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Backstage: Uptown Kingston, New York

Dear Friend and Reader:

I'm one of those people who needs to get out more.

In fact I need to get out so much that I hadn't noticed that a music venue had mysteriously appeared down the block from my photo studio in Uptown Kingston, NY -- or rather, that it had taken up residence in a place called Backstage Studio Productions, known locally as BSP.

I always thought the place had a lot of potential. It's a bar with a small stage, connected to a 20,000-square-foot vaudeville house in the back, dating to 1920 or so.

Boston-based Bujak, Jeff Bujak and Jen Dulong, summer 2013. Photo by Eric Francis / Blue Studio.

The place has needed love, attention and promoters for a long time; it was waiting for something cool to happen. I didn't discover that something was already happening until I mentioned to an acquaintance at a party that I was looking for a guitar teacher. He suggested that I go see Dan Sternstein, who co-manages BSP and also teaches music there.

I'd seen Sternstein around town for a few months, not knowing who he was. He has this larger-than-life, swashbuckling demeanor, but is also easygoing and charming. Turns out he's philosopher-in-chief at BSP, and doubles as its in-house music teacher. Not a guitar teacher -- a music teacher who works primarily on guitar.

So I started taking lessons. Another teacher, Rusty Boris, had taught me enough of the basics that I wasn't quite starting from scratch.

What I love about studying with Dan is that in addition to relating the elements of guitar technique in a clear, noncompetitive way, he's passionate about music theory. As someone with a lot of Aquarius in my chart, I love the theory element of just about everything, from astrology to architecture to art to law. I want to know why someone thinks something works a certain way, how it got that way and what the underlying philosophy is. That makes it more like a set of instructions or guiding concepts, which are delightfully flexible.

Dan was a music major but really his passion is composition theory. He's 25 years old and I don't think there's a song he hasn't taken apart, figured out and put back together a few different ways.

I started taking lessons weekly and, because I need to get out more and also because my schedule is so over-the-top, I went up to twice weekly to compensate for times when practice is more challenging.

We did most of our lessons in the club's Green Room -- the prep room for performers. I noticed that every time we sat down the room was rearranged. After every lesson he would tell me about whoever was playing that night or weekend, and I started coming out to shows.

Trap drum setup used in rock music. 'Trap' is short for 'contraption'. Photo by Eric Francis / Blue Studio.

Every time I did, almost without exception, I was amazed. The performers were original and well-rehearsed. I thought it was pretty cool the first time -- I could go out and see a hot show, right in the neighborhood.

There was an Oneonta-based Frank Zappa tribute band that turned out to be the creation of a SUNY music instructor named Mark Pawkett, Sternstein's mentor. What better way to teach college students how to play than get them to learn a whole bunch of Zappa tunes. I'll get to the Oneonta connection in a minute -- the BSP ethos and the scene that's grown around it is imported from a town two hours away. That hundred miles or so makes a big difference. Kingston is not a college town, and it would benefit from being one. Colleges provide a constant influx of young people, money, cultural events and new ideas. The BSP guys have delivered some of that from Oneonta.

Soon after, I saw a Philadelphia-based band called Man Man -- a high-energy ensemble of multi-instrumentalists who rocked a full house. Powerhouses of percussion, keyboards, guitar and various horns, it was hard to believe this was happening in Uptown Kingston.

The next Saturday, a group they inspired, called Grandchildren, also from Philadelphia, was the headline act. Somewhat less known, they didn't draw as large a crowd, but that was everyone else's loss. I stood there through the entire set amazed, taking in some of the best live music I'd seen in forever, marveling at the composition, vocals and the astonishing performance by the rhythm section.

That consisted of two drummers, each at one side of the stage, facing one another, who seemed to perform superhuman feats of syncopation and synchronized playing. One drummer played physical drums, which seemed to consist mostly of tom-toms and bass drums; the other played a set of digital pads.

Dan Votke a/k/a Rusty runs the board at BSP. Photo by Eric Francis / Blue Studio.

The percussionists seemed to stretch a trampoline across the stage and pull it taut for the rest of the musicians to bring in their cosmic psychedelic vibration. After the show I went back into the Green Room, where the drummers were hanging out, and I asked them the only question I could think of: how do you do that?

They said: We know each other really well, we play a lot and besides, Aleks Martray -- the front man, who plays acoustic guitar -- composes all the rhythm parts.

One night I strolled into the club and saw Melissa Pelino and Haden Minifie of the band Snowbear breathing fire on vocals -- in particular, impeccably performed rock and blues harmonies. Once again I stood there watching, astonished. After the show I met the ladies and said, "I bet that took a long time to learn how to do," to which Pelino blurted out gleefully, "It did!"

I have good music karma. If there were such a thing as A&R any more, I would be the guy for the record company to send out and scout talent. I've had fine musicians as housemates, therapists, parents, friends, mentors and two buddies who are fantastic lawyers. All of my astrology teachers have been musicians, particularly David Arner. Some of the best CDs in my collection I bought directly from the artists: Eric Nicholas, Sloan Wainwright, Big Spoon and others.

After a few weeks showing up at BSP and seeing one brilliant show after the next, I figured out that this wasn't just my music karma. It wasn't coincidence. It's not just that there's lot of young, unsigned musical talent out there. Something is going on at Backstage Studio Productions.

New Paltz, NY-based Breakfast in Fur sound checks before their show at BSP, spring 2013. Photo by Eric Francis / Blue Studio.

The core crew consists of three guys who graduated from SUNY Oneonta around the same time: Dan Sternstein, Dan Votke (a/k/a Rusty) and Trevor Dunworth. While they were students, they got into creating outdoor music festivals, in particular, one called liveLIVE.

One day they needed some stage equipment, and someone told them that BSP's owner, Teri Rossin, had some that she might lend them. She did, and when they returned it she asked them if they would consider promoting indoor shows at BSP.

They said yes, and arrived in Kingston in late 2011 and basically took over. I don't just mean they took over BSP. They have their hand in just about everything that's gone well in Uptown Kingston the past few years. If anyone is responsible for the reduced tumbleweed population in Uptown, it's these guys.

They were instrumental in the creation of the wildly successful 2013 New Year's celebration that drew hundreds of people into the streets and businesses of Uptown. They created the Kingston Film Festival, featuring unpretentious screenings of movies and shorts (the most recent was in August).

BSP is a major venue for the O+ Festival, a homegrown Kingston event where musicians and artists trade performances and artwork for medical, dental and holistic health care. Each autumn, Uptown is flooded with street art, music, doctors and lots of people who have never been here before. (The third, or is it fourth, O+ takes place in Kingston Oct. 11, 12 and 13. There's now a corresponding festival in San Francisco Nov. 15, 16 and 17.)

BSP provided the stage and booked the musical acts for Chronogram's 20th anniversary block party last month. The whole event came off flawlessly; the music was perfectly programmed for a diverse audience, it sounded amazing and people danced into the night.

Pedro Soler, the renowned flamenco guitarist from France, performed at BSP. Bryce Dessner of The National played the encore with him. Photo by Eric Francis / Blue Studio.

They use the venue to help independent film productions that come to the area; for community meetings; as a rehearsal space; and as a sound stage. There is a dance studio upstairs. And I could not think of better people to entrust with a 20,000-square-foot room where basically anything can be created. (That will be ready for concerts sometime next year.)

It seems like anything that you can do with a large room, a sound system and lights they are experimenting with.

The best thing that's happening, though, is that they are bringing new faces and constant live music to Uptown Kingston. This includes a wide diversity of styles, spanning from experimental rock to heavy metal to some fantastic folk music. One person behind this miracle is Mike Amari, who specializes in booking many of the club's musical acts.

They run hip-hop shows several times a year (a recent one featured Al Boges), and dance nights with deejays a few times a month as well. There are heavy metal thrash rock shows; there have been standup comedy nights and another one is forthcoming. The atmosphere is always laid back, giving the impression that you've showed up someplace that's the way things used to be in mellower times.

What I love about all these guys is that they are not trying to impress anyone with how cool they are. They simply are cool, and they are competent, friendly, straightforward, honest and helpful. Anyone who knows the music business knows how rare this is.

I will say this a different way. The crew at BSP embodies the kind of community spirit that everyone wishes ran the world, and that few people can figure out how to get going. At the same time, they are devoted to promoting young musical acts. And they are all musicians, though they've put their own projects on hold to open up a little bandwidth so they can do all this business and community stuff.

Kathleen, harmony vocalist for the Zappa tribute band. Photo by Eric Francis / Blue Studio.

Personally I think it's healthy that people who have put 10 or more years into learning music, developing material and touring are the ones in charge of a venue. The world needs music promoters who know how challenging it is to get good at being a performer.

Since I get to spend a fair amount of time with Sternstein, I hear the respect and admiration he has for the acts that come through BSP. One of his favorites is a music and dance ensemble called Bujak. This consists of Jeff Bujak, who creates bass and rhythm beds, then performs improvised neoclassical music over them. His girlfriend, Jen Dulong, does a dance routine with electrified hula hoops. It's quite an effect -- and Bujak's recorded music is equally impressive.

Along this journey, I figured out how to solve the riddle of getting high-quality independent music onto my weekly webcast, PlanetWaves.FM -- hang out at BSP. If you listen to the past couple of months of programs you can hear some of what you've missed (a recent program featured the astonishing Treetop Flyer from the U.K.). I will be hosting the BSP crew on an edition of PlanetWaves.FM the first week of September.

One Friday recently, I finished my lesson and asked Dan what he had going on that night. "Gary Lucas," he said. I had no idea who he was; I found out that (among other things) he was the musical mentor of Jeff Buckley. Toward the end of the Kingston Film Festival, they screened Greetings from Tim Buckley, who was Jeff's father. The film is really about Jeff and his too-short, too-tragic journey.

After the film, Gary Lucas gave a presentation and answered questions from the audience -- then he played an absolutely beautiful set, mostly acoustic, partly electric. As Gary blazed on his guitars and soulful vocals, I stood there wondering: Where the f*ck am I?

Backstage Studio Productions in Uptown Kingston, New York.

Lovingly,



This week's news briefs were written and researched by Amanda Painter, Susan Scheck, Carol van Strum and your friendly neighborhood news editor, Eric Francis.

Of Earth and Fire

The Sun is now in Virgo, and Mars -- at long last -- is in Leo.
 
Mars moving from Cancer to Leo this past Tuesday is one of those palpable energetic changes -- Mars is more free to be itself in a fire sign, and less prone to emotional insecurity. Yet it cautions a need for pacing oneself on the way to fulfilling one's ambitions.
 

Jonah Kelly Francis, Virgo Moon and Sun. Photo by Eric.

Mars in Leo is working its way toward three noteworthy aspects in the coming days: an opposition to asteroid Juno (which may be a push for fairness in relationships, and social justice in other forms), a square to Saturn (direct your energy consciously, and work out your emotional insecurities) and a square to the lunar nodes (make your own turning point -- one is necessary).
 
Virgo, the great cosmic computer, is providing plenty of food for thought. The Sun has been there for a week now, bringing some of the caution necessary to temper Mars in Leo. There are actually four major points in Virgo at the moment, including the Sun: dwarf planet Ceres, hypothetical planet Transpluto and Mercury.
 
That's an image of thinking on many different levels, including integrating the realm of feelings into your thoughts. That's another way of saying Ceres in Virgo is about slowing down and noticing how different experiences make you feel, including how you feel when you eat food. Food is psychoactive; it influences us emotionally and mentally. This is an invitation to notice.
 
The Virgo New Moon is Sept. 5. It makes aspects to many influential and even powerful minor planets -- among them Chiron, Pholus, Ixion, Borasisi and Chaos. These are not asteroids; they are centaurs and points in or near the region of Pluto. And they are rather precisely aligned, which means that a clear message is coming through.
 
Will you get the message? The New Moon chart is about maintaining enough intellectual objectivity so as not to be afraid to ask deep questions, and size up the answers honestly.




We are happy to offer once again one of our most popular products: the Planet Waves All-Access Pass for 2014. The All-Access Pass is for members who want access to everything we offer in a calendar year. In recent years our product line has grown considerably, and the response from our All-Access subscribers has been overwhelmingly positive. You can read about everything that's included with an All-Access pass here. For those who can't get enough Planet Waves astrology, it's an unbeatable value. Plus, if you order now, we'll include the rest of the readings that come out in 2013, and you'll save $100.


U.S. and France Push Ahead, U.K. Backs Down on Syria Attack

Despite domestic and international objections, President Obama is pushing ahead on taking military action in Syria. After an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council failed to reach an agreement Wednesday, White House officials said there is little point trying to go through the UN. [Note, Eric covers the astrology of the proposed Syria war in this week's Planet Waves FM.]

NY Times from Friday, Aug. 30, 2013. Photo by Eric Francis.

Numerous military ships are heading to the area, including the Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group, with 80 bomber jets, and the USS Gravely destroyer.
 
As this edition of Planet Waves went to press, POLITICO reported: "French President Francois Hollande expressed readiness Friday to push ahead with plans to strike Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons despite the British parliament's rejection of military action. Washington also was preparing for the possibility of a strike against the Damascus regime within days.

For those following the issue closely, Secretary of State John Kerry will speak at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had been set to commit military forces in Syria, once UN inspectors have concluded their investigation into the massive chemical weapons casualties this week.

However, Cameron was blocked in that agenda, losing a parliamentary vote on Thursday by 13 votes and surprising many who thought the U.K. would join the U.S. and France in what's being sold to the public as a punitive, short attack on Bashar al-Assad's government.
 
"I get it," said Cameron, in a short statement to Parliament afterward, remarking that he respects the will of Parliament and the British people. There actually seems to be an understanding that the the public and even politicians are skeptical about military intervention in the Middle East after the disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq. That kind of awareness doesn't usually last long, however.
 
Pres. Obama, who seems like he's not even trying to build public support for the attack on Syria, told PBS NewsHour Wednesday night that a "tailored, limited" military response is necessary to prevent future chemical attacks on Syrian civilians -- and also to protect national security.
 

Map showing the location of Syria, which borders Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

"When you start talking about chemical weapons, in a country that has the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world, where, over time, their control over chemical weapons may erode, where they're allied to known terrorist organizations that in the past have targeted the United States, then there is a prospect, a possibility, in which chemical weapons, that can have devastating effects, could be directed at us. And we want to make sure that that does not happen."
 
These are bold words from the leader of a country that took nearly two years to acknowledge the bloodshed in Syria. Per a prior statement, Obama only threatened to use military force when chemical weapons -- which the U.S. also possesses in abundance -- were allegedly used.
 
Meanwhile, the official Syrian death toll stands at more than 100,000; over one million children have fled the country.
 
"Last year around this time, we had 70,000 Syrian refugee children. Today we have reached one million," said UNICEF Executive Director Yoka Brandt. "And that tells us something about the escalation of this crisis and the problems facing children. It is like, you know, you have two children fleeing Syria just about every minute."  


Fort Hood Shooter Sentenced to Death

Nearly four years after killing 13 unarmed people at Fort Hood, Texas, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was sentenced to death by lethal injection by a jury Wednesday. He is one of only a few men on military death row.
 
Hasan, a Muslim, suggested both in and out of court that he preferred to die and become a martyr, choosing to represent himself in court and refusing to put up a defense.
 

Artist Brigitte Woosley sketches Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan as testimony begins in his sentencing at Ft. Hood. AP Photo.

"Do not be fooled," said the Army's lead prosecutor, Col. Michael Mulligan, to the 13 senior Army officers on the panel. "He is not giving his life. We are taking his life. This is not his gift to God. This is his debt to society."
 
Such reasoning ignores a central question: whether payment of such a debt through execution is something society has a right to exact on an individual.
 
His sentence raises the question of whether the 13 lives taken by Hasan on American soil are somehow more important than the 16 civilian Afghan lives taken by Staff Sgt. Robert Bales in Afghanistan in last year.

Rather than being given the death penalty, Bales is now serving a life sentence. He was known to be suffering from traumatic brain injury at the time of the March 11, 2012 massacre. This all raises the even larger question why anyone is surprised that people who are trained at great expense to kill people go and do so.
 
"Major Hasan was the first defendant to represent himself in a military capital-punishment case in modern times, raising a host of issues," reported The New York Times. "One of them is the conflict between his right to self-representation and the requirement that death penalty defendants be given special protections to ensure a fair verdict and sentence."

"This was not a fair trial. I've lost a lot of respect for the system," said Hasan's civil attorney, John Galligan, a former military judge quoted in the Los Angeles Times. There may be a lengthy appeals process as a result.
 
Presidential approval, considered likely after any appeals, is needed to carry out a military death sentence. Hasan is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where four other condemned military prisoners have waited for years (or decades) as their cases are appealed. The last execution at Fort Leavenworth was the hanging of Army private John A. Bennett in April 1961.


Pacific Trade Agreement Veils Play for Greater Corporate Control

The most significant international trade agreement in decades is close to being finalized, and chances are you don't know its name -- and neither does your congressperson. And that's just the way the corporate sector wants it.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), dubbed "NAFTA on steroids," is a free-trade pact currently comprising 12 participants: the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Chile. The nineteenth round of talks began last week in Brunei, with negotiations reportedly almost completed.

Farmers from across Japan protest against participation in rule-making negotiations for the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Tokyo, 2011. Other nations have been aware of this deal for that long. Photo: Reuters/Yuriko Nakao.

Extreme secrecy surrounds the negotiations; the Obama administration has denied repeated calls from legislators to make the process more transparent, while pressing to finalize the agreement this year. Critics say the policy will derail domestic employment growth by exporting even more jobs, and give corporations even greater power to shape domestic policy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a respected Internet rights group, has other concerns. It describes TPP as a "secretive, multi-national trade agreement that threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcement." EFF warns, "Leaked draft texts of the agreement show that the IP chapter would have extensive negative ramifications for users' freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples' abilities to innovate."

Just five of the 29 draft chapters cover traditional trade matters, according to Ben Beachy, the research director for Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. The rest of the deal, he said, "could rewrite broad swathes of domestic policy that affects our daily lives, from Internet browsing to what we eat for dinner."

"For corporations, the TPP is a convenient back-door means of undermining public interest policies that they oppose but are not able to undermine through domestic legislation," Beachy said. If enacted, all existing and future U.S. law would have to comply with the treaty, or the U.S. could face trade sanctions. 

A draft chapter leaked last year described a legal structure, called an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, that would essentially allow multinationals to sue a government if they believe a policy infringes on their rights, according to an article in The Nation. A tribunal unaccountable to any electorate would decide the case and the damages owed, with no option for appeal. Similar investor-state rules have been included in a number of other free-trade deals, including NAFTA, and cases are surging, as are the damages awarded. Last year corporations won 70 percent of disputes.


Subterranean Clit-Lit Blues (Now Tickled Pink)
 
If you're reading Planet Waves, chances are you're aware of how much more we know about female sexual response and desire than we did even just a few short decades ago. But are you aware that the clitoris has extensive internal components in addition to that little nub of supreme pleasure that shows on the outside?
 

What we think of the clitoris is merely the tip of the matter. This computer-generated illustration of the internal clitoris, shown in yellow, reveals how deep things go.

Author "melodiousmsm" notes in a 2011 article for the Museum of Sex website that, sadly, it wasn't until the 1990s that researchers began using MRIs to explore the internal structure of the clitoris -- long after the intricacies of the penis had been explored that way in the 1970s. The Internet, textbooks and even professional medical guides are still rife with misinformation that does not acknowledge the full scope of the clit.
 
In 2005 The American Urological Association published a report on clitoral anatomy by Dr. Helen O'Connell of the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a primary researcher of clitoral structure via MRI.
 
The report states, "The anatomy of the clitoris has not been stable with time as would be expected. To a major extent its study has been dominated by social factors … Some recent anatomy textbooks omit a description of the clitoris. By comparison, pages are devoted to penile anatomy."
 
For a user-friendly guide on what to do with this new knowledge about your subterranean juicy bits, check out the book Women's Anatomy of Arousal by Planet Waves' good friend Sheri Winston.


Yosemite Providing Glimpse of Future Fire Challenges

The massive Rim fire at Yosemite National Park in California, which has burned 301 square miles over the last two weeks, may indicate things to come in the western U.S., according to environmentalists. Yosemite is considered the crown jewel of the U.S. national park system. Nearly 5,000 firefighters are battling the blaze -- the sixth largest in state history. It's now 30% contained, and firefighters estimate it will be extinguished by September 10.

Dusty LaChapelle from the El Dorado Fire Distr. at the Rim fire near Yosemite on Sunday. His crew kept flames away from livestock and structures. Photo by Don Bartletti.

Authorities are especially concerned about this fire for a few reasons. First, the fire is close to two of Yosemite's three groves of Sequoia trees, the Tuolumne Grove and the Merced Grove.

Firefighters have surrounded the 1000-year-old sequoias with sprinklers, and cleared the area of brush to try to keep the fire at bay. Some of the trees stand hundreds of feet tall.

The fire also threatens San Francisco's water supply. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency for San Francisco, which gets more than 80% of its drinking water from a reservoir only four miles away from the edge of the fire. Water quality remains safe, according to officials.

In addition, the fire has damaged two of the city's three hydroelectric power stations, supplying power for almost all city services. Crews are repairing the power stations, and San Francisco is buying energy elsewhere.

Flexibility may become the key to survival for communities affected by fires. Fire season now lasts two months longer and destroys twice as much land as it did 40 years ago, according to Thomas Tidwell, the head of the United States Forest Service, when he testified to the Senate committee on energy and natural resources earlier this summer.

We can expect "as much as a fourfold increase in parts of the Sierra Nevada and California" in fire activity across the rest of this century, said Matthew Hurteau, assistant professor of ecosystem science and management at Pennsylvania State University, in Mother Jones.



Syrian Group Hacks NY Times, Twitter Accounts of News Agencies

The Syrian Electronic Army, a hacker group purportedly supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, claimed responsibility for several service disruptions beginning late Tuesday that took down The New York Times website. The group claimed the hack was to protest possible foreign military actions against the Syrian government in light of last week's poison gas attacks.
 
"The @nytimes attack was going to deliver an anti-war message but our server couldn't last for 3 minutes," the group posted on its Twitter feed at about 9:40 Wednesday morning.
 
The hackers gained access to a Melbourne IT reseller account using a phishing email and proceeded to change the DNS records of multiple domains, including NYTimes.com, according to the company.

In other words, they sent out fake emails and were able to get users with access to the passwords to reveal them. The hackers then edited the code that directs which server a given URL -- such as NYTimes.com -- takes a user.

The site was still experiencing some outages as of early Thursday.
 
The New York Times Company chief information officer Marc Frons said Tuesday's attack was more sophisticated than previous SEA hacks.
 
"It's sort of like breaking into the local savings and loan versus breaking into Fort Knox. A domain registrar should have extremely tight security because they are holding the security to hundreds if not thousands of websites," said Frons in The New York Times. If the story is true, it's another revelation of how flimsy supposedly top-level Internet security can be.
 
The group also claimed responsibility for hacking Twitter accounts belonging to the AP, NPR, Reuters, BBC and Al Jazeera, as well as links on CNN, The Washington Post and Time. Earlier in the month, the Times experienced an outage that it said was due to "a scheduled maintenance update."




40 Maps That Will Help You Make Sense of the World

If you thought geography was dry and boring, think again. This amazing compilation of maps on Twisted Sifter offers the visual representations of things as diverse as the most dangerous areas to ship due to pirates, countries with and without McDonald's, the only 22 countries in the world that Great Britain has never invaded, alcohol consumption around the world, vegetation on Earth, average age of first sexual intercourse by country, most popular surnames in Europe, highest paid public employees in the U.S. by state (frighteningly few college presidents compared to athletic coaches) and much, much more.




I Have A Dream, Syria War and Miss Miley Cyrus

In this week's special extended edition of Planet Waves FM, I play the full recording of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Then I do the astrology of that day, and also take a look at Dr. King's chart as well. The charts are below; here is the verified text of the speech. Our musical guest is the Boston-based rock string quartet Darlingside, whom I met at Backstage Studio Productions (BSP) in Uptown Kingston, NY.

In the second half of the program, I look at the chart for John Kerry's pitch to go to war with Syria. And I investigate the astrology of Miley Cyrus after her performance at Monday night's VMA awards. If you want to see the video, it's the second one down on this page at Huffington Post.

I don't critique the video -- rather, I explain its significance as an event in the history of sexual liberation. I also give a good sniff to Miley's extraordinary chart. Note, I don't have the birth time but I do know that the published time is wrong. I plan to publish the accurate data when I have it from the state of Tennessee.




Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes

We published the extended monthly horoscopes for September on Friday, Aug. 23. Your Inner Space horoscopes for September are published below in this issue. We published the Moonshine horoscopes for the Aquarius Full Moon on Tuesday, Aug. 20. We will publish the Moonshine horoscopes for the Virgo New Moon Tuesday Sept. 3 Please note, we normally publish the extended monthly horoscopes on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign; Inner Space usually publishes the following Tuesday.


Inner Space Monthly Horoscopes for September 2013, #964 | By Eric Francis
The Virgo New Moon is Sept. 5. It makes aspects to many influential and even powerful minor planets -- among them Chiron, Pholus, Ixion, Borasisi and Chaos. These are not asteroids; they are centaurs and points in or near the region of Pluto. The New Moon chart is about maintaining enough intellectual objectivity so as not to be afraid to ask deep questions, and size up the answers honestly. Next up is the Pisces Full Moon, which takes place Sept. 19. If the New Moon is about going deep, the Full Moon is about going wide -- maintaining a global perspective, seeing the impacts of your decisions, and noticing the way that events ripple out into your world, and the world. Finally this month we have the Libra equinox. The Sun changes signs and the Northern Hemisphere summer ends. The three months encompassing Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius can be the most hectic of the year, as the days grow shorter and the holidays approach. Pace yourself -- make a plan now.

Aries (March 20-April 19) -- Calculate your risks. Do not take them frivolously. I know this is not a popular activity but for you it's a necessary one. You are more inclined to go out on a limb right now; at the same time there are factors in the equation that you may not be aware of. Therefore I suggest you consider worst-case scenarios before you do something that is potentially dangerous. At the same time, some of those scenarios have ways of expressing themselves that come up in your favor. For example, a phase of adversity in a relationship can work out in your favor, by taking you deeper with someone, and helping you build trust with them. Yet it's essential that you be conscious as you do this. I am not suggesting that you stoke your insecurity -- only that you look before you take a soulful, bounding leap.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- A relationship seems to go through a series of tests, and many of them may be centered on what a close partner or someone who's an erotic interest is going through. Yet these are not tests -- they are the experiences of life that are normal for the territory that we're in. One of the central questions for you is how you handle your own insecurities. There may be a seeming conflict between your boldness and another person's hesitancy, or between your desire to be spontaneous and your need for stability in the relationship. I think that the key to your situation is recognizing the impact that your feelings have on others, even when you don't say anything. Your emotions move you and the world around you. They are especially likely to have that influence now. So pay attention and participate consciously.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- Keeping things in balance is one thing. Knowing how to respond when situations go out of balance is another. First, be aware that there are some conflicts that will seem dramatic and significant but which do not directly influence your life, except on the intellectual level. Assess each of them on two levels -- how does this affect you, and how does it affect your community? That question will provide significant useful information. You are involved in some truly significant assessments of your security base, home and family matters, and you must sort out information that is useful from that which is merely controversial. Pay particular attention to health-related topics, get to the truth and more than anything, notice the role that stress plays in the equation. Carefully consider adjusting environmental factors first before you seek any form of outside intervention that you don't need.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- Your ideas have both influence and impact, though it will help considerably if you keep your flexibility. You seem to be bumping up against a fear -- it could be the fear of going deeper, or of losing control, or of the unforeseen consequences of acting on your desire. If you run into a situation wherein you feel fully committed but still cannot get your situation to budge, take a gentler approach. Consider the ways in which you can flow around something rather than push it or force some kind of movement. You need to be the flexible one in the equation, and you can count on that talent being available if you remember to call on it. A little confidence will go a long way -- that will build as the month progresses, as you learn more and act on what you know.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- In any relationship situation it's necessary to maintain awareness of your own identity, desires and needs, and those you share with other people around you. Usually we take for granted having to sacrifice one or the other. That is an idea from the distant past, usually advocated by our parents and grandparents, but which is no longer true for you. It's not a question of 'all you' versus 'all about the other person'. And it's not a matter of alternating between the two. At this point in human history we face the authentic challenge of being wholly self-present and wholly present for others in your context as a relationship or business partner. Is this more than prior generations can handle, or were they merely lacking that concept? You can handle the stretch, and you have the concept available.



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Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) -- If a situation seems to be running out of control, I suggest you adjust your perspective till you see it in such a way that it's workable. You'll be surprised by how much changes with your point of view. It is therefore essential that you keep your point of view portable, and that you not be driven by fear. If you get stuck, ask yourself what you're concerned might happen. One thing to be mindful of is discerning fear from intuition. Fear usually describes an outcome you don't want. Intuition usually describes how to create an outcome that you do want, or at least provides some useful information on how to prevent a negative outcome. Therefore, it's essential that you recognize that worry is not a form of intuition, no matter how vivid it may seem. Keep a wide perspective -- especially about yourself.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- You will need to talk about what you're feeling and what you've been through recently -- if you want any sense of contact with the people around you. The past matters, especially the past four weeks, and what you experienced will have an influence on your current choices. You've just been through another spell of "I can barely believe I'm going through this," though at least this time around you had the presence of others to verify your experience. Remember how good that felt: you don't need to go it alone, and the one sure way not to do that is to maintain open communication with people you care about, and those with whom you share common interests. Be real with people and you will have real friends. Stealth and secrecy are not all they're cracked up to be.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- Build up your momentum working on a long-term goal -- which implies knowing what it is, beginning the process and focusing your energy. Get accustomed to working through the inner resistance that gets in the way of your most cherished desires for achievement. Recognize the degree to which any worldly goal involves overcoming some inner obstacle or remnant of history. If you encounter a personality trait that consistently holds you back, now is the time to deal with it so that you can move onto truly greater things. If you put your mind to that project, there is little that will be able to stop you. And you will need them when, later in the year, the astrology brings nearly total focus on your sign and you're in the spotlight in a much bigger way. That's the future; this is the point of origin.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- You're in a situation where you must be both the micromanager and the visionary. This isn't easy. All the details in the world don't add up to the larger scenario, no matter how well attended. But they do need to be attended. You also know that you're one of the few who cannot only understand the grand scheme -- you're one of its most influential authors. Therefore, make sure that the details get taken care of, but don't let them bog you down. One way to do that is to take care of them well in advance. You know what they are; you know who is dependable and who is not; you have a sense of the timing involved. Keep a grip on this layer of things and you will soon emerge as a leader of the people and the author of a genuine idea or concept.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- You might question whether what you perceive in others is your own shadow projected onto them, or whether it's really some issue they have. It could be a little of both, though in any event there is significant benefit that can come from asking the questions that help you verify your perceptions. Relationships often get tangled in a hall of mirrors, and this is the stuff of which those mirrors are made. If you determine that something belongs to you, it's that much easier to address. If you determine that something is the property of another person, that at least helps you understand where the lines of responsibility really are. All of us who live on our particular planet have work to do. It helps considerably if we do our own work and allow others to do theirs.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Others may challenge your authority over the next few weeks. It could be some professional situation, or a household-related theme, or your moral authority -- and you will need to figure out a way to handle it that works for everyone, or for as many people as possible. Remember that often, when someone is trying to razz you, they're doing it for its own sake. It may be a form of amusement or a not-so-dangerous way to take a little risk. That said, take a real look at any beef someone has with you and offer them some kind of compromise. Leave yourself room to negotiate; don't give it all away at first -- just enough to send the signal that you're open to a discussion and that you have a fair mind. This will work anywhere along the spectrum from personal to political.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- All the facts in the word don't add up to the truth. So where you're inundated with data, make sure you look at it in a way that tells you something. Now, that something may well be subjective. You may get an opinion confirmed; you may see a pattern and come up with a new theory. The message of your charts is all about seeing patterns and discerning what they tell you. Here is a clue: To do this well, you need to have faith in yourself and in your intelligence. Pisces is good at being circumspect, which is a way of saying taking in a diversity of viewpoints -- though you have to trust your own, and give the opinions of others weight only to the extent that they're presenting something compelling. Just keep that theory in mind -- that a lot of information is not necessarily what you need. It's a coherent point of view and a flexible plan of at least three steps toward the goal.