Dovi’s Digest Volume 246
Go on, give us a chuckle 🤣😆🤭
A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 246 of Dovi’s Digest!
I’m what my grandparents probably would’ve termed as “a sensitive soul” – a softy. I tear up at soppy movies, I unabashedly tell people in my life I love them, and in general have a soft gooey centre.
However I like to think that I’m actually a stoic. This was severely tested a few weeks ago when someone very close to me told me that when we initially met, I came across as “unfunny”. This dear reader, cut me to my core. For those who know me personally, I’m about 70% irony, with the rest being made up by trivia and existential dread.
I like making people laugh. Seeing others’ joy puts a smile on my face in turn. A smirk, a little chuckle, a full on belly laugh, it doesn’t make a difference to me as long as I manage to inject a little joy into a someone’s life.
Laughters true power though is in its ability to connect us regardless of language or culture, as no matter where you’re from, someone slipping on a banana peel is always funny. Read more about it in this week’s headline article.
In this week’s added extras:
Here’s how long to stay off your smartphone to benefit from mood-boosting effects.
Guess the films that match two sets of criteria. You start with a blank grid of nine squares. Each row and column denotes either an actor, a director, or a type of film – genre, number of words in the title and so on. The aim is to fill in each square so that it matches both criteria. Click here to play
This TikTok boarding hack really works.
Learn this breathing technique to fight stress and help you fall asleep faster.
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 FOUR correct answers to last week’s brainteaser, Well done to Ariel R, Chaim E, Ariel S, and Jeff C! The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
The Strange Power of Laughter
An anthropologist explores laughter as a far more complex phenomenon than simple delight—reflecting on its surprising power to disturb and disrupt.
Why Your Most Attractive Qualities Can Give Your Partner “The Ick”
The qualities that make us stand out the most, and the main reasons that people find us attractive, can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes our most appealing traits can become a reason for a breakup.
How To Cook a Squirrel
Professional chefs and amateur cooks compete for Arkansas pride in the annual World Champion Squirrel Cook Off.
Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Banished Forever
The Andersons were kicked out of Disneyland’s most exclusive club. They would not go willingly.
Movie Stars, Matchmakers, and Aunties: How Whatsapp Became an Unstoppable Cultural Force
The world’s most popular messaging platform is synonymous with the internet for millions of people.
My Final Days on the Maine Coast
Diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, a writer meditates on life, death, and beauty from his small seaside cottage down east.
The Post-Rationalist Murder Spree’s So-Called “Cult” Leader Has Finally Been Arrested. What?
The Zizians, explained.
Quote of the Week:
“Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.” – Mignon McLaughlin
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Dionne P)
Brio
bree·ow/ˈbriːəʊ/
Noun
vigour or vivacity of style or performance.
"She told her story with some brio."
Do you know a word you think others should know about? Submit it here!
Facts of the Week:
The world land speed record for a blind motorcyclist is 165.7 mph.
Australia hosts a World Cup for Australian Rules football, but the Australian men's team doesn't compete because it wouldn't be fair.
Britain exports over 50,000 boomerangs to Australia every year.
The kangaroo rat can last longer without water than a camel can.
The Sahara Desert is 10% bigger than it was 100 years ago.
40 million years ago, a meteorite hit Canada, raising the temperature to a record-breaking 2,370°C.
In Venezuela in 1972, a meteorite killed a cow, but nobody knew about it because the farmer ate the cow and used the meteorite as a doorstop.
Cows with mastitis are given bras for their udders.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
The first part defines a word and a Roman numeral. When you add the letters of the Roman numeral to the word, you get the word described after the equals sign. You can add the Roman numerals either before, in the middle of, or after the word. Thus “objectively sentimental + 55 = a dozen” is solved as TWEE + LV = TWELVE
a) A growth that can form on the body + 151 = someone who propels a vehicle
b) Bambi, for example + 54 = carry or transfer to someone
c) A small bed + 2,001 = perpetrate
Last week’s brainteaser and answer:
What well-known English word begins and ends with the letters “HE”? (There are two possible answers.)
Answer: Headache and heartache