Grumpy, Sleepy, Dopey, Buttery...

Longtime readers may know that every year around this time, the Butter Cow is revealed at the Iowa State Fair.  It is literally that- a life-sized sculpture of a cow completely made of butter.

Additionally, another subject gets the butter treatment each year.  It is such a long tradition (100 years +) that it goes back to a Butter President Coolidge and even further.

This year, it's Butter Snow White and the Butter 7 Dwarves.  I saw it this weekend, and yes, well, it is made of butter.  A fellow observer complained that it was a bit too anime-ish.  Still, if you don't like it, you try to sculpture butter.

Behold!






(Images are found from the internet.  Apologies.)

Adventures of a Swing-state Voter- "Good as I been to you" edition

So after Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, and Bob McDonnell made it to Iowa to campaign for Willard; Romney goes ahead and picks Paul Ryan,

Romney is in good shape in Iowa right now.  The latest poll shows Romney with a 46%-44% lead over Obama according to a poll last week from Rasmussen.  5% support someone else, but it doesn't say who.

For the most part, the polls have given Obama a slight advantage, like the Public Policy Poll which had Obama at 48-43 over Romney.  That poll is fun for all it covers including the question "How old do you think Obama and Romney are?" (3% think Obama is under 40.  He is 51.  Only 7% think Romney is 65 or over.  He indeed is 65.  Most have him in the 50s.)

Obama has been busy with 'Romney wants to give millionaires tax cuts" ads and Romney is pulling out footage of Obama saying if he didn't cut the deficit, he'd be a one-term President.

Obama himself is In Iowa making a tour which includes cities he hasn't previously visited.  There's been talk that rising crop prices (yeah, there's a drought, but corn prices should help farmers) will help Obama.  His plan to help beef farmers (the highlight of this visit) should help as well. 

Paul Ryan also made a flying trip to Iowa to hit the State Fair.  The State Fair SoapBox is a forum that really lets the politician face the people (It is where Romney made his "corporations are people" quote.  You thought he would have learned, but Ryan was met with an equal barrage during his stop).

Ryan is going to be a polarizing figure.  He will bring tea party votes (During caucus season, Ryan garnered as much as 9% support in the polls), but he will also (with Wisconsin being relatively close) fuel union votes for the other side.

I can't end things here without bringing up Willard's trip to Iowa where he met with a drought-stricken farmer.  In true Willard style, he met with someone who has it hard- a millionaire who is a real estate magnate, and we're told (helpfully) that he booked acts (including Slipknot, mentioned specifically) at the local Arena.

Romney skipped that farmer's home, which is pretty awesome, in itself- a space-age farm not quite like anything else.

Still, Mitt got some pictures with corn, and that's always what a politician needs if they want to look authentic.

Things to do in Des Moines when you're Dead - Farmer's Market

Talking about Des Moines attractions, I feel some need to mention the Farmers' Market.  I have long heard about it, but finally made it to the Saturday morning Summer tradition.

I suppose a lot of cities have these, but the Des Moines one is indeed good.

There is a mix of elements that come together here.  Of course, there are the disposable income-rich West Des Moinesans who are there for buzz words like "organic" and "free range".  These are catered to by many vendors, but lest we forget, there is also an element of just honest-to-goodness small town Iowa farmers who just do things that way because that is what they do.  Of course, a subset of this (usually) Liberal crowd that is the bohemians and liberals.

There's those who just want to pick up some farm-grown tomatoes and those that just want something to do.  It should be mentioned that the most common complaint I hear (behind "There is too many people") is "There are too many dogs."

It is a great mix of vendors selling vegetables, salsas, and meats, as well as wineries, arts and craft makers, and coffee sellers.  There are street musicians, of course; but also more formal musicianery.  There's alpaca meat, egg rolls, and gourds.  There's local t-shirts, local music CDs, and handcrafted jewlery.

Favorites?

I hate to say this when there are so many healthy foods, but of course, Confections by Kelly for the cookies.  Kudos for Tacopacalypse for their name.  Non-food related, I will give the nod to Earth Wind and Water.

Being a blues fan, Bob Pace, a local artist of some acclaim got my notice.  However, I will give my nod here to CW Hobbs, a local bluegrass band who I liked best (Hear them here).

There's something like 300 artists, farmers, and vendors who set up during the summer.  It is certainly on the short list of things to do in the 515.





(Image stole from here. Apologies)