Here in this parochial "blue" collar town who thinks it's "white," there is an annual gathering of masses that takes place every time this year, every year. Round these parts, it is officially called, "The Rock County 4-H Fair." Now, I am not all that big on fairs. When I lived in Minot, North Dakota, I would sometimes go to the state fair there in town, just to see some concerts (Def Leppard, Nixon Pupils, Sawyer Brown, etc). I would go with a friend or two, and after seeing said concerts, we would then see who had the highest pain threshold or fear factor by going on rides. I have had some very minor sickness, albeit I actually had a "carney" stop the ride for me to get off when I was about seven years old. That said, I used to spend way too much money for too little fun. Now, the Rock County fair is what it is (can someone please explain to me why the Wisconsin Right To Life has a booth bigger than a football field long at a fair...does it necessarily need to be there at all?). This fair, is a small fair (http://www.rockcounty4hfair.com/) with lots of smelly barnyard animals that could by anybody's dinner, overpriced food (I will pay what they ask for the best mini-donuts EVER though), and not a shred of shade to be found anywhere on the grounds. What is all ironic about the location of the fair itself, is that the fairgrounds are right across the street from where I work. Our church youth makes money off people who need to park their vehicles AND they rake in the cash with the almighty food booth next to the grandstand. It is quite the operation, and I am sure somewhere, somehow, the mob have their hands in this whole thing. So, there I was this morning, minding my own business when our secretary grabbed me, and told me the most devastating news. Friday night's grandstand band, officially cancelled their appearance here in Janesville. I about fell over. The scheduled band that night you ask? None other than one of the greatest bands to come out of the 70's & 80's...FOREIGNER! EVERY year, the fair lines up their entertainment to be nothing but country music. Now, I am a closeted country music fan...sort of. But, I was looking forward to actually seeing a good rock show this year. I was also going to try and see if Jason Bonham would sign a drumhead, maybe have Jeff Pilson sign a vintage Dokken poster, but NO! Do you think that the Gods of live rock shows would smile on me this week? Apparently not! Now, I am a little bitter, because I was so looking forward to this. So, as I work in our food booth enclosure where the temperatures exceed the burning off the flesh point on the Fahrenheit gauge, I will watch some cheesy country singers smile at the fair going masses. Not because I want, but because they are like fifty yards from our booth, so it's a little hard not to notice the twang emitting from the stacks of amplifiers. So, I am now calming down from the devastation that is a cancelled rock show for Friday (SIGH!). Can you feel my pain here people? But, this too shall pass. My wife is taking me to the Oak Ridge Boys on Sunday...doesn't really make up for it though. The only song I know from them is "Elvira," with the gettyup-to-hoomp-op-mo-mow-mow. Well, I am off to go home...see my child, have some iced tea, pet the cat, and watch some Dave. No rock show for me tonight... More later...