Watercooler Stories

Brits turning to sex for cheap thrills

LONDON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- With the economy drooping, Britons may be tightening their belts by turning to sex for cheap entertainment, a survey purports.

A YouGov survey of 2,000 adults revealed sexual intercourse was the most popular free activity, more so even than window shopping or gossiping, the BBC reported Monday. Among Scots, 43 percent said they favored sex over other activities and in southern England sex was touted by 35 percent as their top choice.

Only about 10 percent of those surveyed said window shopping was their preferred activity and 6 percent said checking out museums was the cheapest way to pass time, the British network said.

Men generally were more likely than women to list sex as their favorite activity, the BBC said. Women preferred gossiping, according to the survey.

The survey was published by the Terrence Higgins Trust, an AIDS charity that also noticed recent figures show an increase in condom sales.

Man beats attacker with giant candy cane

SACRAMENTO, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- A California man used a 2-foot decorative lawn candy cane to beat and subdue a neighbor who allegedly attacked guests with a knife, police say.

Sacramento, Calif., Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said the candy cane-wielding man confronted neighbor Donald Kercell, 49, who had allegedly become intoxicated and was threatening people gathered on a lawn with a kitchen knife, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday.

Leong said that when Kercell allegedly cut some of the guests' clothing, the man decided to fight back, grabbing the candy cane Christmas decoration from the lawn and beating him in self-defense. Other guests called police, and Kercell was arrested and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

The candy cane man was not charged, the Bee reported. He was not named in the newspaper story.

Wash. town wants world's biggest lava lamp

EPHRATA, Wash., Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Officials in the town of Soap Lake, Wash., say they want to host the world's largest working lava lamp in order to boost tourism in the area.

Soap Lake Mayor Wayne Hovde said the town has moved the 50-foot lava lamp from Times Square in New York to the small Washington town in preparation for erecting the unusual monument in the center of town, The (Britain) Daily Telegraph said Friday.

The erection of the over-sized 1960s cultural icon and a supportive tower have been delayed for years due to concerns that the company that owns the lava lamp copyright would not offer its approval.

But Hovde is confident that Soap Lake will eventually get permission to display its lava lamp from Haggerty Enterprises, Inc., the Tri-City Herald of Washington said.

For Soap Lake resident Brent Blake, the addition of the towering lamp would help boost the town's slumping tourism trade.

"People will come from all over the world to see this structure of awe," Blake said. "Visitors will be thrilled to see such a wonder and will be rewarded by its scale, show of light and constantly changing, oozing and flowing goo."

Armless man caught driving in China

BEIJING, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- A man in China with no arms was caught driving in Beijing by steering with his feet, officials said.

Zing Shen, 42, has been driving with his feet for years, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

The reportedly told police he has used his feet to steer ever since he lost his arms in an industrial accident several years ago. The man has no arms from the elbows down.

"The man said that he was a very safe driver and felt he was as good as anyone else on the road, despite his disability," a police spokesman said. "He had an automatic so did not need to worry about changing gears and said he had put a lot of practice into learning to control the steering wheel with his legs."