So let's see about some things at the fair I was NOT expecting. Such as building upon building of informerical booths. No joke. It, quite honestly, is a little trippy. Almost like having QVC in 3D. For football fields.




There were kid talent shows:



And then there was the time when I ran into Darth Vadar. This encounter totally confused me. I never thought I would see Darth Vader and bullriding the same day.



Later, I saw Anakin Skywalker. On a mobile phone. While eating fries. With a storm trooper helmet. He told me that fighting storm troopers gets him hungry.



And now for some random shots that I just like:

And what would a county fair be without a rodeo. This was also a first for me. I had been to a bull riding event earlier this year, but apparently a rodeo is a lot more involved. Still, almost everything lasts about 8 seconds. If that long. It is a great event for people with short attention spans.

In a nutshell, I love rodeos. Just as with the logging show, the smell of testosterone was just overwhelming. Some of the events are just downright crazy. Like riding a bronco bareback while only holding on to the horse with one hand. This event should keep chiropractors in business. Warning, this video may make you cringe.



Personally, I preferred watching the SADDLED bronco riding... much more fluid and picturesque.



Steer roping was impressive - especially since cowboys are expected to do this in under 8 seconds. I just love how the horse knows to stop the second the steer has been roped.



Steers can also be roped by two cowboys at the same time. I have not yet understood why it is necessary to have two cowboys to do this, since it is possible (as demonstrated above) to do this with only one cowboy. Apparently steers are really hearty and can take all of this roping round the neck.



My favorite event by far though is barrel racing. Not only is it the most exciting to watch, but it is the only event in which girls participate. I don't have video because I preferred shooting.





And I guess to be fair, there is one event for kids. It is called mutton busting. Essentially bullriding on a sheep. Too funny.

Animals are another huge part of county fairs. Every livestock imaginable is on display and judged. It really surprised me just how close you could get to the animals. Made for some nice pictures.






There are barns and barns of livestock.. you just walk up and down the corridors checking out the cows, horses, sheep, etc. If you were wondering how they keep these barns clean for people to walk through... here's a clue:




The judging of the livestock is very similar to a dog show. Not only are the animals cleaned, primped and brushed, but they have a handler as well. This was officially the first time I had ever seen anybody apply hairspray to a cow...let alone to its REAR.




My favorite part of the animal exhibits was the poultry barn. I had absolutely NO idea that there were so many different kinds of chickens. And so many FUNNY LOOKING chickens. Seriously, I have no idea what the point is of having chickens that look like this.. they look like something out of the Muppet Show.





Doesn't this picture like two chicken tails? Nope... These are two chickens facing each other and having a cluck.

On Sunday, I attended my first ever county fair. That's right. I had never been to a county.. or state fair, for that matter. I had heard that the "mac daddy" of fairs was the one in September, and I have been waiting patiently since last fall to go to this one. It did NOT disappoint. I will be devoting several entries to this experience.

From watching lots of movies/tv... reading books, I had several expectations about what I was going to see and experience. The first was food. I expected fair food to be seriously fried. Within minutes of being there, I saw this:



Nice. Shall I get you closer up to the menu?



I didn't have redneck sushi or anything else on this menu - I just couldn't bring myself to do that to my arteries, but I did partake in the quintessential food of this fair in particular - scones and pie. Both are made right on site and the scones are almost too warm to eat when you get them. The ladies who make the scones reminded me of the armies of grandmas who make pyrohy in Ukrainian church basements.




I had heard that there is produce judging at county fairs. Like the biggest gourd contest:



But did you know that they have DRIED food contests as well??



I think my favorite was the farm produce displays. Essentially, farms create art with a set amount and variety of produce. It amazes me that these are on display for over 2 weeks... don't they go bad?

Labor Day weekend yet again brought the Bumbershoot Music Festival to Seattle. I blogged about this last year and I was fortunate again to go this year. Almost completely by accident, I wound up attending my first ever "heavy metal" set. I knew it was going to be loud, but I didn't expect it to be entertaingly cliche. Don't get me wrong, the musicians were very very talented. But I've watched enough movies to know that heavy musicians are pretty angry:



It did surprise me to see a guy so pissed off while wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Doesn't that sound a little dichotomous? There was also a lot of head banging and very intense guitar playing - i believe even at one point the guitarist "prayed" to the amplifier. Taking pictures of this crew was entirely too entertaining.




But after shooting stills, I realized that to really get the full affect, you really need to have video. After watching this video, it occurred to me who the drummer reminded me of... remember the Muppets? Animal? Their resident drummer?




I also had a chance to observe some serious crowd surfing. I had my first exposure last year at Bumbershoot. This year I remembered to video it. I am completely fascinated by this phenomenon. I still can't figure out how somebody gets lifted up initially. I assume it is by choice, but with such a crowd, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't...

And now I am feeling a little artsy fartsy. All of these were taken using my little point and shoot.

Saw this at a local construction site. Actually, it is directly across from those blackberry bushes I posted a little while back. It just made me laugh.

August is nesting season for seagulls in Seattle. What that means is, in August, there is a lot of noisy seagulls everywhere. September brings on the adolescents. If you have never seen an adolescent seagull, they are pretty amusing. They haven't really gotten the hang of flying yet. So they walk pretty much everywhere. And not very quickly. So you can get super close to them without trying very hard. You could even almost step on one.

The last place I visited in OR was Smith Rock State Park. This park is primarily a playground for rock climbers. Personally, I thought it was gorgeous.







Now, you may look at these pictures and be confused as to where exactly people climb. The answer to that is... anywhere. Can you find the climber in this pic?




No? Here he is:



How about here? Can you find the girl?


Look for a blue tanktop:



And in case you were wondering whether rock climbers have their version of "ski patrol".... yup, they do: