states Maria Popova, Founder of the website Brain Pickings.

She believes that stories—in the broadest sense of the word—shape the meaning and momentum of everyday life.

 

 

 via YouTube.

Stories will never die, but the ways we tell them are changing.

Interesting.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

Sometimes the News cycle is worse than the news itself.

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• Google's 'Perfect Human' Project Isn't Evil, It's Business. (TheVerge)
• Human Workers Report Feeling Most Productive When Led By Artificial Intelligence. (PBS)
• How the NSA Built Its Own Secret Google. (First Look)
• Welcome to the New U.S. Digital Service: Geeks wanted, no stodgy suits required. (GeekWire)
• Software Shows What Children Will Look Like In 70 Years, With Unprecedented Accuracy. (Popular Science)

 

Trading Links:

• Wall Street's Revenge of the Nerds Means Fooling All The People All the Time. (Guardian)
• Crazy Prediction. Why You Should Expect More Quantitative Easing. (Joe Fahmy)
• Whopping 35% Have Debt in Collection in America: Where Is It? (GlobalEcon)
• Microsoft Has Lost About $1.7 Billion On Surface - So Far ... (CiteWorld)
• Goldman Sachs - On Crash Risk: The Simple Reason We're Probably Not About to Have Another Huge Crash. (Business Insider)

Here Are Some Links to Start Your Week

Just got back from a quick trip to New York City.  While there, I got interviewed at the Market Technicians Association annual meeting.
 

 
For what it is worth, the prevailing sentiment there was quite bullish (though most were expecting a pull-back, or correction, soon).

On a side note, I took advantage of the proximity to the Carnegie Deli.
 

 
I only ate half, but didn't want to waste any ... so I had it wrapped, and took it home.

Long story short, even if it doesn't smell bad, you shouldn't eat corned beef that was left unrefrigerated for more than a day.

I lost seven pounds yesterday! 

I'd be an idiot savant if I were good at something enough to be a savant.

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• 'Impossible' Is Outdated - Here's Why. (Forbes)
• The Dawn of the Age of Artificial Intelligence. (The Atlantic)
• A Day Later, Caffeine Stimulates Memory. (Futurity)
• Japan's Booming Sex Niche ... Elder Porn -. (TIME)
• The Big Bang of Older TV Viewers. Now that the median TV viewer is 54, networks are reworking lineups and rethinking ad strategies. (LATimes)

 

Trading Links:

• A Group of Investors is Buying a Stake in the Next Generation of Geniuses. (BusinessInsider)
• All Time Top 10 Hedge Fund Managers | The Big Picture. (Ritholtz)
• 5 Ways China’s Slowdown Will Ripple Across Globe. (AsianCorrespondent)
• What Happens When The Whole World Is Wired? (FastCo)
• The Future of Jobs. Tech innovation has increased long-run employment. Can things change? The Economist (Economist)

Misled by a Map: The True Size of Africa Might Surprise You

Here is jigsaw graphic that shows the size of Africa relative to other countries.

 

via Kai Krause.

 

This video from the second season of "West Wing" presents other misleading map distortions. 

 

 

 

Interesting stuff ...  Click here for more.

 

Uncle Jay Explains: 2013 Singing Year In Review!

Silly, clever, and with a more than a hint of the truth  ... Watch as Uncle Jay sings his year-end summary of the news.

 

 

 
Uncle Jay has a website he says "helps small minds understand big news."

Happy Holiday Season, and Best Wishes for the New Year.

 

Little Drummer Boy by Pentatonix

Not typical of what I'd normally share ... But thought this was well done and timely.

 

 

 

Pentatonix were the winners of season 3 of NBC’s instrument-free music competition - 'The Sing-Off'. 

Also, here's a link to their cover of Royals.

Alec Baldwin Puts the Fear Into Christmas with Glengarry Christmas Spoof - Elf Motivation

In Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin played a venom-spewing sales manager. His performance burned "Always Be Closing" and "Coffee is for Closers" into a generation's collective unconscious.

In the spirit of the holidays, Saturday Night Live created the spoof Glengarry Christmas - Elf Motivation ("Always Be Cobbling!"). Here it is.

 

Here is the original scene.

 

 

 

Bet that puts you in a festive mood.

The Clues to a Great Story - TED Video and Infographic

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving.

I visited family.

 

 

One of the things that caught my attention was how attached to stories we are ... our own, and the stories of others. 

They help us decide who is naughty or nice.  They help us decide who to spend more time with ... and where we fit in.

Stories are emotion catalysts and amplifiers.  Choose the 'right' ones, and you feel good.  Focus on the 'wrong' one and you feel bad. 

Well-told stories make us care.  Humans use 'story' to make sense of things.  If you create the narrative, the process is intentional.  However, for most, the quality of our stories is not a conscious process. 

 

How Do You Craft a Great Story?

 

A good story can make the gathering feel that much closer. A good story can flip a conversation at a party from completely awkward to wonderful.

A good story can glue your nose to a book. And, on screen, a good story can rivet generation after generation.

Story-telling is an important skill.  So, how do you tell a good story?

Andrew Stanton, the Pixar writer and director behind both Toy Story and WALL-E, has many ideas, and he shared his expertise in his TED Talk, The clues to a great story .

 

 

 

Storytelling is like joke telling. It's knowing your punchline, your ending, knowing that everything you're saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal, and ideally confirming some truth that deepens our understandings of who we are as human beings.

We all love stories. We're born for them. Stories affirm who we are. We all want affirmations that our lives have meaning. And nothing does a greater affirmation than when we connect through stories. It can cross the barriers of time, past, present and future, and allow us to experience the similarities between ourselves and through others, real and imagined.

 

Here is an infographic that sets out the basic steps to a great story.

 

Stories are not just for kids.

Make me care.  Take me with you.  Be intentional.  Let me like you.  Delight me.

Words to live by!

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