Monkey's Blog - with a little help from Alice

Aquarians and Alice's Birthday Treat

Happy Birthday to all you Aquarians out there! Alice had her birthday recently - though she forbids me to tell you her exact age. Old enough for her bus pass is detail enough.

Aquarius is a sign which indicates humanitarian ideals, eccentricity, and interests in anything out-of-the usual. Despite depicting the water carrier, it's an air sign, which means matters of the mind come easily. It's ruled by the planet Uranus, which is all about sudden change, electricity, communications, and thus computers and all that sort of stuff. So it does fit her, I have to admit.

She insists a proper horoscope isn't just about the Sun, but all the other planets as well, and if you want to know more, or are a sceptic like she was initially, go to www.astro.com, read the articles and put in your details. To buy astrological items in the UK, try the Astrology Shop. It's a great place to visit, too, if you're in London. Alice says anything by Liz Greene will be illuminating.

I'm afraid I don't know when I was born, as it were, so we can't look at my chart. Sigh. But I like to imagine I'm a Cancerian, warm and caring, with a secret hint of passion - something in Scorpio perhaps. Wish on...

Our Arthropodologist friend, who you will have encountered here before, took us out for Alice's Birthday Treat. We went first to see the film Flight. (More on that and other movies in our next blog.) I love the excuse of the cinema to be naughty and consume lots of unhealthy sweets, don't you?

Of course one pretends to regret  - later on.

Afterwards we ate a grand selection of lovely tapas in La Tasca, one of Alice's favourite eating places. This dessert was some delicious ice-cream with an amazing rich sherry to pour over it, called Pedro Ximénez Triana. There's a history to the name: go check out the link. My oh my, it was gorgeous. My what? I ask. [Oh, never mind!] The waitress brought these birthday candles with it, stuck into marshmallows. What a nice surprise.

Alice made a wish as she blew them out, but she didn't let on what it was about ...