The drupe of a Gingerbread Palm (Hyphaene thebaica)

Native to the Arabian Peninsula and northwestern Africa, the Gingerbread Palm (also known as Doum or Doom Palm) was considered sacred by ancient Egyptians. Seeds were often found in pharaohs’ tombs. Eight baskets of 3,000-year-old doum fruit was found in Tutankhamen’s tomb.

All parts of the tree are useful. The leaves and stalks are used to make baskets, mats, coarse textiles, brooms, and rope. The timber is used for posts and poles and furniture. The shoots of the germinated seeds are eaten as a vegetable. The pulp of the fruit is made into a cold drink. And the dried rind is used to make molasses, cakes, and sweetmeats.

JS sent me this…

You have to like a simple explanation of a simple problem that most educated people don’t understand.

“Dave Barry’s 2021 Year in Review”

Is there anything positive to recall over the past 12 months?

Click here.

Another performance piece to enjoy from Guggenheim’s Works & Process project: “A Chronicle of a Pivot at a Point in Time”

Also from the Myrtle Beach Club: from the ridiculous to the sublime – spectacular images of some of the many things that make the Earth special…

Watch it here.

Is this the best drumline routine you’ve ever seen? Here

And here’s a stocking stuffer: Raymond Crowe’s shadow puppets… like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

It’s that time of year! Thanks to SNL for this spoof of the endless holiday commercials we’re all being subjected to…

KM, a friend, has been working with the Fortune Society for some time. Check out this video. It will show you a slice of what the Fortune Society does.

Here’s a great conversation on the Metaverse between two of my favorite public intellectuals: Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro…