Figure eights

Brevity previously dealt with numerical trifectas here and here.

So, today is 08/08/08. NBC has been taking advantage of the figure eights to promote the Olympics for the past several months. But it doesn't really mean as much as the devilish 06/06/06 or the lucky 07/07/07, does it?

Maybe it does. You can learn about the number 8 if you like -- there are multiple cultural reasons why the Chinese consider it lucky -- but I thought I'd write about what happened the last time the calendar read 08/08/08.

Wikipedia tells us that the Wright Brothers had their first public demonstration of manned flight at a race course in Le Mans, France. Wilbur was at the controls.

His first flight lasted only one minute 45 seconds, but his ability to effortlessly make banking turns and fly a circle amazed and stunned onlookers, including several pioneer French aviators, among them
Louis Bleriot. In the following days Wilbur made a series of technically challenging flights including figure-eights, demonstrating his skills as a pilot and the capability of his flying machine, which far surpassed those of all other pilot pioneers.

See? Figure eights. Also, Arthur Goldberg was born, and Ty Cobb got married. So, banner day. Speaking of baseball, the Chicago Cubs played their 99th game of the season on August 8, 1908, and lost to the Giants (then of New York), 4-1. But don't feel too bad for them; they went on to win the World Series, repeating their 1907 feat. It was a talented roster -- note the famous infielders -- but little did they know their club would begin a title drought that has now tolled 99 years.

Something to keep in mind on August 8, 2008, a day in which the current MLB standings show the Chicago Cubs to have the second best record in baseball, with a 5-game lead in the NL Central.

Lucky day

LUCKY DAY: In a way, each of us has an El Guapo to face. For some, shyness might be their El Guapo. For others, a lack of education might be their El Guapo. For us, El Guapo is a big, dangerous man who wants to kill us. But as sure as my name is Lucky Day, the people of Santa Poco can conquer their own personal El Guapo, who also happens to be THE ACTUAL El Guapo!

Actually, I was not referring to ¡Three Amigos! (but can't resist using that upside-down exclamation point). Today is 07/07/07, and that means a lot here in Las Vegas. The World Series of Poker is underway at the Rio. Many couples are getting hitched. Many more singletons are trying to get lucky. And something tells me that slot machine use will be at full capacity.

I think procrastination is my personal El Guapo.

Demon days

Today is 06/06/06. Depending on who you ask, this is the day of Rapture, the birth of the Antichrist, or the release date for the remake of The Omen. As I'm neither a Christian nor a numerologist -- I've only read 10 pages of The Da Vinci Code -- I'll call it Tuesday.

Still, I was unnerved by this USA Today article. This week, the 30-year rate on fixed mortgages is 6.66%. Seriously? Has there ever been a more demonic time to be a homeowner? It's like a buyer's market for haunted houses. I'd hate to be a real estate agent with hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia.

Last week I heard about a pregnant woman whose child was due today, and she wanted the hospital to induce labor so she could have the baby earlier and not take the risk. They refused, seeing no medical reason to perform the procedure. I don't know what happened, but if she hasn't had the child already, I have to imagine she'll be holding it in until midnight.

What's it like having the Number of the Beast as a birthday? Well, Max August Zorn was born a century ago. He was a mathematician and numerical analyst (!) at Indiana University who lived nearly 87 years. However, there was a strange tidbit about how he was nearly hit by a car, and his name does sound like a Bond villain...

There are other neat facts about the Devil's Number, but certainly the most disturbing is one of today's book releases: Ann Coulter's Godless: The Church of Liberalism. At first I panicked, but then I remembered that Ann Coulter is a crazy, anorexic media whore.

No worries, then. As for me, I'm already concerned about the slot machine overload here in Las Vegas next year, when the calendar reads 07/07/07.