Watercooler Stories

Santa runners raise $200,000 for charity

BOSTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- About 500 scantily clad Santas took part in an annual Boston running event that raised nearly $205,000 for charities benefiting children, organizers said.

Saturday's chilly run is formerly known as the Santa Speedo Run, the Boston Herald reported.

Some of the runners wore little more than stylish tight shorts, bikinis and Santa hats. This is the 11th year the event has been held.

The new event is called the SSRun, and featured runners up to 70 years old.

Money raised at this year's event will benefit Starlight Children's Foundation, the Play Ball Foundation and Hospitality Homes.

Camel falls in Nativity re-enactment

PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A camel used in a Nativity scene fell into pews at a rehearsal of the First Baptist Church's Christmas show in Florida, but no one was injured, officials said.

Lula Bell, who weighs about 1,000 pounds, may have had a bum knee, forcing her to stumble, a pastor told The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post.

Neither the camel, nor its rider, Alex James, was injured in the accident, and the West Palm Beach church has decided not to use her in its upcoming Christmas production, said worship Pastor Chuck Lewis.

"Everybody's OK," Lewis said about Thursday's incident. "That's the most important thing."

The camel belongs to Citra, Fla.-based Animals in Motion, a company that trains animals for movies, private parties and other shows. It provided animals for the "Evan Almighty" movie.

Animals in Motion owner Timothy Rivers has been the target of animal welfare supporters, and he declined to comment on Lula Bell's fall.

In 2002, he plead guilty to illegally selling a pair of federally protected black leopards and was sentenced to six months in prison, the report said.

He was charged with animal cruelty, but not convicted, over a "high-diving mules" act.

"I don't know what's going on," Rivers told the newspaper. "I don't want to know what's going on over there," he said, before hanging up.

Crime buff creates NYC mob app

NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A New York crime buff has provided a guide to decades of Mafia history in the city with a Mafia Maps phone application.

John Hughes's app includes such classic locations as the barber shop where Albert Anastasia was gunned down in 1957 to Sparks Steak House where "Big Paul" Castellano was killed in 1985, the New York Daily News reported Saturday. For each mob historical site, the app provides photos of how the place looks now, a summary what happened there and GPS guidance for getting there.

While Hughes lives in Manhattan, his app covers all five boroughs. His description of Staten Island is "Gangster Bedroom Communities."

Hughes, who formerly worked for MTV, said putting the app together took 18 months.

"I did it all," he said. "I did all the photography, the research, the writing. It's just simple storytelling."

In addition to the traditional Mafia, Hughes covers the notorious Irish gang nicknamed the Westies.

'Jackass' gets book banned in Mass.

BOSTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Two Massachusetts school districts rejected a book meant to encourage youngsters to read because of its offending last line -- "It's a book, jackass."

Pat Earle, who operates a literacy program, the First R Foundation, told The Boston Globe people offended by the book, called "It's A Book," have been filling her in-box with offensive e-mails. Earle made "It's A Book" her choice for first-graders and offered copies to elementary schools in Gloucester and Rockport.

"This is the first time I have had people who don't know me say nasty things about me," Earle said. "I'm 'subversive.' I'm 'poisoning children's minds.' They feel they can say anything. This whole public discourse becomes so uncivil."

The characters in "It's A Book," include a donkey who has trouble understanding how anything without a wireless connection and batteries can be entertaining.

Lane Smith, the author and illustrator of "It's A Book," said the work has sold well across the country and been translated into 20 languages without offense.

"I can't say that I'm amused or excited by the controversy,'' Smith said. "Mostly this makes me uncomfortable.''