Friday, November 11, 2011

Eleven; and Why is Six Afraid of Seven?

Earlier today, the Lemming promised - or threatened - to come up with another post. This is it.

Today is November 11, 2011. In other words, it's the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year after the year 2000: which is when the Y2K bug didn't bring civilization to its knees.

The number 11 is, of course, just simply fraught with purport, import, and significance: to say nothing of meaning, nuance, and overtone. Like, it's the number that keeps 10 from running into 12. Which reminds the Lemming of this bit of wisdom: "Why is six afraid of seven? Because seven ate nine!"

A Wikipedia article (not one of its best) reveals this astounding fact: 11 "is the first number which cannot be counted with a human's eight fingers and two thumbs additively." Amazing! If you're on Earth, see if you can find a human and verify this claim. Or, not. Come to think of it, you probably are human, and can try the experiment yourself.

The number 11 is trebly significant since it appears three times in the title of "11 11 11."

And 11 11 11 is the date on which another motion picture is released. Or escaped, depending on your point of view:

"Movies opening 11/11"
Minneapolis Star-Tribune (November 5, 2011)

"...Immortals (R) A mortal man is chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against a ruthless king. With Luke Evans, Henry Cavill and Mickey Rourke...."

There's more about "Immortals" (2011) at the IMDB website:

"...Eons after the Gods won their mythic struggle against the Titans, a new evil threatens the land. Mad with power, King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) has declared war against humanity. Amassing a bloodthirsty army of soldiers disfigured by his own hand, Hyperion has scorched Greece in search of the legendary Epirus Bow, a weapon of unimaginable power forged in the heavens by Ares. Only he who possesses this bow can...."
(IMDB.com)

Somehow, the Lemming will restrain the urge to spend several hours and dollars for the privilege of viewing that cinematographic work at the local theater. Now, if a re-release of "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988) was playing - - - and that's another topic.

Not-entirely-unrelated posts:

2 comments:

Brigid said...

Wrong word. Due to a wrong letter: "which is when the Y2K but didn't bring"

The Friendly Neighborhood Proofreader

Brian H. Gill said...

Brigid,

Shades of The Dean's Spellchecker! Found, fixed, and thanks!

Now, for some self-promotion: 'The Dean's Spellchecker' is an occasionally-copied, often mis-copied, version of Jerrold H. Zar's "Candidate for a Pullet Surprise."

The original poem, as it appeared in The Journal of Irreproducible Results, January/February 1994, is in "Lemming Tracks: a Recovering English Teacher and the Dean's Spellchecker" (January 12, 2011), right after this heading: The Dean's Spellchecker: The Genuine Original.

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