MONDAY MARINADE ~ Julia Child (+ Paul)

"Julie and Julia", a movie released last week, features the work of TV food expert, Julia Child. I had been going to write about Julia as part of a brief series about chefs, but really she wasn't a chef at all, in my own definition of the word. She was, to the American public, a well-loved TV personality who taught, wrote and talked about cooking and food. As far as I can tell, she didn't ever run a hotel kitchen or a restaurant. In my brief researches though I did see Julia Child as an interesting subject, especially in regard to her very happy and enduring marriage to Paul Child. I was interested to see both natal charts.(Photograh, left: Julia with her husband, Paul C. Child, whipping cream in the kitchen of her Cambridge home, November, 1963 (photograph by Dick Fish). From here.)


Julia Child was born on 15 August 1912 in Pasadena, California.


Paul Child on 15 January 1902 in Montclair New Jersey. (Time of birth unknown - chart set for 12 noon).



Julia didn't set out with any thought of a career with preparation of food at its core. She came from a wealthy background, majored in history at university, worked as a copywriter for a New York furniture company and outside of work led the life of a minor socialite.... until the outbreak of World War 2. She was too tall (6ft2ins) for the uniformed forces, so Julia joined the OSS (Office of Strategic Services - the intelligence agency), after a spell as typist in the Office of War Information.

All quotes come from a Vanity Fair article by Laura Jacobs:

"Julia, it turned out, had formidable organizational skills: soon enough, she was supervising an office of 40 people. In 1944 she shipped out to India. “The war,” she said, “was the change in my life.” "

"Formidable organizational skills" screams Virgo organization and Leo leadership - Julia's sun in Leo, with Mercury, Venus and Mars in Virgo fit the bill exactly!


After later being transferred to China she became romantically involved with Paul Child.

"A worldly intellectual with a poetic sensibility, an artist and photographer who relished wine, women, and song, he designed war rooms for General (Lord) Mountbatten in Kandy and for General Wedemeyer in Kunming."

Intellectual = Air signs - Paul has Mercury and Mars in Aquarius. Poetic sensibility - his planet of the arts (Venus) is in dreamy poetic Pisces. Sun, Saturn and Jupiter in business-oriented, common sense Capricorn added to the rest produced an intriguing blend of art and practicality, that was something always likely to appeal greatly to Julia's Leo/Virgo/ Libra (Moon.) blend.
(Photograph, above, by Paul Child: Julia Child and Jeanne Villa from 'My Life in France').

"Paul thought Julia unworldly, unfocused, and doubtless a virgin—“a hungry hayseed” is how she would describe herself—but also steady, game, a “classy dame,” and “brave,” he wrote his twin brother, Charlie, “about being an old maid!” He was 42 to her 32, five feet ten to her six feet two. He was looking for a soulmate, but had counted Julia out. And yet their sure-footed friendship, forged over Indo-Asian food and shared danger, was climbing, slipping, into love. Which led to bed. And then, in 1946, when the war was over, marriage."

Paul introduced Julia to the joys of the culture and cuisine of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and China and later, of France, after his transfer to Paris.

"Back in the States, the couple’s love letters reflected the playful and frankly lusty nature of their relationship. “I want to see you,” Paul wrote, “touch you, kiss you, talk with you, eat with you ? eat you, maybe.” Come 1948, could there have been a better diplomatic posting for Paul and his wife of two years than Paris? "

"Paul, when he first met Julia, in the O.S.S., described “her slight atmosphere of hysteria.” No doubt he was referring to Julia’s almost operatic vocal tonalities, the here floating, there plunging falsetto she seems to have been born with."

I wonder if this peculiar voice thing might relate to Uranus (the eccentric planet) quincunx (scratchy aspect) communications planet Mercury?

It was in France that Julia's draw to the kitchen took place. She fell in love with France, its culture and the innate flair of the French for knowing how to cook and present food. She enrolled in the Paris cooking school Le Cordon Bleu. “I would go to school in the morning,” she once said in an interview, “then for lunch time, I would go home and make love to my husband.”

Sounds like a good combination of Virgo (service) and Leo (fun and enjoyment)!

"Paul Child died at the age of 92, in 1994. Ten years later, in 2004, Julia Child died two days short of her 92nd birthday. "

In addition to her now iconic set of TV series, Julia Child, wrote several books on cookery as well as being co-author of a two-volume cookbook titled "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (1961), now considered a classic in its field.



A video to illustrate Julia's style of presentation. She teaches how to make an omelette:

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT

I'm not a religious person, but custom and practice through the years has imprinted the idea that Sunday ought to be "different". With this in mind, why not a series of Sunday blogs which veer away from emphasis on astrology?

"Sunday Supplement" is a well-used title in newspaper circles; I'm borrowing it for a weekly blog post which "supplements" day-to-day stuff with a slightly wider view of the world - wouldn't want to become myopic, the Aquarius in me rebels against that.

Most Sundays I'll simply recommend a blog which doesn't already appear in my sidebar links, and doesn't relate to astrology, though which might be of general interest to astrology buffs. Occasionally I might ramble on, briefly or at length, about something, anything.

Today - a blog recommendation. I've been reading this one for some months now. I've never left a comment there because the blog is really written for people in the selling trade - people who need to pitch their ideas or products.

"Depth Perception", written by Kevin Jackson, VP of a Sales and Marketing outfit.

I've been surprised how interesting Mr. Jackson's fairly brief posts have proved. Sales as a career was never my thing - not by miles, yet as in sales, so in life in general. The pointers and mild advice Mr. Jackson comes up with on 5 days each week can almost always be applied to life in general, not just to success in sales of products. I find his advice far less irritating, patronising and fluffy than that of some guru-types and advice-for-life authors.

Mr. Jackson's post for last Thursday"Don't Order the Soup" is a good example of his style.

The Week That Was..........

It's been a funny old week in the USA. Funny peculiar, not funny ha-ha!


We've had:

Rush Limbaugh likening President Obama to Hitler, then saying “It is liberalism that’s the closest you can get to naziism and to socialism.”
Makes me certain that we have truly fallen down the rabbit hole with Alice!

Alice:
It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.

The White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibb responded yesterday, "I think anytime you make references to what happened in Germany in the 30's and 40's, I think you are talking about an event that has no equivalent. And I think anytime anyone ventures to compare anything to that, they are on thin ice, and it is best not employed."

Lou Dobbs insisting that the President show his birth certificate to prove his entitlement to be Prez.

The Hatter:
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at.

Various conservatives and right-wing groups at town hall meetings during the week trying to scupper the administration's plans to reform healthcare in the United States. Many carried signs bearing nazi imagery. A much needed reform is under attack by what we used to call in the UK the "I'm alright Jack" brigade. They have health insurance - damn anybody who is unfortunate enough to be without.

The Duchess:
There's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is -- The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.

48-year old George Sodini shot and killed three women and wounded nine others at a Pittsburgh-area health club, before killing himself. Too many guns in a country where there are too many unbalanced people.

Former US President Bill Clinton travelled to North Korea and persuaded Kim Jong Il to pardon and free two American journalists, and on his return, after a brief acknowledgement of his success, comedians just couldn't resist the snide and unfunny quips relating to his past errors of judgement.

Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.
The Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
Alice: How do you know I'm mad?
The Cat: You must be. Or you wouldn't have come here.

Film maker John Hughes, best known for his 1980s comedies ( eg: The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Home Alone, Sixteen Candles, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.) suffered a fatal heart this week, attack while taking a morning walk in New York. At age 59 - another one gone too soon. An Aquarian Sun person, too, he died close to an eclipse in his Sun sign. His health problem must have been present for some time though, and perhaps the eclipse provided "the tipping point".





Speaking of Sun Aquarians - but on a lighter note - rising music star, Adam Lambert has designed a silver pendant for sale at Pennyroyal on behalf of the charity MusiCares - he drew it himself, a copy of a tattoo he bears on his wrist depicting Egyptian symbol, The Eye of Horus. He has said that he had it put there when he succeeded in surviving auditions as far as the final 36 contestants of American Idol Season 8. He was eventually runner-up of the season.




Coincidentally, around 6 years ago, on a trip to the USA to meet my now husband, we visited a museum in Fort Worth, where I bought, in the gift shop, a decorative piece to which I felt drawn: a thick, dark green tile-like ornament bearing The Eye of Horus design (right). I took it home to Yorkshire, displayed it on my dresser, and later made sure it was one of the things I retained to bring over when I emigrated from the UK (immigrated to the US, after marrying Himself). It currently has its home in our bedroom.

I wonder whether the Sun/Moon combination I share with Adam translates to an attraction to this particular symbol?

Wikipedia has some interesting information on The Eye of Horus, by the way. Who'd have thought that this symbol has anything at all to do with arithmentic, for instance?

Adam also has a custom made pendant from the same firm, Pennyroyal, showing astrological glyphs for his Sun/Moon/Rising sign, as below.

Arty Farty Friday ~ Decking the Signs

Something completely different this week, Arty-Farty-wise. There are now dozens of tarot decks from which to choose, some with quality artwork. At one time, in fact when I bought my own first deck in the 1970s, there was limited choice - most common then: Rider-Waite and one or two derivatives. I prefer decks based on the Rider-Waite symbology for my own use, but it's interesting to see how far away creativity has taken some of the newer choices.

Looking through the wide range of art styles of the many choices now available, some illustrated at tarot.com, it struck me that there are several decks whose styles of illustration and content offer good matches for the zodiac signs. The selection at tarot.com isn't exhaustive - there are lots of others available too.

An example of one card from my choice of one deck for each of the 12 signs:

ARIES ~ The Starter Deck



TAURUS ~ Art Nouveau Deck



GEMINI ~ Winged Spirit Deck



CANCER ~ Moon Garden Deck



LEO ~ Medieval Cat Deck



VIRGO - Herbal Deck



LIBRA - Lovers' Path Deck



SCORPIO ~ Crowley's "Thoth" Deck (Some beautiful illustrations)



SAGITTARIUS ~ One World Deck



CAPRICORN ~ Classic Deck



AQUARIUS ~ Aquarian Deck (This is mine.)



PISCES ~ Fantastical Deck

THE UNIVERSE and us.

Reading one of blogging pal Anthony North's archived posts yesterday -linked from his entry on 5 August "Why am I Here?" I began to ponder on it, then my mind shot me to another, somewhat related, question, still far too deep for my puny intellect. The question: where is the center of the universe, are we, as the evolved lifeforms we like to consider ourselves, "it"?

The answer, at this point in space and time, seems to be "there isn't a center of the universe." So, however evolved we might consider ourselves to be, and to what purpose our development might be attributed, we're not "it".

“Every time we start thinking we're the center of the universe, the universe turns around and says with a slightly distracted air, "I'm sorry. What'd you say your name was again?"”
(Novelist Margaret Maron)

Wherever one happens to be is the center of the universe. The universe, I understand, is expanding away from any given point at any given time. When asked for a simple answer on the center of the universe, the expert will try to explain to laymen that we should think of the universe as an expanding balloon with us on its surface - and every point constantly moving further away from every other point - outwards. The obtuse Aquarian in me has to wonder what are the contents of the inside of the balloon. Never mind!

(Link)


Does this invalidate astrology. No! Astrology for Earthlings is based on the interaction of cycles of certain planets around the Sun, center of our "system". Our "system", the Solar System, in turn becomes just one among many systems forming a galaxy which circles a Galactic Center. To our eyes from our vantage point the Galactic Center is located towards the end of the sector we call Sagittarius. We Earthlings exist with a certain amount of autonomy. An analogy which might pertain to the situation is this: think of a vast skyscraper building filled with many different companies and corporations. Each can function efficiently, within its own boundaries, rules and customs, but at the same time each is a part of the larger whole structure. That analogy falls down though, because the skyscraper isn't expanding, but just imagine it could! Also remember that our universe/skyscraper might not be the only one in the city..........

Taking all that into consideration, the insignificance of our existence might overwhelm us, yet we are not insignificant, because we are formed from the same material as our universe.

"I stand here on the Cosmic Uroboros, midway between the largest and smallest things in the universe. I can trace my lineage back fourteen billion years through generations of stars. My atoms were created in stars, blown out in stellar winds or massive explosions, and soared for millions of years through space to become part of a newly forming solar system — my solar system. And back before those creator stars, there was a time when the particles that at this very moment make up my body and brain were mixing in an amorphous cloud of dark matter and quarks. Intimately woven into me are billions of bits of information that had to be encoded and tested and preserved to create me. Billions of years of cosmic evolution have produced me."
From "The View from the Center of the Universe".

I stood at the Center of the Universe a couple of weeks ago. Really! In downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma there's a point, marked by a circle of tiles, on an overpass leading across railway lines. This point is known locally as "The Center of the Universe". If you stand on it and speak, or shout, your voice reverberates and echoes, but only you can hear the echo. Spooky!

All inquires carry with them some element of risk. There is no guarantee that the universe will conform to our predispositions.
(The late, great Carl Sagan.)

"The Wildman the Earth and the Stars"

Some years ago I bought a book I'd seen mention of on a message board or magazine article: "The Wildman, The Earth and the Stars" by Daniel E. Lowrey (1994). It's said to contain "a revolutionary new system for interpreting the astrological chart.....and is important for those seeking to understand the male psyche....."

"Male psyche"? Why not human psyche?

I believe that humans are humans are humans. While authors and presenters carry on presenting content specifically for males, or females, or black people, other colored peoples, or gays....or whatever....the species will never feel united, equal, or feel empathy for one another. Placing the sexes and races in boxes isn't at all helpful to my way of thinking.

I've noticed the book featured on several "gay" websites, so perhaps it was written with gays in mind - I don't know, but if so - another black mark, for reason given above.

Four archetypes form the basis of the "revolutionary new system": The King, The Lover, the Warrior and The Magician, together with the four quadrants of a natal chart, these produced by the ascendant/descendant and midheaven/nadir angles.



I notice that The Zodiac Master, "Dr. Z", an astrologer whose writing I've always enjoyed and respected has described the book with a little more enthusiasm than I have so far mustered. The link to
Dr. Z's article "What's Your Angle"

You know, I think that Mr Lowrey (whose website seems to be defunct now) could have had a good thing going with his theory if he'd approached it differently, a tad more simply, and without the "male" specialty. I've often pondered that the traditional zodiac is too well-defined, and people are not, on the whole, well-defined. We're a mish-mosh of all kinds of stuff. I think I once wrote in a previous post, which I can't now identify, that a zodiac of 4 sections could be a clearer and cleaner proposition, blending the signs/part signs as they fall, in each person's individual chart, within each of four segments.

Dr.Z writes that Mr. Lowrey's book is now out of print, but as he says, used copies are probably available, for anyone who feels it may be of interest. A new approach to an old subject is always worth looking into, even if later the thought that "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" surfaces.

ALAN RICKMAN

We saw the newest Harry Potter movie last week. It's okay - not mind-shatteringly good but engaging enough. The brightest spark for me, in Harry Potter tales, is Alan Rickman. He may not be on screen very often, for for long, but you can't ignore him - he's the focus of all attention no matter who else shares the screen. It has always been this way for Alan Rickman.





The first time I was aware of him, and have never forgotten, was his role as Sheriff of Nottingham to Kevin Costner's rather effete Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. He "owns" the screen whenever he appears, whatever the plot, however minor his character. It's a gift few possess. I wonder whether it can be traced in a natal chart?

I'm not going to waffle on about all the many, many roles Rickman has played. Tiscali's biography, one of the best on-line, can fill in the detail. The quotes below come from this source (linked below the post).

Alan Rickman was born in Hammersmith, London, UK on 21 February 1946. Time of birth not known, so in the chart below the rising sign isn't accurate. Exact placement of the Moon would be between late Libra, if born before 6am, and early Scorpio for a later birthtime.




When I first looked at this natal chart I thought, I bet this guy can draw and paint. Sun and two closest personal planets, Mercury and Venus (planet of the arts), all in Pisces (ruled by Neptune planet of creativity and imagination). As it happens I was right! Rickman started out as a graphic artist.

As a child, he was bright, and artistic, capable of excellent calligraphy and watercolour painting..........

Rickman loved acting, but his other artistic talents led him towards graphic design - certainly a safer occupation. "Drama school," he says "wasn't considered the sensible thing to do at 18". So he enrolled at the Chelsea College Of Art And Design, later spending a year at the Royal College Of Art. It was at Chelsea that he met Rima Horton, still his partner today.

Acting came to the fore a little later, and the rest (to use a well-worn cliche) is history.

But why is it that the roles Rickman is asked to play seem to follow a particular pattern? These are almost always dark, sinister, and threatening at worst, sarcastic and sneering at best. Liam Neeson, another wonderful actor, who I think shares a similar facial look, doesn't usually get offered that kind of role.



Where is the darkness in Rickman's natal chart - or rather the ability to portray the sinister characters so convincingly? By all accounts, in real life, Rickman isn't in the least threatening or sinister.
First of all, anyone with prominent Pisces will have the most vivid of imaginations - first step to being able to portray what they can imagine. This Rickman has. But in addition, and importantly, there's a Yod (Finger of Fate) with its apex pointing to the Sun, Mercury and Venus in Pisces, the sextile at its base links Neptune (planet of creativity and ruler of Pisces) and Pluto (planet of power and darkness) to the personal planets via two quincunx aspects.This type of formation is said to channel the natures of the sextiled planets through those at the apex. In this case via Pisces' vivid imagination and acting, Pluto's sinister side can be seen.

A look at Rickman's filmography convinces me that he's a hard worker - Saturn conjunct Mars in his natal chart underlines this. Energy and a rigid self discipline are both fairly foreign to Pisces, so in Rickman's case his Mars/Saturn conjunction provides a useful balance to his more dreamy, artistic side. These two planets are in Cancer another Water sign and harmonious with Pisces, so although they bring a different facet to his nature, there's no conflict.



When approaching the chart of an actor, I usually expect to see some prominent Leo. Here there's only Pluto - the generational planet in Leo, but it's always possible that Leo was rising. Otherwise, in Rickman's case, although he loves the stage and the screen, and they both love him, I suspect the source of his skill is his imaginative core, deriving from a good helping of Pisces.

It's been said that Rickman is an actor with "the perfect voice". That's a subjective assessment. Sam Elliott's voice makes my toes curl, but I have to admit that Alan Rickman, reciting this short poem for peace, gave me goosebumps. Oh yes, and he's a keen supporter of left-wing politics, for which he deserves my Gold Star!



TISCALI Bio of Alan Rickman

Photographs from the top: The real Alan Rickman; as Severus Snape, Professor of Potions in Harry Potter movies; as Sheriff of Nottingham in "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves"; as Judge Turpin in "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber"; as Hans Gruber in "Die Hard".

MONDAY MARINADE ~ Paul Liebrandt

In choosing my subject for today's blog I hit some serious frustration. I don't want to focus on celebrity chefs, whose numbers seem to grow daily. What's up? Don't chefs enjoy being in a proper kitchen any more? Too hard work ? It is hard work, even today with all the best equipent and technology to hand, it's still hard to run a big kitchen to a high standard. So much easier to stand in front of a TV camera and pontificate, or to curse and swear in a reality TV show as though that were the root of a chef's skill-set.

In the words of a commenter at Huffington Post on an article about one of Gordon Ramsay's recent outbursts:

"At what point in the last 20 years did being a total uncivilized dick become acceptable, even lucrative, behavior? Did it start with Howard Stern? Jerry Springer? We have a whole generation of people that think watching or listening to people be really horrible, nasty and cruel to each other is great entertainment. WTF?"

I'm less than enchanted by the current crop of celeb chefs who appear on TV, write book after book, open cooking schools, give lectures, open strings of restaurants bearing their name but which they never visit to cook in the kitchens. There has to be at least one more chef for me to investigate, one who is actually doing a chef's work, on a daily basis.

My eye fell upon the name Paul Liebrandt. He's still in the kitchens! Bet I can't find his date of birth.

(NOTE: this birth data is not correct. A correction has been posted on 27 December 2010 SEE HERE

I did, eventually: Born 26 August 1975 in Zimbabwe to British parents. No city specified, so I've used the capital Harare (formerly Salisbury). He was raised in London and trained in some of the finest kitchens in Europe. He moved to New York in 1999, and currently is chef and co-owner of the Corton restaurant in Tribeca, a neighborhood in lower Manhattan.

"The tables are covered with white linen and set with pink roses. The whitewashed walls are bottom-lit, like a giant fresco, and stenciled with butterflies, birds, and sylvan tree branches colored here and there with a solitary gold leaf. There’s a peaceful, palate-cleansing quality to all this icy, Altoid whiteness, and as dinner progresses you get a sense of time suspended, of being pleasantly inoculated from the cares of the outside world.
Peace and light aren’t chef Paul Liebrandt’s usual M.O., of course. The English wunderkind (he’s only 32) has been known to sprinkle eel with crystallized violets and flavor his côte de boeuf with coffee grinds before theatrically finishing it in clouds of burning hay. But on this latest tour through the New York restaurant jungle (this is his fourth in eight years), the perpetually promising chef has found his footing"(HERE)

What made you decide to become a chef?I don't know. I like cooking. I like the excitement of the kitchen. I like the heat, the violence, the sweat, the punishing hours. It's freedom in the kitchen.
What was it like working for Marco Pierre White?
Hard. But he's a very fair man. If you go in there, and you're young, and you work your bollocks off there's a lot to be learned. If not, you wouldn't last in his kitchen two seconds.



What did you learn from him?
Discipline. How to beat people. You notice the scar above my eye here? Well, there you go. How to take a bunch of young guys like I had here when I started six months ago, who didn't know how to hold a frying pan properly and beat them, literally, beat them into shape within a matter of a couple of months and get three stars from the New York Times. I wouldn't have been able to do it without having the solid training I did."

Sounds as though Gordon Ramsay-type antics are par for the course in chefdom then! I should have realised as much from my own experience of watching more than one chef chase a waiter with a carving knife, when I worked in hotels, long ago.

This chart for Paul Liebrandt will give correct planetary placements in signs, apart from degree of the Moon and rising sign. That will suffice for my purpose. He has moved around from Africa to England to France and Europe to the USA, so relocation will have shunted the ascendant and houses more than once.

(NOTE - birth data incorrect. Correction posted on 27 December 2010 - SEE HERE)




Natal Sun conjoining Venus - an artistic guy, in Virgo - a discerning and fairly disciplined one to boot. Mercury lies at the other end of Virgo - one of its home signs so is pure and unsullied: he'll be a clear thinker, and expect precision from others.

The 2009 Eat Out Awards describe his food:
"Renegade chef Paul Liebrandt's studied food is as artful on the plate as it is on the palate."
(Phtograph by Melissa Hom)


If I didn't know this is the chart of a chef I'd have guessed at writer and/or illustrator. Moon will be in Aries, somewhere in the second half of the sign. This Aries influence reflects his "get-up-and-go", the energy he has needed to pursue his dream, and with Jupiter, planet of expansion, exaggeration and luck lying also in Aries (possibly close enough to be termed conjunct) his energetic go-getter nature is further underlined.

Saturn, planet of discipline, business and tradition is the sole planet in Cancer and lies sextile (helpful aspect) to Mercury. This hints at a disciplined, organised mind - a definite plus for a chef who wants to "run a tight ship" - as the best of them do. Mars in Gemini is in harmonious trine to Pluto in Libra, and opposite Neptune in Sagittarius - so Mars, the personal energy planet is linked to the two outer planets which represent power and creativity.

Liebrandt has the reputation of being something of a renegade, inventive as well as creative. It's interesting then, that Uranus, the renegade's planet is in harmonious (though out-of-sign) sextile to his Sun/Venus conjunction.

There's nothing to specify food preparation in this, or in fact in any of the chef charts I've looked at. What has to, and does, come through is creativity, discipline, energy, business sense and an artistic nature. These characteristics could be put to work in a number of professions or jobs. It's surprising that there isn't some tiny indicator which points towards catering. This could, of course, come via house position, which remains unknown without a correct time of birth. It could come via ascendant or midheaven. 6th house is the house of service, midheaven the area of career, ascendant the side of character shown to the world at large; any or all of these could underline a leaning towards a career in food, which I continue to think might involve Taurus, and/or Cancer, at 6th house or midheaven or ascendant.

Eddie Izzard & Twitter

I've been following Eddie Izzard's tweets on Twitter.( I'll never feel comfortable using those silly terms!) Eddie is currently on a marathon run around the UK, for charity. He aims to cover more than 1000 miles in 7 weeks, at a rate of about 30 miles each day. For some athletically inclined personalities this might not be a daunting prospect, but it's said that Eddie started running seriously only 4 weeks before his marathon for charity began.

Yesterday he posted a photograph of his arrival in Wales.



Eddie, for me, will forever be "The Celebrated Mr. Kite", after having seen his performance in "Across the Universe". There has never been, and will never be, a better representation of that character.



Eddie has Sun in Aquarius - more than Sun though, he's one of those people born when a large cluster of planets bundled into the sign of Aquarius, in early 1962. Astrologer Barbara Palliser wrote about Eddie's natal chart in her blog, here, Silverwheel Astrology, some while ago.

It's interesting that this very Aquarian Aquarian is attempting something quite excessive and travel-related at a time when Jupiter (planet of excess and travel) is conjoined with Neptune (planet of dreams and imagination) in Aquarius.



I'm still experimenting with Twitter, without much enthusiasm, it has to be said. Input from people like Eddie Izzard is always worthwhile though. The "social" networking bit tends to get lost in most cases. Well-known people have too many followers for them to be able to take notice of messages and responses sent to them - so it becomes a one-sided affair. On the whole it's just dissemination of information, rather than a social network. But that has its uses, I guess.

Whereas I enjoy and learn from preparing my blog posts, whether comments result or not, the same cannot be said for Twitter posts. These tend to have a cold and empty feel to them - whether via input or output.

Jury's still out.

LIFE ON MARS

I took one of those Googly trips through cyberspace the other day, where one thing leads to another and the end result is far from what was one's first intention. It turns out that "Life on Mars" can teach us something astrological - in a roundabout way.

What started me on my wandering was one of my husband's photographs from last weekend's concert, brought back to mind when he added it to his blog one day this week: Adam Lambert standing in front of a giant red Mars backdrop - the scene for his Bowie medley which starts with "Life on Mars". Great backdrop - very impressive. Loved it, and the medley. (Photograph below is a sharper version of the one Himself managed to shoot from where we were seated.)



I wasn't familiar with the lyrics of "Life on Mars". I looked 'em up on the net......Hmm. Another of those mysterious songs open to a variety of interpretations - or none at all. It could also be, in part, just a stream of consciousness thing. Consensus seems to be that the song is about a young girl who, having had a fight with her parents, goes to the cinema and is bored by the violence she sees on screen, and has seen so many times before in real life. She wonders whether there's life on Mars - which might be an improvement.

More interesting even than the lyrics is the fact that the music shares genealogy with Paul Anka's song "My Way", made famous by Frank Sinatra. It is said that Paul Anka bought the rights to a French song "Comme D'habitude" and wrote the now familiar English lyrics.

When David Bowie was asked to write English lyrics to "Comme d'habitude" in 1968, the song he came up with was "Even a Fool Learns to Love." However, Paul Anka bought the rights to the original French version, and Bowie's version was never released. "Life on Mars?" was Bowie's riposte to losing out on a fortune; it has similar chords to "My Way." (Wikipedia)

I find the chords hard to recognise, but it seems that a group of talented English musicians don't, and perform a kind of patchwork quilt of several similar-sounding songs, including "My Way" with "Life on Mars" as a background. Here it is:




But I hear a passing reader asking, "where does astrology come in?", I'll tell you my strange thoughts as I listened to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Their performance is akin to a natal chart. There's background of a Sun sign threading through it all (the song Life on Mars), overlaid by the qualities of the Moon sign, rising sign and the placements of Mercury and Venus, and further in the background still, the more out-lying planets (the other songs featured). All can work together form a beautiful harmony, if treated correctly. If not treated right and managed well, of course the result can be less than pleasant. We have to work with what nature has given us, our natal chart, blend and bend its content, to produce the best possible melody for life. Life on Earth, that is!