jigoku mimi

I picked at random a horoscope from the web and being completely dissatisfied with what I read there, I looked at another and then another. What was I looking for you may wonder. Well perhaps I was looking for something that actually resembled my life or at least something that I could identify with as being close outside of the usual generalities but finding none, I gave up.
I think cynicism is quite natural regarding something like astrology, for most people I think it's a fun thing unless they really have a deep seated belief that a man made group of stars, that ancient man drew pictures with in the skies and we call them constellations and that really have no connection to each other out there in space, can somehow influence us down here on Earth. I know some people might want to say that the human body is mostly water and the sun and the moon are responsible for the tides in the ocean, surely they could affect us? Well to the best of my knowledge, that's another "no", and if you look up why there are no tides in rivers and lakes and then look at how much smaller the human body is in comparison to them, you will have the answer.
To most people, seeing something in print (except my blog) means they can believe it. So if they open their favorite magazine and look for Leo or whatever sign they are and it tells them that 'x', 'y' and 'z' is going to happen and at some time during the next week some event similar to 'z' occurs they will be sold to the fact that this astrologer got it right. Forget that 'x' and 'y' were misses, we usually only remember the 'hits' anyhow. So the great Momochan gains one more loyal fan. So much for the entertainment pages of responsible (?) journalism.
In the real world however, it is quite often the junior journalist on the team that gets the task of writing up the horoscopes. I even have it on good authority, his own words in fact, that James Randi, the one-time American magician and now a demistifyer had occasion to write horoscopes.

The American conjurer James Randi recounts in his book Flim Flam how as a young man he briefly got the astrology job on a Montreal newspaper, making up the horoscopes under the name Zo-ran. His method was to cut out the forecasts from old astrology magazines, shuffle them in a hat, distribute them at random among the 12 zodiacal signs and print the results. This was very successful of course (because all astrology works on the "Barnum principle" of saying things so vague and general that all readers think it applies to them.) He describes how he overheard in a cafe a pair of office workers eagerly scanning Zo-ran's column in the paper. "They squealed with delight on seeing their future so well laid out, and in response to my query said that Zo-ran had been 'right smack on' last week. I did not identify myself as Zo-ran... Reaction in the mail to the column had been quite interesting, too, and sufficient for me to decide that many people will accept and rationalise almost any pronouncement made by someone they believe to be an authority with mystic powers. At this point, Zo-ran hung up his scissors, put away the paste pot, and went out of business.

Let's say that there are six billion people on the planet, twelve star signs and lets just for ease of numbers sake say that all the peoples birthdays are spread equally throughout the twelve signs, this would mean half a billion people are potentially going to have the same possible future as this Leo who is writing this blog, or at least some idealized representation thereof.
The personality traits are even better.
Under the 'love' section of Leo, I found;

Love
The strength and amorous prowess which Leos possess makes them a natural leader in the dance of love. This cat may want to rule, but it also wants to be admired, which makes for a love filled with sexual tension. Even so, the Lion`s generous and giving nature makes certain that a lover will feel special. The Lion may test a lover from time to time in their quest for answers about love: what is is really? how can I feel it the most? The one with the best answers to these questions will surely make this cat purr. Love is a most attractive state for Leos, since the pleasure, attraction and fun of the game are all qualities which make the Lion glow.

Oh this sounds like me. I know it and you know it right? This paragraph is full of the sweetest complementary wordings I could ever hope to hear and so of course I'll read it, smile, nod my head and say that's a fairly good description. If you go to Pro Astro and find yours - I'm sure you'll say that it's a great description of you too.
How easy we are to sway to the nice things said about us!

Laughingly and perhaps wickedly I wonder what reaction we'd get if we erased all the sign names, Gemini, Cancer, Leo and Virgo and replaced them with nationality names like Germans, Chinese and British...
What would be the reaction to -

Germans: It is in your nature to be hard-working and methodical, which should serve you well at work today. In your personal relationships, especially this evening, you will need to curb your natural tendency to obey orders.
Chinese: Inscrutability has many advantages, but it may be your undoing today.
British: Your stiff upper lip may serve you well in business dealings, but try to relax and let yourself go in your social life.

Do you see the potential for discrimination?
A glance at the lonely hearts column in astrology magazines might have the line, 'New mystic lover required but Scorpios and Taurus need not apply', perhaps they won't be offended.
Let's look at the nationality a little deeper:
In the history of the world, you know the nasty one that we try to cover up, there were signs in the USA that read "No Blacks" and there were parks in China that read "Chinese not allowed" and suddenly it all becomes a little too close for comfort but it's only astrology isn't it? No one minds a little discrimination there.
Our histories have one group picked on by at least one other and so the sensitivity of such a nature exists in our mind-sets. I don't think anyone picked on Leo's although I seem to recall that King Herod set about murdering all newborns in order to prevent a prophesy coming true - could he have been the first of the Zodiac killers?
In this world we allow ourselves a little mystery not magic and sadly for Harry Potter, we allow strangeness but not the spells. I'm waiting now for the prediction of Leo that promises me my knight in shining armor will come.
Did you know that my rice turned into macaroni cheese and the milk turned sour?

Strange places have become empty places and familiar places have become strange. Nightmares and strange impressions plague my waking as well as my sleeping moments and I know, I just know that somewhere along the line I fell through the macaroni cheese into a parallel dimension. Hitomi is gone and Terutaka has been a great friend throughout.
After talking about everything, he decided that we should leave Tokyo just for a while. I had nothing to cancel and he took a few days leave from work and we have taken off for a few days and rented a small place in Port Sajima. It's a lovely old house that faces the sea and we are surrounded by fishing boats, fish markets and seafood restaurants. The freshness, the companionship and the way he makes me laugh makes life a lot more bearable.
As fate would have it - I now find I'm working a same venue as Hitomi later on 14 August.

In the night time out there where the winds blow through the streets and Sculder and Mully watch from the shadowed doorways, I hear the whispers. I get out of bed and go to make hot chocolate in the kitchen. I pass by his room on my way and I hear through his door that he snores loudly. I can't remember him doing that before. Down in the kitchen and half way through my drink I realize that his snoring has stopped. I walk back and stand outside his room for a few moments and listen and I hear nothing.
I peek inside to make sure he's alright.
He is!
I go back to my own bedroom and no sooner are the lights out and I settle into a comfortable position, then the whispering starts again.
It's the wind in the wires I tell myself.

I find it increasingly more difficult to write these blogs.
I will be deleting 'Jazz Journals' from the net very soon and this one may follow since it holds so many memories that have become more of a liability rather than a fond reminiscence.