Hello Kitty dolls, more correctly, the love of Hello Kitty dolls from Mc Donald's Restaurant started a mayhem recently. A glass- and fist-bloodied one at that for not a few unabashed adult males who pursued them (whether for themselves or their insistent spouse or girlfriend). It was much ado about something and many hypothesis have been put forward to explain this phenomenon. The list is still growing and it may be a while before we can put a finger to it.

People went ga-ga over Hello Kitty several times over what a Coca-Cola bottle did to some bushmen in a some-time-ago movie. It could be that many people find the toys cute and cuddly , and therefore desirable. Perhaps people were just being kiasu, i.e., afraid of losing out in their materialistic environment. What you have I must also have. In other words, ownership or the absence of it will impinge on their well-being. Or it was simply a normal case of response to a marketing fad like Pokemon, yo-yo, furby dolls, G-shock watches, Guess jeans and the like.

At about this time it was windy and rained on a number of occasions and I found myself in want of a good umbrella. My new foldable umbrella was unable to hold its own against the strong wind. In fact, one of its spokes is now out of joint, crippling the entire thing. Can somebody please tell me where I could get a decent brolly.

A good umbrella is just the thing for me. Otherwise, how could I queue for anything in these rainy and windy days. Nobody seems to be selling branded (and must-be sturdy) umbrellas although many corporations dish them out as part of their sale of other goods and services. Maybe someday the branding of umbrella will take-off in a big way because people are just fed up with their lousy umbrellas. For now, queuing is relatively safe as nobody is offering a brolly ( a lethal weapon in the wrong hand) with such a drawing power as Hello Kitty.