When the editor of Woman’s Day magazine ran a cover story about Lisa Curry’s marriage breakdown a few years back, I thought she was bonkers, troppo, crazy, out of her tree, off her trolley, nuts* … I was wrong. It went gangbusters. Readers LOVED it. (In a totally supportive, poor Lisa way, of course …) I was stunned. Lisa Curry hadn’t been on a magazine cover for years, not since she’d been the face of some amazing new hot-flush treatment (which, admittedly, had also gone gangbusters). Subsequent Lisa Curry covers were well-received, until readers decided Lisa deserved a bit of peace from all the “cougar” headlines. I reckon the appeal of Lisa is she’s smack-bang on target for the readers: a middle-aged woman battling health and relationship issues. Not to mention how much Aussies enjoy a fallen tall poppy. This week, New Idea has pulled the most gorgeous rabbit out of the hat with its cover, “Lisa Curry: How I lost 13kg … to celebrate my 50th birthday!” It’s heaven, absolute heaven. Lisa looks amazing in her orange bikini. I’ve examined the shot closely and any photoshopping is very subtle. I reckon it’s basically her, with maybe a little arm and thigh smoothing. Glorious. I’d be stoked to look like her at 50. Or 44, actually. But I won’t be following her diet, I’d rather be fat than have her morning tea, a “Super Juice” comprising 30% carrots, 20% bok choy, 20% celery, 10% cabbage, 10% apple, 5% broccoli and 5% beetroot. That sounds absolutely revolting. New Idea is also filled with lots of celebrity baby news. Celebrity baby news is my favourite**. I love seeing the bumps develop and watching the celebs go wild eating everything they can lay their hands on. Not to mention the cute little bubbas at the end (though they don’t really twiddle my knobs til they’re cute little toddlers). I’m particularly excited about Drew Barrymore. Finally, after all those failed relationships, she’s getting married and having a baby (and hopefully not letting it go to nightclubs at age 8 like she did). Oh, and a special mention must to go to New Idea’s Aliens Visit Me At Home story. It’s ace. Queenslanders actually allowing themselves to be photographed and discussing their encounters with extra-terrestrials. Loving! So, New Idea, you totally win this week. Great to see the Grand Dames of weekly publishing scoring some yummy exclusives lately, even if last week’s Shane and Liz cover didn’t race off the stands.
PS As of Monday, my blather about magland will be moving to Kidspot, in my new blog on Village Voices. I will make sure to send links to it when it publishes.
* Ooooh, this is fun. Almost as therapeutic as discovering boxing on the cruise and pretending the pad was enemies’ faces. The money I could have saved myself in therapy …
** My giddy aunt, did you see that Jessica Simpson had a nine pound 13 ounce baby girl called Maxwell? That’s gotta hurt, in so many ways.
housegoeshome 
Have you got a paid gig for blog writing?
Poorly paid.
Congratulations. That’s awesome.