Humpday Recommendations 2/20/2024

Read: “Several Short Sentences About Writing,” by Verlyn Klinkenborg. I’ve just finished my fifth (maybe sixth?) reading of this inspiring guide to better writing. This thoughtful set of writing principles helps me notice what I notice, in writing and in life, and write more simply. – Willis

Hike: The Pekoe Trail. Two hundred years ago, British colonists established massive tea plantations across Sri Lanka’s cool, humid highlands that still produce some of the finest brews on the planet. Now, you have the opportunity to hike through the jaw-dropping landscapes of tea country thanks to a recently opened 22-stage, 300 km track between the sacred city of Kandy and the mountain resort of Nuwara Eliya, built with support from the EU and USAID. Hurry over for the best experience before the whole world catches wind of it – my travel buddy and I were the only tourists on the trail, and locals were delighted to bring us in for home-cooked meals and selfies with the school kids. – Matt

Play: “Alan Wake 2.” If you like video games with sophisticated storylines that also have the potential to haunt your dreams, then I highly recommend this one. It recently won a bunch of awards so I decided to give it a shot, and it is both captivating and terrifying. The game is a reality-bending murder mystery that requires you to solve a lot of puzzles and will repeatedly make you jump out of your seat. I would avoid playing this before bedtime. – John

Channel: Your inner Jackson Pollock. Last weekend, I surprised the family with a splatter paint session at a local mall, where we were dressed head-to-toe in plastic (think Ghostbusters) and set loose with a canvas, paint, and brushes. I threw streams of paint at my canvas, while my daughter and husband poured onto theirs for a marbling effect. It was messy, addictive fun, and we went home with three (not horrible) modern works of art to proudly display … in the guest room. Tracy

More from GZERO Media

Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning sails through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa on its way to the Pacific in this handout photo taken by Japan Self-Defense Forces and released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan on April 4, 2021.
Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan/HANDOUT via REUTERS

Tokyo has shared “serious concerns” with Beijing after a Chinese aircraft carrier traversed a section of the sea within Japan’s contiguous waters for the first time on Wednesday.

Women attend the funeral of the victims who were killed in electronic pagers explosion in Beirut southern suburb.
Marwan Naamani/dpa via Reuters Connect

Lebanon was rocked by more deadly blasts on Wednesday, with walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploding in Beirut and other parts of the country.

In this episode of the “Energized: The Future of Energy” podcast, Lisa Raitt, vice chair of Global Investment Banking for CIBC Capital Markets and former Canadian parliamentarian, discusses the concrete changes needed for the energy transition. In a conversation with host JJ Ramberg and Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel, she explains how businesses and governments can collaborate to create a more sustainable and affordable energy future, examining the practical implications of this shift in real-world situations. Listen to this episode at gzeromedia.com/energized, or on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

- YouTube

"Artificial intelligence is the opportunity of our generation, but it is an existential threat," UN Secretary-General António Guterres saidin an exclusive GZERO World interview with Ian Bremmer, who is one of the 39 experts on the UN's High Level Advisory Body on AI. On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, they discuss the advisory group's upcoming report "“Governing AI for Humanity,” and why Guterres believes the UN is the only organization capable of creating a truly global, inclusive framework for AI.