planetdan

Friday, August 25, 2006 :::

The Great Minnesota Get Together

I attended opening day at the Minnesota State Fair yesterday with Cwatts & Kwatts, in spite of the constant near-torrential downpour:

We ate cheese curds and pronto pups and a very large overflowing bucket of chocolate chip cookies. Then we trudged through wet poop to see the little bitty animals in the Miracle of Birth Center, where I pet a piglet:

We also saw cows and horsies and marveled at goats in spandex:

There was one food-on-a-stick item at the Fair of which I refused to partake. It looked just like a corndog only inside its deepfried exterior it was stuffed with potatoes and beef and some kind of cream soup mixture I'm sure. I gag just thinking about it:

We did some learnin' in a mock television studio and weather station, where the excitement of a promised "Tornado Room" was met with disappointment, when we discovered that it was merely a round-shaped room with some low-powered fans mounted on the wall and a swirly blacklight type of thing, apparently for ambiance.

We strolled through the midway, but most of it was sadly inactive due to the rain, which was frustrating because I was really interested to see this Magnum P.I. themed ride in action:

Besides the awkwardly painted Tom Selleck in the mural, I don't understand exactly what makes this a Magnum P.I. ride. There's no Hawaii, no helicopter, no red sports car, no too-short-and-tight man shorts. Or maybe I just don't remember the episode with the giant dancing coke can in sunglasses.

But luckily, the clouds parted and the rain stopped for long enough to provide a beautiful night to see The Flaming Lips perform at the grandstand:

It was a pretty good show besides the late start and the interruptions and the wet and the cold and the fact that even though we had general admission tickets and could have pushed our way to the front row, we were just too exhausted from the events of the afternoon so instead we slyly borrowed some unspoken-for seats higher up in the grandstand.

Our adventure at the Fair also included a few local celebrities, a few politicians, and some Karaoke, where a creepy old man decided it was perfectly appropriate to sing Sexual Healing in front of a bunch of transfixed 8-year-old girls.

It was indeed the great Minnesota get-together.

::: posted by dan at 7:57 AM :: [ link ] :: (23) comments

Comments are Closed On this Post

23 previous comments:

I believe that's a sheep in spandex - not a goat.

By

Pocket Change, at 9:47 AM

I was going to ask, "why? WHY would they put a sheep/goat in SPANDEX?"
I imagined it was probably for the beauty portion of the pageant, but decided to look it up, cuz that's how I roll. I was right, but not in the way I thought, they actually go NUDE and the suits are to keep their fleece clean. Er, maybe everyone already knew that.

By

the girl, at 10:15 AM

Thank you, the girl. I was coming to post a comment to ask that exact question. Here's what the sheep looked like when they removed the spandex
http://www.crazyphotos.com/thumbs/th_584010025.jpg

By

Kathleen, at 10:39 AM

That's a sheep not a goat....A goat could never look that sexy in spandex....

By

KEW, at 11:35 AM

What an awesome day at the fair. Seriously. It beats the time I went to the Ohio State Fair and saw enormous pigs and Willie Nelson.
I'm not joking, sadly enough.

By

Elle Marie, at 11:45 AM

I bet that sheep just got back from it's spin class.

By

Daniel, at 11:55 AM

That spandex shirt must have been on sale somewhere. I have seen multiple guys at the bar sporting the same thing.

By

Stacy, at 9:52 AM

::sigh:: I washed my window screens today. No goats in spandex. No cool bands.

I have no life.

By

Colleen, at 9:35 PM

Hey - I have been a long time "lurker" but never a "commenter" but I just have to say last year I went in tornado alley and was very dissapointed. Well I was drinking some beers so it was all good.

By

Anonymous, at 11:47 PM

Hey I have been a long time reader but never commented. I just wanted to say last year I went in "Torando Alley" and was sadly dissapointed.

By

Anonymous, at 11:59 PM

Hey - do they know each other? (pst - kew are you wearing rather tall rubber boots right now?)

By

elizabeth, at 8:06 AM

Everyone's talking abut the goat/sheep, but there's only one thing that I can think about. That hotdish on a stick. I'm sory, I'm sure that it looked disgusting, but come on! Potatoes, meat, a creamy sauce, and all on a stick? That's a full meal, without needing a stupid bowl or spoon! That's GENIUS! And I thought my rellenos (meat wrapped up in mashed potatoes and deep fried) were delicious, I so need to throw some gravy in with the meat!
Can you tell I haven't eaten in a while?

By

Alicia, at 6:17 PM

Just one day earlier you could have driven an hour south and been in a real tornado. Then the State Fair display would have been an even bigger disappointment. Thursday was my second time in a tornado. It hasn't failed to make me wet myself yet. -QueenieBops

By

Anonymous, at 11:22 PM

The Magnum PI ride has nothing "Magnum" about it, except that it plays the TV show's theme song as the ride goes, interspersed with hip-hop. Pretty lame. PS - That is a sheep - my dad managed the sheep barn for 20 years so I know lots about sheep. (Insert punchline here.)

By

Anonymous, at 10:01 AM

Okay, a) Hot Dish on a Stick is absolutely revolting. It's making me gag just thinking about it. And b) what in the hell are cheese curds? They have 'em at a restaurant near where I live and I'm afraid to order them because it just sounds gross. Someone please fill me in.

By

Anonymous, at 10:32 AM

Definitely a sheep.

By

Jane, at 11:20 AM

mmmm... fried cheese curds. I heart cheese curds, never had em fried though...

we call them squeeky cheese, but i have no idea what they actually are.

By

the other sarah, at 4:21 PM

in the process of making cheese, vinegar is added to the dairy and it curdles. after a period of time, the liquid (called whey) is extracted and the curds are left to be pressed into blocks of cheese. curds (short for curdles, no doubt) are sometimes just sold as is and not pressed into blocks. they are rather tasty cheese clumps.

reference the story of little miss muffet...

she sat on her tuffet,
eating her curds and whey.
when along came a spider
and sat down beside her
and frightened miss muffet away.

By

Michelle, at 6:02 PM

by the whey (pun intended), i learned all that stuff about cheese from the food network.

By

Michelle, at 6:04 PM

I might just be stupid but what in the world is UffDa?

By

Sonya, at 1:41 AM

If you choose to eat cheese curds at a restaurant, please know they do not even remotely compare to cheese curds freshly cooked at a fair. Two different animals, really.

By

Anonymous, at 5:09 PM

the magnum pi ride was my favorite...to look at. there's no way i'd ever get on it.

By

Honey Bunny, at 8:23 AM

So there's a food at the fair that was gagworthy, and it wasn't the cheese curds. What the devil is a cheese curd? Sounds horrible.

By

benny, at 8:44 AM

< Back to Blog