"Actually, it's two"

. . . is what you'd say when somoene remarks "Man, that's one ugly building."

While it's great to see more development downtown, yikes:

Could be just an initial design, a concept, and the final result will be something that commands the site with authorit, yet varies the facade to delight the eye and provide an interesting detail to the skyline. Right now it looks like a humorless early 80s dullard, and the lighter-colored lines remind you of the white piping on the lapels of a disco-era tuxedo. What are they supposed to mean, other than "here's some lines we stuck on to keep it from being a featureless expanse"? Is that a detachable section of the building that can be removed and placed elsewhere, if need be?

If you're curious, here's what used to stand on the site. The Temple Court.

You're thinking, what's so special about that? You're right. Let's fix it:

Ah. MUCH better.

That may be the oddest paragraph on startribune.com today.

This Quartz piece looks at other ghost ships, and mentions a new book about the Joyita, another maritime mystery.

Cue the Gilligan theme. Also: no one in charge of the boat called it unsinkable. Who would say such a stupid thing? You're asking for an iceberg to show up when you come out of the Panama Canal.

SCIENCE! Here's another headline from Quartz: "2014 can be the year you give up food forever." Hey, could be the reason I bookmark the site for regular visits, too. Don't expect either to happen. The piece is about Soylent, a food replacement for people who are opposed to food. Its maker sets forth a problem you may have previously not have encountered:

How did we get to the point where we're deeply dependent on food? And how do we get out of this mess? Why, Soylent, a slurry of stuff that has everything you need to live without worring about biased allocation.

This is intended as one of its more impressive features, I guess. Elsewhere he defends his decision to give up Food as we know it:

You don't know that, and because you don't, I assume you're young and single, and don't understand the role of meals in family life.

Perhaps that was true before Instagram.

There's a perfect example of a proposition I have no interest in validating.