Horoscopes for 6.17.2010

“Action is eloquence.”
Shakespeare’s Coriolanus [III.ii.96]

Gemini: iTunes, and by extension, many of the other avenues for electronic distribution of music? Something that’s searchable? One of the best offshoots of this whole world wide down-home page thing. The inter-web. Them computers and stuff.

I was looking for a very specific title, by a certain artist, and I couldn’t think of what to start with. I wound up typing in “Plastic Jesus,” and of course the song is from a movie, sort of a one-off hit for an artist.

But the song? It’s been covered by a number of other people. Some might be comical. Some might be serious. None of them would I have found if it wasn’t for a little bit of poking on a software giant like iTunes. Perfect.

Which is why I suggest you search. Maybe you’re not looking for a song with “Plastic Jesus” in its lyrics. Maybe it’s something else. A little research? Now? At the close of Gemini? As summer hits full roast?

Cancer: Everyone has a peculiar weakness. Superman has Kryptonite. Batman has Batgirl. Me? Rudy’s handmade pork/jalapeño tamales. Rudy’s offers several varieties, but the handmade “hot” pork is the best. I’ve tried the “vegetarian” (bean/cheese), chicken, beef, and so forth. Best is still the pork/jalapeño.

The place, in a seedy neighborhood on the south side of town, next to an abandoned warehouse? Rudy’s Mexican Food Products? Yeah, that’s the weakness. The peppers are hot, and the lard drips off the tamale, after it’s been warmed. Full of flavor. Lean, shredded pork, rough corn flour, and then, the lard. And peppers. I’m sure that there’s some portion of this equation that’s just not good for me.

I would suspect it has to do with my northern European heritage and the high cholesterol in the lard. But it sure is tasty. Rudy’s has two varieties, handmade and machine-made. The handmade are larger, meatier, and just taste better. I suspect it’s the little mamacitas in the back, folding corn meal around meat and peppers. The trick? Get there early enough to get the hand-made.

As a Cancer Sun Sign (or other points in your chart), you have to ask yourself, sleep late or get there early enough to enjoy the good stuff?

Leo: (The Leo)It’s all about presentation. How to present a lure to a fish is the way I usually hear it, but it could be presentation in a number of different avenues. There are women of a certain age, and how they present themselves is important. It’s less about what’s wrapped up inside the package and more about how the package — whatever it contains — how that is presented. As a Leo?

As The Leo? Presentation is very important. I spent years learning how to toss a certain lure so that it landed without too much of a splash. Presentation. The other example? I’m serious. Young women — girls to me — can wear anything and look good. However, there’s a studied yet casual appearance that works with women “of a certain age,” and it’s all about how to package what you got. Now, what I was thinking about? For Leo?

For The Leo? Seriously. It’s all about how you wrap it up and present it. I’m not talking about an expensive wrapper, nor does it have to be an expensive lure, to mangle the metaphor. It’s how it is presented. Casual, studied, yet properly wrapped. Make sure everything is covered. All about packaging. All about how it looks.

Virgo: It’s called the “Caveman Diet,” as near as I can surmise. The theory is, what we should eat? Only food that would available as a Neolithic/Paleolithic person. Only eat food that’s available to cave people. Ancestors. That means if it can be gathered, like nuts and fruits, wild grains? That’s okay. Hunted? Cool. Fished? Sure. Although, I’m sure the fishing back then was less about sport and more about catching dinner.

If left up to me? I might not be catching any dinner, not with my luck, lately. I might be more like collecting nuts off the ground, way it’s been. So BBQ? Good with this diet. Salad? Sure. Only some bread, and no candy, since candy contains, as its primary ingredient, refined sugar. Not available to caveman.

The caveman diet is an intriguing look at food, what we eat, and what we should eat. Or shouldn’t eat. While diary was available, or might’ve been available, no, it’s not part of the diet. I can live on steak, BBQ, and salad. I’d cheat a little on that diet to include ranch dressing for the salad, but that’s me.

As a Virgo, what part of the diet are you good with? Think you could pull off this diet, I mean, for more than a day or two? Would it help? There’s some kind of a restriction that will help your Virgo self. I can’t say for sure that it is the caveman diet, but that idea does merit further research.

Libra: I once humorously — at least I hope everyone figures I was joking — spoke about a stock image of an office building with “ASTROFISH.NET” photoshopped across the top sign on the building. Great idea, too much time to actually do it. In other words, great idea, costs too much of my precious time to painstakingly drop my name on the image.

It’s a standard trick, though, and I’m sure there’s a digital artist who makes a great deal of money by just changing out the company name on the sign in that stock image. I was considering, there’s a really cool, older, kind of run-down building near where I live. I was thinking about that trick, the stock image of a building with different company’s banner across the front of the building?

I considered adding my own name to that image of one of the older buildings, or maybe an abandoned church building, or one place that’s a shell and wreck of a century-old grocery store. Something like that would be more amusing. This is like a temporary tattoo, those fake-ink things that some people apply to their skin. For looks. For fun. Too chicken to make a permanent statement. Like me and the real estate. I’m loathe to get an office. I like my virtual office, but then, some folks prefer a real office. Does the ends justify the time? Conversely, how permanent do you want this to be?

Scorpio: Sit and figure it out. That’s the instructions for this next few days. Settle in with a cup of tea. For me, I’ll make a fresh little press-pot of coffee. Then I’ll open up the instruction. I’ll punch the play button on a music thing. Then I’ll turn the music off. This requires complete Scorpio attention, this little instruction thing.

It’s really simple, this is like computer instructions. Not the kind that was written in Spanish, translated to Arabic, then to Japanese, and finally back to English, no, this is a set of clear and simple instructions. Fill in this space with this information, do this, spin around backwards, click your heels together three times and close your eyes. Then kiss your sweet Scorpio butt good-bye. No, wait, that’s not it.

Unless, of course, that’s what’s on your set of instructions. There’s a simple thing here. It’s not all that complicated. There might be an exploded diagram, maybe a picture or two about how this is supposed to fit together, but the instructions are really simple. Straightforward. Not that arcane. Just matter of figuring it out. Simple.

Now, the biggest challenge? Given that it’s the height of summer? Just follow those simple instructions. Don’t get distracted. Why I suggested making a beverage beforehand and getting all the stuff right before you undertake this. Like, turn the distracting music down. Another trick? Turn the ringer off on the phone.

Sagittarius: My peace-loving, pacifist, tree-hugging family in Austin is very much against any further developments within the American Industrial-Military complex. The “military,” to my peaceful Austin family, that’s just evil incarnate.

However, the American Military-Industrial Complex has been responsible for more, and more innovative, research than any other source. M&Ms are a favorite food. Originally? Those tiny candies were designed as fuel for soldiers. A candy that soldiers could eat with no mess on their collective (trigger) fingers.

As Jupiter and Uranus gradually drift further apart? There will be revelations. I’m not talking about big stuff, I’m just suggesting that there’s a gentle awakening. Don’t be bantering about claims that are unsupported. Or blaming one area when, in fact, that is a source of goodness.

Capricorn: right now, before Gulf Hurricane Season starts? This is the time to go. Head to the Devil’s Elbow. I know some good spots for surf fishing. Might be the best ticket. Surf fishing uses long, stout, really tall fishing poles. Heavy weight. Stinky bait, live, dead, fresh dead, or artificial. What I found that worked exceptionally well? A Catfish Ugly Stick.

8-foot is a little short for the surf, but that pole works well enough. Not that this is really about what kind of gear to use when surf fishing, this is more about destinations and goals. How to get there? Drive. Fly, drive, walk. Doesn’t much matter, any which way that works for your Capricorn self.

The name, “Devil’s Elbow” dates back more than a hundred years, and it refers to patch of what is now called the “Texas Coastal Bend.” It’s that curved part, along the coast. When I happened across the title, though, I thought about some surf fishing and down there, along the old wrecks, that’s some good places to hunt for fish. It’s a matter, now, of getting in the last of the good stuff before the hurricane season starts.

For me, it’s a real hurricane season. For Capricorn? Real or figurative. One or the other.

Aquarius: Next week sun shifts into Cancer. Beginning of the summer. The longest day of the year. And shift? Shift happens.

There’s a gradual change that’s occurring. Long-term, and easy. Or as easy as you’ll let it be. There’s a pervasive sense of being lost. Can’t change that. There’s a sense that something is going to be different. Then, too, with the approach of the next Lunar Cycle? Anyway, all of this amounts to “link rot.”

Run a web page as long as I have? My old files develop a case of “link rot.” I’ve got material that I’ve linked to in the past, perhaps a news item or a photo from a friend’s fishing journal, or who knows what all I’ve linked to?

What happens, though, over the years, ideas and websites, grow, expand, change hands, shrink, get abandoned. Updated. Out-dated. As technology marches forward? Link rot sets in.

I’ve got a fairly high percentage of link rot in my archives. Way it is. Can’t take too much time to prune the old, dead links. As an Aquarius, though, in this next few days, maybe for a little while this weekend? Think about some kind of pruning, house-keeping, some sort of action that you can take, especially in the electronic format, to help prevent link rot.

Or some similar kind of problem. Know how many images I have in the photo files?

kramerw.com
www.astrofish.net/xenon/astrofishcouk/
Pisces: One of the worst experiences I’ve ever had, while fishing? Have an equipment failure. I’ve had fishing line break, right at the boat. Terrible, heart-wrenching feeling. Just when a really big fish is almost within my grasp, just as I’m about to boat a big one? Snap. Line breaks. My ultra-light-weight gear and training? I tend towards a balance point between weight and strength with the emphasis — and my experience — tending towards lighter weight.

Means less strong. Balance point between strength, durability and fish-ability. Lighter gear, lighter line? I can fish longer. Fish better. More fun per hour. And, of I’m not careful? An occasional equipment failure. I was about to swing a medium Black Bass into the boat. Not even a big one, just a medium-sized one. Line snapped. Old fishing line. I needed to re-spool that line, anyway.

When I fish often enough, a single loss isn’t a heinous crime. It isn’t a terrible problem. However, it is when I don’t get to fish as often. There’s a going to be an instance, next couple of days, like a line breaking. Not a big killer deal, just a little annoyance. Or, it could be a big deal. Depends on how you want to look at it. Mars & Saturn, far apart, but Mars & Saturn, in Virgo. Opposite you. I’d still go for the lightweight fishing gear. But that’s me.

Aries: Dick Dale is the king, the god, The Man, when it comes to the surf guitar. Find some of that music someplace. The surf guitar, the riffs, the speed, the action, the fretwork, the back material, but most important the tone and energy that the sound itself implies.

There’s a feeling, a sense, a combination of influences, and then a sound all unto itself. It’s perfect for Aries. Right now. Surf Guitar. While Dick Dale (Taurus) might be in retirement, his music can be coaxed into just about any kind of player, and that stuff helps. That kind of music with it’s riffs and rides, and then, the long guitar slide, throat beat picking it’s way along. What your Aries self needs, now.

Taurus: With all that’s shaking loose in the heavens? Down here on planet earth, what does a Taurus need to help cope? I had a brilliant idea, what you could do to help with your Taurus problems: heavy metal stickers.

No, not like radiation, although, that’s an idea, too. No, what I was suggesting? Heavy Metal, like the music? The stickers from bands. Usually white or silver lettering and image on a black or foil background. Usually a lot of black. Gratuitous use of skulls, bones, guns, lightening bolts, inferred destruction. Noise. Loudest stickers there are. Something like that is the best way to advertise for Taurus.

I’m not saying you have to assault your eardrums with METAL! Metal should always be all caps followed by an exclamation point. The point is you’re trying to convey an image. Maybe not a bumper sticker, but someplace handy, Look mean. Look menacing. Look like you hang out and listen to METAL! All the time. Like your significant other has to wear a spiked dog collar for the shows. A couple of stickers? You’re good to go.

Right on!