Who Doesn’t Like to Get a Little Scared?

Superstitions are funny things.  Today is Tuesday the 13^th.  In most areas of the world, this has little to no significance.  But in some Spanish-speaking areas, this is the equivalent to Friday the 13^th.  Not to be confused with the movie, but the actual day that is considered ‘bad luck.’

Most reasonable people would immediately disregard this.  I even consider Friday the 13^th being more fun than feared, but being afraid of something as ethereal as a day of the week has always fascinated me.  I don’t profess to say that I am not afraid of myriad things, just this morning there was a dog in the office and I used someone else as a human shield, but I digress.  I started thinking about this topic as soon as my calendar flipped, officially as I follow strict calendar rules, to Tuesday the 13^th.

In the history of the superstition around the number thirteen, it has more to do with twelve.  The number twelve is considered complete, twelve months in a year, 12 hours in the hourly cycle, 12 Cinnabons in a dozen, you get the idea.  Adding another entry, be it an hour or a day, creates an aberration.  In conjunction with that, some consider Friday to be an unlucky day, though I think this belief started long before people worked or went to school for the hours we do now, as Friday is truly the bell tolling for the end of the mundane work-week.

Blending these things together creates a superstition; an idea based on no actual fact, yet treated as fact just the same for many.  In perhaps another light, you could argue that superstition and religion are born from the same ideas.  But my focus today is on the former, so don’t let me ramble off in yet another unpredictable direction. 

I’m curious, what superstitions do any of you adhere to?  I know I have my own made up superstitions, such as the queue for various items (games, DVDs, books) and also my calendar rules.  I try not to allow myself to get the level of Monk who, if you’re familiar with the show, has a list a mile long of phobias and somehow manages to function, and solve crimes, despite this.

I wonder if some would consider superstitions a gateway to more debilitating phobias.  In some cases, from what I’ve read, I’d argue yes.  But for the most part, I think Friday, or Tuesday, the thirteenth is just another day of the week where we can all attribute something unusual to a day of the week.  Hope you are all out enjoying any strange coincidences and attributing it to the day!

Fahrenheit 2011?

I have a tendency to liken real life events to literary or movie references, I guess I think of it like pop-up video, but in real life.  And I realise the topic I’m about to broach is a hot topic, to say the least.  This past week US forces found and killed known terrorist Osama Bin Laden.  His body was destroyed at sea, though there is DNA evidence provided to prove the identity.

Doesn’t anyone think this is a little odd?  I understand that an operation of this sort isn’t something you post on the front page of the newspaper, but it stinks of contriving circumstances.  It just doesn’t add up.  I am the paranoid type, I’ll wholly admit that, but in this instance, it strikes me as strange.

I have to also admit that when the news broke, I wasn’t overwhelmed with relief, more of sadness.  I am not saying I knew anything that Osama Bin Laden did was good, in any way, but for people to be so joyous over someone else’s death, no matter his/her character, seems vulgar.  I almost felt like we were in a war environment, in which those circumstances would be normal.  But we weren’t, not with him, he wasn’t at the head of an army, leading the good fight. 

He was hiding in his house hoping not to get caught.  And when he was caught, why wasn’t he brought in?  Isn’t that what happened to Sadaam?  Bring him in and question him, have him stand trial for what he’s perpetrated?  Is due process totally gone?  I actually have a second pop culture shout-out, Star Wars.  I’m sure Osama falls into the same category as the emperor, and was ‘too dangerous to live’ – but that really wasn’t the end of the discussion.  And will he now be more powerful dead than alive?

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury paints a futuristic picture where the government regularly paints any dissident as a criminal.  Man hunts ensue and the hero of the story goes on the run.  He didn’t do anything.  The things he’s accused of doing are untrue, but he has no way to fight back, to defend himself.  In the book, he is able to go on the run.  In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, in the beginning of the movie, Anakin kills the emperor’s apprentice, using the excuse that he is too dangerous to live.  He knows he’s done something wrong, and when he hears the phrase again spoken by Jedi Master Wendu about Emperor Palpantine, he fights back.  In both cases, the truth is never able to come to the forefront.

I have more questions than answers in this scenario.  I am not saying I’m sad that the threat is gone, I’m sad that things have come to this.  That it was a unilateral decision made, and there was no place for someone to argue why he should be allowed to live.  To me, it reeks of something behind closed doors, something inappropriate and seething in deceit.  Our government shouldn’t make me feel like I need to take another shower.  I feel disgusted.  I can’t be proud of this.  It isn’t in me.  I believe in fairness, I believe in honour, I believe in due process.  None of these things were upheld.

But does it matter?  No, it doesn’t.  Someone who was perceived a threat is gone.  Was he ever really a threat?  We’ll never know.  Was this an entire ruse to direct attention one way, while doing something different?  Didn’t the stocks suddenly jump up, after falling dramatically since the earthquakes in Japan?  Will gas prices go up or down because of this?  If they do decrease, then I think that lays more credence to my argument, something stinks in the state of Denmark, or in this case, something stinks in the United States.

Not Quite the Boycott I Had Hoped For and Generosity

I managed to go about a half a day without going to the ESPN site, but I did glance at the channel once before flipping away.  I think I didn’t get too far in my boycott, but at the same time, their coverage hasn’t amped up, really.

The Caps had their 9-gaming winning streak snapped last night, it made me sad, but at the same time, I felt like the pressure was getting to be too much and the Caps were also playing in their second consecutive night, which made for tired legs.  Valiant effort, but in the end, it was all for naught.  I really think hockey just does not get fair coverage, I know, another rant about hockey.  But I’m telling you, it is so much fun.  The ice, the collisions, the violence, it’s like football on ice!  And who doesn’t really like football?

Live games are much better, but really the point of this post was to talk about my not boycotting ESPN for as long as I thought I could and also a little but about the Tsunami.  I was really floored yesterday when I was watching the news, yes, I know, me watching the news period is news, but there was a statistic about Japan receiving $50 million in four days after the tragedy, but Haiti and Katrina victims got 3 times that, $150 million in that same time period.  How is that right?

I mean, my first reaction was, well, of course, Japan is more affluent than Haiti, but what about Katrina?  I mean, those were US citizens.  I realise they aren’t, as a whole, probably as well off as Japanese citizens, but both are from very well-to-do countries.  How is it possible that people can’t sympathise with the Japanese who are affected, but can with Haiti or Louisiana?

Is the devastation somehow less severe?  I think we can all agree that pictures don’t lie, and that isn’t the case either, Japan is decimated and is continuing to go downhill, with their nuclear reactors going into overload or what-have-you (is it bad that I keep picturing Homer working there as the Safety Specialist?).

I almost feel like there is something more to all these catastrophes too.  I realise I’m not usually the paranoia type, but doesn’t it seem a little odd that so many catastrophic events have happened in so short a time period?  Science notwithstanding, it seems like the Earth is really pissed, but given the unrest in the world as well, Egypt and Libya, is that all there is?  I wonder if I shouldn’t brush up on those Nostradamus prophesies.  Although, as with all things, you can read into those what you like.  But doesn’t it seem odd?