Running Numbers

A scholarly look at the digits that matter.

by Nick Norlen

1 Rank — among all the branches, in terms of fiscal excellence — of the Philadelphia chapter of Variety: The Children's Charity, which will hold one of its largest fundraisers, "Old Newsboys' Day," on Sept. 19. Starting at 11 a.m., volunteers will sell the Happiness Edition newspaper on street corners throughout Center City, in restaurants and at PATCO stations. Sounds totally legit to me.

4 Number of steps — find a parking spot, insert coins into meter, set up park, enjoy — that it will take to participate in 2008 Park(ing) Day Philadelphia on Sept. 19, when citizens are encouraged to "transform parking spaces around the city into temporary active or passive green spaces" to reduce the impact of automobile use. Details at blog.parkingdayphilly.com. Just be careful not to set up near those aggressive newsies.

$100 Projected value of the grand prize goody basket that'll be raffled off during Philadelphia Knit in Public Day, starting at 11 a.m. on Sept. 20 in Rittenhouse Square. Tickets for the raffle — which benefits the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society — will be available at the event, which is sponsored by the Third Street Ravelers, who, from what I gather, are some kind of knitting gang. So don't go trying to snatch the goody baskets.

766,000 Number of jobs supported by the Philadelphia region's creative industries, according to Innovation Philadelphia, the economic development organization that will host "createAdelphia: The Philly Creative Jobs Event" from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 25 at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Job seekers with three to five years' experience will be able to court employment in fields including architecture, design, IT, communications, marketing, photography and music, film and video production. Call 215-496-8185 or e-mail nkenney@innovationphiladelphia.com for info. Representatives from the periodical-hawking, knitting and parking-space-redesign industries may appear.

5,318,008 Number, as any sixth-grade schoolboy will tell you, that must be typed into a calculator for it to display the word "boobies" when turned upside down. Feel free to impart that knowledge to any ignorant fellow pub-crawlers during "Brews for Boobies," a benefit for the American Breast Cancer Foundation on Sept. 20 in Old City. A $25 donation gets participants a T-shirt and food and drink discounts at participating bars, including Sugarmom's, Society Hill Tavern and the Khyber. Registration and details at brewstudio.net. Did you really need to turn the paper upside down?

Hey ... 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.