Cliffhanger September 10, 2006 The Scenery  « Previous Main Next » Wow. So now I'm about a thousand photos behind and it's Sunday and the fair opened Friday with a little delay, but more or less, on time. One of the Big Ben loads didn't arrive until sometime Friday but there's a guy named Lawrence and a crew of ride jocks, who hauled ass all night long Friday, to get it up by Saturday, at what time, I'm not exactly sure. It was pretty amazing though. I might add that most of my Saturday was not spent taking pictures or soaking up the smell of a fresh midway, rather I searched around for temporary housing much of the day. There's a guy currently living in (what's served as) my house for the last few years. He's a hard working ride jock, a climber, and I could not bring myself to hassle him over it since I myself am ultimately, just a chick photographer. I left the fairgrounds, still homeless and now sunburned, at two o'clock yesterday afternoon, to get ready to shoot the grand opening of the new symphony hall in Nashville. I was told to be there at 4:50. It was a white tie affair (I should just combine the blogs and call it Sybil Rides Again or some such thing. Anyway, just about everyone there had a manicure and there I was, dressed semi-appropriately in a tuxedo, with grease under my nails. Happily. After it was over, I arrived back on the midway just a few minutes before closing (12:45). I had promised to drive someone to the grocery store (for a bunch of guys who have no wheels. If you can think of anything more miserable than men without wheels, I'll wait to hear it. Cutting a familiar path through the midway, I went to the Big Ben ride to find him and the smell of popcorn suddenly hit me. It was as if I were smelling it for the first time. I blamed it on the two glasses of wine I'd had with dinner and went on. When I got to the ride, my passenger had given up on me and gone to bed. I only knew this because one of the Mexican guys came straight over and said two, very specific English words. 'Jeff' and 'tomorrow.' He said it twice before I understood. Then they insisted I ride the ride. Naturally, I declined at first, repeating the 'tomorrow' part of the message they'd just given me and adding the Spanish version of the word, but they'd have none of it. As far as they were concerned I owed them a ride, having followed them around for the last four days. So not an hour after leaving the symphony gala, I was summarily catapulted to the top of a drop tower and left to sit there above Nashville, wondering what would happen next. Hoping desperately to hang on to the beef tenderloin and lobster they'd served us for dinner, I closed my eyes as the thing dropped us a hundred feet. When we got back to the deck, the lights on the Skywheel had gone out, signifying the end of the first Saturday night of the fair. The midway was dark and we exited the gate, laughing from the rush of adrenaline. I headed off to the bunkhouses to shoot a few more frames. Anthony and his crew were busy adding scenery to the Dream Machine so I hung around over there for a little while and then went home for the night but not before the dude living in my former house sidled up beside me and offered it up for the run of the fair. I have no idea what caused him to do such a thing but I appreciated his offer and wasted no time with a long acceptance speech. Now I'm thinking maybe I should leave him my hammock when they go because that was something he hadn't thought of before I showed up, and from the looks of things, he's been sleeping in a dysfunctional lawn chair. One of those plastic wrap things that folds in three pieces. He'll think he's died and gone to heaven once he's had a nap in the hammock. permalink Comment Gallery: Setup/Teardown Name: joondog September 11, 2006
Nicely done. Sounds like a good week-end!
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ABOUT This is a story about carnies, living and working on the road. It's about a culture of people in America who get less respect than they deserve because of the entertainment industry and other media, who continue to either promote the same shallow stereotypes or sensationalize them, with their own imaginations. They're already sensational. This brief web journal is about them and for them. Text and photos ©SUSAN ADCOCK unless otherwise noted. Thanks for looking. GALLERIES Setup/Teardown Midway Midway Art People High Wire Winter Quarters Gibtown Ground Score State Fair Tijuana Teardown Shirts Backlot Parts Department Wilson County Fair TN State Fair 2008 TN State Fair 2009 Vintage BEST OF Carny Rap For the Kids Gorilla Girl Dirty Laundry Two Jimmys The O Boys The Ride Jock The Skywheel Call Me in the Morning The Negotiation Balloon Joint LINKS AmusementLink OneSource Amusement Today Matt's Carnival Warehouse Tilt-A-Whirl 5 cent ride Sideshow World Coney Island Blog JKirlin on Fiesta Shows Ripley's: Have You Heard? Majestic Greater Shows Diary of a Carny Casa Flamingo The Flat Joint Pitcherlady Carny Dog ARCHIVE November (2009) October (2009) September (2009) August (2009) July (2009) June (2009) May (2009) April (2009) March (2009) February (2009) January (2009) December (2008) October (2008) September (2008) August (2008) July (2008) June (2008) May (2008) April (2008) March (2008) February (2008) January (2008) December (2007) November (2007) October (2007) September (2007) August (2007) July (2007) May (2007) April (2007) March (2007) February (2007) January (2007) November (2006) October (2006) September (2006) August (2006) July (2006) June (2006) May (2006) April (2006) March (2006) February (2006) January (2006) December (2005) November (2005) October (2005) September (2005) August (2005) July (2005) June (2005) May (2005) April (2005) March (2005) February (2005) January (2005) December (2004) November (2004) October (2004) September (2004) August (2004) July (2004) June (2004) May (2004) April (2004) March (2004) February (2004) January (2004) December (2003) November (2003) October (2003) September (2003) August (2003) |
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