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/164286
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD The upscale restaurant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced in August that it would soon add a 20-item selection of waters from around the world, priced from $8 to $16 a bottle (except for a $12 "tasting menu"). Martin Riese, general manager of Ray's & Stark Bar, who is also a renowned water gourmet, will sell his own California-made 9OH2O, which comes in "limited editions of 10,000 individually numbered glass bottles" at $14 each. Said Riese, "(M) any people don't know that water is just as important to the entire dining experience (as, say, a good wine)." Riese has been certified as a Water Sommelier by the German Mineral Water Association. [Ray's & Stark press release via Eater.com, 8-6-2013] The Continuing Crisis A security lab, delivering a report to the makers of software for a luxury Japanese toilet, warned that a flaw Chuck Sheppard in their Android program renders the toilet hackable — even while a user sits on it. The Satis (which retails for the equivalent of about $5,600) includes automatic flushing, bidet spray, fragrance-spritzing and music, according to an August BBC News report, and is controllable by a "My Satis" cellphone app. However, the PIN to operate the app is unalterably "0000," which means that a prankster with the app could create some very uncomfortable mischief in a public restroom. [BBC News, 8-5-2012] The CEO of Christian Schools Australia told the Australian Associated Press in June that Caloundra Christian College in Queensland teaches a range of creative sexual health messages and offered the school's recent student pamphlet, "101 Things to Do Instead of Doing It," as evidence. Recommended substitutes: "Pretend you're six again," "Have a water fight," "Blow bubbles in the park," and "Have a burping contest." [Australian Associated Press via Stuff.co.nz, 6-22-2013] What Hawkmoth Researchers Know: According to their study in July in the Royal Society of Biology Letters, researchers from the University of Florida and Boise State somehow have learned that the hawkmoth evolved to avoid predator bats by jamming bats' signature radar-like hunting technique called echolocation. A coauthor told ScienceRecorder.com that the hawkmoth "confuses" the bats by emitting sonic pulses from its genitals. [Science Recorder, 7-5-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM by WEEKLY HOROSCOPES2013 holiday For the Week of September 8, ARIES (March 21-April 19) You strive to achieve a healthy frame of mind this week. The good thing about feeling down or negative is that it's the perfect time to train your mind. The habit of finding the opportunity in problems will serve you well. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Just because your destination is far away doesn't mean it's going to be hard to get to. A simple effort made on a daily basis will get you there. This week, reinforce consistent action. Schedule an activity, and repeat it at the same time every day. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) It feels good to be needed. While you're doing what others need, you're too busy to notice how right it feels. When they no longer need you, you will recognize what you had. This will prompt you to be of service elsewhere. CANCER (June 22-July 22) The universe seems intent on doing things you don't expect, but it's up to you to interpret these events. The less connected you are to the outcome the better you'll be at interpreting in a way that brings you joy. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You're too smart to take the hard line on everything today. This week the issue is compounded by the very nature of truth; it's so layered that you can't know it absolutely. The best you can do is interpret things in a way that empowers you. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Permanence is a myth. That's why it's unwise to make any move out of a desire for permanence. These types of grabby actions have a desperate air that is repellant to others. The most attractive energy is comfortable, easy and accepting of the fact that things change. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Acceptance is saying "yes" to where you are and who you are. Acceptance gives you power. Only those who accept the moment can control it. This week you'll go places. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You were a different person back when you first met your friend, and tomorrow you'll be a different person again. Old relationships can be new again if at least one of the people involved chooses to see the other as the different person he or she is each day. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) New people will pop into your life in the upcoming week. This could have a startling effect on the people who are already in your life. They could become jealous and fearful that your attention will wane. Or they could encourage you, realizing the benefit of varied influences. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Good manners are one thing, but you don't trust people who only say what you want to hear. The ones who say, "You may not like to hear this, but..." and follow with a generally innocuous or even likeable comment are the ones who really can't be trusted. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Keeping score is pointless. Counting the contributions you've made is a waste of time that could be spent mining the treasures of your spirit for new sources of future generosity. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) If you are the only one making an effort, it won't be fun for you. You might think things will be more complicated if you include too many people, but in fact, everything gets lighter and simpler as you add more people to the equation. By Holiday Mathis IN THE MORNING Weekdays 5:30AM to 10:00AM ADVICE GODDESS Till Dead End Do Us Part I've been separated from my husband for two years. (Our divorce isn't yet final.) A terrific man sought me out when he was breaking up with his girlfriend, but then he got back together with her and said we could only be friends. We still get together at times, and he told me, "I'm just not ready to give up my girlfriend, although I may feel different when your divorce is final." I've tried moving on, but whenever I get to a good place, he calls and is interested again! I normally wouldn't allow this behavior, but I enjoy his company so much! — Crushing Assuming you live in North America and not a culture where marriage is a big tent filled with lots of wives, a man's involvement with another woman should immediately disqualify him from consideration. Accepting continued contact with a downgrade to "only friends" works if you can shift the man into the friends-only slot, but it seems you can't, and it seems that's just how this man likes it. Okay, so technically you're not yet available, Amy Alkon but that's just a matter of paperwork; you aren't romantically attached to another person. What's keeping you stuck on this man is a psychological fishhook called "intermittent reinforcement." When rewards for our behavior (like affection or attention we're shown) come regularly and predictably, we relax and take them for granted. But the stuff that sods the ground for an obsession is random, unpredictable reinforcement — a guy you can't have who occasionally surprises you by throwing you a bone of hope: telling you that he isn't ready to give up his girlfriend but "may feel different when your divorce is final." Sure, and the moon may grow a mustache and start orbiting your dentist's office. So, no, you aren't stuck on him because it's so darn enjoyable being with him. It's because he's turned you into a lab rat frantically pushing a bar for a hit of rat chow that only sometimes comes. The way to kick the habit is to recognize this, detach, and have the self-discipline to stay detached. Send him a message that it's over and not to contact you again, and then do everything in your power to keep that from happening: Mail your phone to a stranger in China, and hole up in an out-of-the-way motel. Of course, you could just change your number and not answer your door, but going to at least a little more effort might help reinforce that you have a new policy: No matter how handsome, amusing, and compelling a man seems, you will chase him only if he also happens to be sprinting away with your purse. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. SEPTEMBER 4-10, 2013 UCW 23