A Little Random Friday Action

Here's a blog I posted on my MySpace page back in 2004.

.....While I really can't explain in any fashion that would make all this easily digestible to anyone who happens to read this, what I can do is just write it out like I always have.............For some reason, the number 43 has followed me around since the fall of 1995, and to this day it can just as easily frighten me as it excites and makes me smile.........but, the question still remains, why that number? why so many places? why so many times?..........When I first started researching this number, I thought "why not trace this back as far as I can?"...........so, on a trip to my mother's house, I dug out an old "study bible" from the attic and looked up the number 43 and all it's mathematical derivatives in the reference section and came up with 22 separate passages in which the numbers 4, 3, 7, or 43 are referenced directly........considering how numerology works ( for my limited understanding of it anyway ) you can't just look at a dual digit number like 43 as "itself", you have to view it in multiples, parts of a whole........so, since this was going to be one of the "constants" in my research, I took the number as a whole, it's 10s and 1s digit, and it's sum as my sets..........of course, after several months of digging through countless volumes of hard copy and websites, i thought "why didn't I include the number 1" ----> 4-3 does equal one.........so, that's the only part that I haven't completed yet.......and, considering 1s implications in numerology and "psycho-social" relevance, that just adds to the mystery and complexity of 43...........Other interesting facts about 43 that I discovered from the study bible were the numbers significance as "a numerical value meaning the release from bondage" and a "great joy provided by a divine power" as well as being the numerical equivalent of the words "sick, joy, and lion"..........The two most interesting ways in which the number 43 are referenced in the bible are it's direct link to "god" or "a god" and the fact that the bible names EXACTLY 43 generations between Abraham and Jesus........Many people, from where I was born and grew up, chose names for their children from the bible. So, if your name is Rachael, the numerical value of your name is 43........there are also several ways to find the number 43 in many other places in Judeo-Christian text, but I saw it more as "forcing" the number out.......The final place that the number is ever directly referenced is in the book of Revelations, in which it details the forming of "the new church" in the 43rd month of "The Tribulation"..........In other dogmatic doctrines, numbers are utilized to gives significance to people and/or groups........In the Islamic faith for example, it is stated that "god" will only bless 43 couples to rebuild "his kingdom"........ ---------------


......Since we've explored the number 43 from a "religious" stand-point, what about the world of "science/technology and literature"?........Numbers themselves can be written in a variety of different forms, most of which are used in computer programming as "language"........The three primary "numerical languages" where we see 43 referenced are Binary, Hexadecimal, and Octal..... 43 = 001011 ( binary ) 43 = 2B ( hexadecimal ) 43 = 053 ( octal ) Also, in the ASCII & III, the "code translation" for the "+" symbol is 43. Any 'Private Branch Exchange' ( PBX ) that is operating on a "LAN" has a 'failure rate' of only once every 43 years, during which the 'downtime' is exactly 43 seconds. From the "hexadecimal" example, a computer virtuoso friend of mine discovered something that was very interesting and just a little bit bizarre as well.......Virtually everyone of even a moderate educational background knows the beginning of Hamlet's famous soliloquy from Shakespeare......it's the opening line that has direct baring on the topic of 43…….. "To be or not to be......" In this line, Shakespeare is posing the question to the reader, "Are we to journey through our lives as who we strive to be, or are we doomed to failure?" In computer programming, each line of "code" is like a sentence that is telling the computer what to do at a specific time and place to achieve a desired effect......Let's take this aspect dual function and apply it to Shakespeare's text "To be or not to be....." ----in code form---- "2B or -2B" We have simply taken each word, sans the "or" and replaced it with it's directly corresponding "hexadecimal" partner........then, there is the final step...... "2B or -2B" ----in further code form---- "43 or -43" So.......was Shakespeare trying to say something more, or was this just a "divine" coincidence?.........Considering the fact that computers were hundreds of years away from even being born into the consciousness of the scientists that would eventually create them, it's not practical to assume this directly.........but still, the simple fact that 43, translated into a "code" form, can be directly connected to such a powerful line of text from Shakespeare only furthers the mystery and power of the "soliloquy" and the number 43. Other "numerical" and scientific facts about 43 -- It is the first prime number after "7" where, if you add it's base numbers together, they equal "7" -- The "septendecimal" form of 43 is "61"........6+1=7 -- 43 is also known as a "Chaldean Compound" number, meaning: Revolution, Upheaval, Strife, Conflict, War, Failure -----------


Let's look at common, everyday, places in our "pop-culture" world where we might see 43...... On the internet, you can learn all about a digital video company based out of California called Number43.......Then, type in the URL for a "space-adventure" RPG called HALO43........ If you are into clothing at all, check out the line of apparel from Droors, they use 43 as their logo.......... If you've ever watched NASCAR or know someone that does, you should know that 43 cars start at the beginning of each race, and the car number that Richard Petty used to drive under as well -- there's even a cereal out, since last summer, called Richard Petty's 43's ( wonder if they stay especially crunchy in milk? ).......... A former US Secretary of Education once calculated that the life expectancy of the "average homosexual male" is 43........ And, considering the mystery surrounding the number, it should be no shock to realize that George W Bush is our 43rd President.......... In movies, you can see it as well........The Crow ( on the roof of a police car in the beginning of the film ), Being John Malcovich ( the age at which the "host body" becomes ripe ), Final Fantasy ( referenced by the character voiced by Donald Sutherland ), Contact ( the number of cameras filming Jody Foster as she fell through the "machine" ), From Dusk Till Dawn, There's Something About Mary, the list goes on and on.......One day, there's bound to be a coffee-table book on 43 in films-- but who will write it?.....maybe i should............. For any fans of American history, during the war against the Brits for "independance" Gen. Cornwallis was defeated while holding command over the 43rd Regiment........ Finally, here's a strange little tidbit about Egyptian architecture that, for me, re-establishes the question, "What is so special about the pyramids?" --- The prime example is the "Red Pyramid" which was constructed using only 43 degree angles on the exterior ( while most of the remaining pyramids were built using the same plans or derivatives of 43 )..... Apart from Cornwallis, Bush, and ( to a lesser extent ) the Education Secretary's "find", the number 43 was used in all these cases by choice.........why?.........why is it that 43 cars have to start a NASCAR race? Why not 47 or 50?..........Why chose this particular number as a piece of dialogue or a visual for a film?.........And since the Egyptians built each pyramid for a specific purpose, why pick 43 degree angles?......... Considering the nature of choice being the process by which one thing is used/not used for a specific purpose, what would make a person choose this number.......Some have said because it's visually more interesting than others, and some have no reason.......The same, I'm quite aware, is true of any other number available to us ( of which there are an infinite amount ).......But out of such and unending pool of choices, 43 is slowly beginning to creep into the "collective unconscious" of people around the world almost as much as 7 and 13, even 666........ -------