Farewell to the Fair

I did our second radio show from the Minnesota State Fair on AM 1280 the Patriot today, without my usual partner Brian “St. Paul” Ward. Brian is down with what sounds suspiciously like swine flu. I attribute significance to this apparent slip in the email he sent me yesterday afternoon:

But it’s knocked me out today and I think its unlikely I’ll be ready to go for the sow tomorrow.

Oh, sure, it’s just a typo. No doubt he meant to say “show.” But “sow?” “Sow??” I think we can all see what is subliminally troubling Brian.
It was a great show anyway, as I interviewed Minnesota’s Honey Queen and former House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, and we had our annual Scotch egg eating contest. Producer Jay Larson helped out and Chad “the Elder” Doughty stopped by to discharge his traditional duties as host of the Scotch egg contest. And, of course, the Fair was thronged, so we were besieged with a steady stream of listeners.
The Honey Queen brought along this fascinating cross-section of a beehive. Bees were buzzing around it trying to get in. I learned a lot I hadn’t known about bees and honey, as I’m sure most of our listeners did:
BeesStateFair41.jpg
If you read this site only for political insight, you should skip the video below. No moral whatsoever can be drawn from it. On the other hand, if the idea of six grown men competing to see who can choke down a Scotch egg the fastest sounds amusing, you should check it out. Here we see preparations being laid for this year’s contest:
StateFair773.jpg
One preliminary note: what exactly is a Scotch egg? It starts with a hard-boiled egg, which is then surrounded by a thick layer of spicy sausage. The entire concoction is then breaded, deep-fried and–of course–placed on a stick. How do you eat a Scotch egg quickly? The key word is: condiments. This year we had an especially exciting contest. This video was shot by my youngest daughter, shown here with her rather beautiful mother who is, unfortunately, looking the other way. Note that she is holding the wonderful Flip Mino HD camera with which this video was shot:
StateFair772.jpg
So, here is the video of this year’s Scotch egg eating contest:



It was, as I said, a photo finish and a fitting farewell to this year’s Fair.
Oh, one more comment: for the third or fourth year in a row–I hope I’m not being unjust here–Hugh Hewitt failed to appear for the fair. For that matter, our pal Bill Bennett and his producer, Seth Leibsohn, weren’t here either. We need to pass the hat to make sure they can afford the plane ticket next year. If not, we’re going to put their pictures on milk cartons.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses