Watercooler Stories

Bankers commission nude portraits

LONDON, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- British banking titans aren't letting the financial crisis limit their demand for nude paintings of their wives adorned by newsprint collages, an artist says.

The news clippings are about their own financial exploits, and when stuck to the images of their naked spouses, make for an irresistible lure for the rich and vainglorious even nowadays, The Sunday Times of London reported.

Natasha Archdale, a model turned artist, creates the pieces by tearing strips from The Financial Times and other business news pages telling of the buyers' big deals and incorporates them into paintings that cost up to $25,000 apiece.

Archdale said she finds the financial crash has brought out a new form of vanity from bankers who are keen to celebrate the fall of their rivals.

"I am getting new commissions from people who want to mark these times," she told the newspaper.

Man faces fine for helping skunk

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A Salt Lake City man says he shouldn't be fined by city authorities for moving a trap containing a skunk into the shade to protect the animal.

Ryan Turner said he felt compelled to help the skunk once the sun began beating down, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The incident began when a skunk wandered into Turner's home and filled his bedroom with its noxious spray. Turner responded by contacting authorities who placed a trap nearby.

The animal was snared in the trap the night of Aug. 1, but when the sun came up the next day Turner began to feel pangs of guilt about the animal's predicament.

"Leaving an animal to die in a metal trap over the weekend isn't humane, he said.

An animal-control officer made an issue of Turner moving the trap into the shade and Turner faces a $652 fine for criminal trespassing on city property. Turner told the newspaper he doesn't regret his decision to help the animal that stunk up his house.

"I would rather be in the situation I'm in now than not do anything," he said.

Biggest hardwood tree found in Tasmania

HOBART, Australia, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Foresters in Tasmania have discovered a 300-foot-high eucalyptus believed to be the second-highest tree in the world and the tallest hardwood.

The tree is only about 3 miles from the Tahune Airwalk, an environmental tourist attraction south of Hobart, The Mercury of Hobart reported. It is believed to be 400 years old.

The eucalyptus, measured at 101 meters or well over 300 feet, is topped only by a 115-meter redwood in California. That makes it the largest flowering plant in the world as well, and the largest tree in Australia.

The tree has been named Centurion, after the Roman soldier in command of a unit of 100 men. A slightly smaller tree nearby has been named Triarius, from a Latin word for soldier.

The area has been swept by fires and foresters say the tree at one point lost its crown and sprouted a new one.

Forestry Tasmania plans to protect the area around the tree, which is not a reserve, and to provide a boardwalk and other amenities for visitors.

Should Mary Queen of Scots be returned?

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Mary Queen of Scots may have been rejected by her subjects while she was alive but now a member of the Scottish parliament wants her body returned.

Mary's remains repose in Westminster Abbey not far from Queen Elizabeth I, the cousin who ordered her execution. Christine Grahame, a member of the Scottish National Party, argues that Mary's rightful resting place is Falkland Palace, where her father died a few days after her birth in 1542, The Scotsman reported.

"She was an iconic historical Scots figure and ultimately the victim of English plotting," Grahame said. "Given the House of Stuart's association with Falkland Palace, a place where Mary is believed to have spent her happiest days, that would appear to be an appropriate place to inter her remains."

Mary lived in France from the age of 5, returning to Scotland 13 years later when her husband, by then king of France, died young. After six years, she was forced to abdicate and fled to England.

Elizabeth had Mary, then 45, beheaded 20 years later, fearing Catholics might rally around her. When Mary's son became King James I of England, he had his mother's body moved to Westminster from Peterborough Cathedral.

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