Up & Coming Weekly

NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD In the midst of World Cup fever, readers might have missed Germany’s win over host Barbados in June for the Woz Challenge Cup, following an eight-team polo tournament with players not on horses but Segways. The sport is said to have been created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, whose Silicon Valley Aftershocks competed again this year in Barbados (but last won the Cup in 2007). Wozniak told ESPN. com that his own polo skills are fading, but the San Jose Mercury News reported in May that Woz’s fearlessness on the Segway seems hardly diminished. (The Mercury News report, on the Aftershocks’ local, nerd- populated league, described the players as “the pudgy and the pale” and “geek chic.”) [San Jose Mercury News, 5-18-10; ESPN. com, 6-18-10] THE CONTINUING CRISIS Stories of epic sportsmanship warm the public’s heart, but there is also epic “cutthroat,” such as by Monrovia (Calif.) High School girls’ track coach Mike Knowles. Knowles’ team had just been defeated for fi rst place in the last event of the April league championship meet — by a record-setting pole vault by South Pasadena High School’s Robin Laird, edging her team over Monrovia, 66-61. But then Knowles noticed that Laird was wearing a fl imsy, string “friendship” bracelet, thus violating a national high school athletics’ jewelry rule. He notifi ed offi cials, who were forced to disqualify Laird and declare Monrovia the champion, 65-62. “This is my 30th year coaching track,” Knowles said later. “I know a lot of rules and regulations.” [SI.com (Sports Illustrated), 5-11-10] Universal health insurance cannot come soon enough for uninsured Kathy Myers, 41, of Niles, Mich., who, suffering an increasingly painful shoulder injury, has been continually turned away from emergency rooms because the condition was not life- threatening. In June, as a last resort, she took a gun and shot herself in the shoulder, hoping for a wound serious enough for ER treatment. Alas, she missed major arteries and bones and was again sent home, except with even more pain. [WSBT-TV (South Bend, Ind.), 6-14-10] Britain’s Countess of Wemyss and March, now 67, is a hands-on manager- fundraiser for the Beckley Trust — UK’s leading advocacy organization for legalizing marijuana, according to an April profi le by the Daily Mail. However, she has not forsaken an earlier psychotropic-promoting campaign. In her early 20s, when she was Amanda Feilding, she extolled the virtues of trepanation (to “broaden ... awareness” by increasing the oxygen in the brain, directly, by drilling a hole in one’s head). Feilding’s fi rst boyfriend wrote the book on the process (Bore Hole), and her husband, the fl amboyant 13th Earl of Wemyss, has also been trepanned. The Countess still expresses hope that the National Health Service will eventually cover trepanning. [Daily Mail, 4-10-10] COPYRIGHT 2010 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM THURSDAYS $1 NIGHT $1 Well Liquor $1 Domestic Bottles  P.M. SPECIALS FOR ONLY $7.99 EACH!  MON       5-8 p.m.  Big WED             f       5-8 p.m. WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) You’ve read about magic and have heard stories about miracles that regularly happen. You will make most of your luck yourself, but not all of it. So stay open- minded, and do ask for help from unseen forces as you move ahead. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) This week highlights your ambition. With your high level of personal and professional determination, you will cause another person to go deeper, learn more and perform better. Is this person on your team? Maybe so. But even if that is the case, this person will eventually also be your competitor. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You’ll be pondering a risk. Your concerns about what might happen if you take this chance are valid; however, they are unlikely to come true. That is, unless you dwell on them endlessly. In that case, you are sure to make a few of them occur. So focus on what you want instead of on what you don’t want. CANCER (June 22-July 22) You can see various shapes and forms in the clouds — angels, dogs, trees. But really, they are just clouds, drifting, changing and always moving on. Your thoughts are like this. You can interpret them one way or an- other, but you don’t have to. If you don’t identify with them, they still roll along. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Trying to create a life without stress is futile. You’ll be empowered by the knowledge that you have hard work ahead of you, but it is not impossible work. You are capable and able. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) There are sections of your world that are usually separated — not on purpose, it just happens that way. For instance, maybe your work colleagues don’t know your family friends. This changes. Different parts of your world collide. It will take a few key introductions to get the melting pot boiling. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Don’t worry about or compare yourself to others. Instead, own your actions. Take charge of your attitude. Commit to your path. Passion and conviction are your success keys. You will have an infectious effect on everyone around. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) The theme is cooperative relationships. It will be easy for you to move through your week, as you will have all the respectful assistance you need. Often, you won’t even have to ask. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Some places have such a vibrant energy that you can just tell something good is going to happen there. There are big benefi ts to hanging out in the “right place.” The longer you stay the more likely you are to be there at that magic moment called the “right time.” CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The people who make you feel happy will be nearby. Some of these people you don’t know yet. But you can tell they are important to your well-being because you immediately feel uplifted, intrigued and perhaps comforted by their presence. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You’ll be encouraged to keep going even when you’re not sure you want to. Listen to your body, and let it speak more loudly than any other person’s voice. Friends and coaches and even doctors cannot really know how you feel. Trust your own intuition about your body. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Stay awake and aware wherever you go. Otherwise, you can count on spending some time looking for what you lost. Whether it’s your keys, your dog or your heart, you will fi nd it pretty quickly. The trick is not to let too much time pass between losing track of what’s yours and seeking it with all of your attention. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Thin Line Between Love and Haight After my boyfriend and I returned from a teaching stint abroad, he broke up with me. I was devastated but eventually started seeing somebody else. He got really jealous and fl ew out a few times to see me until I said yes to get- ting back together. We’ve had a phone relationship since January, with visits whenever possible. Well, I’m starting grad school on the East Coast, and won’t be mobile for three years. But, as for moving to be with me, he’s now saying he doesn’t know if he can leave San Francisco. It’s not even a job keep- ing him there! He’s unemployed and still unwilling to leave one of the most expensive cities! He simply just wants to live there. I’m wondering if all the wait- ing’s worth it since he isn’t willing to work very hard for us to be together. — Dismayed So, the guy chases you down, wins you back, and now he’s not sure whether it’s you or that tramp with the cable cars? That’s not how love is supposed to work. According to Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, and every romantic comedy ever made, love is throwing aside everything to crawl across broken glass on four continents, only to die in your beloved’s arms. Amy Alkon While some people can live   anywhere as long as they’re with the person they love, for many, where they wake up and walk out the door every day is no small thing. It’s not just the place, but the way of life in a particular place (“The city that never sleeps” ver- sus “the suburb that never wakes up”). The guy might love you, but he’s made his priority clear: He’s left his heart in San Francisco, and the rest of him is staying to keep it company. Chances are, he got so focused on win- ning you back, he forgot to ask himself “And then what?” Now that he’s won you, he’s all “Actually, I’m kind of attached to fog, earthquakes, and step- ping over a wino to get into my favorite patisserie.” (Love in a place you hate quickly becomes seething resentment.) If you don’t resent him too much, may- be you and he will try to keep it going long distance while you’re in school. If so, you need to be practical, too: Ask yourself how you feel about spending the rest of your days in San Francisco, because you probably won’t get the guy out of there for any length of time — not until you can fi t him into an urn. (c)2010, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. JULY 14-20, 2010 UCW 23 Construction Please Excuse Our Mess Outside Patio New Normal Operating Hours MONDAYS 50¢ Wings & $2.50 Pints

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