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/30781
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD A tank and several armored vehicles with dozens of SWAT officers and a bomb robot rolled into a generally quiet Phoenix neighborhood on March 21, startling the residents. Knocking down a wall, deputies raided the home of Jesus Llovera, who was “suspected” of running a cockfighting business, and, indeed, 115 chickens were found inside, but Llovera was alone and unarmed, and his only previous connection to cockfights was a misdemeanor conviction in 2010 for attending one. “We’re going to err on the side of caution,” said Sgt. Jesse Spurgin. Adding to neighbors’ amazement was the almost-fanciful sight — riding in the tank — of actor Steven Seagal, who had brought his Lawman reality TV show to Phoenix. [KPHO- TV (Phoenix), 3-21-2011] The Entrepreneurial Spirit New sign-ups for higher-end Dish satellite TV systems at the Radio Shack in Hamilton, Mont., also receive free Hi-Point .380 pistols or 20-gauge shotguns (after passing a background check, paid for by the store). The owner said his business has tripled since introducing the premium in October. [Billings Gazette, 3-25-2011] Bobblehead dolls may be popular baseball giveaways, but as part of the local “Green Sports Alliance” demonstrating concern for the environment, the Seattle Mariners announced in March that for several games this season, fans would get free bags of compost (made from food and other items discarded at Mariners games). [Seattle Times, 3-21-2011] It started as a class project at Brown University, but after a launch party on March 19 (and a sold-out first run of 500), Julie Sygiel’s Sexy Period menstrual-leak-fighting panties are on sale ($32 to $44, depending on the style — “cheeky,” “hipster” or “bikini”). Sygiel said “sexy” is less to suggest sensuality than to help women cope with the time of the month when they feel “not at (their) best. We want to banish that moment.” [Brown Daily Herald, 3-22-2011] A Chinese Capitalist’s Learning Curve: In the early hours of the destruction at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in March, rumors abounded that millions of people might need iodine products to fight off radiation. A restaurateur named Guo in Wuhan, China, seeing the price of iodized table salt rise dramatically, cleverly cornered a market with 4 1/2 tons of it, trucked to his home, where it filled half the rooms. According to a March 25 China Daily report, the price has returned to pre-Fukushima levels — much less than what Guo paid, and he can neither return the salt (lacking documentation) nor sell nor transport it (lacking the proper licenses). [China Daily 3-25-2011] Weird Science From a March Discovery.com report: “Forty million years ago, a female mite met an attractive partner, grabbed him with her clingy rear end, and began to mate — just before a blob of tree resin fell on the couple, preserving the moment for eternity.” The resin-encrusted mites were discovered recently by researchers from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (who noted that, in those days, the female dominated mating, but that evolution has reversed that role). [Discovery.com, 3-1-2011] COPYRIGHT 2010 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) It’s not true that ideas are a dime a dozen. They are much more valuable than that, even if they never come to fruition. Not all ideas should come to fruition, anyhow. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) In every period of human history, people have strongly believed things that later were judged to be absolutely wrong, silly, barbaric, idealistic, preposter- ous and/or ridiculous. The opinion you voice may turn out to be wildly unpopular. Still, you might be the one who is right. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You have conformed to a group in a number of ways, but you are still your own person. There are guidelines the group seems to go by that you can’t get behind. You’re not the only one who feels this way, but you’re still wondering what you should do about it. By the end of the week, you’ll have your answer. CANCER (June 22-July 22) You’ll set trends without meaning to and will inspire unwanted copycats, as well. If you’re not sure whether or not someone is copying you, here’s a crafty test: Put a negligible mistake in your work and see if the other person comes up with the same mistake in his or her work. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) You attract astonishing good fortune when you follow an orderly process. Arrange to have a day to yourself when you can sort through your life, throw out what’s old and outdated, and make some plans for the future. In other words, get organized. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Logic and ambi- tion may try to push you forward, but your intuition is still holding you back. It’s as though your entire body is saying “not yet.” Listening to these cues, you’ll land in a beautiful position. ADVICE GODDESS The Ultrasound of Silence LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Unfortunately, not everyone has developed the part of their brain that saves them from the potentially incendiary utterance. That’s one reason why your friend- ship is such a valued commodity. You help others present themselves in socially acceptable ways. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21)When you read the newspapers and social networking sites, it appears that others are having more fun than you and are being rude enough to present said fun in the most glamorous light just to annoy you. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Some say that enthusiasm can’t be taught — maybe be- cause it is actually inside of every person. Some just have strong emotional gates to contain it. You have a way of getting people to open those gates and unleash their natural exuberance. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Your persua- sive talents will be put to work this week. Once you determine what you want to communicate, illustrate it. Paint the picture in words, or in paint. Make a video or chart. This persuasive story must be told in more ways than one, and it can only be told by you. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You’ll be in a decisive mood. You get serious about a matter that has been up in the air for months now. A wish is not a goal, mainly because wishes are usually about a certain outcome that doesn’t have a timeline attached. Give yourself a deadline, and suddenly your wish has turned into a goal. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You have an unexplainable spiritual bond with someone. It’s as though you share some of the same thoughts. Your personal dream cannot be seen by anyone else, and still there are similarities and perhaps some overlapping ideas and values. The sense that you belong together will continue to grow. By Holiday Mathis laid back attitude Serious Food We’re known for our innovative and delicious dinners. Now you can love us for lunch, too! Daily Lunch Specials • Call Ahead Take-Out Lunches unches Corporate Catering • Business Luncheons uncheons A Little Island Atmosphere in the Heart of Haymount! Mondays - Trivia • Thursday, Friday & Saturday - Live Music Sundays - Bloody Mary Bar, Peel-n-Eat Shrimp, Live Music 2-5 1217 Hay Street • Fayetteville • 485-4777 www.lat35fay.com My 27-year-old girlfriend has two kids (ages 10 and 5). She is fi nancially stable and owns her own house. We began plan- ning to get married, but then she said she didn’t want any more children. She cites the fi nancial burden, the time a baby would take from “us,” how she’d be starting all over again, and not wanting to do that to her body again. I think she’s being selfi sh, seeing me as good enough to help raise her two girls but not good enough to have a child with. I want a child who’s genetically related to me, who I can raise and form from the start. I told her, if she won’t have a baby, I won’t take the next step and get mar- ried and purchase a house together. Am I in the wrong here, or is she? —Feeling Used Your fi ancee was a teen mother way back before you’d get a reality series for that and has now spent over a third of her life being somebody’s mommy. Not surprisingly, she isn’t into having yet another human being to be responsible for for the next 20-plus years — understanding all too well that “Hey, can we get a new person?!” isn’t like getting another kitten (as in, what’s one more once you’ve already got two shedding on the couch?). Unfortunately, it seems you assumed there’d be some sort of kid pro quo here: You drive her kids to soccer and admire their crayonings, and she’d make you a kid of your own. You’re right to expect some really big hugs for doing the stand-in dad thing, but just because she has the womanparts doesn’t mean she owes it to you to fi re up the assembly line and give you an heir. What you’re calling selfi shness on her part is actually a sign of emotional health — not being so needy that she’d agree to be your baby vending machine, only to end up resentful and angry (“Here’s your lunchbox, you little snot!”). You don’t get a kid out of her by Amy Alkon acting like one — sniffl ing that you’re “not good enough to have a child with” and announcing, “No baby, no marry, no housie!” Instead of trying to pout and guilt her into more motherhood, discuss this like adults to see whether there’s any wiggle room here. (Don’t get your hopes up.) As for your question about which one of you is in the wrong, you’re probably just wrong for each other. Ultimately, this could be one of those unfortunate situations where love just isn’t enough. Two people also have to want the same major things: Must love dogs. Must want kids. Need to be horsewhipped daily. Should this relationship crash and burn, try to learn from it: If you really, really want to be something’s dad, prudent family planning involves casually putting that out there as early as the fi rst date. This isn’t foolproof, but it beats the other kind of family planning: planning to swap out the wife’s birth control pills for 30 days of Tic Tacs: “Gee, my Ortho-Novum tastes minty-fresh!” Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. MAY 4-10, 2011 UCW 23