James Lileks has been live-blogging from the Minnesota State Fair all this week. It’s worth a read. But then James recounting a day in bed with gout would probably be worth a read. (He has tens of thousands of us starting each day by reading what he did the day before.) He’s also been producing short videos he’s shot there. Fun stuff.

We lived in Minneapolis for  five years, so I know the Minnesota State Fair. It’s a good one. Clean. Well organized. Carnies not too frightening. The fair was a great reminder that, despite the pretension of the Twin Cities, Minnesota was very much a farm state still. It’s basically just a big Iowa with lakes and trees.

As a matter of fact, the fair will culminate with the selection of this year’s dairy queen who will receive the title “Princess Kay of the Milky Way” and be honored by having a bust of her likeness carved from a block of butter. Seriously.

The other state fairs with which I have intimate acquaintance are the Oklahoma and Texas affairs. In fact, I have a rule to only attend state fairs that are held within a few miles of I-35. Which means the Kansas S.F. in Hutchinson, Missouri S.F. in Sedalia, and Iowa S.F. are all on the table.

Texas and Oklahoma readers my wonder why Minnesota has its fair in late August. It is because by the time the Big Tex starts welcoming visitors to Fair Park, snow is likely to be blowing in Minnesota.