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/29136
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD Gen. Than Shwe of Myanmar, leader of Asia’s most authoritarian regime, made a rare public appearance in February but dressed in a women’s sarong. Most likely, according to a report on AOL News, he was challenging the country’s increasingly successful “panty protests” in which females opposed to the regime toss their underwear at the leaders or onto government property to, according to superstition, weaken the oppressors. (Men wear sarongs, too, in Myanmar, but the general’s sarong was uniquely of a design worn by women.) An Internet site run by the protesters urges sympathetic women worldwide to “post, deliver or fling” panties at any Burmese embassy. [AOL News, 3-1-2011] The Continuing Crisis Florida Senate Bill 1246, introduced in February, would make it a first-degree felony to take a picture of any farmland, even from the side of the road, without written permission of the land’s owner. (The bill is perhaps an overenthusiastic attempt to pre- empt campaigns by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.) [Florida Tribune (Tallahassee), 2-23-2011] Though Florida faces a serious budget shortfall, another Senate bill, 1846, would authorize the state to borrow money for golf courses and resorts in at least five state parks and would require that the courses be designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus’ firm. (Update: SB1846 was too excessive even for Florida and was withdrawn.) [Orlando Sentinel, 3-12-2011] No Sense of Shame: Nurse Sarah Casareto resigned in February from Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, and faced possible criminal charges, after allegedly swiping the painkiller fentanyl from her patient’s IV line as he was undergoing kidney-stone surgery (telling him once to “man up” when he complained about the pain). [Star Tribune (Minneapolis), 2-10-2011] Karen Remsing, 42, stands accused of much the same thing after her November arrest involving an unspecified pain medicine delivered by IV at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital. However, Remsing’s case was different in that the IV line being shorted was that of her own, terminally ill, 15-year-old son. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11-1-2010] New Orleans clothing designer Cree McCree, an ardent environmentalist, ordinarily would never work with animal fur, but the Louisiana state pest, the nutria (swamp rat), is culled in abundance by hunters, who leave the carcasses where they fall. Calling its soft-brown coat “guilt-free fur that belongs on the runway instead of at the bottom of the bayou,” McCree has encouraged a small industry of local designers to create nutria fashions -- and in November went big-time with a New York City show (“Nutria-palooza”). Now, according to a November New York Times report, designers Billy Reid and Oscar de la Renta are sampling nutria’s “righteous fur.” [New York Times, 11-18-2011] COPYRIGHT 2010 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) It is rare that people are celebrated for being well rounded, as usually the party goes to those who do exceptionally well in one area or another. Your friends and family will show their enthusiasm and appreciation for all the various ways you contribute to their lives just by being you. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You’ve played by conservative rules lately, and this week you can afford to go a little left of center. So make some offbeat choices if you dare. You’ll love who you meet because of this, and where the conversa- tion leads. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) Self-discipline sometimes feels like a punishment, when actually it is a gift you give yourself. When you are disciplined enough to habitually do what’s good for you, it becomes automatic. And one day you’ll wake up and realize that you have become who you wanted to be. CANCER (June 22-July 22) When you operate under the assumption that everything happens for a reason, you’ll be delighted with the serendipitous unfolding of this week’s events. You don’t have to actually believe that everything happens for a reason — just try on the belief for a few days. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) There have been times when providence seemed to speak to you through arbitrary decision-making. Other times those decisions proved to be mistakes. This is not the week to take a chance. You deserve consistency. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You’re not afraid of change. The prospect of a lateral shift will cause you to wonder whether it’s really worth it. As of now, it’s too soon to tell, but you will learn all you need to know to make your deci- sion by the end of the week. ADVICE GODDESS This American Strife LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) There’s a fi ne line between vanity and taking extraordinarily good care of yourself. You walk it well. You indulge in the extras because you know that when you look good, you feel good. And when you feel good, you have the energy to take excellent care of your loved ones, too. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Knowing that someone likes you makes life more exciting. You will share only the best things about yourself with the one who is obviously in- trigued and so curious to know more. Soon you will be dominant in this person’s mind and imagination. . SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) It is so natural for you to accommodate the needs of those around you that it sometimes feels as though you are on a treadmill of service to your family and friends. This week, you will be freed from a boring routine, if only for a short time. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The middle week requires you to take a respectful and forgiving manner with a loved one, which you do naturally. Your easygoing ways will make life pleasant, and you’ll be similarly received if you should ever require their mercy. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You realize what really matters, and you’re willing to make sacrifi ces to better your condition. For instance, you might accept a lower salary than you currently receive at work in order to try a job you may like more. . PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You defy human nature as you remember the good things that have happened to you in your life and, for the most part, forget the bad things. This superhu- man act of conscience will make this one of the best weeks you’ve had in recent history. Your lightness of being attracts laughter and fun wherever you go. My boyfriend of 10 months asked me for my idea of a romantic evening, and I said I think it’s really romantic to make din- ner together. He asked for specifi cs, and I ended up pretty much describing what my last boyfriend and I used to do: have wine and cheese, burn this particular incense I love, listen to “This American Life,” then make dinner together. This is now what my boyfriend does to “surprise” me. He has downloaded tons of “This American Life” episodes and even burns the same incense my ex and I used to! I’m certain I sound like a total creep, but it really isn’t romantic to have your signifi cant other surprise you by doing exactly what he was told. — The Ingrate You’re irritated that he didn’t work harder; he just went, “Great, now I have my list.” But, he wasn’t the only uncreative one. You didn’t bother unlocking the old imagination cabinet. You rattled off details, down to the brand of incense, as if they were random enjoyments that came to mind, not the foreplay report from your last relationship. And come on, what did you expect, the guy to ask, “Hey, baby, tell me what you fi nd romantic,” and then say, “Cool! I’ll do something else!”? Maybe he By Holiday Mathis reconstituted what you told him because he isn’t very creative or maybe because he’s a guy. Men are often a little unsure of themselves in the romance-crafting department. It just isn’t the lifelong Amy Alkon pursuit for them that it is for so many women, like the woman on an author panel I moderated who opened her book with the line “I was born to be a bride.” Books about men’s lives tend to start more like “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold” or “I am a sick man. I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. I believe my liver is diseased.” Let’s be honest: How many combos are there for romantic dinners? Should he have changed wine and cheese to wine and little canned wieners? Instead of incense, should he have seen if Raid had come out with a bug spray called “That Special Evening”? Be grateful for what you have — a boyfriend who wants to please you. To help him succeed, tell him that what you really fi nd romantic are surprises, and then suggest doing as my friend and her girlfriend do: Take turns planning and surprising each other on date night. The non-planning partner need only show up at the appointed time and follow any prearranged directions, like “wear a parachute” or “bring a sharpened machete.” Should you fi nd yourself a little more surprised than you were hoping for (“Wow … a puppet theater to act out our relationship issues!”), see that you don’t squelch his newfound romantic creativity. Heavily praise what you’d like more of, and be prepared to put on your game face for anything short of a picnic dinner of chocolate-covered crickets and toasts to your love with rainwater from the Japanese reactor. Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. APRIL 13-19, 2011 UCW 23