Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mystery

Trying to track down a sole.

517 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:39:02 -0800

I am looking for the brand and style of the boot or shoe that made these prints. It appears to be a man's size 9, 10, or 11, although I am not sure if it was a man's shoe. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Can anyone identify this song?

marimeko — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:17:09 -0800

Can anyone identify this song? The last time I head the track in question was in 2001.

The intro (keyboard/guitar/strings possibly wind sound effect) builds up to a male voice saying "it's a beautiful day" (several times, slowly, almost whispering).

The artist has a slight Brooklyn accent and doesn't ever actually sing.

It's not any of the songs or albums that comes up in google for "Beautiful Day".

The words "telephone" or "pop" might be in the name of the track, band or album.

I would describe the music as pop, hip hop, electronica.

Thank you!

Identify this bug!

event — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:06:37 -0800

What is this bug? I'm living in a recently-constructed tenth-floor apartment and have been finding these things on my floor. I have never seen a live one -- only dead remnants like this one. It appears to be some kind of centipede. Specifically what species is it, why am I finding them dead all the time, and how can I get rid of them? Thanks!

Region Free At Last, Thank the Beeb I'm Free At Last!

robocop is bleeding — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:04:49 -0800

Now that we have a region free DVD player, what British shows should we look in to ordering? My wife and I are huge fans of British comedies like Black Books, The IT Crowd, and Peep Show. We've been frustrated that many series are not available in the US (anything beyond the first series of Peep Show or That Mitchell and Webb Look, for example) and so broke down and bought a DVD player (a Philips DVP3980) that I unlocked to be region free.

So after we gorge ourselves on Mitchell and Webb, what else should we look for that's not available in the states?

We're not limited to comedies, either. My wife likes shows like Skins and I'm a huge murder mystery nut (Midsomer Murders, Inspector Morse, A Touch of Frost, etc).

While we're mainly interested in stuff we can't get over here, we'd like to take advantage of the seemingly cheaper DVD prices. For example, a 10 episode set of Midsomer Murders comes to something like 60 dollars, shipped, from amazon.uk while a 4 episode set costs 40 bucks here in the states. The less said about the amount I paid for my complete Morse vs the amount being charged on amazon.uk, the better. So any suggestions as to where we can get more for our money are welcome too.

Cacti experts, help!

peachfuzz — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:15:35 -0800

I have some questions about cacti. First, can you help me identify the awesome cactus my boss' husband gave me? It looks exactly like this one (though that's someone else's photo). Second, can you recommend how to take and transplant a cutting from it? I've read some guides and know to let it callous over before potting it, but I'm not sure how or where to cut - it's larger than this one, with lots of branches and paddles and bulbous bits. Should I just try to get most of a node? And when I pot it, should I bury it or just put an inch or so into the soil? Is half sand and half soil the right mix to use? I've read a lot of different opinions. Ditto on whether to water it after repotting or not. Basically, all cacti tips are welcome.

Thanks!

?

past — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:56:35 -0800

I have a pale pink bottle with a liquid inside. How can I figure out what it is? I think it is shampoo or soap, or maybe even lotion. I found it in my closet. I think it's homemade. I won't put it on my hair, but I will taste it for testing purposes.

1980s book with hidden treasure if you solved the mystery inside?

squid patrol — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:35:24 -0800

I'm struggling to remember the title of a book I read in the 1980s, which had a real-world twist: hidden within the narrative was the location of a spot in the USA where some sort of treasure or reward money was located. The only images I can come up with -- based on fuzzy memories of the book's title and/or cover -- would be: necklace, silver, moon, locket. And for some reason: rabbit.

The prize was somehow thematically linked with the book's content - that is to say, I think the plot involved some hidden treasure.

Any ideas? My memory was jogged by Everything is Terrible's recent post about a low-budget VHS noir with the same hook, but this book was much classier. If it helps, by the time I read the book (mid 80s?), the mystery had been solved and the prize located and dug up. Thanks!

Math Symbol Mystery

mazniak — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:19:54 -0800

I've never seen this mathematical symbol used this way before. Can anyone tell me what it means? Ok, my ignorance is on display for the world to see…

Please look at this image .

I'm referring to the parallel bars between the two resistances at the top. Obviously anyone who's taken 9th grade geometry knows that it is a symbol for describing a relationship as being parallel. But how does it fit here? How is it used to derive the final value of the voltage gain (3.82)?

Beef. Noodle.

peachfuzz — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:04:33 -0800

Can you help me figure out what this delicious beef noodle thing I ate years ago was? I used to work at a PR firm at Vermont and K in DC. A tiny pan-Asian place opened up in the building next door for a brief, glorious couple of winter months. I used to go and get takeout to get through late nights.

My favorite thing was something they described as "beef noodle". That's it. It was a dark, silky, soupy stew with chunks of rich braised beef (something short rib-y) and wide, flat rice noodles. It had a complex, caramelized sweetness. There was a strong star anise flavor, ginger, maybe some lemongrass or something else citrusy. It was not spicy, and the broth was clear. I've been trying to figure out what it was for years, with no luck - so I turn to you, hive mind!

It was NOT: pho, bun bo hue, galbi jjim, or a curry. It was very straightforward: thick broth/braising liquid, very wide rice noodles (like 3/4"), beef. There may have been a garnish of herbs, but that was pretty much it.

This restaurant served mostly Thai, Vietnamese, and Malaysian food, if I remember right. But I never seem to find anything matching the description on appropriate menus, and it's been driving me crazy.

Do you recognize this delicious, delicious thing?

Basement water source mystery

miyabo — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:57:27 -0800

How is water getting into my basement? I discovered a substantial amount (~20-30 gallons) of water in a puddle in my basement. I haven't been in the basement in a week, so there might have been more, and it either went down the drain or evaporated.

I figure the water may be coming from seepage through a hidden crack in the wall, from the basement drain (which is near the puddle), or from the water main.

It's been raining a lot here lately, which points to seepage. But the walls and floor don't have any visible cracks, and the walls are completely dry.

The water main is suspiciously near the puddle, and looks old and corroded (green). It's even slightly damp on the outside. But it isn't actively leaking.

The basement drain is also near the puddle. Can seemingly clean water come out of a sewer drain when it rains?

We don't have gutters, so it's not a gutter issue.

Should I call a plumber for the water main, for the drain, pile up more dirt against the outside wall, or just live with it?

Thanks! This is really bothering me.

Help figure out this modifier of the word "mentality", which may be phonetically similar to "sinded".

Roach — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:27:15 -0800

Help figure out this modifier of the word "mentality", which may be phonetically similar to "sinded". Yesterday, I received this email from a friend of mine who occasionally calls on me for these sorts of things. I'm stumped! After rolling around with it using a couple of possible pronunciations, I've still got nothin'. Any love?

Okay John, I can always count on you for these things...I am trying to figure out the spelling of the following word "sinded" as in sinded mentality. It is not a word I am familiar with and I can't find it on Websters site no matter how I spell it. Any ideas?

Mystery illness??

I_Love_Bananas — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 18:30:14 -0800

Never-sick person + sickness = hell. For the past 4 days I have been plagued with symptoms that have baffled me.

No fever; yet: nausea (vomited once), headaches, near-constant dizziness/equilibrium problems, some fairly epic diarrhea. Most persistent issue is what I describe as a thunderstorm in my stomach- rumbling, gassiness, etc., worse after eating.

Today my nausea felt like it had subsided but later in the day (after grocery shopping) the dizziness increased to the point that I got re-nauseous (moreso the way you get when you are carsick or otherwise equilibrim-based nausea). What is going on? Is there any new/bizarre strain of flu or other type of illness going around that would account for it?

In the past I suffered some post-surgery dehydration that gave me similar dizziness. I drank a lot of water today thinking perhaps that was it; maybe the diarrhea exacerbated fluid loss. But this evening it's worse than ever. And if it were food-based, wouldn't it have run its course by now?

I am hardly ever sick and this is about unendurable. I've been irritable, impatient and jumpy. I am very reluctant to go to the doctor with these symptoms because they sound like just the random set of things that will guarantee either a result of "Don't know; take a few days off and see what happens" or worse, "go see specialist(s) X, Y and/or Z" and spend time and money I do not have to waste right now.

I know YANMD but all insights appreciated as long as you don't rag me for my anti-doctor stance).

Uh...hang on, just give me a minute.

Demogorgon — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:34:31 -0800

What is the most important scientific question of our time? I volunteer at an observatory for a local amateur astronomers' society and one of the guests at a recent star party came up and asked, "What do you think is the most important question science has to answer right now?" Obviously, there is no right or wrong answer, but after the party was over a lot of us were still talking about this question and I ended up learning a great deal from my fellow club members that I might otherwise not have.
The next time this question gets asked I want to be prepared to offer a variety of answers from differing fields and opinions. I don't expect to represent every answer as an expert, but I'd like to be able to give a few more examples than I was able to, and then correlate them to some book recommendations from the answers in this thread about introductions to your field.
I also think it is important to frame the question in a way that can be meaningfully answered, i.e. "What is the most important scientific discovery about to be made?" or something like that.
Of course, I had my own answer in mind, but as a relative layperson to that branch of study I had a really hard time articulating why it was so important to "science." Therefore, if you are uniquely affiliated with a specific field that you think will produce a game-changer, feel free to get as technical as you're comfortable doing.

Thanks!

Does THAT Belong In Your Mouth?

hippybear — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:39:31 -0800

What is the strange white plastic ring thing that I see baseball players chewing on during the postseason games? I just saw a Yankee player chewing on this thing, it looked vaguely like maybe a high-tech handle to one of those ring pops from years ago. It was white plastic, sort of squared off, and it was in his mouth.

What on earth IS that thing???

What in the world is this?

Theloupgarou — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:50:17 -0800

Does anyone know what this beige, squarish thing is supposed to be? What's it used for? Anyone know? Very curious thing... Thanks in advance!

More importantly, can we garnish a cocktail with it?

halogen — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:11:49 -0800

Found this mutant-cherry fruit on a tree near Laurelhurst Park in Portland, Oregon today. Can you identify it? Can we eat it?

Lesser-known spooky and/or mysterious legends?

amyms — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:11:46 -0800

Tell me some scary and/or mysterious things that are local to your area, but not necessarily well-known to the rest of the world. The Himalayas have the Yeti. Marfa, Texas, has ghost lights. Eastern Kansas has Stull Cemetery (one of the supposed Seven Gates of Hell). Latin America has the chupacabra. But I'm interested in lesser-known spooky legends. What are some of your local or regional mysterious and/or scary things that the rest of the world should know about?

My reason for asking: My son is homeschooled, and I thought this would be an interesting way to incorporate some quirky things into our geography and social studies lessons since Halloween is coming up.

Mentally Challenging Films

FuManchu — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:14:10 -0800

What movies have the most difficult plots to understand? Movies that are mentally challenging and require multiple viewings but aren't nonsensical. I'm thinking of examples like The Big Sleep and Mission Impossible. Films that don't do an excessive amount of hand-holding throughout the plot. Hopefully movies that aren't confusing just due to bad directing or plot development.

My phone is secretly texting people without my input!

uk_giffo — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:51:44 -0800

My mobile phone seems to have sent a text message to my girlfriend without my knowledge. I don't understand how. More details inside. This afternoon, I was walking through a park here in Washington when I got a message from my girlfriend saying "Thanks?". I replied: "What?", wondering what she was referring to. She then sent a message back stating: "You sent me a text 5 mins ago?". I hadn't - my phone had been in my pocket for the previous hour - yet when I checked the previous message it showed that I'd sent one saying "How are you?I love you!Thanks" to her five minutes beforehand. Note the lack of a space between phrases; I've never typed a message like that.

My first thought was that it had been a "pocket text" - that somehow the cellphone had rubbed against something else in my pocket and sent a text to her. But I think the keypad was locked. Then I tried to work out how such phrases could have been entered in a text message and thought it must be some kind of "insert quick phrase" feature on the phone. But when I look closer at that feature and how it works it would have been highly unlikely that the phone could have navigated to it as it's quite convoluted to get to and, besides, the store of saved "quick phrases" is empty (it allows you to add some).

So I am baffled, though quite relieved it wasn't a more inappropriate message to someone else like my boss. Does anyone have any idea at all what might have happened? Is there some way to "spoof" a text message from a phone? Are these phones hackable? Could it have been something to do with Bluetooth (though I have never turned it on to the best of my knowledge)? Could someone have hacked my voicemail account and done something? My Verizon account on the website perhaps - can you send texts from there as if it's coming from the phone?

It's a Samsung U450 and is on Verizon Wireless. Other pertinent details: my girlfriend's name begins with K so she doesn't appear at the top of my contacts list and therefore wouldn't (I'd have thought) been the default recipient of a random pocket text - that'd surely be Adam. She's also on Verizon Wireless here.

I am really puzzled by this, and I understand technology fairly well, so if anyone can offer any insights I'd be very grateful.

My cat's pee is missing.

miagaille — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:56:11 -0800

My cat hasn't used her litter box in over two weeks. The house smells great. She has no way to get outside. Where is the pee going? Two weeks ago she stopped using her litter box and started pooping in the basement crawlspace. The whole house smelled awful. We naturally assumed she was peeing in the same place.

Yesterday I crawled in on my belly in a hazmat suit and picked up all the poop. I searched around for damp or stinky spots that would indicate urine, but found nothing. Today I went back in with a fairly high-powered UV flashlight, and again found nothing to indicate urine. I went all over the house with it and similarly found nothing. The smell also completely went away when I cleaned up the poop, and now the house smells fine.

The cat is a 2-year-old spayed female, indoor only. She's been eating and drinking normally and shows no sign of pain or distress that would suggest a urinary blockage.

So, WFT cat pee?? I'm pretty sure the cat's fine, I'm just completely mystified and weirded out.

Who else is gonna bring you a concrete arrow?

Spyder's Game — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:28:03 -0800

What is this giant concrete arrow for? Next to my favorite walking path, there is a giant arrow, made of concrete. It poured so that it is slightly raised (about an inch or two) above the ground. It measures about 15 feet across. It was broken (the tip) at one point and *repaired*, so I'm thinking it's important enough to have at least some (semi) regular upkeep. It points towards the path, but if you are walking on the path, it seems to be pointing at nothing in particular. Doesn't seem to be any sort of aviation marker, as there are many power lines, telephone lines, etc, in the area, and it would be difficult to put any aircraft down there.

Here it is.
Google Maps

The white line thru the center is the walking path. You can see the arrow above it. It's about 15 feet-ish long. Further examination shows that it was inscribed while it was still wet. "R. Hood. Sherwood Forest." Curiouser and curiouser. What is this thing, MeFites?! It's been bothering me for almost a year now!

One theory is that it's pointing out the building that you see below the path, which has security gates, and no identifying markings to show what it is. Another theory is that it's just some sort of art piece. Another was my theory that it was pointing out the concrete walk/bike path as a possible emergency landing strip for airplanes in distress. Yeah, my theory sucks!!

What's yours?!?

What movie is this?

Kattiara17 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:55:00 -0800

Please help me remember what movie I'm thinking of. Trying to figure out the name of a movie I saw years ago. I want to say it came out in the early to mid 90's, give or take. It was aimed at either kids or teens, not an adult movie. The main details I can recall: a decent portion of it (maybe all?) took place in a desert. There were definitely two teen/young adults, a boy and a girl, (possibly a younger brother/sister/pet that accompanied them as well - or not). At one point the two mains are separated, but then they find each other again and have an emotional/dramatic reunion (still in the desert). I think possibly someone is chasing them, but don't remember specifics. Might have been an adventure movie. I know this is very vague, but does anyone have a clue what I'm thinking of?

Do you know what book this is?

magnoliasouth — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:25:29 -0800

Please help me figure out what book this is. This is something that has driven me insane for years. I mean, YEARS. I cannot remember the name of the book, nor the author's name. I thought the author was a Nora someone, but I'm not certain. I remember the book being touted as "another" of her books, so she evidently has more than one. The cover also oddly said it was about "modern life" which I found odd since the setting was actually in the fifties. I think it would have been better described as modern thinking. Sadly, I cannot remember when I read it. I would say somewhere between 1985 and 2000, but could have been as late as 2006. Yes that is a big span of years, but I just cannot remember.

It's about a single mom who gets a job as a manicurist, I believe. She bought a house in a subdivision that was subdivided out of farmland. Her husband had an affair and left her. She got some sort of assistance in buying the house. All the neighborhood women were typical neighborhood 50's women and kind of looked down on her due to her single mother, Elvis fan status.

The man across the street wanted her badly as did every man and male teen in the area. In fact, near the close of the book we discover that she was sleeping with the son of the man across the street, a teen who actually was in love with another teen girl.

The first time the teen saw her, she was mowing the lawn with a ponytail in her hair and listening to Elvis. He told her son, who was younger that just about everyone in the neighborhood, that his mom was different or something. He was indicating she was hot, but not exactly saying it. Even though her son was young (like about 8 or 10) he understood what the teen was meaning.

One friend or acquaintance in the book was a heavy woman. All the neighborhood women talked about her behind her back about her weight. She actually began losing weight, but was still wearing her old and now baggy clothes. The main character noticed her weight loss and told her how great she looked. New thin woman began crying because she realized that no one at all had ever noticed or complimented her, but the one person who did was "the enemy."

That night, or soon thereafter, new thin woman left her husband (and children) and disappeared. It was later discovered that she was working somewhere in town like at a clothing store, make-up or perfume counter or something. She finally agreed to see her husband and children.

Someone did something deliberately bad to main character's son. I can't remember who it was nor what they did, but what made it a very weird thing was what main character did in return. She made a wax voodoo doll of sorts of the offending person and melted it. That came right out of the blue and didn't appear to fit properly into the book. It was just the most bizarre thing, which is why I remember it so well.

In any case the overall tone of the book is similar in nature to Pleasantville. It has that 50's to progressive mentality thing.

Sorry for the long description, but I wanted to provide as much information as possible. I seriously hope someone, ANYONE can help me.

I've posted it to the group at Library Thing, I've done searches, I tried everything in an article I found online that tells you "How To Find A Book Without Knowing The Title Or Author" and everything else.

I think the only way I will ever find this book, is if someone else has read it and knows what I'm talking about.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown Redux

Xurando — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:13:01 -0800

Vermont Mystery Filter: Help me prove it was arson. We have lived in our house in rural Vermont for over 20 years. A mile up the road from our house is a piece of property by a stream. When we first moved in, the property had two buildings on it. A cabin and a small house. About 18 years ago the cabin burnt down and the owners refurbished the house and made it bigger. 3 years later the house burned down. The owners sold the property to someone who built another house in a different location on the property across the stream and up a hill. It was a modern expensive house. The owners became underwater with the mortgage and were looking to sell. Four years ago they were both at work and came home to find the house was on fire and a total loss. The daughter of a couple down the road bought the property and over time has rebuilt the house on the foundation. The $300,000 figure listed in the article is low. Friday my wife was driving home and the police stopped her and said the house was on fire and was again a total loss. The officer said the property was "cursed".

I don't believe in curses. This has to be arson. All four fires happened when no one was home. Statistically this seems impossible. The police and fire marshall seem disinclined to do anything about it. I want to prove someone caused this. I have a suspect. Any ideas about where to start? I have no background in forensics. I've thought about going to local newspaper or asking my own insurance agent for advice. It's pretty creepy.

What city is this?

xmutex — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:59:42 -0800

Anyone know what city this is? I believe it's from the 1940s or '50s.