Saturday & Sundries

At Free Will Astrology this week Rob Brezsny told Aquarian types that:

In 1938, a chef named Ruth Wakefield dreamed up a brilliant invention: chocolate chip cookies. She sold her recipe to the Nestlé company in return for one dollar and a lifetime supply of chocolate. Maybe she was happy with that arrangement, but I think she cheated herself........(etc.)

Ms Wakefield did the world a favour! In my opinion, though, choc chip cookies do not beat wonderful British Chocolate Digestives by McVitie. From the Wikipedia page on Digestive Biscuits in general - sc roll down:

Chocolate digestive biscuits also are available, coated on one side with milk, dark or white chocolate. Originally produced by McVitie's in 1925 in the UK as the Chocolate Homewheat Digestive....American travel writer Bill Bryson described the chocolate digestive as "a British masterpiece". The McVitie's chocolate digestive is the most popular biscuit in the UK to dunk into tea.

The Sartorialist website one day this week (a daily stop for me) inadvertently introduced me to another artist I'd not heard of: Ai Weiwei, when The Sartorialist's photographer and the artist decided to take photographs of one another at the same time.

Ai Weiwei, I discovered, once created a set of bronze sculptures representing the Chinese Zodiac
See Zodiac Heads
and The Meaning of Ai Weiwei's 12 Zodiac Heads

An interesting topic upon which to exercise imagination:

The Amazing Cloud Cities we Could Build on Venus by Adam Becker

Space scientists are pouring much time and effort into colonising Mars. But could we also live in the atmosphere of Venus? BBC Future investigates.

Snips:

It’s hot enough to melt lead, the acid rain will scorch the flesh from your bones – and it’s the perfect place to raise a family. Venus, not Mars, might be the off-world destination of choice for future space colonists..........

So how could we ever possibly hope to live there? The key is to avoid the surface. “The problem with Venus is that the surface is too far below the one-Earth-atmosphere [of air pressure] level,” says Geoffrey Landis, the Nasa scientist and science fiction writer who was among the first to propose the idea. “The atmosphere of Venus is the most Earth-like environment in the Solar System (other than the Earth).” Some 50 kilometres (30 miles) above the surface, Venus is surprisingly hospitable........

To live on Venus, then, just fill a balloon with nitrogen and oxygen, and live inside the balloon. A big enough balloon will have enough lifting power to support you and your supplies – and a really big balloon could do even more. “A one-kilometre diameter spherical [balloon] will lift 700,000 tons – two Empire State Buildings. A two-kilometre diameter [balloon] would lift six million tons,” says Landis. “The result would be an environment as spacious as a typical city.”.........

All of which brought to mind this ditty:

Hat-tip to Avedon's Sideshow (link in sidebar) for this -

Watching This Rare Color Film Of London In 1927 Makes You Feel Like You're There, by Emily Davis.

This wonderful short film was shot by early film pioneer Claude Friese-Greene in 1927, and is some of the first-ever color film footage of London.

Which, in turn, brought to mind that we've been watching a new TV series on NBC "Timeless" (mainly because it follows "The Voice", so we're already on TV rather than partaking of Netflix offerings).

We've seen 4 weekly episodes so far. The series is not awful, but it isn't great time travel fare either. The episodes need to be longer, dialogue needs more depth. To date the time travellers have tried: to stop a rogue time traveller from preventing the Hindenberg disaster; from preventing the assassination of Abe Lincoln, from something we hadn't quite worked out, and this week from preventing the Nazis using an atomic weapon on Belgium, and preventing Werner Von Braun from going to work in the USA. What the plot's characters are doing isn't travelling back to change stuff themselves, but to prevent a rogue traveller from changing stuff, and in the process causing numerous potentially catastrophic "butterfly effects".

As we told one another on Monday evening, "This theme, done this way, could get old quite quickly now!"

History Ablaze

Following yesterday's pattern, another historical theme surfaces today: 350 years ago this weekend The Great Fire of London consumed a large part of that famous capital city.

From The Book of Days website
SNIP:

THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

London was only a few months freed from a desolating pestilence, it was suffering, with the country generally, under a most imprudent and ill-conducted war with Holland, when, on the evening of the 2nd of September 1666, a fire commenced by which about two-thirds of it were burned down, including the cathedral, the Royal Exchange, about a hundred parish churches, and a vast number of other public buildings. The conflagration commenced in the house of a baker named Farryner, at Pudding Lane, near the Tower, and, being favoured by a high wind, it continued for three nights and days, spreading gradually eastward, till it ended at a spot called Pye Corner, in Giltspur Street. Mr. John Evelyn has left us a very interesting description of the event, from his own observation, as follows:

'Sept. 2, 1666.-This fatal night, about ten, began that deplorable fire near Fish Streete in London.

'Sept. 3.-The fire continuing, after dinner I took coach with my wife and soon, and went to the Bankside in Southwark, where we beheld that dismal spectacle, the whole Citty in dreadful flames neare ye water side; all the houses from the Bridge, all Thames Street, and upwards towards Cheapeside downe to the Three Cranes, were now consum'd...............

Astrologer William Lilly had predicted the Great Fire years before, via one of his mysterious hieroglyphic drawings. A good relevant essay, by Maurice McCann, is at Skyscript


SNIP

Lilly, it was claimed, had successfully predicted the outbreak of the fire fourteen years before when he had published Monarchy or No Monarchy in England a book containing nineteen hieroglyphic drawings giving carefully disguised predictions. As a consequence of one of these, featuring a large fire, Lilly was seriously suspected of causing the fire. It was also thought that he wished to obtain credit for forecasting the event. Being fearful of what might happen to him, Lilly persuaded the committee that his prediction had not been precise and he was allowed to go.

After the fire?
A snip and Conclusion from an article by Dr John Schofield at a BBC website
London After the Great Fire

SNIP

At least 65,000 people had been made homeless by the Fire. At first they camped in the fields outside the walls, but within days had dispersed to surrounding villages or other parts of London. Rents soared in the unburnt area, but somehow accommodation was found for all who needed it. Much merchandise had been destroyed, and there was virtually no fire insurance, so many people were ruined, and some moved away permanently.

Conclusion -
We have perhaps been overimpressed by the Great Fire, and must place it in context - the Fire, destructive though it was, devastated only about one third of the conurbation of London then standing. Within the area of the devastation a new city of brick and occasionally stone arose, but around it a larger area remained timber-framed for generations to come. Inside the City, if we could have walked down a street like Fenchurch Street in 1675, we would have seen an abrupt change from the brick buildings of the new city to the timber and plaster frontages of the pre-Fire city, at the point where the Fire was stopped. This sudden contrast took generations to erase. But it is also true that the Fire created the opportunity to build, in the central area, a city in a new form, which would quickly become the hub of the British Empire in the decades which followed. So the creation of the Empire owes something to the Great Fire of 1666.

SILLY SATURDAY: Cockney Astrologese.

(Warning: silliness ahead!)
Cockney rhyming slang is a source of great confusion to a certain companion of mine, Chez Twilight, and no doubt the rest of the USA feels the same, not to mention parts of the UK north of Watford. Rhyming slang originates in the East End of London (dark spot at lower right of map). The East End used to be the poorer side of the UK's capital city, populated by salt of the earth, working class folk. I don't know whether that is still the case.
There's a full explanation HERE, of this peculiar slang.
Brief extract:

"Rhyming Slang phrases are derived from taking an expression which rhymes with a word and then using that expression instead of the word. For example the word "look" rhymes with "butcher's hook". In many cases the rhyming word is omitted - so you won't find too many Londoners having a "bucher's hook" at this site, but you might find a few having a "butcher's".

The rhyming word is not always omitted so Cockney expressions can vary in their construction, and it is simply a matter of convention which version is used."

Common examples:
Feet rhymes with plates of meat - cockney slang = plates
("Oooh, my plates are killin' me!")

Eyes rhymes with mince pies ("He has lovely minces, Ethel!")

Hair rhymes with Barnet Fair ("the wife's gone to 'ave 'er barnet fixed.")

Head rhymes with loaf of bread ("use yer loaf!") This one has become a commonly used expression throughout the UK, people are often not aware of its origin.

Sun, by the way, is currant bun.
Wife - trouble and strife (very sexist!)
Phone - dog and bone
Brown bread - dead
Pen and ink - stink.....
There are hundreds of 'em!
Readers in America might be interested to know that "a Yank" already common slang for "an American", becomes "a septic tank", so in Cockney Land visitors from the US can be referred to as "Septics"!

"In the last few years hundreds of brand new slang expressions have been invented - many betraying their modern roots, eg "Emma Freuds: hemorrhoids"; (Emma Freud is a TV and radio broadcaster) and "Ayrton Senna"(racing driver) =: tenner (10 pound note)."

Okay - got the idea?

Well, I decided to try some astrologese examples, but it's not easy. Most planets and signs refuse to rhyme with any other word. In any case it would make an already jargon-filled subject even more unintelligible. Just for fun though, how about:

"Oh no, Mars and Pluto are grizzly" (grizzly bear - square) - I like this one - I shall use it!

or "His bottle's Scorpio" (bottle of wine - rising sign)

or "Ooh, look, Jupiter and Venus are in gold" (in trine - gold mine)

and, perhaps......
Zodiac - duck's quack
Natal chart - horse & cart.

Putting some of that together, and envisioning a visit to a cockney astrologer (who has probably had a few too many beers), a consultation might go something like this:

"Using tropical duck's quack an' yer horse 'n cart, darlin', I can tell yer your currant bun's in Aquarius. Yer balloon 'n Saturn's in Aries. You've a grizzly from yer balloon to Mercury, an' a gold from Neptune. Yer bottle's in Cancer. Okay? That'll be an Ayrton Senna then."

The linked website also tells us:

"Modern Cockney slang that is being developed today tends to only rhyme words with the names of celebrities or famous people.
Cockney expressions are being exported from London all over the world. Here at cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk we get loads of enquiries from folks as far afield as the USA, Canada and Japan, all wanting to know the meaning of Cockney expressions."

Here are a few from the current scene in the US. I've concocted these myself - or should that be concockneyed?

"He's a Barack" (farmer = Barack Obama)
"Do you know the Al Gore, mate?" - (score = Al Gore)
"That dog's afraid of its own Rachel" (shadow - Rachel Maddow)
"We've taken the wrong turn, luv - we'll lose our Tina" - (way =Tina Fey )

If Time Were The Essence of Travellin'

I love to travel. Venus in Sagittarius and 9th house Jupiter, near midheaven may describe this part of my nature.

I enjoy the actual process of travelling, by every means other than by water. Travel by water brings out the coward in me! I've yet to work out where this phobia appears in my chart. The other important part of travel's adventure is in trying to identify and experience the "essence" of places or cities visited. The essence usually lies in the past, I find. Perhaps my natal Cancer ascendant has something to do with this. The zodiac sign of Cancer is connected with an interest in history and the past.

I spent some time in Rome, Italy in the early 1960s (photo on right). I used to wish frequently that I could turn back time; not all the way back to the days of the Roman Empire, but far enough to allow me to experience the Eternal City without so many tourists and so much traffic. A decade or so before my visits, only very wealthy travellers had access to Rome. I imagined with envy what it must have been like to wander the ancient sites and sights, free of horrendous traffic, noise and fumes. I used to frequent cobbled back streets, away from tourist areas. Occasionally I'd feel that I did catch a glimpse and a feel of how it used to be. I'm luckier than most, though. At least I saw the city before worse pollution and even heavier traffic took its toll.

If only we could, in a Time Travel Bubble, visit fabled destinations at a personal choice in time! Of course, not everyone's choice would be the same. But for now that's the stuff of science fiction stories

Here, in Oklahoma and nearby Texas, as we drive through tiny, semi- abandoned townships, I wish to be able to see them as they used to be. I close my eyes and see horse drawn buggies in a muddy street, hear the sound of a piano from an old saloon. And on the open prairie, I'll see, in my mind's eye, a huge herd of cattle being driven by dusty cowboys for hundreds of miles, or a wagon train slowly and painfully making its way, with courageous pioneers travelling far, hoping to find a better life.


I've never been to New Orleans, another fabled city. Hurricane Katrina may have temporarily diminished the city's ability to shine, but I feel sure it will bounce back. I guess the best period for time travel to "The Big Easy" would be almost any time in the 20th century, until Katrina hit. HeWhoKnows tells me that he visited the city during the 1980s. He reckons the best time for New Orleans is "whenever you're there". I think I understand.

Another famous, or in this case infamous, city I've been lucky enough to visit is Tangier, in Morocco, North Africa. I won a two-week vacation for two in the city - a competition prize - back in 1974. That was during one of my Jupiter Returns !

Tangier's heyday, was, I suppose, the years surrounding World War 2. Think Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca".
Protected by a Time Travel Bubble, that would be my optimum time for re-visiting Tangier.

In 1974 the streets were filled with children begging from tourists - a sad sight. The kids were happy enough though. One of my favourite memories of my late partner is of him finding a real soccer ball in a shop, buying it and presenting it to Mohammed (with me in the photo), one of the little boys who insisted following us around. From our hotel window, we'd watch Mohammed, proud as a king, leading his pals down to the beach each morning to play soccer, carrying that ball.

For many Americans London is a favourite destination. I'm not a fan of "the great metrollups" as a friend of mine used to call Britain's capital city. I can understand why Americans flock there though.

I spent a few weeks working in London's Bloomsbury area in the early 1990s. That tickled my imagination a little, as I recall. Bloomsbury is an area of elegant formal squares with trees, greenery, Georgian and Victorian architecture. From the early 1900s, it was the home ground of the Bloomsbury Set, bohemians, artists, writers, including Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, T.S. Eliot, Lytton Strachey.
Those two decades of the 20th century must have been a fascinating time in Bloomsbury. That's when Pluto was in Gemini - very appropriate. Oh for that Time Travel Bubble!

If a Time Travel Bubble could move forward as well as backward, and we travelled to the year 2207, would we encounter someone wishing for the opportunity to visit -------- in 2007, before..........happened? (Fill in the blanks) Now there's a thought!