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/84421
NEWS OF THE WEIRD by CHUCK SHEPPARD from the Primate Research Institute at Japan's Kyoto University reported in an August journal article that they had given helium gas to apes (gibbons), which, predictably, made their voices goofily high-pitched. However, it was not a fraternity prank or lab assistant's initiation, but a way for the scientists to determine whether the famously sonorous gibbons could yell just as loudly at a higher-than-natural pitch. The gibbons succeeded, showing a rare talent similar to that of the world's greatest human sopranos, who maintain their booming amplitude by altering the shape of their vocal tract, including their mouth and tongue. [Reuters via Christian Science Monitor, 8-23-2012] Cultural Diversity Researchers Having Fun: Scientists The seaside city of Qingdao, China, is (as described in August by NPR) "not a vacation community for superheroes" even though many beachcombers wear masks while lounging and sunbathing. The garments are "face-kinis," or light cloth coverings that protect against the "terror of tanning." While Western cultures celebrate skin-darkening, many Chinese associate it with lower-status, outdoor occupations, and a pale skin suggests having lived a pampered life. [NPR, 8-20-2012] Fine Points of the Law: (1) Italy's highest court ruled in July that one man's telling another, in front of others, that he has "no balls" can be criminal conduct that warrants payment of damages. Said Judge Maurizio Fumo, such a comment places at issue male virility as well as competence and character. (2) In August, after an eight-day trial, a court in Hamburg, Germany, awarded money damages to a man who called another an "asshole" ("arschloch") in a parking- space dispute and fixed the payment at the equivalent of about $75,000. (Courts in Germany can base the amount of damages on the transgressor's income.) [ANSA (Rome) via Daily Telegraph (London), 8-1-2012] [The Local (Berlin), 8-23-2012] WEEKLY HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY For the Week of September 30, 2012 ARIES (March 21-April 19) You strive for just the right amount of contact and non-contact with others. With people you like, it's easy to get too enmeshed and ruin the whole dynamic with over-familiarity. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Your relationships are intertwined. Because of this, you'll want to be extremely careful with your social commu- nication and choices. What you do can lift or defl ate an entire group. GEMINI (May 21-June 21) If you've ever cre- ated a grocery list only to realize at the store that you left it at home, you know the truth of this: The action of writing focuses your thoughts, regardless of how you use the list. You'll apply this concept to life. Chuck Sheppard CANCER (June 22-July 22) You respect another person's time and expect the same courtesy. They likely won't even realize when they've violated your rules or crossed your invisible lines. Finding a nice way to point this out will make you a powerful leader. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Though the years have brought you experience, success and also heart- break, you have managed to remain innocent in many ways. Another person loves that about you and will make efforts to be around you more often in the future. Believing in the goodness of people helps that goodness emerge. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) People like to de- light, scare or punish themselves with thoughts about what might have happened. You will be in far too practical a mood this week to indulge in such nonsense. There is only what happened and what didn't happen. Speculation is a waste of time. You set your intentions, and you go for it. ADVICE GODDESS The Tweakest Link LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You would never be so cruel as to exclude or ridicule someone just because that person is not your cup of tea. You could be a hero in someone's life this week because you go out of your way to make sure this person is protected and accepted. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) It's easy to forget the basic tenet of success: First and fore- most, you have to want to succeed. You'll start to picture your new situation and move toward it. By Thursday, you'll be altering your plan for optimum effectiveness. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Whether judging a melon, a potential employee or a future marriage partner, your process will be the same. You'll pose questions, silently or aloud, and rely on your senses for the answers. Apply all of your faculties at once, and you'll fi nd the truth. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The right attitude for a job is the one you can maintain long term. Do not go into a situation think- ing, "I can do anything for a short while." If you're opposed to a task, don't do it even once. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) You respect people's space, but do you respect your own? Knowing what you're saying "yes" to will allow you to easily say "no" to intruders who could potentially waste your time. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Keep track of where you are every step of the way because it will serve as a map for your future travels. Also, you'll want to remember what didn't work and strike it from your next journey. By Holiday Mathis UurVyqTsV8vtXrrxy 9PIUHDTTDU STEVE TURLEY, Station manager Christian 107.3 COMMENTS? Editor@upancomin- gweekly.com CrqiBrtr7rrpr V 8vtXrrxy uh irr Ahrrvyyr hq A 7htt pv rhrvpr ((% Urv@rur8vuvush shqrrhvvtvrvrvu7vyy7hursqrhqiyvur sV8vtXrrxyhqyrhqpvivtvrHhthr9vpx A Saudi Arabian agency is raising the equivalent of about $130 million to break ground in 2013 on an entire city to be managed and staffed by female employees, with three more such cities being contemplated. Raising women's employment rate is a goal of the kingdom, where until last year, nearly all jobs were held by foreigners and Saudi males, including jobs as sales clerks in women's lingerie shops. [The Guardian (London), 8-12-2012] COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I met this man, and it was instant attraction. I'm a 40-year-old woman with my own place, a car and a good job, and he's an ex-convict who served four years in prison for selling meth. He's very loving, but he has no car or driver's license (it expired during prison), has a minimum- wage job, and is too needy — always checking up on me and doubting where I am. I pay for our meals, etc., and drive him everywhere. It's like I'm taking care of a child. I'm trying my best to forget about the material things and just base this on love. — Weary Assuming you don't have all the conscience of a dirt clod, how could you make this more than a one- nighter? Sure, officially, he's "paid his debt to society," but he wasn't in prison for growing pot, the gateway drug to lying in a beanbag chair and reinventing the wheel. Beyond what he's done to make a buck, he's now about as independent as one of Paris Hilton's purse dogs (although he probably asks his "mommy" to buy Amy Alkon him a cheaper class of sweater). You can't possibly respect him, and if you can't respect him, you can't love him. You've just been calling this "love" to cover for a bad decision that you let give birth to a whole litter of bad decisions. You did have help — the flawed machine known as the human brain. When we do something dumb, our brain encourages us to ignore evidence we've made a mistake so we can hang on to our shiny image of ourselves as smart people making wise choices. This feels good in the moment but can, say, leave a person working hard to convince herself that she's shallow and materialistic to want her equal. DvyvBvvvusYvbrvBrsv Xrqrqh)Tr $ ! ( !%h')" 8hiyr8uhry& Uuqh)Tr % " ! !&h() h 8hiyr8uhry% If you can accept making mistakes as a normal, expected part of being human, you can put your braying ego on mute, critically assess all your decisions, and admit your mistakes instead of getting into a committed relationship with them. (There's no time like the present to start.) As wonderful as it is to feel needed by a man, it's best if it's simply because he loves being around you, not because without you he'd have to eat raw hotdogs out of the package and take two buses to make the meeting with his parole officer. Amy Alkon all rights reserved. SEPT. 26 - OCT 2, 2012 UCW 39