Freak Shows R Us
If you read my previous post about midgets, fire-breathing goths and nuns on stilts you might think that was the freakiest thing I witnessed this past weekend.
NOT EVEN CLOSE...
After 11 LONG years in Memphis I went to the Mid-South Fair and Libertyland on Saturday night, for the first time ever. And I realize now why I've never gone.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita obviously blew over a giant rock and folks came scrambling out to the MSF to seek cover.
At one point during our trek across a dark bridge at Libertyland I commented that "we could totally get murdered right here."
Man, what a life. So if you're interested in scoring an 8-ball, witnessing a grand freak show or getting a good slice of Memficana then I highly recommend the MSF and Libertyland.
NOT EVEN CLOSE...
After 11 LONG years in Memphis I went to the Mid-South Fair and Libertyland on Saturday night, for the first time ever. And I realize now why I've never gone.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita obviously blew over a giant rock and folks came scrambling out to the MSF to seek cover.
At one point during our trek across a dark bridge at Libertyland I commented that "we could totally get murdered right here."
Man, what a life. So if you're interested in scoring an 8-ball, witnessing a grand freak show or getting a good slice of Memficana then I highly recommend the MSF and Libertyland.
posted by Gary Z at
6:43 AM
1 Comments:
Another Perspective:
You are exactly right, of course. That's why the wife and I usually go on Saturday morning, walk through all of the buildings, and then have a nice healthy "lunch" of fair food before hitting the gates just before the crowds arrive. Generally, I have found that most of the gang bangers don't get up until around 2 pm.
You're pretty safe till then.
Speaking as almost a life long Memphian, I can say that things were different back in the day.
When I was a kid, believe it or not, my parents used to turn my brothers and me loose at night (when we were teenagers) and meet us a couple of hours later at the exit. We had the time of our lives and felt completely safe. We hit all the big rides (they had dozens more back then - the fair has been scaled back to about 1/2 over the last few years). Checked out the freak shows before the PC crowd put those folks out of work and stuffed out faces with junk food.
In the 80's, they used to have a guy dressed as a clown sitting on a water tank that would insult people who threw balls trying to dunk him. He was really mean but funny, and we would stand around laughing and hoping he didn't pick on us next. Another casualty of the easily offended crowd.
When our mayor burned down the Family Living Center a couple of years ago, that cut down on most of the major exhibitor space. The only reason I go now is to re-live some good memories and check out the Amateur Photographer's Contest which I like to participate in.
So, in conclusion, between the liberals who got rid of the freak shows (the closest thing you will find to that now is the toothless guys with the 3rd grade education level running large, dangerous machines), the corrupt politicians who are trying to make the fair-grounds worthless so they can take it over, and the criminal element who make it unsafe to attend after lunch-time - they have pretty much ruined a formerly enjoyable experience.
The Mid-South Fair is symbolic of everything that used to be fun about Memphis and has been now been taken over by Memfrica.
By
Don, At
9:03 AM
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