Watercooler Stories

Bikini parade offers priceless advertising

GOLD COAST, Australia, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A successful Guinness World Record attempt for the longest bikini parade is priceless advertising for Gold Coast, Australia, city officials say.

Gold Coast Tourism chief executive Martin Winter said the parade with 357 bikini-clad women Saturday is the kind of promotion the area's struggling business and tourism sectors need, the Gold Coast Bulletin in Molendinar, Queensland, reported.

"It reinforces the kind of fun and attractive culture the Gold Coast is famous for," he said. "We heavily promoted the event through our media and social media networks because this appeals to the sort of people we are looking to get to the Gold Coast. All these images of fun, sun, sand and our beaches is something that connects with people on a lot of levels."

On Twitter, #BikiniParade ranked among topic discussion topics in Queensland and the event was highly televised.

"With this event it is the greatest piece if destination marketing I have seen in a long time," said Surfers Paradise Alliance chief executive Mike Winlaw. "The overall publicity will see a lot of people take another look at what the Gold Coast has got and come back for, hopefully, a long stay."

Beer man suspended for joking with player

NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A veteran beer peddler at Yankee Stadium in New York was suspended after joking around with a player from the rival Boston Red Sox.

Steve Lazarus, 53, was standing with co-workers near a freight elevator at the stadium last Sunday when he heard the sound of cleats, the New York Post reported.

"I think we all looked over," he said. "It's rare that we hear [players] come by now."

The footsteps belonged to Red Sox relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves.

Lazarus walked over to the pitcher and jokingly called out, "Hey, you got ID?"

Aceves answered by grabbing his crotch and saying, "I got your ID right here."

The beer man, a Bronx native who has been selling beer since he was 19, was summoned by a supervisor later in the game.

"He said, 'You were harassing the opposing team's player," Lazarus told the newspaper.

After an investigation of the incident, Lazarus was suspended Thursday from the first two games of the American League Division Series.

"They take my badge -- this is only my 35th year, by the way -- and they escort me out like a common criminal," he told the Post. "To suspend me, when I did nothing?"

Lazarus said he could have earned $200 to $300 during the sold-out playoff games and that he is so upset that he, a life-long Yankees fan, may not even watch on television.

"I don't know if I can even watch this game," he said.

NYC couple raising hens in apartment

NEW YORK, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A New York City couple are raising chickens in their one-bedroom apartment as a way of eating local in a city with little green space.

Robert McMinn, 45, and Jules Corkery, 45, collect about two eggs a week from each of their three hens living in their Queens apartment, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

"I don't think it's the ideal situation," said McMinn, who began raising chickens in Idaho in 2003, but "they're cute. They're fun to [watch] run around. They're excited when we come home.

"A chicken can save you money. It's a cheap hobby, and it improves your gardening," said McMinn, who doesn't recommend raising them indoors. "You get the eggs and they're delicious."

McMinn and Corkery give lectures at local libraries and urban gardens on the advantages of chicken-keepings.

"Urban chickening is an environmentally sound practice," said Joanne King, a Queens Library spokeswoman. "It's part of the local food movement and organic eggs are very tasty and healthy."

Owen Taylor, the city farms manager at Just Food, a local food group, said hundreds of people are keeping chickens in the city.

"People are realizing they need to eat fresher, higher-quality food," he said. "And you can't get any fresher or higher quality than your back yard."

Rift leads to rival pumpkin weigh-ins

CLARENCE, N.Y., Oct. 2 (UPI) -- A falling-out between two big-time pumpkin growers led to dueling "weigh-offs" in New York this fall, officials said.

"What a tangled web these pumpkins weave," said Andy Wolf of the New York State Giant Pumpkin Growers Association, a club of "guys that go crazy with big pumpkins."

The rift between Kelly Schultz at the Great Pumpkin Farm and Ray Waterman, a Collins, N.Y., pumpkin-grower and seed company owner grew over Schultz's desire to attract larger pumpkins and dissension over what to do with the valuable seeds, The Buffalo (N.Y.) News reported.

The World Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Clarence, where Schultz set up his scales this year, netted more and bigger pumpkins than the weigh-off in front of the Irishman Pub & Eatery in Williamsville, 9 miles away where Waterman held his competition.

The big winner in Clarence was Gary Adams with a 1,613.5-pound pale orange pumpkin. Adams took home a $5,000 prize.

"I just can't believe that it weighed that," Adams said. "I worked so hard."

At the Williamsville competition, Kristen Hohensee won $300 in gift certificates for her first place 665.5-pounder.

One of her secrets: "We use compost from the Town of Amherst. It's an amazing thing all towns should have," said Hohensee.