UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Study: Swearing may help pain tolerance

NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME, England, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A British researcher said his study indicates using swear words increases a person's tolerance for pain.

Richard Stephens of England's Keele University said he compared the pain tolerance of 67 students of both sexes when they each dropped a hand into ice-cold water, the Boston Globe reported Monday.

Stephens said most of the subjects found their pain tolerances increased when they were allowed to exclaim swear words as opposed to neutral language.

"It seems to (work) via the emotional content of swearing -- people appear to shock themselves into a state of emotional arousal (the fight or flight response), which is known to have a pain-lessening effect,'' Stephens said.

Stephens said he doesn't see why people in pain shouldn't swear.

"What's the harm in swearing if it helps you cope? Provided there are no children around, of course," he said.

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Man, 80, shoots hoops for birthday bash

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A Washington state man celebrated his 80th birthday with his favorite activity, a game of pickup basketball with men decades younger than him.

Pete Ryan of Maple Valley, who said he plays three to four games of pickup hoops each week, shot baskets Sunday at Cedar River Middle School for more than an hour with about two dozen men he has played with in various pickup games over the years, The Seattle Times reported Monday.

Ryan said he has never stopped playing basketball except while serving in Korea.

Ryan's son, Mark, said he used to worry about his elderly father engaging in such a physical sport. However, he said he has come to realize that basketball is part of what keeps his father healthy and vibrant.

"You know," he said, "I actually worry more about the day he can't play basketball."

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Bed bug business started with dog bowl

MEMPHIS, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The Memphis inventor of a popular bed bug tracker said the idea came to her while examining the underside of a dog food bowl.

Susan McKnight, 59, whose online company, Susan McKnight Inc. sold 36,000 Climbup Insect Interceptors in September, up from 8,000 in August, said the devices are modeled after the bottom side of a dog bowl with two wells designed to catch bed bugs and determine their points of origin, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Monday.

"Once bed bugs are established in a building, it's a very tedious and laborious process to treat for them," McKnight said. "This is an affordable means to monitor bed bugs. With these (interceptors) you can catch them early. Or post-treatment you can tell if you missed a spot."

McKnight said she hired three of her eight of her employees from Alpha Omega Veterans Services Inc., a non-profit that helps disabled and displaced veterans with support services and housing.

"It's really a blessing that Susan (McKnight) is willing to give us an opportunity," said Anita Williams, 43, an former U.S. Navy officer and the first woman to participate in the program.

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Class that inspired 'Fast Times' reunites

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The San Diego high school class that inspired the 1982 film "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" returned for a reunion with differing opinions on the film's realism.

The cult classic, directed by Amy Heckerling, was based on a book written by Cameron Crowe while he was undercover as a member of the class of 1979 at San Diego's Clairemont High School.

Robin Weaver, a Clairemont grad on whom Phoebe Cates' character in the film was based, told The San Diego Union-Tribune she recently watched and discussed the movie with her son.

"I looked at the movie and I realized we were young and stupid. There was no way around it," she said. "It was the essence of adolescence."

Mark Kenway, who during high school belonged to the surfer crowd portrayed most prominently in the film by Sean Penn's character, Spicoli, said the character may have been a bit too much of a caricature.

"We could relate, but it was a little exaggerated as far as the stoner parts," Kenway said.

He said many of his surfer friends actually did quite well in school.

Exaggerations or no, Kenway said he could understand why many of his classmates have barred their children from seeing the movie.

"We don't want our children to know everything we did in high school," he said.