I'll see you there!

Ah, my team is in town, huh?

One of these days we'll get tickets to a game where Houston's in town so that I can see my team play while the hubby watches his team play.

After the Houston game the other night, Tracy McGrady was talking to the TNT crew, telling Charles Barkley why the Rockets were going to Vegas for a couple of days before heading to the Rose City. Tracy: “You know how it is in Portland. You don’t want to go to Portland for 3 nights.” Of course that will all change once we build the aerial tram[rim shot].

Yea, there isn't as much to do here in town as when they're home in Houston. There's a heck of a lot more to do in Vegas, even if you don't go see the girls or gamble.

I used to work at a miniature train exhibit where all the proceeds went to the Ronald McDonald House. It was in the Galleria, which also contains the hotel where the basketball teams stayed when they were in town. People always assumed they'd be right there around the Summit/Compaq Center, but they were purposely housed elsewhere so they'd have more privacy.

It was a really nice display, showing scenes from around Texas, including Bryan-College Station, Houston, and Galveston. It was definitely the best made display I've ever seen.

It never failed that whenever there was a game, the "away team" players would come through the display. Some had their families with them, and I guess it made a nice family outing while in town. They always stuck out like a sore thumb when they came through the exhibit.

The night? Que? A b-ball game? Oh, I don't criticize ...I keed, I keed ... I keed beecause I luuve .... I used to be so much worse about a b-ball game, unglued?, but I got over it. Your turn.

As for nothin' hap' in this town, I was looking for a place to pass along a special thing happening directly overhead of our ville, a-best-things-in-life FREE, right now, 6 - 10:00 pm, and sitting down to surf for a blog I thought, 'Where is a place that would take a real-time notice, good for one night only?' And Jack's like: Tonight's the night.

What the clouds too often cover, the celestial spectacular looking up to see is the Moon passing across Mars. As I look now the Moon is about one of its own diameter's distance from and closing on Mars. Moon moves its own diameter in 2 hours (1 degree of zodiac arc, approx.). So it touches Mars about 8:00 and hides it until 10:ish, and then be separating going (east side) away from Mars ... about when the game's over. Moon occult Mars, - 8:33 pm Pacific. [Oregon plug: One of the best crafters of sober astrology material is a couple in Ashland who make a terrific calendar of it, Powell's stocking it is hit or miss and calendars have a funny niche-mktg aspect; I recommend their Celestial Influences 2006 model, www.QuicksilverProductions.com ]

The point of occultation is in Taurus, about 10 degrees. But there is soooo much more hanging on 10 degrees around the rest of the wheel -- it's BIG, BIG. So the way this interpretation business works is, well, Mars means red, blood, son/brother/dad or generally the male energy, also metals, fire, dry. So, covered up by the Moon. That means a narrow moment, 8: - 10:, which means acute accidental things. A fire. An accident. A cut that bleeds.

Somehow, whizbangflimflamalakazam you pop out a prediction. Big fire tonight, overnight maybe, before sundown tomorrow, along the west coast, maybe in a bank (Taurus) or 'money bin', maybe underground or having something to do with mining, a volcano eruption would fill the bill but especially one 'showing red' I guess that means seeing lava.

That's all. Basically. There can be predictions for a region, sort of the community around vicinity. Those are the most difficult to predict, high percentage false, say 75%. Then there are predictions for individuals, high percentage accurate, but not a wholesale item, like in a blog comment or the newspaper. And then there are predictions for the world. These are the easiest because they can usually be worded in political terms, and while the predictions are highly accurate, nobody's interested beyond their own politics.

So Big Fire overnight somewhere in our 'region.' Something historic.

But on the world scale there is a different prediction. And this is strictly shooting from the hip but I am going to say it: No more war.

I don't know how it goes down, but that's what came to me to say: After tonight, Ain't gonna study no war no more, ain't gonna study no war no more.

The night? Que? A b-ball game? Oh, I don't criticize ...I keed, I keed ... I keed beecause I luuve

What a dud. The Moon never touched Mars, went right to the north of it. Which is supposed to shift the "fire" location business 4 or 5 degrees of latitude north of here, where the occultation view lines up. Seattle's latitude, Alaska, Canada, on around to London and Oslo and Moscow -- that band makes the footprint.

Here at 45 degrees and south it was just a monthly garden variety Moon conjunct Mars. Yet I keep to the no more war passage. It can be the beginning of its end.

Who won the game?

Um, Houston. 100-86. Reuben Patterson, who could be the reincarnation of Jerome Kersey, got in 17 minutes and scored 12 points. Why have a youth movement when the old guy plays harder than the kids?

I score my prediction half right. Even counting my 'London,' 'fire,' and 'accident' in the news, my time of '8:30 pm Pacific' was almost 24 hours too late. For the closest news I found similar to prediction:

Explosions at Fuel Depot Rock Area North of London, Injuring 43; Police Call It an Accident

A dense pall of black smoke rose as high as 10,000 feet over the town of Hemel Hempstead and could be seen in satellite images, said Eddy Carroll, a forecaster at Britain's national weather forecasting office. The smoke also drifted over London, he said.

Afterword is no prediction at all. Of course, I ,i>knew the Rockets were going to win... ;-)