01-01-01 Remember this? It was a year after Y2k, when so many people said the world would end because computers would go haywire. Nothing really happened, except music and movies got even shittier. This was a day that looked as cool on paper as 11-11-11, minus three xtra ones. It was New Year's for many, and this is a day that people would have already attached significance to. Every New Year's is the same, people party and get all their fresh hopes in, and then about a month later realize how broke they are and how weak willed they were with their resolutions, plus the fact that in many countries a bitter winter continues onward. Shitty Valentine's creeps up too. That is a recipe for one of the most depressing times of year. 01-01-01 also kinda looks like OI ! OI ! OI!
02-02-02-Some places had records broken for unusually warm days. A buncha other crud happened, all of which could have easily happened any other day!
03-03-03-A buncha New Age and religious yuppies try to attach importance to this day, it goes by like any other.
04-04-04-Lots of political and war related activity on this day, once again though..it could've happened any other old day
05-05-05-This seems to have the most weight so far as a 'special day'. It was Cinco De Mayo, which is pretty much Mexican Independence Day. It was Ascension Day for the Christians, which was supposedly when Jesus flew up into the sky and was like "see you chumps later...until Judgement Day!" Also 60 years ago on this day it was National Liberation Day and WWII ended for some.
06-06-06-The meaning of this should be more obvious. 666 is the Mark of the Beast...or the Devil's number. At least that's what a bunch of religious types figure. Technically, some tablets were unearthed revealing 666 to be a 'typo' of sorts and 616 to be the 'real' number. Nonetheless most do not know this and many get their knickers in a twist over it, praying for strength against the Devil and Iron Maiden concerts (hah). The only thing special on this day is for the most part people's fear, superstition and stupidity.
07-07-07-A lot of people call 7 God's number. See, it is just one higher than the Devil's 6. Live Earth concerts were held worldwide for the sake of environmental awareness, and I'm sure mountains of trash ensued, not to mention zillions of megawatts of power leeched up just for all those speaker stacks and stage lights and more. There's a nasty bus crash in Java, some lady turns 100 (who was born on the previous 07-07-07 a century earlier). The New 7 Wonders of the World are announced: The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, The Christ The Redeemer Statue in Rio De Janeiro, Machu Pichu in Peru, Chichen Itza in Mexico, The Colosseum in Rome, and Taj Mahal in India. Importance of this day? Fair.
08-08-08- Crazy 8's! 8 symbolizes eternity, continuum, prosperity, good luck, all sortsa good stuff. The Beijing Summer Olympics began at 8:08:08. George Dubya dedicated a new American Embassy in Beijing as well. Georgia and Russia went to war and some horrible car bombings and bus crashes and assorted shit-ments happened all over the globe. The world economic crisis fell to a new low and there was political scandal in the US (including former US Senator John Edwards publicly admitting to having an affair with actress/film maker Rielle Hunter). I guess this day had fair worldwide significance as well. Wait a minute, what happened to all the good luck and fortune?
09-09-09-Another 'God number'. Cloud 9 or some shizznit. Beatles Day was celebrated worldwide with the release of all original albums remastered and the Beatles Rock Band game. Of course, this was more about money than anything, and the fact that Michael Jackson died some months earlier and he was in massive debt. How someone can buy the rights to Beatles songs and GO BROKE like he did is really beyond me, like extremely fuxored. It should go down as one of the great mysteries of mankind. So releasing all this Beatles crud was meant to help pay off the debt. I digress..what else? North Korea celebrated its 61st birthday, most people gave rat's ass. South Korea accused the North of releasing water from a dam into the DMZ (neutral zone), killing 6 people (more drunk birthday celebrations anyone?)
NY Times journalist Steven Farrell was rescued after spending about 4 days captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The worst floods in 80 years raged through Istanbul. Aeromexico Flight 576 was hijacked after taking off from Cancun, Mexico. It was forced to land shortly after that. In Japan, the Democratic Party formed a coalition with the Social Democrats and the People's New Party. Triple threat! US Rep Joe Wilson shouted "you lie!" during Obama's health care speech. Hah. Lots of other turmoil and messiness went down on this day. If 9 is a God number, we are talking God's vengeance over blessings I'm guessing (hey it rhymes). As with some of the other dates, this day could be seen as fair in importance.
10-10-10 Elections turned violent in Uttar Pradesh, India leaving four dead and over 36 injured. Elsewhere in India two CPIM workers were shot dead by suspected Maoists. In the Ganges River, an overloaded boat capsized and close to 40 people die. The US fired 4 missiles in Pakistan, killing seven and destroying two cars. Tribal warfare continued. In Lawdar, Yemen, riots resulted in dozens dead. Serbia had its first Gay Pride Parade in ten years, and a clash between anti-gay protesters and police left hundreds injured and or arrested. The city of Hanoi in Vietnam celebrated its 1000th birthday. Soul singer Solomon Burke died on this day in Amsterdam. A huge traffic collision in Negri Sembilan, Malaysia, left 73 injured and 12 dead. In China, a similar accident left 7 dead and 6 injured. Heavy flooding ensued in Bangladesh, leaving more than half a million homeless. Hungary scrambled to clean up a gigantic disastrous chemical spill. A military parade was televised in North Korea featuring Kim Jong Il and his son. North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop was suspiciously found down in Seoul, South Korea. Britain was condemned in a 700 page report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission as a place where discrimination and disadvantage are king. Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles occured. A buncha other shit went down. If this day was supposed to be a significant day, it was only because mostly bad things happened..
Which brings us to 11-11-11. To start with, it is Remembrance Day/Veteran's Day. A bunch of yuppie New Agers like to think there is mystical power behind today. Maybe it's true. As for the rest, we'll wait and see. The general trend and final observations I can see with all these X-X-X dates is thus:
*People are in love with repetition and patterns. We like to find meaning in things that don't even have to have meaning. IE, many people try to get married on these kinds of dates, even being as ridiculous as to pay attention to the time of day and make sure it is the same number as whatever day/month/year it is.
*It seems the world is getting more crowded, more is observed/more happens, and the tendency to notice the negative is prominent with each passing year. Turn on the news any time, and remember it is a business. If it bleeds it leads. Shock and gore are king in order to grab viewer attention and then hopefully hold it long enough through commercial breaks, where they can be be sold all sorts of crap to fill the fear in their hearts. With these 'special' dates, a lot can go down, good or bad. But does that make it any different from any other day??
*As far as mysticism/religion/numerology and so forth go, it's hard to prove anything. What I do know is that letters and characters are symbols. They can form words, like these very words I write, and meaning is attached to those words based on what we learned growing up. The same can be applied to numbers. Sure, numbers and letters can have power, but is it so magical or is it just simple psychology and what we basically know to be 'true' by our own reckoning of truth?'
