Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Xmas lights on truck yield $274 ticket

WICHITA, Kan., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A Kansas man given a $274 citation for decking his pickup truck out in Christmas lights said his illuminated vehicle has been spreading holiday cheer.

David Hill of Wichita, founder of the group OneSpark, which aims to feed and clothe the homeless, said he spent 16 hours covering his truck in Christmas lights and hooking them to a generator in the bed of the vehicle, KAKE-TV, Wichita, reported Thursday.

Hill said he was surprised when he was pulled over two weeks ago on the highway and fined $274 for his light display.

"I'm not saying he was right or wrong," Hill said of the ticketing officer. "The bottom line is there's so many people in this town right now that are hurting. And literally, there's been thousands of people that have taken pictures with that truck and it's brought a smile to their face."

Hill said he will leave the lights on his truck to spread Christmas cheer and bring attention to his organization's charitable efforts.

Police Lt. Joe Schroeder said the lights could prove a dangerous distraction for other drivers.

"When you take a vehicle and you cover it with that many lights, it's an issue of safety," Schroeder said. "You're going to get the rubberneckers who are going to be staring at the vehicle. They're going to have a collision or rear end somebody because they're too busy looking at this car that's driving down the road."

Man mistakes hot iron for phone

ELBLAG, Poland, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A Polish man said he was distracted by boxing on TV and mistook a hot iron for the telephone, burning the side of his head.

Tomasz Paczkowski, 32, of Elblag said he was helping his wife with housework while he was off work for a few days when he made the error, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

"After breakfast I started to work. I turned on the boxing channel on the TV, opened a beer and started ironing," he said.

"I was really getting involved in the boxing and was not really thinking about what I was doing," Paczkowski said. "Suddenly the phone rang and I mucked things up: instead of grabbing the receiver I picked up the iron and put it to my ear."

Paczkowski said he was further injured when his head struck the doorframe of the bathroom while he was running to pour cold water in his head.

The man said he will continue to help his wife with the ironing, but not while watching boxing on TV.

Man ordered to pay $28,000 strip club tab

NEW YORK, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A New York court ordered a man to pay the $28,109.60 tab he accumulated in a single night at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club.

William Ilg had filed a lawsuit against the strip club, alleging he was being fraudulently charged because the number of drinks he was served left him "no longer capable of conducting financial transactions," the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

However, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez tossed out the lawsuit, which was filed in 2011, and ordered him to pay the full amount.

"There is no duty upon [Hustler Club] to protect plaintiff from the results of his [voluntary] intoxication," Mendez wrote.

Hasbro to meet with girl campaigner

PAWTUCKET, R.I., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Hasbro officials said they will meet with a 13-year-old New Jersey girl who campaigned for the toymaker to make a boy-friendly Easy-Bake Oven for her brother.

McKenna Pope, 13, of Bergen County gained 42,000 signatures on her Change.org petition to have Hasbro feature boys as well as girls on the packaging for the toy oven to stop reinforcing gender stereotypes and let boys like her younger brother know it's OK to want to cook, NJ.com reported Thursday.

"I want my brother to know that it's not 'wrong' for him to want to be a chef, that it's okay to go against what society believes to be appropriate," the girl wrote.

Pope's petition, which includes a YouTube video of her explaining to her brother that he can play with the oven despite it having only girls on the packaging, has led to appearances on CNN and "Good Morning America."

Hasbro said Pope and her family have been invited to the company's Pawtucket, R.I., headquarters to meet with officials.

"Through the years, based on both market research and buying patterns, we have seen that the primary interest in the Easy-Bake Oven comes from girls," the company said in a statement. "Clearly we believe it is a great product that can provide lots of enjoyment for both girls and boys ages 8 and up."