John Meyer Staff

Funny you should mention, Chief...

After having been separated from my PegNews pals (I turned around for two minutes to look at some pictures on the wall of an exhibit building and - ABRACADABRA! - they all vanished), I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the park with my trusty pocket camera on photo safari; at one point I happened upon what I believe to be a real scoop.

Have a look at this innocuous snap of fairgoers loitering around good ol' reliable Big Tex:

Now, here's a 100% crop of a section of the same image:

NOTE the odd symbol on Tex's boot-tops? It reminded me of something, and I finally came up with what it was: the dang BIOHAZARD WARNING SYMBOL! (BUM Bum bummm....)

So this is either a thinly-veiled terror plot in the offing or a sign that it's time for Tex to consider changing his brand of boots - or at least their trademark. (Anyone heard from bin Laden lately?)

I'll post more selected images as they develop, so to speak.

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

John Meyer Staff

A quick one of some of the PegNews crew in attendance:

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Todd Maternowski Staff

Here's a couple of photos from Pegasus Day at the Fair:

Everyone likes roasted corn!

I always look forward to the Elephant Trunk Rodeo at the Fair

Lilliputian Grandeur

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

John Meyer Staff

Performing diligent analysis on some other of my State Fair snaps, I think I've cracked the code regarding Tex's peculiar and somewhat alarming boot-top logos:

While idly observing the ball manipulation antics of Sergey, Italian chef juggler with physique issues...

... I noted a familiar figure portrayed on a signboard behind the crowd, just beneath the baleful gaze of a very sinister-appearing swan. Here's a 100% crop of the area in question:

As you can see, it's a crudely-rendered depiction of Big Tex, and this time he's holding up some sort of scale that undoubtedly depicts the biohazard threat level of the day (although I didn't actually go so far as to wade through the flock of juggle-frenzied children to read the fine print - hey, I was off the clock, O.K.?).

Fortunately for myself and my fellow PegNewsians (wherever they'd ended up wandering to by this time), the park's biohazard threat level was so low that it hadn't made its graphical appearance above the head of the little girl in the foreground. Thank all that's holy!

For fairgoers yet to attend the annual fried food and beer-fest that is the State Fair of Texas (but perhaps I project too much), I suggest paying an early visit to this lagoon-side site to check the current BioTex threat level - it might assist you in planning for the rest of your visit. (Gas mask: 20,000 coupons. Peace of mind: priceless.)

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

John Meyer Staff

More proof (as if any was needed) that human cannonballs get all the babes:

Preparing to launch himself pneumatically from a cannon for truth, justice and the (North) American way:

Engaging the ingenious nanosecond drive adapter unit constructed for my innocent-appearing consumer digicam by PegNews tech savants Jeremy Dunck and Brett Hoerner, I was able to capture what REALLY happens when the noise and bluster of the cannon shot fuddles the minds and eyes of the unenhanced viewer:

As you can clearly see, our "human cannonball" actually just RUNS REALLY FAST from the mouth of the cannon to the waiting net, while the gape-mouthed assemblage is taken in by the cannon-firing trick. Amazing what can be accomplished with a little misdirection.

(Note the sly smile as he zips past the hapless audience members. Smile all you want, Mr. "Cannonball" - the truth is now out, thanks to PegNews innovative reporting wizardry.)

Still befuddled from the cannon's compressed nitrogen fumes, most of the crowd remains oblivious as the capering "stuntman" prepares to shimmy up the pole like a capuchin monkey and thence into the "landing net."

By contrast, here's a real-time video of the "shoot," demonstrating what those without a nanosecond drive adapter "think" they see:

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

John Meyer Staff

Three more images from the our office Fair Day (and this will be the last from me - hold your applause), starting with a view of the big ferris wheel from the Midway:

... and here's Chris, who kindly drove a carload of us from PegNews World Hdqtrs. to Fair Park for the festivities, walking back to his car in remote lot Z (or was it ZZ?) after we were all "funned out" for the afternoon. What's that in his back pocket? Something pink...

AHA! A dolphin. Hopefully a stuffed one. Hard to say, though, because its poor little pink tongue seems to be longing for a taste of that Dasani water just tantalizingly out of reach:

It was a great day at a great state fair. Thanks to Chief Orren for footing the bill for our tickets and getting us started on coupons.

Did I mention that everyone we encountered at the fair - from parking lot minders to vendors to cops on horseback - was friendly and helpful? And that this, for some reason, sort of surprised me?

Man, I love being surprised in a good way.

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Chris Curotolo Staff

Sadly, I later introduced the pink dolphin to my dog and...well...

I'd still like to think I gave him a better life than he would have had at the bottom of a State Fair prize box.

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )