Watercooler Stories

Weddings surge for 9/9/09

BEIJING, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Officials in China and other countries said wedding reservations surged Wednesday due to the perceived luck of the date -- which numerically reads 9/9/09.

Authorities in Shanghai, China's largest city, said nearly 5,000 couples booked Wednesday weddings in advance while more than 6,100 made reservations in Guangzhou, The Times of London reported.

CNN reported 10,000 couples were expected to marry Wednesday in Beijing.

In Malaysia, more than 500 people participated in a mass wedding at the Thean Hou Buddhist temple in Kuala Lumpur, The Times said.

Chinese officials said Sept. 9 is always a popular day for weddings, as "jiu jiu," Chinese for "nine nine," also translates to "for a long time." They said the extra "9" in Wednesday's date gives it extra significance.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the Stratosphere in Las Vegas is offering $99.09 wedding packages for 99 couples participating in a group wedding at 9:09 p.m., the Las Vegas Sun reported. Other locations offering $99 wedding packages Wednesday in Las Vegas include the La Bella Wedding Chapel and Madame Tussauds at the Venetian.

Study: Taller people 'happier'

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey said their study suggests tall people lead happier lives than those of lower stature.

The researchers analyzed data from 450,000 people over age 18, collected between January 2008 and April 2009 for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported.

They said their findings indicate taller people were more likely to be positive about their lives and describe themselves as happy, and were less likely to complain of persistent sadness or physical pain. Men who described their lives as the "worst possible" tended to be almost an inch shorter than average and women who said the same about their lives tended to be about half an inch shorter than the female average.

The study said men who did not finish secondary school were an average half an inch shorter than the mean height for graduates and more than an inch shorter than those who completed a college degree. The researchers said they did not find a link between height and education among women.

The report did not give an average height for U.S. adults, but Wikipedia puts it at 5 feet, 9.4 inches for men and 5 feet, 3.8 inches for women older than 20.

Travel agency shares poor translations

LONDON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- A British travel agency said poorly translated signs reported by tourists include a Norwegian sign saying "children left unattended will be sold to the circus."

Online travel agency Sunshine.co.uk said a similar sign at an Austrian bar warns "children left unattended will be sold as slaves," The Daily Telegraph reported.

A bar in Tokyo offers special cocktails for "ladies with nuts" while a Yugoslavian hotel bears a sign stating "the flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid."

"English speakers are among the most heavily traveled people in the world and so it's no wonder touristy places try to appeal to them by translating signs and menus," said Chris Brown, managing director of the travel agency. "However, the problems come when these translations are completely inaccurate. The above examples are just a bit of fun and aren't likely to offend anyone, other than chambermaids, but when menu translations wind up saying 'delicious roasted hepatitis,' companies are bound to lose lots of business!"

Squatters move into ex-embassy for art

LONDON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Six squatters who have taken up residence in the former Mexican Embassy in London say their presence in the building is part of an art project.

The squatters, who range in age from 24 to 34, said they moved into the facility, which is actually a pair of six-story mansions, three weeks ago and are planning to open the facility from Friday to Sept. 20 as an art gallery and theater with guest artists and performers, the Daily Mail reported.

The group's spokesman, Dan Simon, 31, said he and his fellow squatters water-blasted the front of the building and scrubbed dust and other filth from the inside.

"It's been empty since 2004," Simon said of the facility. "We provide cost-free round-the-clock security and property maintenance. One of the wonderful things about our work is we pass on benefits to people. We do not see ourselves as squatters. We are pursuing a very real project."

However, representatives for the owners of the building, believed to be an aristocratic family, have threatened the squatters with eviction and said they are planning legal action at the end of the month.