Watercooler Stories

For sale: Used former Staten Island ferry

NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- It wasn't an ordinary impulse buy, says Jacques Guillet of the Staten Island ferry he paid $162,000 for in New York.

Guillet purchased the 300-foot, 3,500 passenger boat three years ago with plans to turn it into a floating dormitory for college students, The Wall Street Journal reported.

But Guillet said he decided to sell the ferry after discovering it could cost as much as $1,000 per day to dock the ship in an accessible and desirable waterfront location.

"I like it, but I can't sell it," said Guillet, a former marina owner and sailboat racer who made his money in the demolition business. "And I start to hate it."

His eBay ad in February netted 9,000 page views but no bids.

The ferries can enjoy a useful second life, said Patricia Salmon, curator of history for the Staten Island Museum.

She said a ferry called the Gold Star Mother was used as a floating methadone clinic in the 1970s and a decade later New York City converted two ferries into prison ships to handle jail overflow.

Guillet's ferry is moored at the end of a long pier crowded with dump trucks and school buses headed for Haiti. Guillet, 76, recently visited the boat with his broker, Pat Dolan.

"You're insane," Dolan told Guillet.

Web site goal: Avoid dress duplication

NEW YORK, April 3 (UPI) -- A New York-based Web site called Fashism.com says it wants to avoid a teen girl's nightmare -- wearing the same prom dress as someone else.

The site lets users post images of their gowns in its "Got Dibs" section, where it merges with the users' high school networks on Facebook to make sure no two classmates show up at prom in the same outfit, The Boston Herald reported.

"I remembered when I was a junior at prom, a girl showed up in the same dress. I was absolutely mortified," said Ashley Granata, 29, co-founder of the site. "We've had hundreds of prom submissions so far."

Some area students said they already post their dress selection on Facebook to avoid duplication.

"Prom now has become a really big event in these girls' lives. Next to their wedding, their prom is the biggest dress-up event of their life," said Heather Siegel, co-owner of The Ultimate Woman's Apparel in Peabody. "They want to look their best, show their individuality."

King Philip High School sophomore Courtney Halen, 17, said she went to The Ultimate shop well prepared. She carried printouts of dresses classmates had "claimed."

"It's embarrassing, you don't want the same one," Halen said.

Florida joins in pillow fight

ORLANDO, Fla., April 3 (UPI) -- You're never too old to enjoy a good pillow fight, say participants in Florida's version of International Pillow Fight Day.

More than 125 people took part in Orlando's take on the annual pillow fight fest Saturday, joining like-minded folks in more than 115 cities worldwide, the Orlando Sentinel reported Sunday.

Performance artist Brian Feldman was in charge of the melee -- for the fourth time. Feldman, 31, said the pillow fight is "a fun thing that brings people back to their childhood."

He announced the location of this year's fight on Twitter early Saturday.

"You're never too old for a good pillow fight," said Mauricio Murillo, who purchased a new pillow for the event.

Feldman said the rules for the 30-minute fight-fest were simple. Soft pillows only, no hard hitting and don't aim for people with glasses.

The participants were dressed in pajamas, robes and ninja costumes and themed pillows were popular. One was decorated with the word "OUCH."

Seventeen-year-old Carly Jo Jackson said she didn't remember the last time she was in a pillow fight.

"I'm going to whack people I don't know," Jackson said.

Pastor defends billboard message

TAVARES, Fla., April 3 (UPI) -- The pastor of a Florida house of worship called Saturday Night Live Church says its billboard reading "Scumbags Welcome!" is in keeping with Jesus' preaching.

Pastor Moses Robbins said his church's message isn't intended as a put down for a societal fringe that includes addicts, thieves and others who don't feel at home in a traditional church setting, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported.

"Our hope was that we would fill up the building, bring new people to the cross and Jesus," Robbins, 42, said.

The non-denominational church holds services in the activity center of the First United Methodist Church of Tavares. Tavares city officials determined free speech rights protected the billboard's wording.

Robbins listed his telephone number on the billboard and he said he has been deluged with calls.

"We had everything from, 'Hey, this is really great. I finally found a church I would go to' to 'I was raised in a Christian home and you don't talk like that about people. You're going to rot in hell,' " Robbins said.

Robbins said his church isn't named after the famous television program Saturday Night Live, but for the live band it features in its services.

"I thought if we could get people to open their Bible, even if they didn't come to our church, then we've done something good," said church member Bobby Fiore, who plays guitar at SNL services with his 14-year-old son, Kurdt, on drums.