Here is a business idea for those casting about for things to do in the economic downturn: start a cat cafe. Japan has one. No, correction, they have seven. Seven places where visitors to the cafe pay $8-$12 an hour to sit with cats and drink tea with cats and read comics with cats and pet the cats. One of the cafes is called Neko JaLaLa. “Neko” means “cat” in Japanese. Hell if I know what “JaLaLa” means. The Christian Science Monitor (which has recently shut down the print edition of its publication and has gone all-web, and no it's not because they wrote about cat cafes) reports that cat cafes are a cultural trend in a city where space is at a premium and pet ownership is difficult. They also argue that cat cafes are great for people who are stressed. Stress, tight spaces, hot new cultural trend…is this not perfect for LA? Come on Silverlake, Brentwood, Culver City, Tarzana. Let's step it up.

(via www.csmonitor.com)

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