Monday, September 7, 2009

State Fair is and has (e)

I'm sorry, but I am a bit spoiled. The Illinois State Fair kicks ass compared to Oregon's; yet, to be fair, we live in a pretty cash-strapped state and I suppose they do their best. Besides, I'm not here to write a critique or do some comparison/contrast essay like a freshman in college. No, I'm just dumping some pics with minimal comment and leave it at that.
As readers will recall, we chose to go the the Fair today so that we might check out the All Girl Roller Derby action. As luck would have it, the first pavilion we entered was where all of the action was. "CCDG" stands for Cherry City Derby Girls, our local Salem team. These women welcomed us at the door. DW tried to convince me that I needed a commemorative t-shirt but I resisted. I do like the font they chose, the same as CBGB's in NYC.
There were two teams in the exhibition, the Blacks and the Whites, comprised of all of the teams throughout the State.










Note the woman standing with the green helmet. Her nickname is "Bones," and not, I suppose, because she is an orthopedic surgeon. She was one of several smaller women on the teams, and most certainly was dwarfed by many others.








A local band provided live music for the event. Here are two of their fans. The band was pretty good, maybe a bit on the punk side, fitting with the exhibition on the whole. Note the wife-beater t-shirt.








We left the Roller Derby girls to their devices when my stomach told us we should move on. While we did not eat at this vendor, I thought the sign cute. They did have elotes, which we used to buy from street vendors in Chicago. I eyed one being served and could see that it just wasn't going to compare. We moved on.

What did we eat? Suffice it to say that we had faire food and laughed while we ate it.



DW pointed out this threesome. The t-shirt on the right is not one that I expected to see at the State Fair, unless, of course, the wearer was looking for trouble. As we neared, we could read the caption: "People Eating Tasty Animals."












Having eaten, we moved onto the exhibits. I always make a point to visit the 4-H and FFA buildings. These jars contain, of all things, grass seed.









In another pavilion. Yes, it's that important.












The first place quilt among hundreds of entries.












There is a Honda Odyssey underneath.












And what would a trip to the State Fair be without paying due homage? Note the wife-beater t-shirt.










And lastly, this educational video for the Dungeoness Crab industry:

4 comments:

Crash said...

I am becoming a signage connoisseur.

Are those orange things some sort of fair ride for the kids?

Memphis MOJO said...

You got some nice shots. With the roller derby pics, I felt like I was right there.

Don't lick the sign, ha ha, made me laugh.

These jars contain, of all things, grass seed.

Oh, that kinda grass, lol.

Dave Jenkins said...

Ok, cos I'm English I don't understand the 'note the wife beater tee shirt' comment on the last pic.

bastinptc said...

Civitas - The sleeveless t-shirt optimally intended to be worn under a nice, starched white dress shirt is known as a wifebeater, among other things. Worn as an sole top garment indicates certain proclivities, or is supposed to. Hence, mentioning the garment twice.