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Football astrology part 2

June 24, 2010 5 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

I wrote a piece on Bethea Jenner’s football astrology talk a few weeks ago. Yesterday Bethea and I, after a quick lunch gathered from Monday night’s leftovers, staggered down to the North London Tavern to watch the game. Bethea was wearing red and was skittishly nervous about the game.
The North London Tavern, surprisingly, was not too crowded and we managed to secure a table right in front of a screen. Last Friday, I watched England play Algeria and was shocked, for I seldom watch football, at the slow and sluggish lack of energy. The England team footballers didn’t seem to care and criticisms about ‘eleven millionaires on a pitch’ not having any motivation rang true. Wayne Rooney was upset that the fans booed them, but it wasn’t surprising. Imagine paying out all that money on a flight, hotel, tickets to watch your country play in South Africa and getting that performance.
Even yesterday, we managed a goal, but England weren’t exactly playing ‘the beautiful game’, there was no flow, no grace, no natural talent on display except for a couple of youngsters. England make it look like hard work. As a non-football expert, I struggle to understand how we can have the best league in the world, so many famous footballers and yet be so underwhelming as a side at the World Cup. Is it all about the money?
Bethea explained to me that some footballers retire from playing with England early so that they can concentrate on their last few years with their clubs, earning a few extra bucks. The F.A, whose initial meeting chart forms, she believes, the chart for Football itself, are no help as an organisation, being run by a bunch of stuck in the mud old fogeys who stymie talent and creativity.
We looked at the chart for the match: I can’t remember the details due to drinking two pints of lager (I’m a cheap date and I was trying to get into the swing of things) and hopefully Bethea will post more on her blog (Sybil’s Boudoir) about it. My first impression of the chart is that England’s main opponent was not so much Slovenia, but the expectations and hopes of people back in England.
But expect upsets: Uranus, having spent seven years in Pisces has just moved into Aries. Uranus which equals rebellion, shocks, innovation, the unexpected in the sign of youth, aggression, energy and enthusiasm. England are Aries, and should always play in red, the Arian colour. Capello should pick young players. I remember Michael Owen and Rooney as youngsters in the World Cup, it’s shocking that Owen, at 30, is no longer playing for his country, and Rooney, well, if you told me he was 42 rather than 22 I wouldn’t be surprised. He looked ancient, bald, puffy, tired. Maybe they are pushed too hard, too young.
Rooney, astrologically, is having a tough time. Saturn, the planet of age, time, depression and wisdom is transiting his natal Mars, aggression, competitiveness, drive, energy; he probably feels as ancient as he looks. Not a good transit for a sportsman. This transit won’t last long but it’s timing is unfortunate for this World Cup.
The French manager, Domenech, uses astrology to pick his team: he dislikes Scorpios and won’t play Leos in defence. As astrology deals with 12 signs and football has a team of 11 men, possibly this could explain why France are out of the World Cup.
You can read more about astrology and football in this book: Football aims for the Stars: How the Constellations Can Affect Planet Football 

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Comments

  1. Ben Emlyn-Jones

    June 24, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    Let's hope England wear their red away strip when they meet their fellow whites of Germany on Sunday! I'd be happy to see them do well, and that is quite something to hear from a Welshman like me. We actually qualified for the 1958 Sweden World Cup. We came pretty close this time, probably the closest since, and many think we should have qualified on default in the place of Russia when they were banned for drug-taking; instead we had to endure a frustrating play-off which we lost. In '58 our own Rooney was John Charles, who died last year. He was never booked in his entire career! This is an unthinkable achievement in the modern game. Back in those days there was no real tackling like we have today and a far stricter code of conduct. Also the general Zeitgeist of the game has changed, and it is sadly very much down to the increasing commercial nature of the game I think. Bobby Robson said that he got 7 shillings a match when he started out in the 1st Division, what's now the Premiership. It wasn't anything like what they earn today, but it was enough to get an average mortgage deposit. I've been watching the '66 cup final and I'm struck by how the footballers of yesteryear seems so much calmer and more dignified than those of today. The same goes for the spectators who reflect their heroes on the pitch. One can't help but admire Wayne Rooney as a player, but as a person I cringe from him on TV when he screws his face up at the referee, hurling inaudible abuse from his red-cheeked baby-face. He probably spells "substitution" ending "-SHUN"!

    Reply
  2. Ben Emlyn-Jones

    June 27, 2010 at 2:00 pm

    It's just kicking off now. Germany are in their home white and England are in Red!

    Reply
  3. Ben Emlyn-Jones

    June 27, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    That was a terrible match! Sadly when one plays that badly even the right colour shirts won't save them. If Wales had only qualified we'd have thrashed England ourselves!

    Reply
  4. Gorilla Bananas

    June 28, 2010 at 11:30 am

    I think England's footballing skills finally emerged from Uranus in the game against Germany.

    Reply
  5. MsMarmitelover

    June 28, 2010 at 12:43 pm

    Abysmal wasn't it?

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed t Got the sewing machine out last night and hemmed the top of these toile de jouey curtains in my summer house shed. The days are lengthening a little which brightens up my mood. Self care= trying to get up and washed. Trying to leave the house once a day. Keeping my hands busy. Finding small ways to be creative. #coronaloner #sewingmachine #curtains #shedsofinstagram #sheshed #springiscoming #supperclub #stayingsane #selfcare #lockdown3
Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I Pasta aglio olio. I’m turning into a vampire. I get up later and later every day. I’m living in a twilight world- dim skies, getting nothing done. Next week it’s my birthday and every year I’m at my lowest ebb just before my birthday. Lockdown on your own is tough. My motivation, my mojo has disappeared. #lockdown3 #coronaloner #pastadinner #nofilter #january2021 #januarychallenge #selfemployedwomen #single #aquarius #0degrees
On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronal On the heath on Sunday. Must. Walk. More. #coronaloner
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Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
Serve with rice or noodles, garnishing with spring onions or chives and or coriander leaves.  #veganuary #mapotofu #sichuanfood #tofu  #shitakemushrooms #supperclub #londonchef #msmarmitelover #ham&highcolumn #eatplants #lockdown3 #selfisolation #coronaloner #cooking #recipe #cookingfromscratch
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