Monday Mystery: Call Me

Capriciously stolen from fabulous Christopher.

Monday Mystery

This time you have to guess.
It's beautiful and functional—if perhaps uncomfortable—with a carbon fiber inner structure wrapped in leather. This is a prototype. Give up? Check it out.

Monday Mystery

My daughter is one of my main sources for new music, and she has tuned me into Great Big Sea. While they may have been around for more than a decade, they're new to me. The band is from Newfoundland and they play Newfie folk music, which has Celtic roots. I love their sound. Apparently Blobby does too.

Rocking along in the car to their tunes got me to thinking about how we join in when we hear music we like. In concerts, we clap along. I have noticed that if a guy tries to clap on the downbeat instead of the upbeat (1 and 3 instead of 2 and 4), everyone around him is uncomfortable and thinks he's a dweeb. What is it about that rhythm that is so wrong? I mean, they're right, but why?

To test out my theory, click on the two Great Big Sea tracks on my playlist on the right-hand column: "When I'm Up" and "Ordinary Day." Try clapping along first on the upbeat (the way that feels "right") and then on the downbeat. See?

Monday Mystery (on Wednesday)

Hoosiers have a driving habit that is driving me crazy. Frequently I will see someone hold back a car length—or even two—while waiting at a traffic light. Clearly, someone has told these people that this is a good idea, but for the life of me I can't figure out a benefit to it.

I took this picture on the way home from work today, while waiting at a light.


No one ever did this for the thirty years I lived in Florida. Can anyone explain this driving strategy?

Update: Oh yeah. Today's Wednesday. But it's felt like Monday all day, so this counts.

Monday Mystery

I have passed by these things many times as I drive through St. Louis. I have seen structures exactly like this in Atlanta and at least one other large city between Indiana and Florida. There are always two. One has a stair leading up to the top of the framework, but the other does not. They appear to be in use as the property is clean and lit at night. The stairs are lit, too. There are no visible reasons for the framework, which is perched above what appears to be a large tank below. I can see no pipes or cables, other than those that stabilize the right angles on the framework.

What the heck is this?


I have no idea, so I'm asking you.