If you’ve ever picked up a joystick, then you’re probably aware that this is the week of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E³), which takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center each year.

Here you can see the building’s glass frontage (which currently has the E³ livery splashed all over it), and you can get a feel for how big this venue is. Last year E³ apparently had over 70,000 visitors (all either game industry professionals, celebrities or journalists), and with the global games industry worth, er, um.. a lot, it looks like E³ is only going to get bigger.

And if you’re not into electronic games, well, the (previously posted) Staples Center is right next door! See, it says so on the roof.

This $375 million dollar sports arena has an incredible 4 million visitors a year, has hosted everything from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships to WrestleMania, and is the only arena that is home to five professional sports franchises; some slightly better known outside of LA than others:

• Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
• Los Angeles Kings (NHL)
• Los Angeles Clippers (NBA)
• Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA)
• Los Angeles Avengers (AFL)

More info at Wikipedia on E³, the Los Angeles Convention Center and the Staples Center.

Thanks to Robb, Aurélien Hamel, James and Emily Miller.

Frank over at the Google Earth Blog pointed us to a Giant Football (Soccer Ball for you yanks) in Dortmund, which will be hosting some of the 2006 FIFA World Football semi-finals next month.

He suggested it’s the world’s largest football, but at about 50ft in diameter I’d say it’s about the half the size of the Japanese example we posted last month. There seems to be a ramp leading into the ball, can any locals tell us what’s inside?

Thanks: Frank

Jiuquan Atomic Energy Complex is purportedly used for the manufacture of China’s Nuclear weapons. The plant is centred in a small patch of high-resolution satellite photography, but I’m sure those readers who understand Nuclear power plants can tell all sorts from the various buildings and reactors.

I’m sadly not one of those people, but it does seem to me that there’s Hanzi writing in these unused cooling towers? I suppose it could be a safety warning if you happen to be in the tower or maybe it’s a message to the US, who have been monitoring the area via satellite since 1962.

More info and historical satellite photos on GlobalSecurity.org.

Thanks: Tim

This is the People’s Friendship Arch in Kiev – a huge titanium arch, 50 metres in diameter, which celebrates the union of Russia and Ukraine. Underneath the arch stand two statues which can be seen at the Kiev City Guide. I’m not entirely sure how the people of Kiev feel about these monuments, anyone want to let us know?

No one submitted this, and I couldn’t find it on any of the other sightseeing sites either! See, there’s still plenty of stuff out there to be found

This is Kiev’s Mother Motherland statue (Rodina-mat), one of a series of statues erected by the old Soviet Union to commemorate their victory in what was known there as the Great Patriotic War – which many people might know better as the Eastern Front of World War II.

This statue is an absolutely massive 102 metres tall (although 40 metres of that is actually plinth). However at 62 metres its still flippin’ huge, and the statue itself supposedly weighs something approaching half a million kilos. I found a photo on flickr which begins to give you an idea of scale, and also clearly demonstrates that the Soviet Union appears to have been engaging in a certain form of flattery.

For those of you still paying attention, her plinth is 7 metres taller but she’s actually 16 metres shorter, meaning that Kiev’s Mother Motherland wins in terms of height if not in recognition.

Thanks to BBC2.

P.S. No, I’m afraid this one isn’t on Google Maps yet :-/