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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (22735)	12/13/2004 6:34:38 PM
From: Alan Smithee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

I'm still surprised. Probably not half as surprised as Scott Peterson is.

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (22735)	12/13/2004 6:50:42 PM
From: Alan Smithee	Respond to of 90947

File under... Gifts for someone who has everything... Japanese men lap up new comfort Japanese men without a shoulder to cry on this Christmas are being offered a woman's lap - made out of foam - to rest on instead. The "lap pillow", shaped like the bottom half of a kneeling woman, is selling for about 9,429 yen ($90), the French news agency AFP reported. "Single men find this soothing," said Mitsuo Takahashi of the manufacturer Trane KK. He told AFP that the Hizamakura, or lap pillow, fulfilled a primal need. "From the time people were kids, people have laid their heads on their mothers' laps to get their ears cleaned," he said. "This is made to be quite close to the real thing." But they are also reported to be proving popular as joke gifts at office parties. So far the company has sold about 3,000 laps, Mr Takahashi said. The Hizamakura is similar to a product, shaped like a man's torso with one sturdy arm, which has been on sale since last December. That product, the Boyfriend's Arm Pillow, was made by Japanese company Kameo, and is being targeted at Japanese single women. Picture: newsimg.bbc.co.uk news.bbc.co.uk Published: 2004/12/13 13:58:10 GMT © BBC MMIV Man-shaped pillow for solo sleeper By Kaori Hitomi in Nagareyama, Japan 29sep04 AFTER a long night at work as a radio DJ, Junko Suzuki likes to snuggle at bedtime - and she says she's found the perfect partner: a man-shaped pillow. Linen maker Kameo Corp.'s new "Boyfriend's Arm Pillow" - which consists of a headless torso and a stuffed arm that curls around the sleeper - might make some people uneasy. But not Ms Suzuki, or about 1000 others in Japan who have bought the pillow, which Kameo says is the first of its kind. The product went on the market last December. "I like to sleep holding someone's hand," Ms Suzuki, 34. "And this pillow makes me feel relaxed because I can hold the arm and feel something warm at my side." Kameo, based in the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka, says the pillow is not only an emotional comfort, but that its shape keeps the body balanced by supporting the sleeper from both sides. Sleepers typically curl up in between the body of the pillow and the crooked arm, with the sleeper's head resting on the pillow's "bicep." "My grandmother used to say that there is nothing more comfortable pillow than human," Kameo President Tomoki Kakehashi said. "So, I thought that maybe women would want to sleep on an arm-shaped pillow." The pillow is only on sale in Japan, where customers can buy one for Y8500 ($106.8). Covered in a shirt-shaped pillow cover, it comes in blue, pink or green. For Ms Suzuki, who is estranged from her husband, the pillow has definite advantages: It doesn't squirm or thrash in the night, and you know it'll be there in the morning. "It keeps holding me all the way through," she said in her home outside of Tokyo. "I think this is great because this does not betray me." One-size pillows do not fit all. So Kameo is working up new models: muscular pillows for sleepers who like their pillows well-built; slender models for those after a more sensitive, vulnerable partner. The company also has a prototype for its next big project: a female pillow for men. This one will be shaped like a woman's lap, with a "skirt" cover. "I always thought someone's lap would the best pillow for me," Mr Kakehashi said. thecouriermail.news.com.au

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (22735)	12/13/2004 7:26:08 PM
From: jlallen	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 90947

UK retailer offers in-store day care for hubbies Struggling British department store chain Marks and Spencer is trying to boost Christmas sales by providing day care for men in 6 of its stores, so their wives can shop in peace. The "playpens" will keep male shopping haters occupied with a selection of videos and DVDs, a slot-car racing set, remote control vehicles and walkie-talkies. No word yet on whether keeping the boys penned up is producing a bump in sales. Read the original AFP story on Yahoo News: story.news.yahoo.com 1&u=/afp/20041208/od_afp/afplifestylexbritain_041208183719