Komo esta?
What goes around, comes around even for komodo dragons.
Komo, the young komodo dragon who made headlines after taking a bite out of the foot of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Phil Bronstein during an L.A. Zoo visit arranged by his wife, actress Sharon Stone, has suffered an appendage injury of his own.
The 3-year-old lizard was recovering last week from a fracture that zoo officials believe he sustained while climbing an artificial rock. The injury kept him out of view when the zoo opened its “Dragons of Komodo” exhibit earlier this month.
The good news is Komo is doing well and was expected to return to public view in three to six weeks, said Michael Dee, the zoo’s general curator. He said Komo would not be wearing a cast.
“You’re talking about a 7-foot animal that is relatively nice but after catching him two or three times (to change the cast), it would not be very nice,” Dee said. “We want everybody to go home in one piece.”
Christmas Presence
EToys is back, or rather the ghost of the online toy pioneer.
After eToys folded in March, KBkids.com purchased most of its assets for a reported $8.8 million. On Oct. 10, the eToys site was re-launched, just in time for the holiday season.
Former eToys customers received e-mails recently heralding $5 discounts on sizable purchases made by Nov. 15. Aside from the eToys logo, the relaunched site appears to be little different from KBkids.com.
Business Moguls
Want to raise an entrepreneur?
Activision Value Publishing, a subsidiary of Santa Monica-based Activision Publishing Inc., has introduced three new PC games for the business-savvy gamer. The new titles include “Skate Board Park Tycoon,” “Ski Resort Tycoon 2” and “Fast Food Tycoon 2.”
The games challenge budding “tycoons” to build their own facilities, add bells and whistles and, perhaps, cut a profit.
In the skate park game players start off with a parking lot and a small amount of money. With those initial funds they add obstacles such as ramps, rails and curbs in order to attract customers.
Activision officials are hoping “Skate Board Park Tycoon” will appeal to the millions of gamers who have bought the company’s “Tony Hawk Pro Skater” action games.
“It’s a totally different idea,” an Activision Value spokesman said. “But it’s the same customer.”
