The weekly round up of things to watch, read, hear, do this time also includes a thrilling ride in Australia and Linkin Park's special anniversary edition.
I first came across Dog Lover while hunting for a gift for my niece. The game has come in handy this summer, lighting up an otherwise boring afternoon or evening. Dog Lover is a card game in which you essentially have to make sure your dogs are happy and healthy by choosing cards from a central tableau. The central grid includes cards like food and toys, with additional ones that allow you to adopt rescue dogs and attribute traits to your pets. All the illustrated cards are cute, with each dog’s name (who wouldn’t want to adopt Droolious Caesar ?), size and diet mentioned. There’s also a simpler version of the game with felines, called Cat Lady. Both are available at Boardgamesindia.com or at the Boardgame Lounge in Chennai.—Dakshayani Kumaramangalam
Also read: Lounge loves: A travel YouTuber, fun with statues and more
Viral videos lead me down great rabbit holes. A few days ago, one on Baigan ka Bharta vs Baba Ganoush, from @mattiastable, the Instagram account of chef Mattia, did just this. Part of his Reel-series Culture Clash, in which “two similar foods from two different cultures go head to head for me to determine which is best”, the video grabbed the attention of Indian audiences—also, I am sure, because he said “India wins”. I have since watched his other videos in the series. In some, the similarities are about complex histories, and, in others, connections we are yet to discover. Regardless, whether it’s Switzerland’s Rosti vs the US’ Hash Browns or France’s Gougeres vs Brazil’s Pao de Quejio, how wonderful it is to know there are so many same-same-but-different ways in which we all enjoy our foods.—Vangmayi Parakala
The taipan is a snake you wouldn’t want to cross. One of Australia’s most poisonous indigenous varieties, it also lends its name to one of the most fun roller-coaster rides you could experience: the Steel Taipan. I took the ride in Gold Coast’s famous Dreamworld theme park and it turned out to be two and a half minutes of absolute mayhem. The thrills begin from the moment it starts and it doesn’t let up, with a 125ft high wave turn, followed by a 105ft high vertical loop, and back-to-back twisted horseshoe turns. All this, plus speeds of nearly 105 kmph and 3.8Gs of gravitational force made the ride’s runtime seem like a hellish eternity. But what fun it was!—Bibek Bhattacharya
American rock band Linkin Park defined rock music for an entire generation, including mine. But the band has remained in hiatus since lead singer Chester Bennington’s death in 2017. Earlier this year, to mark 20 years of their album Meteora, Linkin Park released a special anniversary edition. Headlining this special reissue is a previously unreleased single, Lost. Initially recorded in 2002, Lost features Bennington’s powerful voice, coupled with electronic elements that are almost similar to their hit songs Numb and Breaking The Habit. The anime-inspired video is generated by AI. In a press statement, Mike Shinoda, the band’s co-founder, said that “finding Lost was like finding a favourite photo you had forgotten you’d taken, like it was waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.”—Nitin Sreedhar
