Weekend Pick and Mix

Gravity, the movie

We saw Gravity this week - had meant to see in at an IMAX theatre while in Columbus, but Ohio's Revenge got me. The movie is technically brilliant, hard to know just how some of those effects were perfected. Even so, I was a bit disappointed. I found the unrelenting feelings of tension went on too long. The movie is only 90 minutes long, but an hour would have been sufficient for the part we saw, with 15 minutes tacked on at each end to outline what led up to the story at the beginning, and more detail at the end of the full outcome. I'll say no more in case a passing reader is waiting to see the film.



Solar

Husband left me an article from a local newspaper: "Utilities, solar companies fight over rates."

Snip~

"Some power companies are proposing an extra fee for solar customers. Others are trying to roll back or block programs that allow those customers to trade the solar power they generate during sunny days for power they need from the grid during other times.

As rooftop solar extends from a niche product to a mainstream way to save money on power bills, utilites are afraid they will lose so many customers - and revenue - that they won't be able to afford to build and maintain the grid.............."

It's a pity that some (all?) power companies have been so short-sighted as to not get into the solar market from the very beginning. But then, in Oklahoma they wouldn't would they - 'cos their Senator, James Inhofe says global warming is a hoax.


Racial

Another of those bogus pieces trying to stir up racial argument.

How race affects who audiences forgive - Woody Allen and Roman Polanski get a pass from white audiences for abuse allegations - black artists don't. By Feminista Jones

I was glad to note that most commenters felt as I did, that this type of article is unhelpful and pretty darn worthless.

America

If anyone hasn't seen this piece by Eric Idle, formerly of Monty Python:
America the Half Beautiful,
do take a look. It's a good read. I responded, loudly, with "Hear hear!"

(More on Eric Idle and his natal chart in a post, Monday Mirthmaker, HERE.)

Strong Mind or Good Eye?

Here's something I saved a while ago, have lost my note of the website from whence it came, so I cannot link to its origin - my apologies to whom it may concern!

Well...can you read it? I stumbled over the first 2 lines then quickly "got my eye in" and read it quite easily. Strong mind - moi .....they might think that, I couldn't possibly comment. ;-)

MONDAY MIRTHMAKER ~~ Eric Idle

It's hardly fair of me to single out just one of the Monty Pythons, when as a group they comprised nothing short of comedy genius, but it'd take pages and hours to investigate them all, so I've picked my favourite, the one who always made me laugh most often.

Let's see where Eric Idle's astrological funny-bone lies. He co-wrote many Monty Python sketches as well as acting in them, and since the group split up he has gone on to write and perform in all manner of comedy projects.
Details at Wikipedia.


Born on 29 March 1943 in South Shields, UK at 1:20 pm (Astrodatabank)



I'm not looking to interpret the whole chart here, just to pinpoint any factors which may relate to his talent for comedy.

A strong impulsive and spontaneous streak is always helpful in comedy and it comes here via Aries Sun conjunct Mercury - quick responses are what comic timing is all about. Even better, Sun/Mercury in Aries is closely sextile Uranus/Saturn in Gemini -this is a harmonious link to Uranus, the inventive planet of the unexpected, and here it's blended with Saturn, the more old-fashioned, rigid, but business oriented planet, which has probably, over the years been instrumental in keeping Eric's talent harnessed from going right over the edge. In the absence of this Saturn placement, who knows where his impulsive zanyness might have led - possibly not to the almost universal admiration, wealth and fame he now enjoys.

Neptune in Libra is in trine to Uranus in Gemini - this is a harmony between inventive Uranus and creative Neptune that all in Eric Idle's age group will share, but in his case, being linked via the sextile Uranus/Sun, it becomes far more effective in his nature.

Eric's Leo ascendant is no surprise - he's equally talented as performer and writer, a definite plus. Many writers need solitude and withdrawal - not Eric!


He loves to sing too, but only funny songs: "Galaxy Song" and "Always Look On the Bright side of Life" for instance. Venus, planet of the arts including music, lies in its own sign, Taurus and is tightly linked by semi-sextile on one side to Sun/Mercury and on the other to Uranus/Saturn, bringing the melodic gifts of Venus into play.




Here's a video compiled by another fan of Eric Idle, featuring a string of very brief clips from some of his best Monty Python work.

Lyrically Tagged

I've been tagged to write about 5-10 songs that had an impact on my life. I want to relate this in some way to astrology, so I'm going to bend the rules a little.

Thanks Michelle, at Crow's Feet and Jeff at Psychosomatic Wit .

The rules:
1. Each person who wants to join in has to write about
5-10 songs that had an impact on them in their life.
2. They should link back to me as well as Michelle and Jeff.
3. Then, if so inclined, tag one to five more people.

OK.

Singers and singer/songwriters seem to affect me more when there's some astrological connection between my natal chart and theirs. I've been surprised to note this, but it's true enough.

Everything Neil Diamond has ever written and sung always "hit the spot" for me. I've known for a long time that he's a Sun Aquarian, but with the computer came extra evidence that his Sun is only a degree from my own, his Mars is 5 degrees away from my Venus in Sagittarius. We're of the same generation - early Pluto in Leos with Uranus in Taurus and Neptune in Virgo. To pick one special song from those he's written is well nigh impossible. Let's see - "I Am, I Said" says how I've often felt, "Red, Red Wine", and "Longfellow Serenade" also come immediately to mind.

"Well, I'm New York City born and raised
But nowadays, I'm lost between two shores
LA's fine, but it ain't home
New York's home but it ain't mine no more"
(Substitute England for New York, and Oklahoma for LA - and it fits!)

Songs - any songs - from two famous Sun Sagittarians always soak right in. Frank Sinatra's Sun and Mercury conjoin my Venus in Sagittarius, he had Jupiter in Pisces like me, too. How to choose a song from the Sinatra repertoire? Off the top of my head - "Love's been good to me", and "Witchcraft", but literally any and every song he has ever sung becomes, for me, the definitive version. "My Way" always makes me smile, too - it fits me like a glove!

Tina Turner, another Sagittarian Sun, has Venus in Sagittarius within degrees of my own Venus, her Saturn in Aries matches mine and is also within minutes of my Moon. She's of my generation too. "Simply the Best" has always made me feel happy, and anything she sings grabs my attention.

Paul Simon is a songwriting genius. Those early songs he sang with Art Garfunkel are true modern classics, I can listen anytime anywhere and am always entranced. "American Tune" sends shivers down my spine, being a (legal) immigrant in the USA. Paul's Mars at 16 Aries is 4 degrees from my Moon. His Moon is 3 degrees away from my Cancer ascendant, and his Mercury conjoins my North Node in Scorpio.

"We come on a ship we call the Mayflower,
We come on a ship that sailed the moon
We come at the age's most uncertain hour
And sing the American tune
But it's all right, its all right
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's gonna be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest,
That's all, I'm trying to get some rest."


Eric Idle can always make me laugh. His "Galaxy Song" from Monty Python is priceless.
His natal Jupiter is smack dab on my Cancer ascendant, his Sun in Aries is 5 degrees from my Moon, and his Mars 8 degrees from my Sun. The last lines of "Galaxy Song" always crack me up -

"So remember when you're feeling very small and insecure how amazingly unlikely is your birth
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space ''cause there's bugger all down here on Earth."

I'm tagging my husband Anyjazz, at "Thinks Happen" and Chrispito , at Astroturf- who I suspect might enjoy this challenge.....and anyone else who'd like to join in, of course.