Running Numbers

A scholarly look at the digits that matter.

by Nick Norlen

4706 Year, according to the Chinese, that will begin Feb. 7. Celebrate the Year of the Rat with Chef Joseph Poon's traditional 10-course Chinese New Year Banquet served family-style for groups of six or more every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through March 31, with seatings at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Reservations are required, so call 215-500-9774 or e-mail info@josephpoon.com. Ten courses? More like year of the fat.

$610 Cost of either of the two sets of near-courtside seats — face-valued at $305 apiece — that are available for the next 17 Sixers' home games, according to the Jan. 25 listing on philadelphia.craigslist.org/tix. Tickets also include "admission into the Lexus courtside club where you can order upscale food & drink items & mingle with celebrities if that's your thing." Actually, ordering upscale food and drink items is my thing. Now stop copping my style and get me a Beefeater Gibson.

42 Number of days until the first day of spring, which the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is anticipating by offering two installments of its City Gardening Series: "Growing Herbs Indoors," featuring horticultural therapist Mona Gold, F eb. 8, from 11 a.m. to noonat the Perzel Community Center, 2990 St. Vincent St.; and "Seed Starting Indoors" with master gardener Robin Potter, Feb. 13, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the South Philadelphia Branch of the Free Library, 1700 S. Broad St. Growing Herbs Indoors? Robin Potter? Seriously, Horticultural Society, you could be a little more subtle.

10 Approximate number of gallons of beer that will be available during Triumph Brewery's ceremonial barrel tapping Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Philly location, 117 Chestnut St. Tappings are held on the first Thursday of every month, when "German-style wooden barrels will pour forth new and unusual beers from somewhere deep inside the brewer's cave." Um, can we skip the barrel tapping and go directly to the tour of the brewer's cave?

8 Number of gigabytes of storage in the iPod Touch that you will become eligible to win by taking the same number of minutes, at most, to fill out an online survey as part of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's long-range plan for the greater Philadelphia region: "Connections — The Regional Plan for a Sustainable Future." Visit dvrpc.org/connections to participate. This time, forget the hot-air balloon ferries and be sure to suggest more brewers' caves.

Can I get your digits? I want to hear about the numerals you need to see. Let a number runner know at runningnumbers@gmail.com.