Stadia

[A general view at sunset during the national anthem prior to the MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday in Philadelphia. Photograph: Matt Dirksen/Getty Images]

This image from today's Guardian, caught my eye.

First thought was that this was a very big stadium. Second thought was about how one might count the number of people in the image, drawing on the interest in pebbles on the beach noticed, for example, at reference 2.

A straight count would be laborious, but maybe one could find a neuro-diverse person who was up for that sort of thing. Or maybe divide the image into sections. Some sections you could do by counting rows and persons per row, others you could do by some kind of sampling. Still fairly laborious. Or maybe just use crude sampling, but with a big enough sample to roll over the sections. And there, for the moment, the matter rested.

I then thought about getting a copy of the image. My login credentials at the Guardian did not seem to work anymore, and without search I failed to turn it up. But Google Images did the business, connecting me to the article straight away, from which I lifted a AVIF file, converted to PNG via the snipping tool. One imagines that this involves some loss of quality, never mind the compression applied by Blogger.

The AI assistant to Google Images explained that this image has been taken in such a way as to make the place look a lot bigger than it really is, part of this being the inclusion of the skyline and sky beyond. What, in Epsom, we call an estate agent's shot.

He tells me that the Philadelphia stadium holds maybe 40,000 to the Emirates (in north London) 60,000. But the latter is much more enclosed, which tends to make it look smaller in images of this sort.

Interestingly, he also tells me that the Philadelphia stadium is experimenting with bringing back a bit of standing to 'enhance the fan experience'.

The Guardian image was captured on Tuesday, so reasonably new news.

While Google Images was able to do his stuff on the basis of the image above. 

With my hint being top right in the snap above. All very clever. Along the way, introducing me to the impressive looking word 'semiquincentennial'. Not recognised by the Blogger spell checker, but I suppose that it is OK.

PS 1: the photographer is to be found at reference 3, which suggests that he is into both baseball and wildlife. I noticed the image above, although I was not able to work out what it was all about.

Google Images to the rescue. He was able to tell me all about it, including: 'Ortiz, a beloved figure in the Dominican Republic, is shown during an emotional homecoming event or ceremonial batting appearance'.

I also noticed the glass above. I had only just been reading in the FT of UBS having another crack at the US market, but this was maybe a bit previous.

Maybe there is something here for the marketing chaps at UBS? The Swiss one that is.

PS 2: I also noticed reference 1. A company with which I once had some connection, via a product sold by a company called Filenet, subsequently swallowed up by IBM. A company which sold the sort of very large taps and valves used in oil refineries and suchlike places, large enough that you needed to keep careful track of said taps with documentation. Or, as they say in nursing homes and hospitals, if you haven't written it down, it hasn't happened.

PS 3: on a quite different track, the book at reference 3 cropped up this afternoon, a children's book from the US that I had not previously heard of. Or, at least, if I had, I had forgotten all about it. Context on application.

PS 4: and then we have the chap noticed at reference 5 who pops up again at reference 6. Depressing how not paying one's dues remains an entirely respectable sport in large swathes of the country. As indeed, it does in the US, where rich and eminent people talk without shame of paying taxes being for little people. POTUS, however, is a very big person, so he is alright.

PS 5: while Beckham is someone who is popping up far too much in advertisements in the online version of the FT. They don't work in the sense that I zone out before I learn what he is advertising, but they do work in the sense that they have become very irritating. Another strike against the FT, for which I am paying good money.

References

Reference 1: Rotork joins list of UK firms being snapped up with £4.1bn Swiss takeover - Holly Williams, Independent, MSN - 2026.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/search?q=counting+beach.

Reference 3: https://www.dirksenphoto.com/.

Reference 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_You_My_Mother%3F.

Reference 5: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/05/piano-113.html.

Reference 6: Barrister accused of £2mn tax evasion faces retrial after case collapses: Jury fails to reach verdict in case against Robert Venables who argued he was ‘entitled to take advantage of the system’- Suzi Ring, Financial Times - 2026.