Variables in MySQL Insert Queries

I am using this code to connect to my database and insert form data from a user: $connect = mysql_connect("myhost","user","pass") or die (" not connected"); @mysql_select_db("dbname"); $sql="INSERT INTO tablename (id,first,last,age,email,sfuser,sfship,icq,ac,loca,ref) Values(,$first,$last,'$age',$email,$sfuser,$sfship,$icq,$ac,`$ loca,$ref`)"; echo (mysql_affected_rows()?"success":"failure"); mysql_close($connect); The script returns "success" except for it doesn't insert the data ( from a form ). The age column is BLOB, not INT. I would really appreciate the help of someone, as this has really stumped me. Thanks, plague