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Friday The 13th

Well, it's almost 5pm here and it hasn't been too bad - busy at work, but you get that, nothing diabolical.

Only the drive home to negotiate and then staying safely put on the sofa with a nice bevvy and it'll be all over.
 
Yesterday I was out with my camera. When I put the photos on the computer, I found I had taken 13 pictures....

But it was an unlucky day for me - I had a recurrence of a painful and embarassing btm problem, which had appeared to have cleared up for the previous few months...
 
Unluckiest day for policeman tasered by colleague after blinding himself with pepper spray (all on Friday 13th)
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:17 AM on 10th September 2010

A police officer apprehended a thug despite squirting pepper spray in his own face, having his jaw dislocated and being shot with a Taser - all on Friday 13th.

What should have been a routine call turned sour when Pc Jason Mepham tried to have a quiet word with Jason King following reports of a disturbance in Murdoch Close, Redruth, Cornwall.
King began to run away, but then turned and faced the chasing officer, squaring up for a fight.
The shocked officer tried to reason with King, but said he felt so threatened that he deployed his Captor control spray.
He sprayed once, which temporarily halted King's charge, but when his attacker charged again, he fired a second burst of gas, which blew back into his own face.

A colleague arrived and grabbed hold of King, but the ordeal was not over for Pc Mepham, who, disorientated, face burning and eyes watering, was punched by another man who arrived on the scene. :shock:

The officer told the West Briton newspaper: 'I felt my jaw go to the side of my face and then my head followed. I had terrible shooting pains.
'I'd never had anything like it before. My jaw had to be dislocated.'

Now badly injured and in considerable pain, Pc Mepham found himself in a desperate struggle with his new assailant.
The second officer, seeing his colleague in trouble, let go of King and fired his Taser gun.
Unfortunately, while one electrode hit its target, the second hit Pc Mepham, who was felled by the electric jolt. :shock:
As he lay on the floor, King ran around and kicked him hard in the face, relocating his jaw. At that point, police back-up arrived and arrested both offenders.
Pc Mepham went to hospital but was back on duty later that evening doing the paperwork.

Talking about his shocking ordeal, Pc Mepham admitted he had been frightened at the time, but could now see the funny side of it - particularly as it happened on Friday August 13.
He added: 'It's quite amusing when I look back at it now, but at the time it was horrific.'
Truro Magistrates' Court confirmed that King, 28, of Trehane Road, Camborne, Cornwall, pleaded guilty last week to assaulting a police officer.
He also admitted charges of common assault, of being drunk and disorderly, using threatening words or behaviour and two charges of travelling on the railway without paying a fare.
King was remanded into custody and his case adjourned until September 21 for the preperation of pre-sentence reports.

etc...

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z0z7EyHlwD
 
Fear Of Friday 13th Called Friggatriskaidekaphobia

13 May 2011

The Friggatriskaidekaphobia phenomenon is a phobia for Friday 13th, a superstition that has existed for hundreds of years in virtually every corner of the world. In India's movie industry, they try to avoid releasing new films on Friday 13th because of a fear it will do badly. Even stock markets around the world tend to see less activity on this date. Typically, airlines also report a drop in passengers.

If you derive comfort from stroking a rabbit's foot for good luck, or blow away an eyelash and make a wish, today might not be a good day for you. For those who have Friggatriskaidekaphobia, today is a particularly unpleasant day.
Why do some of us fear Friday 13th so much?

Chair of the Department of Psychology at Cornell University, Thomas Gilovich says some people are afraid of this date because they link it to unpleasant things or events in their life.

Gilovich said:

"The mind is an associative system and if anything bad happens to you on Friday the 13th, the two will be forever associated in your mind and all those uneventful days in which the 13th fell on a Friday will be ignored."


Through psychology, Gilovish says, we can better understand the workings of superstitions and why people do certain things and behave in a particular way.

Between 17 and 21 million Americans have a phobia of Friday 13th, according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina.

Gilovich stresses that there is no evidence whatsoever linking Friday 13th to bad luck or unpleasant events.

Gilovich added:

""People hold a number of beliefs without understanding the basis behind them or where they came from."


Apparently, interior designers and architects tend not to label the 13th floor of a building.

Psychology professor, Harvard University, Daniel Wegner has been researching into why some people see causal connections, especially when none exists.

Wegner said:

"Our minds cause our actions and other things that happen in the world. It seems that we often believe we are powerful causal agents just because we happen to think of something before it happens!"


Often in sports, Wegner explains, people who think about certain things before they occur, can eventually believe that they were the driving force behind their occurrence. Wegner said:

"This is why sports fans fear going to the refrigerator because then their team might lose on TV. If they're not actively rooting for their team and thinking good thoughts, maybe they will be the ones who tip the balance towards the loss. Or at least, feel that they did."


According to the Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics, fewer accidents and fires occur on Friday 13th, probably because people are more careful or just stay at home.

Written by Christian Nordqvist

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/225295.php
 
Yesterday my computer chair broke - I couldn't find all the information to fill in my tax return, the heater broke and it was a cold night, the cat seems to have got ear-mites and I had a cup of tea and the biscuit fell in.

Suckage.
 
After checking the forecast for Hayle today was 'dry', I decided to go and check the bridge-building again. But I wondered if I should have taken my heavy coat when it was still pouring with rain at Camborne. However, Hayle was dry, with a bit of sun too.

But then my luck began to turn. The last bus of the three needed to get me home was late, so I caught another bus halfway back and walked the rest - only to be passed by the bus I'd been waiting for within 5 minutes of home. :( (It was running 30 minutes late.)

Got home to a credit card bill, to find they'd charged me £12 for late payment of last month's bill! :evil:

(In thirty-odd years I've only ever been late paying once before; that time I had to pay interest, so this time I'd paid extra to counterbalance that. But I don't know when this £12 fee came in - bastards!)
 
Well, it's a slow news day, so back to this topic!

Friday the 13th: why do we fear it and how unlucky is it really?
It is the day we all dread but is there really any reason to be so scared of Friday the 13th?
By Lucy Kinder
9:25AM BST 13 Sep 2013

The origins of the Friday the 13th being an unlucky date are shrouded in mystery.
The most commonly held perception is that Friday is an unlucky day and 13 is a particularly unlucky number.

In numerology 13 is considered to be an irregular number and is also the number of witches you need to form a coven.

Some say the roots of 13 being considered unlucky lie in a Nordic myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla.
The 13th guest was Loki, the god of mischief, who arranged for the god of joy and gladness to be shot with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. He died and the whole world was thrust into mourning.

There is also a biblical reference to 13 being considered unlucky. Judas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus who later betrayed him, was supposedly the 13th guest to sit down at the last supper.

Ancient Christianity may also yield some clues as to why Friday is perceived as unlucky. Christ was crucified on a Friday and Cain is believed to have killed his brother Abel on a Friday, perhaps even Friday 13th. Some biblical scholars believe that Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on a Friday.

In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer referenced Friday as being an unlucky day in his Canterbury Tales, “And on a Friday fell all this mischance".

Seafarers have long considered it is bad luck to set off on a journey on a Friday. It was also historically known as the day that people were usually hanged in Britain.

In the 1990s medical researchers tried to prove whether or not people are particularly prone to misfortune in Friday 13th.
The results published in the British Medical Journal, noted that the number of motor accidents in the South West Thames region increased from a total of 45 on the six Friday 6ths between 1989 and 1992, to some 65 accidents on the six Friday 13ths in the same period – an increase of 52 per cent.

Researchers in Sweden also claimed that the country was a more risky place to be on Friday the 13th.

According to historian Donald Dossey who told National Geographic that Friday the 13th costs the American economy approximately $800 or $900 million (£500,000-£570,000) because people will not fly or do business they normally would do.

However Dr Caroline Watt of the University of Edinburgh says that it is the belief in the Friday 13th superstition that could, in fact, prove the greatest risk to the average person:
“If people believe in the superstition of Friday the 13th then they believe they are in greater danger on that day. As a result they may be more anxious and distracted and this could lead to accidents. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
“It is like telling someone they are cursed. If they believe they are then they will worry, their blood pressure will go up and they put themselves at risk.”

Unfortunate events that have happened on Friday the 13th

The Da Vinci Code popularised the link between the Friday the 13th superstition and the decline of the religious order the Knights Templar.
On Friday 13 in October 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay to be arrested along with thousands of other Templars.

Buckingham Palace was hit by five German bombs on Friday September 13 1940 with both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth coming close to being killed. One member of the royal staff died and the palace chapel was destroyed.

A Chilean Air force plane ‘disappeared’ in the Andes on Friday 13 October 1972, with 16 survivors turning up two months later. They had been forced to eat dead passengers in order to survive.

The rapper Tupac Shakur died of his wounds on Friday September 13 1996 six days after being shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting.

The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground on Friday 13 in January 2012 off the western coast of Italy killing 30 people.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picture ... eally.html

Another one for that list is the third Apollo moon landing attempt that failed -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13
 
Flight 666 to Hel now boarding:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/13/friday-13th-flight-666-hel


Friday 13th travellers take chance on flight 666 to HEL


Pilot of Finnair flight from Copenhagen to Helsinki says he is not superstitious about flying on unlucky date


theguardian.com, Associated Press in Helsinki. Friday 13 September 2013



Would you board flight 666 to HEL on Friday the 13th? For superstitious travellers, that might be tempting fate. But Finnair passengers on AY666 to Helsinki apparently were not too bothered. Friday's flight was almost full.

"It has been quite a joke among the pilots," said Juha-Pekka Keidasto, who will fly the Airbus A320 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. "I'm not a superstitious man. It's only a coincidence for me."

The daily flight AY666 from Copenhagen to Helsinki falls on Friday the 13th twice in 2013. Friday the 13th is considered bad luck in many countries and the number 666 also has strong negative biblical associations.

Some airlines, such as Scandinavian Airlines, take such fears seriously and do not have a row 13 on board. However, the negative connotations are a relatively new phenomenon for northern Europeans, and Finnair and other regional carriers such as Norwegian and Estonian Air keep row 13.

"Less than 100 years ago the number 13 did not have this sinister meaning. It's quite recent in the north," said Ulo Valk, professor of comparative folklore at the University of Tartu in Estonia.

"There are 12 hours, 12 months and in Christianity 12 apostles and this is a divine number. Add one more and it brings in a certain element of chaos," he said.

Passengers on flight 666 to HEL should have a calm flight over the Baltic at this time of year. "It's hopefully smooth skies," said Keidasto. "And if there's some passenger who is anxious about this 666, our cabin crew is always happy to help them."
:twisted:
 
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Maybe relevant....

I turned 13 on Friday the 13th back in 1987.

Was born on a Wednesday, but always look forward to my Fri 13th birthdays. Got another in a year or two, I think!
 
Unlucky day for pensioner:

Fatal Poole hit-and-run: Police offer £10k to trace VW Golf driver

A £10,000 reward has been offered for information about a hit-and-run crash in Poole, in which a frail grandfather died.
Christopher Colegate, 69, from Poole was found in the road at the junction of Heath Avenue and Darby's Lane at about
19:30 GMT on Friday 13 December.

A VW Golf driver who left the scene of the crash who was caught on CCTV is being sought by police.
Police said the car was a VW Golf Mark 4 made between 1998 and 2005.
Insp Matt Butler, of Dorset Police's traffic unit, said: "We believe the VW Golf involved in this collision was light-coloured and
either three door or five door.
"Someone out there must know who was responsible for Mr Colegate's death."

Mr Colegate was described as frail and walked with a distinctive stoop and used two walking sticks to aid his mobility.
He was walking to meet with friends at the Oakdale Conservative Club when he was struck.

Insp Butler added: "His family needs the help of the public to give them some closure to the devastating loss of a loving husband,
father and grandfather."

The £10,000 reward is being offered by Dorset Police and the Crimestoppers charity.
Oakdale Conservative Club, where Mr Colegate was a regular, has also offered an additional reward of £1,000.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-27734609
 
Well, it's that day again, for those interested...

At least it's not a full moon this time (Last Quarter was yesterday)...

;)
 
I've woken up with a stinking cold and I'm on the late shift so it's already looking bad around here.
 
I've got a cat to take to the vet. He has hardly eaten since Tuesday. Although he seems his usual self in every other respect.
 
Good luck with the cat! It may be a simple furball problem. I certainly hope so.
 
Long article here with stuff I'd not heard before:

Friday 13th: The accidental superstition?
By Trevor Timpson BBC News

...
The Thirteen Club, a gathering of jolly gents determined to defy all superstitions, first met on 13 September 1881 (a Wednesday) though it was formally organised on Friday, 13 January 1882.
They met on the 13th of the month, sat 13 to a table, broke mirrors and spilled salt with exuberance and walked in to dinner under crossed ladders. The club's annual reports carefully noted how many of its members had died, and how many of these passed away within a year of attending a club dinner.

It was founded by Captain William Fowler - of whom it was said that everyone associated him with "good fellowship, a big heart, and simple, unostentatious charity" - at his Knickerbocker Cottage restaurant on Manhattan's Sixth Avenue.
As club marshal he "always gallantly and fearlessly led to the banqueting hall," reported the club's "chief ruler" Daniel Wolff.
The New York Times reported that at the first meeting the 13th diner was late, and Fowler dragooned one of the waiters to make up the unlucky number: "Despite his howls he was… just being shoved through the ladders when the missing guest arrived."

The first target of the club was the fear that if 13 people dined together one would soon die. But a second superstition soon followed.
In April 1882 it adopted a resolution deploring the fact that Friday had "for many centuries past, been considered an unlucky day... on unreasonable grounds" and the club sent a call to the President, state governors and judges to stop picking on Friday as "hanging day" and hold executions on other days too.

But of a joint Friday 13th superstition there is no sign at the club's foundation. It appeared some time between 1882 and the publication of Lawson's book in 1907.
Could that be the club's own fault?
It took every opportunity of bringing its two prime targets together to ridicule them, the Los Angeles Herald reported in 1895: "Whenever, during the past 13 years Friday has fallen on the 13th of the month this peculiar organisation has never failed to hold a special meeting for rejoicing."

The club prided itself that it had put superstition in the spotlight. Its fame was great: the original 13 members had grown to hundreds by the turn of the century and similar clubs were founded in cities across the States. London's Thirteen Club had been founded by 1894, when a music hall song about it appeared.

etc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30912415
 
i am off on a ghost hunt then! if i dont post my findings on the 14th....
 
Hope it went well, Titch. :)

I had a most wretched day yesterday and I don't even believe Friday the thirteenth is unlucky.
 
sorry i meant the NEXT friday the 13th and i am sorry to here about your day :(
 
My day was a bit crap too, I have the current bad cold bug but went into work anyway as it's more trouble to take the time off. Wouldn't call it any special bad luck though.
 
I'd quite forgotten it was Friday 13th today.
 
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