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/18075
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Edible “dirt” has recently appeared on the menus of several of the world’s most renowned restaurants (e.g., the top-rated Noma in Copenhagen, Shakuf in Tel Aviv, Gilt in New York City). “People are really wowed to see dirt on their plates,” said Gilt’s head chef. Actually, the “dirt” only looks and feels like dirt. Each chef creates signature tastes from dried or charred powders with the appearance and consistency of sand, soil or ash -- from a base of plants, vegetables or eggs, or even dried beer. Said a reviewer, “These chefs are reminding people where food actually comes from.” [Time, 9-27-10] Can’t Possibly Be True Until August, Nettleton Middle School near Tupelo, Miss., had a strict policy for election of class officers for 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders: Only white students could be president, and only black students could be vice president. (Other officers were segregated by race, as well.) Officials explained that it was one way to assure black representation even though three-fourths of the students are white. A school memo was leaked to The Smoking Gun website in August, and a day later the school district rescinded the policy. [The Smoking Gun, 8-27-10] After two Mexican fishermen were dragged from their boats and “chewed so badly that their bodies could not be identified by their own families,” according to a Daily Express review of an August British TV documentary, warnings were issued along the Pacific coast about the northern migration of Humboldt squid. They grow to 8 feet long, weigh up to 100 pounds, travel up to 15 mph, have eight swim/hold tentacles — and two “attack” tentacles that are studded with 40,000 or more razor-sharp “teeth”-like nubs that help each devour almost seven tons of fish a year. Furthermore, female Humboldts are capable of laying 30 million eggs. [Daily Express (London), 8-29-10] It’s Good to Be a British Criminal Briton Tania Doherty believed in 2008 that she was finally rid of ex- boyfriend Kawa ali Azad, who had stalked and assaulted her (once beating her unconscious) after she ended their affair in 2006. Azad had been arrested and ordered deported to his native Iraq, but when Iraq refused to take him, he applied to stay in Britain and, pending an immigration decision, was released by a judge sensitive to the “human rights” of someone seeking international “asylum.” Azad immediately resumed harassing Doherty (who was chagrined to learn of the breadth of her violator’s “human rights”). [Daily Mail, 9-6-10] COPYRIGHT 2010 CHUCK SHEPHERD 40 UCW OCTOBER 20-26, 2010 WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) You have ways of making people talk. They see your smile and feel your warmth and automatically tell you more than you wanted to know. Sometimes this annoys you, but mostly you realize the value of getting inside information. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) It’s diffi cult to get your point across. Whittle your message down to one main idea at a time, and deal them out slowly. Make sure the fi rst thing sinks in before you start the second. By the week’s end, you’ll be a master communicator. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You have defi nite opinions about what is wrong and right — for you. You are also open-minded enough to real- ize that other people have their own standards, ethics and beliefs. You are able to listen to oth- ers without fi ltering what is being said through your own morality code. This is true empathy. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Your feelings are neither logical nor illogical. They just are. The same goes for your intuition. And when you have an intuitive hit that doesn’t fi t into a logical structure or make sense in the so-called “real world,” it takes courage to follow it. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Some claim that taking the path of least resistance shows weakness. To you, only a fool would waste energy going against nature. That’s why you’ll fl ow where the energy leads you, staying open to new pos- sibilities. You don’t need to prove your power. Yours is a quiet strength that will win out in the end. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)You are so loyal that it seems duplicitous to consider options other than the ones you have already chosen. However, in a few areas of life, a review is in order. Either you’ll fi gure out a better choice, or you’ll be more certain than ever that you have already made the perfect decision for you. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 2) Even though every- one who is currently in your life has something to offer you, in order to move a special project ahead, it will be necessary to expand your network. Resolve to work with those who have comparable or greater resources. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You know how to hustle and succeed. However, this week you’ll fi nd it quite refreshing not to have to sell yourself too hard. All you have to do is show up with a big smile on your face, and people will start asking what makes you so happy. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) It’s fan- tastic how things develop, although it might be overstating it to say that your life imitates art. “More often than not, life imitates craft. Who among us can say that our experience does not more closely resemble a macrame plant holder than it does a painting by Seurat?” Fran Lebowitz. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Relationship luck will be a frequent factor in your dealings, as you connect with just the sort of people who will highlight your skills, complement your lifestyle and make you feel accepted, useful and loved. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You’ll wrack up personal points by stretching yourself emotionally. It doesn’t have to be a grandiose achievement for you to derive great satisfaction in achieving it. Maybe you’re the only one who will count your achievements, but count they do. This knowledge of your abilities will boost your confi dence. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You’ll take pride in honoring your commitments. When you’re straightforward, others adjust their expecta- tions. In the future, you’ll use what you learned to make accurate projections and better man- age your time. By Holiday Mathis Flip our pages for news, views art and entertainment! Call and ask one of our marketing representatives to help you grow your business. 484-6200 ADVICE GODDESS When Push Comes to Shove I fear I’ve already turned off the new guy I’m dating because of a ritual I can’t seem to give up. I sleep with a stuffed bunny. I’m in my mid-30s, but I’ve had it since childhood, and I just fi nd sleeping with it comforting. For the fi rst month of dating this guy, I didn’t bring it to bed. But now that I’m feeling more relaxed with him, I grab for it after we’ve fi nished our intimate stuff. He seems rather unimpressed, to say the least. The other night, he said something like “Now, how old are you again?” Is this something I need to stop doing, or something that somebody who cares about me should just accept? — Can’t Let Go Of Floppy Back when they couldn’t show sex in movies, they’d let you know it’d happened by showing a couple having drinks and kissing, then cut to one of them in bed smoking a cigarette — not sucking a thumb and cuddling a bunny. The guy you’re dating has an image of you in his mind — probably as a sophisticated, sexy, sensual adult Amy Alkon woman. Surprise, surprise, after doing unspeakable things with you in bed, he fi nds it unsettling to see you spooning Floppy, and maybe worries for a moment that he just committed a crime. He might feel different if you just had the bunny on the shelf as a souvenir of your childhood. For a lot of guys, that’s no big deal. There are even some who’d be okay with the bunny in the bed — like the mid-level manager who attends Comic-Con in a Klingon suit and goes to sleep afterward in Spider-Man footsie pajamas. In psychology, a stuffed animal is a “transitional object” — a thing that helps a child work through his or her separation from Mommy. (It seems you and Mommy are running a few decades behind -- something you and a therapist might give a look-see.) Like your current guy, a lot of guys will be turned off when, after sex, you turn away from them to make sleepies with your bunny. To give yourself the widest selection of dating partners, you’ll need a new bedtime ritual. My suggestion? Put Flops on a shelf and fall asleep thinking happy thoughts about how you’re making room for a very special new friend — one who might be missing fur on his head, but not because the neighbors’ dog used him as a chew-toy when you were fi ve. Visit Our Website For More Details www.bmdryhydrotherapy.com 988 Millstream Rd. Fayetteville, NC (c)2010, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM