Iowa State Fair

If you live, have lived or know anyone in the state of Iowa, you probably know that our state fair is a big deal in these here parts. I don't have a bunch of other state fair visits under my belt to compare the Iowa one too, but here are my impressions of Iowa's. It has always seemed to me that we make a really big deal about it here. We have count downs until it will arrive. We have daily attendance numbers printed in the paper. There is a big portion of the paper, news casts and just everyday talk, devoted to it. I'm pretty sure it is our one major claim to fame, seeing as how it is voted one of the best, if not THE best, in the country. We don't have major sporting events, except for the Disc golf world championships that were here a few years back, so we don't have that as a attraction for our state. We seem to get a bunch of junior sporting events that are big and every now and again, something pops up that is big for us, but we aren't ever going to be Chicago, Minneapolis or Kansas City, thankfully. No, our big thing is the Fair. How do I personally feel about it? There are several things about the fair that I enjoy, first, the photos people take and submit, really cool. There is basically a whole building full of them and a lot of them are excellent. I've thought about submitting one of mine, seeing as how in all of the years I have gone, I have yet to see one of the inside of someones pocket, so maybe I would make it to the fair on originality alone. I enjoy looking at all of the huge stuff, the biggest steer, horse, pumpkin and boar(although I could do without looking at his nuts) My favorite thing at the fair, the people. Man you can see a range of types of people like know where else in the world. You have your city people who wear nice shorts and button up shirts, black socks and sandals, nice. Then you have the "normals" as I like to call them, because I put myself in this category and I'm not going to name it anything else. This group seems to be shorts, usually jean or the sweat pant type, plus a t-shirt with a location they have visited printed on it. Next, the "what were you thinking group." These people either lack a mirror, are blind to what is in the mirror, or could care less what they see. These are the people who wear shorts that are showing every single inch of leg they poses, and then some. They might be wearing a t-shirt with slightly questionable slogans printed on them. The other shirt option would be the tank top, which in of its self would not be bad, but they are either sporting tattoos that children shouldn't be looking at, or, if its a female, working without a bra. We went to the fair opening night to see a concert, Jeremy Camp and Steven Curtis Chapman, so we walked around a bit before the show. We had time to hit the Ag building to visit one of the things the Iowa State Fair is known for, the butter cow. I know what those of you that have never been here are thinking, "Wow, those Iowans need something else to do if they are making things out of butter." Yes, I agree, but if you are at the fair, my thought is, we're here, lets look at a complete waste of time and butter. I went to see this years ago and actually stood in line to take a gander at the butter heifer. I was disappointed, to say the least. This year, the big hubub was about what the accompanying butter sculpture would be, there is a second sculpture with the yearly cow. Since this was the anniversary of landing on the moon, they wanted to do a space theme, and there was talk and even a vote to see if Michael Jackson would be included, with his "moon walk." To say the vote was an overwhelming "no" would be an understatement. So they stuck to the space theme, and here it is with the famous cow to the left.

There was no line, so I decided I would take a gander. I'm not down playing the artist that makes these, she is obviously very good, but the whole butter thing is odd to me, maybe because I moved here from the east coast, where we would have never made art out of butter. How about clay, or plaster of paris? I guess my cousin would argue with me about art "materials" seeing as how she doesn't always use conventional supplies either. Maybe it's my exposure to art in general, never had a lot of access to it, so my tastes are a bit narrow. My cousin is an artist and I love to see her stuff, even own a few pieces that she did with Target that I love and I'm always proud to tell people who see one in my office, who the artist is. That's enough on the butter art, lets get back to the people. Before the concert, we were there for about 45 minutes and I saw more boobs than I have in a long time. Again, if you are wearing a tank top, might want to invest in another shirt to go with it, or a bigger bra to control your body or maybe just a better fitting tank top. I'm not offended by things hanging out, I just think you might want to save some of the mystery for home. Every where you turned, women were bending over to mess with their kids and woop, there it was. I know it's hot out, but a little more fabric won't kill you. Don't think that the guys aren't showing their boobs, because they are. Same tank top, same boob size, same out come, only this time, it is completely legal for a guy to flop out. That seems odd to me. How come a guy with double D's can let it all hand out, but if a woman does it, indecent exposure? I'm not suggesting we change the law, just enforce it on both sexes. And the guts, oh my. I have a gut, but I keep it covered and try to wear a shirt that doesn't show it off. Get a little bigger shirt, then let it cover, I'm just saying. Now we even have debates about pushing the start of school back to after the fair is over. Seriously? Our priority is a butter cow, over priced greasy food and the midway, over the education of our youth? Why can't we push the start of the fair back a week or two? Is it because vendors have the 2 weeks of our fair blocked out and can't make the change because they have other commitments? Well they need to set their priorities on the monetary value of the Iowa State Fair versus where ever else they could be, but don't set your school schedule on the availability of a funnel cake vendor. Maybe it's just me.