quirks

From combined news services
322 words
31 July 2005
Journal Gazette
Final Edition
3D
English
(c) Copyright 2005, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Wake up
For travelers sharing a hotel room or cruise cabin with light sleepers, there's no quicker way to ruin the peace than to have an alarm clock with a Fay Wray scream. To keep nerves calm, you need a clock that whispers "Wake up, sunshine" ... or one that vibrates.

The Shake Awake travel clock ($24.95) does have a "beep, beep, beep" function, but its vibration option works best when trying to stay quiet when rousing. Shake Awake's Vibrating Alarm Clock is available at 1-800-599-5321 or www.shakeawake .com.

Ripe idea
No more thumping and sniffing. Dulcinea Extra Sweet Tuscan Style Cantaloupes tell you when they're ripe. Exterior grooves change from dark green to golden-cream as the fruit matures, letting buyers know the ripeness of fruit they are getting.
The melons are available in grocery stores nationwide and have a suggested retail price of $2.99 to $4.99. For more information and a list of local stores where they are sold, visit www.dulcinea .com.

Underwear out there
There's an underwear revolution stirring, and we're not talking bra burnings. For the third year in a row, Freshpair .com - an Internet retailer of men's and women's intimate apparel - will be staging National Underwear Day on Aug. 10. The event involves male and female models taking to the streets clad in nothing but undergarments. While the models will make appearances in highly visible New York City locales, we don't advise you celebrate the day at work.

Sweet smells
You, too, can take a dip in a vat of chocolate - or at least smell like you did. A new company called, appropriately enough, Chocolate Shirt is selling a scented "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" T-shirt, $34.95, at www.chocolate shirt.com.