New York's Lottery Of Cuteness - Update

Do you remember that insanely cute commercial from New York's 'Sweet Million' Lottery? Yet again, it looks like the New York 'Sweet Million' Lottery is trying to sell us another bowl full of cute with this new commercial.

Orange County

So the word around town is that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be proposing today that the state sell multiple properties around the State of California, including the Orange County Fairgrounds, to raise capital. The government is calling this move an “extraordinary” response to extraordinarily tough times.

In documents obtained by the Orange County Register, seven locations are listed as examples of high value sites:

• OC Fairgrounds
• San Quentin Prison
• Los Angeles Coliseum
  
• Del Mar Fairgrounds
  
• The Cow Palace
  
• Ventura Fair, and
  
• Cal Expo (site of the State Fair) in Sacramento

The OC Fairgrounds have an estimated worth of $96 million to $180 million and could be sold, like the other properties, in 24 to 60 months, according to the documents.

Cow Palace is estimated to be worth between $40 million and $75 million. Del Mar Fairgrounds, $350 million to $650 million. Cal Expo, $80 million to $150 million. Ventura County Fair, $37 million to $70 million. San Quentin up to $1 billion.

The plan contains brief sales pitches for each of the properties.

The Orange County Fairgrounds, for instance, is "very well located in the coastal community of Costa Mesa," near the 55 Freeway, making it "a very high value, centrally located . . . development opportunity for Orange County."

Would they build office buildings? Or more multi-family housing?

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures,” the document begins. “(But) taking action now can help shore up California’s financial future.”

None of this is really significant to me, other than the potential closing of the Orange County Fairgrounds, since I'm about five minutes away from the giant lot. I'd miss going to the fair every year, riding the rides, EATING THE FOOD.....

However, correct me if I'm wrong.... I don't think they're going to sell any of these properties.... I think this is a huge "red herring". We're getting the wool pulled over our eyes. This is an opportunity for our government to tell us that they're going to sell some of our most prized landmarks. Then we'll spend the next month or so groveling at their feet to keep the landmarks, so they'll stay open, and our children can enjoy them, and their children's children, and so on....

After the month of groveling, they'll seem to cave, and they'll tell us that they won't be selling our beloved treasures. We will all be relieved. Very soon after this, we'll see an initiative to raise our taxes. And they will claim this is because they tried other ways to raise capital quickly, and we liked none of them. So the only thing they can do now is raise taxes. And we'll approve of the tax hikes because they saved our cherished fairgrounds....

What's next? Are they going to come out with a plan to tell us that they're planning to cut the police force in California in half, and that doing this will make our state less safe, but it's a necessary evil.

Oooooh, maybe they'll hit us where it hurts, our children. Maybe they'll tell us that they're going to need to fire teachers and close down schools. This will decrease the quality of our children's education due to larger class sizes, and it will add to the average commute parents who have to drive their children to school.

Dear Government of the State of California:

Please make an attempt to decrease all the "BS" spending, or raise my taxes already! Stop this feeble attempt of tugging at the heartstrings of the citizens, only to fiscally prey upon the citizens who provide a majority of the support that you receive now through our taxpayer dollars. We don't appreciate it.

Sincerely

Your Citizen

OC Fair Performers

The Orange County Fair has come and gone this year, and a recent edition of the Los Angeles Times included an article about the "riders" and market value of the performers at the fair. For those of you who don't know, riders are items that are requested by the performers. Here's some information from that article.

"Linda Ronstadt, who was paid $100,000 for one performance, insists that four kinds of doctors be available: a throat specialist, a general practitioner, a dentist and a chiropractor. A certified massage therapist also needs to be on standby.

"We certainly try to provide whatever we can that's on their list. Usually we do pretty well," said John Sullivan, entertainment producer for the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa. "Each artist has their own unique preparation for their performance that we try to respect."

In its contract, Big Head Todd & the Monsters seeks one "bottle of Vodka (Ketel One, Stoli, Absolut, Skyy), or one bottle of smoooooooooth Tequila (Petron [sic], Herradura, Cuervo Gold, etc.) or one bottle of Scotch (Dears [sic], Glen-this, Glen-that, Glen anything)."

Paul Simon's contract doesn't specify special meals or food. When his crew arrives today, it will include a personal caterer, said Jeff Willson, a spokesman for the fair.

As the highest-paid artist at this year's fair, it's a luxury Simon can afford.

The pay for headline performers at this year's Pacific Amphitheater Summer Concert Series, which is part of the Orange County Fair:

Paul Simon: $325,000, plus 85% of the gross box-office revenue.

The Moody Blues: $300,000.

Velvet Revolver: $275,000.

Steve Miller Band: $225,000, plus $7,500 bonus if more than 7,500 tickets are sold.

Scorpions: $220,000.

Seal: $200,000.

Bill Cosby: $150,000.

Linda Ronstadt: Minimum $100,000.

Hawthorne Heights: $100,000.

Chris Isaak: $100,000.

Cyndi Lauper: $100,000.

Switchfoot: $90,000.

Michael Bolton: $85,000, plus $10,000 bonus for sold-out show.

The All-American Rejects: $85,000.

Gnarls Barkley: $75,000.

Shaggy: $65,000.

X: $55,000.

Lifehouse: $40,000.

Maldita Vecindad: $40,000.

Julieta Venegas: $40,000.

John Kay & Steppenwolf: $35,000.

David Crowder Band: $30,000.

Jefferson Starship: $30,000.

Big Head Todd & the Monsters: $25,000.

Here are some of the perks in the artists' contracts:

The All-American Rejects
1 jar of honey, preferably the little bear
1 package of Juicy Juice, all flavors
1 bottle of wine from this list: Artesa Cabernet Sauvignon, Hendry Zinfandel, Q Syrah, Ancien Pinot Noir

1 bottle of Bonny Doon Muscat dessert wine

Gnarls Barkley
1 bucket of fried chicken (20 pieces)
1 bag of Snickers Miniatures
1 dozen Dunkin or Krispy Kreme doughnuts
1 pack of Magnum condoms
1 pack of Swisher Sweets Blunt cigars

Steve Miller Band
The band requires promoters, sponsors and venue staff to use "all recycling opportunities available in your locale, and the application of as many reusable, nonpolluting products as possible. The production also appreciates any efforts which can be made to donate unused food and beverages to local food banks and charities."

Bill Cosby
A sweatshirt with the O.C. Fair's logo on the top left-hand corner. "The phrase HELLO FRIEND should be stitched onto the front of the sweatshirt. HELLO in one line, and FRIEND in a separate line. Each letter should be three (3) inches in height, and multicolor if available; if not, the same color for each letter is fine.

"This message is in memory of Mr. Cosby's son Ennis Cosby. This is how Ennis would greet people, by saying, 'Hello friend.' "