Straight off the press from my daughter's latest copy of "Heat" magazine ("This week's hottest celebrity news"):

"Barbie's been feeling lonely since she dumped her long-term boyfriend Ken earlier this year. So we're delighted to announce that the beautiful blonde has a new man in her life in the shape of hunky blond Australian surfer dude Blaine. Swoon."

Ken long-term ? That's the understatement of the year. No wonder she finally dumped the chap - clearly a severe case of commitment angst. Barbie's new bloke looks to be everything you would imagine a "Blaine" to be. I can't see him taking Barbie down the aisle, either. I wonder how many meetings and brainstorming sessions, marketing surveys and so on it took before the manufacturers decided on "Blaine" as the optimum selling name ?


- jeanie