42

December 16, 2005 6:12 PM

Lost Numbers.I won't get to see any of the second season of Lost until summer 2006 'cause I live in Ireland. I also didn't care enough about the first season to use the "numbers" as my lottery numbers. I should have, they (almost) came up in the National Lottery on November 19. I say almost, instead of 42 it was 24 (sorry Douglas).
posted by Elmore (31 comments total)

I should have said, the Lost numbers are 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42
posted by Elmore at 6:14 PM on December 16, 2005

Wow, that's bizarre.
posted by borkingchikapa at 6:19 PM on December 16, 2005

take the Ipecac now before it is too late Elmore
posted by caddis at 6:29 PM on December 16, 2005

Reminds me of the time that I almost won $10 on my scratchoff. You see, there was a tic-tac-toe game with penguins and I had them going left to right through the middle boxes and I had two penguins that said $10 and then I scratched the third box it was a polar bear. I was so pissed I threw the ticket in the garbage.

In the Powerball, that would've won $200,000.
posted by my sock puppet account at 6:36 PM on December 16, 2005

A few weeks ago I matched 4 of 5 numbers in the Mega Millions lotto, and the number that didn't match was one digit off (a 07 instead of an 08). Had I matched all 5 it would have been $250,000 payout, instead of the $150 I did win. So close.
posted by camworld at 7:17 PM on December 16, 2005

I wonder how many Lost fans out there are actually playing The Numbers in their respective local lotteries?
posted by brownpau at 7:25 PM on December 16, 2005

My dad once got 5 out of 6 numbers on a Lotto ticket. He thought you only won if you got all six, so he threw it out.

Today he is convinced that getting five out of six numbers was Satan tempting him to continue gambling. He gave it up.

Which is actually the right thing to do, but not because gambling is of the Devil...
posted by kindall at 7:53 PM on December 16, 2005

I'm confused, why would polar bears and penguins be on the same lotto ticket?
posted by The Cardinal at 8:32 PM on December 16, 2005

So last weekend in Vegas I won like $12 on horse races... but then I lost like $50 on college basketball. I thought I would give the giant slot machine a try, but I decided to go swimming instead. It was a little cold outside, but the pool was heated.

(Actually, that is pretty bizarre about the numbers... I am just piling on.)
posted by cusack at 8:37 PM on December 16, 2005

Let's play the new home game of the lottery. First take out one dollar bill. Now, walk over to your circular file, drop the dollar in and leave it. That's it sucker.
posted by caddis at 8:44 PM on December 16, 2005

I'm confused, why would polar bears and penguins be on the same lotto ticket?

Didn't you see the comic book? Walt IMAGINED them real.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 8:52 PM on December 16, 2005

If you check the other weeks, the number of people who match 5 is about 80 something, but this week it went up to 298. Lotsa people play the numbers...
posted by bruzie at 9:06 PM on December 16, 2005

And "most pretentious way to demonstrate a simple understanding of geographical distribution of arctic and antarctic animal populations" goes to The Cardinal.

Also, on Lifehacker: How to win at Powerball: eat the ticket.
posted by NickDouglas at 9:11 PM on December 16, 2005

Let's play the new home game of the lottery. First take out one dollar bill. Now, walk over to your circular file, drop the dollar in and leave it. That's it sucker.

I have to agree, even though when I lived in New York I had this wicked lottery jones going on, sometimes $20 / week.

Well, I broke that habit when I moved to the UK: I bought myself a bunch of Premium Bonds and I'm playing every month.

Best thing about them is your principal is preserved and you automatically play month after month.
posted by Mutant at 9:38 PM on December 16, 2005

cool, thats weird
posted by spunk at 9:40 PM on December 16, 2005

By the way, what makes this best of the web?
posted by caddis at 9:52 PM on December 16, 2005

I seem to remember a few weeks after the episode "Numbers" was broadcast, somewhere did come up with the numbers (all of them) in a lottery. Or maybe it was just that loads of people played them.
posted by Orange Goblin at 2:20 AM on December 17, 2005

By the way, what makes this best of the web?

why do you hate teevee so much, caddis? ;)
posted by quonsar at 2:27 AM on December 17, 2005

this is the most impressive Lost theory I've seen to date.
posted by mr.marx at 2:27 AM on December 17, 2005

The Cardinal writes "I'm confused, why would polar bears and penguins be on the same lotto ticket?"

You'll have to wait 'till next season to find that out!

That's when we'll try to make up some other stuff at the last second.
posted by brundlefly at 2:29 AM on December 17, 2005

mr. marx, that is impressive. But it doesn't explain the polar bears. The polar bear thing is what drew me in during the first season, but that curiosity was more than overcome by the finale "cliffhanger" looking down (or rather, up from) the hatch. That cop out made me call bullshit and I haven't watched it since... (Have I missed anything? Have I? Have I?)
posted by brundlefly at 2:38 AM on December 17, 2005

By the way, what makes this best of the web?

You're kidding, right? It's just by the grace of time zones that it wasn't deleted instantly. But the random nonsense in these doomed threads is always enjoyable until Daddy wakes up and comes in with the flamethrower.
posted by languagehat at 5:33 AM on December 17, 2005

and our nutty professor always manages to dump a holy turd in every thread he finds sub-par. bravo.
posted by mr.marx at 5:45 AM on December 17, 2005

In other weird lotto news the same exact pick three combo came up two nights in a row in the OK lotto. Million to one odds.
posted by HyperBlue at 7:47 AM on December 17, 2005

Pick-3 Lottery Beats Odds, Select Same Numbers Two Nights In A Row (link)
posted by HyperBlue at 7:48 AM on December 17, 2005

Randomly produced numbers occasionally display interesting properties. Film at 11.

And gambling is a tax on the stupid.
posted by spazzm at 9:02 AM on December 17, 2005

The same pick 3 number coming up two nights in a row isn't a million to one event, it's a one in one thousand event. A specific pick 3 number coming up two nights in a row would be one in a million.
posted by I Foody at 10:36 AM on December 17, 2005

and our nutty professor always manages to dump a holy turd in every thread he finds sub-par. bravo.

You seriously think this is a good MeFi post? Hey, no hard feelings, I just assumed it was such an obvious "I had pancakes for breakfast, does anybody else like pancakes?" post that nobody would defend it. If you like it, more power to you. But I did enjoy being called a nutty professor, so thanks for that! (Note: I was once, briefly, a professor, but that was long ago and in another country.)
posted by languagehat at 10:55 AM on December 17, 2005

brownpau -- heres a story about the number of people playing Lost numbers
posted by veryvera at 5:13 PM on December 17, 2005

The polar bears are there because of Coca-Cola. The penguins are there because of Linux. Seriously. They've entered the public (or at least the ticket's graphic designers') consciousness.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:12 AM on December 18, 2005

second season of Lost until summer 2006 'cause I live in Ireland.

I'm sorry but.. you guys actually watch TV?! as in, wait for it to be on (your local) tv.. just download it like the rest of the non-US world. Hell they are doing Friends season 10 here..

I wish they'd put up a place where you can donate/contribute for shows you like so maybe they stop cancelling the good ones. So far I just buy the DVDs, seems to work.
posted by lundman at 7:54 PM on December 18, 2005