Dovi’s Digest Volume 93
A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello there, welcome to Volume 93 of Dovi’s Digest.
Well, the winter Olympics ended on Sunday, and with the closing of the games, I have to close the book on my fanboying about all things snow and ice. Luckily, on Sunday I had something else with which to occupy my time.
Close on two years ago, my family from all over the world flew in to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. While we were aware of a new virus coming out of China, we didn’t think much of it. Less than two weeks later, everything was shut or shutting down, and needless to say the wedding was put on hold. So started two years of limbo for my cousin. He refused to go back to Australia without his fiancé and decided to stick around here. He didn’t think it would be much longer than six months, and then he could get back to his life, job, and family in Oz.
Well, 23 months into his six-month stay, he finally managed to tie the knot. The wedding itself was a wonderful affair. Great food, great booze, and an even more spectacular location made it truly an event to remember. However, the best thing about it for me (aside from getting to show off my formidable formal clothing collection), was that despite the worries, all my family managed to make it here. I’ve made “brief” mention before of how important family is to me. For the first time in six years, we were all together. The best part for me was my siblings coming in from Israel. This does however make it a bit weird for me. I spend most of my time being the only one in the same country as my parents, and as such, I’m the de facto favourite child. When they come though, I have to face the hideous reality that I’m not.
I must write a disclaimer before I carry on. My parents have done an exemplary job raising us, and each of us feels like the favourite in our own way. Not everyone can pull that off. That being said, when they come to visit, I tend to play second fiddle. This is to be expected. They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder for a reason, and even more so with parents. This can grate at times, but I’m well aware that this is only temporary, with time the status quo of all of us being on a relatively even footing (and as mentioned, favourites in our own rights) reasserts itself.
I don’t write this just to air grievances. Firstly, I don’t really have many. Secondly, it’s because it brings us to this week’s headline article about how having a favourite child isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I won’t give away the hook of the article, but I will pull one piece of data from it. A staggering 80% of children incorrectly identify who the favourite is. So, even if you feel your parents may like your sibling better, chances are you’re wrong, which you often are, and which is why your parents prefer your sibling. 😉
Have a great week, and for those of you who are privileged to still have parents, call them and say hi, it goes a long way.
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There was ONE correct answer to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Ariel Subotzky. A big apology goes to Daniel Rab who also got last week’s right, but I mistakenly left out. Apologies! The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
If you don’t want to confront your parents liking your sibling more than you, there are other articles for your perusal. You can learn about a Japanese audiophile who has own utility pole, why Broadway is a great way to lose money, how big tech pays for university courses that are anti anti-trust, why the James Webb telescope (which has successfully deployed) is so important, and what we stand to lose if it doesn’t work, how to be resilient, and the awesomeness of humans who save stranded sea turtles from places that are too cold and “migrate” them. Enjoy!!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Is Having A Favourite Child Really A Bad Thing?
Although it may be uncomfortable to admit, many parents play favourites among their children. Is that “bad” parenting?
A Gift for Music Lovers Who Have It All: A Personal Utility Pole
Japan’s music fanatics want personal grid connection; “electricity is like blood”.
The Economics of Broadway Shows
How the pandemic has made Broadway’s risky business even riskier.
Big Tech Funds a Think Tank Pushing for Fewer Rules. For Big Tech.
Google, Amazon and Qualcomm finance a George Mason University institute teaching a hands-off approach to antitrust regulators and judges.
The Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works.
The James Webb Space Telescope has been designed to answer many of the core questions that have animated astronomers over the past half-century. With a $10 billion price tag, it is one of the most ambitious engineering initiatives ever attempted. But for it to achieve its potential — nothing less than to rewrite the history of the cosmos and reshape humanity’s position within it — a lot of things have to work just right.
How People Learn to Become Resilient
Perception is key to resilience: Do you conceptualize an event as traumatic, or as a chance to learn and grow?
When Turtles Fly
A massive human-assisted migration lands stranded sea turtles back in warmer seas.
Quote of the Week:
“We have to be willing to confront the world as it is, not as we want it to be if we're going to be successful." — Barry McCarthy
Facts of the Week:
Tiny moons in Saturn’s rings named after kittens include Fluffy, Garfield, Socks, Whiskers, and Mittens.
Journalist Christopher Morley called his two cats Shall and Will, because “nobody can tell them apart”.
Lyndon B. Johnson had two beagles called Him and Her.
When Gavin Williamson was Conservative chief whip, he kept a Tarantula called Cronus on his desk.
Spiders have hydraulic legs.
The first hydraulic lift was used to carry sheep onto a roof.
If you lift a kangaroos tail off the ground, it can't hop.
Almost 10% of a cat’s bones are in its tail.
Luna Moths avoid being eaten by bats by using their tails as sonar deflectors.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
A hiking group walk from one town to another.
On the first day they cover one eighth of the total distance.
The next day they cover one third of what is left.
The following day they cover one quarter of the remainder
and on the fourth day half of the remaining distance.
The group have 15 miles left to walk.
How many miles have they covered?
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Given the word STANDARD, take away two letters and add three digits to make a logical sequence (there’s a good answer, promise).
Answer:
1st, 2nd, 3rd.