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Fallout from the Inauguration:

The New York Times reports today that the stunning Inauguration performance of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Anthony McGill and Gabriela Montero was actually a recording made two days before, with the musicians bowing and blowing along softly: Frigid Fingers Were Live but the Music Wasn't.

It was not precisely lip-synching, but pretty close.

The somber, elegiac tones before President Obama's oath of office at the inauguration on Tuesday came from the instruments of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two colleagues. But what the millions on the Mall and watching on television heard was in fact a recording, made two days earlier by the quartet and matched tone for tone by the musicians playing along.

The players and the inauguration organizing committee said the arrangement was necessary because of the extreme cold and wind during Tuesday's ceremony. The conditions raised the possibility of broken piano strings, cracked instruments and wacky intonation minutes before the president's swearing in (which had problems of its own).

I had been wondering whether the wooden instruments woud be affected, and a bit surprised that Ma wasn't using the carbon-fiber cello.

Given Aretha's problems with the temperature, below, the choice to ensure a sublime performance turned out to be wise. The choice to hide the fact was simply deceptive.

Cold cords: At CNN, 'Queen of Soul' not pleased with performance at inauguration. Aretha Franklin on the Larry King show:

King: Did you choose the song?

Franklin: Yes, I did.

King: Is that a tough song to sing?

Franklin: No, not at all, but (Tuesday) it was. Mainly because of the temperature outside. I don't have to tell you, it was freezing, if you were there. Some singers it doesn't bother, and others it does. I don't care for it. It affected my voice.

She bought the amazing hat at a millinery shop in Detroit, where she lives.

Which magic moment? Astrologers are boggled by the do-over of the Presidential oath.

Mercury is "retrograde" until Feb. 1 -- several times a year Mercury seems to go backwards in the sky before reversing and recovering its ground -- which astrologers associate with communication breakdowns and tasks that need to be redone.

So now there are at least two inaugural charts.

Astrologer Lynn Hayes at BeliefNet: Chief Justice Roberts gets a Mulligan: A new inaugural chart?:

The chart for the retaking of the oath has a lot of advantages - the Moon has moved safely into Sagittarius where it is a lot happier, although it does form a T-square (challenging aspect) to the Uranus/Venus/Saturn system in the chart suggesting that the hopes and optimism of the Sag Moon will be afflicted by the reality on the ground (Saturn) and challenges from allies (Uranus/Venus). ... Now it's clear that Virgo is rising in the oath chart which reflects the focus on service and hard work that this administration will have to endure to get the country back on track.

In comments there, an argument is made for the second chart (Justice Roberts re-administered the oath in the White House Map Room on Jan. 21 at 7:35 p.m.): "(Obama) retook it and we must acknowledge the new start that he chose to give himself."

Others demur, saying Obama became President at 12:01 p.m. Jan. 20, per the Constitution, although the mangled words of the first oath were actually spoken at 12:05 p.m.

 Tags  Aretha astrology inauguration Obama Yo-Yo Ma

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