"Now, think of the happiest things. It's the same as having wings."
We went to the Santa Clara County Fair today. We didn't know when we got up we were going to... we didn't even know there *was* a fair going on. The Fair has been a dying institution in Silicon Valley for as long as I've lived here, and I remember there being "recent" talk of selling the fairground to bloodsucking real-estate developers. Thus it was a surprise to read in the newspaper (also a dying institution) that not only was there one happening, but today was the last day.
(Ironically the story in the paper was dwelling on the low turnout numbers the fair had been experiencing. All I can say is, well, if they want higher numbers maybe they should get a story in the paper *before* the event so potential attendees might actually know about it.)
So we bundled up the cranky toddler and took her to the fair. She was excited to see all the animals as we expected she would be. We were fairly successful in our
efforts to keep her from poking out the animal's eyes or pinching their ears, but there was the fun moment where she decided to try to dive under the ropes and go touch a cow. She was also getting a little aggressive in the Pig Pavilion (something tells me it's not a good idea to run up to a strange hog and shove your tiny hand in its face), so we decided "enough of that" and took her to the petting zoo where she got to pet a chicken under controlled conditions. An incredibly patient tiny little chicken which was starting to fall asleep in her lap until she decided to bap it instead of touching it nicely. *sigh* Two year olds...
Amongst the carnival rides we stumbled across this:
MJ's Lolly Swing!
According to Google it's the real deal. "Butler Amusements", the traveling outfit supplying the rides, apparently bought it at a Neverland auction in December 2008. Which means that MJ was alive to see it go. There's something extra tragic about that.
(I do apologize for the lousy quality of the photos. All I had with me was my Crackberry.)
We declined a chance to plant our butts where The King Of Pop once sat, mostly because Kara was a bit too small for the ride and I in particular am probably too big for it. It actually turned out Kara couldn't go on anything there other then a little "cars going in a circle" thing (they had really strict height limits, even with an adult chaperon), and she was way too crabby for that. She has not been sleeping well since giving up her crib for a bed, and on top of that she's refusing to take afternoon naps. I may have to start her on coffee. :^b
After looking at the animals we took in the arts and crafts displays and homemaking demonstrations. (You forget how charming it is to see blue ribbons awarded for categories like "best table setting".) Lunch was Gyros and Pepper Steaks, a giant corn-on-the-cob, and a funnel cake chaser. (Watching them make funnel cake is a kick. As is the fact that the end result looks sort of like a deep-fried disk of brain tissue.) Overall your basic "small town fair" sort of day... which I suppose is funny given it was taking place in a city with a population breaking the seven digits mark. The whole thing was being run by 4-H volunteers with hardly any sign of corporate or organized agricultural sponsoring, and I suppose there was no denying the faint scent of desperation in the air. *sigh*
I guess your average sophisticated SV-ite just isn't into classic Americana. I'm not sure why I'm feeling a little melancholy about that. It's not like I was happy when I lived in a hick town. (Although you could probably pretty easily convince me that there was "something off" about the particular hick town I lived in.) For whatever reason I do sort of hope these 4-H kids continue to have a chance to show off their dwarf goats and table-setting-skills and jumping miniature horses once a year, rather then the fairground turning into yet another block of overpriced cheesy townhouses. I'll just have to keep hoping the housing bubble stays busted, I guess, as it's probably the only thing saving them.
Oh, one more thing. In the sparsely populated "Classic Car Show" there was this random display of pimped-out bicycles. They varied in degree from "flashy" to "completely gonzo". To cut to the chase, here's gonzo:
Someone stole this off a baby Unicorn's front porch. The purple velor banana seat alone makes this the Best Bike Evar.
By contrast, here's the plainest bike in the display:
This one touched a nerve, because it's *very* similar to the bike I learned to ride on. (The upper-bar styled like a motorcycle gas tank is the thing I remember most.) At the time I really hated it, because on top of being a hand-me-down "Girl's Bike" it was "old-fashioned" looking, totally out of place compared to my little playmates' BMXes.
Sigh. In retrospect, well, I was just a perfect example of how little kids have absolutely no taste. I'd completely love to have that bike back again to give to my daughter. Of course, she'd probably hate it for the same "old-fashioned" reason. Just can't win there, I guess.
(Ironically the story in the paper was dwelling on the low turnout numbers the fair had been experiencing. All I can say is, well, if they want higher numbers maybe they should get a story in the paper *before* the event so potential attendees might actually know about it.)
So we bundled up the cranky toddler and took her to the fair. She was excited to see all the animals as we expected she would be. We were fairly successful in our
efforts to keep her from poking out the animal's eyes or pinching their ears, but there was the fun moment where she decided to try to dive under the ropes and go touch a cow. She was also getting a little aggressive in the Pig Pavilion (something tells me it's not a good idea to run up to a strange hog and shove your tiny hand in its face), so we decided "enough of that" and took her to the petting zoo where she got to pet a chicken under controlled conditions. An incredibly patient tiny little chicken which was starting to fall asleep in her lap until she decided to bap it instead of touching it nicely. *sigh* Two year olds...
Amongst the carnival rides we stumbled across this:
MJ's Lolly Swing!
According to Google it's the real deal. "Butler Amusements", the traveling outfit supplying the rides, apparently bought it at a Neverland auction in December 2008. Which means that MJ was alive to see it go. There's something extra tragic about that.
(I do apologize for the lousy quality of the photos. All I had with me was my Crackberry.)
We declined a chance to plant our butts where The King Of Pop once sat, mostly because Kara was a bit too small for the ride and I in particular am probably too big for it. It actually turned out Kara couldn't go on anything there other then a little "cars going in a circle" thing (they had really strict height limits, even with an adult chaperon), and she was way too crabby for that. She has not been sleeping well since giving up her crib for a bed, and on top of that she's refusing to take afternoon naps. I may have to start her on coffee. :^b
After looking at the animals we took in the arts and crafts displays and homemaking demonstrations. (You forget how charming it is to see blue ribbons awarded for categories like "best table setting".) Lunch was Gyros and Pepper Steaks, a giant corn-on-the-cob, and a funnel cake chaser. (Watching them make funnel cake is a kick. As is the fact that the end result looks sort of like a deep-fried disk of brain tissue.) Overall your basic "small town fair" sort of day... which I suppose is funny given it was taking place in a city with a population breaking the seven digits mark. The whole thing was being run by 4-H volunteers with hardly any sign of corporate or organized agricultural sponsoring, and I suppose there was no denying the faint scent of desperation in the air. *sigh*
I guess your average sophisticated SV-ite just isn't into classic Americana. I'm not sure why I'm feeling a little melancholy about that. It's not like I was happy when I lived in a hick town. (Although you could probably pretty easily convince me that there was "something off" about the particular hick town I lived in.) For whatever reason I do sort of hope these 4-H kids continue to have a chance to show off their dwarf goats and table-setting-skills and jumping miniature horses once a year, rather then the fairground turning into yet another block of overpriced cheesy townhouses. I'll just have to keep hoping the housing bubble stays busted, I guess, as it's probably the only thing saving them.
Oh, one more thing. In the sparsely populated "Classic Car Show" there was this random display of pimped-out bicycles. They varied in degree from "flashy" to "completely gonzo". To cut to the chase, here's gonzo:
Someone stole this off a baby Unicorn's front porch. The purple velor banana seat alone makes this the Best Bike Evar.
By contrast, here's the plainest bike in the display:
This one touched a nerve, because it's *very* similar to the bike I learned to ride on. (The upper-bar styled like a motorcycle gas tank is the thing I remember most.) At the time I really hated it, because on top of being a hand-me-down "Girl's Bike" it was "old-fashioned" looking, totally out of place compared to my little playmates' BMXes.
Sigh. In retrospect, well, I was just a perfect example of how little kids have absolutely no taste. I'd completely love to have that bike back again to give to my daughter. Of course, she'd probably hate it for the same "old-fashioned" reason. Just can't win there, I guess.