A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Dia dhuit (pronounced JEE-uh Gwitch) friends. Welcome to Volume 143 of Dovi’s Digest.
For the first time in ages, I don’t have much to say this week. The headline article is about bonsai trees, or more accurately, what goes into becoming a good bonsai-ist (sp?), and how a bonsai is more than just a small tree, it’s a living sculpture. The article is a beautiful read.
If you enjoy the article (and even if you don’t), this video of someone saving and crafting a bonsai tree is mesmerising. Seeing the craft and work that goes into it gives you even more insight into how much the article’s subject had to learn. It’s 20 minutes, but I can almost guarantee you that after watching it you’ll be more relaxed and zen.
The Dovi’s Digest Facebook and Twitter pages are growing nicely, with new exciting content going out daily! Get your fix at one of these links:
Your little extra this week is a cool series of maps rating different countries using different metrics. They include population, land area, GDP, even emissions. Where does your country stack up? Find out here.
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 TWO correct answer to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Josh Hazan and Chaim Ehrlich! The answer and this week’s puzzle are below.
If being zen isn’t your thing, there are many other things for you to read. Learn about why some people tried to make pasta a thing of the past (and failed, thank Cthulhu!), how the huge rise in documentaries on streaming services is actually hurting the industry, how to revitalise your joy for things you used to love but don’t anymore, why skyscrapers are shorter than they could be and what we can do about it, the little known war over oil in Nigeria and how it’s adversely affected an entire generation, and using a thousands of miles long hike to find solace and acceptance (my favourite of the week). Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
The Beautiful, Brutal World of Bonsai
An American undergoes a gruelling apprenticeship to a Japanese master.
The Sauce That Survived Italy’s War on Pasta
The Futurists tried to abolish pasta and all they got was this delicious dish.
Reality Check
The boom — or glut — in streaming documentaries has sparked a reckoning among filmmakers and their subjects.
The Mindset To Re-Kindle Lost Passion
It’s easy to lose the spark for work you once loved. Five strategies can help re-ignite your fire.
Why Skyscrapers Are So Short
The height of skyscrapers is limited by physical, economic and regulatory barriers, but we should want to overcome them and build taller. Here’s how we can do it.
The Oil Thieves of Nigeria
How a violent conflict in the resource-rich Niger Delta has wrought ecological and economic devastation for a generation.
Walking Off Grief on the Appalachian Trail
Every hiker is called to the trail for a different reason, but we all share a common goal: We all want to finish.
Quote of the Week:
“The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding." – Will Durant
Facts of the Week:
A group of pandas is called an “embarrassment”.
The man who invented the plastic garden flamingo dressed in matching clothes with his wife for 35 years.
26 tonnes of clothing are abandoned each year at the start line of the Boston Marathon.
The surnames of the two most famous football commentators in Russia are Gusev (goose) and Utkin (duck).
Before he became a billionaire, Roman Abramovich ran a company that made plastic ducks.
Piggy banks get their name from the Old English pygg, meaning clay.
Every new car is first modelled in clay by a sculptor.
In 2017, Bentley launched a new off-road model fitted out for falconers, complete with a perch and a gauntlet compartment.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Words starting with a “kw-” sound usually start with the letters “qu-,” as in “question,” or “kw-,” as in “Kwanza.” What common, uncapitalized English word starting with a “kw-” sound contains none of the letters Q, U, K, or W?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Can you use eights 8s, together with mathematical symbols like + and -, to make 1000?
Bonus points: can you do it and make 100? What about 10?
Answer:
888+88+8+8+8 = 1000
88 + 8 + ((8 + 8 + 8 + 8)/8) = 100
8 + ((8 + 8)/8) + 8 + 8 – 8 – 8 = 10
There are many other answers. For example, Josh got to 1000 like this: (((8+8)x8) - (8/8)) x 8 - 8 - 8