09 09 09

Hope you're having a lucky day! Did you know...

• The movie 9 comes out today. The film's about a post-apocalyptic world where the future of civilization depends on a scientist's creation.

• Have a baby. While it's too late to get caught up if you didn't plan for this 9 months ago, don't be surprised to hear of stories of moms-to-be waiting and watching the clock, in hopes of delivering their babies at 9:09 on 9/9/09. Last year, a Minnesota mom delivered a baby at 8:08 on 8/8/08 -- the baby's weight: 8 lbs. 8 oz.

• For those that aren't into the video game Rock Band and don't care about The Beatles: Rock Band release, the remastered release of the entire Beatles catalog might trip your trigger.

• Nine is the number of baseball. How it happened exactly, no one can say, not even the most dogged baseball researchers and historians. It became the numerical infrastructure of baseball simply through evolution and trial and error. Nine is a starting lineup and the number of players in the field. Nine is the number of innings, whereas other sports use clocks. Ninety feet is the chosen distance between bases, because Alexander Cartwright's famed New York Knickerbockers proscribed in the mid-1800s that there should be "42 paces" between home and second, and "42 paces" between first and third -- "equidistant." It ultimately felt right to make it a standard 90 feet from base to base, in accordance with that crossing distance. Nine is three strikes times three outs.

• Slot machines traditionally employ the number seven to symbolize good fortune, but a number of casinos are betting on nine today.

• Get married. Last year, for 8-8-08, 16,000 couples were married in Beijing, in part because 8 is a good number in Chinese cultural beliefs. In Florida, at least one county clerk's office is offering a one-day wedding special for $99.99.

• Study up on your 9 numerology. Did you know the number "9" is a number of completion and finality, as well as sympathy, love, selfless sacrifice and morality?

• Many astrologers say number nine is 'supreme' considering there is no number beyond it.• Both China and Japan have strong feelings about the number nine. Those feelings just happen to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. The Chinese pulled out all the stops to celebrate their lucky number eight during last year's Summer Olympics, ringing the games in at 8pm on 08/08/08. What many might not realize is that nine comes in second on their list of auspicious digits and is associated with long life, due to how similar its pronunciation is to the local word for long-lasting (eight sounds like wealth). ... In Japan, the word for nine sounds like the word for suffering, so the number is considered highly unlucky -- second only to four, which sounds like death.