Watercooler Stories

Calif. city council puts curfew on mayor

SOUTH EL MONTE, Calif., Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The mayor of South El Monte, Calif., has been banned from working all-nighters by the City Council, officials said.

City councilors voted 4-1 Wednesday to require Mayor Blanca Figueroa and other council members to leave City Hall by 11 p.m.

The mayor cast the lone dissenting vote, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"This was directed at me," Figueroa said. "I'm the only one there at night, so put two and two together. I think it's petty."

The newspaper said in Figueroa's five years as mayor, her office has become like a second home, with slippers under the desk, a microwave and a refrigerator.

City Councilor Hector Delgado said the curfew was needed for "safety and liability reasons," the newspaper reported.

"What if something happens to her?" Delgado said, noting that on hot summer nights Figueroa has left her door open to a hallway that led to a parking area.

"And even 11 o'clock is late," he said. "I mean, what was she doing there at 1, 2 and 3 in the morning?"

British man wants Christmas funeral

BATH, England, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A British man says when it comes time for him to die he wants his funeral to have a Christmas theme, complete with elf coffin-bearers and a holiday message.

Andy Park of Melksham, who is a healthy 44-year-old, says when he dies he wants funeral attendees to enjoy themselves as best they can. He is planning to have his final gathering adorned with Christmas decorations to reach that goal, the Mail on Sunday reported.

"I want everyone to be smiling," Park said.

Park wants all funeral attendees to dress like Santa Claus -- except for his pallbearers. He wants them to dress as Santa's elves.

The coffin will come equipped with reindeer to pull the makeshift holiday sleigh and a holiday message from Queen Elizabeth II will be played during the ceremony, Park said.

The Mail said an undertaker has estimated the event will cost nearly $104,600.

Publicist sues over link to douche

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A New York publicist says he's suing a rival for $20 million for allegedly linking him through the Internet to an image of Summer's Eve douche.

Ronn Torossian, president of 5W Public Relations, alleges rival Drew Kerr, who owns Four Corners Communications, set up a bogus Web site for Torossian that linked viewers to the image of the douche, the New York Post reported.

"Enjoy being a woman," the Summer's Eve image said, over a photo of a smiling woman on the Web site www.rontorossian.com, the Post reported.

Torossian, who has represented Pamela Anderson, Snoop Dogg and the state of Israel, filed the lawsuit last week in Manhattan Supreme Court, the Post reported, noting Kerr has called the lawsuit "completely unmeritorious."

Brand Obama the big thing for Christmas

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Barack Obama is still more than a month away from being inaugurated president of the United States but Brand Obama is a big hit this Christmas.

Retailers are offering everything from Obama dog accessories to Obama ornaments for the Christmas tree, USA Today reported. There is even an Obama-blend coffee -- combining beans from Hawaii, where the future president was born and grew up, Kenya, his father's homeland, and Indonesia, where he lived as a child with his mother and stepfather.

Obama's books, which sold well while he was a mere legislator in Illinois, have also moved up on the best-seller lists.

"It's all about peace, love -- and let's make money," Marian Salzman, an expert on trends, told the newspaper. "Every savvy marketer is trying to hitch their holiday star to this fabulous first family."

Women can buy pajamas from ObamaZen.com that carry the president-elect's picture with the words "The other man I love." The same site offers dog sets that include a dish and collar along with a dog-style T-shirt with the message "Me and Obama are bad to the bone."