BARBIE AND BRATZ GO TO COURT


Seems that things are not cozy or even chummy in Barbie's world these days since Bratz dolls have taken the market share from the fashionista. As if things weren't bad enough with the Mattel family of dolls over the past couple of years, now they have to add a legal challenge to their pot of problems. Here's the sad story so far:

The maker of Barbie dolls, Mattel, has argued that it should own the rights to Barbie's younger rivals, the popular Bratz dolls range. The toy giant argued at the start of a court case that the 10-inch characters were created by a former employee while he was still working for Mattel. It wants competitor MGA Entertainment to stop selling Bratz products. But MGA contends that Carter Bryant came up with the Bratz designs when not working for Mattel. The smaller rival says Mr Bryant first had the idea in 1998, when he had been out of Mattel's employment for eight months, and that the dolls were developed by MGA engineers in late 2000 and 2001.

Here are some doll statistics regarding the group:

June 2001: Bratz dolls launchedMain characters: Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha and Jade dressed in urban fashions
September 2004: Bratz outsell Barbie in the UK
September 2005: Bratz animated TV series airs
August 2007: Bratz online community launched

But in the opening day of evidence in California, an attorney for Mattel said Mr Bryant's sketches were done on Mattel notepaper and that he worked on the designs for a year while still working for the company.

"MGA didn't hire him straight away," said Mattel attorney John Quinn. "They polished the fashion doll design using Mattel resources and Mattel personnel."

Earlier this month, Mattel dropped its claim against designer Carter Bryant for $35m in royalties he had been paid by MGA Entertainment for his work on the Bratz dolls. MGA said Mattel's claims against it were "equally baseless" and said it intended to counter-sue for $1bn in damages at the end of the current court case. Barbie has slipped in popularity since the launch of the Bratz franchise in 2001. As well as dolls, the Bratz product range includes clothes for young girls, stationery and a feature-length movie featuring the characters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7423435.stm

Extra: Barbie comments on the case!

In a recent interview with the newly released Barbie from her cardboard prison located in a warehouse... somewhere, the glamorous symbol of the vinyl set for her part, says that she only wants what is rightfully hers. Whatever that is once the dust settles.

"Designer shoes...designer outfits...designer purses...limos...my needs are simple," Barbie said, when asked for a reaction to what is happening, "especially compared to those Bratz girls! I hear they even got their own TV series! That's it! I'm suing!"

GI Joe who happened to be sitting next to her, came to her defence.

"Yeah - she only wants what's hers! D'ya think it was easy having to live in a cardboard box? Well I can tell 'ya - it wasn't! It was hard! Read hard! No bullets...no tanks... Nothing! No way to defend everyone from the enemy. Right babe?"

More updates as they occur.

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NEIGHBORS: an ongoing play
By Eleanor Tylbor



I first wrote this play perhaps 10 years ago and as usual, have updated/tweaked and revised the story line countless times...too many to count. This is the first 8 of 68 pages. I'm toying with the idea of perhaps making it a one-act or...continuing and fininishing it. IMHO - this is the best version...so far.

Comments welcome.



NEIGHBORS



CAST OF CHARACTERS:


TAYLOR, JEFFREY, 45,
PORTMAN, ROBBIE, 47,
JENKINS, 50, next door neighbor on other side
PATTY, 40-ish, bartender
MARTINI, 60, land surveyor and friend of PORTMAN


THE TIME

The present, mid-summer


SETTING: Back garden(s) of two neighbors. A picket fence separates their properties

AT RISE: Morning. Hot summer's day.

SOUND: Lawnmowers

ROBBIE (ROB) PORTMAN lazes in a hammock reading a book while holding a glass of liquid in the other. Dressed in cut-off jeans and a grungy tee shirt, his hair is long and unkempt and he sports a heavy beard

JEFFREY TAYLOR, his next-door neighbor is the antithesis of Portman and a perfectionist. He hoes his garden wearing a short-sleeved dress shirt and pants. He stops to rest and
makes his way over to the fence and studies PORTMAN


TAYLOR
(wiping forehead)
Phew-ee! Must be a hundred degrees in the shade today. I’d be indoors right now if my tomatoes didn’t need pampering. That’s the real secret of growing big veggies, y’know. Give ‘em extra ‘TLC’… Hello? Hope I'm not disturbing you or anything

PORTMAN

(Takes gulp of liquid from glass)

Must be them damn chipmunks making a racket again

TAYLOR
How long you been laying there?

PORTMAN
Let's see now...what time did the sun come up?

TAYLOR
Had another liquid breakfast, I assume?

PORTMAN
For your information it was healthy and started with a glass of orange juice

TAYLOR
Oranges and ? You expect me to believe that you drank straight orange juice? Pllleeze!

PORTMAN
Go suck on a lemon

TAYLOR
My-oh-my! Touchy, aren’t we?

PORTMAN
Anything you say goes in one ear and out the other

TAYLOR
You know damn well what I'm getting at

PORTMAN
Just say it. You’re dying to. Then go away - forever!

TAYLOR
It’s not like I haven’t expressed my feelings a thousand times before

PORTMAN
How does what I do affect your life?

TAYLOR
Christ Portman, it's only gone ten in the morning! You’re well on your way to turning into an alcoholic. Doesn't that bother you? Why am I asking such a dumb question

PORTMAN
Been there…heard it all before so don’t waste your breath. Go tend to your…carrots or something. They need the Taylor touch

TAYLOR
Don’t ask me why but I care ‘bout you. Maybe something to do with the fact we've been neighbors going on twenty years and I don't wanna see you end up with cirrhosis of the liver…or worse

PORTMAN
Since when do you give a crap about whether I live or die? My passing would make it easier for you. You could get a neighbor that would love zucchinis and the two of you could get all touchy/feely running your hands all over them

TAYLOR
Don’t feel like breaking in a new neighbor at this stage Do you see the incongruity in your chosen profession?

PORTMAN
Maybe I would if I could understand the question. Can’t you speak plain English like us regular people?

TAYLOR
You know… The absurdity of it all? Do you get what I’m trying to tell you?

PORTMAN
Not really but I’ll have a dictionary handy the next time you give me another of your life lectures

TAYLOR
Owning a bar must be the best thing that ever happened to you with your thirst

PORTMAN
It’s a living and I like the people who drop by. You know – regular people, something you wouldn’t know anything about

TAYLOR
Denial - the sign of a true alcoholic. Can’t you see the writing on the wall?

PORTMAN
Not really but that dumb "keep of the grass” sign you got posted all over your property is the joke of the neighborhood

(Drains glass and checks watch)

Gotta leave. Patty is opening for me today

TAYLOR
She another of those hooter waitresses you hired?

PORTMAN
As if someone like you notice those things. You’re more into cucumbers if you get my drift and for your information – not that I owe you anything - Patty is the right hand to my left

TAYLOR
I bet she is – and then some

PORTMAN
What would someone like you know about the opposite sex?

TAYLOR
Spare me another of your drunken hallucinations

PORTMAN
Take a look at yourself and your life. Work your butt off for a multi-national all those years, and what's it got you? A dinky house and a veggie garden

TAYLOR
Save me from the melancholy drunk offering his view of life, in a brief second of clarity. What would someone like you know about the employment world? Huh? In all the years we've lived next door to each other, the only position I've seen you hold is lying on your back, with your lips glued to the rim of a beer bottle. How long has it been, anyway, since you held down any type of job if ever?

PORTMAN
What's it your business?

TAYLOR
I figure you must be in your mid-forties or thereabouts?

PORTMAN
Never found a position to suit my qualifications

TAYLOR
Must be ne'er impossible to find a company that's looking for a hammock tester. How you've managed to survive on next to nothing is nothing short of a miracle, but then I would imagine your needs are few and far between. A bottle opener, a case of beer and you're all set

PORTMAN
Don't need big money to impress people, like you do. I'm a simple guy with simple tastes

TAYLOR
And a raging one for booze. How many bottles d'ya drink of that poison a day? A dozen? More?

PORTMAN
Who counts?

TAYLOR
You sure as hell don't. Just bugs me to see you frittering your life away, doing nothing productive

PORTMAN
So don't look man! Turn your head the other way and mind your own business for a change and not mine! Get off my back!

TAYLOR
All I can say is that I wouldn't waste mine laying on my backside day after day, year after year

PORTMAN
It beats having to listen to you foam at the mouth about the evils of drinking


TAYLOR
A person has'ta leave his mark on this world! He's gotta be able to tell his children and grandchildren: I-was-here!

PORTMAN
My niece and nephew will know all about me, alright ‘cause I’m leaving them something to remember me by. When I pass on, this here house'l go to them, along with those be-u-tee-ful shrubs. Course I'll make sure to have that all included in my will

TAYLOR
By the time they inherit your house if you still own it, those shrubs'l be long gone, I can promise you that

PORTMAN
Might even build a de-lux-ee tree house for them this summer so's their gran-kids can learn all about nature, up close and personal-like

TAYLOR
Wouldn't count on that, if I was you…

PORTMAN
…maybe hang some tire swings from the branches…

TAYLOR
Over my dead body!

PORTMAN
I can arrange that. Anyway, you don't have any say what I do with them shrubs, anyway

TAYLOR
Maybe not right now but don't count on their presence much longer. We been neighbors for how long, now?

PORTMAN
Too long for my liking

TAYLOR
Must be fifteen years at least – maybe twenty?

PORTMAN
Thinking of moving? I know some guys who'll move you real cheap. Of course you may never see your furniture again…

TAYLOR
How come the topic of conversation between us always ends up about your shrubs growing on my property? Ten years of begging you to dig 'em up and they're still standing, getting taller every year. The longer you leave them, the more it's gonna cost you to cut 'em down when the time comes

PORTMAN
They ain't ever gonna be cut so I ain't worried 'bout that

TAYLOR
Why must we have this continuous confrontational relationship? Huh? We used to be close buds in high school. Remember?

PORTMAN
Even then you always thought you was better'n me. Your delusions started early

TAYLOR
Hey! I always defended you when everyone said you weren't fit to live with pigs. It was me who said you were! (laughs)

PORTMAN
Lookout world! Now Taylor thinks he's a comedian! Next thing you know he'll be tryin' to get his own talk show! You're a joke!

TAYLOR
It was a weak attempt at a little levity to lighten up our conversation. Seriously Robbie, what happened to our friendship over the years? We're like strangers

PORTMAN
So now it's ‘Robbie’? Don't try to sweet talk me 'cause I'm on to you. You'll never convince me to cut down my beauties as long as I'm living here, and I don't plan on movin' in the near distant future

TAYLOR
You're taking my gesture of friendship the wrong way. Look, let's forget about our… misunderstandings in the past. With a concerted effort on both our parts, we could be good friends again or at the very least, civil to each other. I mean, I could help you cut down those shrubs, which will save you money that you don't have anyway…

PORTMAN

(springing into an upright position)

…when pigs grow wings! You think I was born yesterday? As long as I do what you want, we can be friends, right? I got news for you! I don't give a damn about bein' your buddy. In fact, I don't even care if we ever speak to each other again! If there was a brick wall separating us, that would suit me just fine

TAYLOR
Don't be so hasty to refuse. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones. We could start the healing process by painting the outside of your house, together. That would be a good start. Hey - I can probably get us a discount on top quality exterior paint at Mackinley's Hardware, since I've been doing business with them for years. It'll be just like things were way back when

PORTMAN
Hel-lo! Ya haven't heard one word I said. Even if we did become friends, which ain't gonna happen in this lifetime, what'll we talk about? Huh? How to grow string beans? Think I don't see through your plan? The only reason you're talkin' to me nice like, is 'cause nothing in the past has worked, and nothing you're gonna do in the future is gonna change a damn thing. Time for another beer. Sure you don't want one?

(takes a beer out of a cooler, snaps off the cap and drinks)

TAYLOR
Thing is, you hav'ta be blind not to see that the shrubs
are a good two feet on my property. Tell you what. As an act of good faith and to show you that I'm sincere, I'll pay half the cost to have them removed. Now tell me that I'm not a good neighbor!

PORTMAN
What-a-guy! Gets me right… (pats his bum) here. Until you can prove to me that they're legally on your side, we ain't got nothin' to talk about. Until then…bottoms up

Wanted: one stripper. Experience not necessary

by Eleanor Tylbor

A theatre company in Norfolk (England) is in desperate need of a thespian... Perhaps acting experience isn't even necessary for this role.

The Boo and Hiss Company (catchy name!) requires the services of a stripper - in the name of art of course - for its fall production of "Fur Coat and No Knickers."

Keith Gilbert, one of the 20-strong players, said: "It's not a difficult role. There are no words, just the stripping down to the underwear bit. "But we can't find a woman to take some of her kit off as part of a stag-night party scene.

"The company made the appeal after one of the group who was pencilled in for the role pulled out because the performance clashed with her 30th birthday party.

Mr Gilbert, who is also mayor of Watton Town Council, added: "There is nothing erotic about it. It's just very, very comical."

The play, written by Mike Harding, tells the story of Deirdre Ollerenshaw and Mark Greenhalgh's wedding and includes the disastrous drunken exploits of a stag night.

Fur Coat and No Knickers will be performed at the Queens Hall, Watton, between 18 and 20 September.

Anyone who is interested in the part should contact Boo and Hiss Company in Watton.

The Boo and Hiss Theatre Company previously staged comical productions including 'Allo! 'Allo! and Are you Being Served?”

“All the money we raised went to the Norfolk and Norwich Scope (NANSA) charity which helps people suffering with cerebral palsy and associated disabilities,” Mr Gilbert said. “Last year we managed to raise £500 for them and we hope to get even better results this year.”Fur Coat and No Knickers will be performed at Watton's Queen's Hall from September 18 to 20.

Think you fit the bill?

For more information contact Keith Gilbert on 07730375986.

Writers & Friends

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In God We Trust. How do you spell that?
by Eleanor Tylbor

Perhaps he means well but somehow changing one's name to "In God We Trust" is bound to have interesting or at least humorous results. If the court allows him to do this.

Steve Kreuscher wants a judge to allow him to legally change his name. He wants to be known as "In God We Trust."

Kreuscher says the new name would symbolize the help God gave him through tough times. The 57-year-old man also says he's worried that atheists may succeed in removing the phrase "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency. He recalls that the phrase "God Reigns" was removed from the Zion city seal in 1992 after Illinois courts deemed it unconstitutional. Zion was founded as a theocracy - by a sect that believed the Earth was flat. The school bus driver and amateur artist in the northern Chicago suburb says he has filed a petition to change his name in Lake County Circuit Court.

************************************************************************************

So let's say he is allowed to change his name to In God We Trust.

Let's say it's time for him to sign his signature.

IN GOD WE TRUST
(paying for food at restaurant)
Do you take major credit cards?

WAITER
Of course, sir

IGWT
Okay...here. Take this one

(waiter walks away examining credit card. Returns a few minutes later)

WAITER
Um... Sir... We seem to have a problem here

IGWT
Oh? Did I put the wrong amount or something?

WAITER
That's fine. Um... It's about your signature?

IGWT
What about it?

WAITER
Um... You signed the motto written on a coin. I'm sure it was a mistake

IGWT
Not!

WAITER
We require a name, sir.

IGWT
In God We Trust!

WAITER
I'm sure you do - we all do, sir. However, we need a real name

IGWT
That is my real name

(Manager joins him)

MANAGER
Is there a problem here?

IGWT
Your waiter won't accept my credit card!

MANAGER
That's right. I told him not to! Sir - we need a name. A real name! Not a political statement or something... In God We Trust cannot in any way be considered a name. So if you'll just show us some other piece of identification...

IGWT
All my identification has In God We Trust. Do you believe in God?

MANAGER
What's that have to do with anything?

IGWT
Well - do you?

MANAGER
My personal beliefs have nothing to do with the present situation at hand. How about paying with some cold cash, instead?

IGWT
See? It's your "who cares" attitude that could cause "In God We Trust" to be removed from our coins!

MANAGER
So you admit that's not your real name! I knew it!

IGWT
I beg your pardon! FYI - that IS my legal name! Here... I'll show you my driver's license...and my vehicle registration...

MANAGER
(reading pieces of identification)
Well, I thought I've seen it all! Forgive me sir. I was wrong and you're right! However, you must admit that this is a bit unusual

IGWT
Let's just say it's my own personal political statement

MANAGER
Fine with me. Now if you'll just sign the bill here... I can't seem to read your second name.

IGWT
E Pluribus Unum. Is there a problem?