State Fair: Agriculture building

The agriculture building is a focal point of the Iowa State Fair. It's basically a gigantic barn:

At any given moment hundreds of people are milling around.

This is an aside: At the State Fair it is a joke to put any food on a stick. It started years ago (I think with corn dogs, but I can't be sure) and has spread to pork chops, steak... now there are dozens of things on a stick. Seriously, check out the list here. I was happy to see something healthy on a stick. My friend Ryan said, "Yeah, but do you see anyone eating it?"

Sadly, no. For the entire day.

Iowa is the land of the ostrich and here are ostrich eggs. I've only seen ostriches once in my 40 years of living in the state but apparently we're a major producer.

Why they also displayed the ostrich legs sans meat is beyond me.
Iowa is also big on our honey production. I used to get a glass of tea from this place sweetened by honey until I realized that I just didn't like the flavor.

Thousands of live bees on hand to demonstrate the honey production. See the pics in the background? Yes, Iowa has it's own honey queen each year. Make fun if you want but my home county of Benton has a town that labels a "Weenie queen" each year. A Weenie queen dumped two nights before homecoming of my junior year of high school. I'm not bitter but I guess I'm bringing it up 25 years later.

The Iowa State Fair is most famous for its butter cow - part of which is seen to the right. Each year they do an additional theme and this year it is Dr. Seuss.
Here you can see the butter cow in its full glory. People travel hours and hours just to see this. You get it on this blog for free.

I know; you owe me.

The ice sculptures next to the butter cow are almost always more interesting but get none of the press.
Now we're into the agricultural part of the ag building. Iowa has fantastically fertile soil yet a short growing season. We do whatever it takes to grow anything we can.

This is popcorn. Much larger popcorn than what Dad grows.
Lots of field corn is submitted.

We're not Idaho, but we do grow a lot of potatoes.
Ever wanted cabbage twice the size of your head? Come to Iowa.
We're not wimps in Iowa; we like our hot peppers.

OK, back to corn. These are ridiculously long ears. As a farm kid I see this and think there's just something not natural about ears this long.

So I'll close with some award winning ears. The next time you drink a Coke, eat a taco, eat corn flakes or have beef, chicken or pork of any kind, think of this picture. This what produced what you are eating.

Santorum

With Iowa going first in the Republican calendar in 2012 it was not surprising to run into a potential candidate at the State Fair. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum lost his last election 59% to 41% so his chances of becoming president are only slightly higher than mine.

He's feeling encouraged and says he is being pulled into the race.

Where I am NOT this summer

I had a great day at the Iowa State Fair. I hope to post about it tomorrow. As exciting as the butter cow is, I think Adrienne (mother of the Coke fridge) is having a better summer vacation. She posted this on Facebook:

Caption: "The sun rising over the Temple of Zeus this morning."

Oh, yeah? But can you put it on a stick? I don't think so!

Ok, I'll try not to be jealous.

Facebook safety shield

Tonight I learned a new value to FaceBook. I'll paraphrase from a friend:

"I'm an average looking guy. Women aren't knocking down my door. I had a four month sabbatical(meaning, no sex) since my last relationship but then I started seeing a new woman. It was like blood in the water and the sharks attacked. I had like 12 booty calls in two weeks. Because I actually want to pursue a relationship with my girlfriend I had to change my status on FB and the calls ended."

It's an age old story: When you want a relationship it will never happen. When you start one others suddenly express an interest. Now there's FB! With a simple change in status you are telling the world, "I am taken. Move on."

If I had had my expo markers on me I would have put a large X on his forehead before we left the bar.

*****

Somewhat unrelated is this story that only half of males are getting circumcised in the US anymore. Really? I've been snipped and pretty happy about it. I haven't asked friends what they are doing with their sons.... snip or no snip, I guess I am curious. Less that 50%? Wow.

Corn, sweetcorn, and popcorn

A native Iowa friend thought all farmers grew sweet corn. Since he was confused on the topic I'm pretty sure many others would be as well.

On the left is field corn. It's 99% of what you see when you drive across the state. It's hard, gritty and not something you'd want to eat. This corn is used to make corn flakes, sweeten Coke and make ethanol. It's also the main feeding ingredient for cows, chickens and pigs. It is quite literally the product that feeds the world.

In the middle is sweet corn. This is the stuff people love to lather up with butter and salt and eat off the cob. (Except me. I always cut it off the cob. I don't enjoy corn stuck in my teeth. Besides, you can eat it much, much faster that way.)

On the right is popcorn. The popcorn you microwave or get in the theater has much bigger ears... Smaller than sweetcorn, but much bigger than this. Dad has grown popcorn for as long as I can remember and he's been slowly but surely developing his own breeds over decades of careful management. (Meaning, he picks his favorite ears from each season to plant the next season.) His popcorn is very tiny and has incredible flavor. This is why I'm willing to dedicate half of my luggage space to popcorn when I fly to the Emirates; you cannot get dad's popcorn anywhere else.

Home

For all the pics in the next two posts it may help to click on them to see them in full size. I wish I knew how to get blogger to post larger pictures within the blog.

In this picture (from right to left) is the cob house, the house I grew up in, and grain bin. The cob house is where my grandparents stored corn cobs they harvested in the fall. They burned them in the winter to stay warm.

The enormous cylindrical building stores corn. The odd looking thing sticking out of it is a fan. When the corn is harvested it is too wet. The fans dry the corn to keep it from developing mold.

This picture is taken from pretty much the center of the picture above, looking back. It is just a fantastic late afternoon view.

Farm pics

Looking south from the homestead there's soybeans in the foreground and corn in the background.

Evergreen in the foreground, sweetcorn in the center and soybeans in the distance.

Pretty much the same shot but over a little. The patch of grass you see running up the middle of the bean field is called a waterway. In heavy rain the soil between the corn and bean plants can't hold all of the water. Waterways slow down the water and prevent soil erosion.

We have a mixture of trees on the farm. The older trees in the background are deciduous (lose their leaves in the fall) while the pine trees stay nice and green all winter long.

Years ago dad planted dozens of soft pine trees in our backyard. They take decades to grow to full height. A neighbor commented that Dad must have a pretty optimistic outlook on life to plant these at retirement age. I know it is his way of leaving the place better than he found it.

I was going to close with what I thought was a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, "If I knew the world would end tomorrow, I'd still plant a tree." Apparently, I've made that quote up because I can't find it.

My apologies, Ralph.

Farm pics

Here are pics looking east of my parents' house.

It is what it is

In the past two weeks I've had two friends hurt me. One said my blog was offensive and another left me fearing he was dead. I don't think either intended to hurt me - the "offensive" comment came after many beers and the other didn't realize that I'm a bit sensitive about depressed/suicidal friends I can't reach.

As a single guy who came to peace with being single a long, long time ago, I know that I rely on my friends more than normal people (i.e. the 99% of the population in a relationship or seeking one). And I'm extremely lucky: I have many, many friends... great people from all walks of life.

Regardless, events in the past two weeks sapped all of the life out of me. I became depressed and depressed blogging simply doesn't work.

Tonight a friend was relating about a recent romantic relationship. He had hoped for more but maybe it wasn't meant to be. One of his friends suggested he adopt the attitude of "it is what it is." So my friend may not get the long term relationship he wanted, but he had fun and who knows what will happen in the future. I need to adopt the same attitude.

I'm a lucky guy: I know hundreds of people and keep in contact with dozens. There's no reason I should let this get to me the way I have. I'm not offering any excuses, I'm simply explaining why the blog pretty much went dark.

Landscaping: It's all fun and games... (part 2)

A couple of weeks ago my sister nearly sliced her finger off. This week a guy I paid to help had this happen:

I'm gonna have trouble finding anyone to help me with the track record I've got going.

Quote of the day

Tonight was a night of quotes. This is the only PG-13 one I can share:

My friend meets a woman at a bar. They hit it off. Really well.

Woman: I have to let you know I have a husband.

Friend: I have a cat.

Woman: Excuse me?

Friend: Oh, I thought we were exchanging information the other didn't care about.

Target

Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that corporations can give as much as they want to political campaigns. Target weighed into this by giving $150,000 to a group supporting the Republican candidate for governor in Minnesota.

I sent this to the CEO:

Dear Mr. Steinhafel -

Your support of a gay bashing Republican in Minnesota makes me feel so much more comfortable shopping at WalMart.

I appreciate that!

Sincerely,

Steve Kranz

In response I received this:

... At Target, we are fully committed to fostering an environment that supports and respects the rights and beliefs of all individuals....

Umm, really?

Apparently thousands of others also sent notes and, well, Target attempted to redeem itself with a public apology.

Life where corporations can dump unlimited amounts into campaigns is a new world for all of us. A $150,000 donation is a company merely dipping its toe in the water. I hope Target losing this toe is a signal to other corporations and they avoid doing this. I prefer to have our politicians bought the old fashioned way.

The ultimate irony in this? Running on the Democratic side is Mark Dayton, the former senator and part of the family that founded Target.

Tomboy no more

Bill Spellman was my mentor and close friend. This week I had lunch with his widow, Donna. We discussed many things including how amazed he'd be that his granddaughter (of whom they had custody) became a model. Why? As a child she was a complete tomboy.

My favorite story is when Dakota was in first grade. Doc was dropping her off at school and she was carrying a rubber kickball. A boy said to her, "I think I'm gonna take that from you."

Without missing a beat Dakota replied, "I think I'm gonna kick your ass."

Doc had to explain to her why she shouldn't say things like that... but in telling the story it was was clear: He couldn't have been more proud.

Fifteen years have passed and here's the tomboy who was gonna kick a bully's ass:

Dakota won the title of Miss Teen Iowa a few years ago and is now competing for Miss Iowa.
You can read Dakota's blog here.

Miss Teen USA 2007

As luck would have it Dakota roomed with the most imfamous Miss Teen USA contestant:

I confess I have trouble watching because it’s just too cringe-worthy.

Dakota offers a spirited defense of her friend.

After visiting Ukraine I came in contact with an American working in the Peace Corp there. He has some pictures of the women's interesting attire:

The see-through top in the picture below was very common.
Given how most of the sidewalks were cobblestone I have no idea how women were able to get around in stiletto heals.

My original post on the subject is here and it is one of the most often viewed. (It must rank high in Google search.)

I can't find my original post discussing the escalator trip to the subway. What I do know is that this picture is better than the one I had. One look and "Highway to hell" is playing in my mind.

On my drive to O'hare

I have something to think about as I drop off Ann and Mike: My vacation is half over. Am I half done with what I wanted to get done? Nope.

Freaky looking guy explained

During the trip to Nepal I wondered what's up with these dudes:

Today I learned that in Hinduism there is many paths to heaven (nirvana?). One is the path of doing drugs and finding enlightenment.

Hmm. I am surprised this hasn't caught on in the US.

Is kindness cultural?

New Yorkers are rude, right? Can we agree on that? But many of the "rude" New Yorkers come from elsewhere and the environment of New York can make anyone rude.*

Since visiting Nepal I have wondered how an entire population can be so incredibly nice and polite. A friend - and recent Coe grad - connected me to Kamal. Kamal graduated from Coe last year and is in grad school at Iowa. I met him at Devotay, an Iowa City restaurant owned by Coe friends of mine.

Kamal explained a lot over the delicious chicken salad and mushroom soup. I had a hundred questions and many of them were on the theme: Why are Nepalis so incredibly polite? Kamal's answer is that it is rooted in the version of Hinduism/Buddhism that is practiced in Nepal. While I'm not a world traveler I can tell the difference between, "I'm being nice to you because you are a tourist and we want your money" and real politeness. While the Nepalese we met wanted our money there was underlying politeness that makes me want to go back.

My biggest regret of the day was not carrying a pad and paper and taking notes. A few take-aways:

• Why Coe, literally on the other side of the planet? When he was searching seven years ago the internet in Nepal was slow, making research difficult. His guidance counselor recommended a few places in the midwest including Coe. While Kamal was accepted to both Coe and Grinnell, Coe gave better financial aid.
• Kumal was separated from his family at the age of 4 to go to a Catholic boarding school in Kathmandu. Later Ann asked me, "Did they try to indoctrinate him into Christianity? Put on Christmas pageants, etc.?" I don't know the answer.
• As a Brahman (part of the highest caste) he is not supposed to eat beef or pork. Lower castes are allowed pork. Each caste has rules of life. For example, Brahmans are to shower every day.
• Kamal is from Chitwan. Chitwan was my favorite part of the trip. Pics from Ann here, Chitwan daily life, workers end their day, savanna, local village, elephant breeding center, jungle, jeep safari into jungle, jungle trek, and rhino sighting.
• As a son, his father must get his approval before he can sell any property.
• Hinduism and Buddhism (in Nepal) are completely intertwined... which makes sense given what we saw when we were there. Kamal explained that they were almost interchangeable until outsiders started asking questions and trying to create a distinction where none existed before.
• On behalf of an American friend in the Emirates I asked about mytia (don't know correct spelling). The organization is trying to keep young Nepali girls from being exploited - promised a great life in India or elsewhere and taken from the family only to end up working in a garment shop or as a sex worker. Apparently, the work of mytia combined with the increase in literacy has virtually put an end to this tragic practice.
• Nepal has very little patriotism because people identify with their region or whoever provides their paycheck more than they do the country. Given the level of poverty many sign up to fight for foreign countries. Nepalese are known as fierce fighters, although that fierceness may be due to the money owed to the family if the warrior died.
• He had very little culture shock upon arriving in the US thanks to a western education and watching American TV/movies. He was a bit surprised that many women were not as professionally oriented as he expected. Given the lack of stay-at-home moms on TV that's not surprising.

We discussed the politics of Nepal at length. Knowing/understanding the influence of the Maoists is interesting to me and Kamal was able to weave a story that made sense. (We heard nothing but negative things about the Maoists when we were in Nepal making it hard to believe they could legitimately win an election. Kamal was able to explain the monarchy tension and Republican-esque exploitation of nationalism that swept the Maoists into power.

* I was supposed to be going to New York this week. Some problems with the car I'm driving combined with expensive rental car rates killed the trip. So I'm trying to rationalize that I'm better off not seeing those rude New Yorkers!

UAE to block BlackBerry e-mail

It's not often that the UAE makes the front page of the New York Times, but they did this weekend. The story in brief: BlackBerry phones encrypt e-mail, meaning the government can't monitor the messages. The UAE government is not happy about that and has decided to ban them. Saudi Arabia announced that they will follow suit.

Knowing that e-mails can be monitored in the Emirates is disturbing, but hardly surprising. Every week I come across a website that is "banned." (One of the most bizarre banned websites is Andrew Sullivan, whose link is on the right side of the page. Andrew is very critical of Israel so his blog should be welcome. Go figure.)

The trouble for the Emirates is that they want to be a major tourist/financial hub. Telling business people they can't use their BlackBerries when they come will unquestionably dampen the spirit.

Ever felt sorry for a washing machine?

You will now.  After the rocks in the machine don’t do enough damage the sadistic owner adds a brick:

There’s nothing “self-destructing” in this clip.  It takes a sick bastard to do this and I’m not sure what is says about me that I put it on my blog.