Wednesday, September 9, 2009

09.09.09



Apparently, the abundance of nines in the date today has a certain appeal for some people. It's called a "calendrical anomaly". It's the last set of repeating single dates that we'll see for the next 90-odd years, since it won't happen again until January 1, 2101.

I remember Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew got married on August 8, 1988 but for those who believe the number 8 is lucky, like the Chinese, it didn't seem to do them much good, as that union eventually ended in divorce. Numerologists also believe the number 9 has special significance. It is said to be associated with forgiveness, compassion and success. The Chinese cite it as their second luckiest number. For some reason, the Japanese believe the complete opposite is true, that 9 is a very unlucky number.

The number 9 is also interesting from a math perspective because if you multiple any single digit by 9, the digits in the resulting number add up to 9. For example, 4 x 9 is 36 and 3 + 6 = 9. Cool, eh?

There's a new movie called "9" opening today (an animated tale about the apocalypse, doesn't that sound cheery?) and a number of companies who are introducing new products today. It's a very special day for Beatles fans, because not only are they releasing digitally remastered versions of all the Beatles studio albums today, they are also releasing The Beatles version of Rockband. If you haven't had a chance to play this video game on Xbox, Wii or Playstation 3, you might want to check it out. I played for the first time last Christmas with my niece and nephews and we had a blast, even though I didn't know most of the songs. I can only imagine how much more fun it would be with this Beatles version, where I would be intimately familiar with 99% of the music. I'd be getting myself a copy ASAP if it didn't also mean I'd need a new TV. Plus I'm not sure my neighbours would be too keen on my introducing a drum kit into my home! But I'm definitely tempted!!

To get you in the mood, check out this ad (how do they do that??):





and here's a picture of me on Abbey Road:


1 comment:

J9F said...

Hey Sis! We should get the Beatles Rockband for the COTTAGE!!!!