Two things I don't understand.
 

Allright, item one.

At some concerts I observe that the crowd parts down the middle, scrunching up on each other to make a wide divide.

Then at some particular part of the song the two sides run at each other. I don't get it.

Seems like it would hurt.

Great way for a concussion or broken limbs.

What gives? What is the fun?

Item two, engagement rings.

I'm not sure I understand this one.

I can understand wedding rings, but engagement rings just don't make sense.

So why do we have this custom?

All right, carry on.

Pay good money for a concert, spend the entire damn concert recording it on your cel phone.

Witnessed this myself 10 rows from stage at Foo Fighters a month or so ago.

I cannot understand why you even bother to go if you are gonna watch it through your phone screen the entire time.

And who enjoys watching that video after? It has to suck, nothing beats being up close and seeing / feeling the music in person, nothing.

#1- You need to pick better concerts ;)...

#2- De Beers marketing a century or so ago :(

1. I have no idea

2. Ask a woman

3. If these are the only two things you don't understand, then you're WAY......WAY ahead of me.

Facebook video of a concert the next day is awful. Grainy video of some random colors off in the distance, with a bunch of mumbled sounds
It is simply a look what I did thing

When it comes to the crowd filmed recordings:

It is nice to have up to perhaps five people in different parts that can make good recordings and share them.

If you can't make a good one, leave it be.

When everyone does it I find myself shaking my head.

If the end result is poor, I can't see why do more than a few seconds.

There’s more than two things that I dont understand.

There is a cure for the holding out cell phones problem.

I might put that cure in one of things I'm not sure I understand.

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I'm looking for two things I DO understand.

Engagement ring. Kinda like a hotel reservation:

You have marked your territory, let others know that spot it taken. But, you have the option to back out.

Just make sure the cancellation policy is known and one you can afford. Trip insurance might help.

Either (a) you go to some weird-ass concerts, or (b) you're describing a modern mosh pit and don't seem to understand the geometry...

I have never seen a crowd split apart then run at each other.

It's interesting that engagement rings are expensive. Very expensive.

However wedding rings are just a cheap band of gold.

I guess when you have got them that far you don't need great displays of extravagance, the deal is already closed.

Expensive rings were around a long time before Debeers. Greek and Roman times.

Engagement rings were given as promise, usually to ensure the contract of marriage before the marriage so they could have premarital sex.

The expensive engsgement ring was expensive as it stood for part of the bride's dowry.

The engagement ring is worn with the wedding band, on the outside of it.

I never go to concerts with mosh pits...mostly classic rock bands or country.

Recording events like concerts are a feeble attempt to capture the feeling you get when you are present (rather like the multiple pictures of trees when in the mountains). Nothing can beat actually being there.

Engagement rings are a sort of promise to marry...it makes the woman feel secure, and horny.

the ring is easy, the woman has something to show all her friends and its just another way to get money from you.

I don't understand the concert Q. parts down the middle?

the cell phone thing aggravates the hell out of me. got some idiot in front of you holding his phone up blocking MY view.
also, as a drummer I go on youtube to learn a song and all you get is these "people" now posting a crappy, shaky video of song you cant even hear because its recorded on, wait for it, a PHONE!!
NOBODY wants to see your phone video of a concert.
I wonder how many people go back and actually watch it again on their phone.

sorry for the rant. had to say something to guy in front of me about 2 weeks ago because I was watching the concert through HIS phone.

You got off lucky. I was at an 'event' and the family in front of was holding up iPads to video...

Why ask a woman? If a man is giving the ring then men must have their reasons.

I must say I did not make this list inclusive of everything I do not understand.

I find it interesting that there is no assumption about whether I give out engagement rings or not but there is an assumption about going to concerts.

If I didn't get it why would I do it?

Knowledge can be gained via other means that do not require personal presence.

Would make the normal person think that (a) you have been to several concerts, (b) that at some fraction of them there is this behavior, and (c) that you have physically seen it in person with your own two eyes.

Instead, what we were supposed to get was that you spend too much time on youtube, watching concert videos, and have, on some occasions, seen this activity through the eyes of the passive observer...namely, a video camera.


Saying that, I believe that you have seem some type or variant of "slam dancing", which, from the point of view of an external camera, might appear to be groups of people spreading apart and running towards each other. In fact, it's a far more complex ballet than that, one which would be hard to explain to the Great Unwashed. Best understood from within.

People say they watched a foot ball game, when they saw it on TV.

It is possible to observer/watch without being there at the time in physical form.

If you want to get really bothersome about terms:

If we step outside in broad daylight and "see the grass"(or if you don't have grass whatever is out there) we are seeing sunlight that has taken a path that included the grass.

So we're looking out at the sun, the grass is not generation sufficient light in of itself to be a significant source to our vision.

At night when driving my car I see my headlights and not the road.

Take away what is not a light source in the visible spectrum, and we see nothing. Many of the objects we describe as objects we observe, are really the observation of a separate light source that has interacted with that object on its path to be observed by our eyes.

Hope that was amusing. The world is a weird place.

The key to communication is the ability to predict the assumptions of others about what you say.

I pointed out the assumption as interesting because it is alien to me to have made this assumption. Call it some form of re-calibration if you will.

Ask the little head


My theory is, well... several thoughts on this one being marketing has convinced the the more you spend on the ring the more you love your women (not saying that is true). I I also like the "mark your territory"... theory... don't want to sound sexist but likely that is why the woman puts a ring on a man.
Then there is the good old conspicuous consumption theory.
Her: "look how much my man spent on me!"
Him: "look at how much I can spend on a ring!"

As far as the mosh pit, I think it started as a punk rock thing that has migrated to more mainstream rock?

And yes, nothing bothers me more that a jerk in front of me holding up his/her phone distracting me from enjoying the concert. Any band out there most likely has DVD's of their concerts you can buy the are one hundred times better audio/video quality. I think it is more of a social media thing "look at me, I'm at this way cool concert!"

Now get off my lawn!

Minus the parts of the spectrum that the grass subtracted from the sunlight.

Engagement rings are a relic of when marriage was a contract and the ring was the consideration supporting the contract.

The light we see doesn't tell us what didn't make it.

For example, a film captures moments of light in space when it was exposed.

That film is reproduced and we look at a "picture".

Providing the resolution of copies matches the original picture we would not be able to tell a picture of a picture of a plant from a picture of a plant.

Men buy engagement rings because it is important to the person they love. Most little girls grow up dreaming of the day the handsome prince asks he to marry him. All the chick flicks and books depict the moment as a event the woman wants to experience.

Bottom line MOST women want to go back to work the next day with an engagement ring to flash to the girls in the office. They have had their girlfriends wave new rings in their face. They want a turn.

Bottom line, happy wife, happy life.

This times ten thousand!

I have seen multiple engagements where this behavior with the ring was not present.

I have also seen some where it was present.

I am not sure what to make of the difference.

The ring is a bribe, the concert...well I don't know.

A) you are referring to the Wall of Death, man up or get out of the way.

B) a promise of marriage, if the marriage doesn't happen, the ring reverts to a possession of the giver, not receiver.

A) With that search term,

Wall of Death seems to encompass where all four sides run in as the predominant mode, I saw less with two opposing sides only.

Definitely seems to cover it.

Not sure on the man up part, the women seem to go for it.

B) Still, why a ring?

There are lots of different things that could be done.

We could propose with seagull feathers, or a shoe, or a hat.

It does seem a diamond ring is some what universal in that it still works with many different types of fashion. Still at risk for some activities of dropping off and being lost.

Absolutely correct, we could signify our unending love with a seashell, a piece of fruit, or a dead rat... but somehow our culture has adopted the diamond ring.

Many people live happily ever after without getting married at all so a diamond is not absolutely necessary.

IMHO one of the basic needs of many women is a sense of security... and when a man agrees to put up with the whole dog and pony show of ring+dress+ceremony+honeymoon it shows that he is invested in the relationship and going to stay committed.

Maybe they were the Jets and the Sharks?


I love to debate time... what is time? That is a great party conversation.

For some reason, I left off in my post that diamonds are more difficult to damage compared to other gemstones.

Weird thing is, many of the young ladies that seemed to be into that whole thing and talked about it - ended up taking the live in path instead.

I suppose for them the driving force was shallow.

Glen's post has had me laughing as it recalls the woman that really went all out to show off that engagement ring.

She ended up a few years later taking up a very militant cause, eventually rising to VP in a well known organization that does lots of protest stuff.

It was just not evident at the time, not sure what kicked that career into being.

It was bizarre. I did gain some knowledge of what goes on in the organization.

Still makes me laugh as there are very inconsistent and opposing ideologies swept within the same banner and they fail to realize it.

Maybe it was the TV time that was attractive.

Agree. These days, if you don't post it on social media, it didn't happen.

It's now pretty common to see lots of people at concerts fiddling around with their phones instead of taking in the experience. The last time I saw Eric Clapton, the guy in front of me spent most of the concert playing with his phone. Not recording the show...just noodling around. Browsing web sites, texting, etc. It was stadium seating so I could easily see what he was doing. Tickets weren't cheap either...why bother when you can just sit home and mess with your phone while listening to a Clapton CD :confused:

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"He finally proposed. Isn't it beautiful?!!!"

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1534922128.jpg
"Somehow, I don't feel as special as I thought I would."

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"Yes! Yes! A thousand times YES!"

The engagememt ring.
Will try to be clearer.
Wedding rings were a symbol of being taken.
And date back to Greek/Roman cultures
Engagement rings were a promise to get married. Mostly so the couple could "engage" in pre-marital sex.
In medieval times the engagement ring's value was part of the dowry. The fancier the ring, the more prestigious and valuable the dowry.
Though the dowry is not really done much anymore the engagement ring has stayed.
As a leftover cultural thing women get excited to get a expensive one and show off how much dowry they are worth.

The Concert thing.
The harkens back to punk rock and mosh pits.
The crowds still get riled up emotionally and are somewhat anesthetized by whatever means soo...They have come up with their own sort of mosh pit action. square off and run into each other.
Most likely started with just two guys backing away from each other then running at each other, crashing then laughing wildly and doing it again. It looked like they were having fun so next thing you know the whole crowd is doing it.

And yes, I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express.

Watched a documentary years ago about how an African tribe (Maasai?) male member tries to catch the interest of the female.
He gathers all of his cattle and parades them in front of her hut.
He even hangs his personal belongings on his body.
What a hoot to see this beautifully muscled and distinguished giant black dude slowly strolling back/forth with pots and pans hanging off him.

Marriage is still a binding contract.

"do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife for the next three to four years..."

Now that was funny and a charming response!