Off-Topic -- the Coincidences Discussion - 2016

[Terri]

aaahhhhhh!!!!!!

[Fishface]

Ok, I just read Category 5: The Story of Camille, Lessons Unlearned from America's Most Violent Hurricane, right? (It was great!) Well, I was struck by the fact that one of the unlikely survivors of the storm was named Camille -- a man named Camille Gomez, in fact.

So on top of that, I started back at work today and sat down with a co-worker to discuss a case he was transferring to me. Imagine my surprise when he told me that we need a release to talk to one of the parents. The mom. Whose name turns out to be Camille.

[Fishface]

I was on the highway today, listening to a disc by Galactic, a funk band from New Orleans. Almost every song on the album mentions Mardi Gras. So as I'm driving along, minding my own business, this other car passes me, and I notice that the license plate reads "FAT2SDY."

[Fishface]

This one is a double decker: Just last night I was describing the Vincent Chin murder to someone, they used a baseball bat, etc., and commenting on how rare it is to even find an Asian Detroiter if you want to victimize one. Well, this morning I was driving to work and heard about an even rarer one: in the whiter-than-white county I live in, there was a story about an attempted baseball-bat killing of an Asian man here. And his name is Andy Chen, which is uncommonly close considering the odds that his name could just as easily have been Wu or Huang or you name it.

And when I pulled up the story online, the perp bore a striking resemblance to the last local crime case I remember posting here, the guy who kicked his pregnant girlfriend in the gut before strangling her and then throwing his dog across the room. Gee I love living here sometimes.

[Fishface]

Another "you ask, you get" coincidence. In The Devil You Know, which I just finished, someone joked that the archive security guard was so calm because he's into meditation, adding that "maybe he's only a butterfly that dreamed he was a security guard." I knew that was a reference to something in the classics but I couldn't call it up. Now, on page 95 of Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler, the author explained where it came from: Chuang-Tzu had a dream that he was a butterfly, and woke up uncertain whether that was the dream, or whether he was a butterfly dreaming of being a man. Voila!


"'I'm an insect who dreamed he was a man and loved it. But now the dream is over, and the insect is awake." -- Brundlefly

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

I was at a knitting show yesterday and i had my, "i learned to knit in prison" canvas bag. I bought some graph paper notebooks from a vendor, and the woman with her noticed it and remarked, about the woman selling the notebooks, "Her mother taught inmates to knit."

[Shelley]

I had never heard the expression "gonna get got" until I hear while watching The Wire. The next day my husband asked what it meant. He heard it on another show. We had to google it. lol

I should explain that we had to first replay the show with the subtitles on to get the words said. That was half the battle.

BTW: "The Wire" is an excellent show that I am watching now for the first time. I am learning lots of new expressions. :)

[Fishface]

For over a week now, this one guy from my graduating class has been popping into my head a lot, for no special reason. His name is so common that he's impossible to Google for, so I was reduced to vaguely wondering what he's been up to. The closest I came Googling was a guy with the right name and the right face, but he was 3 years older and it was a prison mugshot. Not too encouraging. Well, today he popped up on LinkedIn, with a photo and everything so I knew it was the right guy. And he's not in prison -- he's actually a cop. :)

[Fishface]

So today I was adding Robben Borrero's murder to the True Crime Anniversaries, and I looked him up because it didn't ring any bells as far as a TC book. I didn't find that, but I did find that a movie loosely based on his murder, CRUISING, was written by William Friedkin. That struck me funny because just the day before, I posted an animated gif here at GR of the most famous William Friedkin movie of all, THE EXORCIST. And here's that gif again, because I kind of love it:



And here's one from CRUISING:

[K.A.]

That dancing does not look like fun. It looks like dancercise.

[Koren]

A while back we talked about reading and listening to the radio or tv at the same time and hearing a word on the tv or radio at the same time we read it in the book. I almost always have something on when I'm reading so this happens to me almost every day. Today I was reading an obit in the newspaper of a 21 year old girl that had died from carbon monoxide poisoning. At the exact same time I read that she used to work at Anytime Fitness there was an ad on the radio for Anytime Fitness.

[Fishface]

I thought I posted my David Bowie one here -- maybe it was on another discussion forum. But it was a lulu. On January 10th, the anniversary of the great man's death, I was stumping out to my car thinking about how I could possibly be living in a world that's been without David Bowie for a full year. Because that's not right. Well, I turned the key in the ignition and the radio was on, as always -- the first thing I heard was Ozzy Osborne saying "See you on the other side..."

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "I thought I posted my David Bowie one here -- maybe it was on another discussion forum. But it was a lulu. On January 10th, the anniversary of the great man's death, I was stumping out to my car th..."

Wow! Hope I don't see Ozzy on the other side! He's kind of scary looking.

[Fishface]

Awww, he looks kinds sweet to me...

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "Awww, he looks kinds sweet to me...

"

OHHHH Kay!

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

Fishface wrote: "Awww, he looks kinds sweet to me...

"

Girrrrrl

[Fishface]

Two coincidences in one day! OK, I was watching CAPOTE again night before last, for the first time since it originally came out. Yesterday, on the way to lunch, I noticed a name up on a marquee at the funeral home. The name was Holcomb! The name of the town where the murders happened in In Cold Blood!

Also yesterday, I passed a business where the grandmother of a couple of my clients works, and I started wondering how that family is doing these days since I haven't seen them in a while. They were on my mind all morning. They were still on my mind when I came out of a school meeting, and I noticed a very cute little blue car in the parking lot. I walked by it, and who was sitting in the blue car but that same grandmother!

[Fishface]

ANOTHER coincidence related to the one in Message 259. Paul Bateson, who was arrested and convicted of one of the murders generally lumped in with the serial-murder case commemorated in CRUISING, appeared as an actor in THE EXORCIST. William Friedkin, who wrote the script for THE EXORCIST, also wrote the script for CRUISING.

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "Two coincidences in one day! OK, I was watching CAPOTE again night before last, for the first time since it originally came out. Yesterday, on the way to lunch, I noticed a name up on a marquee at ..."

That happens to me too, where you think of someone you haven't seen in a long time and then you see them. There is a couple in our town that we didn't see for years, even though they just live a few blocks away. They have kids the age of our kids, she used to be their bus driver and the guy worked at the nursing home I used to work. All of sudden it seems like we see them every time we go somewhere.

[Susan]

Fishface wrote: "Here's one that doesn't give me a boost. I was just wondering whatever happened to a guy from another department at work who retired over the summer. Well, a co-worker came staggering in and said s..."

That's a bit creepy. Are there really such things as coincidences?

[Susan]

Coincidence? I drafted a short story a couple of decades ago while I was living in a small house in a very rural community in Missouri. While I was writing it I got so creeped out that I had goosebumps, so I figured it would be a good story to submit. That same day, for no reason at all, my landlord decided to share the story of the elderly woman who had fallen down the stairs of that old house and died. I ended up moving shortly thereafter.

[Fishface]

I have been surrounded by people named Walker lately. Even the last book I finished, Cruising, which I sought out after learning the movie of the same name was based on it, proves to be written by a guy with that name. It's far from a rare name but it usually doesn't come up on a daily basis, you know?

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

I was reading the TC Anniversary thread and did a search on the two murderers executed together. (Edit: Judd Gray and Ruth Snyder were executed together -- touching! -- on this day. See The "Double Indemnity" Murder: Ruth Snyder, Judd Gray, and New York's Crime of the Century.) Damon Runyon wrote about the crime which he dubbed "the dumbbell murder" cause they were so dumb.

Then I opened my new anthology of true crime book i just bought .... to the account he wrote.

[Koren]

Yesterday (Feb. 2), I started American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History by Chris Kyle. I knew this guy was killed after he wrote the book. Today I decided to google when he was killed. I found out he was killed Feb. 2, 2013.

[Fishface]

So, yesterday I got caught up on the TC anniversaries, starting with February 9th, or 2/9, which is a huge day for those. I was thrilled to find a whole new photo of Myrlene Severe for that day, among other things. So today I went to the dentist and learned, to my horror, that I have my very first cavity ever. Tooth #29. And just now when I parked my car and reached to turn it off, the clock on the dashboard said 12:09.

[Shelley]

Your first cavity ever! Holy moly. Wish I had your teeth!

This made me feel a little better about myself.

If Julia Roberts has fillings ...

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "So, yesterday I got caught up on the TC anniversaries, starting with February 9th, or 2/9, which is a huge day for those. I was thrilled to find a whole new photo of Myrlene Severe for that day, am..."

First cavity ever? Wow! Did they give you the gas? I love the gas.

[K.A.]

I had no cavities as a child, several in my twenties - and none since. Weird. Not like I changed my diet or anything.

[Fishface]

I haven't had it worked on yet, Koren. That happens in March. I'm planning to demand a recount because the tooth they showed me looked just like all the other teeth in the x-ray. I'm seeing the other dentist for the drilling itself, so...

...oh, and when I was reaching to turn off the car to come inside (I'm at the library), I saw it was 12:09.

[Fishface]

So I was checking to make sure I didn't have any unpaid bills on my nightstand, and noticed the page of Harvey Milk stamps tucked behind the alarm clock. There was a new, prominent display of the same stamps in the glass-fronted case at the post office this morning. And so I'm eating lunch and reading Too Pretty To Live: The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee, and what did I learn but that one of the false identities assumed by the mastermind of the killings was "Dan White" -- the name of the guy who murdered Harvey Milk.

[Fishface]

Another coincidence from Too Pretty To Live: The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee. There is a lot of talk about the CIA in here and I was startled to see that one of the CIA agents in this story is named Miranda Gaddis. She shares her rather unusual name with one of the victims of serial killer Ward Weaver III:

[Fishface]

Another one of those funny little moments. I was watching GOOD MORNING VIETNAM last night and Robin Williams looked at the clock on the wall of the broadcast studio and saw that it was exactly 10 o'clock. I looked up at my own wall clock, and what do you know -- it was exactly 10 o'clock.

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "Another one of those funny little moments. I was watching GOOD MORNING VIETNAM last night and Robin Williams looked at the clock on the wall of the broadcast studio and saw that it was exactly 10 o..."

Weird.

[Fishface]

The book I finished this morning, The Sound Of Murder, mentioned Brighton, England about a dozen times. I just started Escape from Evil: Married at 17 to a Serial Killer, She's One Victim Who Escaped and that takes place in and around Brighton, England.

I am, of course, typing this at the Brighton, MI library.

[Fishface]

Still feeling sad after a double feature of Bill Paxton movies after his sudden death, I decided to change the subject entirely and watched THAT THING YOU DO! to try to cheer up a little. Imagine my surprise when I learned that an important character in the story is named...Del Paxton.

[Fishface]

I finally found the poor guy's name on Google. How's this for a coincidence?

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/22/us/...

[K.A.]

Wow.

[Shelley]

OMG

[Rita]

Fishface wrote: "I finally found the poor guy's name on Google. How's this for a coincidence?

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/22/us/..."

Wowsers! I get goosebumps....!

[Fishface]

Another one from Escape from Evil: Married at 17 to a Serial Killer, She's One Victim Who Escaped. I've just reached the part where Cathy and her little family are moving away from Brighton, England...to Livingston, Scotland.

The city of Brighton, MI, where I am typing this, is in Livingston County.

[Fishface]

Fishface wrote: "I've just reached the part where Cathy and her little family are moving away from Brighton, England...to Livingston, Scotland.

The city of Brighton, MI, where I am typing this, is in Livingston County. "

And the last book I finished, Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel, mentioned Brighton as one of the places the central character in the story went looking for a cure. And now I'm reading The Jersey Shore Thrill Killer: Richard Biegenwald and they mentioned Brighton, New Jersey. Sheesh.

[Rita]

Fishface wrote: "Fishface wrote: "I've just reached the part where Cathy and her little family are moving away from Brighton, England...to Livingston, Scotland.

The city of Brighton, MI, where I am typing this, i..."

Ohhhhh....another goose-bump coincidence! Dang!

[Koren]

Another coincidence where I'm reading and hear the same words I'm reading on the radio. I was going to a place I had never been before and reading the words 'parking lot' on the sign at the exact same time I heard those same words on the radio.

[Rita]

Koren wrote: "Another coincidence where I'm reading and hear the same words I'm reading on the radio. I was going to a place I had never been before and reading the words 'parking lot' on the sign at the exact s..."

Koren, I LOVE when that happens. It is like some sort of connection you had.

[K.A.]

Well, some people are fortunate and have connections with, say, the Taj Mahal. Koren has connections with parking lots.

[Koren]

Reading Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid Who Found the Way by Jimmy Wayne, there is a person in the book named Carla Moore who is a social worker in Kentucky. My ex-husband has a niece named Carla Moore who is a social worker in Minnesota.

[Fishface]

I was just at Pinterest, rejoicing because it will finally let me pin crime scenes again -- I waited weeks to add Ricky Stetson! -- and I came across a pin of a bar of soap labelled "SOAP FOR LOSER MAGNETS: Smells Like A String Of Bad Relationships." Right next to it? A pin of Jeff Dahmer.

It just made me wonder exactly what those bad relationships smell like...

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "I was just at Pinterest, rejoicing because it will finally let me pin crime scenes again -- I waited weeks to add Ricky Stetson! -- and I came across a pin of a bar of soap labelled "SOAP FOR LOSER..."

You should get it and let us know.

[Koren]

This made me rise me raise my eyebrows a little:

Got a book from the library yesterday about haunted places in Minnesota called Mysterious Minnesota: Digging Up the Ghostly Past at 13 Haunted Sites by Adrian Lee. Just browsing through and read the author bio which said he is a paranormal investigator, a Reiki healer, a tarot card reader and a psychic medium. Thinking I had no idea what a Reiki healer is, I picked up the next book I am reading called Elmer Left by Kate Leibfried (who is actually a relative of mine so you should check it out). The SECOND paragraph I read said: One of my friends suggested I try Reiki, which is a kind of spiritual healing. The Reiki master works with your aura, identifies your problems- your blockages- and helps fix them. They channel energy through their hands and heal the damaged parts of your aura. They restore your body to its natural rhythm and flow."

[Fishface]

Weirdness, Koren!

In a related moment of weirdness, I noticed a string of Manson Family books had been removed for some crazy reason from the Helter Skelter shelf, and as I was adding them back I realized I was on page 187 of the TC shelves. "187" is police radio code for "Homicide."