Amy Lu's View

Chad and I went to the Minnesota State Fair today. Voluntarily.

Take a moment to let that sink in

Obviously, going to the Fair is nothing that remarkable for thousands and thousands of Minnesotans (native or transplants like us) who go to the Fair every year. But precisely because of those thousands and thousands of Fairgoers, Chad is not a fan of the Fair. While I go most years (at least for a few hours), Chad has only been there once several years ago (1998? 2002?) for a Bonnie Raitt show at the Grandstand (we definitely did not stray too far from the Grandstand into the rest of the Fair).

So it took something special to bring Chad back to the Fair: a live taping of an episode of a podcast he adores, “Too Beautiful Too Live” (TBTL). I won’t spend too much time now describing TBTL or its wonder, but just say you should definitely check it out. (The show’s website describes it as “…a daily podcast from Luke Burbank and Andrew Walsh. It’s about life, current events, pop culture, puttering, laser baldness helmets, and tonight pants.”)

Not only did Chad go to the Fair to see the TBTL taping (which I totally take credit for), I even “made” him go and speak to the hosts and we had our picture taken with them! (I was so happily surprised by this that I didn’t even take any other photos for the rest of my time at the Fair).

Even though I’m not as big of TBTL fan as Chad (I haven’t listened to it as much as I don’t really bother to figure out podcast listening on my own) I am a bit of a Luke Burbank fan from listening to his public radio show “Livewire” and hearing him as a guest on public radio’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.” (Okay, I’m done talking about public radio for the rest of this blog, and yes, I’m constantly suprised I am such a public radio nerd).

Meeting the TBTL hosts Luke and Andrew was delightful. They were funny and sweet and charming, and seeing the show live was a hoot. And I really enjoyed their guest Brandi Brown, a local comedian who is also really into the Fair and a seed artist…who knew? We also got to see Stu ‘The StuBot’ Neuman, a show regular and copywriter for Surly famous for writing Welcome to Minnesota. (This was all new to me until today).

Actually I learned (or at least experienced) a lot today at the Fair. It was a Day of Discovery, which featured these highlights:

• The deep fried pickles we had were not only full of saltly yummineess, but they weren’t over greasy and the pickles were crisp, even though fried!
• I correctly remembered where the Island Noodles booth was located in the International Bazaar, and the Island Noodles were indeed vegetarian (vegan, actually, in case anyone is looking for that). And apparently I was on a food texture appreciation kick today, and was pleasantly surprised that the noodles weren’t overcooked. They also weren’t saturated with sauce and even featured some actual vegetables!
• It is possible to get chilly at the Fair. It wasn’t a disaster, but deciding to wear shorts (actually, a skort–hey, I’m almost 50) wasn’t the best decision on a day when the temperature was in the low 70’s. (Totally appreciated the beautiful, if windy, day though).
• Chad can be way more chillaxed at the Fair than me. I had to keep fighting (not always that successfully) my desire to HAVE A PLAN and GET SOMEWHERE.
• I did not have the energy or wherewithal to make it to the Library booth on Read and Ride Day (Library Day), but I appreciated the $2 Fair ticket discount for having a library card and I felt clever wearing my date due stamp shirt (#represent).
• I was interested to see the seed art, but not nearly enough to wait in line. I was mostly content to see if from a distance behind the barrier, and felt accomplished that we at least glimpsed Brandi Brown’s Gameboy piece.
• In addition to seed art, the horticulture hall has really cool floral arrangements.
• I had beer, and did not burst into flames of calories (yet). I’m glad I tried to have special Fair beer: a Surly Mango Medusa (Surly in honor of StuBot) and a Schell’s Starkeller sour.
• The number of Hall and Oates shirts we encountered was suprising. Yes, I know they are playing at the Grandstand tonight, but how/why did that many fans have shirts in advance? Do that many people see Hall and Oates concerts multiple times so that they already have concert shirts, or are these just standard fans shirts available via the interwebs? And yes, frankly, I’m constantly surprised that Hall and Oates are so popular (not trying to hate I honestly just don’t get it) and I’m really surprised that they appear to have so many young (under 30) fans.
• Dino’s Gyros has a cool little beer garden space with live bands (thanks for the tip Mike Frasier!)

Yes, it was a day ful of wonder, but our Fair experience isn’t over yet…we’re going BACK on SATURDAY for the Brandi Carlisle concert at the Grandstand (not Dino’s). If Chamy attendance at the Fair twice in one year doesn’t cause a black hole to swallow the universe, there just might be more blogging (I’m sure there will be more fried food and drinking).