Mind Soup

Laughter erupted in hospital room when nurse announced significant digits. LA CROSSE, Wis. - No doubt about it, the nines have it. Chuck Berendes of La Crosse said he will never forget the birthday of his third child, born Wednesday on the ninth day of the ninth month in the year 2009. Nor will Berendes and his wife, Polly, forget Henry Michael's arrival time — at 9:09 a.m. by Cesarean section at Franciscan Skemp Medical Center in La Crosse. But they got the biggest laugh when the newborn was placed on the delivery room scale following his birth.

Have special plans this 09/09/09? Everyone from brides and grooms to movie studio execs are celebrating the upcoming calendrical anomaly in their own way. In Florida, at least one county clerk's office is offering a one-day wedding special for $99.99. The rarity of this Sept. 9 hasn't been lost on the creators of the iPod, who have moved their traditional Tuesday release day to Wednesday to take advantage of the special date. Focus Features is releasing their new film "9," an animated tale about the apocalypse, on the 9th. Not only does the date look good in marketing promotions, but it also represents the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we'll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium (mark your calendars for January 1, 3001), depending on how you want to count it. Though technically there's nothing special about the symmetrical date, some concerned with the history and meaning of numbers ascribe powerful significance to ...