All's Fair at the Fair (Slight Return)

Last year, the Iowa State fair was the place for politicians- taking place a week before the Ames Straw Poll- it was the place to be, and the Soapbox specifically was where you could meet the people.

It's those hopeless dreamers who have no chance who make the best Soapbox speakers.  Usually, they look like this.



So, little wonder I was most looking forward to David Rosenfeld (pictured above), running for a Congress seat in a redrawn district that pits two incumbents against each other.  The Des Moines Register breaks his speech down.

He gathered a crowd of two (an elderly man and an young boy).  Of course, the State Fair is all about foot traffic, and the Register reports that one stopped to cheer him 9as he defended freedom of speech) and one stopped to yell obscenities at him.

Of course, Rosenfeld's stop was overshadowed by the Big Boys.  There was Paul Ryan being shouted at, whether it was asking if he was going to cut medicare, or simply being called a 'f---ing disgrace'.

Even that wasn't the biggest Fair story.

That was Beergate.

Beer Tent owner and registered Republican Mike Cunningham claimed that Obama cost him $25,000 in beer sales.

I covered this in a previous post, but I feel it is deserving of some follow-up (as done by The Register's Kyle Munson), so here's some back story on the Obama "stealin' my $25,000" and some facts around the Shutting of Bud Tent 123.

-Cunningham's only complaints seem to come after the visit and Sen. Grassley's attention.  Before meeting Obama, he greeted Barack with a "Save water, Drink Beer" t-shirt
-The Bud Tent was closed just over two hours.
-The nearbyJalapeno Pete's (another permanent beer-selling fixture at the Fair) aid he saw no effect in sales due to the President
-Cunningham was allowed to set up his own temporary beer stand near Hairball (think "Rock of Ages") to recoup some of his sales.  Cunningham claims that the President's event coinciding with the wildly popular local Hairball was a big cause of his financial loss.  The Fair also let him discount his beer to $4 from $6 on the next night of the fair.
-Beer sales are done by tickets, so $25,000 in beer sales comes out to 4,166 beers ( 1beer = 1 ticket) or a few thousand beers (2 tickets = 1 larger beer option)
-The Bud Tent hands over 17.5% of their profits to the Fair.  Last year, they paid $105,875 for ten days including two weekends.

Of course, one expects those political stories from the candidates' visits.  still, there was one more Fair story, and unexpectedly, it came from the Main Stage.

Hank Williams Jr. has slowly moved towards the deep end in the last few years, and may have capped that Blue Collar patriotism with this nugget.  "We’ve got a Muslim president who hates farming, hates the military, hates the US – and we hate him!"

I probably shouldn't be mad at Bocephus.  He is the father and the son of two of my all-time favorite artists.  Besides, country radio doesn't play anyone over 40 (let alone 60)  so the job of "Right Wing Nutjob" is a fairly lucrative one all things considered.

Still, I can only imagine this plays to an audience that already thinks that stuff (Hates farming?  Really?), and those disagree with Hank Jr aren't likely to change their mind, and those that agree probably don't think Mitt's a Christian either.

On the Shelf 071; The Heavy

I hate to miss out on anything, but I have to admit I missed on The Heavy.

Like most, I came to know them through "How do you like me now?", a song that was everywhere. While it may not have quite been a radio staple, it was everywhere else- tv ads, movies, etc. It was easily one of the best singles of 2009. It led me to look up some of their other songs, which I expected to be right down "one hit wonderism", but actually discovered The House That Dirt Built, a solid little (literally, short) album that showed a band with a lot of talent.

Categorizing The Heavy is hard as they don't fit comfortably in one box. They are not quite Indie Rock and they are not quite Neo Soul. Sure, they bring in James Brown and Prince style funk elements and mix it with classic British indie, but you can also hear raw Stooges/Sonics rock and a bit of Tom Waits, too.

While calling them 'soundtrack music' evokes images of Eno or maybe Mike Oldfield, their perfect pop singles are radio hits, but because of the content and sound, are perfect Movie theme songs. If forced to categorize The Heavy, you would probably say the closest thing is the hybrid that is Gnarls Barkley, or perhaps that not-quite-indie combo that is Mark Ronson and his camp.

Billboard has been streaming "The Glorious Dead", the first album since the band's breakthrough singles. It comes out today, so i am not sure how long the stream will stay, but check it out while you can.

While nothing is as powerful as "..Like Me Now" or their other epic "Short Change Hero", this is another pretty solid little piece of art. It definitely is worth a listen, and hopefully keeps the Heavy heavy in public view.

Lead single "What makes A Good Man?" will definitely be in a tv show or two.

State Fair Innovations

As the Iowa State Fair ends, it seems time to make mention of the unusual food that was displayed this year. 

There's always something to grab the headlines (Fried Butter was a favorite in recent years).

This year's big draw was the Double Bacon-Wrapped Corn Dog.

Behold!



Local tv interviewed one person who tried it,and he said that you really couldn't tell there was Bacon.  i didn't have one, but my informal poll of two people I knew, was 1 to 1 like/dislike.

For me, red-velvet funnel cake sounded like the real winner.



Of course, maybe the next great food item wasn't something for sale at the fair, but something that was created at the Fair.

Eileen Gannon is flying to Seattle to compete as one of six finalists in a Seattle's Best Coffee contest with her brew.  Gannon won a round at the Iowa State Fair and takes her Spiced/Caramelized Bacon/Pumpkin Coffee to the National Finals.