Feb. 10, 2007

Columbus Barbies

Note: This is not real estate related.... I have been neglecting this poor blog but this post is about cartoons, toys, popularity and events not about real estate. 

Did you get the Columbus Barbie emails that were going around before Christmas?  I did not.  I heard about them in January... I begged friends to forward them to me,  to no avail..... 

I finally found the Columbus Barbies with their cars and their props on the internet on a number of blogs. 

Actually the Barbie pictured here is sometimes Dublin Barbie and sometimes New Albany Barbie depending on which version ....from what I have seen.   I "kidnapped"  this photo from a Chicago blog.... I thought ... hey what's Dublin Barbie doing on this shallow Chicago blog?  Dublin Barbie needs to climb back in her Hummer and get back to Central Ohio.... where she belongs....  I  am sure this gag was going around many different cities... the Chicago version made very little sense to me... no where near as funny as some of the Columbus Barbies and the mean ones had no where near the bite since I did not know the neighborhoods.   Barbie humor is local.

Westerville Barbie according to  Chris from Columbus on Life  InBetween: 

"This modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full time occupation or secondary education. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately." jamming cell phone sold separately.

Stereotype??  I would have thought many Westerville women do have a secondary education....and a percentage are two wage earner families... Westerville's pertty diverse... but I must stop thinking demographics... this is just a silly internet joke...  but before I get further into this, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra has a special event this afternoon,

"BARBIE™ AT THE SYMPHONY"

"A children's animated classical music experience, Barbie™ at the Symphony is a special film with orchestra presentation of the best-selling Barbie™ “Princess” movies. This series of six CGI animated films features Barbie™ singing and dancing to some of the world's best loved musical scores, with ballet sequences choreographed by Peter Martins of the New York City Ballet. Released in over 30 languages, these popular films have introduced millions of children to ballets such as The Nutcracker and Swan Lake and the timeless music to which they are set. Now, for the first time ever, families can enjoy the classical music from the films, played live by a full symphony orchestra, while watching favorite scenes on the big screen."

Don't let your little Barbie loving "Princess" be the only one in her Central Ohio neighborhood to not have the opportunuty to watch a Barbie cartoon (animated classical music experience....)

Back to the Columbus Barbies.... stereotypes...  some of the inner city and some of the suburban Barbie 'jokes' are mean.  They're pretty snarky... but they made me laugh.... Powell Barbie (sometimes Powell / Lewis Center Barbie) a friend who lives in the Lewis Center area (Lewis Center is not a town, it's not a city, it's not a village... Lewis Center is an area... ) was so disappointed when she read two Columbus Barbie emails that she was not caricatured.....she'd be thrilled with seeing:  

" This princess Barbie is sold only at The Polaris Fashion Center. She comes with an assortment of Coach Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a "cookie cutter" $2,000,000.00 house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with "augmented" version."

Or would she? ... my friend has a cat...rather than a long-haired foreign dog  and I believe it came from Cozy Cat Cottage in Powell....DSH (domestic short hair in cat rescue jargon.) I don't think she is into Coach bags, she drives a Nissan minivan... Highest price in her neighborhood is probably $220,000....she's way too young for a tummy tuck or face lift and I don't have a clue what the Ken thing means... her husband might be described as "workaholic" and yes I am sure she would admit she is strangely drawn to The Polaris Fashion Place... isn't it "Fashion Place"?  The strip mall across the street is The Polaris Town Center...

Other Columbus Barbies include,  Bexley / Pickerington Barbie... I don't get that.  To me they are not the same.  Yes they are both east side but.....  Clintonville Barbie is sometimes Grandview Barbie in some versions... Short North Barbie is sometimes German Village Barbie....which confuses me... It seems Worthington, Gahanna and Hilliard are probably too boring to make it to these things.  Or maybe they are sometimes the Westerville Barbie described above with a few changes.   I have seen Newark Barbie and Chillicothe Barbie in some versions... but Newark and Chillicothe are too far out for me to "get it."  

I have gone back and forth about whether to post Columbus Barbies on Discover Columbus.  I have the link to Chris a student in South Dakota with ties to Columbus but she does not have the pictures.... I found the Columbus Barbies on a variety of Columbus Blogs including ......darn I can't link to most of them... too religious, too naughty, too snarky, too hot,  too cold, not a single just right..  Google "Columbus Barbie" on the Google Blog to search for the pictures and what is being said about different Central Ohio areas.

The CSO "BARBIE™ AT THE SYMPHONY" Tickets at $25.50, $29.50, $33.50 are a bargain for a few Central Ohio neighborhood's little Princesses.... if Mommy can have a Lexus SUV, a tummy tuck... 

Copyright 2007 Discover Columbus and Maureen McCabe