A Day at the London Marathon

I can say with all honesty that I've lived in London for most of my life but until yesterday, I had never watched the marathon. Why? Well I guess I had always figured if I could be bothered to get out of bed that early on a Sunday morning, I could just watch it on telly. 

Stoopid.

I got up early yesterday to perform at the 11 mile with the South London Jazz Orchestra because I had been invited so often, it seemed a little insulting not to make an effort and am I ever glad I did! It was a warm day so I expected the sunshine to life my spirits. I didn't expect my spirits to be lifted for other reasons.  Not only did I have a chance to exercise the chops and catch up with fellow musicians, I got to talk to a few runners.

The first one I spoke to was one I met on the tube. He seemed a little nervous about running the marathon and confided to me that he hadn't had a pint of Guinness in twelve weeks. He was looking forward to the finishing line so he could quench his thirst. I jokingly asked if he had pasta for breakfast but he said he had a big pasta dinner Saturday evening and had eaten porridge for breakfast. I told him I admired his determination and self discipline and said I would be playing in the jazz band at the eleventh mile. He told me the entertainment on the side lines was what experiened runners talked about afterwards (it was his first marathon). It was a distraction from the pain and monatony of the run. We chatted for a bit longer about little things until his stop at King's Cross. Suddenly, I needed to know his name.

"Martin," he said.

"Good luck Martin," I said being a bad commuter and holding the door open, "I'll watch out for you!"

"I'll look forward to the eleventh mile," he said.

Suddenly, he leaned forward and kissed me.

OK, that last sentence I made up.* Martin did not kiss me (I wouldn't have minded if he did!) but he did ask my name and really did say he'd look out for me at the eleventh mile.

As it happened, there were so many runners and we were so busy playing (my chops are still swollen) that I didn't see him. But I did notice that the runners applauded for us as they passed by. They waved and shouted their thanks. And I played a little better because I remembered what Martin said about the distractions along a difficult journey.

 

I hope Martin made it. He was such a nice man.

There were other really emotionally touching things in the marathon that I never knew before. There were lots of wheelchair runners who were the first past us. Running a marathon on two healthy legs would be challenging enough but hand pedalling must be far more difficult. There were also blind runners who ran with guides. Again, such bravery for these runners and the sacrifice their guides were making made my eyes water.

The elite men runners came next. Of course we were playing when Mo Farah ran past and we completely missed him. I hope he remembers us when he talks about his efforts.

The elite women runners were next.

And then we started seeing alll sorts. The first costumed runner I saw was a Thunderbird--I read in the Metro that he had broken a record for being the fastest runner dressed as a TV character (David Stone 2:49:51). I also saw the guy carrying a refrigerator (Tony Phoenix-Morrison) and the fastest man in a wedding dress (Lee Goodwin 3:00:54). I'm pretty sure I saw a very fast man dressed as a tiger (Alex Collins 2:48:29) and if the man dressed up as lungs was Adam Giangreco (3:36:42) then I also saw the fastest runner dressed as an internal organ.

I was delighted that a few of the photos I managed to get on my i-phone were also taken by professional photographers. I got the telephone. . .

The man carrying a tiger

and a few notable others. . .The shark man

 A horse being carried by 4 runners. . .

By far, my favourite was the Janis Joplin look-a-like carrying a small red plastic trumpet. I don't know how she did but I hope she finished.

Oh and hats off to the Huddersfieldd marching band who played and marched and finished at 6:56:44. Give me a call next yesr, eh?

*I've been writing a lot of fiction during Easter break so sometimes my imagination gets a bit carried away. . .

 

Oscar Pistorius, Peaches Geldolf and Mickey Rooney

In a previous blog, I summed up my astrological feelings for the fate of Oscar Pistorius. Now that his trial has started, I can't help but feel a bit of compassion for a man who is basically suffering a trial by the mass media (Uranus transiting the Moon of the crime). Worse, it seems to me, is his progressed Moon conjunct his Natal Moon in Leo--and transiting Moon in Leo over the past days. Drama Queen anyone? All this square to his Natal Venus: a crime (he DID kill Reeva after all) of passion. It all seems moot whether or not it was accidental. It is painful to hear and watch the fates of two families devasted by this.

 

Inexplicably, I'm having trouble uploading the quadri wheel with the Progressions. I'll try a bit later. Above is the tri wheel.

I've been endeavouring to update my blog three times per week to get more traffic to my website as a means to promote my book Growing Pains. Self promotion is an interesting notion. Interesting mostly because by star sign I am a Cancer (shy and home loving) but by Moon sign I am a Leo (an outgoing show off). My Sun and Moon are in mutual reception which kind of means there should be some sort of balance. Unfortunately for me this means I am torn between shouting from the rooftops: "Whoohoo! I am a published author!! Look at me!!" and "Go away and leave me alone so I can eat my cheese sandwich in peace".

Anyhoo. . .Peaches Geldolf. RIP. I am debating whether or not I should offer an astrological take. I have had a look of course but it just seems too much of an invasion of privacy--and mainly because she was so young, so tragic and the mother of two children who will have this terrible void in the lives for eternity. No matter how one tries to make up for this loss, it just won't happen. So any comments or encouragement either way would be welcome.

I don't have such trepidation with Mickey Rooney who spent all his 93 years in the spotlight. If anyone seems fair game, it's him. An astrological take on his life, work and financial disasters will be up in the next few days.

On a different note, I'm on holiday from school. I've been telling people I'm practicing for retirement. I like it lots, haha. I'm working on some fiction, re-doing the five year plan and applying to the council to do a loft entension. Exciting stuff, I know.

 

 



 

Glastonbury!!

I've just seen tickets on sale for Glastonbury. I haven't been to the world famous festival since I became a teacher (as it falls during term time and I can't get the time off) but I do have fond memories of meeting really fantastic people like Nicky Big Top (who played the trumpet a 3am), seeing completely awesome performers (I will never forget the Medusa wannabes) and doing things I never would have done had I not been in a field (a-hem). Yes the toilets were pretty bad but not too awful considering how many people were using them (and the topic of going to the toilet had a curious way of levelling everyone). Yes the rain poured and the music never stopped (neither bothered me) but the food was great (if a little on the pricey side) and it was so cool to bump into friends in the midst of so many people. My children were young when were into the festivals but it was such a liberating thing to be away from cars and city noise and to be able to appreciate the stars in a way you just can't in the city.
Speaking of stars, I became friends with Jonathan Cainer at a festival (not Glastonbury but similar only much smaller). Regular readers of this blog and my website will know I am no fan of star sign columns but I really admired what Jon was doing--he was using astrology at its most basic form to reach out to and even teach non astrologers. Of course, he takes a lot of flak (and much of it he brings down on his own head) but he is such a great man. Watching him with his family, his huge circle of friends, fans, clingers on and other astrologers reminded me of how the planet Jupiter manages all its moons, captured asteroids and other objects. True aplomb and confidence!
As for the other astrologers at Glastonbury. . .I think we were just happy basking in Jon's light as opposed to sizzling in the direct glare as he had to do. We did sterling barefoot astrology furiously thumbing through our well worn ephemerides hunched in our rather groovy astro pods. There was even an astrologer who claimed to do "professional" readings completely naked (don't get too excited--there are people who have claimed to be traumatised by the sight of 70+ year old woman stalking across the field in her birthday suit) and with spliff in hand. Needless to say, it was very early days in my teaching career and I was ever conscious of my flegling career and pretended to be normal.
I suppose the most eye opening thing about the big festivals is the mess that gets left behind. We humans are, after all, just big animals who eat and shit a lot--no matter how hygienic we think we are. Seeing the massive amounts of rubbish, abandoned tents and debris left behind was heart breaking. But there was great comraderie amongst the clean up crew and although it took a good few weeks, the earth had pretty much recovered from the trauma of thoughtless humans, ready for the next year!
Festivals like Glastonbury gave me hope for humanity and even though my festival days are on hold, I know I will have to return to see how things are going. If you're going to Glastonbury, drop me a line and let me know what you got up to. . .If it's your first time, be prepared for a life changing experience!

Let them eat (space) cake

So I found this groovy recipe for making Jupiter (and other planets) cakes. I think I'm going to have to give it a try when I do my next talk at the Astrological Lodge of London as it coincides with the final Jupiter conjunction of my return!
Yummy!

My Groovy Jupiter Return

Before you read any further, this blog has been seriously pimped: it's been primed, pinged, pinned and linked. In fact it feels a bit like this:

It's taken a lot of effort to get this far and I have to say, I'm rather pleased with myself. Following my computer crash last summer, a lot of things have been on the back burner--including this blog. But now it's all good. My website is also updated to include my music interludes and flights of fiction. On top of all this, I've been very busy lecturing all over this lovely fair isle of Avalon to promote my book, "Growing Pains". I even got a lecturing spot at both the Astrological Association's conference and the International Society for Astrological Research in Phoenix. So I'm busy but happy.

To top it all off, it's my Jupiter return. For the first time in my life, I get a series of three Jupiter returns. The first one was just after my book launch, the second one was the day I left for Tunisia and the last one will be in May when I'm lecturing at the Astrological Lodge of London. I've also decided it was time to get my fiction out there so I envisage an Easter break hunched over my computer.

I am going to be updating a lot more frequently. And in case you haven't noticed, I have found a latent talent in backlinking (I'm not sure it that's one word or two or if indeed it is a word but it just means I'm linking to other sites a lot more than I used to--I have a book to promote!).

 

So if you'd like to keep in touch, please subscribe to either this blog or my main website. There will be some goodies and giveaways. If you are a writer too and would like to do some reciprocating links, reviews or advertisements, drop me a line.

Growing Pains in Action

How interesting, with the Moon conjunct Mars in Leo, Jupiter in Cancer and Saturn in Scorpio that today’s headlines are about Britain’s hungry school children. The poor little mites are coming to school hungry and are resorting to stealing sandwiches from the canteen to feed their starving families later. The teachers are even feeding them biscuits to stave off hunger pains!!

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/jun/19/breadline-britain-hungry-schoolchildren-breakfast

This term I had a bit (an understatement) of a to-do with my school over designer school bags. I mean if Adidas or Nike want our school to promote their products, I think they should:

a)            Pay us for doing so or,

b)            Give us some of their products for free

But neither of these things has happened.

Anyhoooo, after a standoff that I eventually lost (*snork snork*), our pupils are once again parading around with £40-50 Nike or Adidas bags.

Really Alex, I hear you ask, don’t you have something better to do than to deprive our future generation of their much loved and needed toys?

Well no. I reckon nearly £400,000 (that would be the total sum forked out for school bags for each pupil in a school of 1,000 children) of someone’s hard earned money ends up paying for some CEO’s weekend in Monte Carlo. My idea was that our pupils utilise our local market so parents can buy decent bags at a fraction of the price and the profits from said bags go into the pockets of our local business men and women rather than into the coffers of an international corporation. That way the hungry men and women of Walthamstow benefit by having a bit more jingle in their pockets so the whole community can benefit. That way some child not on free school meals does not have the opportunity to flash his/her affluence in the face of our many, many pupils who are on free school meals. You know, exercise a little equality.

But oh no, that’s not how capitalism works.

It has to be that the large multinational corporations exploit child slaves in third world countries and we in the first world are so brain washed that we can’t even think about telling our parents to put two fingers up these corporations and buy local. After all, school children NEED their bags with logos!!

As my Australian friend said: “Are you serious? A family can’t afford to make a sandwich for their child’s lunch but can afford to buy an Adidas bag or two?”

I know poverty exists in a first world country but for crying out loud, let’s get our priorities straight! Get parents to feed their children first and then worry about the damn bags!! And don’t even get me started on mobile phones!!

I would really welcome some much needed dialogue on how we can support parents in making a decision between a necessity and a luxury. Such is the lesson of Saturn in Scorpio and Jupiter in Cancer. . .spare a thought for the adolescents who are experiencing their first Jupiter returns or Saturn oppositions and have a big lesson to learn.

 

 

Growing Pains: Out now!

Well, it's been a long journey. . .but I am finally a published author! "Growing Pains" is now out and can only say the title rather reflects the process of getting a book into print. There are still some adjustments that need to be made for the next edition but the first 100 copies are sold or in shops waiting to be sold.
I also feel the book launch at Treadwell's was a great success (even though we were melting in the heat and humidity) with an unheard of 14 copies sold on the night! Here is the video of the launch with not only an endorsement from but an interview with Roy Gillett.
Here is the video:

 

So what now? I hear you ask. Well, I'll be busy promoting the book in local astrology groups, starting with a small group in Pitsea later this month. Then Bury St Edmonds, Southend, Exeter, Bath, Brighton, Cheltenham, Wessex and a few others. I do have a few more books in the pipeline and hopefully those will see the light of day in the near future. But for now, I feel my cup runneth over and I am taking a short break at my favourite place in Glastonbury next week then heading over to Oxford University for the Faculty of Astrological Summer School for a day visit and of course later, the Astrological Association of Great Britain's conference from 27-29 September. In a few weeks, I will be back to the previously scheduled programme with my job as a History teacher.
So life is hectic but when you have a book to promote, that's a good thing.
I do need to enlist in the help of my friends from all walks of life!
Please like and share the video on youtube, retweet the video on twitter, add the book to your wishlist on Amazon. . .and keep telling your friends!
Thanks so much!