Bill Cosby – Facing a trial for sex assault allegations

One of American TV's most endearing stars Bill Cosby has fallen from grace dramatically since allegations were raised against him that he drugged a woman, Andrea Constand in order to sexually assault her; Cosby maintains that he had consensual sex with her. Today he appeared in court and a US judge ordered him to stand trial for the charges against him. if he is found guilty, he could face 10 years in jail.

Joan Rivers – American comedienne passes away aged 81

 

The acerbic New York comedienne Joan Rivers has died after an operation on her throat went wrong. She was having an operation on her vocal chords, but something must have gone drastically wrong and she suffered a cardiac arrest and went into a coma. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff at Mount Sinai hospital in New York, they were unable to save her and she finally passed away today.

Robin Williams – A maverick actor and performer haunted by his past.

 

It’s so sad when I have to write about the passing of a famous person and this morning I woke to hear the shock news that Robin Williams, actor, comedian and all around nice guy of stand-up and screen had taken his own life. He was 63 years of age. He had entertained and delighted up with all manner of films, TV shows and his comedic brilliance, from “Mork and Mindy” to the wonderfully improvised “Good Morning Vietnam”. He starred in “Dead Poet’s Society”, the “Fisher King”, showed his more manic side in “Mrs Doubtfire” and he excelled in more restrained roles too including his Oscar winning performance in “Good Will Hunting”.

Dieudonné M'bala M'bala - Controversial French comedian banned for anti-semitism.

Dieudonné, the French comic and social commentator who has been in the news much in the past month is back causing headlines again. He has been vilified for his reverse Nazi "Quenelle" salute which has been labelled as anti-semitic, although he claims it is anti-establishment. He is currently being questioned by French police, after bailiffs approaching his house to collect a series of unpaid fines were allegedly fired upon with rubber bullets. Dieudonné latest one man stand-up show "The Wall" has been banned because of the hateful nature of the language involved.

Billy Connolly – Health concerns for the prince of Scottish comedy.

At the start of this year I met comedian and actor Billy Connolly very briefly at Heathrow Airport. I remember it being a freezing day in London and I remarked that if it was cold in London, the it must have been like the arctic circle in Scotland where Billy had just flown from. He looked at me disdainfully and quick as a flash in his broad Glaswegian accent he growled “How dare you!!”. I had just insulted his beloved Scottish nation and he didn’t want me to get away with it. Everyone around us laughed hysterically. Had he known I was also an Astrologer too, he would probably ripped me to pieces even more, but I wouldn’t have minded. A brief moment of banter with one of the funniest men alive. I was very much saddened today to hear that Billy has had a very recent operation for prostrate cancer, and he also has the early stages of Parkinson’s disease.

Sacha Baron Cohen – A law unto himself

Like most comedians, Sacha Baron Cohen polarizes opinions. Some love his irreverent comic style laced with more than a drop of irony and others just don’t get it. On the Oscar red carpet last night in a very pre-rehearsed publicity stunt, Cohen dressed at “The Dictator” a character from his upcoming film and tipped the ashes of “Kim Jong Il” all over E! Entertainment’s TV host Ryan Seacrest. The funniest thing about the whole incident were the burly security men dragging Baron Cohen away. The incident however had had it’s desired effect.

Ricky Gervais – Comedy genius courting trouble and taking on an Almighty challenge.

Ricky Gervais has never held back from challenging people. That’s what comedians do, don’t they? They live on the edge, are incredibly brave using the power of humour to give the alternative view on society or of people, one which often could not be voiced without fear of criticism. Ricky courted major controversy at this year’s Golden Globe presentations when a string of jokes were aimed at the nominees. Now his latest venture is also going to test the resolve of many people, as his new comedy series “Afterlife” sees him, a confirmed non-believer, play the role of God.

Ricky was born on 25th June 1961 in Reading Berkshire, England (no birth time for Ricky is yet known) so is an emotional Sun sign Cancerian. Even without knowing his birth sign, I guessed Ricky was born under the sign of the Moon. Cancerians have a certain look about them, a slightly round face, often a jovial smile and an upbeat disposition. My brother is a Cancerian and he displays all of those qualities. Behind the sunny side is a far more emotional being, Cancerians worry, fret, are hugely protective and hide their insecurities behind the facade. Surely the idea of the circus clown was created initially by a Cancerian.

Ricky’s Moon is also in a water sign, Scorpio (not affected by the lack of a birth time). Here is a really cutting edge to the personality, ready to delve deep into the psyche of those around him, wanting to know everything. Ricky will be a difficult person to deal with, and will emotionally explode with a volcanic temper when upset. The Moon makes a square aspect to a temperamental Uranus/Mars conjunction in forthright Leo. It also (potentially) forms a t-square opposite to Venus with the Mars/Uranus at the point. The Mars/Uranus in Leo is fiercely independent and reckless, and able to hurt people’s feelings without realising it. There is a wonderful experimental quality about this aspect though, and Ricky will venture into territory fearlessly that other people would not touch. Uranus square to the Moon show that Ricky’s emotions will vary from one day to the next, one day he will be motivated, the next day he couldn’t be bothered. This will be the same in his emotional life too and probably explains why he has been living with his girlfriend for 29 years without taking the plunge into married life. Ricky needs the freedom of a single life, as each day he does not know how he is going to feel. This is echoed in the Moon Venus opposition. Moon/Venus has problems in deciding what one actually wants out of a love relationship, however with Venus in possessive and stable Taurus, Ricky has remained true to his long term partner. One problem Ricky does face is that in certain areas of his life he can get stuck in his ways – 6 planets are in fixed signs, but he will be alright if he continues to work and to innovate. If he stops, then one would start to get get concerned about him getting caught in the proverbial rut, and all the stresses that that could produce. As you can guess by now, Ricky is someone who is full of extremes and contradictions.

Central to Ricky’s creative acumen is his Neptune in Scorpio. Neptune makes connections to Pluto in careful Virgo, trines to Mercury and his Sun together in Pisces and a square to expansive Jupiter in glamorous Aquarius. The Neptune, Sun/Mercury and Pluto mini grand trine is very revealing. Firstly Ricky will work and communicate his ideas his way, and will be very protective of his concepts. He has a fertile imagination and is attracted to all things creative, be it music, TV, theatre, film (Neptune trine Sun/Mercury). In that creative streak, he likes to get down to the motivations of the characters he is portraying in great, great detail. Neptune in Scorpio gets beneath the skin to the seedier side of life, the unethical things which we dream about but often don’t express. Pluto in Virgo is able to pick out the tiniest details, the nuances, the gestures and through the Sun/Neptune Ricky portrays this all with great emotion in a Cancerian bitter, sweet self-depreciative way.  Mercury is retrograde so all the communication is turned in on himself, the same goes for his own stand up show.

Jupiter in Aquarius link allows Gervais to think outside the box and have the ability to innovate on a large scale; here is also the draw to a glitzy international career rather than a more downbeat homespun one. Saturn in serious Capricorn makes sure that Ricky works hard for his success, and also will hold him to account when that over excitable Jupiter, Mars, and Uranus get him into trouble. It will make him feel constantly in self-denial and burdened with responsibility, you can see the up and down, push and pull nature of the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction and the potential for rapid changes of mood - jovial and optimistic, then serious and pessimistic.

Back in 2001 when “The Office” was first aired, in my view still Ricky’s stand out work to date, progressed Venus was coming up to a conjunction with Ricky’s natal Sun. The transits at that launch did not show the success that was to come. That series was a slow burner and only picked up award after award in 2005, just as progressed Venus made an exact conjunction. Moving onto to today and there are an interesting set of transits for Ricky. Transiting Pluto is in opposition with his natal Sun showing that the 2-3 last years have very much been transitional ones for him with a few setbacks along the way. Transiting Pluto was exactly opposite natal Mercury at 6 degrees Capricorn when he did his now notorious Golden Globes presentation back in January. Right now Pluto is back at 6 Capricorn just as the announcement of Ricky playing God has come out. This is likely to upset quite a few people once again. Transiting Uranus is square natal Sun and Mercury, so this is Ricky going out on a limb taking a bit of a calculated risk, and Uranus is also sextile Saturn so here is the chance for him to overturn some conservative values in his own inimitable way. Backing this independent and revolutionary spirit, Solar Arc Mercury and Sun are currently conjunct natal Uranus. Finally (and this is really interesting) transiting Neptune, the planet of spirituality is exactly conjunct the natal South Node. Transits to the South Node are often less than successful. Gervais is known not to be a religious person, and has been reported as being an atheist, so taking on such a role just as Neptune has entered the spiritual sign of Pisces could be seen as a risky, especially if he does it in a condescending manner. Neptune has a way of sucking you in with optimism only to leave you in the mire, dismayed, confused and discredited. Transiting Neptune is still opposing natal Mars, so maybe this aspect was the motivating factor, taking on the challenge of tackling faith and pre-conceived spiritual notions of the Almighty one.

With the planets in the position they are right now & with Pluto still in opposition with the Sun and Mercury until around the end of  2012, I would have advised him to hold back on this project, at least for a few years until the difficult transits melted away. Being Ricky Gervais, he might just get away with it, but then again, he might not…