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Birdcage Theatre in Oroville will get off to a rollicking night on March 30 with its opening of the Frank Loesser Broadway hit of the 1950s, Guys and Dolls. Based on a story by Damon Runyon, it is one of the best of American musical comedies.

Directed by Allison Cardwell, Guys and Dolls is a spangle-time fable about two love affairs, gamblers, showgirls, cops and a capricious assortment of hustlers. The cast of 23 is supported with a 9-piece band under the direction of Tim Howey, choreography by Megan Cardwell and scenery by Josh Hill.

Guys and Dolls opens on a New York City street with gambler Nicely-Nicely (Herman Tuider) joining cohorts Benny (Terry Bartlett) and Rusty Charlie (Cheryl Turnbough) to sing, A Fugue for Tinhorns.

A gambler, Nathan Detroit (Bill Tronson), is looking for a place to hold a craps game. Nathan and Miss Adelaide, a nightclub singer (Kathy Robinson), have been engaged for 14 years and she wonders if and when they will every marry.

Nathan is constantly searching for new places to hold craps games because police Lt. Brannigan (Dennis Ashley) keeps trying to break up the gambling racket.

A second love story concerns Sky Masterson, a sophisticated gambler (Anthony Orsillo), and Sarah Brown, a worker at Save a Soul Mission (Jennifer Beers).

Nathan is trying to raise $1,000 to pay for a place to hold a new craps game. He maneuvers Sky into betting that he can get a date with any woman Nathan selects. When Nathan picks Sarah Brown, Sky

â?? I want to walk around and look at the LSU campus. I donâ??t know if Iâ??ll recognize it. I want to see the Greek Theater and Foster Hall. And I know I wouldnâ??t recognize Third Street .â?
Rex reed, critic, author

Ah, the Paramount Theater, where a 10-year-old could feel awfully grown up taking in a Saturday morning movie by himself.

Yes, alone with no parental accompaniment.

Thatâ??s the way it was in Rex Reedâ??s Baton Rouge, where a kid could board a bus in Villa Del Rey subdivision, ride to the Paramount on the corner of Third and Convention streets, then walk to the Piccadilly for lunch.

The Paramount is no longer around. Neither is the old Piccadilly restaurant.

But Reed is. Heâ??ll return to his hometown Friday, April 20, where at the LSU Student Union Theater he will narrate his concert production, The Man That Got Away: Ira Without George.

The concert marks the final production in the 2011-12 Union Theater Presents series and pays tribute to Ira Gershwin, who teamed with his brother George to write so many songs that are now standards in the Great American Songbook. But that sounds a little too clichà , doesnâ??t it?

Because referencing the Great American Songbook is like referencing a list, lumping the Gershwins, Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael into a single category. This isnâ??t fair, because each had a distinct style, a voice to which musicians keep returning. No matter how much music evolves â?? or devolves.

And in this mix, the Gershwins are always lumped together with George writing the music and Ira the lyrics.

But itâ??s George Gershwin that seems to fascinate. He not only wrote Broadway musicals but the concert pieces â??Rhapsody in Blueâ? and the â??Concerto in C,â? and took both on the road with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in the 1920s.

And, of course, lavish lifestyles and scandalous love affairs always make a good story.

As well as dying young. That is Georgeâ??s story. A brain tumor ended his life in 1937. He was 38 years old.

And Ira was left to his own devices, which earned him continued success. Many people donâ??t know that Ira formed songwriting teams with other musicians.

Then again, there are some people who donâ??t know of him at all.

But Reed does, and he wants others to know Ira, too. This is why he wrote and compiled this show following Ira Gershwinâ??s life through narration and song.

â??I talked to their younger sister, Frankie Gershwin, before putting this show together,â? Reed said. â??She said, â??Itâ??s about time.â?? She was glad that Iraâ??s story was finally being told.â?

The concert will feature Broadway star Sally Mayes, jazz singer Kurt Reichenbach and actors and singers Gregory Harrison and Linda Purl singing â??Sunny Disposish,â? â??Long Ago (And Far Away),â? â??I Canâ??t Get Startedâ? and, of course, â??The Man That Got Away.â?

Those are samples. This programâ??s repertoire is varied and plentiful.

â??And Iâ??ll even sing a song,â? Reed said.

He was laughing when he said this, wondering if there are enough people left who are interested in Ira to fill a theater â??- wondering if there are people in Baton Rouge who remember him.

There were plenty of Gershwin fans to sell out the 92nd Street Y in New York. So, why not Baton Rouge?

And there are definitely lots of people who know and know of Reed. Would â??internationally known film and theater criticâ? be an appropriate enough description? Probably not, because Reed is more than that. Heâ??s an author. Heâ??s an actor. And in this show, heâ??s a singer.

Music, he said, is his first love, which is reflected by his first-ever job at Kadairâ??s record shop in downtown Baton Rouge. Kadairâ??s later opened a shop on Chimes Street outside of the LSU campus.

â??So, when I went to LSU, I worked at that shop,â? Reed said.

â??I would get out of class, have lunch at The Varsity, then walk over and open the shop. Then all of the students would come over and listen to records all afternoon. Wasnâ??t that a great time?â?

Reed posed this question more to himself than to his listener. He spoke from his New York home, but his thoughts focused on Baton Rouge.

He moved with his parents from Natchitoches to the capital city. Itâ??s where he went to high school, where he earned a degree from LSU. Where he returned to spend Thanksgivings and Christmases with his family after moving to pursue a career as a critic in New York.

Where, as a 10-year-old, heâ??d hop a bus for the Paramount Theater on Saturdays.

â??I felt so grown up, going downtown by myself,â? he said. â??And I loved the Piccadilly. I want to eat there again when I come to Baton Rouge for the show. I want to eat at Donâ??s Seafood, too. I love their frog legs, and I love crawfish in any way, shape or form. I just want to eat my way through Baton Rouge.â?

He laughed. Thereâ??s so much to see, so many places he wants to visit, but time is limited. Reed will be arriving in Baton Rouge on Thursday afternoon and on Friday morning heâ??ll speak to journalism students in LSUâ??s Manship School of Journalism, where heâ??s a member of the Hall of Fame.

Heâ??ll perform in the show Friday night, and there are rehearsals in between. Then itâ??s back to New York on Saturday.

â??I want to see everything that I can while Iâ??m in Baton Rouge,â? he said. â??I want to walk around and look at the LSU campus. I donâ??t know if Iâ??ll recognize it. I want to see the Greek Theater and Foster Hall. And I know I wouldnâ??t recognize Third Street.â?

True. The places Reed knew in childhood are no longer there. The Paramount was demolished in 1979 to make way for a parking lot.

This would prove bittersweet for Reed if heâ??s able to make it to the corner of Third and Convention streets. Bitter, because the 1920 theater once described as the most thoroughly equipped and scientifically built motion picture playhouse in the South, is forever gone. Sweet, because of the opportunity it gave him.

See, the theaterâ??s manager wrote a letter to 20th Century Fox when he learned Reed was leaving for New York after graduating LSU.

â??He told them that I was a talented young man and asked if they would consider giving me a job,â? Reed said. â??They read the letter and gave me a job when I got to New York. It was how I got my start in New York.â?

But when thinking about it now, he really started out in Baton Rouge.

From where he traveled to New York to review Broadway shows for The Advocate for $25. And where, as entertainment writer for LSUâ??s Daily Reveille, he interviewed all the movie stars who came to town.

And where he dreamed of being a part of it all on Saturdays.

At the Paramount Theater.

Typical of love affairs, relations with chocolate can be difficult and maddening.

I did find a way to quell its worst hissy fit, which was to have a tantrum and seize up as I was making a mousse or a tart filling. The beautiful, glossy liquid would scream at me (I might have imagined that) and turn into an ugly, sulking, dull brown solid, with my mixing spoon stuck in it.

I know now that if I add warm cream and beg softly, as it seethes in the double boiler, it will return to liquid, albeit not as satiny as before – its not completely forgiving.

The Easter season for many, equals chocolates. Kids hunt for chocolate eggs in parks, filling up their little baskets. Easter Bunnies dont visit adults so we race to our favourite chocolatiers or, we might use Easter as a timehonoured excuse to make a chocolate dessert.

But hold it. Why just dessert? Who said chocolate was just a dessert ingredient? Just ask a Mexican. Or me, for that matter. I add dark chocolate to a lot of my cooking. My latest boeuf bourguignon needed something to blunt the sharpness of too much wine in the sauce. I added dark chocolate and loved it. Ive added chocolate to steak sauce and to lamb sauce. Not to chicken, though, although perhaps I should learn from the Mexicans that chicken and chocolate do bed down well together. I recently made a Moroccan basteeya (with chicken) and now that I think of it, I think a little cocoa powder would have been great.

Some think its weird to use chocolate in savoury dishes, some think its genius, says Dominique Duby of DC Duby Chocolates.

Duby is one half of DC Duby Chocolates; he cowrote Wild Sweets Chocolate cookbook with wife Cindy Duby. They were into some modernist cookery techniques long ago, gelling egg yolks and caviar out fruit purees and other such prestidigitations.

In Wild Sweets, the couple blurred the chocolate boundary with recipes such as Chana Cake with Parsnip, White Chocolate Milk and Coffee Mousseline; Crab with White Chocolate Hollandaise, Potato Brule and Hot Celery Gelee; Tuna with Spice Cocoa Rub, Root Ragout and Passion Bonito Ginger Emulsion; Lamb Tenderloin with Chocolate Merlot Blueberry Jam; and Bacon with Ancho Truffle, Balsamic Cherries, and Won ton Crisp.

When matching chocolate to savoury flavours, you want to use bitter chocolate. Salt and bitter work very well together. To balance flavours, its not sugar, its salt you want.

Chocolate can thicken sauces as well as add flavour and fat content as well as complexity. In a way, it flavours like wine. A lot of wine has chocolatey notes, Duby points out.

Chocolate is a very difficult product to work with, says Duby. There are so many parameters of time and temperature and moisture. (Who but a chocolate geek can describe chocolate hissy fits in that way?)

DC Dubys Duck with Chocolate Port Reduction and Stewed Cherries

For the stewed cherries

16 dried cherries, halved

1 cup (250 mL) port

2 tsp (10 g) butter, melted freshly ground pepper

Place the dried cherries in a container fitted with a lid. Heat the port until it nearly boils, then pour on top of the cherries and seal the container immediately. Let this sit for at least 3 hours (overnight is best). Strain the liquid from the cherries and reserve for the chocolate port reduction (below). Just before serving, briefly warm the cherries in a saucepan with the butter. Season with freshly ground pepper.

My Cool Classic Car celebrates love affairs with cars, from the humble Citroen 2CV to the sleek Mercedes 300 SL Roadster, 40 cool classics in total, together with some of the extraordinary journeys that some of these cars have made, all of which just might have you scouring the eBay classic car pages for a vintage number of your own.

All of these cars (and their tales) have been captured by Chris Haddon and photographer Lyndon McNeil, as the former looked around to find his very own classic, which he did in a 1969 Porsche 912.

The 160-page book is published by Pavilion on 26th April and available to pre-order now, priced at £9.74.

Find out more at the Amazon website

Vampire Diaries fans are now less than a week away from the start of season 3s final chapter. The show returns April 19, with four consecutive episodes culminating in the May 10 season finale. EP Julie Plec says producers have known from the start of the season, when they sat down to break this years mythology, that Elena and the Salvatore Brothers would eventually learn that if you kill an Original, you take out every vampire in his or her bloodline. We were looking for that great final push, like a Klaus-is-a-hybrid shocker or the Sun and the Moon curse is fake, Plec tells EW. We really wanted to turn the tables on the audience and redirect the stakes literal and figurative back onto our heroes and have them realize weve been trying to kill Klaus for so long, now theres a possibility that he can never die without us dying along with him. To tide fans over until Thursday, we asked Plec, wholl be a speaker on Mondays NAB Show panel Two Minds, One Vision discussing the collaboration between showrunners and cinematographers, to tease the remainder of the season. Spoiler alert!

April 19, Heart of Darkness: Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Elena (Nina Dobrev) travel to Denver to check on Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), who has no idea theres an Original vampire (Nathaniel Buzolics Kol) in his proximity, and to ask him to communicate with dearly departed vampire Rose (guest star Lauren Cohan) to find out whose blood turned her. As weve seen in the promo, Elena will tell Damon that Stefan (Paul Wesley) thinks she has feelings for him. We have a very passionate fandom that has very passionate opinions about things like whether Elena should be with Stefan or with Damon, Plec says. With Stefans encouragement, Elena is trying to understand and explore this relationship that shes developed with Damon. There is some series-wide epicness that goes down in this episode, for sure. (Something she and the series director of photography Dave Perkal will talk about on that NAB panel is how they strive not to make the best-looking episode of television each week, but the best-looking movie you could see on TV. We dont tend to go on the road very often, and weve got Damon and Elena in a motel, she says. Its a dive motel by our production office that we called Crack Alley, she adds. Its a very dingy, disgusting exterior, and Dave Perkal and Chris Grismer, who directed the episode, worked together to make it sexy and interesting and visual in spite of the complications of the location itself.)

Tyler (Michel Trevino) returns to Mystic Falls, and well see a steamy reunion with Caroline (Candice Accola). Yes. There is a lot of steam in this episode, and a lot of shirtlessness, Plec says. As I said at the Paley event when somebody asked me about romance, this whole season has been so sad. Everybodys broken up, all these love affairs are unfulfilled, and theres lots of despair and depression and tragedy. We kick a little romance back into high gear with the return of the show next week.

Meanwhile, Stefan and Klaus (Joseph Morgan) will both be after that missing stake that can kill an Original. Basically, Good Alaric is trying to be very cooperative and help our heroes find the stake that Evilaric or Alaric Hyde, your choice, has hidden. Unfortunately, they cant quite figure out how to get Alaric Hyde to come out and spill his secrets, so Stefan is a predicament wherein he might have to go to some really violent extremes to get it out of Alaric just as Stefan, of course, is trying so hard to really pull himself together and get control over his own dark side. So theres a little bit of a kindred spirit thing happening between Alaric and Stefan in this episode as they both explore the depths of their individual darker sides, Plec says. That sounds like an interesting dynamic fans havent seen before. Honestly, its almost like a change of pace. Theyre stuck in the basement of the Salvatore house in the cell, and Chris Grismer was like, How am I gonna direct nine pages of dialogue in this single room? And I said, I dont know, but figure it out because its gonna be awesome, she laughs. He decided you know what, Im gonna pretend Im shooting in a U-boat submarine, and just let the actors do their thing. And its really good stuff. Im really happy with it.

Matt (Zach Roerig) will try to keep Rebekah (Claire Holt) busy organizing the high schools 1920s Decade Dance, which well see in the following episode. Poor Rebekahs plight in life is that every time that shes enjoying a little taste of being more human than monster, something terrible happens. This episode is no exception to that rule, Plec says. Well get to see a nice, sweet moment that happens between Matt and Rebekah early in the episode, and then things will start to take a turn for the worst for our poor girl who just cant seem to find her way to the Decade Dance.

April 26, Do Not Go Gentle: At the end of the April 19 episode, well find out who wants to help vampire-hating Alaric Hyde (Matt Davis) use his stake that can kill an Original. (Our money is on Esther, but all Plec will say is that we havent seen the last of the Originals mother this season. She is a woman who is very intent on killing her children and eradicating the world of vampires. She hasnt achieved that yet, so we will definitely be seeing more of that plan.) Damon, wholl team up with Good Alarics gal pal Meredith (Torrey DeVitto), will realize he needs Bonnie (Kat Graham), Jeremy, and Matt to help him with a spell which brings him to the 1920s Decade Dance. Bonnies there with Jamie (guest star Robert Richard). Tyler and Klaus both have their eye on Caroline. And Stefan is Elenas date. Damons arrival at the dance, of course, is gonna come at an inappropriate time. Just as things are going nice and peacefully between Stefan and Elena, in walks Damon with a crisis, Plec says. Stefan and Elena have had a lot of beautiful moments together at these decade dances in spite of the chaos that tends to drown them at these events. This episode, theyll definitely get to have a nice moment or two before the s hits the fan. Yes, there is a promo shot of Elena sobbing in Stefans arms (pictured). How dark will the shows annual decade dance be this season? All I can say is that Ive watched the episode five times now through the editorial process, and every single time I end up crying like a baby with Elena. Im not in Stefans arms. Im alone, she laughs. But its a pretty powerful episode. Were really proud of it.

May 3, Before Sunset: The farther out we get, the more vague Plec has to be, since the episodes build on top of one another. (Read the official Before Sunset synopsis here.) In general, Plec says, Things get pretty harrowing as we get to the end of the season. Weve got Klaus [whose plan is to leave town with Elena, whose blood he needs to make more hybrids] stepping up his game and returning to a more villainous place. Weve got our heroes in dire straits. Weve got Elena in the center of it all, as usual. Weve got basically everybody stepping into battle because the enemy, who I cant define for you at this moment because the April 19 episode tees it all up, is taking some pretty relentless and hardcore extremes against our heroes.

May 10, The Departed: The season finale which will feature a flashback to the car accident that killed Elenas parents, when Stefan first saw her and rescued her from the water below Wickery Bridge will find Elena making a decision about her feelings for the Salvatore Brothers. It will not be easy. It will be very emotional for both sides because its going to be a very honest, very pure, very difficult decision. Hopefully if weve done our jobs right with Elenas character over the season, well understand why shes making the decision that shes making and how that decision is meant to be right for where she is in her life right now. Did Plec cry writing the finale? I cried many, many times. I havent seen it yet. I have no idea if that ended up on the screen. I dont want to brag, she laughs. But it was a very, very emotional experience writing the finale, for a lot of reasons, one of which has already been talked about in the press. We do flashback to a time when Elenas parents were still alive and when she was a cheerleader dating Matt, the football player, and before Bonnie knew she was a witch and thought she was just uncannily psychically available to predict fashion trends. Its just a really poignant, sweet and bittersweet reflection back to a time when life was so much simpler for all of our humans and former humans. I hope it turns out as well as we want it to because its a really special episode.

Follow: @EWMandiBierly

Read more:
Vampire Diaries May Sweeps ad: EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK
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Vampire Diaries scoop in the Spoiler Room
Vampire Diaries: Candice Accola on upcoming episodes, teary finales, and TV love triangles

Updated: April 10, 2012 11:17AM

Predictions for the week of April 8

All signs: According to astronomy, “A transit of Venus occurs when Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth. This alignment is rare, coming in pairs that are eight years apart but separated by more than a century. The most recent transit of Venus was in 2004. After the June 2012 transit of Venus, the next such alignment occurs in 2117.” (Not again in our lifetime!) Well, that explains a lot. Normally, Venus travels through a sign for about three weeks. But in 2004, Venus was in Gemini from April until August and now, once again, Venus will be in Gemini from April to August. That’s 18 weeks! It’s true, the heavens are amazing. Did you know the Sun is so colossal that it contains 99.9 per cent of the total mass of the solar system? (Well, hey, I figure if that’s the case, why bother counting calories? I’m done with that, I mean — hello?)

Aries (March 21-April 19)

This long Venus transit could be similar to whatever happened in the summer of 2004. It’s cha-cha time! Your everyday social life will pick up in a lovely, pleasant way. You’ll have fun talking and schmoozing with neighbors, siblings and relatives. Short trips will delight. And while all this lovely busy-ness prevails, you’ll start to notice how much love there is in your everyday world. (Gosh.) You’ll more easily express affection to others. You’ll definitely appreciate the beauty of your daily surroundings. What a gorgeous summer awaits! Romance with a neighbor or “relative” could percolate. (Hey, we’re not talking Deliverance. We’re talking blended families.)

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

“Show me the money!” This unusually long transit of Venus, the last to occur in more than a hundred years, will attract money and material possessions to you. Ka-ching! From now until the autumn, do look for ways to boost your income or find jobs that pay better. But keep in mind that Venus works both ways. Not only will it attract money and assets to you, it will also make you want to spend money on beautiful things, art, gorgeous clothes and elegant furniture. It could bless your investments and make borrowing easier. Some might even strike up work-related romance. And think of the beautiful clothes you will acquire all summer long.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

This will be a memorable year for Geminis. For starters, Venus will be in your sign until the autumn (and never again be in your sign that long while you’re alive). Plus, lucky Jupiter enters your sign in June to stay until July 2013. It doesn’t get any better than this! (Well, it might, but I like saying that.) You’ll be so charming and diplomatic, you’ll magnetize others to you. And because you feel so attractive (and you will), it’s the perfect time to shop for wardrobe goodies because you’ll instinctively pick what looks flattering. Naturally, all this good stuff warms partnerships and close friendships. Take vacations! (Venus ranks pleasure above work.) Laugh it up!

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

This might sound corny but from now until the autumn your interest in spiritual ideas and things you might consider to be touchy-feely will deepen. Quite likely, you’ll experience something personally that triggers this. As a result, you’ll feel more selfless and genuinely be willing to share something or help others. You might say you’ll be more in tune with the rewards one gets from altruistic and humanitarian activities. This could be in a personal sense (with family or your social circle), or it could resonate in a larger way because of your activities that affect others beyond your own sandbox. Sounds like a powerful opportunity to do some good.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

Is this the summer of 2004 again? You can definitely expect to enjoy mucho schmoozing with everyone and be involved in mucho activities with others. Not only will you enjoy the company of others, you’ll feel affectionate with everyone. Even professional organizations and group meetings will benefit and please you. (People think you’re hot. Everyone wants to be on your team.) Friends will become lovers and lovers will become friends. Privately, you’ll find it easy to embrace hoped-for goals. It’s like you’re riding up front with the Little Engine That Could. (“I think I can. I think I can.”) This is why relations with bosses and authority types will improve. They’ll sense your positive attitude and certainly your potential! And this lasts until September!

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Well, it’s time to really sit up and take notice. Two unusual things are happening. One is Mars is in your sign for eight months instead of six weeks (like, Holy Steroids!). And now fair Venus will be sitting at the top of your chart until September. This is rare stuff! A large part of “luck” is knowing opportunity is knocking at your door. You do have to get up and open it. Remember this. You will appear so favorable to others (especially people in authority), they’ll ask for your creative input on office furniture, floral arrangements, design, layout, gardening or the appearance of anything. Plus, romance with someone older, richer, wiser or more established could blossom. Need I say less?

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Travel for pleasure will so appeal to you this year! You love beautiful places and beautiful things so you will adore anywhere that has a fantastic, enticing ambience — gorgeous setting sun, balcony table, cobblestone streets and a little vino. (Good conversation is a must.) Romance with someone from another culture will blossom for many of you. Or perhaps this person is just “different.” Explore art: buying it, learning more about it, or creating it. You’ll be attracted to ideas that are consciousness-raising. You might also explore opportunities in publishing, medicine, the law and higher education. A very rewarding five months ahead awaits you. Start to dress for it. (You like to look pulled together.)

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Good news! (I say this because many of you enjoy recreational sex.) The next five months will not only stimulate all your love relationships in terms of intensity, but will also sweeten them with fond affection. (Aw, gee.) New relationships that begin this summer will be hot! (Definitely memorable.) In addition, this summer will attract money to you or your partner. In fact, not only money, but gifts, goodies, favors, perks and opportunities to benefit from the wealth and resources of others. Yee-haw! (“We get the cabin again!”) Obviously, this same period is the perfect time to ask for loans or mortgages as well as settling disputed issues about shared property, inheritances and insurance. Lucky you!

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Life bodes well for you for the next five months with fair Venus opposite your sign. This will hugely sweeten relations with others, especially important partnerships, intimate or professional. New friends and relationships will be attracted to you. The only downside this summer is you likely won’t feel like working. (“I want to par-tay!”) You’ll be constantly amorous, ready for fun and possibly lacking in discrimination. (“Moi?” “Yes, you.”) Naturally, this will be a fabulous summer for love affairs and indeed all relationships (even smoothing troubled waters with enemies). New love could be knocking at your door! (“How did you get my address?”)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

How fitting that at this time, when you’re really attaining a sense of power and a sense of who you are and what is working in your life and what is not — that at this time, for the next five months, relations with your job and the people you work with will improve beautifully. Yay! It will be easy to get along with bosses, employees, co-workers, customers and clients because this is an excellent time to discuss agreements and working relationships. Not only will you get praise from others, you might even get a raise. This is also an excellent time for your health, although overindulgence in sweets will be a temptation. (Maybe you can make it a tax-deductible experience?)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Well, we knew (didn’t we?) that your home life was going to improve beautifully. In large measure, this is going to happen simply because you’re happy and you’re having fun! But this unusually long sojourn of Venus (see All Signs above) will also encourage opportunities for fun, entertainment and having a good time. It’s just that simple. Romance, love affairs, improved relations with kids plus sports activities and vacations will all be thrilling and exciting. Many of you will get in touch with your creative side. You’ll love the Arts, whether it’s Arts and Crafts, concerts, museums or enjoying the creativity of others. Romantic relationships will blossom incredibly! You’ll feel happy in your skin.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

This unusually long transit of Venus (never to occur again for 105 years) is here to stay, promoting good feelings this summer with family members as well as an increased enjoyment of your home. Many of you will be excited about decorating projects and tweaking your digs to make them more attractive and more appealing to everyone. An increased closeness and warmth of feeling with family members, especially parents, will last for months. Not only can you improve your home, but real-estate opportunities will benefit you as well. (Things will even look better with your daughter who is attending Stiletto High. Who knew?) A great summer ahead!

www.georgianicols.com

Updated: March 28, 2012 7:41PM

Predictions for the week of March 25

All signs: Several have asked me not to mention Mercury retrograde anymore, therefore, I will not remind you that we’re still in the throes of Mercury-retrograde delays, confused communications, transportation problems while running into people from our past. The week ahead is quite favorable (without mentioning the trials and tribulations of the unmentionable), but at the end of the week, expect frayed tempers and power struggles. To put this in perspective, ponder this: If others around you are happy, it’s easier for you to be happy. Vice versa: if you are happy, it’s easier for others to be happy. It’s the Happy Formula! I’m sure you knew this. (Although people who think they know everything are very irritating to those of us who do.)

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Well, it’s still your time, dear Aries. Enjoy your good fortune while the Sun is in your sign. (Ovid in 43 BC said, “Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these.”) He preferred his now over yesterday. That kinda puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? Just a reminder that it’s always wise to appreciate what you’ve got, who you are and where you are in history. In your year ahead, you will definitely boost your income and buy lovely treasures for yourself because you’re willing to work so hard at this time. And since partnerships are challenging (help!) many of you are motivated to secure your independence. (Oh yeah.)

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Things are looking very good for you with fair Venus and lucky moneybags Jupiter in your sign. (Not too shabby!) And in a few weeks (April 19) the Sun will enter Taurus to give you a real boost. Appreciate your good fortune. You’re feeling very sexy and physically passionate now. For some, this energy translates into competitive sports. Actually, right now you’re prepared to work hard and play hard. However, parents might find children a bit challenging. (Fortunately, Taurus makes the best parent because you take care of the basics: clothing, a warm bed and three squares a day.) Do find things to amuse you. Enjoy the theater, sports, musical performances, dinners with friends and fun schmoozing.

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

You’re popular and feeling extremely social, so get out and schmooze with others! Talk to friends and rub shoulders with members of clubs and groups because you need this social stimulation right now. In particular, it will help you if you share your hopes for the future with others because their feedback will benefit you in some way. Factoid. Some of you are dabbling in secret love affairs. Be careful — your Achilles’ heel is the “grass is greener” syndrome. Logic dictates there will always be greener grass because there is no end to “better.” In other words, there will always be a better job, a better partner, a better house and so on. It never ends. Don’t get sucked into this vicious cycle. And don’t blow something solid for a mere bonbon.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

You continue to catch the eye of others, especially bosses, parents and VIPs, because the Sun is so high in your chart. (This is a good thing.) And it is the perfect time to examine your life, your role in the community and your life direction in general. So, how does it stack up? Because you look so competent and attractive to others (especially bosses), you might be asked to take on increased responsibilities. Do say yes because you won’t have to be an Action Hero to pull it off. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, interaction with parents might be significant. This is definitely a good time to take stock and plan where you want to be five years from now.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

Life is taking on an exciting edge lately, have you noticed? You’re eager to travel and you’re equally as eager to learn and explore fascinating ideas. You want to challenge your mind by trying new things and meeting new people. (“What is the square root of love?”) Actually, with Jupiter and Venus slowly moving across the top of your chart, all kinds of good fortune is coming your way to favorably boost your reputation and make you look great in the eyes of others, especially bosses and VIPs. Romance with someone richer, older or more experienced might blossom. (This could help your champagne tastes.)

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

You’re definitely feeling feisty! It’s a good thing because you are unusually ambitious now on several fronts. Travel for pleasure totally appeals. And matters related to publishing, the media, medicine, the law and higher education look sweet. You might be excited to explore something new because you’re very keen to improve yourself right now. In fact, this long duration of Mars in Virgo has made everyone unusually health-conscious. (That’s because each sign rules certain parts of the body and Virgo rules the intestines, so lots of people are suddenly super aware of their diet.) Every Virgo knows a balanced diet is not a hot dog in each hand.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

You were so on top of your game around 2003. (Ah yes.) That was then and this is now. And now you’re busy reinventing yourself (since, roughly, 2010). Well, I say get used to it because this metamorphosis will continue for about five more years. (Think “new clothes!”) Since the efforts of others can benefit you now, do be open to offers that come your way. And similarly, be quick to join forces with others. You might benefit through inheritances, gifts, favors or a boost in your partner’s income. There’s no question your work scene is suffering from snafus and delays, and many of you are carrying on underground or behind-the-scenes activities. (Love affair?) You are such a social romantic.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Have you made your To Do list? Lord knows you have a strong urge to clean up your act. You want to pull it all together: where you live, where you work, how you look and how you feel. Hey, make the most of this impulse! Physical sports and competition with others might drive you now as well. Fortunately, things look sweet when it comes to close friendships and partnerships. You are loved. (And yes, old flames back on the scene are testimony to this.) Even though this is a classic time to let go of people and places and possessions for you, it would be wise to partner up with people because you can benefit from this in the next two years.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Essentially, you are pulled in two directions right now because in one way you want to play. You want fun. You want to flirt. You want to enjoy sports. You want to go on vacation. “Fly me anywhere.” You want to express your artistic talents and individual creativity. “I want to be me!” And yet, you’re very ambitious right now as well. You’re busting your buns to impress others with what you can do. Fortunately, people are impressed, which means there are many ways you can get a better job or improve your existing job. Old family issues are back on your plate again. (No biggie, really.)

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Your focus continues to be on home, family and domestic issues. Nevertheless, like Sagittarius, you want to play! Romance is in your soul, plus although travel opportunities have blessed you in the recent past, they will continue to bless you now and in the future. (I repeat: Don’t bother unpacking your bags.) Romance, love affairs, the arts, sports, creative projects and playful activities with children all appeal to you and they hold great promise! These are all vehicles that will help you reshape aspects of your personality. And, of course, all Capricorns are on this big self-improvement kick. (Pluto will do that to you.)

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Things look fabulous! While busy with short trips, visits and discussions with everyone around you, you are also beautifully supported at home. In fact, everything on the home front is totally warm and reassuring! This is a great time for real-estate deals and also a wonderful time to redecorate or begin projects that will make where you live look more beautiful. By all means, entertain at home. Invite people over. Others will enjoy your family and your home right now because it’s all so positive. Admittedly, disputes about inheritances and shared property could exist. Just pass around more of those homemade cookies.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

“Show me the money!” Ah yes, you’re totally focused on earnings, cash flow and how to generate more money. In part, this is because many of you have major expenditures in mind. (Others want to blow their money on trivial stuff like milk, bread and electricity.) Lots of deja vu moments will no doubt arise for many of you in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, practice does make perfect, which means you’re becoming skilfully patient at dealing with the disappointments of partnerships and close friendships. Oy vey. You are always more impressed by deeds than words because hey, words are cheap. Actions speak for themselves. Another reason you need more dough is the next 18-24 months are the best for real estate. (“Will somebody get that door? It could be an opportunity waiting outside!”)

www.georgianicols.com

The Magnetic Fields, Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge Records)

The Magnetic Fields are still on the quest for romance.

Love at the Bottom of the Sea finds the band once again exploring the theme of failed love affairs using biting lyricism, thanks to leader and songwriter Stephin Merritt, but this time with added synth.

Rather than traditional love songs lamenting pain and anguish, the Magnetic Fields mock the heightened emotions of love with sarcastic lyrics.

Andrew in Drag is a dreamy ditty in which Merritt sings about being in love with a cross-dresser: The moment seeing Andrew in a dress means that Merritt cant love anyone else again, and causes him to ponder his misspent youth.

Quick! is a plea for a lover to shape up or ship out. Its lyrics are again another example of the clever wordplay employed by Merritt, as they take unexpected twists like what a waste of all those beers, when you would expect the line to be what a waste of all those years.

My Husbands Pied-a-Terre, about an adulterous partner, starts out slow and mournful, but the hilarious rhyming — pied-à-terre coupled with derriere for example — illustrates just what a talented songwriter Merritt actually is.

All of the songs on the album are under three minutes, allowing them to be punchy and not overdone.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: Infatuation (With Your Gyration) continues the synth theme with an added concoction of vocal pitches.

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Sian Watson covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sianwatson

After years struggling to fulfil her musical dream and understand her fraught emotional state, Italian American singer Christina Perri’s rocketed to fame after being asked to perform her song Jar Of Hearts on the hit US TV show So You Think You Can Dance.

Making her live debut in front of millions of US viewers in July 2010, the song struck such a chord that it sold a million downloads and won the Philadelphia native a contract with Atlantic.

Subsequently released in the UK, Jar Of Hearts reached the Top 5 and made Perri an international star. It was based around a love affair she entered into at the tender age of 15.

“We dated on and off for six years,” explains Christina, 25. “We kept cheating on each other, as kids do. It was epic when he did that to me for the first time. Years later, he was still calling wanting to hang out and it took me ages to say no, I don’t want to.

It weighed heavily on my little life and that’s why I wrote about it.”

The younger sister of guitarist Nick Perri – who’s played with Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell and ex Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum – Christina followed a musical path from early in life.

“Our parents were hairdressers and they encouraged us to play music and go to the theatre and summer camp,” she says.

“I would get very emotional over music. I’d cry in my room playing records. It was kind of disturbing for my parents.

“I remember having therapists for a long time growing up, trying to figure out why I was so emotional. It took a while for me to work out how to channel it into songs, but when I did I’d do it constantly.”

When she was 17, Nick invited her to LA and left her alone while he went on tour.

“I wrote some really good songs,” Christina recalls, “but I was terrified being 3,000 miles away from my family. I cried my eyes out every day.It was just the beginning of finding strength to follow my dream.”

A whirlwind romance in LA with a video producer led to a short-lived marriage.

“I was 21 when I got married, 22 when I got divorced,” Christina says. “It was really fast, like a stepping stone from one path to the next. We ran to Florida and eloped. It didn’t make any sense. I felt like a different person in a different life – I had a house, a dog and a car.

“I woke up one morning and wasn’t playing music or feeling fulfilled in any capacity and realised I had to make a change. He and I are still friends. We giggle about it now, ‘Remember the time we were married?’. We’ve moved on.”

Unsurprisingly, the upfront nature of Perri’s personality reflected in the songs on her debut album Lovestrong has led to fans confiding in her with their innermost emotional struggles.

“It’s my favourite part, communication with everyone,” she smiles. “When I walk onstage, people already think they know me, maybe because I wear my heart on my sleeve.

“I write back to people… there’s no barriers, no ice to break. It’s like we’re all friends. I’ve worked very hard on that. When my record exploded I was on Facebook writing everybody back. I was so honoured in a geeky way. I still can’t believe this is my life some days.”

It sounds as if her fans are supplying her with material for future songs?

“People write me novels about what they’ve been through,” Christina reveals.

“I feel like the luckiest girl to get to see this with them. The range is ridiculous, like a 40-year-old woman who has finalised her divorce from the most abusive dude ever. She got the strength to leave from hearing my songs. It’s both heartwarming and heartwrenching.”

Perri’s new single Arms is typically candid.

“It’s about the battle you have with yourself when you fall in love,” she explains. “I wrote it two summers ago while refusing to let this guy love me, based on the fear that I’m not loveable or worthy of this. It’s a song about letting go.”

Right now, Christina’s chequered love life is at something of a tricky juncture.

“I’m in love with a couple of boys,” she admits.

“I’m trying to be single, but letting myself have crushes. I just can’t be anyone’s girlfriend right now. I’m way too busy. I don’t know if it’s a bad thing that I keep falling in and out of love, but it definitely keeps life interesting for me.

“As soon as I’m feeling super scared, super happy, super strange or feeling anything really, I rush to the guitar. And, sure enough, a song comes out.”

? Arms is released on April 2. The album Lovestrong is available now.

We seem to be living in a time warp. Conservatives are denouncing not just abortion, but birth control. There was the Rush Limbaugh slut episode. Actor Kirk Cameron called homosexuality unnatural, detrimental and ultimately destructive. Meanwhile, Rick Santorum sees Satan lurking in Americas bedrooms.

At first blush, such backwardness might seem implausible in the second decade of the 21st century. Shouldnt we be talking about the economy?

But there is a clear historical pattern: When the economy contracts, social attitudes toward sexuality turn more conservative. It happened in the 1870s, the 1930s, the late 1940s and again in the late 1970s.

Among the 19th centurys greatest economic crises was the stock market panic of 1873. That year, a young Anthony Comstock established the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. With Americans in a state of general anxiety about the financial future of the nation, Comstock persuaded Congress to criminalize the transportation of obscene, lewd or lascivious material across state lines. Comstock was particularly opposed to birth control, but he embraced all forms of censorship, going so far as to shut down a New York production of George Bernard Shaws play Mrs. Warrens Profession.

Comstockery fell into disrepute in the 1910s and 20s as Americans enjoyed the benefits of economic expansion. Greenwich Village bohemianism, Freudianism and the flapper era encouraged the open discussion of sexuality. With the stock market crash of 1929, however, things took a turn toward repression. In 1934 Hollywood began enforcing the notorious production code, with its long list of cinematic no-nos, from swearing to suggestions of sexual perversity. Music, literature and the fine arts moved away from representations of bodily desire. The days of openly bisexual blues performers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith singing about their lesbian love affairs came to an end. Meanwhile, authorities in New York, Chicago and other major cities commenced a crackdown on gay bathhouses and public displays of gay affection.

Things started to relax again in the 1940s. The war years saw the birth of the pinup, the advent of erotically tinged illustrations in the mens magazine Esquire, and an increasingly scientific attitude toward sexuality. But in the postwar period, there was a new phase of economic and sexual anxiety. The nation faced a major housing crisis. Juvenile delinquency was supposedly reaching epic proportions. Republicans and Democrats alike went after Alfred Kinsey, comic books (Batman and Wonder Woman were accused of promoting homosexuality and lesbianism, respectively) and Bettie Page-style bondage magazines. Even the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, when called before Congress, refrained from defending smut.

Eventually, American economic optimism returned. From the late 1950s through the mid-1970s, increasing affluence spawned the so-called sexual revolution, which allowed first young men, then young women to acknowledge their sexual impulses as never before. The double-standard, prohibitions against premarital sex and sex outside of marriage, and cultural taboos on the discussion of subjects like masturbation were all openly questioned. By the early 1970s, the gay liberation movement was calling for an end to hundreds of years of persecution and oppression of gay people.

Once again, however, the economy contracted. In the late 1970s, stagflation and a general economic downturn led to new misgivings about illicit sex. A war against pornography soon arose. The FBI went after porn actor Harry Reems and publisher Larry Flynt. The US Supreme Court reversed course and restricted the scope of the First Amendment by broadening the definition of obscenity. On the left, feminists Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon used new arguments to justify censorship. Of course, foes of sex education, abortion rights, womens rights and gay rights clamored for attention. Gay activist and California politician Harvey Milk was murdered; Anita Bryant and California Sen. John Briggs pitted gay rights against the safety of children.

Now, we are in the aftermath of yet another economic crisis, and sexual anxiety is again on the rise. Alas, it is much easier to blame social problems on the sexual behavior of others than it is to call for higher taxes, regulate Wall Street or spur economic growth.

The good news is the economy is on the rebound. The reactionary sexual ideology of Rick Santorum and his like will eventually abate. We just have to hope it happens sooner rather than later. In the meantime, I recommend hiding those dangerous issues of Batman and Robin. If conservatives have their way, Congress may very well come after them.

David Allyn is the author of Make Love, Not War: The Sexual Revolution, an Unfettered History and a former visiting scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University.