It all started in Moorhead, MN on a cold January night in 1974 during my sophomore year at Concordia College. I was a member of the varsity basketball team and on this particular night I was sitting next to one of my teammates as I watched the Concordia freshman basketball team play prior to the varsity game. (yes, they did that in those days).
It was during the first half of the freshman game that it happened.....the ball was knocked out of bounds by a Concordia player and the game clock of course stopped....at this moment my teammate came out of his seat and pointed with glee at the time showing on the game clock ......the time on the clock was 11:11. My teammate then pointed out to me that 11:11 was a very unique and special time on a digital clock because it's the only time that all four digits are the same number. He also went to say how much he loved the symmetry of seeing all four 1's showing at the same time....it was pure perfection in his eyes....it was at this moment that I too became hooked on the time of 11:11.
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| There it was....my first 11:11 |
I proceeded to spread the gospel of 11:11 to all of my friends. Some totally bought into it, others just laughed about my fascination with this particular time and they never really grasped the concept. In any event, my small group of 11:11 disciples have continued to look for and enjoy the time of 11:11 throughout our lives. If a game clock at a sporting event stops at 11:11 it is considered a religious moment. In addition to the game clock phenomenon it's considered to be good luck if you see the time of 11:11 on any digital clock during the course of the day. (you would be amazed at how many times you look at a clock and the time is actually 11:11....it's a little scary)
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| See what I mean?....it looks so perfect |
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| Ahhh.... the magical time...the beautiful symmetry |
Every year in November on the date of 11-11 my group of 11-11 disciples meet on a conference phone call at 11:11 am so we can properly celebrate this very special day and the time together. During these yearly calls my fellow 11:11 geeks always talked about how special the year 2011 would be for our group. This of course was because in the month of November 2011 we would have a day that a person will only experience once in a lifetime....yes, I'm talking about the magical date of 11-11-11.....OH MY!!!
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| How can you not love this time? |
Well as you all know November 2011 finally arrived this year. In order to properly celebrate this very historic day, I went into downtown Minneapolis on a mission to find a place that had an address of 1111. The plan was that on this very special day of 11-11-11 my group would gather at 11:11 am outside a building that clearly displayed an address of 1111. The following pictures tell the story of my search......
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| OH MY!.....according to my calculations this building might be "it" |
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| Oh please have the magic address showing....please, oh please, oh please. |
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| Hmmmm...this building is actually a bar called the "Bullfrog Cajun Bar" |
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| YES!!!....I struck gold......The Bullfrog is "it".....1111 Hennepin Ave |
The plan was now in place....my group would meet outside the Bullfrog Cajun Bar located at 1111 Hennepin Avenue at 11:11 am on 11-11-11 and the celebration would begin.
Highlights of the Celebration
-Champagne toast under the 1111 address sign at the Bullfrog bar
-Official kick-off to the day with a beer at the Bullfrog
-Lunch at Brit's Pub
-Toured the law office where one of my 11:11 group works (IDS building)
-Bar hopping downtown
-Attended a Gopher basketball game
-Celebrated 11:11 pm at the Loon Cafe
The following pictures in my photo gallery pretty much tell the story. I will only show pictures of myself......the identity of the other 5 people in my group will not be listed due to privacy laws....my friends don't want to be publicly identified as 11:11 geeks...(they still have important jobs that they need to keep....lawyer, teacher, real estate agent, financial consultant, etc)
PHOTO GALLERY
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| The digital clock on my iphone at the magical moment....truly a thing of beauty |
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| Just another look at 11:11 am on 11-11-11 |
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| The clock just struck 11:11 am....let the celebration begin |
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| The official kick-off to the 11-11-11 celebration at the Bullfrog bar |
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| And before you knew it......it was time to celebrate again...where did the time go? |
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| The celebration is on again.....the clock just struck 11:11 pm at the Loon |
It was a fantastic day and evening....a once in a lifetime experience......and we did it up right!!
