Watercooler Stories

Alcoholic ice pops headed to Phoenix

PHOENIX, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The company behind the SnoBar alcoholic frozen treats says its products are headed to Arizona liquor stores.

Daniela Galarza, spokeswoman for SnoBar, said the products will not be sold in regular stores, but will be in Phoenix-area Total Wine liquor stores by the end of the week, KPHO-TV, Phoenix, reported Tuesday.

Galarza said the idea for the alcoholic treats came to the company's founders "one night while drinking and eating ice cream."

She said the margarita pops are made "with premium tequila, lime, triple sec," while the cosmopolitan pops include vodka, triple sec and cranberry juice.

"It tastes exactly like the cocktail and I've had them and they're really good. And they get you buzzed," the spokeswoman said.

Joke butt slap leads to screwdriver attack

VERO BEACH, Fla., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said an incident beginning with a dare to smack a woman's rear-end resulted in an attempted screwdriver attack.

The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said Mary Ingram, 43, and a man to whom she was speaking around 7:15 p.m. Nov. 28 in Vero Beach told deputies she bent over and dared the man to slap her buttocks, TCPalm.com reported Tuesday.

The man removed his belt and slapped Ingram's rear in a "joking manner," the arrest report states.

However, Ingram was upset by the move and exchanged harsh words with the man before returning a short time later with her husband, Floyd Mosley, 50.

The man said Ingram was swinging a screwdriver at him during the altercation and Mosley eventually took the screwdriver and attempted to stab him. The confrontation ended when the man punched Mosley in the face.

Ingram and Mosley, who told deputies he was only trying to talk the man when he was "sucker punched," were each charged with a count of felony aggravated assault with a weapon.

Swedish Christmas Goat burned down

GAVLE, Sweden, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Officials in the Swedish city of Gavle say their Christmas Goat, a giant goat made of straw, went up in flames, leaving only its skeleton behind.

Gavle officials said the Christmas Goat, the 45th since the tradition originated in 1966, was the 28th to be burned, the Stockholm News reported Monday.

The Local reported local police told the Swedish news agency TT they received a call in the early hours of Friday that the goat was on fire and it was destroyed within minutes. There was no word on how the fire started.

A 51-year-old U.S. man spent 18 days in jail and was fined $15,000 for burning the goat in 2001. Authorities said the man returned to the United States and has yet to pay the fine.

New Yorkers think cab fare is too high

NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission said a survey of city cab riders found 46 percent of respondents think fares are too high.

The commission said the survey, which is answered on video screens inside the cabs and has thus far been filled out by 113,000 riders, found 46 percent of those who chose to answer the questions believe fares are too high, despite 42 percent giving their income as $100,000 or more per year, the New York Post reported Monday.

Meanwhile, 28 percent of those polled complained of aggressive driving by their cabbies and 9 percent said there are not enough wheelchair-accessible cabs in the city.

On the positive said, 58 percent of respondents said being able to pay with credit cards is the best thing about riding cabs in 2011 and 27 percent said they were happy to not have to own a car.