Cartoonist Troy Walker created a comic strip in 1991 about a sponge with a personality.

Bob Spongee had eyes, legs and arms. He lived on Apple Street with his wife, Linda, and their daughter, Bubbles.

Walker, of Fairfield, Calif., then produced 1,000 dolls: yellow sponges with a “drawn-on” face that he sold as collectibles in flea markets and through the mail.

In 2002, he learned about Nickelodeon’s buck-toothed animated character, “SpongeBob SquarePants,” who lives underwater in the fictitious city of Bikini Bottom.

“They took all of it,” Walker said this week. “I sold the Bob Spongees all throughout Northern California. It obviously fell into the hands of one of the producers of the show. It’s a clear pattern of duplication.”

SpongeBob’s image now decorates almost any object children use — from lunch boxes and sippy cups to pillow cases and window curtains.

The 40-year-old cartoonist has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against Nickelodeon, Viacom, Paramount Studios and Stephen Hillenberg, the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Walker has demanded $1.6 billion in damages, alleging that the defendants used his idea without his permission.

[more]

Anyone who’s ever talked to me about politics in the last six or seven years will probably not be one bit surprised that I find this interesting:

Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) is contacting powerbrokers in the Republican Party to build support for a 2008 presidential campaign by his one-time protege, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.).

Baker, who Wednesday made a visit to the Senate, was asked by several Republicans about his involvement on Thompson’s behalf.

“He said, ‘I am making a few calls and I think it’s a great idea,’” said one Senate Republican who heard Baker discuss his efforts to advance Thompson’s prospects.

One Republican who discussed a possible bid with Thompson described his interest and Baker’s queries as “a friendly exploration.”

…Rumors about Thompson running for president have filtered into Republican circles during the last several weeks. One lobbyist who recently asked Thompson about his plans said that Thompson merely smiled and replied, “I’m keeping my powder dry.”

Well, huh. Via The New Republic’s blog.

Consumerist has what appears to be a leaked copy of the breakdown of customers touted by Wal-Mart as their new marketing approach. What was (weirdly) most interesting to me was the stock photo choices they made:

“Price Value Shopper” is a white, presumably suburban woman (a mother?) wearing an apron, standing outside and holding a pie (!) Hard to tell where outside — is that an electricity meter on the side of a house behind her?

“Trendy Quality Seeker” is probably a teenage girl who buys things from stores other than Wal-Mart, because Wal-Mart doesn’t send purchases home in green paper bags with wire and cardboard handles.

“Convenience Seekers” include guys who wear shirts with namepatches and stand in places where you might find pegboard, like garages or hardware stores.

“Price Sensitive Affluents”? Rob and Laura Petrie, age 55.

Also, who’s the actor that the “Conscientious Objector” most closely resembles? I can’t think of his name and it’s killing me… Help, internets!