Roman Edirisinghe

According to Wikipedia, 33 is:

• the largest positive integer that can not be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers.
• the atomic number of arsenic
• the “smile to the camera” word in Spanish, as is “cheese” in English. Diga treinta y tres (“Say thirty-three”) is the same as “Say cheese”
• a recurring, important number to the Freemasons, used often in their sacred rituals

33 was also:

• Jesus‘ alleged age at his crucifixion in 33 A.D. (historically unverified)
• The age of Alexander the Great when he died

For the sake of amusement, here are Biblical references:

• Genesis 33, Exodus 33, Numbers 33, Deuteronomy 33, 2 Chronicles 33, Job 33, Psalm 33, Isaiah 33, Jeremiah 33, Ezekiel 33

And from Islamic Holy Q’uran:

• Surah (chapter) 33, Aayah (verse) 33

33 in 69 languages, in order of complexity, highest to lowest (from A Playground of Thoughts):

1. Huli: ngui ki, ngui tebone-gonaga tebira
2. Ndom: tondor abo mer an thef abo ithin
3. Nimbia: gume bi ni tanran
4. Hindi: tayntees
5. Tzotzil: ‘ox lajuneb xcha’-vinik
6. Ainu: rep ikasma wanpe etu hotnep
7. Alamblak: yima yohtti tir hosfi hosfirpat
8. Nahuatl: cem-pöhualli-om-mahtlactli-om-ëyi
9. Malagasy: telo amby telopolo
10. Yoruba: metalelogbon
11. Welsh (Traditional): tri ar ddeg ar hugain
12. Breton: tri / teir ha tregont
13. Manx: tree-jeig as feed
14. Scots Gaelic: trì deug air fhichead
15. Georgian: otsdatsamet’i
16. Danish: treogtredive
17. Javanese: telung puluh telu
18. Latin: tr?gint? tr?s
19. French: trente-trois
20. Zulu: amashumi amathathu nantathu
21. Basque: hogei ta hamairu
22. Arabic: thalâthata wa thalâthûn (masculine), thalâth wa thalâthûn (feminine)
23. Ganda: amakumi asatu mu ssatu
24. Maltese: tlieta u tletin
25. Assyrian: klaay-‘td’laa
26. Kurmanji: sî û sisê
27. Dutch: drieendertig
28. German: dreiunddreißig
29. Swahili: thelathini na tatu
30. Ojibwa: nisimidana ashi niswi
31. Italian: trentatré
32. Spanish: treinta y tres
33. Swiss French: trente-trois
34. Tigrinya: selasan-selesten
35. Turkish: otuz üç
36. Balkan Romani: tránda-te-trin
37. Hungarian: harminchárom
38. Tagalog: tatlumpu’t tatlo
39. Polari: trey dacha and trey
40. Scots: thertie three
41. English: thirty-three
42. Norwegian: trettitre
43. Swedish: trettiotre
44. Sukuma: makumiadatu na idatu
45. Hawaiian: kanakoluk?m?kolu
46. Finnish: kolmekymmentäkolme
47. Estonian: kolmkümmend kolm
48. Romanian: treizeci ?i trei
49. Ancient Japanese: misodi amari mitu (ancient), misoji amari mittsu (modern)
50. Kiribati: tenibwi ma tenua
51. Wolof: ñetta fukka ak ñetta
52. Croatian: trideset-tri
53. Seneca: së niwashê së
54. Indonesian: tiga puluh tiga
55. Mandinka: ta? saba ni? saba
56. Wu Chinese: ??? sezhekse
57. Tok Pisin: tripela ten tri
58. Vietnamese: ba mu’o’i ba
59. Igbo: iri ato. na ato.
60. Thai: s?hm sìp s?hm
61. Welsh (Modern): tri deg tri
62. Aymara: kimsa-tunka-kimsani
63. Cuzco Quechua: kinsa chunka kinsa-yoq
64. Chinook Wawa: klone tahtlum pe klone
65. Mandarin: ??? s?nshi s?n
66. Japanese: ??? sanjû san
67. Cantonese: ??? saam¹sap⁶saam¹ (Cantonese has six tones, and they are given by numbers after syllables. The tone number means: 1 – high level, 2 – high rising, 3 – middle level, 4 – low falling, 5 – low rising, and 6 – low level.)
68. Esperanto: tridek tri
69. Tongan: tolu tolu

Blogger Gene Smith has a list of 33 things on his blog, Atomiq.

The Tr?yastri??a, or the Heaven of Thirty Three Gods, is referenced in Buddhist Cosmology.

Today is World Vegan Day, the Day of the Dead (Día de Los Muertos), Samhain Day, and All Saints’ Day.

Can you guess anything else about this day?

I was not impressed with The Lost City, Andy Garcia’s movie about Cuba. My biggest problem is the fact that it was done in English, and the occasional Spanish words, including Havana, were grossly mispronounced. A movie set in Cuba should be spoken en Español.

For some reason, the English was tough to understand. The fake accents were somehow unable to reach my brain. What I did digest, however, is the following bit of ancient wisdom:

The bird is in the beak
Edith is weak

Asymptomatic has a great post referencing an online course in Japanese.
Antipixel also links to another site referencing free language courses at MIT.

Whilst idly browsing the web, I stumbled across some free resources for learning the German language!
via Deutsche Welle

One thing leads to another: I found an area of BBC dedicated to learning foreign languages, and then found another free online resource for learning German! What an excellent find! BBC features beginners’ online courses, audio magazines, and more! If only I had the time and motivation to take advantage of it!
via BBC – Languages