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/40058
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD For years, many traditional funerals WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY in Taiwan — especially in rural areas or among working classes — have included pop singers and bikinied dancers, supposedly to entertain the ghosts that will protect the deceased in the afterlife. According to a recent documentary by anthropologist Marc Moskowitz, some of the dancers until 20 years ago were strippers who did lap dances with funeral guests, until the government made such behavior illegal. Contemporary song-and- dance shows, like the traveling Electric Flower Car, supposedly appeal to "lower" gods who help cleanse the deceased of the more mundane vices such as gambling and prostitution (compared to the "higher" gods who focus on morality and righteousness). [Asian Age-ANI (New Delhi), 7-12-2011] Can't Possibly Be True California's state and local governments are rarely discussed these days without the pall of budget cuts looming, but apparently the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is safe because it is spending a reported $1.5 million to move a big rock in from Riverside, about 60 miles away. It's a 340-ton boulder that the museum intends to display above a sidewalk ("Levitated Mass"). The move will require a 200-foot-long trailer with 200 tires, with one semi-tractor pulling and one pushing, at night, maximum speed 8 mph. [KNBC-TV (Los Angeles, 6-15-2011] Tennessee State Rep. Julia Hurley apologized in July and said she would pay for the refinishing of her desk in the legislative chamber after it was revealed that she had carved her initials in it during a January session. "It was like one in the morning on the last day of the session," she told WSMV-TV. "I wasn't thinking straight." Rep. Hurley, 29, who has a daughter, 14, unseated a nine-term incumbent legislator in 2010 with a campaign that touted her time as a Hooters waitress. "If I could make it at Hooters," she wrote in the restaurant's magazine, "I could make it anywhere." [Knoxville News-Sentinel-AP, 7-12-2011] In June, the California Court of Appeals threw out the three counts of possession of child pornography for which Joseph Gerber had been convicted, even though what Gerber had done was paste face shots of his own 13-year-old daughter onto ordinary pornographic photos. The U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2002 that a conviction for making "child pornography" requires actual sexual abuse. (Gerber had also been convicted of supplying the daughter with drugs and the court ordered Gerber re-sentenced.) [San Francisco Chronicle, 6-9-2011] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM ARIES (March 21-April 19) You wish the past could only come back through memories. Instead, it comes on legs, through phone lines or via your Internet connection. Though you might not be entirely glad for the disruption the past brings to your present circumstance, ultimately, you will be glad for the chance to set things right. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) There are certain pressures you have to deal with on a daily basis. Mostly, they come in the form of people who want you to do things you don't necessarily feel like doing. Even if you believe the activities are in your best interest, compliance still takes effort. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You'll make a con- tribution to a cause this week. This may not be money. Likely, it's your attention, energy and time. These resources, your golden bits of life, are even more valuable than a dollar amount. CANCER (June 22-July 22) One way to give yourself more time in the day is to concentrate an organizational effort on the closet and bath- room. In the days to come, you'll need to get out the door and into the world quickly. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) This week, you realize your dreams are not going to fall into your hands so easily. You'll have to fi ght to bring them into being. In this way, you'll prove your worthiness to have what you want. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You know the importance of good friends. You cherish your friendships and fi nd unusual and thoughtful ways to show your appreciation. You don't give because you feel it's the right thing to do; you give because you can't help yourself. Your gestures, however small, will always be remembered. ADVICE GODDESS Spring Chicken! LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You have put your energy into many different projects, people and other investments. You may feel as though some of your energy is still out there in the uni- verse and you now need to call it back to you. It's as though you let someone borrow a part of you and it's now time for them to return it. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Before there was language, humans communicated only with music. You are attuned to those primal tones that still exist in our discourse. You'll recognize how others are feeling and speak to their emo- tions directly. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) You'll be in- spired to do something different with your money as your ruling planet, Jupiter, goes retrograde in the sign of spending. You'll see the benefi t to sav- ing and will investigate ways to invest. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) There is no thrill quite like the thrill of accomplishment. Your excitement builds this week, as you are not only able to make remarkable progress toward your goals, but you also inspire your team to produce rapid results. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You will be faced with contradictions between what you believe and what is occurring in front of your eyes. This new reality will inspire you to retrace and reconsider your belief system. Because you dare to get closer and closer to the truth, you will grow in power and wisdom. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) New people come into your life. You know right away when someone is meant to be more than a passing acquaintance. One person in particular will act as a kind of teacher to you. You will fi nd yourself instantly fascinated and increasingly hungry for the insights a certain person can provide you. By Holiday Mathis DID YOU FORGET?? etm 2 5 % Thanks to our teams & best wishes for a great season! Two Great Businesses Under One Roof! 3006 Bragg Blvd. 910.323.1791 www.trophyhouseinc.com A co-worker seems interested in me. This is fl attering since he's 48 and I'm 57. He's asked me out on dates a few times — rather last minute, unfortunately, and I had confl icting plans. He also invited me to join his volleyball club that plays in the park during lunch breaks. The group is all men except for one 30-something woman, who banters a lot with this guy and is grudgingly nice, if not cool, to me. My intuition's sending up caution fl ags! I don't want to trample over a girl who has feelings for this man. I want nothing to do with causing pain for another woman! Should I just come out and tell this man what my intuition's telling me? Ask him what's up between him and the young woman? — Wary The average guy is more likely to be attracted to "Barely Legal!" than "Almost Of Age To Retire To The Home." This particular guy doesn't seem to be average. Sure, he might have invited you to volleyball to be inclusive, but dates — which he's asked you on — are very rarely a form of philanthropy. Chances are, the guy's into you. You should Amy Alkon worry about causing pain for another woman if you're about to break up her happy home, but you're just breaking up the all-boy/one-girl ratio of the volleyball league and maybe getting the guy. If you're like many women, you not only are uncomfortable with competing, you feel it's mean to try to win — even if your tactic is just wearing a really good bra, not going after your rival with a medieval battle ax. Probably because women evolved to be the nurturers and cooperators of the species, they tend to feel guilty about going for what they want and resentful if another woman gets it. Although it's nice to be compassionate, deferring to everyone else's desires is no way to go through life. It's good and right to act in your self-interest, assuming you aren't poisoning the rivers or parboiling small children. Puking your feelings all over this guy's shoes won't settle anything; it's just an impulsive way to relieve pent-up anxiety. (If things weren't awkward between you before, not to worry; they will be.) If you need stress relief, get a squeeze ball or one of those desktop sand gardens with a tiny wooden rake. Because things are always bigger and scarier in the abstract, if you're afraid of being hurt, consider how, exactly, that would play out and whether you can deal. Getting emotionally trampled is painful, but not like being crushed by falling space debris. You go through some miserable-time, and then you lick your wounds and move on. If that's too much for you, retire from relationships to the porch swing at The Home and train for the sort of competition that, at 57, you'll be a shoo-in to win — the chair yoga/walker push/s Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. AUGUST 24-30, 2011 UCW 23 SOCKS • BEL TS • HA TS • P ANTS u M a o ny i O s t ! p