Our Racine County Fair Menu: corn dog on a stick, barbecued pork chop on a stick, mini donuts on a stick, deep fried twinkie on a stick, pickle on a stick, caramel apple on a stick, deep fried snickers bar on a stick... and a bunny drawing on a stick (what can I say? we were on a roll!)



NOTE: We shared all of these items. So, unhealthy? Yeah. But we'll probably live.

PS: TheBoy loved climbing all over the Case tractors and combines. And the tractor pulls were a huge hit! It's surprising how enjoyable those can be to watch, especially given how boring they look at first glance.

Screaming Orphans

Sunday, I made it to Irish Fest, as attested by my scorched forehead, my damaged hearing, and the craving for mead. Though the heat and a head cold kept me from indulging overly in the mead, I still had a very good time. The Screaming Orphans were my favorite show. Quite enjoyed what I saw. A partial set list from the Screaming Orphans show at Irish Fest:

• Jolene (Dolly Parton cover)


• Original Tune (sounded like Bangles with a Donegal county accent)


• 2 short Reels (don’t know the names, but they had nice stories with them)


• Seven Nation Army (White Stripes cover)


• Irish Traditional love song (can’t recall the name, but it was good)


• Original Tune (sounded like a garage band GoGos with a Donegal county accent)


• Ghost Riders in the Sky (western classic, frequently redone)

Kinda weird, but it actually worked. It helped that their original stuff had that “girl-garage band sound” that I enjoyed on the Bangles’ early tracks. And their harmonies were very nice in a pop-rock way, as well. The show ended up being about a third covers, a third traditional irish stuff, and a third original stuff. I think they did more Irish stuff than usual because it was irish fest. In any case, they managed to keep the Leinie stage about half full for their entire show – about double what most bands were doing on Sunday afternoon. Their CD is all original stuff. I may pick one up from CD Baby.

Folk Fair Weekend!

Yes, it's that time of year again, time for Milwaukee's Holiday Folkfair International! This year's themes: Celebrate the Compasses of Culture, and the International Polar Year. FolkFair runs November 16th through 18th at the StateFair grounds. Times and directions are on the website. Admission is $10, but bring more so you can sample all of the international treats. I guarantee that I will feel sick by the end: taiwanese sesame balls and norwegian gjetost are not meant to mix, but mix they will.

This year is especially exciting for The Fishmonger's family, as TheGirl has been promoted to the group that performs on the big stage this year! She dances as part of the Young People's Matinee; the show starts at noon on Sunday the 18th, with her group falling third. St. Sava's group is as big as ever. In fact, they'll have over 50 kids on the stage! Special waivers needed to be signed. It will be a dance-travaganza!

Bristol Ren Faire

Visited the Ren Fair this weekend. It was me, my wife and daughter, my mother-in-law and my parents. Zack was with the babysitter, and it was lovely. I'd never have made it an hour with him along. As it was, we had loads of fun! Glassblowing demo, wall climbing for TheGirl (and a freebie for her Grandma), scattered bits of several shows (Zilch the Torysteller, Tartanic, Molly and the Tinker, and so on) a visit to the nobles, loads of bad-for-me food (garlic mushrooms, sassafrass, cheese puffs, pickles on a stick, the list goes on and on). (Oh yeah, we saw Viola Zupa, too!) A lovely, and exhausting day. As usual, clicking on the mosaic will take you to the flickr set.

Racine's Festival of Trees

The Racine Downtown association does a Festival of Trees fundraiser downtown each year, and we usually visit. Since the roads had mostly been cleared, and snow had stopped blowing about, we decided to go down yesterday evening. It was lovely, if nearly empty.

They changed the venue this year from Festival Hall to Memorial Hall. Good move. There's lots more room, and the place is already attractive in that old fashioned hall sort of way. Lots of pillars and balconies. But the trees are the star of the show. Well, they are if you discount Santa. And speaking of discount Santas... Zack had his first Santa pic taken. He went about a minute without crying, then burst into tears. See flickr for individual photos, as always.