Up & Coming Weekly

NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Briton Robert Dee, feeling humiliated at being called the “world’s worst tennis pro” by London’s Daily Telegraph (and other news organizations) sued the newspaper for libel last year. After taking testimony in February 2010, the judge tossed out the lawsuit in April, persuaded by Dee’s having lost 54 consecutive international tour matches (all in straight sets). Fearful of an opposite result, 30 other news organizations had already apologized to Dee for disparaging him, and some even paid him money in repentance, but the Telegraph had stood its ground (and was, of course, humble in victory, titling its story on the outcome, “’World’s Worst’ Tennis Player Loses Again”). [The Guardian (London), 4-28-10] The Continuing Crisis Mexican police, raiding a suspected hideout of drug kingpin Oscar Nava Valencia in the city of Zapopan in December, found the expected items (weapons, drugs, cash) but also 38 gold- or silver-plated guns emblazoned with ornate designs and studded with diamonds, which it placed on public display in May. Included were seven bejeweled assault weapons. [Guadalajara Reporter, 5-4-10; Luxist.com (America Online), 5-5-10] In war-torn Gaza, with little relief from the tedium of destruction and poverty, the Mediterranean Sea offers some relief, especially for about 40 people who belong to the Gaza Surf Club, riding waves on secondhand, beaten-down boards. While the waves might not be as challenging as those in Huntington Beach, Calif., the surfers nonetheless must be skilled enough to avoid the estimated 60 million liters of raw sewage that Gaza city, with no practical alternative, has routinely emptied into the sea. [BBC News, 4-22-10] An April ABC News TV report featured a Westford, Mass., couple as the face of the “radical unschooling” philosophy, which challenges both the formal classroom system and home schooling. Typically, home- schooling parents believe they can organize their kids’ educations better than schools can, but “unschoolers” simply put kids on their own, free to decide by themselves what, or whether, to learn any of the traditional school subjects. There is no punishment, no judgment, no discipline. The key, said parent Christine Yablonski, “is that you’ve got to trust your kids.” For example, “If they (decide that they) need formal algebra understanding ... they’ll fi nd that information.” [ABC News, 4-19-10] Bolinas, Calif., north of San Francisco, is famously reclusive, even to the point of residents’ removing state highway signs pointing to the town, hoping that outsiders will get lost enroute and give up the quest. It limits its population to about 1,500 by offi cially fi xing the number of municipal water hookups at 580, but in April, one of the meters became available when the city purchased a residential lot to convert to a park. The meter was to be sold at a May auction, with a minimum bid of $300,000. [New York Times, 4-14-10] COPYRIGHT 2010 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) We know your sign mate Leonardo da Vinci as a genius for the ages. It might surprise you that he spent his last years wondering whether he had made a difference with his life. You’re not alone in your feelings of self-doubt. Persevere anyway. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Professional jealousy is one of those things that can either help or hinder. You can let it drive you in this way this week. But it’s a fi ne line. If you’re staring in the mirror wondering why not you, then you prob- ably need to let it go. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) People love you. It’s not complicated — they love you because you are interested in their stories. Now someone you barely know wants to tell you his story, and you’ll be intrigued enough to listen a long while. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Whoever said hard work was its own reward was missing a screw on his cranium cap. You are not afraid to bust a gut working on something, but it’s usually to achieve something else you want or need. Working for its own sake is called futility and is most aptly fi led under the category of sickness, not virtue. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) No friend of the banal, you still fi nd yourself in circumstances where you must deal with ideas and people that are not very inspiring. Remember that everyone has some- thing to teach you, even the dull, and strive to work with the most creative people you can fi nd. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Good friends are sometimes all you’ve got. After all, they are the ones in the day-to-day trenches with you, watching you make your way as best you can through this world of glorious and frightening uncertainty. This week one of your buddies makes a clutch move. It would be best to thank this person in writing. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Feelings are mercurial. Yes, you’re tall enough to ride, but it’s critical that you understand the inevitability of this endless up and down. Call it a survival skill. Now throw up your hands and yell as the thrill goes straight to your belly. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Some people prefer the phone; others hate it. Some like to communicate via e-mail, and others thrill to the hard copy. Then there are the face-to-face types . Find out the mode that is preferred before you make your move. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Though it’s said that opposites attract, in most instances people will choose to hang out with the ones most like themselves. It turns out there is something very intriguing offered by the one who is strik- ingly different from you. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You’ll be getting to the heart of things, even in relationships that do not right now seem too impactful. You’ll affect someone deeply, though neither of you may realize it in the moment. Time reveals the profundities of seemingly routine interactions. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) The thing about adding new experiences to your life is that some- times you get more than you bargain for. And in matters such as love, if you’re doing it for real, you absolutely can’t get into it without being affected forever. You can read and pontifi cate all you want on this one, but the only way to learn it is to dive in. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You know what you want, but do you have what it takes to actually have it in your life? The care and feeding of your dreams will cost more than you think. Luckily, you are also deeper, stronger and richer than you think, so it may all just even out. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS A Whole New Bald Game I’ve noticed some things vanishing from the North American landscape; namely, phone booths, drinking fountains and pubic hair on women. Phone booths I understand, drinking fountains I chalk up to cost of upkeep, but why the hair down there? — Bemused Trends in hair removal seem to follow trends in fashion. Starting around 2000, ultra low-rise jeans were in, but looking like you had a furry little pet peeking out from them was not. With the growth of Internet porn, and porn culture merging into mainstream culture, women started wearing underwear the size of a postage stamp. Many people favor going mowed or bare because it seems “more hygienic,” and because you don’t have to make your way through the bramble to get to the good parts. There are men who are creeped out by a woman in her 30s who looks like she has yet to hit puberty. But, according to my research, most women under 30 at least trim, and a good many opt for totally barenaked ladyparts. Many men, especially younger men, trim, and a few go for the full-bare Amy Alkon “boyzilian.” Eek. Some women and men are even making the hairless downstairs a permanent thing with laser hair removal. They seem to be forgetting that fashions change. Just as all those ugly ‘70s styles came back, the ‘fro down below could eventually be in again … good news, I suppose, for people who sell press-on goatees and dermatologists in the business of installing hair plugs. Flee Collar One week, my boyfriend of four months was telling me he loves me and planning our vacation, and the next, he was saying he was overwhelmed with life stressors and needed to be alone. Not long afterward, a friend who’s online dating showed me a guy’s profile, and guess whose it was! I want to scream at him, “Grow up, put on your big boy pants, stop being a coward and treating me like a stupid female.” — Irate If honesty were actually the best policy, people would use it more often. To make tough situations easier, we all lie or tell just enough of the truth to get the point across. Much as you feel you deserve the truth, having it isn’t always the best thing. It’s his half-truth — “I need to be alone” — that sets you free (to find somebody else), and the whole truth — “I need to be alone to write up my date profile” — that keeps you too busy screaming that he’s a patronizing coward who shops for pants in the little boys’ department. (c)2010, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. JUNE 2-8, 2010 UCW 23

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