WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Corn Dogs and the Silver Dollar Fair
byVanderleunonJune 2, 2022
The power of Corn Dog compels you!
The Midway Trinity: dog, the corn, the condiment
Memorial Day Weekend in Chico is Silver Dollar Fair Weekend. This means I can visit my gastronomic holy-of-holies, HotDog On a Stick aka Corn Dogs sizzling fresh from the deep fryer with unlimited mustard. The outside is a crisp, crunchy layer of deep-fried dough over a soft fresh puffy dough wrapped around a dog and the whole slathered in French’s Yellow Mustard. No Grey Poupon need apply. Ever! For reasons I cannot explain I yearn for this single bit of Carny Food. If I am in range of “Hot Dog On a Stick” I detour for wherever it may be. The the challenge becomes the consuming of the corn dog without leaving half a jar of mustard in your beard. (Never a good look on a geezer, I dare say.)
But the Silver Dollar Fair is not limited to one single corn dog. No. It is the coming-out party for Chico at the cusp of summer. There are bull auctions and sheep shearing shows. Better still, you see all, and I do mean all, of your fellow citizens at the Zoo Fair.
“Life’s Rich Pageant”
Pigs in Flight!
Post Corn Dog Ingestion Ejection Machine
“Antique” Tractor Pull: On the slow train time does not interfere.
Was that indeed, your voice Gerard? I’m always jarred to hear the voice of a favorite writer.
Lovely pics, lots of fun! Here in Mexico, this makes me homesick. And that’s a good thing.
Thanks.
VanderleunJune 2, 2022, 8:21 PM
Yes, but not my best “radio” voice.
ThisIsNotNutellaJune 2, 2022, 8:32 PM
I miss a good fair. And the associated cuisine. Plus Carny Folk. But it’s not a real fair if no dwarves are fired from cannons.
Give me a bearded lady or a pinhead or a hermaphrodite any day. In a pinch, Siamese twins will do. Or you could just watch re-runs of the movie “Freaks”:
That carny guy was Tom. He told me that after all the suckers had gone home the carny folk would stay up until sunset having their own, in-house carny. No meth then, but lots of booze and weed and heroin. “Kangaroo Girl” was a barker who really liked kangaroos a lot. Really a lot. She was not ashamed to publicly demonstrate her affection for the marsupials.
Tom himself told me that carny folk were the lowest of the low. I believe him.
ThisIsNotNutellaJune 3, 2022, 5:09 PM
There is a lewd Australian folk song beloved of generations of schoolboys, called Charlotte the Harlot. After many adventures, the final stanza tops it off with a rousing endorsement cum encomium of the Red Kangaroo.
VanderleunJune 4, 2022, 4:48 AM
YOU do realize that you will have to pay for my therapists as they remove that mental image from my memory, right?
No matter how good the talker, how big the tip, how good his pitch, a bearded lady wouldn’t fill even a very tiny tent for only one thin dime these days either.
On the other hand I suspect a Biden lookalike into the pig sty toss would be a moneymaking attraction.
No cuisine like “ Lamp Food”
An American original.
Amazing what a 200 watt bulb can accomplish. Lamp foods taken a dive with the new low energy bulbs, a pity actually.
I recall a time wherein my little sister,” now departed”, could bake fresh cookies in her Barbie Doll Stove, color hot pink.
Recall a family night in which Ronnie, proclaimed she would make cookies to go with our vanilla ice cream.
I grew tired of waiting went to bed at 9;30. Way to much excitement for me.
Rob MuirJune 2, 2022, 9:39 PM
Brings to mind a Jeff Foxworthy/Larry the Cable Guy story, but only in the best way possible.
To Absurdity and BeyondJune 2, 2022, 9:54 PM
Corndogs are a construct of the white male patriarchy and will be redistributed as reparations in the interests of the people’s unity hive collective.
Don’t be a shirker, we must keep the kulaks out of the fair and all portions will be exactly the same to maintain egalitarian equity.
ghostsniperJune 3, 2022, 2:58 PM
Haven’t had a corndog in I don’t know how long. I’m gonna try to break that streak this weekend.
VanderleunJune 3, 2022, 3:25 PM
Corndog has all four basic food groups:
Meat
Condiment
Grease
Red
Oh God!……I see why we’ve been hiding for three years. Yea’uh boi!
VanderleunJune 3, 2022, 8:29 AM
Your eye.
EarlJune 3, 2022, 10:29 AM
Most of those people (young and old) are fat, and a good many of those are obese. What the hell happened to American society?
Cloyd in PAJune 3, 2022, 11:38 AM
Funny, I was just comparing this fair’s crowd to our local fair back East and thinking how much less obesity there was in Chico. We grow some big heifers around here, let me tell you. Our fair is ten days with families living on the fairground in a thousand tents and fifteen hundred campers and motorhomes, as well as a big day visitor crowd. It’s a truly unique event, you just gotta love it.
Ed in Upstate NYJune 3, 2022, 5:30 PM
Bloomsburg?
Gordon ScottJune 3, 2022, 5:16 PM
Cloyd in PA describes the Minnesota State Fair also. Of course there are the farm kids sleeping in the pen with their exhibits. In Minnesota it is called a Pronto Pup, and you can buy freshly made crepes. But there is something about fairs that inspires the teen girls to get out there and exhibit.
Mitchell StrandJune 3, 2022, 7:42 PM
It’s like a human zoo. See them in their natural habitat. See how they’re completely unaffected, just like at Walmart.
P.S., Gordon Scott, don’t forget about the relentlessly leftist seed art at the MN State Fair. Only in MN can you see Paul Wellstone rendered in seeds (with a halo, of course) and not have anyone echo Bush 41’s question upon meeting him.
Tom HylandJune 4, 2022, 7:34 PM
Echo, please. What did Poppy say to Wellstone upon meeting him?
Auntie AnalogueJune 3, 2022, 11:19 PM
♫ You ain’t nothin’ but a corndog, fryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a corndog, fryin’ all the time
You ain’t a welsh rarebit and you ain’t no viand of mine. ♫
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Was that indeed, your voice Gerard? I’m always jarred to hear the voice of a favorite writer.
Lovely pics, lots of fun! Here in Mexico, this makes me homesick. And that’s a good thing.
Thanks.
Yes, but not my best “radio” voice.
I miss a good fair. And the associated cuisine. Plus Carny Folk. But it’s not a real fair if no dwarves are fired from cannons.
I’ve seen it done at this fair.
Give me a bearded lady or a pinhead or a hermaphrodite any day. In a pinch, Siamese twins will do. Or you could just watch re-runs of the movie “Freaks”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJVXTKkjsxA
I once worked with an ex-carny guy. The stories he would tell. Never, ever ask me about “Kangaroo Girl”. Never.
What about her?
That carny guy was Tom. He told me that after all the suckers had gone home the carny folk would stay up until sunset having their own, in-house carny. No meth then, but lots of booze and weed and heroin. “Kangaroo Girl” was a barker who really liked kangaroos a lot. Really a lot. She was not ashamed to publicly demonstrate her affection for the marsupials.
Tom himself told me that carny folk were the lowest of the low. I believe him.
There is a lewd Australian folk song beloved of generations of schoolboys, called Charlotte the Harlot. After many adventures, the final stanza tops it off with a rousing endorsement cum encomium of the Red Kangaroo.
YOU do realize that you will have to pay for my therapists as they remove that mental image from my memory, right?
Check or credit card? Both are drawn on my Ugandan bank.
If you grease the midgets, you have to catch them by the hair.
With a pitchfork.
Can you imagine trying to spruik the Tattooed Lady in the Current Year?
Good point. Can’t be done. The tattooed lady is everywhere. And she’s not always a lady. Or a man for all that.
No matter how good the talker, how big the tip, how good his pitch, a bearded lady wouldn’t fill even a very tiny tent for only one thin dime these days either.
On the other hand I suspect a Biden lookalike into the pig sty toss would be a moneymaking attraction.
No cuisine like “ Lamp Food”
An American original.
Amazing what a 200 watt bulb can accomplish. Lamp foods taken a dive with the new low energy bulbs, a pity actually.
I recall a time wherein my little sister,” now departed”, could bake fresh cookies in her Barbie Doll Stove, color hot pink.
Recall a family night in which Ronnie, proclaimed she would make cookies to go with our vanilla ice cream.
I grew tired of waiting went to bed at 9;30. Way to much excitement for me.
Brings to mind a Jeff Foxworthy/Larry the Cable Guy story, but only in the best way possible.
Corndogs are a construct of the white male patriarchy and will be redistributed as reparations in the interests of the people’s unity hive collective.
Don’t be a shirker, we must keep the kulaks out of the fair and all portions will be exactly the same to maintain egalitarian equity.
Haven’t had a corndog in I don’t know how long. I’m gonna try to break that streak this weekend.
Corndog has all four basic food groups:
Meat
Condiment
Grease
Red
Nope. A Spanish Coffee with a Marlboro has all 5 food groups:
1. Booze
2. Sugar
3. Fat
4. Caffeine
5. Nicotine
Gentlemen, can’t we warsh the corndog down with spanish coffee and have the smoke afterward? Must I always be the one to dictate? lol
Now that would be a fine dinner!
No Corn Pop?
Rimshot!
[I was hoping someone would get the allusion.]
Oh God!……I see why we’ve been hiding for three years. Yea’uh boi!
Your eye.
Most of those people (young and old) are fat, and a good many of those are obese. What the hell happened to American society?
Funny, I was just comparing this fair’s crowd to our local fair back East and thinking how much less obesity there was in Chico. We grow some big heifers around here, let me tell you. Our fair is ten days with families living on the fairground in a thousand tents and fifteen hundred campers and motorhomes, as well as a big day visitor crowd. It’s a truly unique event, you just gotta love it.
Bloomsburg?
Cloyd in PA describes the Minnesota State Fair also. Of course there are the farm kids sleeping in the pen with their exhibits. In Minnesota it is called a Pronto Pup, and you can buy freshly made crepes. But there is something about fairs that inspires the teen girls to get out there and exhibit.
It’s like a human zoo. See them in their natural habitat. See how they’re completely unaffected, just like at Walmart.
P.S., Gordon Scott, don’t forget about the relentlessly leftist seed art at the MN State Fair. Only in MN can you see Paul Wellstone rendered in seeds (with a halo, of course) and not have anyone echo Bush 41’s question upon meeting him.
Echo, please. What did Poppy say to Wellstone upon meeting him?
♫ You ain’t nothin’ but a corndog, fryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a corndog, fryin’ all the time
You ain’t a welsh rarebit and you ain’t no viand of mine. ♫
STANDING OVATION!