"23"

Seen on the jerseys of sporting megadudes such as US basketballer Michael Jordan, Aussie cricketer Shane Warne (who passed it on to Michael Clarke) and English footballer David Beckham.

The title of a German true-crime flick about two '80s computer hackers who spied for the Russians. One, Karl Koch, was obsessed with the significance of 23 - thanks to reading Shea and Wilson's conspiracy-linking "Illuminatus!" novels - and met a suspicious, fiery end. (I have a VHS copy somewhere, taped off SBS.)

Also the name of the 2005 debut album by American singer-guitarist Tristan Prettyman, though she writes it "Twentythree". (As pop-rock goes, it's a bit undercooked - TP was way hotter when I saw her live at The Basement.)

Is the number of days in my vacation, which began today!