Suitably Flip

Take This, Paraskavedekatriaphobiaphobes

I, perhaps like you, was surprised to realize today was Friday the 13th, only because you generally don't make it to the actual day without a few people reminding you that it's out there, looming menacingly at the end of the week.  This time, somehow I escaped the typical heads-ups and only noticed we'd happened upon one because I saw some visitors landing on the blog via a Friday the 13th post I apparently wrote in January 2006.  (I seem to have skated completely through this past April's Friday the 13th, but then again, we were fairly consumed as a nation by the awkward spectacle of Presidential candidates pawing at the carcass of Don Imus' career, trying to wring out a few extra drops of sweet, sweet pander.)

In any event, the original post was full of interesting facts about this meaningless day (using the words "interesting" and "full" liberally), which I myself found mildly diverting, upon rediscovering the post.  Hopefully you will too, because I'm reproducing it wholesale, in lieu of generating any original content to mark the occasion.

Friday the 13th - Secrets Revealed!

If all you know about Friday the 13th (of which today is the first of two instances in 2006) is that it's Jason Voorhees' mom who turns out to be the slasher, this post is for you.

Culled from How Stuff Works and Wikipedia, here are a few interesting tidbits to ponder today:

Origins/significance:

• Christian theology engendered a fear of both Fridays and the number 13 (making their temporal confluence the source of some seriously bad mojo).


• There are 13 months in the lunar (pagan) calendar.


• On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.

Best Practices:

• The Apostle Judas (who turned out to be a total Judas) was the 13th guest at the Last Supper.  Mythic Norse hero Balder was killed at a banquet by Loki the god of mischief, who'd crashed the party of 12, bringing the total to 13.
  • Lesson: Never dine in a group of 13.


• Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
  • Lesson: Never be executed on a Friday.


• Ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 14:13 EST from Complex 39 (3*13) and would have hit Lunar Orbit Injection on April 13th.
  • Lesson: Two Oscars in a row is the limit.

Vocab Corner:

• Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th, said to be suffered by 8% of the population.  Paraskavedekatriaphobiaphobia is the fear of being told this bit of trivia every Friday the 13th.


• Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13 in general (which must be exhausting).

Ya Don't Say:

• Over any given 4 century span, the 13th of the month is more likely to be a Friday than any other day.


• John Mayer's "Room for Squares" album has 14 tracks, but the 13th is just a split second of dead air.


• I live on the one of those fake 14th floors, which is actually the 13th floor.  This phenomenon (like every phenomenon) is apparently the subject of conspiracy theories.

Comments

Take This, Paraskavedekatriaphobiaphobes

I, perhaps like you, was surprised to realize today was Friday the 13th, only because you generally don't make it to the actual day without a few people reminding you that it's out there, looming menacingly at the end of the week.  This time, somehow I escaped the typical heads-ups and only noticed we'd happened upon one because I saw some visitors landing on the blog via a Friday the 13th post I apparently wrote in January 2006.  (I seem to have skated completely through this past April's Friday the 13th, but then again, we were fairly consumed as a nation by the awkward spectacle of Presidential candidates pawing at the carcass of Don Imus' career, trying to wring out a few extra drops of sweet, sweet pander.)

In any event, the original post was full of interesting facts about this meaningless day (using the words "interesting" and "full" liberally), which I myself found mildly diverting, upon rediscovering the post.  Hopefully you will too, because I'm reproducing it wholesale, in lieu of generating any original content to mark the occasion.

---

Friday the 13th - Secrets Revealed!

If all you know about Friday the 13th (of which today is the first of two instances in 2006) is that it's Jason Voorhees' mom who turns out to be the slasher, this post is for you.

Culled from How Stuff Works and Wikipedia, here are a few interesting tidbits to ponder today:

Origins/significance:

• Christian theology engendered a fear of both Fridays and the number 13 (making their temporal confluence the source of some seriously bad mojo).


• There are 13 months in the lunar (pagan) calendar.


• On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.

Best Practices:

• The Apostle Judas (who turned out to be a total Judas) was the 13th guest at the Last Supper.  Mythic Norse hero Balder was killed at a banquet by Loki the god of mischief, who'd crashed the party of 12, bringing the total to 13.
  • Lesson: Never dine in a group of 13.


• Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
  • Lesson: Never be executed on a Friday.


• Ill-fated Apollo 13 launched at 14:13 EST from Complex 39 (3*13) and would have hit Lunar Orbit Injection on April 13th.
  • Lesson: Two Oscars in a row is the limit.

Vocab Corner:

• Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th, said to be suffered by 8% of the population.  Paraskavedekatriaphobiaphobia is the fear of being told this bit of trivia every Friday the 13th.


• Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13 in general (which must be exhausting).

Ya Don't Say:

• Over any given 4 century span, the 13th of the month is more likely to be a Friday than any other day.


• John Mayer's "Room for Squares" album has 14 tracks, but the 13th is just a split second of dead air.


• I live on the one of those fake 14th floors, which is actually the 13th floor.  This phenomenon (like every phenomenon) is apparently the subject of conspiracy theories.