Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NYC-themed condoms a hit NEW YORK, April 6 (UPI) -- Health officials say New York City-themed condoms have been a big hit. Advertisement The campaign for the NYC Condom, which has a subway design, was launched on Valentine's Day. Officials said 5 million were snapped up in a month, more than three times the average number given away in a month, The New York Daily News reported. "The NYC Condom is a sensation," said Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. "Hundreds of community organizations are signing up to give out free condoms, many for the first time. I commend them for doing their part to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies." Bowls of the condoms are available at retail outlets from Fifth Avenue to the outer boroughs. About 100,000 New Yorkers are believed to be HIV positive. Gourmet food awaits space tourist MIAMI, April 6 (UPI) -- When billionaire Charles Simonyi blasts into space from Kazakhstan Saturday, he'll be packing what could be considered the ultimate in astronaut food. Advertisement Instead of the usual National Aeronautical and Space Administration or Russian space agency fare, Simonyi will be feasting on a six-course gourmet menu selected by culinary goddess and his girlfriend Martha Stewart, The Times of London reports. Simonyi, who was a key Microsoft developer until leaving to form his own company in 2002, won't be eating NASA's freeze-dried spaghetti or heat-in-the-bag brisket while traveling to the International Space Station. After paying $20 million to become the fifth commercial "space tourist," Simonyi doesn't have to settle for the Russian space agency's tinned beetroot soup and jellied perch. No, he'll be packing, among other things, roasted quail in a Madeira wine sauce, duck breast confit with capers and shredded chicken Parmentier. In an interview in Miami Simonyi said space fare can over time be monotonous. "I am certain a little variation will be surely welcome." Simonyi's 11-day journey was brokered by Space Adventures, a Virginia company, in conjunction with the Russian space agency. Wyoming cracked up over egg display CHICAGO, April 6 (UPI) -- You might say the American Egg Board has been left with egg on its face over Wyoming's entry in the annual Easter egg art display in Washington. Advertisement This year all the beautiful eggs on view at the White House Visitors Center were created by artists from the 50 states except for Wyoming, The Chicago Tribune reports. It seems the Wyoming artist who agreed to take a crack at decorating an egg to reflect Wyoming's character begged off at the last minute, leaving the suburban Chicago egg board in the lurch. An administrative assistant for the board volunteered her 21-year-old son as a replacement egg artist. Unfortunately, drawing a picture on the egg of an egg in a cap skiing was not nearly as elaborate or beautiful as the eggs created by artists for the other states. "At first I thought it was an April Fool's joke," said Camellia El-Antably deputy manager of the Wyoming Arts Council. "We certainly didn't even know of this exhibit's existence." Old and rare baseball cards up for auction EVANSTON, Ill., April 6 (UPI) -- An Evanston, Ill., man has decided to sell off a valuable baseball card collection he spent nearly 50 years accumulating. Lionel Carter's collection of about 50,000 cards -- including a near-mint 1910 Ty Cobb, a 1951 Mickey Mantle rookie card and a 1910 Eddie Plank, considered the second-rarest card in baseball -- will receive its first bids Monday at Mastro Auctions in Burr Ridge, Ill., The Chicago Tribune reported Friday. Advertisement Carter, 89, decided to sell his collection -- worth as much as $2 million -- after home invaders last year grabbed a handful of the rare cards. Most of the stolen cards were recovered by police. The cards range in age from the late-1880s to the 1980s, when Carter stopped collecting new cards. "It all amounted to money," Carter said. "Everyone wanted money. That's not collecting. That's speculating." The auction ends April 27.
