Photo Posts (Page 56)

Walking Tree Man, II, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. Last Friday, The Family and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Erie County Fair. We used to actually go to the Fair twice during its run, but that got to be too expensive, so now we pack everything into a single day. We arrived at 10:30 in the morning and left after 11:00 at night, after everything had closed down except the Midway and the beer tents. It was a long and tiring and happy day. County Fairs are wonderful things. And this year, the weather was perfect on our day.Down the rabbit hole….

Carousel, III, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. The Carousel at the Fair is one of The Daughter’s favorite rides. She’s loved carousels pretty much since the first time she ever rode one (when she was two, I think). The Fair’s carousel is a double-decker ride with lots of different things to ride: horses that go up and down, horses that remain stationary, a couple of spinning “tea cup” type seats, a couple of benches that rock back and forth, and a couple of benches that don’t move at all. Something for everyone on this thing. I was taking random shots ofDown the rabbit hole….

Carousel, II, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. The Carousel at the Fair is one of my favorite things there, because it’s a gorgeous ride and its art is pirate-themed. Drink up, me hearties! Yo ho! Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

Charlotte’s Revenge, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. This diorama, also in the Fine Arts building (see below), cracked me up. It looks nice and all, and ‘A for effort’ and all that, but I just couldn’t get beyond the relative size of Charlotte compared to Orville and the rest of the gang. It’s like Charlotte has become the radioactive mutant spider that gave Peter Parker his powers. I’ll bet this Charlotte isn’t nice and sweet: “I’m back, boys, and I’m not so happy this time! Now tell me, where’s that gluttonous bastard Templeton? He and I have business….” Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

A bee, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. The Fair has a parade that winds its way through the fairgrounds every day at 5:00, so at that time we took a seat on a bench beside some bushes and waited. I glanced to my left, right at the bush, and saw this bumble bee, happily and busily going about its daily business. I took a few photos of him; this is the only one that really looked decent. It was fascinating to watch him work. He took no notice of us at all. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

The Swings, II, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. While The Daughter was riding the bumper cars six or seven times consecutively, I spent some time studying this ride, just next door. It’s the usual “spinning swing” ride, but I loved the pseudo-Victorian decor of the ride — the paintings and the coloring and the ornate scrollwork and all that. Very cool. I love it when carnival rides don’t just look like a bunch of steel rods, gears, and pulleys. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

Ach, if not for the non-life-sized ship…., originally uploaded by Jaquandor. One of my favorite places at the County Fair is the Fine Arts building, where all entrants pertaining to the Fine Arts are displayed. Paintings, photographs, quilting, topiaries, costumery, cultivation of African violets and other flowers, et cetera, all in one building. We usually spend quite a bit of time in this building. There’s always a section of the building given over to dioramas like this. I suppose a couple of themes are assigned and then entrants craft their entries around one of them; this year, one of theDown the rabbit hole….

The Midway at Night, I, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. I don’t know if my little Kodak digital point-and-shoot is equipped to take good night photos and I just haven’t figured it out, or not, but I’m usually slightly disappointed that I can’t get the Midway at night to look as bright in photos as it is in person. Nevertheless I like the way this turned out. I took this from about one-quarter of the way up while we rode the Giant Wheel. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

Yorick!, originally uploaded by Jaquandor. From one of the more famous scenes in one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, to the indignity of being used thusly at the Erie County Fair! For shame, for shame. This was a booth selling all kinds of knick-knacks in this vein: place settings and decor for the goth set, I suppose. (More County Fair photo posts will follow.) Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….