Why 23?

The Number 23 movie comes out today. It’s a creepy story starring Jim “I play creepy guys” Carrey. In it, Jim is a regular guy who receives a book of paranoid ravings about the number 23, becomes a 23rdian,and then ends up in that paranoid world himself.

Where did they come up with that idea? The 23 enigma has been in the underground conscious for quite some time. Some believe that those who see the number 23 around them is a harbinger of new wealth. Some believe that it is a sign of conspiracy or other sign of cosmic consciousness. I know that ideawas spread by Robert Anton Wilson’s book, “Cosmic Trigger,” which also spread the cult of Discordianism. Twenty-three is the number of the Goddess Discordia. Wilson said that he did not uncover the 23 enigma, but that William S. Burroughs did, after 2 disasters happened on the same day: a ferry boat, helmed by a Capt. Clark, sank after 23 years of good luck; and a flight 23 helmed by another Capt. Clark crashed on the same day. Afterwards, Burroughs kept a scrapbook ofthese 23 incidents for years.

Some people have very personal stories of 23. One man found the number 23 all around this death of his father. And another has found that 23 is being used to market Dr. Pepper to us, of all things.
Having studied Chaldean numerology, I’m going to tell you a secret: the number 23 is a good luck number of publishing–like the number 32, which all 23rdians count as a 23. It knows how to get itself noticed!

Well, I’ve googled “23″ here at 23rd Mandalation. We’ve been at this for almost a year now, and so far the number 23 has come up 6 times, 212 and 2012 3 times, and 32 also 3 times. I guess our time of wealth has not yet come.

Valentine’s Day: The Past Was Worse

Believe it or not, St. Valentine’s Day is my day. Hearts and chocolate and kissing… that’s me! Suki means loveable, after all. (Japanese do not have the verb love the way the Westerners do.)

But what in the world does that have to do with a Roman Catholic Saint?

Starting as a Roman Feast of Lupercalia–you know, back in Roman times–February 14/15 was a fertility festival, which took a few different forms. In some areas, young men dressed wearing freshly cut goat skins would gad about and spank women with small whips. Women weren’t running, either–it was considered good fertility luck to get spanked with this mini-whip by a young man in a bloody goat skin.

Romans sure were kinky! The Luper (meaning wolf) part of this has to do with Rome being founded by twins named Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a wolf. Wolf-mother–fertility, get it?

Another Lupercalian fertility ceremony was the maiden lottery, in which young women would put their names in to be chosen by men and become their sexual partners for the duration of the festival, and sometimes for the year. This was extremely popular with Roman soldiers (wonder why?) and the custom was taken with them to the rest of Europe. This is another reason I try to remain in serious relationships.
Of course, (yawn) Roman Catholicism came into power, and had to take away all the fun. They made February 14th St. Valentine’s Feast Day. St. V. was put to death for performing marriages. And our Valentines are vestiges of  the lottery.

I am just glad the bloody goat skin didn’t survive to modern day. It would mess up my dress.

Damn Foreigners…

Iceland is having a Cultural Revolution. Never mind that they KEEP having them. After all, the average Icelander is a mixture of Norwegian, Danish, and abducted Irish women. But that is all in the past and they all know how to speak Icelandic by now—according to some, the world’s 3rd most difficult language.

Recently, there has been an influx of other damn foreigners to this remote and incredible volcanic island. (BESIDES me.) They are building a damn, er… dam in the preserves and it’s causing all kinds of trouble, political and otherwise. It has attracted workers from all over the EU (European Union) and taken jobs away from Icelanders who had no intention of doing them anyway as they are… horrible.  The jobs, that is.
But that is not the worst part. The damn dam is disturbing the REALLY native Icelanders. The elves. And these are not just any old elves either. Just get those little pert Keebler cookie gobbling smartass elves out of your mind this second because Icelandic elves are large, blue and fierce. They have what can only be described as Super Powers and the Icelanders respect them so very much they will not build houses, roads, or anything else at an Enchanted Site because those elves are Badasses.

Hence the crux of the problem—the damn dam is being constructed by a sub-contractor, an American company, who would take one look at a blue elf and tell him to go put on his jacket and get back to work. This is REALLY not a good idea. There are folk stories about people who are rude to elves disappearing into the middle of the Icelandic desert lured by Elfin Ways so their families starve or their wells run dry if an elf asks for a drink and they turn them away… or worse. Elves are notoriously horny. And tall.

If one looks at the Icelandic people, one cannot help but notice the women are heightful and beautiful and the men are smaller and well…just check the box for “other”. I could not help but be over-mirthed when I ran across a link from someone who believes herself to be an expert on “Elf Sex” and even advertises in a travel brochure distributed in Icelandic Tour Shops that she is available to discuss the topic for a fee. Here is a link to her blog:  http://elftruths.blogspot.com/

I can only wonder if this girl has been watching Lord of the Rings just a LITTLE TOO OFTEN…

Why would I think that?

Because I’ve met an elf of course.  And he didn’t even make a pass at me.

Valentine’s Day–Geek Out with the One You Love.

Valentine’s Day is here, when even geekiest turn their thoughts to love. It’s a time for proposals and wedding planning–Star Wars wedding planning, that is. But don’t you wish there were a Star Wars wedding planner guide?

While no event planner myself, I can provide some examples, like the S/W cake topper above–which is available in Luke (eeeew!) or Han. The good news is that S/W takes the guess work out of what all the groomsmen should wear:

Hey! I think there are some Klingons in the picture! Must be the wife’s family…

Finally, if you are wondering about how the big day could go, check out this happy family’s big event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AnGvBB1zFA

Watch all the way to the end! Anakin transforms into Darth Vader, and the bride looks a little afraid! What is that saying about their marriage, I wonder.

Opening 2007

The Creation Museum, in St. Petersburg, Ky.!

If it’s in a museum, it must be true.–R. Legault

What is so different about this museum, you ask. Here is the answer, straight from the FAQ page:

Almost all natural-history museums proclaim an evolutionary, humanistic worldview. For example, they will typically place dinosaurs on an evolutionary timeline millions of years before man. AiG’s museum will proclaim the authority and accuracy of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and will show that there is a Creator, and that this Creator is Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15-20), who is our Savior.

For a “walk-through” click here.

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