Bratz World: June 2005

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

RIP John Walton

Wal Mart has always been a big supporter of the Bratz line. This guy did a lot of good things too it looks like and sounded like he was probably a nice person to know. :(

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Walton Remembered for Education Efforts
By MELISSA NELSON

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wal-Mart heir John T. Walton, who died in the crash of his experimental, ultralight aircraft, was remembered as a friendly man who threw his considerable financial support behind efforts to educate low-income children.

Walton, of Jackson, Wyo., crashed shortly after takeoff Monday from Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, the company said. The cause of the crash was not known and park rangers planned an investigation, officials said. Walton was 58.

"I think all you can say is he was just a good man and today, you grieve," Jay Allen, Wal-Mart senior vice president of corporate affairs, told The Morning News of Springdale.

Walton, the middle of three sons of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and a member of the company's board, was a major advocate of school vouchers, supporting efforts to create taxpayer-funded ways for students to attend private schools.

Walton founded the Children's Scholarship Fund in 1998 to provide low-income families with money to send their children to private schools. The foundation started with $67 million from the Walton Family Foundation and benefited more than 67,000 children.

In March, Forbes magazine listed John Walton as No. 11 on its list of the world's richest people with a net worth of $18.2 billion. He was tied with his younger brother, Jim, one spot behind his older brother, Rob, who is Wal-Mart chairman, and just ahead of his sister, Alice, and his mother, Helen. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the world's largest retailer.

"I certainly have nothing negative to say about the man at all. He was a prince," said Walton's former wife, Washington County Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn. "He loved to build things. He loved motorcycles. He built his own motorcycle."

The plane he died flying was an experimental ultralight aircraft with a small, gasoline-powered engine and wings wrapped in fabric similar to heavy-duty sail cloth, officials said.

Joan Anzelmo, a spokeswoman for Grand Teton National Park, said Walton, "well-known and much-loved in this valley, died doing something that he loved to do." Rangers will investigate the crash, as is done with any major accident in the park, she said.

The National Transportation Safety Board dispatched an investigator from the Denver regional office to monitor developments at the scene, officials said.

At this point there's no decision to launch a full-fledged investigation, NTSB spokesman Paul Schlamm said Tuesday. Ultralights are generally outside NTSB's jurisdiction.

Michael Collins, a flight instructor with Jackson Hole Aviation, said the wings were intact, and the tail broke from the rest of the plane but remained intact.

Walton appeared to have died on impact, but an autopsy was planned to determine whether any health factors might have played a role in the crash, Teton County coroner Bob Campbell said.

Jim Courtovich, who spent two years getting the Children's Scholarship Fund off the ground, said Walton was a devoted sponsor who "didn't just donate money, he donated time and energy." Walton would clear days at a time from his schedule to focus on the project, he said.

Courtovich also said that Walton had a casual manner and, like his father, not above doing chores himself. One time, skiing in Jackson Hole, he said Walton "had to leave early because he had to caulk his chimney."

John Walton was a major stockholder in Wal-Mart, with about 12 million shares of the company's stock. He also shared ownership of about 1.7 billion shares with his family in a joint partnership called Walton Enterprises LLC. Walton joined the board of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 1992 and served on its on the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee.

John Walton was an Army veteran who served with the Green Berets as a medic during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Silver Star for saving the lives of several members of his unit while under enemy fire, according to the company.

He attended the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, and served as a board member of the Walton Family Foundation, which played a key role in fund-raising in the University of Arkansas' recent Campaign for the 21st Century. The Walton family made a $300 million gift to the campaign in 2002.

Besides his mother and siblings, Walton is survived by his wife, Christy, and son, Luke.

On the Net:

http://www.walmart.com

http://www.scholarshipfund.org

Friday, June 24, 2005

Step Out Bratz!

Step Out Bratz at walmart.com

Yasmin

Yasmin

Yasmin

Sasha

Sasha

Sasha

Cloe

Cloe

Cloe

Cool pix thanks for the heads up by Bratz World
member belfallbr!

Campfire Bratz !

Campfire Bratz at Walmart.com

Yasmin

Yasmin

Yasmin

Yasmin

Phoebe

Phoebe

Phoebe

Phoebe

Cloe

Cloe

Cloe

Cloe

Cool pix thanks for the heads up by Bratz World
member belfallbr!

Wild Wild West

Wild Wild West at Walmart.com

Fianna

Fianna

Fianna

Dana

Dana

Dana

Yasmin

Yasmin

Yasmin

Cool pix thanks for the heads up by Bratz World
member belfallbr! Now we just need to get Kianna in stock too!

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Ponyz!

Gallop, don't walk over to KB Toys and get yer Poniez! :) Thanks Trey for the head's up!

More Pix!

http://www.boomspeed.com/stormgirl/429651D.jpg

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Bratz World

Monday, June 20, 2005

More Rock Angelz :)

Rock Angelz no Sasha yet

http://www.boomspeed.com/stormgirl/RA74.jpg

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Cool pix thanks to Bratz World member Ava!

A Bratz and PEZ connection :)

Its not about just the Bratz but a cool inside look at the lady who designs stuff for PEZ including the Bratz!

Resident teams with PEZ to produce Madagascar dispensers

By Heidi Slomkowski, Staff Writer 06/20/2005

BRANFORD - PEZ Candy Inc. is a company of global proportions. According to PEZ.com, the candy's moniker was derived from the German word for peppermint more than 70 years ago and today, PEZ Candy and Dispensers are sold in 60 countries throughout the world.
The confectionary giant also has strong local ties.

Amy Graver, Branford resident and president of Elements, LLC, an award-winning graphic design firm in New Haven, recently designed PEZ dispenser packaging for Dreamworks' computer animation film Madagascar, which opens this weekend.
"It's exciting because we've gotten a lot of buzz about it with the movie coming out," Graver said.

The movie's main characters are Central Park Zoo animals that include a lion, voiced by Ben Stiller, and a zebra, voiced by Chris Rock. It was up to Graver to decide how these and other characters were presented on the dispenser packaging while ensuring that they adhered to a strict set of licensor requirements.

For about a year and a half, she has been facing similar challenges through designing everything from packaging to counter display boxes to promotional materials for PEZ.

"It's challenging for us, we do a lot of work with PEZ on licensed products such as Mickey Mouse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hello Kitty, BRATZ, so its always a challenge because it comes with restrictions from different licensers that we have to pass our designs through to get approval," Graver said.

While designing logos, annual brochures, websites, promotional banners and tee-shirts for PEZ and other corporation, Graver works towards keeping Elements "creative, exciting and different."

"We like being very diverse, we don't want to see ourselves specializing in any one thing," she said. "I think that one of the reasons Elements is such a creative firm is because in any given day we can work on something very corporate, something very artistic to something completely different."

As a young child, Graver took private art lessons and later attended the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven while a student at Branford High School. After graduating in 1986, she worked toward a degree in journalism at Northeastern University and then worked as a photojournalist for the Boston Globe. It was through her work as a photographer when she, "got interested in how my images could be used artistically to tell a story and communicate, so that's how I got into it."

In 1999, she began her work in graphic design and founded Elements in Hampton, Conn. Although she does not have a degree in the field, establishing the firm was "a natural step" due to her longtime involvement in the arts.

The company began to prosper and, in 2003, she and her support staff moved to their present New Haven location. Today, with clients like PEZ and Dreamworks, Graver has experienced a great deal of success. Overall, she is content not only professionally but personally as well while living in Branford with her husband Scott and 11-month-old son Cole.

"I like where my firm is now, I like being in New Haven, because a lot of my clients are here and I love living in Branford, raising a family, I have a small baby and my husband and I love Branford," Graver said.

www.bratzworld.tv

Saturday, June 18, 2005

More Bratz Super Heros!

More by DD and Tom :)

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Bratz World

Game screen-shot-o-rama!

Thursday, June 16, 2005

More MD Pix :)

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Midnight Dance Pix :)

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

THQ and fun with the Bratz Game :)

I got to see the Bratz Game in action today- pretty cool! (first posted on BW Yahoo)

http://www.bratzworld.tv

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This was pretty darn cool! Its going to be hard to have to wait for October when its due out but its a GREAT game. I got to hang out with the cool folks of THQ today and for about an hour we talked about the game and it was demonstrated and played and I even made a suggestion for it and they were like "great idea!" so we'll see if it shows up! Yes its still being added to and tweaked and they said the developers always add in special stuff no one knows about until its out. Remember too that contest in the UK someone gets to record their voice for use in the game and meet the designers. I don't think that happened yet because the voices I heard used were not all the final ones but they mentioned that they were hearing familar ones with the voices they knew were going to be used so some were done or close to it.

Since we had all wondered who that lady was- the older lady we have seen in screen shots is named Miss Pink, the mean owner of the magazine "Pink" (what else!) that Jade gets fired from. There are also two meanies called the Twievils (or is it Twevils?? LOL) Two evil mean teen Twins that look like Miss Pink (blonde hair in buns) that are hired at the same mag and get Jade fired. One you will see always has a band-aid on her nose since she always gets plastic surgery LOL. They are not characters you can use in the game but they'll be there and will talk to you when you encounter them.

Thats the same story with the Boyz- they are not characters for play but will be around and will interact with you when you approach them. There will not be any Petz (that they know of) but there was a cute squirrel I saw! He was boinging around this park area with a fountain and trees and stuff. I didn't see other creatures but who knows as you go along plus who knows what might be added!

The characters are not un-named Bratz you create tho, they are the four main girls, Sasha, Cloe Yasmin and Jade with Jade being the somewhat lead girl since the story revolves around her.. So she gets fired and they throw her a party to comfort her and decide to start their own magazine with their own ideas and creations and split up the responsibilites. Along the way they also start their band and will take off to London. So you will be going along with them as they do the tasks that need to be done to get their magazine launched and the stuff to be done for it- plus as you go along there is also band stuff to do.. its pretty cool you begin to feel like you really are getting a lot of cool stuff accomplished. I know there was a mention of the band being undercover for something but its not that way now (who knows what may have been discussed at some point and then changed as you can see lots we thought was going to be the game has changed like the characters being ones you make up) .

Of course always available is shopping and collecting your personal tokens and bling thats lying about and thats your money for all your STUFF you want. You will be spending and earning too as you accomplish tasks and shopping in the mall. You will love how even tho its the four main Bratz you will have your girl looking like no one else's guaranteed because of all your make-up, accessories and fashions and shoes.. Your character will stay that way for the whole game unless you change her. Things are in themes like the Bratz use and the one thats really obvious here is the Treasures look and theme. But you can mix and match pieces from other themes as you go along to higher levels. The make-up is even in themes and of course when I saw the "Midnight Dance" make-up theme I said "Oh lets go there!" but it was locked because some stuff you only get access to when you have accomplished certain tasks.

Of course the ultimate level and reward is the band and flying off to adventure. The sound track was the Bratz CD and they were not sure yet if it would have tracks on it not on the CD but who knows! At that time you could access almost every song since every song on the CD will be in the game.

Some of the things done that I watched were making your own t-shirt designs that the Bratz could then wear, making posters for the band that you could put up around town (yes some smaller tasks can be done/played around with pretty early on after they get their magazine office set up). It was so cute- they have clips from the DVD in there. We were joking about the office set-up because you see them painting and climbing ladders in this wrecky looking space (a rat runs by! :) ) and then the DVD clips roll and pretty quickly its this amazing space with computers and huge posters of the Bratz its really great looking so its like- um where did That money come from? Allowance and Bratz-dadz and momz most likely LOL It was cute, hey its supposed to be fun. No one wants to see them on packing boxes in a shack right? There are a few questions I asked that they are getting the answers for so I'lll let you know all that cool stuff when I know it.

Its so cool that they were all real Bratz fans one of them his daughter collects Bratz too and spoke very knowingly about hiding the Bratz you want in shelves in store so you can come back for it! We talked about how cool you guys were on Bratz World and all the amazing creative stuff you do like the custom work and re-rooting and Joseph's foot modifications! The THQ people have done a great job- their designs of the mall and the Bratz rooms and the offices and shops (even sky and trees and just things you pass by) are really great. You'll want to move in! Its also made where even if you just want to hang around doing different fashions and make-up you can.

There are little challenges that pop up that are very much like something from America's next Top Model- the one I saw was a posing challenge that you had to memorize the ones you did and then do them again when its called out as fast as you can. You earn Bling for that too. Its also just so much fun to watch. We did do some joking in the game about- "Okay so she can't pull out a machine gun right now right?" and once when Cloe was stuck at a door we were laughing "Karate kick it open!" They don't do those things but in the posing challenge they can kick and move really well so hmmmm I wonder.. *wink*

When I left there I was pretty happy with what I saw and know you guys are going to love the game. LOL they gave me a bag with Champagne and a cigar and a very awesome looking bottle opener that looks like something out of Star Wars. THQ likes to hang with a major party crowd so their gifts matched ! I saw bits and stuff from all of their games but it was pretty cool we were in a big room with a large screen TV and it was just all about the Bratz! THQ rocks!

I am going to give the handmade cigar to my sweetie's dad and maybe we'lll crack open that champagne later. You'll love the game! I am sure when people go "missing" sometime in October we'll know they are off in their own Bratz World! If I remember other things I may have forgotten here I'll post them. Sorry if anything is mispelled or something I am kinda going fast to hopefully remember everything!!
:)
sfb