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Cast your mind back to your eighth birthday party - what did the day hold? From memory, those of my friends and I involved lolly cake and savaloy sausages that were gobbled up in the glory of our invinicible, pre-pubescent metabolisms; a game of pass-the-parcel, tears shed in the inevitable envy of the birthday girl and a take-home bag made up of a slice of birthday cake, a pencil set, and left-overs of the aforementioned lunch. I know the Tele isn't the most socially calm of news outlets but this article did strike a cord with me. It's about "Princess parties"; kid's birthday parties that see girls a young as four indulging in a casual mani/pedi, facial and - wait for it - spray tans. The article's main outcry concerns the early sexualisation of young girls but at $900 a pop surely questions of the increasing rich/poor divide should also of relevence. I sure as hell know that my parents couldn't have forked out that and I can only imagine the birthday girl tears shed had I friends whose parents could. I can only imaging what these girls will be like when they are old enough to get spray tans.

Jean Kilbourne is a goddess when it comes to critically analysing the media and advertising industries and their portrayal of women. Her newest book (co-written with Diane E. Levin Ph. D) So Sexy so Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids will be coming out August this year.
No doubt this book will live up to her previous work - including, Killing Us Softly 3 (updated in 2000), a documentary/lecture featuring advertisements that have been objectifying women from the 20th to the 21st century. Play the clip above to preview Killing Us Softly 3. Kilbourne talks about society's obsession with breasts and says that if men had the same kind of ads we would see"Wonderjock. The strap for the bulge you've always wanted" appearing in magazines.  Keeping Kilbourne's hilariously accurate observations in mind, why are we continually seeing websites showing women as objects? A new site called http://www.missbimbo.com/ lets young girls create their own Miss Bimbo! Check out the site to see phrases like, "even resort to meds or plastic surgery. Stop at nothing to become the reigning bimbo!"  Charming. I can't wait to see the new women of the world rising to become bimbo elites.

Was anyone else slightly shocked when they first saw this Kotex TVC? Seriously, does it make me prudent that the puppet and the innuendo and that bit with the guys on the beach staring at the puppet weirds me out?

The man you see above is Zach Dunlap and he's feeling "pretty good". "So?" I hear you say, "why should I care that this cowboy-hatted young man feels good?" Well, because following a fairly nasty quad-bike accident, Zach was officially pronounced dead last November. I KNOW. The story goes that upon the pronunciation of his death, Dunlap's family gave go-ahead for his organs to be harvested; so imagine their surprise when, just as they were saying their final goodbyes, Zach moved his feet and hands. So yeah, he's alive now and after 48 days in hospital is finally home...... and on the interview circuit. Zach apparently has no memory of his fatal/non-fatal crash but does remember hearing the doctor pronounce him dead. Creepy stuff!

She may have been the Queen of the Jungle at the recent BRITs, but Kylie Minogue’s passion for purses made out of real pythons really bites. Seriously, what was up with that super-tacky gold python purse she was spotted sporting around town not too long ago? It was so huge it looked like it had a belly full of budgies. Just when you thought nothing could be more distasteful than shiny metallic tracksuits, the fiendish fashion world is now crawling with accessories made of tortured snakes.

Making bags, shoes and other accessories out of exotic skin is about as cold-blooded as it gets. Snakes and lizards are nailed to trees and skinned alive, and crocs and gators are beaten to death with bats. These days, there’s a wild kingdom of designer fake snake, mock croc and python pleather that pay tribute to the beauty of these animals without making them fashion victims. Check out these trendy and animal-friendly options: Nova at the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney and Vegan Wares in Melbourne .

Japanese news outlets are aflame with angry diatribe over the Australian Government's decision to allow the culling of around 500 Kangaroos. Obviously, there are a few reasons why message boards could be getting heated up about this issue but the main vent seems to be over questions of hypocrisy. Detractors are pointing out the fact that Environment Minister Peter Garrett has signed off on the kangaroo cull; despite his much sound-bitten condemnation of Japan's whaling policies. Many are also arguing that rather for the given "sustainability" reasons, the 'roos are instead being knocked off to make way for housing. However, whatever the reason, Garrett maintains that "There's an immense difference between commercial, so-called 'scientific' whaling and Australia's scientific, sustainable and humane management of a non-threatened kangaroo". What are your views?

If you live in Sydney you may have seen these around your local bus-stop. The posters are part of "The UN Voices Project"; a new marketing campaign from the Australian branch of the United Nations. Conceived by - who else but - Saatchi & Saatchi, the project associates itself with the usual advertising adjectives of "ground-breaking" and "interactive" - but it's incorporation of modern means is actually very interesting indeed. Using their mobile phone, Sydney-siders are encouraged to take a snap of one of the seven posters and send it as a txt message to a designated number. The texter will then receive a phone call with the pre-recorded life story of those Australian's who usually go unacknowledged or unseen; including Loula (a domestic violence survivor), Foday (a Refugee from Western Africa), Shannon (Aboriginal youth worker and activist), Nathan (a 13 year old born with HIV). You can also hear these stories - and leave your own tale - on the website. Something to consider next time that bus is late?