THIRTY TWO

I don't do drugs or booze. Any more. I don't ogle women. Much. I don't molest school kids. Worse, I teach them. I don't drool over bad porn. Good porn, though ... oops.

I don't wash my hands eighty-three times a day, brush my teeth for thirty-two minutes or floss with old fishingline if no string is available.

I stack my food in rows - tins there, packets there, jars there. That shelf's for spreads, that one's for spices, that one's for sauces, that one's for bickies.

I always buy the same brands. Never generic. Nothing with Dick Smith's face on it. La Gina tomatoes, Sirena Chilli Tuna, Atlantic Dark Rye - NOT Light, Nutella, Piazza D'Oro Premio, Lemon Spree, Palmolive Gold, Colgate original - NO stripes ... shudder ... they twist. I even take them on holiday. Including utensils and stove top espresso pot.

I eat my meals in a set order. Vegetables, smallest to largest, never mixed, then meats. Always.

The dishwasher is neatly stacked, as are the fridge, washing machine, car boot. Papers are neatly folded. Empty cans, bottles and jars are washed. Can't put out a messy bin.

Very occasionally I'll do the crossword if someone else has started it. On the other hand, I stop if I've made a mistake. And I never do it in pencil.

I hang my clothes on colour-coded hangers.

On the dark and violent side, I do have a serious problem with the glugging of pouring liquid. Tea out of a pot especially. I suppress an urge to ki ... get angry ... when stinking, inconsiderate, disgusting peasant oafs slurp their drinks. Same when ignorant slobs eat with their filthy, gap-toothed, mal-odorous mouths open. And as for whistling? STOP IT!

All up, pretty normal wouldn't you say? That's not to say I'm entirely sane. I do have one mild ... very mild ... obsession -- the number Thirty-Two.

I don't mean 32 as an everyday statistic. Not like the last time India played Australia at the MCG and Steve Waugh made 32 in both innings. The Russian T34 tank -- mysteriously not a T32 -- weighed 32,000 kilograms. The AFL next year will put 32 million Oxford Scholars into developing Aussie Rules nationwide. Bruce Lee died at 32. Adam Vinatieri kicked the winning goal in this year's Superbowl for a winning score of 32. Murali was called for chucking 32 years after Ian Meckiff. It took 32 years for the Queensland Nationals to lose power in 1989. Collingwood fans had to wait 32 years for an end to the Collywobbles in 1990, hopefully it'll double. Parliament's Jesus jumper, Sid James was 32. Shane Warne's figures first day back? 2 for 32. Australia won the America's Cup 132 years after the US won it in 1851. Scott Wickstein's 32.

No - that's not what I'm talking about, that's all circumstantial.

I'm talking about -- in fact exposing ... whistleblowing even -- Film 32. A number that continues to appear in the scripts of movies and TV shows:

Tommy Lee Jones: "How old was Newman?"

Kate Nelligan: "32."

-- US Marshalls

Actor Tom Wood was 35.

See where I'm coming from? There are obviously many references to 1, 10, 100, etc but they're all big-moment numbers. 32 is just any old number that somehow keeps reappearing. Why?

Comments

[Patrick]

A little bored today Tony?

[Uncreative Tim]

You need to do drugs or booze again.

[Tony.T]

Filthy unbelievers! It's a serious issue dammit! Why aren't whistleblowers ever taken seriously?

Except by The Age.

[Todd]

You are dead right there Tony. I am just about to turn 33 and this last year has been one of the most boring and depressing years of my life. 33 is already looking a lot better.

[Todd]

You are dead right there Tony. I am just about to turn 33 and this last year has been one of the most boring and depressing years of my life. 33 is already looking a lot better.

[Tony.T]

Ahhh, 33. I remember 33.

Just.

[The Hack]

Oh. My. GOD! I'll be turning 32 this year! Spoooooooky...

[chris88]

29 this year, though I find myself counting back now to work out how old I am .... or feeling old when my knees play up (like today). Humph

[DA]

"Very occasionally I'll do the crossword if someone else has started it."

On at least 32 occasions I'd say?

[Adam]

OMG! It's a dastardly plot by the CIA to send you MAD and turn you into the new manchurian candidate to assasinate whoever the North Korean president guy is. King Dong or something.

[Tony.T]

Hack, don't walk under any black cats this year.

Three years till you're 32, Chris. There's a 3 in 32.

No c'mon DA. That's stretching it.

Adam, I just know you're aware that your second sentence contains 32 words. I think you're trying to hypnotise me and turn me INTO Frank Sinatra ... and ON TO Angela Lansbury.

[Scott Wickstein]

I AM 32. BWAHAHAHA.....

[Brett Pee]

Spooky this......i'm 24.

Tone- need any mindbending drugs at the moment? I know i do.

[Tony.T]

Scott, and I was just gues ... reading.

There's a 2 in 24 Brett, AND 32. Spookworthy indeed.

[bango spamo]

I'm 21 and I think I'm so old last year when 20 it was the worst for me because the teenage finish.

[Changed by me, TT.]

[Rose]

I wanted to add some 32 madness to your blog as there 'is' something about the number 32. from:http://aftergrogblog.blogs.com/agb/2004/02/thirty_two.html#comments

It seemed a good idea to me to make Dr. Bain's research on the Kaballah available to the student in this field, especially since his work contains valuable new insights pertaining to the tree of life in relation to the 21 stages and 32 paths of wisdom, culminating in his diagram called "Jacob's ladder".

Or how about this??

http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/freemasons_control_world.htm

That will rattle your 32 cage!

The evaluation of the postmortem skull radiographs need not
be limited to the proof that President Kennedy was killed by
two shots fired from different directions. They provide
strong evidence that in some manner they were used in the
preparation of Warren Commission exhibit CE 388 which I have
included a reproduction of at the end of my prepared
statement. CE 388 is a lateral illustration of the damage to
the President's skull made under the supervision of Drs.
Humes and Boswell for their Warren Commission testimony.
According to the autopsy doctors, this was made without the
benefit of the radiographs or photographs. On the lateral
skull radiograph there is a pair of diverging pencil lines
that were drawn there by Dr. John Ebersole, the radiologist
present the night of the autopsy. These lines from a 32
degree angle and extend from the entrance, low in the back
of the head to the projected exit point of the first bullet
in the right front of the skull. On CE 388 there is a pair
of lines which corresponds to the proposed trajectory of the
first bullet through the skull. These lines have almost
exactly the same 32 degree angle and intersect the skull at
exactly the same point as the pencil lines drawn by Dr.
Ebersole on the lateral skull x-ray. This match is not a
coincidence and speaks to the fact that either directly or
indirectly the radiographs were used in preparation of CE
388. It also speaks to the fact that the original autopsy
team knew exactly where the first bullet entered the skull
both on visual inspection and radiographically. Both the
pencil lines on the radiographs and the trajectory lines on
CE 388 point to the level of entry for the first bullet and
the transverse fracture of the right occipital bone which
was created by it.

How about this one: http://www.supremecouncil.org/default.asp

32 is a magic number for many organizations.

http://www.cephasministry.com/index_masonic_files.html
Feel like music?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-two-bar_form

To Top it off:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-two-bar_formhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32_(number)

And last but not least let us not forget a very important room 322 and our Prez:

http://www.skullandcrossbones.org/articles/skullandbones.htm