Patra Caesar
28-05-2005, 09:16
The Times[/i] of London in The Australian]
Hubby annoying? Put him in a box
By Leo Lewis in Tokyo
May 28, 2005
HUSBANDS are such a nuisance. They hog the family computer, watch TV at nerve-grating volume, clutter up every flat surface with their hobbies and mess up a room with their very presence.
Now a Japanese company thinks it has found the solution: lock up the monster in a soundproof wooden box.
Yamaha has come up with MyRoom, a 2.5sqm den that can stand in the corner of the average-sized lounge and perform - albeit on a cramped scale - the functions of a study, cinema and shed.
The noisiest of activities is inaudible to the outside world, and even if the inside is a tip, the mess is scarcely visible through the thin strip of frosted glass.
It should come as a relief to the harried Japanese wife, as a huge number of men are due to retire next year and, from being a weekend annoyance, become round-the-clock pests.
For about $7000, presumably paid by the salaryman whose wife seeks escape from him, MyRoom has a range of options depending on its intended purpose: it can be rigged up with a desk, a surround-sound speaker system or the sort of low workbench favoured by Japan's legions of model-train, robot and calligraphy enthusiasts.
A tatami-matted version is available for those wishing to give their box a traditional Japanese feel.
The potential market for MyRoom, which comes in three colours, is huge because so few Japanese homes are large enough to have that sort of spare room.
The problem has become worse in recent years because a growing number of Japanese in their 20s and 30s are opting to live at home as so-called "parasite singles".
Their decision to remain under the family roof has shattered many a parent's dream of converting the child's bedroom into a hobby room or study.
Next year heralds the start of an era that Japanese housewives have been dreading.
The first wave of post-war baby-boomers turns 60 next year and a huge generation of salarymen will be retiring.
Women who have grown used to the serenity of days without their noisy, smoking, hobby-obsessed husbands are now desperate for ways to maintain the tranquillity.
Yamaha, one of the world's biggest makers of musical instruments, came up with the idea for MyRoom after working for 20 years on technologies for soundproofing rooms for those who want to practise the piano without enraging the rest of the household.
Other companies in Japan are rubbing their hands at the prospect of next year's mass retirement, particularly makers of small-scale agricultural equipment, which predict a sudden sales boom as seniors fill their twilight years with the popular hobby of rice and vegetable cultivation.
Well, failing that you can send him overseas:
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15427147-13762,00.html)
Air miles for jet-set pets
From correspondents in London
May 27, 2005
A BRITISH airline is targeting a growing market in pet travel by launching a special frequent flyer scheme for jet-setting dogs, cats and other animals.
Four dogs and a cat have been signed up to the Virgin Atlantic Flying Paws reward scheme since it was launched earlier this month, a spokeswoman for the airline said today.
Despite the cost – flying a pet from London to New York in the hold of a plane can cost around £400 ($962) – Virgin carried 1250 animals last year, twice the number of the year before.
In a bid to tempt fussy pets onto their flights, dogs taking their first Virgin trip will be given a T-shirt and dog tag, while cats receive a toy mouse, and ferrets – a surprisingly popular animal companion for Britons – get a flying jacket and collar tag.
Once pets have notched up five 'paw prints' in their frequent flyer book, they can acquire other goodies such as hand-made food bowls, while yet more trips win pedicures or Burberry, Prada and Gucci pet clothing.
Perhaps more likely in practice, the animals can instead donate their bonuses to their owners in the form of air miles.
Where they can live in London:
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15421810-13762,00.html)
High rent for closet turned unit
May 27, 2005
LONDON'S smallest apartment, a converted storage closet measuring just 5sq m, has found a tenant for £585 ($1409) a month.
Gordon Blausten of the Bruten and Co real estate agency said the "tiny but trendy" apartment packed in kitchenette, shower and wardrobe under a loft bed.
Located in a turn of the century Edwardian building in the heart of the fashionable Notting Hill area of west London, the apartment found a tenant after only three days on the market.
"A young professional woman, with a very active social life, is now living there," Mr Blausten said.
"She probably doesn't want to spend too much time there, or at least, I hope she won't."
I don't think even gays pay money to live in the closet...
Hubby annoying? Put him in a box
By Leo Lewis in Tokyo
May 28, 2005
HUSBANDS are such a nuisance. They hog the family computer, watch TV at nerve-grating volume, clutter up every flat surface with their hobbies and mess up a room with their very presence.
Now a Japanese company thinks it has found the solution: lock up the monster in a soundproof wooden box.
Yamaha has come up with MyRoom, a 2.5sqm den that can stand in the corner of the average-sized lounge and perform - albeit on a cramped scale - the functions of a study, cinema and shed.
The noisiest of activities is inaudible to the outside world, and even if the inside is a tip, the mess is scarcely visible through the thin strip of frosted glass.
It should come as a relief to the harried Japanese wife, as a huge number of men are due to retire next year and, from being a weekend annoyance, become round-the-clock pests.
For about $7000, presumably paid by the salaryman whose wife seeks escape from him, MyRoom has a range of options depending on its intended purpose: it can be rigged up with a desk, a surround-sound speaker system or the sort of low workbench favoured by Japan's legions of model-train, robot and calligraphy enthusiasts.
A tatami-matted version is available for those wishing to give their box a traditional Japanese feel.
The potential market for MyRoom, which comes in three colours, is huge because so few Japanese homes are large enough to have that sort of spare room.
The problem has become worse in recent years because a growing number of Japanese in their 20s and 30s are opting to live at home as so-called "parasite singles".
Their decision to remain under the family roof has shattered many a parent's dream of converting the child's bedroom into a hobby room or study.
Next year heralds the start of an era that Japanese housewives have been dreading.
The first wave of post-war baby-boomers turns 60 next year and a huge generation of salarymen will be retiring.
Women who have grown used to the serenity of days without their noisy, smoking, hobby-obsessed husbands are now desperate for ways to maintain the tranquillity.
Yamaha, one of the world's biggest makers of musical instruments, came up with the idea for MyRoom after working for 20 years on technologies for soundproofing rooms for those who want to practise the piano without enraging the rest of the household.
Other companies in Japan are rubbing their hands at the prospect of next year's mass retirement, particularly makers of small-scale agricultural equipment, which predict a sudden sales boom as seniors fill their twilight years with the popular hobby of rice and vegetable cultivation.
Well, failing that you can send him overseas:
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15427147-13762,00.html)
Air miles for jet-set pets
From correspondents in London
May 27, 2005
A BRITISH airline is targeting a growing market in pet travel by launching a special frequent flyer scheme for jet-setting dogs, cats and other animals.
Four dogs and a cat have been signed up to the Virgin Atlantic Flying Paws reward scheme since it was launched earlier this month, a spokeswoman for the airline said today.
Despite the cost – flying a pet from London to New York in the hold of a plane can cost around £400 ($962) – Virgin carried 1250 animals last year, twice the number of the year before.
In a bid to tempt fussy pets onto their flights, dogs taking their first Virgin trip will be given a T-shirt and dog tag, while cats receive a toy mouse, and ferrets – a surprisingly popular animal companion for Britons – get a flying jacket and collar tag.
Once pets have notched up five 'paw prints' in their frequent flyer book, they can acquire other goodies such as hand-made food bowls, while yet more trips win pedicures or Burberry, Prada and Gucci pet clothing.
Perhaps more likely in practice, the animals can instead donate their bonuses to their owners in the form of air miles.
Where they can live in London:
Source (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15421810-13762,00.html)
High rent for closet turned unit
May 27, 2005
LONDON'S smallest apartment, a converted storage closet measuring just 5sq m, has found a tenant for £585 ($1409) a month.
Gordon Blausten of the Bruten and Co real estate agency said the "tiny but trendy" apartment packed in kitchenette, shower and wardrobe under a loft bed.
Located in a turn of the century Edwardian building in the heart of the fashionable Notting Hill area of west London, the apartment found a tenant after only three days on the market.
"A young professional woman, with a very active social life, is now living there," Mr Blausten said.
"She probably doesn't want to spend too much time there, or at least, I hope she won't."
I don't think even gays pay money to live in the closet...