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.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/147169
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD At a June hearing, a Philadelphia judge became so exasperated at defendant Robert Williams' seeming cluelessness about his need to keep his probation appointments that she ordered him to take etiquette classes before returning to court. Williams, a rap singer and budding music mogul still under court supervision on gun and drug charges from 2008, cavalierly defended his inability to find time for his probation officer by explaining that he was a busy man, working with seven artists, with a demanding travel schedule, and uninhibitedly using social media (creating posts that, allegedly, led to threats against the probation officer). (Williams, of course, was accompanied to court by a several-man entourage.) [Philadelphia Inquirer, 6-30-2013] Ironies An atheist church in Lake Charles, La., run by lapsed Pentecostal Jerry DeWitt, conducts periodic services with many of the trappings expected by the pious — except for the need to believe in a supreme being. Such churches (reported The New York Times and Washington Post in coincidental stories the same day in June) can help soothe the biological Chuck Sheppard needs for survival and avoidance of loneliness by congregational rituals (such as celebrating a sabbath) and in helping find meaning "in something other than (oneself)." For example, atheist Sigfried Gold praised a "rigorous prayer routine" (beseeching a "vivid goddess he created") in overcoming his weight problem. [New York Times, 6-242013; Washington Post, 6-24-2013] The business website Quartz reported in June that a popular consumer item in North Korea's perhaps-improving economy is the refrigerator, made in China and increasingly available as a reward to stellar performers among civil servants and other elites. The appliances, however, cannot reliably store food because the country's electric grid is so frequently offline and are mostly just status symbols. One item Quartz says often gets displayed in the refrigerator: books. [Qz.com, 6-18-2013] Robert Dugan, 47, a full-time patrolman for the Delaware County (Pa.) Park Police, was charged in June with illegally impersonating a police officer. According to authorities in Brookhaven, Pa., Dugan had accosted a woman double-parked outside her home to pressure her into moving the car, but she refused. Dugan allegedly claimed he was an Upland Borough police officer (with authority to write parking citations and make arrests, which he did not actually have). [Delaware County Daily Times, 6-2-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES by holiday For the Week of August 4, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) Vocabulary matters, even beyond grade school. It's not as hard as it seems to add this level of sophistication to your interactions, and yet the result is that you'll command interest when you speak. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You dress for style, not temperature. You'll do other things to celebrate your style this week that may make you physically uncomfortable even though you're spiritually and creatively vibrant. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) A bothersome project or issue seems reluctant to leave your scene this week. In the movies, the hero has to win. Since you're the star of this show, be persistent and do what it takes to bring this to a satisfying conclusion. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Sometimes it feels like you're singing the world's most beautiful song to people who lack a tasteful ear. It doesn't matter. Keep singing. The way to raise the taste bar is to expose people several times to something different, something progressive. This week, what feels like a futile effort is actually divine work. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Is the sun refining its brilliance? Your guiding planet will inspire you to burn off some stale energy while simultaneously searching the depths of your soul for new sources of fuel. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) There are different kinds of compromises. The kind you make because it's easier to agree and to not make the other person work too hard will in time be a bother. Don't be afraid to ask others to put in more effort. Otherwise, you'll be in a position of obligation and possibly feeling resentment later down the road. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Your sign mate Carrie Fisher suggested that it's hard to find real closeness in Hollywood because everyone does fake closeness so well. Similarly, you'll be among polished people, and you'll wonder: Are they acting? There is genuine feeling underneath the act, so don't be too cynical. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) They'll sing your praises, assuming you want this. They don't know you very well. You like praise, but only in certain settings. If overdone, the pressure of expectation becomes too great; plus, others see you as competition. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)The financial sector of your life is spinning like a wheel of fortune. You see various possibilities come and go. You shouldn't leave too much to chance. Take hold of this wheel and steer it where you need it to go. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) People don't become self-actualized by strictly serving their own purposes. Greatness comes from selflessness. The bigger and more helpful your cause the more it can favorably shape your destiny. Note that large causes are often executed in small kindnesses. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) There's somewhere not so distant that you'd do well to visit. The experience will cause your perception to shift. The feeling that comes from this place will cause you to see things in a different light from the light you get at home. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You don't rest soundly until you know your work is done, your relationships are in good standing and your efforts have been delivered in good faith. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Too Mush Too Soon I've been dating an amazing guy for a month. Our first amazing date turned into an amazing night, which turned into an amazing month. We completely adore each other. Every time we hang out feels like the greatest day with a best friend. The problem is, I work and go to college full time, and I really wasn't ready for anything more than fun and sex. In fact, "more" is freaking me out. Because we'd initially agreed that we were only looking for something casual and short-term, I told him that I was developing feelings for him and gave him the option of walking away, but he actually seemed happy to hear how I felt. I have such jitters now because I cannot afford to risk getting distracted from my studies. When I think about this, I sometimes get so anxious that I feel I need to ditch this amazing guy, which is the last thing I want. — Good Reasons To Avoid Getting Serious Love sometimes calls upon people to do more than just show up to bask in its glow. Take that emperor, way back when, in India. When he wanted Amy Alkon to memorialize his beloved wife, he built the Taj Mahal, not the Taj Ma lean-to. Luckily, Mr. Amazing won't have to muster 20,000 workers to spend 20 years building an elegy in marble. What you need is a boyfriend who's willing to have what amounts to a long-distance relationship while living only a short distance away. In other words, he'll have to be up for long walks on the beach — by himself — while you're back in your dorm room, in bed with both Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare. And as lovely as it is when a man "says it with flowers," when you need to pry yourself away from him to get back to your studies, he should show you that he loves you by handing you a single red crowbar. It's possible that spending the next few years as your sainted boyfriend will wear on him and cause him to walk. If, however, he does stick around, it's either because he prefers martyrdom to checkers or Ultimate Frisbee or because you two have something special. It's easy to be supportive when a big bed and a couple of mai tais are all that's on the agenda, so it says a lot when a guy's always got your back, and not just because he's looking to unhook your bra. Be sure that you don't take this for granted and that you regularly express your appreciation. It won't be easy to maintain your job, schoolwork and even a muted form of a relationship simultaneously. The stress may leave you needing to lose the freshman 15 pounds, but if your amazing relationship is as amazing as you say, there's a good chance you won't need to lose the freshman 165. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. JULY 31 - AUGUST 6, 2013 UCW 23