Grab A Coffee,

a large one, and if you are like me, be prepared to be amazed, 

as my English Lit master would say to the class, "ears akimbo for knowledge" I found this video amazing, imagine a wolf, that looks like a fox on horse legs, and it eats mostly vegetables and even has a mane! This is just one of the creatures in this amazing video, which introduces us to some strange creatures from Mamadou Ndiaye, that's the internet zoologist Mamadou Ndiaye, not the basketball player Mamadou Ndiaye, or the other basketball player Mamadou Ndiaye, I had no idea but apparently Mamadou Ndiaye is a pretty common name, back to the video, some of the creatures I knew about but there were one or two surprises, so grab a coffee and hopefully you will see it through to the end and hear the what the clouded leopard sounds like, it was not what I expected for sure!

At School I Hated Sports,

with a vengeance, 

photographs Wilson, with one exception, basket ball, which I really enjoyed, so it was with some interest I looked at a new basketball, 

luckily I started playing after the leather basket balls had been replaced by the ones commonly used today, but now welcome the new ball on the block, behold the Wilson Airless Prototype which was unveiled last month, during the NBA All-Star Weekend, when Houston Rockets forward “KJ” Martin was filmed bouncing it around a bit and throwing it at the basket, although Wilson has kept the traditional binding pattern of the regular basketball, ensuring that players can still get their fingers into the seam lines for better grip, the prototype has a very futuristic look, because containing air pressure inside is no longer a requirement, the ball itself is see-through, with hundreds of small hexagonal holes allowing air to pass through,

working with manufacturing company EOS, Wilson reportedly 3D-printed its airless prototype using the selective laser sintering (SLS) method of additive manufacturing to fuse several layers of polymer powder, the most difficult part of the process, making the ball rebound,

one slight worry about the hexagonal holes is that apparently it will not allow you to spin the basketball on your fingertips, but will the new ball catch on? the one used is just a prototype, it remains to be seen if Wilson launches the airless basketball commercially, crikey, this post has brought school memories of playing basketball for the school flooding back!

When Playing Basket Ball At School And College,

when picking a team, the players height was often considered an advantage,

screenshot from Sina Weibo, so at 7ft 5in (2.26m), Zhang Ziyu, a 14-year-old basketball player from Shandong, China, would be a wise pick as a player, especially given that that Zhang’s parents were both professional basketball players, but still, her stature is surprising, especially considering her age, She is already  taller than both her father (6ft 11in/2.13m) and her mother (6ft 6in/1.98m), 

but Zhang Ziyu has more than height going for her. Coming from a basketball family, she has been playing the sport since she was just 5-years-old and training under the watchful eye of her mother, a former member of China’s national team, hopefully she will be able to cope with the challenges of her height, sports experts agree that if Zhang keeps up her training, she has a bright future in basketball, but psychologists have warned that the height difference between her and the other kids her age could cause social issues, and asked that the girl be protected from bullying, for the full story have a look here.

It Seems To Me,

that every few months a 'new' dinosaur is discovered, 

image credit: Vladislav Konstantinov / Scott Hocknull, this is the latest to be found and is the biggest so far known in Australia, named Australotitan cooperensis, it took 17 years to reach this conclusion because Australotitan is actually a unique species, and the palaeontologists wanted to be absolutely sure that this was the case before announcing it to the world, Australotitan is a sauropod that lived almost 100 million years ago. It would have measured about 5–6.5 meters (16–21 feet) tall and 25–30 meters (82–98 feet) long with a weight of around 70 tons. This would make the dinosaur as long as a basketball court and as tall as a two-story building,

photo credit: ©Eromanga Natural History Museum, to confirm that Cooper was indeed an Australotitan, scientists used new technology to create 3D scans of the bones so that they could be compared to other dinosaur bones held in other museums, sometimes thousands of kilometers away, when speaking about the research, Dr. Hocknull from Queensland Museum said: “The 3-D scans we created allowed me to carry around 1000s of kilos of dinosaur bones in a 7kg laptop.” While Australotitan might be closely related to other Australian sauropods, this new dinosaur is more on a scale of those found in South America. It has generated huge excitement in Australia because not only is Australotitan the largest dinosaur to have roamed the continent, but it can also claim to be one of the top five largest dinosaurs in the world by length and mass, and of course the creature has a nickname, the dinosaur is also known as the Southern Titan, give it a couple of months or so and another new dinosaur will be discovered, I am sure of it!

With The Lockdown Having Been In Place,

for the last few months,

a few videos like this one are beginning to surface, one month in the planning, and a further month in getting everything 'just right' so it all worked, but YouTuber Creezy successfully pulled off one of the most ambitious outdoor Rube Goldberg machines I have seen, Creezy explains:

This outdoor Rube Goldberg Machine goes around my entire yard, and swishes a basketball shot after 70 steps. This video was filmed in one take, meaning there are absolutely no hidden cuts or edits. The machine took a month to build and another month to successfully work. Filmed entirely with the GoPro MAX.

how amazing, but I would suggest there will be a few more like this surfacing soon, I will keep a look out for them.

Back In My Youth,

before motorcycle accidents to my legs,

I played basketball, so I was intrigued to see a new record being made, for the most bounce juggles in one minute using three basketballs, Zaila Avant-Garde, a 13-year-old basketball enthusiast set her first Guinness World Record by bounce juggling three basketballs 231 times in one minute, a star player on her school's basketball team in New Orleans, said she started practicing dribbling when she was 5 years old and practiced bounce juggling for two years before attempting the world record for her 13th birthday,

Avant-Garde was able to bounce juggle three balls 231 times in one minute, beating the previous record for most bounce juggles in one minute (three basketballs), 213, "I hope to one day make it all the way to the WNBA. Dribbling is just one part of my overall basketball skillset," the girl said, amazingly in the video above she bounced not only 3 but also 4 and 5 balls at a time! amazing.

American Basketball Player Donell “D.J.” Cooper,

has been banned from the sport for two years, 

after failing a drugs test, well I guess there are a number of players in any sport that take performance enhancing drugs, but this is not why he was banned, he was banned because he is pregnant! the 28-year-old point guard who last played for AS Monaco, in Europe, was suspended for two years by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) after a urine sample was found to contain high levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)—a hormone produced by the female placenta during pregnancy, the FIBA assumed that Cooper had submitted a woman’s urine as his own, without knowing that she was pregnant at the time, so they banned him from playing competitively for two years, the FIBA has refused to comment on the details of this case, it did clarify that Donnell Cooper will be allowed to play again on June 24, 2020, presumably after giving birth. 

Ballet And Hong Kong,

do not immediately spring to mind as partners,

 but a 40-year-old dance company underwent a dramatic rebrand in 2018 courtesy of Washington, D.C. based-agency Design Army,

 sporting a mix of classic tutus alongside contemporary sportswear, 

 the company goes kung-foo fighting,

 as well as that the dancers pas de deux across basketball courts and stroll en pointe through crosswalks,

 in a new brand video from the Hong Kong Ballet, swarms of brightly dressed ballet dancers demonstrate traditional techniques in a contemporary urban environment,

 the video is a re-mix of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro,

you can find more moments of dancers in motion on the Hong Kong Ballet’s Youtube channel and take a peek behind the stage curtain on Instagram, now the sad bit, I would normally put the video here, but there is a problem with the server, so I receive this message,

but all is not lost, if you click on this it should take you to the video.

Some Artists Paint Small,

some paint big,

 and some like France-based urban artist Arthur-Louis Ignoré paints very big, in this case, 

 his canvas is a local basketball court,

his painting of the court has marvelous intricate geometric patterns, you can see more of his work on Instagram, it still amazes me how works like this are made,pacing out the detail of each pattern.

I Missed It!

an event which took place on June 16,

 the 12th annual World Chabudai-Gaeshi Tournament, in a shopping mall in Japan’s Iwata, it is an offbeat competition where participants try to flip a small tea table, the goal is to flip the small wooden tea table as hard as possible to send the fake food on top of it flying as far as possible,

 in fact, the winner is judged not by how far they flip the table, but how far a plastic fish set on top of it travels, and this year’s winner was, a member of the Iwate Big Bulls basketball team, channelled the love for his team, yelling “Go Big Bulls!” and sending the plastic fish flying 8.29 meters,

the contest was inspired by the Japanese phrase “chabudai gaeshi” which literally means “upending the tea table” in anger or frustration, and is used to figuratively describe an outburst and upheaval, there is even a popular arcade video game based on the popular phrase, and I missed it!

You Would Have Thought,

that the offer of free homes would be snapped up,

 but that was not the case in the village of Guanhu, China’s Guangdong province, five years ago, Chen Sheng, the founder and chairman of drinks company Tiandi No 1 Beverage Inc, committed 200 million yuan (US$31.9 million) to the construction of 258 luxury villas on a plot of land offered by authorities in the village of Guanhu, China’s Guangdong province, each property measures 280 square meters and the three-story villas feature five bedrooms, two reception rooms, a garage and a small garden, the new village also has a small stream passing through it, several pedestrian bridges, basketball and badminton courts and even a public stage for various cultural events, but even though everything was completed last year, the place remains deserted, why? Greed,

  according to a 2013 census, the small village numbered 190 households, but Chen decided to build an extra 68 villas, to make sure that anyone who moved to the village before construction of the new homes was completed would also have a new villa, that turned out to be a big mistake, as soon as the plan to build the luxury village was announced, people in Guanhu started fighting over who should get one or multiple villas, some families claimed that they needed multiple homes, either for their extended families, or for their children when they get married, to make matters worse, farmers who had moved from the village suddenly expressed a desire to return and also staked claims to villas, Chen Sheng commented that he was so disappointed by the people he had been so generous to that he hasn’t even visited Guanhu in the last two years, “As soon as I went back to the village, everyone started making all kinds of demands, so I don’t go back anymore” he said, “If I return, everyone would have all sorts of requests, so I’d rather not return.” 

apart from the free houses, Sheng was once quoted as saying that he planned to build a large pig farm and plant lychee orchards close to the new village, thus creating 100 new jobs for the community, the meat processing factory he owned would buy the pigs from the new farm, thus guaranteeing a market for them, “Within four years, the villagers’ average income will be 200,000 yuan ($32,000) a year, so they won’t have to worry about houses or their children’s education,” the businessman said at the time, back to now, the deserted luxury village has become the target of vandalism, earlier this month, at least 10 windows were smashed with stones, and the whole place is already in need of repairs, so no-one gets a new home, all because of greed.

Many Of Us Will Have Seen

Japanese prints in the style of Ukiyo-e, 

 a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries, its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; flora and fauna the term ukiyo-e (浮世絵) translates as "picture[s] of the floating world" and of course some artists have used the theme for their art work, from Star Wars,

Nintendo characters, 

to different GIFs, 

 well here comes a new take on them, Edo Ball, 

 a series of artworks by Australia-based art director Andrew Archer and “inspired by basketball, Japan, NBA and culture.”

 the series began in 2013 and its genesis, as art projects usually are, came from the artists genuine passion for basketball, ukiyo-e, and Japanese culture, the original series, aptly titled “Season 1” included 12 artworks released in 2016, now on “Season 2,” 

 Archer has just recently released 10 new artworks, each artwork has a story behind it; one that is either based on Japanese mythology, history, NBA players themselves or a combination of all of the above, prints are available in Archer’s online shop for $42 each, and no I am not on commission, I just thought it was a neat play on an art medium.

Keeping To A Sporting Theme,

here are a few more basketball courts,

 we have featured the painting of basketball courts before, 

 and it appears they are growing to be ever more popular, 

 all of these are from Project Backboard, 

which began in 2014 when Daniel Peterson, a former college basketball player and employee of the Memphis Grizzlies, noticed the neglected state of several basketball courts scattered around the city, as Peterson began updating courts across Memphis, his interest widened to include ways he could not only improve his local courts, but generate excitement in surrounding neighbourhoods for their public parks,

 after learning local artist Anthony Lee was already designing an installation for a nearby court, he partnered with the artist to paint the park’s gray asphalt with bright blue and pink designs, the collaboration marked the beginning of Project Backboard, while also inspiring Peterson work with local artists who were already engaged within a chosen community, “I prefer to work with artists who have a connection to the park or city where we are working, having the artist on site is very helpful for installation and, especially if it is a city I am not as familiar with, a local artist can create a work with more meaning and context. That said, there are artists I have worked with in the past that I would love to work with again if the right opportunity comes along!”

after reviving several basketball courts in Memphis, Project Backboard has moved on to produce projects in St. Louis and Los Angeles, currently the organisation is working with cities along the East Coast, specifically Baltimore and New Rochelle, New York, to explore other courts in need of an update, if you want to collaborate on an installation in your own city, visit Project Blackboard’s Instagram.

We Have Featured Highly Coloured,

outdoor basket ball courts before,

like this one from French fashion brand Pigalle and design agency Ill-Studio, back in June this year, 

 and it seems they are popular, as this aerial picture shows, 

 Artist Katrien Vanderlinden has painted colourful shapes inspired by toy bricks onto a basketball court in the Belgian city of Aalst,

Vanderlinden's Ezelsplein mural is based on a children's mathematical reasoning game named Logical Blocks, which comprises squares, rectangles, triangles and circles, in different shapes, sizes and colour,

inspired by these shapes, she added triangles, circles and rectangles in between the traditional court markings – creating spaces for the local children to play other games, block colours in hues of blue, yellow and pink were chosen to fill in the shapes, as an "ode" to the bold and graphic Memphis art movement, and above the completed court, and it appears She is not alone in designing a project to be best-seen from above, in response to the increasing popularity of drone photography of basketball courts on social media, 

 for instance Nike have gotten in to the frame,

  when they enlisted Brooklyn-based artist Kaws to paint his signature motifs across two basketball courts in New York City,

the artist who is known for his brightly coloured, cartoon-like works and limited-edition objects covered two side-by-side courts on Manhattan's Stanton Street,

other artists are dong the same, like the one above, "Drones are also widespread nowadays, so to make an artwork that can only be viewed as a whole from an aerial point of view isn't such a crazy idea," Ezelsplein commented, I wonder if the NBA will ever feature an artists basketball court in a league game?

The City Of Taipei,

has employed a novel way of promoting,

 the upcoming 29th Summer Universiade Games, which will be held from August 19 to August 30, and involves 22 different sports across 70 venues,

 and to build excitement over the coming competition the interiors of the city’s mass rapid transit (MRT) trains, 

 have been decorated in themes to match some of the major sporting events of the games, Taipei’s subway cars are now sporting themes such as track and field, soccer, baseball, basketball, swimming, and athletics throwing events,

 and travellers are getting into the mode,

 having their pictures taken,

 for myself this is the carriage that looks the most realistic,

I could almost believe the boy on the left does not want to put his feet into the water!