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.
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MARCH 5-11, 2014 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM ADVICE GODDESS When Harry Met Hairy My girlfriend of six months just stopped shaving her legs and armpits. I think she is so sexy — except for this. Recently, I asked her whether she'd shave again, and she snapped that shaving is time-consuming and the idea that women should remove their body hair comes from anti-feminist propaganda. I don't know about that. I just like seeing female legs and armpits without a bunch of dark furry hair cover. Do I get to ask again? — In The Thick Of It Your girlfriend's notion that the defurred look traces to "anti-feminist propaganda," way back before there was Cosmo, there was Ovid, the Roman poet, advising women looking for love: "Let no rude goat find his way beneath your arms" (don't let your underarms get stanky like a goat), "and let not your legs be rough with bristling hair." Archeological evidence (including hair-scraping stones and an impressive set of Bronze Age tweezers) suggests that women — and often men — have been shaving, depilating, and yanking out body hair since at least 7,000 B.C. In the early 1500s, Michelangelo sculpted David (who would have been a hairy Middle Eastern dude, looking more Borat than baby's bottom), making him look like he was too busy spending three weeks at the waxer to slay Goliath. And these days, male bodybuilders also remove their body hair, lest their admirers have to peer through the hair sweater to find the pecs and abs. You, likewise, would just like to see your girlfriend's legs without having to send your eyeballs off on a search party through Furwood Forest. (You must look back fondly on the days when you could picture her naked without first giving her a mental bath in a vat of Nair.) Is there a double standard at play here? Sure there is — if you'd shave a Fidel Castro beard to be more attractive to her but she refuses to shave her Fidel Castro legs. Let her know that you aren't looking to turn her into a razor slave of the patriarchy — you're just trying to keep your sex life (and, in turn, your relationship) alive — and ask whether there's anything you could do to be more manhunky for her. This is just what you're supposed to do in a relationship — make that extra effort to please your partner, even if it takes, oh, five minutes every few days to run a razor over your legs and pits. She can still rebel against the patriarchy in other ways, like by going around in snarky T-shirts and blogging about how leg shaving is an obvious plot to keep women in the shower and out of the House of Representatives. The bottom line, for you and many other men, is that it's really sexy to run your hand through a woman's hair — just not the hair on her ankles. Amy Alkon WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) You want to see all of the lovely places and people you possibly can. Tempting new circumstances and persuasive friends will combine to surprising effect. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You make good decisions quickly these days. Because of this, you'll appreciate a boss or partner who gives you plenty of leeway. You neither want nor require much supervision. GEMINI (May 21-June 21)You will feel like you have succeeded when you know you have helped other people succeed. That's why you'll fall into an unofficial role of teacher , mentor or coach. CANCER (June 22-July 22) You pride yourself on your emotional resolve, but it's fine to lose it now and then, too — everyone does. You could connect with another in a shared release. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)Money is a good way to create security, but it's not the only way, and it's not even the best way. Today you will strengthen your position in life through efforts that have nothing to do with finance. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) If you can remain neutral in the situation this afternoon, you'll save yourself a lot of time and trouble. However, some things are worth getting involved in, especially in the case of defending the defenseless. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23)Some of the wonderful things you'll experience today include a warm handshake, kind eyes and an invitation to sit and talk. It's good to be with people who are rich in the talent of empathy. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You have to buy the whole box of cereal even though all you really want are the marshmallow charms, and that's just like relationships. Their sweetest qualities come with other ingredients. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Do you have the feeling that you're not like the others and that the best thing you could do for the group is to take charge and make things happen? Well, you're right. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)You don't have to impress anyone. Be careful not to dangle a proverbial carrot on a stick in front of a person unless you really plan to give that person the carrot in the end. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Hugs heal. Give and get them. The people who don't readily make that kind of contact need it the most. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) The person with the best idea isn't always the winner. It is the person who earns the most emotional engagement who will be the victor in this afternoon's scenario. NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Beijing Genomics Institute scientists are closing in on a technology to allow parents to choose, from several embryos, the one most likely to yield the smartest offspring. London's Daily Mail (in January, referencing recent work in Wired, The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker) explained that BGI will have identified high-potential mathematics genes (by mapping the cells of geniuses) so that researchers can search for those among a couple's array of embryos. (Most embryos will yield gene arrays resembling their parents', but one embryo is likely "better" — and maybe much better.) One Chinese researcher acknowledged the "controversial" nature of the work, "especially in the West," but added, "That's not the case in China." The parental price tag on finding the smartest kid? Expensive, said a supporter, but less than upgrading an average kid via Harvard, or even a private prep school. [Daily Mail, 1-14-2014] [Wired, 7-16-2013] Can't Possibly Be True "This (was) my life," said musician Boujemaa Razgui in December, referring to the 13 handmade flutes that he played professionally, "and now they're gone." Arriving in New York City from Madrid with the 13 woodwinds in his checked luggage, he was shocked to discover that U.S. Customs had destroyed them without notice because "wood" is a restricted "agricultural" import. (Unsophisticated agents had apparently regarded them as mere bamboo.) Razgui plays all over the world including, since 2002, with the Boston Camerata ensemble staged by the city's Museum of Fine Arts. [Boston Globe, 1-1-2014] — A Georgia Regents University's dental school official acknowledged in December that the school would likely continue to conduct research on the mouths of stray dogs solely to test a coating that might inhibit infections in humans' dental implants. The work is controversial because the only way to study the installed implants is to remove them, after euthanizing the dogs. (Also, the research is sponsored by commercial dental-implant companies for a market dominated by elective cosmetic patients.) (However, a GRU professor noted that implants are also functional, as they inhibit infections that might reach the heart's lining and other locations.) [Augusta Chronicle, 12-21-2013] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD Amy Alkon Chuck Sheppard For the Week of January Jan. 27, 2014 By Holiday Mathis