Category: Uncategorized
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Myeong-yi Namul (명이나물)
Myeong-yi Namul (aka myeongi namul, 명이나물) is the Korean name for for pickled leaves of Korean mountain garlic. Now it’s not really garlic as far as I can tell, it’s called like this because it tastes a bit like garlic and grows mostly in the mountains. My (so far unconfirmed research) shows that this plant…
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RICHAT STRUCTURE: THE EYE OF THE SAHARA. ATLANTIS?
No idea how substantial this is, but I thought it was incredibly interesting, even if just for the Richat Structure, aka The Eye of the Sahara, or Guelb er Richât, which I didn’t know about. He also mentions an ancient Mauretanian king of the name Mansa Musa, who some claim was the wealthiest man in…
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SHINE MUSCAT GRAPE
Shine muscat grape are a special cultivar of grapes that was developed in Japan in 1988, but is still a rather exclusive type of grape that most people have never tasted. And the only reason why I write about it here today is because I’ve just tasted it for the first time—and it’s a remarkably…
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BAKING BREAD IN SAND AND ASHES: TAGUELLA OF THE TUAREG
The Tuareg have a special way of baking bread, which is called taguella. It’s a simple flat bread baked in the embers of a fire, basically the hot sand and ashes of a little bonfire. It’s typically made of wheat, millet, or semolina I love this way of making bread. It’s very efficient if you…
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CORAL VINE / MEXICAN CREEPER
I was recently sitting at a coffee shop and really loved the vines growing that provided shade. Turns out they’re called Coral Vines, Mexican Creepers, or Antigonon leptopus. Their flowers can bloom all year long, the leaves are heart-shaped (cordate).
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MANCHEGO CHEESE
Manchego cheese is a Spanish sheep cheese, named after the kind of sheep (Manchega sheep) that’s producing the milk this cheese is made of. It has a pretty intense taste (as you would expect from cheese made from sheep milk), but not overpowering, is rich and creamy in taste. The texture depends on the age.…
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HOW A 4-YEAR-OLD DID THE VOICEOVER FOR PEPPA PIG
This is so random, but I still thought it was an interesting tidbit. The original voice of Peppa Pig was a 4-year-old girl who couldn’t read the script. So they had her mom read the lines to her, and the girl would then copy her. I thought that’s an interesting way of doing things, and…
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Neuralink: Telepathic typing, brain-implant robots & more
I’m not a tech person, but it’s amazing what Neuralink is up to. If you haven’t watched this the recent demonstration, it’s worth spending a few minutes watching this: A monkey that types with the power of his mind, without using his hand or actually tapping keys on a physical keyboard. If that’s not science…
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THIS PAINTING WENT FROM $10K IN 2005 TO $450M IN 2017
In 2005, Sotheby’s sold Leonardo DaVinci’s painting Salvator Mundi for $10,000. Twelve years later, in 2017, Saudi Prince Bader bin Abdullah bought paid $450,000,000 for it. How did this happen? It’s a fascinating story that Naha Tandon Sharma recently told in an article for Luxurylaunches, but the tldr is: The UAE and Saudi Arabia are…
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THE DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES GAME: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SOLAR SALES REP IN FLORIDA
Many years ago I used to work as a door-to-door salesman, selling event tickets and experiences to companies. I wasn’t particularly successful at it, but it was a good challenge, and an experience I cherish even know, because it taught me a lot. The Tampa Bay Times recently published an interesting article about door-to-door salesmanship…