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/213660
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD "Fantasy sports" are hugely popular, but when fans draft players for their teams, they own only the players' statistics. Recently, Wall Street and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs created Fantex Holdings, which will allow investors to buy actual pieces of real players — namely, rights to 20 percent of the player's lifetime earnings (including licensing and product endorsement deals). The firm told The New York Times in October that it will soon stage an IPO for budding NFL star Arian Foster and hopes to sign up many more athletes, plus singers and actors similarly early in their careers. (On the other hand, Fantex's lawyers drew up a 37-page Chuck Sheppard list of potential investment risks, such as injuries, slumps and scandals — and the fact that the stock will trade only on Fantex's private exchange.) [New York Times, 10-18-2013] Cultural Diversity "For Japanese boys, the train driver sits alongside footballer, doctor and policeman as a dream job," according to a September Agence FrancePresse dispatch, and consequently, the system for the Tokyo metro area (covering 35 million people) runs with the "precision of a finely crafted Swiss watch," where delays, even for as long as a minute, seldom occur. (When they do occur, operators repeatedly apologize and hand out "notes from home" to commuters to present to their bosses to excuse the tardiness.) Among the system's drawbacks is the still-irksome groping of females on packed rush-hour trains, when operators routinely shove as many as 300 riders into cars designed for 150. [Agence FrancePresse, 9-23-2013] Among the surprising legacies of the oppressions of communist East Germany is modern-day Germany's commonplace "clothing-optional" lifestyle (FKK, or "Freikoerperkultur" free body culture). A September Global Post dispatch counted "hundreds" of FKK beaches across the country and referenced a turnedup snapshot (not yet authenticated) of a young Angela Merkel frolicking nude in the 1960s or 1970s. Foreigners occasionally undergo culture shock at German hotels' saunas and swimming pools, at which swimsuits are discouraged (as "unhygienic"). [Global Post via Salon, 9-22-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of November 24, 2013 ARIES (March 21-April 19) There's a perspective that comes over you from time to time, a feeling that life has few good days and even those are filled with trouble. Hang on, because the mood will pass and so will the trouble. What you really need is rest. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Remember the story about the man who was sad because he had no shoes and then he met a man who had no feet? It is rare to find a person who can appreciate life without first witnessing a comparatively worse situation. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) What you need is interesting stimuli. You can't scratch this itch by buying things. That initial rush will be followed by a letdown, because this is not a material problem; it's a spiritual one. Seek challenges that will force you to develop your skills. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Some say that all that counts in life is intention. You'll wrestle with your own sense of morality this week and pin down some rules that feel right and good to you. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Be kind to yourself this week instead of over-committing to prove a point. Think of your entire situation, and take on only the amount of work you can comfortably fit in. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Power is addictive, and it has been known to corrupt even the most honest people. This week you'll gravitate toward humility, modesty and lifting other people's spirits. CANCER (June 22-July 22) Some people will do nice things for you because they want you to think nice things about them. Some people will do nice things for you because it's just how they are. If you can tell the difference between these two types and surround yourself with people who fall into the latter category, your week will be great. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) If you put your mind in charge, your heart will keep challenging its decisions. Parts of the week will seem complex and confusing. Still, the heart's language is trustworthy. Over the long haul, some of the nonsense will prove wise. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You think you should be able to take your belief system a la carte, picking and choosing the beliefs that suit you best. Unfortunately, many beliefs are package deals. Stay optimistic, because you're likely to find what you're looking for. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Leisure time, unguarded, gets eaten up by some very unleisurely obligations and commitments. To some degree, it can't be helped. However, if you make a few sacred commitments to yourself, you should be able to honor them. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You believe in teamwork, and yet once a person disappoints you, you don't automatically hand your trust over again. A practical mindset rules the week. You truly understand power. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Experience is often the best teacher, but it's not the only teacher. You can follow the instructions left by people who learned before you and avoid doing work that's already been done. Skip ahead. This is like a relay. You start at the point where the torch is passed to you, not back at the beginning. By Holiday Mathis Good Morning Fayetteville with Goldy & Jim W Weekday Mornings 6-10 a.m. Talk Line: 910-864-6400 Local News, Weather, Traffic & Sports ADVICE GODDESS Moody Call Ten months ago, while studying abroad, I had one wonderful night with a girl. We kissed and danced the night away. She lives in Brazil, but we've communicated regularly via Skype and email. I've never felt such a strong connection. Recently, I asked what she wanted, and she said to be together in the same country. We started imagining that, and she became extremely attached, wanting reassurance about our future that I couldn't yet give. I confessed to feeling guilty about causing her emotional strain. She flipped, seeming like a totally different person. She said it wasn't the first time someone had worried about how attached she was and said she'd start being more distant with me. Angry, I briefly blocked her on my phone so I wouldn't communicate anything rash. She later complained about her texts bouncing back, and I explained what I'd done and why. She lost it, saying she was "sick of this" and "done." That was two weeks ago. Should I attempt reopening Amy Alkon communication? I feel I'm missing the opportunity of a lifetime if I don't. — International Love A long-distance relationship is a relationship that's miles from reality. Much of its power comes from what's missing. Nature (and human nature) abhors a vacuum, so you fill the blanks with your projections of who the person is, drawn from romantic memories and hopes of who you'd like them to be. The love you feel may, in part, be a love of how your conversations make you feel about you: that you're witty, charming, and a great romancer. And of course, love that's out of reach tends to have the strongest pull, a la Romeo and Juliet. You find out whether you can have a life with a woman by experiencing her day to day. You could propose living in the same place for a month — after getting in touch to tell her how wrong you were. (This is basically catnip for women, and whether you were actually wrong about anything is immaterial.) But consider all that goes into a relationship with someone from another country (travel expenses, residency permits and difficulty finding work and even getting a work permit). Maybe it makes sense to deem what you had as "one wonderful night with a girl" — before you get to Brazilian customs and find yourself answering "Do you have anything to declare?" with "Yes, I think I'm making a big mistake." Amy Alkon all rights reserved NOVEMBER 20-26, 2013 UCW 23