Watercooler Stories

O.J. Simpson tops liars' list

DETROIT, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A new survey finds that a majority of people in the United States rate O.J. Simpson as the country's biggest liar.

An even larger percentage rate politicians as the most lying group, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Write Stuff Enterprises commissioned the poll to accompany publication of a new book, "All Men Are Liars: An Incomplete Guide To Relationship Trauma," by Jeffrey Rodengen.

The poll grouped celebrities into two categories.

Donald Trump headed the list of those recently called liars, with 39 percent saying he's the biggest one around. He was followed by Tom Cruise with 14 percent, Jude Law, 10 percent, and Brad Pitt, 9 percent.

Simpson won big among celebrities with a history of lying allegations with 59 percent. Michael Jackson came in second with 23 percent; Robert Blake, 7 percent, and Kobe Bryant, 3 percent.

Starling wins Britain's 2005 Turner Prize

LONDON, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The winner of Britain's 2005 Turner Prize is an artist who converted a shack into a boat, paddled it 7 miles then turned it back into a shed.

Simon Starling beat painter Gillian Carnegie, installation artist Jim Lambie and videographer Darren Almond for the 25,000 pound ($43,538) prize awarded Monday, the BBC reported.

Starling, 38, is known for recycling, reframing, then restoring items. He called his work "serious business on many levels."

Starling found his wooden shack in Schweizerhalle, Switzerland. After making it into a boat, he paddled it down the Rhine to Basel, Switzerland, where he made it a shack once again.

Starling built an electric bicycle for Spain's Tabernas Desert Run 2004, then used the waste water produced by his bike to make a painting of a cactus.

The Turner is prize is given annually to a British artist under the age of 50.

Quaintly named street has potholed surface

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Residents of an outlying area of Edinburgh believe they have the most potholed street in Scotland.

Weaver's Knowe Crescent in Currie has 71 potholes in one 300-foot stretch, The Scotsman reports.

Alan Murray told the newspaper that he has lived on the crescent for 40 years.

"I've been told we're somewhere near 157th on the list for road repair," he said. "The council has no trouble spending our taxes on failed congestion schemes but won't spend it on fixing the roads."

Edinburgh was recently named as having the second-worst streets in the country. Watchdog Audit Scotland found that one-in-four streets in the capital needs repair urgently.

Live 8 sues Trimspa for Smith's appearance

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Trimspa is being sued by organizers of Live 8, who claim spokeswoman Anna Nicole Smith acted "erractic" during the Philadelphia charity concert.

The lawsuit filed by the Britain-based organization in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles further charges the Trimspa spokeswoman "was intoxicated and scantily clad," the Smoking Gun reports on its Web site.

The suit says Trimspa also reneged on a $320,000 promotional fee. It seeks $500,000 for Smith's alleged misbehavior, which "damaged Live 8's reputation."

The suit further charges Smith's scanty outfit was "totally inappropriate for a broadcast that would be seen by millions of people in the United States and then rebroadcast throughout the world."

The July 2 concert was one of a series organized by Live 8 to publicize poverty in Africa.