12/21/09

List of Top 10 iPhone apps for 2009

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So far I've managed to resist the enticing allure of an iPhone but it isn't easy (hacking, reception, and connection problems notwithstanding.)

End of the year is near and the Tops for 2009 lists are appearing everywhere. Here's a techie one that makes for an interesting read of the Top 10 iPhone Apps for 2009.

Did your fave app make the list?

~:~

12/14/09

Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse can't be beat!

Q: Have you ever tasted Julia Child's version of a Chocolate Mousse? It can be whisked, but it can't be beat! Can you tell that I finally saw Julie & Julia over the weekend? Watching the film, my teen years haunted me as catalyzed by Meryl Streep's excellent portrayal of the Jupiterian Julia Child, with Amy Adams playing Julie Powell, the NY blogger who also loved Julia. (As with me, a mother-daughter connection was in play because my mother and I used to watch The French Chef and chuckle together). And Julia's Chocolate Mousse was the most successful of her recipes I ever attempted. Now August just past I published here images of Julia Child's birth and death charts along with a few astro-details and a link to an interesting interview on Fresh Air so check it out here if you wish. ~:~

12/7/09

view 'Mandalan Art' with a Psychedelic flavor!

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Imperfect Mandala, a drawing by Jude Cowell.

When Mandelbrot-inspired mandalas operate as Art images for sparking such things as meditations, eye-brain stimulations, or for simple visual enjoyment of creative images, then we know the Universe still works in harmony at least some of the time, in spite of all man can do!

Have you ever seen this dynamic collection of what I call 'Mandalan Art'?

Click for a few bright examples available there for your viewing pleasure with only a secure click, for I've this very evening discovered the Art Work @ Spirit Mythos and I recommend it to you!

My hope is to find more Mandalan Art of Psychedelic yet charming vibes and locate the links here for you or in my Secret Moon Art gallery online, if you prefer. Peruse the Art Links in the sidebar next time you drop in.

Thing is, 'Mandalan Art' is only what I'm calling it; I'm not sure if anyone else does. And the digital Artist of the Moment at Spirit Mythos undoubtedly has alternate ideas of how to describe their work, don't you think?

So when you reach the Spirit Mythos gallery, click icons to enlarge images of the colorful mandalas for they're so el perfecto for gazing upon and chillaxing your brain a while...

and tell them old Jude Cowell sent ya because I feel you'll like the interesting Art images of Spirit Mythos!

~:~

No personal or professional connections or agreements exist between this gnat of a blogger (Jude Cowell) and the author/s and owner/s of the above-linked Spirit Mythos blog.


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are you still here?



shoo!




shashay away!









mosey now










buzz off, Sparkie!












okay then....click something.





Now.










scat!









Well, then here's Portrait of a Fool, inspired by the -0- card in the Tarot deck.



from CPD a gallery of frisky figure studies for 17+ers' viewing only.

~:~~:~

12/5/09

Forensic Astrology and the case of Amanda Knox 12.5.09

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This is merely a heads-up alert that an article concerning the sad Amanda Knox case and resulting guilty verdicts of last evening has been published after much study by yours truly.

The guilty verdicts against Ms. Knox and her former boyfriend, Rafaelle Sollecito, were delivered "shortly after midnight" in Perugia, Italy for the brutal murder of Meredith Kercher on the evening of Nov 1, 2007.

And although Forensic Astrology is an interest of mine, I consider myself to be barely fluent in its principles. Still, you may find a few notes of interest which are translated from astrologese to English for your consideration. Do check it out and comment thoughtfully, if you wish, on this blog or at Jude's Theshold.

Amanda Knox's natal data is included but with her precise birth time unknown, I've used a Noon chart for her natal planetary details. Meredith Kercher was born in London in Feb, 1986, but that's all the info I've found so far.

~:~

12/1/09

JFay's dynamic Artsy Candles!

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Since my Art/Astrology presence on the web has expanded in recent years and become almost impossible for me to keep up with, it's easy to lose touch with earlier web friends, even those whose artisanship you tremendously admire and have ordered for yourself to enjoy.

One such is Studio 3B's JFay, a dynamic designer of gorgeous handmade candles in a variety of themes and colors. Why, you have only to ask and she'll design a candle specifically for you! Or simply choose from her wonderful collection.

Do mosey by Studio 3B's Artsy Candles Blog to view JFay's intriguing gallery filled with trendy as well as traditional themes and styles of color-drenched scented candles and you'll soon join me in accolades for JFay's waxy work!

~:~

11/25/09

Mercury, our most important planet for love

Mercury, brainy planet of thinking processes, communications, and the senses, is not often thought of as the most important planet in a natal chart. But it is.

Elsewhere I've referred to speedy Mercury as the 'tofu planet' since it tends to soak up the flavors of whatever planets it contacts in a chart.

Take Mercury conjunct Pluto, for instance. George W. Bush as a 1st house (Self) conjunction in Leo of Mercury and Pluto, a pair which together can indicate mental obsessions, cruel speech, and spying tendencies. One of the obsessions is, I suspect, tremendous mental focus (Mercury) on acquiring wealth and possessions (Pluto) and Pluto is god of the Underworld, thus he doesn't care how he attains his desires - or whom it beggars.

Well, W certainly demonstrated such things while he played president, but lack of intelligence wasn't actually one of his shortcomings in spite of how he was marketed and critiqued. Deep (Pluto) thinking (Mercury) is one of the signatures of Mercury/Pluto along with propaganda meant to sway the thinking of others; the conj posited in his natal 1st house shows that Mercury/Pluto was he.

On a lighter mercurial note, expert astrologer Beth Turnage says that Mercury is important for making love last in relationships, so check out Beth's excellent article, for if you've ever had a relationship where communication or its lack caused major problems, you already know the importance of mercurial compatibility in relationships.

And as they say, sexual attraction begins in the brain!

11/17/09

Interview with a Creative Yarn Spinner

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Now you may think this post's title refers to someone like Mark Twain or to that folksy storyteller you heard tall tales from at the last Aunt Granny Fanny Mountain Festival back in the holler. But...no.

And if you've read a post or two at 2 Hours before this moment you know that I often tout my daughter's new Etsy Shop of handspun and handpainted yarns which she then takes gorgeous photos of for online shoppers to view. Therefore, you won't be surprised that Maya and her spinning are featured in an interview which simply had to be shouted out by her mom. Right?

Patience Required!

There are an amazing number of steps in the spinning and dying processes in order to produce even one skein of squishy-soft yarn and have it look inviting, so please check out Maya's interview for more details about my knit-loving offspring's process and inspirations!

And here is a nostalgic photo of one of her dorm friends holding Maya's giraffe, Ayapap Ayam, who is mentioned in the interview above. Wonder if she'd get me if I told you her giraffe's name is 'Maya Papaya' spelled backwards? ;p



View more of Maya's photography at Springtree Road where November is always black'n'white photo month.

~:~

11/16/09

Dreamyfish Art Calendar 2010 is ready for you!

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If you read my last post, you'll know that Old wife, a lovely fish of Western Australia, has been on pins and needles waiting to learn if she was chosen to represent a Month in my new Dreamyfish Art 2010 Calendar.

Sad to say, Old wife is only a runner-up (see her portrait in previous post) because Slender weed whiting beat out her stripediness by a nose...a very long nose.

But it's all good, for you may wish to order a Dreamyfish Art Calendar soon because you know that 2010 is just around the Dec 31 corner. You'll find that botanical names of each fish are included making it possible for you to amaze your non-diving friends with your scientific knowledge of underwater denizens of Western Australia - 12 of them, at least!

And do check out Issue #32 of X-RAY MAG with a Jude Cowell Portfolio feature of my botanical fish drawings with artist interview - and the download is free!

Download Section V to snag my Dreamyfish Art Portfolio, or you may download the entire gorgeous magazine with its astounding underwater photography and articles about what's going on with our oceans and dwindling world fish population. And please, let's...

Save Our Oceans!

~:~

11/13/09

Old wide, Enoplosus armatus and the 2010 Fish Art Calendar

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Here's a little Old wife, Enoplosus armatus fretting at the thought of being left out of the Dreamyfish Art 2010 Calendar I'm in process of creating for my Zazzle Art Shop. The new 12-or-13-fish calendar should be on display and made available for Gift Giving Purposes during the upcoming weekend, Nov 14 - 15, 2009. And perhaps you enjoy a good calendar of original artwork for your office.

Whether or not Old wife will be chosen to represent a Month in the lives of the Tropical Fish of Western Australia...well, stay tuned to find out!

~:~

11/6/09

Return of the '3 Temple Dancers'

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3 Temple Dancers is the original title of this oil and watercolour pencil drawing from my noodle. Its title soon morphed into simply 3 Dancers so it answers to both monikers and may be spied online under one or the other name.

The red trees I'm quite fond of. And who are the ladies symbolically representing? Crone, Matron, Youth?

From left to right: my Mom, Mary, my daughter, Maya, and myself, Judith. Happily I get to wear the hat, and 'Maya' is considered in certain circles to be a form of 'Mary' (FR: mer, sea or ocean.) Maya's name came to me in a dream when my pregnancy was about 6 months along.

Actually, Cosmic Persona Designs, a gallery of figure studies mostly, was opened to much acclaim in June 2005 with these very same ladies' in the portrait as you view it here. The 'acclaim' consisted of my friends egging me on to publish fashiony chiffonery images of dancers, singers, and other mask-related portraits, perhaps with a wee bit of Parisienne flavor to them. (An Adult Warning must be clicked through but not to fret - it's only Art. No photos allowed or sought.)

This image of 3 Temple Dancers will soon be available in one of my online Art Shops - either @ the Zazzle Store or on display @ Cafe Press. So if you wish, choose a shop and sashay by, for Holiday Gift Specials soon will be gathered atop a display shelf of their own not unlike the 1970s when I was an Estee Lauder rep at Macy's, Queen Estee of the Cosmetics Brands way back when before the Lauder estate was drained dry.

But that's another story of a different lipstick...

2010 calendars, T-shirts, ceramic travel and coffee mugs, baby clothing, cool mousepads, Wall Art Posters, and more!
~:~

11/2/09

A spooky Halloween photo journal!

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Bwa ha ha...hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween this year! Did you overdose on candy corn and chocolate? Self-medicating, are we? ;p

Well, my daughter lives next door to a haunted house so if you like spooky photographs in black'n'white, you may wish to check out her frightful photo journal and neighborly comments concerning the cob-webbed haunted house next door!

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Heads-up: new merchandise with my own art designs have been added to Jude's Zazzle Shop and to Jude Cowell Art Shop at Cafe Press, so drop by when you can so that original art designs may turn up on your wall, your desk mousepad, your baby, or...well...your body.

10% of all proceeds go to Disaster Relief and Food Banks.

~:~

10/27/09

A Yarn of Pallas, the Daughter

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This photo of my daughter's new skein of yarn, Pallas 2, was so scrumptious looking that I had to post it for you! Don't you love its hand-dyed autumnal colors? Makes me feel chilly just looking at it and I'm still wondering where my new mittens are coming from.

Pallas, the Daughter archetype in Astrology and Myth, is known for her patterning ability, and spinning is certainly one of her many talents of artisanship. How lovely it is for this astrologer to have a spinning daughter!

~:~