Comedians aren't renowned for being great at relationships. Apart from being quite neurotic generally, the typical comic is prone to mining his love life for material, sometimes making fun of his partner. If that person is happy to take a back seat and very tolerant and forgiving, then this may not be such a problem.

But the odds of the relationship surviving go down substantially if the one being mocked is well known. They're even further reduced if he is an insecure comic as well.

Take John Cleese's relationship with American comedienne Barbie Orr. He soon tired of being mocked in her routines and promptly gave her the flick. 

Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton John and her boyfriend Patrick McDermott made a very pretty pair for nine years. Then, a few years ago, he disappeared suddenly, presumed drowned.

Now, private investigators are claiming that he's not dead at all; that he faked his own death and is in hiding on a boat off the Mexico coast.

if this is true then it's a terrible betrayal of Newton John, and I really pity her. It must have been very painful for her to learn that he had drowned. Now, if he turns up alive, she'll have to deal with the fact that he's been deceiving her all this time. She'll have her heart broken all over again!

Relationships are funny things. The participants have such different interpretations of what's going on.

A man and woman can spend the night together regularly and one of them (usually the man) can think it was just a sexual thing - a "friendship with benefits" - while the other thinks it's true love.

The case of Ian Thorpe and Amanda Beard is a case in point. Fighting off persistent rumours that he is gay, the Australian swimmer's agents have pointed to an interview in which he cited a heterosexual romance with American swimmer Beard. She says that no such relationship occurred; that they were merely friends. 

This is bad news for Thorpe and I can't help feeling sorry for him. I couldn't care less about his sexuality. And I think most other Aussies feel the same way.

It's interesting that even in countries that are very tolerant of people's sexual choices there is still a point at which some say "enough!". Take the case of the Brizzy Bangers swingers club, which hosts parties every few weeks. The property on which they occur is close to a school. This has caused some controversy, and there is a push to have it closed down.

Some Australian civil libertarians may roll their eyes at such a reaction, but it's worth remembering that in many other countries the club's owners and partygoers would be in jail for their actions - or maybe even dead!

In many countries nowadays being unclothed in public is not nearly as risque as it used to be. But in Singapore, it is still deemed scandalous in the extreme!

Which is why this young couple's nude walk was so newsworthy. 

The idea that alcohol is bad for a man's sexual performance has been a given for many years. There's even a colloquial phrase used to describe the effect: "brewer's droop".

But it seems that booze might not be so bad after all. A recent West Australian study reveals that men who drink a bit actually have better sexual performance than many who don't. 

It's not only online dating sites that remain unaffected by the recession. The sex toy business continues to thrive also, particularly in Australia. 

The speed dating concept has already used in some rather unusual and surprising ways. And here is another one.

They say that the baby boomers are determined not to slow down as they age. Here's a perfect example of that: a speed dating event for seniors. 

One long held myth about love is that it has nothing to do with money. But I've always been skeptical about that. 

It's much more likely for men with money to be desirable to women. Unemployed males find it very hard to get a date, after all. And recent research has shown that women enjoy sex more if it is with a wealthy man. 

So, money not only "makes the world go round". It makes the earth move, too!