Data Department
By David Fisher
Romeo
Beckham, the second child of David and Victoria Beckham, weighed in
at 7 lb 4 oz on 1st September 2002 at the Portland Hospital, London (51N30
0W11) at 9:39 am BST (8:39 GMT). Daily Express 2nd September 2002.
Recently
Hyperion Records released the fourth CD in their acclaimed British Light
Music Classics Series and one of the most featured composers in the series
is Robert Farnon, who celebrated his 85th birthday this year. He
came to Britain in 1944 as conductor of the Allied Expeditionary Forces
Band and stayed here. From the late 1940's onwards he turned out a host
of popular compositions which haunted our younger days such as Portrait
of a Flirt, Peanut Polka, Jumping Bean and the elegant Westminster
Waltz. He was also musical arranger for Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett
as well as composer of several film scores.
Robert Farnon 24th July 1917, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (43N40 79W23), 6:10 am EST (11:10 GMT). Letter from him to Darryl English 1996.
Only
Fools and Horses (chart left) is undoubtedly one of the most popular
sitcoms in the history of British TV, but its star David Jason often
tells the story of how it was nearly taken off the air after only the
first series. Although Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst tended to dominate
the sitcom as the central characters Del-Boy and Rodney Trotter in the
early days, the show later expanded with the introduction of new characters
such as Trigger, Boysie, Uncle Albert, Raquel and Cassandra. Repeats of
episodes are still shown frequently and its popularity shows no signs
of waning.
First transmission of OFAH 8th September 1981, London (51N30 0W10), 8:30 pm BST (19:30 GMT). TV Times 7-13 September 2002.
David Jason 2nd February 1940, London, 3:00 am GMT. Ascendant 1 Sagittarius. Letter from his agent to David Fisher.
Nicholas Lyndhurst 20 April 1961, Emsworth, Hants, time not known. TV Times Who's Who in Television (Boxtree 2000)
Actor
Michael Elphick (chart left) died on 7th September 2002. As a boy
he acted in school plays but his big break came when Laurence Olivier
became artistic director of a new theatre being built in young Michael's
home town of Chichester. Elphick was a trainee technician on the site
and Olivier encouraged him to apply to the Central School of Speech and
Drama in London. Over the next couple of decades he appeared in many stage
plays, in small TV parts (even appearing in Coronation Street in
1974). In 1981 he took the title part in Private Schulz, a comedy
drama about the Nazi's "Dirty Tricks" department, but he finally
established himself as a name to be reckoned with in Boon as Ken
Boon, a motor bike dispatch rider who sets up his own private investigation
agency, constantly astride a 650 cc BSA. He had been an alcoholic for
years, something of which he spoke frankly in interviews.
Michael Elphick 19th September 1946, Chichester (50N50 0W48), 11:10 am BST (10:10 GMT). Frank Clifford from him.
I didn't watch I'm a Celebrity - Get me Out
of Here (along with Big Brother it's what I call "televisual
tat"), but
it was heartening to see one of the older contestants, Tony Blackburn,
as the winner of the first series. Older readers will remember him
firstly as breakfast host on the pirate ship Radio Caroline in
the mid 19060's and he was the first voice ever heard on Radio 1 on 30th
September 1967. Over the years he gradually fell from favour and was eventually
dismissed by BBC Radio London in 1988. On the air he was noted for his
outspokenness on the breakup of his marriage to actress Tessa Wyatt, blood
sports, radio bosses and trade unions, but perhaps he s best known for
his inexhaustible collection of corny jokes. (Example: 'Why do woodworms
like picnics? - Because they enjoy eating out of doors.').
Tony Blackburn 29th January 1943, Guildford,Surrey (51N14 0W35),2:00 am GDT (1:00 GMT). His autobiography The Living Legend.
Following the move to the USA of bearded conductor
Sir Andrew Davis, Leonard Slatkin (chart right) has lost no 
time
in making his mark at the BBC Promenade Concerts. He comes from a family
of musicians; his father Felix Statkin was a violinist and conductor,
his mother a cellist. He made his conducting debut at 19 and in 1968 obtained
a Mus.B degree at the Juillard School of Music. He has conducted several
American and European orchestras in the 1970's and 1980's and he has already
won the approval of the "Promenaders" with his quiet, friendly
manner and dry humour.
Leonard Slatkin 1st September 1944, Los Angeles (34N04 118W16), 8:20 am PWT (15:20 GMT). Thelma and Tony Wilson from birth certificate.
I'm not a fan of Graham Norton But as an astrologer I was curious about his astrological make up. According to an article in the Daily Express 23rd September 2002, he was born Graham William Walker on 4th April 1963 in Clondalkin just outside Dublin, so he was born the same day as singer Jane McDonald whose data appeared in Transit last year. No time of birth for Norton yet, however.
I'm sure you will all be dying to do a bit of synastry with the charts of John Major and Edwina Currie.
John Major 29th March 1943, Brixton, London (51N28 0W06), "somewhere between 2:00 and 4:30 am". The Ascendant for the midpoint of these two times, 3:15 am BST (2:15 GMT) is 6 Capricorn. From him to Russell Grant.
Edwina Currie 13 October 1946, Liverpool (53N25 2W55), 11:30 pm (23:30 GMT). Her secretary Shirley Theakey by phone to David Fisher, January 1988.
Finally,
did the earth move for you in the early hours on Monday 23rd September
2002? It's amazing how many people slept through the mini earthquake which
thrust itself upon us, although it covered mainly the Midlands and North
of England and lasted only 15 seconds. The full data for the epicentre
is: 23 September 2002, Dudley, Worcs. (52N30 2W05), 12:56 am BST (23:56
GMT 29-09-02). Time given on local TV news. Some newspapers gave 12:45
am but 12:56 is about right since I looked at my bedside digital clock
when it happened. Fortunately, no serious damage was caused.
Front Page***Media Watch ***Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment***Just Another Crash? Revisited ***Comment - Phyllis Playter***Frozen World Discovered***Ballad of John and Edwina by Pete Watson***Musings of a Yorkshire Astrologer ***World News***Pioneering Centre for the Study of Cultural Astronomy and Astrology by Alice Ekrek***Submissions to Transit***AA Website