The Countdown Roundup

I've been counting down the days to see Rachel on Facebook. For those that don't have me in their Facebook feed, here is how the last 84 days went:

• 84 days to go
• 83 days to go
• 82 days to go
• 81 days
• 80 days
• 79 days
• 77 days
• 76 days
• 73 days ... if you're keeping track, this only proves that I don't know how to count. (P.S. I will see Rachel on Nov 2) [I skipped two days inadvertently]
  
• 72 days
• 71 days
• 70 days, or exactly 10 weeks
• 69 days
• 68 days, which is also the name of a pretty good band
• 67 days, which is also the number of days that some random couple Kyle and Stacey will be goofing off in Orlando, FL, courtesy of the Orlando Visitor's Bureau, starting today.
• 66 days, which is also the number of days that some freak took to swim the Amazon river.
• 65 days, also the name of another pretty rocking band "65 Days of Static"
• 64 days, also the amount of time it took two guys on bikes and a documentary crew to cross the US. The documentary film For Thousands of Miles is in post-production and will probably be released under CC. The "making of" is vlog'd and called 64 days.
• 63 days, which is apparently enough time to run 63 marathons to raise awareness for ataxia-telangiectasia.
• 62 days, or the average gestation period for a cat (according to some sources, for some cats)
• 61 days, also the number of days it took to shoot the movie E.T.
• 60 days, or the longest period of time that would not necessarily include a complete month.
• 59 days, or the entire lifespan of the shortest-lived vertebrate, the Eviota sigillata aka seven-figure pygmy goby.
• 58 days, or how long it took 11 year old Zachary Bonner walk from Atlanta, GA to Washington, DC to raise awareness and money for homeless children. Zach is in sixth grade. He's been doing social work since hurricane Katrina, organizing over 2,000 schoolbags for children, running 24 homeless awareness events, and now plans to walk coast to coast. Little Red Wagon Foundation is his NPO.
• 57 days, apparently enough time to circumnavigate the world solo, in a sailboat
• 56 days, or 8 weeks, enough time to make this. After 8 weeks, an embryo becomes a fetus.
• 55 days, also the name of a movie (55 days at Peking) about the Boxer Rebellion, where 130,000 Chinese attacked foreign embassies to oust them from China.
• 54 days, which is the average length of time that a Brit spends snogging in his or her lifetime.
• 53 days, also the name of a rock band - not bad, a little like a number of other nineties bands, but not quite as good as any of them, I'm afraid
• 52 days, or how long Gedaliah ruled before he was assassinated.
• 51 days, or the number of days that the sun doesn't rise in Northern Finland.
• 50 days, a Shavuot. Or a Pentecost or a Whit Monday. Or a Sigd (50 days after Yom Kippur, celebrated by Ethiopian Jews). Or a Feast of the First Fruits of Wine (mentioned as 50 days after the Feast of Weeks in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but not observed by anyone today).
• 49 days, 7 weeks, apparently enough time to learn to speak Portuguese
• 48 days, which is how long Siddhārtha Gautama sat in meditation under a Bohdi tree before reaching enlightenment (on the 49th day), whereupon he became The Buddha (some say 49 days).
• 47 days, which is how long the Matisse painting "Le Bateau" was hung upside down at the MOMA, until a passing stockbroker pointed it out; 115,000 other visitors and the museum staff hadn't noticed.
• 46 days, Phish. 'nuff said.
• 45 days, a documentary film about Demon Hunter, a Christian rock group.
• 44 days, a film about skiing.
• 43 more days of annoying Nadine Wildmann with this countdown.
• 42 days since she left, 42 days until we're together
• 41 days, apparently enough time to run 5000 km (3100 miles)
• 40 days ... hmmm, if only there were something biblical that happened in 40 days ... nope, can't think of anything. 40 Days is an album by the kick-ass Canadian singer-songwriter trio, The Wailin' Jennys.
• 39 days, enough time to reach Mars using a 200 MegaWatt VASIMR ion rocket engine
• 38 days, too long to be lost at sea
• 37 days, also a blog about living by a woman whose step-father lived for 37 days after being diagnosed with lung cancer
• 36 days, enough time to fight the Battle of Iwo Jima
• 35 days, 5 weeks. Five Weeks in a Balloon was the name of Jules Verne's first novel, and the beginning of his Extraordinary Voyage series.
• 34 days, or slightly less than 3,000,000 seconds (2,937,600)
• 33 days; if you tell one person today, and then you each tell one more person tomorrow, and so on and so on, then in 33 days the whole world will know
• 32 days, sing it Carmen Fraser
• 31 days, or how long it took Ford to pardon Nixon
• 30 days. Enter to win fa-bu-lous fashion prizes in 30 days of fashion.
• 29 days, JW Jones: We'll be kissing in 29 days, you know it's true.
• 28 days, a Hollywood movie about alcohol addiction that I have a mild desire to watch someday
• 27 days, an EP from a decent band called Erase the Grey, which the record label didn't market enough
• 26 days, also endured by Brad Ward, who, in 2008, survived an incredible 26 days without his IPhone (you can donate to other IPhone-less sufferers via his site)
• 25 days, also a song from a strange but wonderful twee pop group Hello Saferide
• 24 days, enough time to lose $19 billion (from the time Skilling resigned to the total collapse of Enron)
• 23 days, also a song by country music group SheDAISY, a trio of sisters from Utah
• 22 days, also a song from the 22-20s, often described as a cross between Jimi Hendrix and The White Stripes
• 21 days, or 3 weeks. Three Weeks is a magazine about the Edinburgh Festival and associated festivals. I want to go, someday.
• 20 days, also an organization that helps UK citizens make the most of their annual "only" 20 days vacation (in Israel, the minimum is 10 days)
• 19 days, still too long. Also too long to spend with a peanut butter jar stuck over your head.
• 18 days, also an upcoming cinematic and video game franchise about the Mahabharata from Grant Morrison (Mahabharata is an ancient Sanskrit text, part of the Hindu lore, that emphasizes the number 18; Morrison is a prolific comic artist and writer)
• 17 days, also enough time for Scientology to kill a woman by denying her psychiatric care.
• 16 days, also a song by Whiskeytown (fronted by Ryan Adams)
• 15 days, also a song by Kyle Alden. Kyle sounds a lot like so many other wonderful folk music singer-songwriters traveling around the country, under the pop music industry's radar.
• 14 days, a fortnight. An essential element of the FFF system of measurement.
• 13 days, long enough to throw the world to the brink of nuclear war (the length of the Cuban Missile Crisis).
• 12 days ... this is a hard one. I'll give you three of them ... one, two, three
• 11 days, if only they would pass as quickly as did Sept 3 to 13, 1752
• 10 days, also a series of fun games from Out of the Box Publishing (makers of Apples to Apples)
• 9 days! [Absolutely ... Story of a Girl]
• 8 days! From a cartoon the Beatles didn't like, featuring a song the Beatles didn't like.
• 7 days! [One Week, BNL]
• 6 days! [Jerusalem of Gold, The Six Day War]
• 5 days! [Patrick Nuo - Five Days]
• 4 days! [Humble Pie - Four Day Creep]
• 3 days; holy crap only 3 days. This is from the most famous 3 days of peace and music.
• 2 days! A movie I hope to see with Rachel [2 Days in Paris]
• 1 day ... enough time for over 23,000 children to die from preventable problems: water-borne disease, hunger, malaria, diarrhea, premature birth, respiratory infection. Over 8,000 children, over 24,000 people total, die every day due to malnourishment.

Now blogging from the airport ...