brent(inWorship)

So, this was one long week. Things I’ve learned from the fair.

-I still love running sound. I could never get tired of it!
-If your the head of security at the fair, you get special treatment and your band gets to play the bigger stage…even when your band is not that good.
-Cows smell
-Pigs are loud!
-I never want to hear any songs about tequila again
-All lead singers think they can sound like Johnny Cash
-Fair food rocks…even if it can kill you within 24 hours
-Beer drunks are a lot louder and funnier at the fair.
-Dance Troupe mom’s are intense.
-Just say no to crack…

I also wanted to give you guys a quick update on my NMFAPIMWLC adventure. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve given any updates. I’ve been busy. We’ve had out of town guests and then of course my last week was full. But I am still moving forward. I think this will be my last entry on this. I have reached my initial goal of losing 20 lbs. I have some other personal goals now and will work towards them. I am eating better. I am eating less. And I am exercising. I encourage you all to keep it up if you are still working on this. And, let us know how you are doing.

Beginning week:
Weight 213
Waist 41″
Chest 44 1/4″

This Week:
Weight 191
Waist 36
Chest 43″

So as of now, I’ve lost a total of 22 lbs!

I only have two things from the fair for you tonight.

#1 Don’t get drunk, you’ll act stupid.

and

#2 I am tired

That is all…

Well, this week is almost over. I have today(Saturday) and tomorrow ends at 6. I’ve had a blast. I love how so many of you are following on Twitter. It’s been fun to keep the updates rolling.

So, I thought that today, I would highlight some of the fair food. And to start with, I need to make Ric and Elaine happy.

Funnel Cake. I’ve actually never had it. What does it taste like?

I’ve had 2 of these this week. But I’ve eaten well and actually lost a pound since Tuesday. So is this a Slushie or Shaved Ice? Let’s take a vote

This is ridiculous. I wish I had something in the picture to give you a size perspective. This is $10 and about 18 inches long. I saw 2 teenage girls sit down with this today…and they each had one!

Tam and Kota came by yesterday. I loved that they stopped in to say hey to me. This is quite a long week without them. I snapped this pic, just in case I get lonely.

I think my son liked the cotton candy!

This is an instant heart attack!

Like I said earlier, I am actually eating pretty well. besides my Slushie excursions I get to eat whatever catering for the main bands is serving. They actually bring it to me, cause I don’t have long enough breaks to walk down an get the food. What service! Anyway, it’s been very good. Lots of salads and fruits. Plus either chicken, pork loin or salmon. I have enjoyed all of it. Plus a little cake for desert.

Today I have a video for you. Enjoy “my day” at the fair in under 2 minutes…

A Day At The fair from Brent Hodge on Vimeo.

So day 2 is over. Not without some excitement. Early evening we had a major power outage. 1/3 of the city was off. Crazy! So we were down for about an hour. We actually lost power at the end of a belly dancing troupe (Thank you Lord! That was ridiculous.) and regained it just before the next act. So it didn’t turn out too bad.

The day started off pretty slow. This is what I saw when I showed up this AM…

Senior’s got in free today, so there were some special events planned for them. Bingo was one of them. The rest of my morning consisted of 2 solo acts and a bluegrass trio. Nice and simple, but a tad on the dull side.

So a question. Do you guys ride fair rides? I am one for an adventure at a big park like Six flags, but fair rides freak me out a bit. Knowing that this ride was in pieces on Monday, kind  of does it for me…

And this is for Kristen. The coveted “Elephant’s Ear”. Or, fried bread

And what the heck is this?!?! A man on a flying carpet. Just don’t pay any attention to the big blue curtain or the wheels underneath…

Well, nothing too crazy. I need to work on getting pics of funnel cake tomorrow for Ric and Elaine

Highlight for today was the Debra Arlyn band. AMAZING! Killer musicians, great music and fun to mix! Check back tomorrow, I have a little video for you.

Anything you guys want to know about our fair? Ask away…

So the first day has ended. A ton of you joined me on twitter to follow everything going on. That’s awesome. If you still want to join me, head over here.

I promised that each night I would give you some updates. No big revelations for today. It was kind of mellow I had only one full band and my day consisted mostly of Bluegrass. That’s fine, but only 2 of the 5 Bluegrass bands, actually knew how to play bluegrass. The highlight today was the Emmon’s Sisters. 4 Sisters aged 13-18. Great voices and great musicians. I get to mix them again on Thursday.

Anyway, here are some pics of the day…

My office for the week…

This was my opening band. They define themselves as an “Old School Hillbilly Bluegrass” band. The median age is 92 and there is no on in charge. Welcome to the fair

This was my dinner tonight. I get fed by the main stage and headline artists. Whatever is going on catering wise for them, I get to enjoy. Tonight was Salmon, Rice, Chicken w/Pasta, fruit and an amazing chocolate cake. Very nice. Not like this…

This is seriously 18 inches long. Fair food is a work of art. Only one person was eating this (yes, I asked if I could take a pic). I plan to give you a pic a day of the amazing Jackson County Fair cuisine.

Fireworks ended the night. They also do fireworks the closing night.

Well, there’s a bit of day 1. Come on back tomorrow for some more updates and pics. I may even be working in some video…we’ll see