Tokyo store offers diamond cake

TOKYO (AP) – If you can’t decide between diamonds and something sweet for your sweetheart this holiday season, a Japanese store has the answer: both.

Takashimaya Department Store in central Tokyo is offering a diamond-studded, $1.7 million cake.

The sparkling pink creation, which went on sale Tuesday, “has already received many inquiries” from prospective customers, said store spokesman Takeshi Morinaka.

A total of 223 diamonds – including a 5-carat, heart-shaped stone – adorn the double-layer, marzipan-coated fruitcake, designed by Tokyo-based sweets chef Jeong Hong-yong.

“It’s entirely edible, except for the diamonds of course,” Morinaka said.

For those who can’t afford the luxury, Takashimaya will be serving up a less costly replica of the cake at a champagne party on Christmas eve, he added.

‘Ticket Santa’ helps motorists

LONDON (AP) – For some harassed Christmas motorists, Santa has turned out to be just the ticket.

Motorists receiving parking tickets in the central English city of Birmingham recently have found Christmas cards on their windshields containing money to pay the fine, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Each card contains a note reading, “Don’t let this ticket spoil your Christmas. Here’s 30 pounds to pay it off. Merry Christmas – Parking Ticket Santa.”

So far, 14 motorists have benefited from this anonymous benefactor’s largesse, the newspaper said.

Neb. trout has odd malady: 2 mouths

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A rainbow trout pulled out of Holmes Lake last weekend had double the chance to get hooked: It had two mouths.

Clarence Olberding, 57, of Lincoln, wasn’t just telling a fisherman’s fib when he called over another angler to look at the two-mouthed trout. It weighed in at about a pound.

“I reached down and grabbed it to take the hook out, and that’s when I noticed that the hook was in the upper mouth and there was another jaw protruding out below,” said Olberding.

Don Gabelhouse, head of the fisheries division of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, said a two-mouthed fish was new to him, too. “It’s probably a genetic deformity,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

The second mouth didn’t appear to be functional, Olberding said. He has plans for the fish, which don’t included mounting.

Soldiers get early holiday gifts

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) – A real-estate developer is putting his money where his heart is.

Jim Johnson, carrying a sign that read “grateful citizen,” passed out $5,000 in $20 bills Wednesday to members of the military and their families.

“I just want to say thank you for your service,” Johnson told the recipients as he shook their hands in a Wal-Mart store in Killeen. “We’re safe and secure because of you.”

Johnson said that he and his son, Matt, drove from Dallas with the hope of meeting as many soldiers as possible. He said Killeen, which is home to Fort Hood, seemed like an obvious choice for finding soldiers and their families.

Johnson said he was just trying to show some gratitude.

“We all have ways to give back to these families that don’t complain and serve,” he said. “It’s a tough life, and I’m so grateful for what they do.”