Author Terry Pratchett once said, "In ancient times, cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this."
Humans have worshipped cats for thousands of years - and it"s not difficult to see why. In Ancient Egypt, no animal was held in as high esteem as the cat, and that has arguably continued until today.
Perhaps it is because they seem to hold themselves in high esteem - somehow they"ve manipulated the situation so we feel lucky if they let us stroke or feed them - but there are many reasons it is just natural to assume cats are better than humans.
After all, they"ve had us at their beck and call longer than any monarch or state leader has.
Here are a few reasons why cultures throughout history were right to love and worship our feline friends.
Olympic Diving Trials | David Boudia Qualifies For Rio, Will Defend Olympic Title
David Boudiawatched his first Olympic games in 1996 when he was 7. He vividly remembers his excited family gathering in front of the television. Boudia was already a talented gymnast thriving in competitions and seeing the U.S. athletes march in the opening ceremony filled him with awe.
Even more dramatic was watching the U.S. gymnastic team, the Magnificent Seven. The image of Kerri Strug suffering after her painful ankle injury from the first vault and then hobbling off the mat stayed with him. At her second attempt, she looked at her coach, Bela Karolyi, who famously repeated You can do it. You can do it. Ill never forget Karolyi carrying Strug up to the podium and the look of joy on their faces, says Boudia. Watching the Magnificent Seven win that medal stoked my competitive fires. Competing in the Olympics became my focus, my inspiration, my dream, my G*d. I was going to be an Olympian.
By 2000, when a close family friend won diving lessons in an auction, Boudia was invited to join. He had already loved swimming and discovered that diving was as thrilling as gymnastics. I got to flip through the airand be acrobatic. In essence, diving was gymnastics over water I was now landing on my head instead of on my feet, says Boudia. I loved the thrill that came with the free fall and the adrenaline that surged through my body when I flipped through the air.
Boudia began taking diving lessons and competing. He practiced five or six days a week at a pool in Indianapolis about an hour drive from home. With a powerful drive to win, he ultimately advanced to nationals. By 2004, at 15, he qualified for the Olympic Trials. Although he didnt make the team, he came close.
From that point,he knew the 2008 Olympics were within his grasp. Boudia won first place in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. He was heading to Beijing. However, at the Olympics he finished in tenth place overall (5th place individually) and was devastated. Determined to do better, he went to Purdue University and continued to compete in diving.
Boudia began winning again. He regularly won Big Ten Diver of the Week, swept all the diving events and became USA Diving Athlete of the Year. But he was also miserable. Because the Olympics were my dream for so long, I put everything I had and was so focused on the destination of making them, he explains. My life was all about going toward winning the gold medal which I thought would bring me happiness. But when I reached that pinnacle, it proved to be hollow because I was always longing for something more. Feeling empty and hopeless, he drank often and also smoked.
Hitting rock bottom Boudia finally cried out for help. I had gotten to a point where I thought if this is all that this life has to offer than I dont really want to be in this life. he says. He texted one of his teammates who thankfully encouraged Boudia to share his feelings with his coach Adam Soldati.
In his passionately candid new memoir Greater than Gold: From Olympic Heartbreak to Ultimate Redemption, (Nelson Books), Boudia describes how Soldati and his wife Kimiko inspired and led him to his faith. I had been constantly feeding what I call my me monster, Boudia shares. But I discovered thats not my lifes purpose. I came to an awakening that this life isnt about me. Its about loving G*d and loving others around me.
In Greater than Gold which chronicles Boudias journey, his dream is to inspire people who are facing their own challenges. People struggle constantly, but they dont have to mask it, he says. I found that hope was through my faith. Thats how I learned to be real with myself and then change. And I want to provide people with hope when theyre struggling in their day-to day life.
With a new sense of focus and deep core values, he competed in the 2012 Olympics. The outcome was entirely different from the 2008 experience. But it wasnt just because he won the gold medal for the mens individual 10-meter (along with the bronze medal for the mens synchronized 10-meter.) So much in him had changed. The 2008 Olympics were all about a destination to be conquered. But the 2012 Olympics became more about the journey, he explains. I focused on the process: taking baby steps, valuing the day-to-day and enjoying it more instead of being overwhelmed with what I could get at the end of it.
Accepting his gold medal at the 2012 Olympics Boudia stepped onto the podium a transformed man. I saw the flag being raised and had an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness knowing that it wasnt me alone that got to this point, he says. I wasnt the only one standing up on this platform. It was my coach, who put in the hours, my parents and my fianc, who is now my wife, who made sacrifices. There are dietitians, massage therapists. So many people play a big role in my winning.
Boudia competes in Rio at his third Olympic games. Im ready to really enjoy this experience with my family, which is something I havent been able to do the past two Olympics, says Boudia who has a daughter with his wife. Even with his hectic schedule and all his obligations, he has a deep sense of whats most important to him. As he explains, theres so much more joy when you share this with your family.
NFL training camp is underway, and for the San Diego Chargers, there"s still no sign of No. 3 pick, defensive end Joey Bosa.
According to ESPN"s Adam Schefter, Bosa still hasn"t signed his rookie deal and didn"t show up to the Chargers practice facility on Friday when players reported for camp. Bosa also didn"t attend the Chargers" mandatory mini-camp in June.
Bosa is currently the only unsigned first-round pick.
Bosa is holding out over two seemingly small contract details: offset language and the deferred payment of a signing bonus.
Offset language is a detail unlikely to affect a player of Bosa"s stature. With offset language, if a team were to release a player before his rookie contract is up, the team would not have to pay the remainder of that player"s contract if he were to sign with another team. Several players have gone to battle over offset language in the past, perhaps most notably Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, who eventually folded and accepted offset language. It"s unlikely that a pick as high as Bosa would be released before his contract is up.
According to ESPN, the deferred bonus payment is the bigger issue. The Chargers traditionally defer or extend the payment of a signing bonus over the course of a rookie contract, but Bosa reportedly wants more money upfront.
According to ProFootball Talk"s Mike Florio, the Chargers allegedly find Bosa"s holdout "strange" and now it"s beginning to get intense. Chargers GM Tom Telesco commented on the holdout and seemed to suggest that Bosa is fighting the way the Chargers traditionally do things.
"It really just comes down to generally this there"s some things that are negotiable, and money always is negotiable, obviously but there"s certain things in contracts language-wise, whether you"re picked third, 33rd or 203rd, there"s certain things of consistency and doing things the same way for everyone on the team."
"And we"re far from uncommon with how we work. I know a lot of other teams probably operate the same way. We try to keep some things constant in everyone"s contract, whether you"re Philip Rivers or the 85th guy on the football team. So that"s kind of where we are. We"re still working through it."
Head coach Mike McCoy isn"t happy about their top rookie missing valuable training camp time:
"He definitely needs to be out here as a rookie. [I don"t have] any update on the status. Tom [Telesco] made his comments the other day, it"s the same today and we will keep working at that. He needs to be here, everybody needs to be here, especially as a younger player for the installations, playing with your teammates, things like that. We are going to coach the players who are here, and the players who are here did a nice job today."
Thus far, Bosa"s absence doesn"t seem to be bothering the Charger"s top veterans. Quarterback Philip Rivers said it"s not ideal, but he understands "what it"s like to be in that spot."
It is worth pondering how long Bosa"s holdout will last before it begins to bother veterans who showed up to camp, even with contract disputes of their own. Bosa is well within his own right to hold out for his own financial security, but at a certain point, it may bother coaches and teammates who feel that, as a rookie, Bosa should show up and prepare for his first season.
Joey Bosa"s Mom Wishes He Had "Pulled An Eli Manning"
NFL training camp is underway, and for the San Diego Chargers, there"s still no sign of No. 3 pick, defensive end Joey Bosa.
According to ESPN"s Adam Schefter, Bosa still hasn"t signed his rookie deal and didn"t show up to the Chargers practice facility on Friday when players reported for camp. Bosa also didn"t attend the Chargers" mandatory mini-camp in June.
Bosa is currently the only unsigned first-round pick.
Bosa is holding out over two seemingly small contract details: offset language and the deferred payment of a signing bonus.
Offset language is a detail unlikely to affect a player of Bosa"s stature. With offset language, if a team were to release a player before his rookie contract is up, the team would not have to pay the remainder of that player"s contract if he were to sign with another team. Several players have gone to battle over offset language in the past, perhaps most notably Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, who eventually folded and accepted offset language. It"s unlikely that a pick as high as Bosa would be released before his contract is up.
According to ESPN, the deferred bonus payment is the bigger issue. The Chargers traditionally defer or extend the payment of a signing bonus over the course of a rookie contract, but Bosa reportedly wants more money upfront.
According to ProFootball Talk"s Mike Florio, the Chargers allegedly find Bosa"s holdout "strange" and now it"s beginning to get intense. Chargers GM Tom Telesco commented on the holdout and seemed to suggest that Bosa is fighting the way the Chargers traditionally do things.
"It really just comes down to generally this there"s some things that are negotiable, and money always is negotiable, obviously but there"s certain things in contracts language-wise, whether you"re picked third, 33rd or 203rd, there"s certain things of consistency and doing things the same way for everyone on the team."
"And we"re far from uncommon with how we work. I know a lot of other teams probably operate the same way. We try to keep some things constant in everyone"s contract, whether you"re Philip Rivers or the 85th guy on the football team. So that"s kind of where we are. We"re still working through it."
Head coach Mike McCoy isn"t happy about their top rookie missing valuable training camp time:
"He definitely needs to be out here as a rookie. [I don"t have] any update on the status. Tom [Telesco] made his comments the other day, it"s the same today and we will keep working at that. He needs to be here, everybody needs to be here, especially as a younger player for the installations, playing with your teammates, things like that. We are going to coach the players who are here, and the players who are here did a nice job today."
Thus far, Bosa"s absence doesn"t seem to be bothering the Charger"s top veterans. Quarterback Philip Rivers said it"s not ideal, but he understands "what it"s like to be in that spot."
It is worth pondering how long Bosa"s holdout will last before it begins to bother veterans who showed up to camp, even with contract disputes of their own. Bosa is well within his own right to hold out for his own financial security, but at a certain point, it may bother coaches and teammates who feel that, as a rookie, Bosa should show up and prepare for his first season.
USA vs Nigeria - Full Game Highlights | August 1, 2016 | Exhibition | 2016 USA Basketball Showcase
NBC takes contracts seriously and the reasons why are obvious. Two years ago they inked a deal to broadcast the Olympics through 2032 with the whopping price tag of $7.75 billion.
What the network takes less seriously is the social contract that broadcasters make with their audience. When it comes to the global games, NBC has abdicated their responsibilities as broadcasters by regularly employing tape-delay at the expense of the live coverage of history.
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Every four years we hear the same complaints, and Rio is cause for more of the same. Social media is aflame with second-screen viewers frustrated by NBCs approach, and Rios initial broadcasts earned anemic ratings compared to Londons 2012 Games. Hating on tape-delay has been around long enough to be considered as an Olympic sport.
Prioritizing packaged shows over live broadcasting reveals the truth about who, precisely, the commercial network primarily serves. Its not you and me. Advertisers earn higher ratings and obtain a better return on investment when Olympic programming time-shifts. Moving events around helps NBC capture the casual, channel-surfing viewer clicking between reality TV, cable news, and cooking shows.
NBCs chief marketing officer, John Miller, candidly admitted the debt the network owes to shows like Survivor, Real World, and Big Brother. Olympic programming, he said, is sort of like the ultimate reality show and miniseries wrapped into one. Hes received considerable criticism for the retrograde gender implications of this strategy as well.
Whatever the motivating strategies, Olympic broadcasts are now filled with stylized emotional storylines centered upon heroic resilience and overcoming adversity. The Olympic Games, in this sense, has evolved into simply another audience-tested standardized television product.
History may be marketable but it isnt a product.
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The essence of broadcasting, since its inception, is its live characteristics. Scholars call the connection catalyzed by broadcastings electric ephemerality liveness and its a feeling weve all experienced. We all intuitively understand the thrill of live broadcasting because we experience it all the time. Its why we sometimes sit in our cars in our driveways to catch the end of a live radio program, even though we know a recording will soon be available on our phones and computers.
The best live broadcasting makes our pulses quicken and our bodies sweat. The suspenseful climax of a sports contest often provokes a triumphant yell or an anguished cry responses impossible to recreate with recordings. This is engaged participation, where ourselves and our media momentarily cohere psychically and even physically. We actually become, in effect, part of the program.
The 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin were the first example of this global media phenomenon. An estimated 300 million listeners around the globe caught live broadcasts of their national heroes, and those programs would long be remembered as historic. Ted Husings electrifying call of Jesse Owenss gold medal victory in the 100-meter race was a foundational moment in American sports broadcasting, but other countries had their own memorable moments. Harold Abrahams, calling the 1,500-meter race over BBC radio, for example, offered British sports fans an unforgettable experience. Come on, Jack! he yelled. Lovelock leads! Lovelock! Lovelock! Cmon Jack, my G*d hes done it! Five yards, six yards, hes done it! Hurray!
Millions of Japanese listeners tuned in to the NHK in the middle of the night to catch the duel between Japans Hideko Maehata and Germanys Martha Genenger in the 200-meter breaststroke final. NHK announcer Sansei Kasai screamed to be heard above the roaring crowd in the swimming stadium, repeatedly yelling, Maehata ganbare! Maehata ganbare! [Go, Maehata!] as the Japanese victor took the first gold medal won by a female in Japanese history. These sports broadcasts transcended sports and became legendarily thrilling moments in global broadcasting history.
This is not to say that time-shifting is an entirely new phenomenon in sports broadcasting. In the 1970s, for example, important championship boxing matches would first be viewed via closed-circuit in theaters, and then appear in condensed replays in such venues as ABCs Wide World of Sports. Indeed, it was that program the brainchild of broadcast genius Roone Arledge that first truly demonstrated the triumph of narrative over suspense. ABCs Wide World of Sports might broadcast an obscure (and cheap) event like the world lumberjack championships and viewers would tune in not because they understood the nuance of axe-throwing and log-rolling but because the lumberjack from Norway hoped to earn enough money to pay for his honeymoon.
It was Arledge that took the Olympics from CBS, where Walter Cronkite and the news division often called the action, and gave it the kind of Hollywood production that advertisers loved. Arledge regularly time-shifted events, even historic ones, to maximize audiences. Perhaps the greatest American Olympic sports call Al Michaelss legendary Do you believe in miracles?! was actually heard by most Americans during a replay of the Soviet-US hockey match in primetime.
I was alive in 1980, and I remember that everyone knew the USA won that game before it was aired in prime time. But without the web, and the culture of spoilers we live with today, the game still retained suspense. In a world where everythings available all the time and spoiler alerts are commonplace, the engagement and participation of live programming have increased attraction.
It is the duty of the broadcaster to put the viewer into the swimming pool, the rowing shell, and on the running track in real time. In watching live we become participants rather than audiences. CBS used to open its NFL Today broadcasts with Brent Musberger intoning, You are looking live at a sold-out stadium, and instantly we were in the crowd awaiting the kickoff rather than on our couches in the living room.
But packaged narrative is the safest bet for the advertisers, and old-fashioned nationalistic storytelling has become more difficult. Once upon a time first versus the Nazis in 1936, then the Soviets throughout the Cold War competition at the Olympic Games was filled with ideological, and almost spiritual, meaning.
But ISIS has no track team, and the Russians cheat so openly that much of their team is banned from Rio. Coca-Cola and UPS invest too much money to risk losing your full attention on such trivialities as live sporting contests with outcomes they cant control.
Michael J. Socolow teaches at the University of Maine. His book Six Minutes in Berlin: Broadcast Spectacle and Rowing Gold at the n**i Olympics will be published this fall.
No Man"s Sky Walkthrough Gameplay Part 1 - Planets (PS4)
Update:
Open Critic is now saying that review copies are planned to go out later this week, but no copies have been received yet:
PSA 2: We can confirm that there are advanced review copies planned for No Mans Sky later this wk. Well post the embargo once they go out.
Key word: planned. As in plans change. No copies in the hands of reviewers yet.
Original Story:
According to review aggregator Open Critic, No Mans Sky review copies may not be going out until launch next week.
In their first in a series of tweets, Open Critic said several publications have told them that they arent receiving review copies ahead of No Mans Skys August 9 release date:
PSA: Several publications, incl some large ones, have reported to us that they wont be receiving No Mans Sky review copies prior to launch
In some follow-up tweets, Open Critic clarified that this only applies to pre-release review copies, and its possible early copies could still go out, they just havent heard anything to the contrary yet:
Clarifying three points: 1) There will be review copies for No Mans Sky. Previous tweet specifically about advanced copies (pre-launch)
2) There is no statistical basis for this being a bad sign. DOOM and other titles also didnt issue advanced copies.
3) There COULD be advanced copies Just many of our sources reported they werent getting them. None have reported to us they have.
Lesson for us: dont try to use Twitter to convey nuanced info. Please read original tweet carefully before rushing to no review copies
If review copies of No Mans Sky truly arent being sent out early, its likely in an attempt to prevent spoilers. Last week, Hello Games Sean Murray said, Weve spent years filling No Mans Sky with surprises. Youve spent years waiting. Please dont spoil it for yourself :(. Take a break from reading about it, and picking vids apart. You can experience for yourself so soon.
You can see the full Trophy list for No Mans Sky over here.
Would a lack of reviews for No Mans Sky impact your decision to buy the game?
[Source: Open Critic (Twitter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), No Mans Sky (Twitter 1, 2) via NeoGAF]
