Chocolate Gunshot

Chocolate Gunshot is likely to be the new name of Strawberry Alarm Clock when they reform for their reunion tour sometime in the next couple of years and find that their original name has been copyrighted by a specialty timepiece concern from Osaka.

In the meantime, it is the official name of my own little ritual here in France. It is not only a fantastic demonstration of sound physics, it is also proof that I picked a very special place to live and indeed a really fun game to play with unsuspecting French people.

My kitchen has a high ceiling - maybe 11 or 12 feet. When I open the window, it overlooks an enclosed shopping area with a *really* high ceiling - panels of glass about 30 or 35 feet above ground level. What this means to me is that I can open my window, place a bar of refrigerator-chilled supermarket brand chocolate on the sill, and break it using the sill as a brace. The resulting sound ricochets off my kitchen's surfaces and out into the shopping area, where it ricochets still more - sounds like small arms fire and nobody can tell where it's coming from.

Chocolate Gunshot - just one more tiny yet worthwhile thing I would not have gotten to do had I not come to France.