Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Bus stop cum lounge gets Christmas theme BROOKLYN, New Zealand, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Residents of a New Zealand town say a bus shelter spontaneously converted into a comfy lounge by unknown decorators has now been given a Christmas theme. Advertisement Peter Jones and partner Juliette Lum of Brooklyn, a suburb of Wellington, said they added a clock and some magazines to the scene, which began during the weekend when someone placed a pair of couches, a hot water bottle and a bookcase with a few books in the empty bus shelter, The Dominion Post, Wellington, reported Monday. "It has become a bit of a public art installation," Lum said. She said she saw a father and son adding Christmas decorations to the bus shelter, which also now contains a small vase of rosemary and mint, an ice cream container filled with lemons and a life-sized plastic dog. Advertisement Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the scene will eventually be cleaned up by the city. "We'll probably lug it off to the landfill in the next few days after the novelty factor has worn off," he said. Thousands dress as Santa in London LONDON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Organizers of the Santacon gathering in London said thousands of people in Santa Claus suits gathered in Trafalgar Square for the event. The British website for Santacon, which is loosely affiliated with similar events elsewhere in the world, said thousands of people turned up in Trafalgar Square, most decked out in Santa's traditional red suit and white beard, the London Evening Standard reported Monday. "There is no particular reason to dress up in Santa suits, run around town, give gifts, sing songs, have strangers sit on our laps, and decide who is naughty or nice -- but it's a lot of fun -- so Santa does it anyway. Everyone loves Santa and Santa loves everyone," the group said on its website. Woman convicted of disturbing dead GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A Swedish woman accused of using human bones as sex toys was convicted of disturbing the peace of the dead. Advertisement The Gothenburg District Court convicted the 37-year-old woman, who denied the accusations, on the charge as well as a weapons count Monday and sentenced her to probation and treatment for addition and psychiatric problems, The Local.se reported Monday. The woman said she obtained the bones legally but prosecutors said she violated the law by keeping the bones on the floor of her home, keeping some in plastic bags and selling some of the remains. "Criminal protection starts when a person dies, and the protection remains as long as there are remains of the deceased," the court wrote in a statement. "The fact that the woman had moved bones constitutes a crime because she was unauthorized to do so, just as it's a crime to put together a skeleton and have it lying on the floor, to have bones in plastic bags, and to sell them." The woman told the Goteborgs-Posten newspaper she is an "odd bird" but she is "not sexually interested in necrophilia." Man's Christmas display has 75,000 lights MORRISTOWN, N.J., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- A New Jersey man who has been creating elaborate Christmas displays for 28 years said this year's display outside his home includes 75,000 lights. Advertisement Mike Antreassian, 70, of Rockaway Township in Morris County, said people have already come to see his lights from across the state and he is expecting hundreds more in coming days, NJ.com reported Monday. Antreassian said his display involves 75,000 bulbs powered by 35,000 watts of electricity. The homeowner said volunteers come to his home to play Santa for visiting children and the display involves a wooden desk where children can write their letters to the jolly old elf.
