Was number 9 unlucky for Bhutto?

ISLAMABAD: Rationalists may turn up their noses at the significance of numbers, but those who believe that the mysteries of the world are hidden in numbers say the number 9 was unlucky for slain Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

A text message that is doing the rounds in Pakistan lists the many nines in Bhutto's life.

To begin with, Bhutto was born in 1953, which adds up to 18 and thence to 9. She died in 2007 which again adds up to 9.

The text message, which is also being forwarded on email and has been posted on the internet, is full of the "unlucky 9" examples.

Bhutto got married on December 18 to Asif Ali Zardari, and many Pakistanis believe the marriage affected her political career, especially in view of the allegations of corruption leveled against Zardari.

Sideswipe: Monday

Michael from Northcote writes: "I'm not into numerology so someone else will have to work out if there is anything more than elegance in the fact that Ed Hillary, with ll in the middle of his name, died on the 11th, at the age of 88, 55 years after he became a hero aged 33. Add his age when we were introduced to him, to his age when we said goodbye and we get 33 + 88 = 121 which is 11 x 11. Clearly the state funeral had to be scheduled on the 22nd at 11am. Also on the subject of Sir Edmund, Ray remembers: "A life-sized statue of Sir Ed Hillary was erected in Hillary Square in Orewa in the early 1980s and someone asked via the local Rodney newspaper why Sir Ed was facing the nearby dairy.

That Guy: The nose has it when solving murders

Sniffing Murder follows the same format as crime-solving show Sensing Murder - a couple of psychics use their "astonishing gifts" to relive a victim's last moments and hunt for their killer.

Episode one begins: "She was never seen alive again, and with no clear leads the police have had to resort to using TV psychics Yvonne Evans and Paul Webber to assist with the investigation."

Evans uses her hands and physical contact to connect with the spirit world. She has been involved in more unsolved murders than anybody in Australasia. Webber solves crimes using birth dates, numerology and sometimes by sniffing women's underwear.

Each is driven separately through the victim's neighbourhood. After about two tanks of petrol, the psychics are nowhere near the crime scene, but then: "Paul has become uncomfort- able and agitated - could this be where Sue's grisly murder took place?"

Apparently not, as Webber is extremely hungover, after just coming off an all-night stag do.

Numerologist Skot Jonz Picks the Next President

On Tuesday, Feb. 5, millions of Californians strode to the polls, casting their votes for the candidate whose message and platform encapsulated their own vision of a better tomorrow.

Suckers.

San Franciscan Skot Jonz has come up with a better way to pick a commander-in-chief. He has been distributing his 30-page pamphlet around city cafes and nail salons to spread the word — the word of numbers. Jonz is a numerologist; his pamphlet is titled "Picking a President by the Numbers."

"Of course I consider a candidate's platform and ideology valuable," Jonz told me. "But, as we all know, that is subject to change based on the whim of the candidates and who they may be wooing at the moment. The numerology cannot be changed, and I consider it as another source of information to make an informed decision."

Why, Jonz gripes in his pamphlet, does the media report poll numbers, fund-raising numbers, and delegate numbers, but not the really important numbers? You know, like the fact that Ron Paul's birth day and month (8/20/1935) add up to 28, 2 + 8 = 10, and 1 + 0 = 1, and 1 indicates strong leadership skills? Why doesn't Wolf Blitzer talk about that on The Situation Room?

Poring over 30 pages of hard-core numerology theory is not as fun or easy as reading a Harry Potter book, and, to paraphrase a Woody Allen quip, after 20 minutes a substance resembling guacamole began to trickle out of my ears.

Chinese New Year

Even cynics who avoid lotteries, horoscopes, tarot readings, numerology and dream decoding may be intrigued by what's coming on Thursday - especially if they're turning 60. Thursday marks Chinese New Year, with the lunar calendar ushering in 4705, the Year of the Rat - creating kismet for those baby boomers born between Feb. 6, 1948 and Jan. 26, 1949 (including myself). Here's the deal: The Chinese/Tibetan zodiac is marked with 12 animal signs (dog, goat, pig, etc.) and overlaid with five elements (metal, water, wood, fire and earth). Each animal-element match occurs once every 60 years, making this the first Year of the Earth Rat since 1948, when '48-ers were too young to fully appreciate the situation. In other words, time for us to yell BINGO! We Earth Rats face the beginning of new cycle.

'Singh Is Kinng' preponed by one week

Numerology plays an important role in the industry. And the biggest [and most successful] names believe in it. Take the case of SINGH IS KINNG, one of the keenly-anticipated films of 2008. Producer Vipul Shah's Akshay - Katrina starrer, directed by Anees Bazmee, was initially slated for release on 15th August, but has now been preponed by one week. Yes, you read it right -- the film will hit the marquee on 8th August now.

Reason for the preponement? "Akshay and I feel the number 8 suits us well. It has been lucky for both of us in the past, which is why we decided that 8th August would be a far more appropriate date for our film," Vipul Shah tells me.

Meanwhile, August seems to be a crowded month. While SINGH IS KINNG is confirmed for 8th August, the much-awaited Abhishek Bachchan starrer DRONA, directed by Goldie Behl, is expected to arrive on 15th August.

Hobbyist Skype statistician: Skype now exceeding 10 million concurrent ...

Jean Mercier of Oostakker, Belgium has this real serious but frankly, real useful obsession.

He runs the Skype Numerology blog, a resource dedicated to the evolving and statistically quantifiable aspects of Skype's download, usage, and related metrics over time.

Yesterday Jean figured out that last week, Skype attained 10 million concurrent users at the same time. And this week, that number went as high as 10,270,000 concurrents.

Jean thinks the Skype mashup with MySpace could be having an effect.

Me? That's probably a bit too early- more like natural growth of the Skype user base.

CH 03 X 0001 goes for Rs 2 lakh

The craze for VIP vehicle registration numbers in the city seems to be waning. The proud owner of the prestigious No. 1 of the new CH 03 X series was happy to have bought it for Rs 2 lakh at an auction conducted by the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA), Chandigarh.

Last time the VIP number was auctioned for Rs 3.05 lakh (CH-03V-0001). The auctioned price for the CH 03U 0001 was Rs 5.05 lakh.

Sources in the department said the highest bid for the coveted number CH 03X 0001 was Rs 2 lakh when the bidding took place at the auction yesterday. There were seven bidders for the number and the reserved price was Rs 25,000.

Since the applicant is yet to get the vehicle registered, the make of the model of the vehicle to be registered could not be known, said an official concerned.

The Name Game

According to the Wall Street Journal, people are paying consultants as much as $500 to help them choose names for their children. The services include linguistic history and numerology "tests" to determine "positive associations." The driving force, apparently, is parents' fear of dooming their child to an unhappy life because of insufficient distinction.

A year for the rat to start over again

The new year is officially in full swing, and if the stars have their way, being called a rat won't be such a bad thing. 2008 is the zodiac year of the rat. Not only is it predicted to be a special year for those who are lucky enough to be rats themselves, an area psychic says that this year is full of potential for those who decide to make changes in their lives. "Anything that is started in the year of the rat will have long-term consequences, possibly lasting right through the 12-year cycle of animals. This means that the rat year is also one for laying down foundations of, or doing prepatory work for anything worthwhile that will stand the test of time," said Viki, a renowned local psychic. Basing her knowledge on the upcoming year in pythagorean numerology, combined with traditional chinese astrology, Viki said that her ideas for the upcoming year are rooted in firm numerological foundations, and are not "psychic" predictions.

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Welcome to our Numerology blog where we aim to explore all facets of this fascinating subject. There a many views on how and why this works and we aim to investigate them all, Please comment on any posts you feel need expanding or a more thorough explanation.