The 13th sign

What's an Ophiucus?

Apparently, in addition to being one of the 88 major constellations, it's also the 13th sign of the Zodiac. I had no idea there were 13 Zodiacal signs until I googled the word 'Ophiucus', but there you go. I haven't paid much attention to astrology since I stopped reading Sydney Omarr, which happened around the same time I stopped believing in the Easter Bunny.

And what inspired my curiosity? Why, a single by a (French?) group of the same name, who recorded the remarkable single depicted above sometime in the very early 1970s. The A-side, Canadian Bar, is nothing to write home about, but the B-side is another matter entirely. Cette Chanson Vient d'Autrefois (This Song Comes From the Past, according to iGoogle's translating tool) will please anyone who's ever contemplatively grooved to the quieter moments of Spacemen 3. It's a bit like Transparent Radiation, which of course is a wonderful thing to be a bit like.

Apparently, an Ophiucus album was released on Barclay in 1972. Clearly something I need to acquire.

The Unbearable Darkness of Being a Citizen of the 'Free World'

Been gone for a while. I know you missed me, and I plan to return to post more frequently. In other self-improvement news, I also plan on learning how to turn water into wine and how to weave straw into gold. Handy skills, those.

I imagine that life in the early 20th century is similar in many respects to life in the early years of the Dark Ages or the Reformation. We can perceive what's happening, but forces beyond our control are driving things inexorably in the wrong direction, and there's little if anything we can do to stop it. Climate change, the gutting of constitutional law, torture and war crimes, the death of the labour movement and the transformation of the United States from ostensibly democratic republic into corporate-fascist state, anti-immigrant xenophobia, porno scanners, the criminalisation of dissent...yeah. I'm not a happy camper. Hopefully things will perk up in a few centuries.

That said, here are two worthwhile links: one to donate towards Bradley Manning's defense fund; the other to donate to Wikileaks.

http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/858/1/

https://xipwire.com/give/wl

Fight the power, people. Fight the power.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to report my fantasy baseball team finished third this season, happy to welcome Rich Harden back to the Oakland Athletics (hopefully as a long reliever), and happy to report that Cee-Lo Green's LP, The Killer, was beyond a doubt the best album of 2010. So all is not lost. Yet.