Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
Wild At Heart
I recently went to the New York State Fair and had a wonderful time and it got me thinking about the Michigan State Fair. While the NYSF is bigger and has a lot more going on, I always enjoyed going to the MSF. I remember doing archery by the pond, seeing some great free shows at the grandstands (Twisted Sister, Alice Cooper), seeing Aretha Franklin play a basketball game and just enjoying the sights and animals at the fair. It was always relaxing and a nice way to spend the day. I covered the fair for about 4 years and enjoyed working with them. As I was looking around, I came across a webpage dedicated to bringing back the Michigan State Fair (http://michiganstatefair.com/) urging people to write to your State Senator and State Representatives (or even the Governor) in hopes of reestablishing the 160 year old tradition. Check out the site and vote because a good state fair can be lots of fun. This year I saw Christopher Cross and Jason Aldean among other artists and enjoyed wine tastings, seeing cool animals, native American dancing, etc. I think Michigan would be a great place for a fair of this style though with the economy it might be hard to pull off right away. It would take great planning and I’m not sure if anyone is interested. Here are some of my pictures of our fair in hopes it will get some people motivated
I will start with Hawk Creek which works to provide educational outreach and raptor rehabilitation. They do many programs including this year’s state fair to raise money and awareness in helping out birds, some of which are available for adoption if you check out their website (http://www.hawkcreek.org/whitepages/). I have always been a big fan of raptors and always enjoying seeing them when I can. Usually they have to be injured birds used for educational purposes or getting prepped for rerelease into the wild to have a chance to see them this close up.
At our fair we do have a lot of art displays from local talent as well as display from local theatres (like the player piano I am using below), a 9/11 memorial, food vendors and both the toy trains exhibit and the big trains outside you can visit (seen below).
The fair also brings in local celebrities and sports figures (last year they had Jerry Springer) for the local TV booths. The day I was there they had the Syracuse band and some cheerleaders who are very colorful.
Of course they have all kinds of animals from the farm animals (like the horses pulling the carts), exotic animals (like the giraffe) and the weird (like the large rat – probably a capybara).
All in all, with the wine tasting booth, Indian village, 4H club building, NYS Lottery, farm museums and all the great food, our fair is a great place to spend a day. I hope that Michigan can bring back that excitement and make a go at it. Remember to go to that website if you think you would like to see it come back.
Back to the Toronto Fan Fest. I can’t believe I am still putting up pictures but there it is. I saw the Pinball stuff this week and put up a few pics from the video game companies promoting everything from the new South Park game to the popular Halo 4 and Assassin’s Creed III. It is a great event for gamers and I don’t know any other outlets that have as much going on as this event does. I don’t play many video games of this sort but I do enjoy looking at the graphics of the better sci-fi/fantasy based games. At this convention, I also enjoyed watching various people dressed in character (like the Avengers trio below) breaking it down with Just Dance 4.
Here is another idea for the Detroit crowd with all the burlesque and movie based stuff going around in Detroit. I met this group from Canada (I will find their name and update this) that puts on themes fashion shows that are audience interactive. I went to one of their fashion shows because it was HR Giger (Alien, Species) inspired and it was something. The girls (and guys) that decide to show up at an event will put together their own designed work which they then put on display. At Fan Fest the girls showed off their costumes and then encouraged the people in the audience with cameras and sketchbooks to take pictures of sketch them. The girls encouraged the budding artists to tell them how to pose which the artists took full advantage of. The group in their area works with area bars and such for events which will include them and maybe a band or something else appropriate for the event. People involved can decide what events to attend. So if you want to design a superhero outfit you can go to that event but if pirates are not your things you can skip that one. The models are all volunteers and do it for the fun of designing outfits and showing them off be they Disney characters, medieval times garb or Victorian era. If a group in Detroit could take this idea and work it, it would be fun for those who enjoy costume designs and looking for other venues for their work. Just an idea because I know a lot of talented people in Detroit who could make this work. Enjoy the Giger inspired shots below.
Don’t forget to check out a show or two and here are some ideas for the week:
Tuesday (10/09) – The Aggrolites open for Easy Star Allstars @ Blind Pig
Wednesday (10/10) – 3OH!3 and Outasight @ Crofoot
Thursday (10/11) – Shemekia Copeland @ the Ark, Switchfoot w/Paper Route @ St Andrews Hall, Adam Ant @ Crofoot
Friday (10/12) – Dr Dog @ Majestic Theatre, Blue October @ Royal oak Music Theatre, Marilyn Manson & Rob Zombie @ Pine Knob, Mustard Plug @ Blind Pig
Saturday (10/13) – Amy Gore & Duende @ PJ’s Lager House
Sunday (10/14) – Go-Go’s @ MotorCity Casino, Ben Sollee @ Blind Pig, Three Daqys Grace @ St Andrews Hall
