The centenary moment arrives
posted at 12:34 pm on July 8, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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I’ve timed this post to go up at 12:34 ET this afternoon in order to celebrate an event that happens twice every hundred years, and happened for the second time today. The clocks will read 12:34:56 on 7/8/9 a mere 56 seconds after this post goes up in the Eastern Time Zone, as they did 12 hours earlier. It’s quirky and esoteric, but also a little bit of fun.
The previous occasion of this kind of sequencing took place in 1978, at 12:34 on May 6th. When that moment arrived, I was rehearsing for a school musical (Bye Bye Birdie), and I had everyone stop and wait out the full minute.
And yes, everyone thought I was a geek then, and I’m sure they think I’m a bigger geek now.
Carry on.
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Get your geek on!
LincolntheHun on July 8, 2009 at 12:38 PM
I’m glad I wasn’t celebrating by myself!
Rightwing Czar on July 8, 2009 at 12:38 PM
7/8/09
*ducks*
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 12:38 PM
I have no idea what Ed is talking about.
Sweetness0726 on July 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
In other news, Michael Jackson is still dead.
Knucklehead on July 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Biden says this also happened back in 1929.
LibTired on July 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
I missed it….oh wait. I am in the Central Time Zone. I have 56 minutes left. Nevermind, I’ll forget it anyway.
JP1986UM on July 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Yay for numbers!
jencab on July 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
Geekerrific!
csdeven on July 8, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Well hell, I missed it… you should have given us advanced notice so I could have celebrated the geekiness with all the others.
behiker on July 8, 2009 at 12:40 PM
I noticed this morning that it was 07/08/09. Wondered if it would be lucky. Think I’ll buy a lottery ticket.
AZCoyote on July 8, 2009 at 12:40 PM
I haven’t been so happy since 1:11:11 on 1/1/01
Little Boomer on July 8, 2009 at 12:40 PM
“♫ Hi Nancy… ♪”
Glenn Jericho on July 8, 2009 at 12:40 PM
It’s the end of the world as we know … and Ed feels FINE!
LOL, these things are always neat.
upinak on July 8, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Yeah. He seen it on the television.
csdeven on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
In other news, Michael Jackson is still dead.
Knucklehead on July 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
HE DIED?!?!
OH GOD!
blatantblue on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
All Bush’s fault!
Halliburton’s, too!
Del Dolemonte on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Yeah, this is fun and all but when Obama goes all Year Zero on us due to the falling poll numbers, it’s going to screw up all of Ed’s fun.
myrenovations on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
That’s what I thought too, but didn’t want to ruin anybody’s fun.
BadgerHawk on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Dah! Now I get it. I should have looked at the picture first. I am a picture person I guess.
Sweetness0726 on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Yeah. I heard Sarah Palin resigned or something, too.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Don’t worry if you missed it. It’s gonna happen again in Britain in about a month.
LibTired on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
He watched it on TV.
kcluva on July 8, 2009 at 12:42 PM
In other news, Michael Jackson is still dead.
Knucklehead on July 8, 2009 at 12:39 PM
You stole my line..
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 12:42 PM
Ah, the inner nerd in us all gets to rise to the forefront for a moment. Whew!
t.ferg on July 8, 2009 at 12:43 PM
And, in the rest of the world it does not compute. (12;34:56 8/7/09)
OldEnglish on July 8, 2009 at 12:43 PM
I love nerds!!
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Seems perfectly normal to me. My BD is 05/06 but with a boomer year suffix. Anyway, I’ve had my own ordered sequence celebrations in ‘78 and ‘07.
ericdijon on July 8, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Real geeks keep time in different bases so they can have this sort of fun whenever they want to.
TexasDan on July 8, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Star Wars was totally better than Star Trek.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Geek.
elduende on July 8, 2009 at 12:45 PM
blatantblue on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Yeah. I heard Sarah Palin resigned or something, too.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 12:41 PM
She resigned?!?!?!?
Oh God!!
–
Sarah palin is a forced to be reckoned with
no MJ event could push her off the TV
blatantblue on July 8, 2009 at 12:45 PM
I think I just nerded in my pants.
Abby Adams on July 8, 2009 at 12:45 PM
But only a true geek would know what to call the tubes in your screen shot.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
CurtZHP on July 8, 2009 at 12:45 PM
My kids have decided that you have a extra special birthday occasion when your age matches the day of the month your birthday falls on. In case you were looking for other reasons to party.
TexasDan on July 8, 2009 at 12:46 PM
My bd is 02/03/55. Born a decade late I guess…
OmahaConservative on July 8, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Really??? I hadn’t heard! You have a link to back up that story?
Knucklehead on July 8, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Geeks R Us :-)
cmsinaz on July 8, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Well, when a new messiah is declared, don’t the years start at zero? Or one?
kcluva on July 8, 2009 at 12:48 PM
So how does this rate on a Geological scale?
It isn’t like I can clock rock.
upinak on July 8, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Duh… that’s your “Golden Birthday.” Very common celebration.
Abby Adams on July 8, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Oh, and the 40th anniversary of the moon landing is coming up soon too.
TexasDan on July 8, 2009 at 12:49 PM
For eight words, that’s a surprising amount of information.
LibTired on July 8, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Your post Ed falls into the TMI category.
.
Tangential thinking and eccentric behavior should not be considered a positive attribute Ed. Carry on. Leave that kind of sh!t to the progressive democrat national committee.
Americannodash on July 8, 2009 at 12:49 PM
I guess my kids should be famous, then.
TexasDan on July 8, 2009 at 12:49 PM
LEDs?
OldEnglish on July 8, 2009 at 12:49 PM
You say that like it’s a bad thing, baby.
TheUnrepentantGeek on July 8, 2009 at 12:51 PM
After I read this post, my head started bleeding.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Ha.
Rain Man.
Rhinoboy on July 8, 2009 at 12:52 PM
I think I just nerded in my pants.
Abby Adams on July 8, 2009 at 12:45 PM
Details I need details! Unless it has anything to do with digestion by-products.
LincolntheHun on July 8, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Did you play Conrad????
One of the better musicals. Not sure why it isn’t produced more often.
Just wait for 10/10/2010. The Chinese go nuts over 10/10. They will really go nuts in 2010. Plenty of firecrackers!
Blake on July 8, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Sounds like reason enough to appoint a Time Czar and spend billions creating time jobs.
darwin on July 8, 2009 at 12:53 PM
T!ts or GTFO? Oh, I think I’ll just be getting off then.
/ohwait
Abby Adams on July 8, 2009 at 12:56 PM
I got my first digital watch back in the ’70s. It was the LED type so you needed to press a button to read the time. I pushed the button and saw only four lines. I pushed the date button and again saw only four lines. I thought it was broken until I realized that it was 11:11 AM on 11/11. Now who’s a geek? Good times.
brotherjohn on July 8, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Star Wars was totally better than Star Trek.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 12:44 PM
OMG! Do NOT start that, it sounds like dialogue from “Clerks 2″
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 12:57 PM
I prefer 8675309.…
ginaswo on July 8, 2009 at 12:57 PM
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10
“What about 9?”
7 8 9.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1cnJ_pOAdQ
mcg on July 8, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Just wait until 11:11:11 on 11/11/11
cardfan1 on July 8, 2009 at 12:58 PM
You say that like it’s a bad thing, baby.
TheUnrepentantGeek on July 8, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Damn straight, every girl knows that nerds make better lovers!!
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 12:59 PM
You should have seen how much money was bet on horse number 7 in the 7th race of the day on July 7th, 1977 (7/7/77)
MarkTheGreat on July 8, 2009 at 12:59 PM
I prefer 8675309.…
ginaswo on July 8, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Jenny don’t lose that number…..
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:00 PM
I remember watching that on TV at the time.
Johnson on July 8, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Doctor Who was better than both.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Those are nixie tubes.
MarkTheGreat on July 8, 2009 at 1:01 PM
I also know what XOR stands for.
MarkTheGreat on July 8, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Whenever these weird number things come about, I get all excited. But then, I never know what I am supposed to do about it.
rogersnowden on July 8, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Doctor Who was better than both.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 1:01 PM
You and my sister! She thinks that too…. I was a “Red Dwarf” fan myself, but then I am the light weight in the family…
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Smegger.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 1:04 PM
What’s really cool is that every hour, on the hour, it’s still 5 o’clock somewhere.
Mark30339 on July 8, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Hey, if you missed it, how about at 04:05:06 pm, 07/08/09?
Yes, I’m an even bigger geek.
The Monster on July 8, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Well if we are going to play that game, John Calvin turns 500 on Friday.
highhopes on July 8, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Yeah, well Martin Luther is ummmm let’s see…. 526 years old … or so.
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:06 PM
Banning seems appropriate for comments such as this.
BobMbx on July 8, 2009 at 1:07 PM
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 1:04 PM
Oh that I could have a huge “H” on my forehead.
Smeg off!
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Everybody in every area code is gonna want your IPA…;)
jerrytbg on July 8, 2009 at 1:07 PM
Though I love the cat on Red Dwarf. He was the best character… :)
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Probably pays better now.
tgharris on July 8, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Here, Ed.
You can have this. It’s all you’ll need. It’s all I need.
Abby Adams on July 8, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Yep, you’re a geek, but you’re my favorite blogging geek, so I’ll keep reading (four years and counting)
scott_lauritzen on July 8, 2009 at 1:08 PM
NEWS FLASH! Michael Jackson is still reported to be DEAD. Family considering having him STUFFED in order to keep the media party going. Film at 10.
GarandFan on July 8, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Now what?
maynila on July 8, 2009 at 1:09 PM
DING-DING-DING!! We have a winner!!
You win a self-administered pat on the back!
CurtZHP on July 8, 2009 at 1:10 PM
It must be a slow news day.
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:10 PM
MJ has outdone Ed.
– Michael Jackson signed his will on 7/7/02.
– Michael Jackson’s memorial was on 7/7/09 … exactly 7 years after the will was signed.
– Michael Jackson’s two biggest hits — “Black & White” and “Billie Jean” — were each #1 for 7 weeks.
– Michael Jackson’s three biggest albums — “Thriller,” “Bad” and “Dangerous” — each produced 7 top 40 hits.
– Michael Jackson was the 7th of 9 children.
– Michael Jackson was born in 1958 … 19 + 58 = 77
– Michael Jackson died on the 25th … 2 + 5 = 7
– Michael Jackson has 7 letters in his first and last name.
txag92 on July 8, 2009 at 1:10 PM
New Item on EBay!
Michael Jackson’s nose
BobMbx on July 8, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Now go over to the Croce thread and stand in the corner!
Laura in Maryland on July 8, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Yes, I did… had a blast, too. Lots of fun in that part.
Ed Morrissey on July 8, 2009 at 1:11 PM
txag92 on July 8, 2009 at 1:10 PM
You have too much time on your hands, dude!! Now if this all added up to “666″ I would be even more impressed.
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:12 PM
Abby Adams on July 8, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Tease
or
Braggart
I would do the same but mu boss objects to my “expressing” myself during meetings.
LincolntheHun on July 8, 2009 at 1:13 PM
You have too much time on your hands, dude!! Now if this all added up to “666″ I would be even more impressed.
catlady on July 8, 2009 at 1:12 PM
TEE HEE! I found that information on another website.
txag92 on July 8, 2009 at 1:13 PM
The square root of 9 is 3, and Michael Jackson is still dead.
Did we miss any other coincidences?
BobMbx on July 8, 2009 at 1:14 PM
tgharris on July 8, 2009 at 1:14 PM
So Ed can do this again in Europe on 7 August.
Steve Z on July 8, 2009 at 1:14 PM
I totally agree. Battlestar Galactica was much better.
OldEnglish on July 8, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Better make myself look BIG.
MadisonConservative on July 8, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Twice every 100 years? Not quite, If you use the 24 hour clock it happened at 0123:45 on 6/7/8.
Thy geekness hath not matched that of mine!
leetpriest on July 8, 2009 at 1:18 PM
Nerd alert
Chuck Schick on July 8, 2009 at 1:19 PM
I’m partial to the date sequencing popular among military types, engineers, and Europeans. Talk to me at 12:34:56 7 Aug 09.
apostic on July 8, 2009 at 1:19 PM
There’s some serious unfairness here, in that we can never have a 987654321 moment. At least not in this space-time continuum… until it snaps back on itself… or something…
Well, congratulations, Ed. I knew there was SOMETHING about 1978 that was worth living through it for.
J.E. Dyer on July 8, 2009 at 1:20 PM
They kinda look like old nixie tubes
LimeyGeek on July 8, 2009 at 1:22 PM
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