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American Morning
Tonight at 8:02 PM, Day, Date and Time Will be Aligned in Perfect Palindromic Harmony
Aired February 20, 2002 - 07:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well talk about a moment in time, tonight at exactly 8:02 PM, day, date and time will all be aligned in perfect palindromic harmony. In military time, 8:02 will be 20:02 on the 20th day of the second month. That's 02 in the year 2002. It is a palindrome. And that hasn't happened since the year 1111 and will not happen again until 2112, just in case you're keeping note.
So enjoy those 60 seconds while they last. And as you might imagine, some are reading into this rare moment of symmetry. Mark Saltveit is the editor of the "Palindromist Magazine." He joins us from Portland, Oregon.
Thanks for being with us. Remind us exactly what a palindrome is.
MARK SALTVEIT, EDITOR, "PALINDROMIST MAGAZINE": Sure. A palindrome is a word or a number or even a song that's the same backwards and forwards. Such as this year, 2002, of course is exactly the same backwards.
COOPER: Now do you put any significance to this moment tonight that's going to occur at 8:02 PM?
SALTVEIT: Well I'm not a big mystic. I think it's a good occasion for a party. And, you know, these kind of events -- just like New Year's Day, which is arguably just as artificial -- are good occasions to step back, reflect a little.
COOPER: So I guess the staff over at the "Palindromist Magazine" won't be having any seances tonight?
SALTVEIT: No. We're going meet at a comedy club and have a drink, I think.
COOPER: Because there is -- there's one psychic in Israel who is apparently saying that this is a moment that has a great super natural aura and that it's going to be a moment of harmonic convergence. You know, by...
SALTVEIT: There is also a Web site, Worldharmonyday.com, which is, in my view, good for a laugh. But they have -- want to have the whole world praying together for peace at exactly 8:02 and 8:03 PM.
COOPER: Do you have a favorite palindrome?
SALTVEIT: Oh, absolutely. It's...
COOPER: I (UNINTELLIGIBLE), frankly.
SALTVEIT: Yeah. This was one that a mathematician who was cracking the Nazi's enigma code in World War II wrote. He wrote, "Doc, note I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod." That entire thing's a palindrome...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: It's quite a long palindrome. Because they're usually -- my favorite is "Golf, no sir. Prefer prison flog."
SALTVEIT: Right. Or most people's favorite, I think -- the consensus favorite is, "A man, a plan a canal, Panama." (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Panama Canal, of course.
COOPER: Is there any good rule of thumb for creating a palindrome? Any advice...
SALTVEIT: Yeah. A very good rule of thumb is to start with the word in the middle. Don't try to get two words that are the opposite and work your way inward. You'll never finish it off. Start with a word that you just notice has another word inside it backwards; probably an extra letter or two. And then just look up in the dictionary and finish them off on either side.
COOPER: And who created the first palindrome?
SALTVEIT: Well, there was an ancient Alexandrian Greek named Sotatis (ph) The Obscene in about the 300 B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt.
COOPER: Sotatis The Obscene?
SALTVEIT: That's right. He was known for writing street verse that was, well, dirty. Kind of -- not unlike certain rap music today. It was kind of street lingo and very exciting and raw and dangerous.
COOPER: Did he get fame and fortunate?
SALTVEIT: He got executed...
COOPER: Oh.
SALTVEIT: ... as well as fame and fortune. He insulted Epertolame (ph) after he married his sister and was thrown in a lead cask and sunk in the Mediterranean.
COOPER: All right. Well palindromes will bring you to no good end, I suppose. Thanks very much for being with us this morning.
SALTVEIT: All right. Sure.
COOPER: The moment tonight is at 8:02 PM. It is a moment of palindromic fantasy, I don't know.
SALTVEIT: Purity.
COOPER: Palindromic purity, there you go. 20:02 2002 22 (ph). Great. Thanks very much for being with us.
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