How's this for weird and wonderful and found in a magazine
focused on EMC technicians ???!!!

Barbie, Ken, And Blaine: The Latest

And now for something light: We recently reported that Mattel's Barbie yes, the doll left her long time beau, Ken, after being romantically linked with him for over 40 years.

Speculation concerning her motives abounded. Was Ken
just too straight? Was it just time for a change? Was Barbies head turned by the hipper Blaine, Mattel's new Australian surfer doll?

Unlike real-life breakups, the public got to vote on who Ken's replacement should be. Over 2 million votes were tallied at Barbie's website (www.barbie.com), and Blaine won in a landslide. You can find a picture of the happy couple there.

There's one other piece of Barbie-related news thats crossed our desk. Recently, a U. S. District Court ruled that Mattel had to pay more than $1.8 million in legal costs to a Utah man who incorporated photos of nude Barbie dolls in his artwork. In 1999, Mattel sued artist Tom Forsythe of Kanab, Utah, on the grounds that his use of Barbie infringed Mattel's toy copyrights and intellectual property.

The legal fees mounted, but the Court held that it was a matter of free speech, and that Forsythes parody of the famous Barbie was protected by the First Amendment.
It also said that Mattels suit may have been groundless
and unreasonable. Mattel appealed and lost, and was ordered to pay costs.

This is all very interesting, but inquiring minds have to wonder if Barbies risque modeling might have been the real reason behind her breakup with Ken.

cheers fm the bleary og vk4zz

Source: Wireless Institute of Australia

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