Pillow

AMY BUTLER "Sari Bloom" organic cotton duvet cover, $99.99 (twin) to $129.99 (queen) at Bed Bath & Beyond, 401 Park Drive, Boston, 617-536-1090, and other locations, bedbathandbeyond.com K STUDIO "Crying" pillow in organic cotton, $152 at Magpie, 416 Highland Avenue, Somerville, 617-623-3300, magpie-store.com TULU TEXTILES "Mutlu" organic cotton-filled queen-size quilt, $398 at Twelve Chairs, 319 A Street, Boston,...

Authorities say a 4-year-old boy has shot himself in the chest in Philadelphia with a gun he found under his mother's pillow. The shooting happened at around 7 p.m. Saturday in the Mayfair section of northeast Philadelphia. Police say the boy shot himself once in the left side of the chest with a handgun. Officer Chris Bennett tells The Philadelphia Inquirer ( http://bit.ly/HK2oxZ) that the shooting appears to be accidental. Police tell the newspaper that the boy is in critical condition and undergoing emergency surgery at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

Before there was "So You Think You Can Dance," before "The Nutcracker" became a Christmas tradition, before George Balanchine even came to America, there was a Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. The Pillow turns 80 next year; it's the country's longest-running dance festival, a National Historic Landmark, and a National Medal of Arts recipient. And as if that were not enough, Ella Baff the Pillow's executive and artistic director (who will celebrate her own anniversary: her 15th year with the festival)

AMY BUTLER "Sari Bloom" organic cotton duvet cover, $99.99 (twin) to $129.99 (queen) at Bed Bath & Beyond, 401 Park Drive, Boston, 617-536-1090, and other locations, bedbathandbeyond.com K STUDIO "Crying" pillow in organic cotton, $152 at Magpie, 416 Highland Avenue, Somerville, 617-623-3300, magpie-store.com TULU TEXTILES "Mutlu" organic cotton-filled queen-size quilt, $398 at Twelve Chairs, 319 A Street, Boston,...

Authorities say a 4-year-old boy has shot himself in the chest in Philadelphia with a gun he found under his mother's pillow. The shooting happened at around 7 p.m. Saturday in the Mayfair section of northeast Philadelphia. Police say the boy shot himself once in the left side of the chest with a handgun. Officer Chris Bennett tells The Philadelphia Inquirer ( http://bit.ly/HK2oxZ) that the shooting appears to be accidental. Police tell the newspaper that the boy is in critical condition and undergoing emergency surgery at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.

This adorable (and washable) blanket can be folded and stuffed into its own pocket, making a pillow that's kid-sized and perfect for travel. Tie the attached straps together and the pillow can be worn backpack style - one less thing for you to carry down the concourse. The oversize blankets are soft and cozy and, in backpack mode, there's plenty of room for your child to carry a few extra things for the trip. They cost $39.95 online at bearhugsunlimited.com. LYLAH M. ALPHONSE

We brought the TravelRest pillow with us on our last trip, and it lived up to its name. Most inflatable travel pillows are bouncy and uncomfortable; who can sleep sitting straight up in a chair with a horse collar around her neck anyway? TravelRest inflates easily and attaches to the back of your seat (no chance of it slipping off mid-nap); it lies under your cheek and drapes across your body, so you can nestle into it and rest in a more natural position. It comes in one size, works well for children and adults, and costs $26.95 at www.travelrest.net.

LONDON - A veteran British TV reporter said he once used a pillow to smother a lover who was dying of AIDS, a startling admission and the latest contribution to the country’s debate on mercy killing. Nottinghamshire Police said it would investigate Ray Gosling’s assertion, made in a television documentary and repeated in media interviews yesterday. “I killed someone once. . . . He was a young chap. He’d been my lover and he got AIDS,’’ Gosling, 70, told a BBC television program.

SALEM - It was simply coincidence that we picked Feb. 14 for an overnight stay at the Salem Waterfront Hotel & Suites, but it seemed churlish not to take advantage of the "Romantic Salem" package. After all, it promised roses and chocolates in our room, along with free breakfast. Those who like their romance over-the-top may scoff at this modest gesture, but we give the hotel credit for making the package available through September, rather than limiting it to a few days in February when romance rules.

Americans don’t sleep enough. We can’t sleep; we suffer sleep disorders; we take sleeping pills. Like insomniacs, Robert Knight’s camera stays awake and observant through the night, as he records his subjects tossing and turning. In his photographs at Gallery Kayafas, light takes on a hallowed glow as it enters the darkened room and the camera lens. Everything inanimate remains still and crisp, while all that moves — the body on the bed — blurs close to oblivion. Knight prints his photos on watercolor paper.

Before there was "So You Think You Can Dance," before "The Nutcracker" became a Christmas tradition, before George Balanchine even came to America, there was a Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. The Pillow turns 80 next year; it's the country's longest-running dance festival, a National Historic Landmark, and a National Medal of Arts recipient. And as if that were not enough, Ella Baff the Pillow's executive and artistic director (who will celebrate her own anniversary: her 15th year with the festival)

Flying has never been so good — for those able to splurge. While most Thanksgiving travelers will fight for overhead bins and go hours without a snack or room to stretch their legs, life in first class is stress free. It's always been a special place on the other side of the curtain. Now, it's getting even cushier. U.S. airlines, profitable again after a disastrous decade, are spending almost $2 billion to upgrade amenities for their highest-paying customers. On the most profitable international routes, high fliers are being treated with preflight...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that the Occupy Wall Street protests have no place in his bedroom. The mayor was asked Monday whether he had discussed the dilemma faced by the lower Manhattan protest site's owner, Brookfield Office Properties, with his live-in girlfriend, Diana Taylor, who's on the company's board of directors. "I can tell you that pillow talk in our house is not about Occupy Wall Street or Brookfield Properties," the mayor answered. Brookfield, which holds 6.2 million square feet of property in midtown Manhattan...

ASPEN SANTA FE BALLET At: Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival (through Sunday). Tickets: $59.50-64.50. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org BECKET - At Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival this week, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is demonstrating that in the three years since its last visit, the company has kept pace with the morphing current of the larger dance world. Unfussy yet glamorous dancers with formidable yet not ostentatious technique? Check. A repertoire that includes dances by choreographic legends, current stars, and up-and-coming movers and shakers?

BIG DANCE THEATER At: Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, Thursday (through tomorrow). Tickets: $23.50-37.50. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org BECKET - Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, the co-directors of Big Dance Theater, whose "Supernatural Wife" is now being presented at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, deconstruct the Greek myth about the martyred-then-saved Alkestis and her loutish husband Admetus with charm, brevity, and wit. ...

JANE COMFORT AND COMPANY At: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, Thursday (through tomorrow). Tickets: $33-36. 413-243-0745, www.jacobspillow.org BECKET - O Barbie! My Barbie! That revered and reviled icon of anatomic impossibility is the star (sort of) of the 2011 dance theater piece “Beauty,’’ which is being presented by Jane Comfort and Company at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. The aptly named Comfort approaches the subject matter of her dances with gentle humor and nostalgia.

BECKET -- They make it look so easy, those Danes. For those accustomed to the more flamboyant, stylized virtuosity of the Russian ballet tradition, the easy grace of the Royal Danish Ballet can be a revelation. The company, represented by a small touring troupe at Jacob's Pillow this week, has a distinctive tradition forged by the great August Bournonville more than 150 years ago that is anchored in a liquid, unforced buoyancy and naturalness. Instead of muscular attacks and sharp finishes, dancers exhibit a near-seamless fluidity.

BECKET - In the 1988 movie "Big," Tom Hanks plays Josh, a 13-year-old boy temporarily trapped in a grown-up's body. The movie's iconic scene is set in F.A.O. Schwarz, where the big Josh entrances "real" adults as he plays "Heart and Soul" on a giant keyboard whose keys are activated by his skipping and hopping. The sweet moral of the story, of course, is that we should strive to remain children at heart - remembering that a key component of childhood is playtime. Well, it's game on this week at Jacob's Pillow, where the Italian dance-theatre company...

Because he has a days-old baby boy with Oscar winner Natalie Portman , dancer/choreographer Benjamin Millepied couldn’t make it to the season-opening celebration at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket. But the evening’s festivities did feature a performance of Millepied’s duet “Closer,’’ as well as a world premiere by Houston Ballet artistic director Stanton Welch and a performance by pianist Philip Glass .

BECKET — Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has developed a reputation for “up’’ performances driven by its energetic, charismatic dancers. Choosing this contemporary company to close this year’s Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival seems like a slam-dunk, a surefire way to send the audiences out skipping. Instead — interestingly —the company is presenting a rather moody concert, sending us perhaps more contemplatively into the moonlit sky. In addition to an overall somberness of tone, the stage, though evocatively lit, is...