Perhaps you've heard of the new Jim Carrey movie opening nationwide Friday. It's the one titled "The Number 23." The thriller that has this fascination with the fact that Shakespeare was born on April 23 and died on April 23. That humans contribute 23 chromosomes to their offspring. That 23 has some mystical uber-presence in our lives, even if we're not paying attention.

We thought it might be helpful to go beyond the obvious manifestations of 23 -- as in Michael Jordan's favorite uniform number or the frequency with which Anna Nicole Smith's name is mentioned on each episode of "Entertainment Tonight" -- and get to some really meaty stuff.

To wit:

If you add up the letters in "Greg Nickels" and "tunnel option," you get 23.

If Boeing hews to its long-held numbering system, the commercial airliner that replaces the 737 is likely to be the 797. You do the math.

Lindsay Lohan was born on 7/2/86. Tally it up.

"The Ed Sullivan Show" ran for 23 seasons.

When you have 24 bottles of beer on the wall and you take one down and pass it around, there are 23 bottles of beer on the wall. Intriguing, no?

If you add up the letters in "Clay Bennett," "Sonics" and "Renton," you arrive at 23.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana completed 23 passes in Super Bowl XXIII.

Count the letters in the names of these famous pairs and, well, you get the picture: Neil Armstrong/Buzz Aldrin; Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers; Jean Enersen/Any Anchorman.

Tavolata, the new Italian restaurant from Seattle chef/entrepreneur Ethan Stowell, is at 2323 Second Ave. (And guess how many total letters there are in "Tavolata," "Seattle" and "E. Stowell.")

A British government report estimates that, as a result of global warming caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases, sea levels could rise by 23 feet.

Coincidence?

Perhaps. But ignore "The Number 23" and you most certainly will have to deal with the inevitable sequel: "The Letters B, O, G, U, S."

-- Wanda Fewker, Denny Regraid

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