Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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by CHUCK SHEPPARD A leading "adult" search engine reported in December that, over the last seven years, just two of the most popular Internet pornography websites it analyzes have been viewed 93 billion separate times, which averages to about 13 views for every person on Earth. Given the average viewing time of 11 minutes per visit, the search engine (PornWatchers.com) calculated that men (and a few women, of course) have spent about 1.2 million years watching pornography on just those two sites. Noted the search engine in its press release, "Say goodbye" to calling online porn a "niche." "It's in every living room on this planet." [Inquisitr.com, 12-192012, citing PornWatchers.com/blog/, updated 1-3-2013] Updates Almost-extinct vultures may be making a comeback within the Parsi community of Mumbai, India, after a pain reliever (diclofenac) nearly wiped it out. Parsis' Zoroastrian religion requires "natural" body disposals (no cremation or burial) of humans and Chuck Sheppard cattle, and bodies have always been ritually laid out for the hungry birds, but the community has also come to rely on diclopfenac in hospitals and for cattle. When News of the Weird last mentioned the problems (in 2001), vultures were dying out from kidney damage caused by the drug, and bodies were piling up. (Parsis were exploring using solar panels to burn the corpses.) However, according to a November New York Times dispatch, clerics are reporting modest success in weaning Parsis off of diclofenac, and the vultures appear more plentiful. [New York Times, 11-30-2012] Least Competent Criminals: Peter Welsh, 32, and Dwayne Doolan, 31, weren't the first burglars to try breaking into a building by smashing through the adjoining basement wall, but they might be the clumsiest. Their target, on New Year's Eve, was Wrights Jewellers in Beaudesert, Australia, but trying to smash the front window failed, as did smashing the rear doors, which were actually those of another store. They finally settled on the basement option, but absentmindedly broke through the opposite-side wall and wound up in a KFC restaurant. (Undaunted, according to police, they robbed the KFC of about $2,600.) [Gold Coast Bulletin (Molendinar, Australia), 1-4-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of February 10, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) There will always be certain uninspired people around whose lives seem to meander along in a half-lived fashion. Avoid that pattern. It's imperative that you surround yourself with people who are excited, enthusiastic, creative and progressive. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Some part of your reality just isn't working for you, and you'll want to change it. But what's the best way? Is it words? Is it sounds or images? You'll explore this week by changing your choice of verbiage, altering the soundscape or rearranging parts of your environment. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) There's much going on this week that depends on your ability to make contact and keep a tangible connection. Whether it's with your work or another person, there's no substitute for concentrated interaction. The autopilot solutions won't be good enough. CANCER (June 22-July 22) When the dead-on perspective isn't making you feel any better, tilt your head and try to see the sideways view. You may take the need for altered perspectives figuratively or literally. Both ways will enhance your experience of the week. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Children often can't resist picking up the interesting bits of discarded life they find on the sidewalk, while many adults are so focused on where they are going that they don't notice those details. This week you'll be childlike in many regards. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Were you to write a list of all of the habits and personality traits you've had in your lifetime, you would find that quite a few of them were temporary. This week you'll further prove the point by making a basic change in the way you operate. ADVICE GODDESS When Horndog Met Sally LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Damage gets a bad wrap, but it's actually necessary. In order to reconfigure your life to fit the new want, you must first do a bit of deconstruction. This week you'll find something to like, or even love, in the damaged bits. A male friend just tried to booty call me (texting after midnight that he was horny). I'm angry and revolted. I've known he's liked me, thanks to his constant icky comments all over my Facebook photos, SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) A work does even while I was in a serious relationship. not really become art until there is someone to experience it. This concept applies to many I deleted most, thinking he'd get the hint, aspects of your life and relationships now. and after my relationship ended, I hinted You'll notice that what you give is strongly further by posting about how in love I influenced by the reception of others. still was with my ex. Yet, when I'd call SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) The locals this guy about volunteering we both do, think they know more about a place than those on he'd say things like, "I was hoping you the outside, but they often overlook the interestwanted a date." He scheduled a meeting, ing details that stick out to those who are just passing through. This week you'll bring fresh eyes presumably with other volunteers, but I to someone's home base. found myself across a restaurant table CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The things from him, alone. My body language that excite you are somewhat unpredictable conveys my distaste for any involvement now. Your unsuspecting nature is a key part of with him — crossed arms, jutting chin, what makes them so exciting. This week, the etc. I'm upset that he's never cared that source of your thrills will be surprising. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) The usual sights I'm not interested, and I'm ready to end our friendship. Unfortunately, we share of your current life will mean so much to you in a few years that you'll wish you had pictures of work and social circles, so any tension the very ordinary views you see routinely now. would be noticed Later, when things have changed, you'll have a right away. Am I bridge back to this time. being rash? PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) The natural — Disrespected order of things dictates a "no deposit, no return" policy. When you feel as though you got something for free, quite often it is the case that someone else made the deposit for you. Chances are, you know your benefactor and will give the deep appreciation that keeps you in good fortune's favor. By Holiday Mathis WE'RE ALL EARS Questions? Comments? Story Ideas? Let us know how we're doing. Your opinion is something we always want to hear. Call or email us your feedback. 208 Rowan St. Fayetteville, NC 28301 910.484.6200 www.upandcomingweekly.com NEWS OF THE WEIRD The truth is, men Amy Alkon are predisposed to not get it, thanks to what evolutionary psychologist Dr. David Buss, in The Evolution of Desire, calls "cognitive biases in sexual mind reading." This maybe calls to mind a confused psychic in a sex den but actually describes men's evolved predisposition to make the least costly mating error — which would be overestimating women's interest (from ambiguous signals like a smile or friendliness) rather than underestimating it. Overestimating it might lead to some embarrassment; underestimating it could mean that generations upon generations of a man's potential descendants meet their end in an old sock (or whatever men used before there were socks). Women tend to think kindness and bluntness are mutually exclusive. They're not. The kindest thing you could've done — and the least socially awkward — would've been telling this guy, clearly and firmly, from the start, that the tone and quantity of his Facebook comments were a problem. Then, if inappropriate remarks and behavior kept flying, you'd tell him explicitly: "Friendship. Period." Tell him so now — in the least embarrassing way, in writing. Explain that the text made you feel really upset and disrespected, and add, "I'm going to forget this happened (and hope you will, too)." To stop feeling angry, remind yourself that he most likely didn't get the message because it wasn't sent in a way he could understand — which kept him marching clueless doofus-style toward that ever-so-charming "Can't a friend drop by at midnight for a quickie?" Amy Alkon all rights reserved. FEBRUARY 6-12, 2013 UCW 23