After getting slapped around all last season in the Survivor Fantasy League, I’m in the lead, for now, with my tribe (Ellis Truss) with 349 points.
It’s all about loading up on the people guaranteed of lots of airtime and betting that one of them will speak first at tribal council. Stephenie rarely disappoints in that regard.
My team is Gary, Margaret, Bobby Jon and Stephenie.
Frankly, this part of the season is my least favorite. It’s hard to get to know who’s who and the team competitions are either interchangeable (if the teams are roughly equal) or feel like bullying (because once one team starts to win, they typically tend to keep on winning).
Somebody’s Miracle  The new Liz Phair album, “Somebody’s Miracle,” is pretty interesting.
It splits the difference between her older stuff and her self-titled CD a few years ago. It’s polished, but at the level of her previous albums “Whip-Smart” and “whitechocolatespaceegg,” not to the gleaming level of “Liz Phair.”
It’s very personal and honest, with some very frank discussions about her divorce, the substance abuse of people she knows (and possibly herself) and coming out the other side.
From “Leap of Innocence,” the album’s lead-off track:
And my mistake was being already married.
I wanna make a leap of innocence to you.
I guess when you were living the high life,
It’s one of those things that just can’t last,
Kind of like love in California.
But I never had such a blast.
Her lyrics aren’t at the wacky level they once were, but they still are quite fun and interesting. She remains one of the best lyricists of her generation.
From “Got My Own Thing”:
Ooh boy, I’d love to help give enough rope to hang yourself,
And watch the silly things you do.
Ooh boy, I’d love to help give enough rope to hang yourself,
And I hope you swing it this way too.
Boy, I do.
From “Table for One”:
It’s morning and I pour myself coffee.
I drink it til the kitchen stops shaking.
I’m backing out of the driveway,
And into creation.
And the loving spirit that follows me,
Watching helplessly, will always forgive me.
Oh, I want to die alone,
With my sympathy beside me.
I want to bring down all those demons who drank with me,
Feasting bleed through me,
On my desperation.
For those who want it to be “Exile in Guyville, Part V,” it’ll likely be a disappointment, but it’s a great portrait of where she is now, at 38, a divorced (and possibly re-married) mother who once was a college drop-out with a four-track recorder and a guitar.
Recommended for all fans of her previous work, save those who just want repeats of EIG (you know who you are). And an FYI for the women who are threatened by her sexual frankness (and you know who you are, too), there’s little of it this time around — the song “Can’t Get Out of What I’m Into” was banished to import versions and an iTunes “exclusive.”
A press release from the City of Hesperia:
City Announces Major new Retail development
Hesperia, California – Hesperia residents will soon have a variety of new shopping options with the City Council’s October 6, 2005 announcement that a new Target is coming to Hesperia and will anchor the new High Desert Gateway regional shopping center being developed by Lewis Retail Centers at the intersection of Interstate 15 & Main Street in Hesperia.
Target will construct their new 124,000 square foot, state-of-the-art general merchandise store, and accompanying site improvements, on approximately 10 acres of the new 42-acre center.
“We are very excited that Target and Lewis Retail Centers has chosen Hesperia for their newest location,â€? said Mayor Jim Lindley. “A typical Target store employs 150-250 full and part-time employees and has a projected first year payroll of $3.2 million.â€?   According to Target Corporation, annual sales volumes vary by location but generally exceed $30 million.Â
With an anticipated March 2007 opening, the new store will represent an investment in land, building and equipment of approximately $16 million.
“Facilitating the development of retail and shopping opportunities for Hesperia residents represent a key goal of the City Council and staff,â€? said Lindley. “I believe the new Hesperia Target store will do exceptionally well because of its strategic location and ability to serve Hesperia, Oak Hills, Wrightwood, Phelan and the unincorporated county area surrounding our city.â€?
The City is working with Lewis and Target to expedite the entitlement process which represents a significant amount of the time that it takes to open a new store. Lewis anticipates simultaneous construction for other co-tenants in the Gateway Center which will encompass some 400,000 square feet of retail space.
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“The Economic Development staff has been aggressively seeking retail and restaurant opportunities and devoting significant human and capital resources to this effort,â€? said City Manager Mike Podegracz. “Retailers require favorable demographics with household income and population as key drivers in their location decisions. For the past several years we have heard the common refrain of ‘rooftops equal retail’ and with our phenomenal housing development retailers can no longer ignore the tremendous potential opportunities that exist in Hesperia.”
Target represents one of the twenty retail matches identified in the Buxton Company’s Community ID prepared for the Hesperia Community Redevelopment Agency (Agency) and City. “We believe that our success in attracting Target validates the results of the Community ID effort said Steven Lantsberger, Hesperia’s Deputy Economic Development Director. City staff just returned from the International Council of Shopping Center’s Western Division Deal Making Conference in Palm Springs where they met with scores of retailers and restaurants interested in the Gateway Center and other Hesperia locations.Â
“The City Council and I believe that Target’s confidence in the retail potential of Hesperia will induce retail synergy and lead to more exciting announcements in the near future,â€? said Lindley. “The City will realize significant sales tax revenue from the new Target; funds we can invest in important community-based iniatives, including roads.”
Target Corporation, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota operates 1,351 Target Stores and Superstores, encompassing approximately 171 million square feet of retail space. Total sales for Target eclipsed $45.6 billion for their fiscal year 2004.
Lewis Retail Centers is one of the largest shopping center developers in California and Nevada. It is also a member of the Lewis Group of Companies with a portfolio represented by dynamic neighborhood, community and power centers totaling over 4 million square feet. Many of their prime locations are home to some of the nation’s most prestigious retailers such as Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Home Depot, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Lowes, Macy’s, Marshalls, Mervyn’s, RC Willey, Robinsons-May, Ross, Sam’s Club, Target, Wal-Mart, Albertsons, Ralphs, Safeway and Vons. One of Lewis’ most recent projects is Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
See also the story in today’s Daily Press. Look for more information in the October 11 edition of the Hesperia Star.
Victory at last! Jonah figured out what was interfering with comments. Comment away, my people.
Apparently, General Zod, in addition to being an authoritarian Kryptonian mass murderer and super-criminal, is also a lefty authoritarian Kryptonian mass murderer and super-criminal, and a little bit of a protectionist.
Universal health care. Even a criminal like myself is shocked that millions are not able to get health insurance and cannot pay for basic surgery. Who are these power brokers that allow the pigpen to become wormy and filthy? I demand your very lives, but I am not such an imbecile as to institutionalize suffering and poverty. You have my assurance that this shall change swiftly.
Corporate reform. You people have become disgusting minions to these things you call “corporations”. [sic] These things take your money and your land, put you into debt, send your jobs overseas, provide you with unsafe foods, and sue you when you say anything bad about them. Yet you people fatten them up at the ballot box. You give them free land, name your stadiums after them, allow them to telemarket you, and even sacrifice your own bankruptcy protections. Quite frankly it astonishes me. I will break this sickly codependency. It is I who shall be your ruler. I shall empower you with wealth to give me as tribute. A corporation cannot bow to me or give me tribute that comes from the heart.
You will buy U.S. made items. Why do you buy Chinese-made items when you know that it sells out the jobs of your family and friends? How will you buy those cheap things when you have no job? You are sending my wealth and tribute to foreign lands. I will not tolerate this.
Who knew?
On the other hand, I have it on good authority that Lex Luthor is a social conservative who favors free trade.
(Source.)
More information on Zod.
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