Simon & Schuster Teams With Starz Media to Bring 'Raggedy Ann & Andy' Back to the Screen.
ENTERTAINMENT CLOSE-UP-11 February 2008-Simon & Schuster Teams With Starz Media to Bring 'Raggedy Ann & Andy' Back to the Screen(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com Children's Publishing, a children's book publisher, announced that it has partnered with Starz Media to develop and produce a series of "Raggedy Adventures"...

Bandai America Debuts Action Figures and Tech Toys at Toy Fair.
ENTERTAINMENT CLOSE-UP-18 February 2008-Bandai America Debuts Action Figures and Tech Toys at Toy Fair(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com Bandai America is unveiling new offerings at the 2008 American International Toy Fair in New York City. We are unveiling a strong mix of brands reflecting our...

The XX century ceramic 'Via Crucis' by Teonesto Deabate: Melanie Zefferino reports on the decoration of St Anthony Chapel after restoration.
[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] ACCORDING TO THE HISTORIANS, Villafranca Piemonte, a small village close to Turin, Italy, is firstly mentioned in an official document dated 1197. The nucleus of the Catholic church of St Anthony, nearby the town centre, is ascribable to the same age. The original chapel was...

Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space.
Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space, by Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles. Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press, 2006. xvi, 280 pp. $25.95 US (cloth), $16.95 US (paper). In 1965 US toy manufacturer Mattel released Miss Astronaut Barbie, complete with silver space suit, helmet, boots, and American flag. Beginning...

Mary McConnell, Cameron Treleaven, Aritha van Herk. Editions and Impressions: Collectors and Their Love of the Works of L.M. Montgomery.
Mary McConnell, Cameron Treleaven, Aritha van Herk. Editions and Impressions: Collectors and Their Love of the Works of L.M. Montgomery. Calgary: Information Resources, University of Calgary, 2005. 42 pp.; $10.00. ISBN 0-88953-279-6. It is difficult to say whether the catalogue of the recent exhibition at the Nickle...

Opening the Lions Gate to DR: Anne Parducci brings her marketing expertise from the Barbie[R] doll line to the film studio as it prepares its initial DR foray with "Dirty Dancing.".
"There are now more than 40,000 movie titles available on DVD, but the shelf space at retail remains pretty stagnant," says Anne Parducci, executive vice president, family entertainment and marketing at Lions Gate Entertainment in Santa Monica, Calif. "The audience is everything in the entertainment world. It's all about...

She's a doll: (no, really, she is).
Lindsay Lohan is getting the Barbie treatment. The toy company Mattel is turning the actress into a red-haired doll in time for summer. The Lindsay doll wears a party dress, fur-trimmed coat, and high heels. Adding to the movie-star treatment is a director's chair and a velvet rope. ...

Creative Cloth Doll Faces.
Creative Cloth Doll Faces Patti Medaris Culea Quarry/Rockport Publishers 33 Commercial St, Gloucester, MA 01930 159253144X $24.99 www.rockpub.com The doll's face is its most compelling feature and the key to a doll's personality--it's also the most difficult to render:...

Religious Right takes aim at line of popular 'American Girl' dolls.
Move over Tinky Winky and SpongeBob SquarePants! The Religious Right has a new target for its wrath: a line of dolls produced by the American Girl Company. The American Girl firm, now owned by Mattel, produces a series of dolls representing various U.S. historical periods. The dolls...

Increased momentum for Japan's robot market.
On June 23, 2005, several outlets carried a Reuters story originating in Tokyo about the plans of a Japanese security company to begin offering robot security services to offices, shopping malls, and banks within a year. The story pointed out that Japan's population is aging rapidly. According...