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 Richard Handl, 31, was arrested in southern Sweden in July after a raid on his home. He had been trying for months to set up a nuclear reactor in his kitchen, but became alarmed when a brew of americium, tritium and beryllium created a nuclear meltdown on his stove. Only then, he said, did it occur to him to ask the country's Radiation Authority if what he was doing was legal, and the subsequent police raid answered that question. No dangerous radiation level was detected, but Handl still faces fines and a maximum two- WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY ARIES (March 21-April 19) You'll project a certain tone, though you may be slightly out of touch with what that is. If you were an interna- tional brand, what would your symbol be? And how would the letters of your name look? The answers to questions like these may help you to see yourself objectively. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You made the decision to do what you're doing, and you can make the decision to knock it off. Some small and irksome bad habit of yours is getting a little old about now. Enough is enough. You'll feel completely empowered by this challenge. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) You sometimes have so much fun in the "playground of the mind" that you forget to go to real playgrounds — or the adult equivalent of them — to play and explore the physical world. You'll get the chance to do that this week Chuck Sheppard year prison sentence for unauthorized possession of nuclear materials. [MSNBC-AP, 8-3-2011; The Local (Stockholm), 8-2-2011] The Entrepreneurial Society The fashion designer Chandrashekar Chawan recently created gold-plated, diamond-studded contact lenses that make eyes "sparkle" (not always a good thing, admitted Chawan, citing reviews calling the look "cringeworthy" and "demonic"). According to an MSNBC report, the "bling" part never actually touches the cornea. [MSNBC, 8-4-2011] Among the trendiest avant- garde beauty treatments are facial applications made from snail mucus, according to a July report by London's Daily Mail. South Korean glamour consultants were the first to use mollusk extract's generous moisturizing properties, though a dermatologist warned (on NBC's "Today" show) that no "controlled" studies have yet demonstrated snail-goo superiority. [Daily Mail, 7-29-2011] Leading Economic Indicators Augustin James Evangelista is only 4 years old, but he nevertheless has certain financial needs — which amount to about $46,000 a month, according to the child-support request filed by his mother, "supermodel" Linda Evangelista. A Wall Street Journal reporter concluded that the figure is about right for rich kids in New York City, what with needing a driver, designer clothes, around-the- clock nannies and various personalized lessons. And soon, according to a consultant-to-the-rich interviewed in August by the Journal, Augustin James will become even more expensive, as he graduates from his exclusive preschool and enters his exclusive kindergarten. [Wall Street Journal, 8-3-2011] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD 36 UCW SEPTEMBER 21-27, 2011 CANCER (June 22-July 22) Someone you are close to doesn't think to put things back where they belong. This person will be in rare form this week, and there will be a great deal of clut- ter around to interrupt the fl ow. It's not your responsibility, but if you take control of the situation, the benefi ts will be far reaching. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) A majestic unfolding of events depends on your unjaded point of view. Consider shedding preconceived notions and forgetting what you know. Becoming ignorant can be a wonderful experience. It's the most creative way to be. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)You will learn by experiencing things on your own. It will be more costly, but you're willing to take on the expense because it will ultimately make you richer. Your hands-on approach will serve you well this week. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Judgment and dis- tortion go hand in hand. The ones who "have" are not necessarily greedy, and the ones who "have not" aren't necessarily lazy. You will avoid making judgments or comparisons of any kind. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) Look at what makes you laugh, cry, get angry or become excited. There's a reason behind it. Look deeply into the reason, and you'll learn some- thing profound about yourself. The informa- tion will liberate you and give you greater emotional control. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) When you're dissatisfi ed with the way things are going, make a new choice. Your options may seem limited, but that's only because you need to experience a few different kinds of options to understand what they are and recognize the spectrum of choices available to you. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You realize that being afraid zaps your energy, and it also takes a lot out of you to bravely face your fear. Have faith. Believe that all is working out for the best, and there will no longer be anything to fear in the fi rst place. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)Your dreams will be particularly colorful and insightful this week. They will guide you in your waking life — if only you make the effort to remember them. Put a pen and paper next to your bed, and command yourself to remember three things about your dreams upon waking. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Romance is the farthest thing from your mind, which is prob- ably why it will be persistent in its attempts to make itself important to you. By the end of the week, you'll have made the shift. You'll see with new eyes. Everything will seem to glitter. By Holiday Mathis ADVICE GODDESS That Witch Does Not Kill Us I am 19 and have been dating a wonderful 24-year-old guy for about a month. Some of his family members wish he were still with the fi ancee he broke up with six months ago and aren't too happy about him seeing me. His 19-year-old half sister actually contacted me on Facebook, told me to "watch my back," and made some mean assumptions about me. Next, his mother Facebooked me and said that she's also sorry her son's with me and that I should watch what I say to her daughter. (I just told her daughter that it wasn't cool to judge me, because she doesn't know me.) I told my boyfriend, who immediately called them, told them I'm in his life, and said a lot of nice things about me. I'd really love for his Amy Alkon family to like me, but they don't even want to meet me. How do I get them to? If they don't like me after that, fi ne. —Unpopular Halloween Superstores 910.867.1294 1748 Skibo Rd. · Fayetteville, NC (next to Toys R Us) 20% discount will be applied to any single piece of Spirit Halloween merchandise and will be applied at the time of purchase. One discount per person. Not valid online. If merchandise is returned, discount will be deducted from item prior to a refund/credit being issued. Discount cannot be combined with any other promotional offer nor can it be applied to previous purchases, gift card purchases, tax or shipping. Coupon valid from 9/1/11 - 10/26/11. Cou- pon has no cash value and may not be redeemed for cash. Spirit Halloween reserves the right to cancel this promotion at any time. That's an interesting family your boyfriend's got there. In many families, there's some Voice of Maturity who steps in when a squabble gets out of hand. In your boyfriend's family, they apparently leave that to the parrot: "Hello! Hello? CRAAAACKER!" Now, maybe his 19-year-old half sister was plastered when she Facebooked you or typically seems one Ding Dong short of a valu- pak, but probably the last thing you'd expect from somebody's mother is for her to come in and bat cleanup in the psycho family division. As hard as it is to feel misrepresented, misunderstood, and unheard, you're unlikely to change that by clamoring for a part in his family's trashy reality show, Don't You Be Goin' Near My Son! Beyond that, prematurely going through the steps of an already-serious relationship, such as meeting somebody's family, can lead you to decide somebody's right for you instead of looking to see whether he actually is. Consider why you feel compelled to try to win these two nasties over. Perhaps, like many women, you have a mental photo album of your life upon meeting the man for you, perhaps with some sunkissed snapshots of a Sunday family barbecue. Well, you may be in this guy's future, and there may be family barbecues, but there's a good chance his mom and half sister will be picturing you on the spit. If you two start getting serious, make sure you can both handle whatever relationship or lack of one you have with the Wicked Witch of the Wherever and her buzzard daughter. Contact with them now is sure to be very uncomfortable. But, who knows … you and his half sister may end up sitting there on your wedding day, laughing at how she came after you on Facebook — which should give his mother just enough time to dump the laxatives into your drink. Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM