Well, after turning the interwebs upside down and shaking them like a two-bit, sweatshop-manufactured Etch-a-Sketch ripoff, I think we’ve finally found the target market for the blingorific (and poisonous) pacifier that Glinda featured a couple of weeks ago.

It’s the same crowd who voted the GHB-laden Aquadots (also known as Bindeez) Toy of the Year in Australia.

Australia’s 2007 Toy of the Year, the Hong Kong-manufactured craft toy Bindeez, is being pulled from shelves after it was revealed its “magic beads” contain a chemical that converts into the toxic illegal drug fantasy when ingested.

Two children have been admitted to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead over the past week after swallowing large numbers of the beads, which contain a substance the body metabolises into gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, the main component of liquid ecstasy…

In a statement posted on its website, the company said it had not approved nor was it aware of any chemical substitution by the supplier.

“As a precaution, Moose has voluntarily recalled all of the Bindeez products,” the statement said.

“When reintroduced to the market, Moose as an added precaution will add Bitrex to the approved bead formulation; this is a foul tasting ingredient which will ensure children do not in future eat multiple beads.”

Heather Lehane, the mother of 10-year-old Charlotte, said her daughter had lost consciousness about half an hour after swallowing the beads and had vomited a “thick goo”. [editor’s note: what the hell kind of ten year old eats multiple synthetic toy beads? this kid needs one of those jackets with the sleeves that buckle in the back]

Dr Naren Gunja, of Westmead Hospital’s Poisons Information Centre, told the Herald it appeared that pentane diol, a non-toxic substance commonly used on toys for its glue-like properties, had been substituted in the manufacturing process with butane diol.

And suddenly, the toy finds popularity among a whole new demographic.

I’d accuse ravers of rigging the Toy of the Year contest, if I didn’t already know that people on GHB aren’t coherent enough to organize a decent vote-jacking.

Or at least, they won’t remember it the next morning.

In this day and age when leisure time is about as scarce as people who don’t own cell phones, it is more important than ever that families schedule time to be together.  There is nothing my family likes better than playing games, the kind where you all sit at the table and tease and joke and high five each other when you win.   Get some snacks, a tall glass of whatever, and let the fun begin. Oh, and taunting the losing side until the next round is also one of the major benefits.

For varying age groups, the best multiplayer games for families:

Uno– What could be better than a game in which double-crossing is not only ok, it’s encouraged?

Candyland– I’m not sure any kid should grow up without playing Candyland.

Jenga– Building tall things that satisfyingly crash at some point is a natural fit for kids.

Parcheesi– Simple, fast-paced, and easy to understand game that has been around for centuries, so it must be doing something right!

Scattergories– Fun and vocabulary building at the same time!

Cranium-14 games in one, what’s not to like? And if you hurry, it is half price!

Clue– Was it Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with a pipe?  And for those that think their kid is too young to be discussing murders and motives, there is a new version, Clue Junior, in which the mystery of a missing chocolate cake is solved.

The Game of Life– Life is all about choices, and this game is a real-time choices and consequences lesson.

Monopoly– Again, how can you grow up and not play Monopoly?

Scrabble– Nothing feels quite like a triple word score! You can get the classic or the Junior Edition.

What about you?  Are there any obvious ones that you feel like telling me about, so I can smack my forehead and exclaim, ‘D’oh!” when I read the comments?