MetaFilter posts tagged with coincidence

Viva La Vida - A Copy of a Copy?

spaceboy86 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:28:35 -0800

Did "Auto-Tune the News" guy accidentally write Coldplay's Viva La Vida? Michael Gregory, aka Auto-Tune the News guy (previously) talks about how his shower singing was turned into something eerily similar to Viva La Vida. The Creaky Boards claim their song was plagiarized by Coldplay; Michael claims to have been plagiarized by the Creaky Boards.

Synchronicity

fiercecupcake — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:12:50 -0800

Gene Weingarten, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his story on Joshua Bell's busking stunt in a D.C. subway station, tells the story of an earlier busker performing in similar circumstances. With a spooky surprise ending: Bell and Gordon played the same instrument (scroll down to "History of Joshua's Violin"). Previously; related, related related.

Coincidental PSA

cgc373 — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 19:41:51 -0800

A friend notes that a friend of hers noted another person on LiveJournal who said his brother noted that Wednesday morning "at exactly two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be: 01:02:03 04/05/06." (In U.S. notation.)

Lucky Baby

CG — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:40:00 -0800

Lucky Baby (CNN): Not only did this baby survive a collapsed building because her Mountain Buggy stroller protected her, but it was the same type of stroller that was recalled by the CPSC on the same day. Coincidence?

Incredible -- but true coincidences

ember — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 19:37:47 -0800

Incredible -- but true coincidences are fascinating, and pleasing, to the psyche. I tend to agree with John Littlewood (a University of Cambridge mathematician) that "...in the course of any normal person's life, miracles happen at a rate of roughly one per month." In other words, statistically speaking, unusual coincidences are to be expected in a world teeming with billions of humans. Still, I find such coincidences stangely inspiring. More can be found here.

the name game

calwatch — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 23:04:43 -0800

Michelle Branch found by someone doing their taxes. No, it's not the pop singer. But have they ever found terrorist David Nelson? And will liberal radio host Michael Jackson ever get a job again?

London Power Cuts

andyHollister — Fri, 29 Aug 2003 01:45:31 -0800

Anyone smell a conspiracy? London and the South East gets hit by a massive power cut in a similar way to New York and the surrounding areas. Complaints from authorities in both cities of "under-investment in the National Grid " and talk of "antiquated infrastructure" strangely mirror each other and it's odd that these two extremely rare events have happened so close together. Was this a deliberate test of our emergency infrastructures, terrorism or just plain coincidence?

High-wire act

Ogre Lawless — Wed, 29 Jan 2003 08:20:37 -0800

God did it? I'm not usually one to accredit daily occurrences to the whim of the Almighty, but in this case, one has to wonder. A young man is thrown from his vehicle in a rollover crash, ejected, and saves himself from impact by catching the telephone lines 25 feet overhead.

popvulture — Wed, 11 Sep 2002 21:19:27 -0800

N.Y. Lottery Draws 9-1-1 on 9/11 This is a pretty strange coincidence. Some people find coincidences everywhere. But, others say the world would be more surprising if coincidences didn't occur. Still, this is pretty odd. What coincidences have you experienced? Do you see meaning in them?

yevge — Fri, 08 Mar 2002 21:46:02 -0800

Rosie O'Donnel is Gay ... Kmart to Close 284 Stores, Cut 22,000 Jobs: Coincidence? I think NOT!

lnicole — Fri, 14 Dec 2001 11:15:36 -0800

Coincidence Design - "You can't stalk her... but we can." For around $80,000, you can hire a team of investigators to arrange a chance meeting between you and the girl of your dreams. They will find out everything there is to know about her before you meet, and they claim she'll never know that it wasn't just fate (unless YOU tell her). Are they serious?!? (via saranwarp)