Sir, - The recent alignment of the earth, moon, and sun caused great excitement but today, as I'm sure we're all aware, we witness something rare, an almost perfect numerical alignment in the date: 9.9.1999. Such an event is enough to turn us all into furious mathematicians for the day, as we work out, for example, how often such a five-figure sequence occurs (once a century in the second millennium?), how often a perfect alignment occurs (once a millennium - is it? - with a sequence of up to eight figures on the 11.11.1111, which seems to give us a maximum sequence that won't be surpassed until the nine figures of the same-day, same-month of the 11th millennium). Anyway, this is the last time in this second millennium for the five-figure sequence to occur, a fact which is as worth recording, I should think, as the merely annual first sighting of this or that bird.
Congratulations, then, to the many Swiss numerologists getting married today, as your edition of February 22nd informed us, and special birthday wishes also to all those with a nine in their age today (and that includes my mother).
And for everyone else, since the next five-figure alignment will come round on the 1.1.2111, a day none of us in all the world today will see, well, fellow mortal brothers and sisters, as the Choral Symphony puts it, "diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt" (`Here's a joyful kiss for all')! Yours, etc.,
Donal McMahon, Corbally Close, Westbrook, Co Dublin.