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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NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD The New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter achieved his milestone 3,000th major league hit in July, and Steiner Sports Marketing of New Rochelle, N.Y., was ready (in partnership with the Yankees and Major League Baseball). Dozens of items from the game were offered to collectors, including the bases ($7,500 each), 30 balls used during the game ($2,000 each, unsigned), and even Jeter’s sweaty socks ($1,000). Steiner had also collected five gallons of dirt (under supervision, to assure authenticity), and uberfans can buy half-ounce containers of clay walked upon by Jeter during the game (from the shortstop area and the right-hand batter’s box) — for a not-dirt- cheap $250 each. [New York Post, 7-7- 2011; New York Times, 6-22-2011] Compelling Explanations Military veteran Joshua Price, 26, was arrested in March after police in a Chicago suburb found child pornography and 1,700 photos of dismembered women on his computer, but at a court hearing in May, Price explained that his photographs were a necessary escape from war-related trauma. In fact, Price told prosecutors that were it not for the distracting photos, his stress disorder would surely have caused him to kill his wife and two daughters. (Prosecutors accepted that Price’s crime was a “cry for help,” but the judge, less impressed, quadrupled Price’s bail, to $1 million.) [Chicago Tribune, 5-19-2011] Unclear on the Concept: The initial explanation by Melvin Jackson, 48, upon his arrest in June for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in Kansas City, Mo., was to deny that he would ever do such a thing. Rather, he said, “I thought the lady was dead.” [Kansas City Star, 6-30- 2011] The initial explanation by Thomas O’Neil, 47, upon his arrest in Wausau, Wis., in June for criminal damage to property (breaking into a neighbor’s garage and defecating on the floor) was to claim that he thought he was in his own garage. [Sheboygan Press, 6-28-2011] Democracy in Action! Emerging democracies typically exhibit growing pains as they develop stability. For example, in July in Afghanistan’s parliament, one female legislator attacked another with her shoe (and then dodged the second lady’s flying water bottle before colleagues separated them). Older democracies, however, act more maturely — except perhaps in California, where in June, an Italian-American legislator got into a shoving match with a colleague whom he thought had made a Sopranos-type slur about recent legislation. And in the mature democracy of Wisconsin in June, one state Supreme Court justice was accused of roughing up another (though who started it is in dispute) as the justices privately discussed a case. [BBC News, 7-6-2011] [KTLA-TV (Los Angeles), 6-15-2011] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6-25-2011] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) You love it when a person makes you laugh and look at life a dif- ferent way, though it doesn’t necessarily mean you will trust the person or extend an invitation to him or her to join your inner circle. You have tough standards for your close loved ones and expect those lucky few to do a lot more than simply entertain you. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Those around you do things a certain way, not because it’s the best or most correct way, but because it’s the way it’s always been done. You have special skills and extra creativity to apply to daily living this week. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) The last thing you need is more worry. However, there is some- thing very constructive that could happen when you concern yourself with what could go wrong or think of ways in which your loved ones need your care and protection. CANCER (June 22-July 22) You don’t expect another person to adapt to your needs, though you may secretly consider how nice things would be if such an occurrence were to happen. After all, on many occasions, you have been gladly inconvenienced in order to help someone else feel more comfortable. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)The idea that someone else’s trouble and loss could lead to your good fortune might make you uneasy — you would prefer a win-win situation. Well, don’t be too quick to judge appearances. The long view will show that this actually is the win-win situation you wanted all along. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) When you feel stuck, know that you are not alone. Many before you have been similarly limited, and they got through to the other side. So will you. Be inspired by the success of your predecessors. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You will be tempted to put things on your to-do list that do not be- long there. If you don’t really want to do some- thing, and you add it just because you think you should, it will never get done. Instead, place your intentions on what excites you. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) If you can’t seem to repeat a past success, don’t worry about it. Consistency is overrated. You cannot step into the same ocean twice. Your water-sign nature suggests you are like the ever-moving sea. New successes will soon be yours. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Lately, it hasn’t been a priority for you to get to know your own preferences, and you should make it one now. Knowing precisely what you want to experi- ence in this life will get you back on track with a feeling of purpose and meaning. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Perhaps these are not the most ideal and favorable conditions you have ever come across, but to another per- son in your midst, the experience is downright heavenly. You wouldn’t dream of spoiling the magic by pointing out the tricky smoke, mir- rors and magnets. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) With your fl exibility and easygoing temperament, you’ll have zero diffi culty tolerating the same person everyone else seems to be running away from. You might say that dealing with eccentricity is one of your talents, and it will bring you rich rewards this week, including and especially those of a fi nancial sort. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) You have a strong sense of who you are, and therefore, you know what you can rely on yourself to do. You also know what you probably won’t do, and this week you’ll fi nd people who can fi ll in the blanks. With the right team, reaching your goals will be an enjoyable process. Look for the winners in our September 14 issue or online at Who will be crowned? www.upandcomingweekly.com. Reserve your ad space now for this special issue! e our yo ce t this Sponsored by Utley & Knowles CPAs By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS Booty Rest My wife is co-sleeping — sharing our bed — with our two children. I understand why she sleeps with our baby, who’s breast-feeding, but not why my 6-year-old daughter must sleep in our bed. I’ve quit sharing the “family bed,” as I need my rest. I fully believe that my daughter should go to her own bed now. My wife does not agree. In fact, she refuses to even discuss it. We never were a high-frequency sex couple, but we’re verging on becoming a sexless one. Beyond that, I’d like to get back to sleeping in the same bed with my wife without getting a small foot planted in my face. — Crowded I know, saying no to kids is so 1989, but somebody should really try to bring it back. As I wrote in my book I See Rude People, there used to be kid places and adult places. Beyond how a child who rarely gets told no grows up into an adult entitled brat, what do kids have to look forward to if, at six, they’re sleeping in the master bedroom? And sure, studies suggest that co- sleeping may prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS rate is lowest in cultures that co- sleep), but there’s yet to be a report of a kid dying of SIDS at age 6. Amy Alkon It is good that your wife is sleeping with the baby. Anthropologist and infant sleep expert Dr. James J. McKenna fi nds that co-sleeping babies cry less and breast- feed more often and for longer durations. They tend to synchronize their breathing with the sleeping parent — perhaps training themselves in how to breathe — and spend less time in the deepest stages of sleep, during which quick arousals to recover from apneas (pauses in breathing) are more diffi cult for them. Because, like SUVs, sleeping parents are prone to rollover, and because a baby can be smothered by blankets or a soft mattress, it’s safest if the mother sleeps with the baby in a sidecar or bassinet next to her. It’s bad enough that marriage means committing to have sex with only one person until you die. It’s not supposed to be one … or fewer. (“Do you take this woman to stiff you on sex till death do you part?”) Marriage is also a partnership, not a dictatorship, meaning one spouse doesn’t get to set policy by shutting down all discussion. That said, the spouse getting the refusals to talk has to refuse to accept that. Your wife isn’t playing fair in lavishing all her attention on the kids. You’re still there, and not just to bring home the bacon and then repair quietly to your new sleeping quarters — the pink bedroom with the princess duvet. You need to talk about how much sex you’d like, and how much she’s willing to provide, and work out a compromise. If your marriage is going to last, acrobatics in the marital bedroom had better not amount to your 6-year-old practicing her cartwheels on what used to be Mommy and Daddy’s bed. Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. AUGUST 3-9, 2011 UCW 23