A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Bienvenu! Welcome to Volume 121 of Dovi’s Digest.
Every year around July, we get told that a particular track is officially the “song of the summer”. Invariably, it’s a song that is an ear worm either because it’s just plain catchy, or that it’s played so often on so many stations/streaming services that the song becomes ingrained in our memory, playing on a loop indefinitely (i.e. becomes an earworm through brute force). To be frank, it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation.
Recent examples of these songs are Dua Lipa’s Levitating or Olivia Rodrigo’s Good 4 U from 2021, Old Town Road by Lil Nas X in 2019, and 2017’s absolute banger Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (featuring Justin Bieber). I understand that not all of readers would recognise these, so I’ll throw out a few more examples (this required actual research, I hope that it doesn’t come to naught). Blurred Lines, Crazy in Love, Genie in a Bottle, Waterfalls, Papa Don’t Preach, Jessie’s Girl and the classic Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
Each of these tracks evoke a certain type of nostalgia, transporting us back to the time and place where we first heard them. (I’m sure there’s a word for the nostalgia brought about by a particular song, but I don’t know it. If you do indeed know it, please send it!) Examples from my own life include Ke$ha’s Timber reminding me about summer camp (no judgement please), I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith was the first song that made me cry (I’m not quite sure why either, I guess I was going through a rough time? This is one is actually particularly vivid), and Larger Than Life which was the first song I managed to capture on a tape recorder with no ads or DJs talking over it (also a weird little nugget, but I guess it stands out because for a couple days I was the coolest kid at school). I know all of you have a song that hit you hard in the feels, please drop me a line and let me know what they are for you either by replying or putting it in the comments below).
While these tunes are common, and that the majority of you have them, what is much rarer is a song that defines a generation, one that is not only instantly recognisable, but also dredges up feelings that we had long forgotten. For my parents’ generation I’d assume it’s either a gritty anti-war song, or ABBA. For us millennials (I say us, because to the best of my knowledge, most of my readers do in fact fit into this category, as much as we hate to admit it) it could be Smells Like Teen Spirit (if you’re one of the first alumni of the cohort), or Hey Ya (one of my top choices of the 00’s). But in my admittedly not that humble opinion, the tune of our generation is neither of these. In fact, it doesn’t have any words. I initially knew it as Grande Valse, but it much more commonly referred to at the Nokia Tune. We all know it, and before people put their phones on permanent silent mode (because we’re no longer animals), it could be heard everywhere. But why did it (and so many other ringtones, my favourite being “espionage”) become so ubiquitous? This week’s headline article answers this burning question, as well as gives an insight into the people who are working to preserve this important part of our culture.
Are you a little stressed? Then have a look at this stunning drone photo of cherry trees blossoming at a tea plantation in Fujian, China. It’s guaranteed to relax you and make you smile.*
*(Ts & Cs apply)
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There were ZERO correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to No one at all. The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
There are many other articles to read should you not know what a Nokia 3310 is. Read about how the worlds of chess, Elon Musk and *ahem* intimate toys collided, what is going to happen to British (and Australian and Canadian), money now that The Queen has shuffled off this mortal coil, the hidden maths of LEGO bricks, crustacean powered appliances, how rollercoasters shaped modern America, and the mystery and drama surrounding the original sheet music for the Eagle’s hit “Hotel California”. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
How Nokia Ringtones Became the First Viral Earworms
A Cheating Allegation Involving Anal Beads Has Rocked the Chess World
(Courtesy of David Greenway)
Why a chess grandmaster offered to play naked.
Cash, Stamps and Flags: How Royal Symbols Will Now Change
Unpicking Queen Elizabeth’s name, image and iconography from public life will take some time.
LEGOmetry
The hidden geometry of LEGO Bricks.
Batteries Made from Crabs and Lobsters Could Be the Future of Renewable Energy
It's very good news, assuming you're not a crustacean.
How the Amusement Park Conquered America
From the trolley parks of the early 20th century to the theme parks of today, these spaces of shared pleasure have been both a reflection of urban life, and an escape from it.
Welcome to the ‘Hotel California’ Saga
Missing lyric sheets, rare book dealers and a relentless Don Henley.
Quote of the Week:
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realise the extent of your own ignorance.” – Thomas Sowell
Facts of the Week:
When the retired Roman emperor Diocletian was asked to return to the throne, he said he'd rather grow cabbages.
The entire Roman Empire was sold at auction in 193 AD.
Christie’s Auctioneers are taught to stop their hands shaking with nerves by clinching their buttocks.
In 1942, a single banana was auctioned in London for the equivalent of £95.
Japanese farmers have created a new kind of banana with edible peel.
Farmers in India used Coca-Cola as a pesticide: the sugar attracts ants that eat the larvae that would have eaten the crops.
Wolf whistles first used by Albanian farmers to warn sheepdogs of approaching wolves.
Some Scottish farmers use lasers to protect their livestock from Eagles.
Laser pointers are the second most common cause of pilot incapacity, after tummy upsets.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
(Courtesy of Naftali Ginsberg)
Brainteaser of the Week:
Place the numbers from 1 to 49 on the grid below such that all consecutive numbers are either horizontal or vertical neighbours. In other words, 1 is horizontally or vertically adjacent to 2, which is horizontally or vertically adjacent to 3, and so on up to 49.
The shaded squares are the prime numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43 and 47
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
What are the next three numbers in this series?
4, 6, 12, 18, 30, 42, 60, 72, 102, 108, ?, ?, ?
Answer:
These are all numbers that are flanked by two prime numbers. So, the next in the series would be 138 (137 and 139 are prime), 150 (149 and 151), and 180 (179 and 181).