yay!

lolis made it back from Texas last night. i wasn't expecting her until tonight or even tomorrow because she was talking about hanging out a bit longer. the dogs, of course, are thrilled and are causing trouble now. funny, they're so good when she's gone. i guess they're worried that she'll never come back and believe that only by minding their P's and Q's will she reappear ;) anyway, she's pretty exhausted. she left at 5AM and got here around 7PM. ick. i've never liked driving more than 4-500 miles alone. ya gotta have another driver to keep you sane on those long stretches...

after reading Nelle's multiple blogs today, it got me craving food booth hopping at the Taste! i admit that it's a yearly ritual for me as well. although i haven't gone on consecutive days in many years, it's always fun to see what things people are selling...catch a free concert...and grub big time! i'm just wondering how people are sneaking in dogs if they were checking bags last year for contraband water bottles. have they loosened some of the security?

hopefully, we'll be able to go early and see my brother, Sandy. he'll be working at the Mustard's Last Stand food booth. for the past four years, he's been managing the Denver store (near University and Evans). usually, he gets stuck working the whole weekend at the Taste booth and never gets to wander around or catch a music performance. i saw him last wednesday though and he said he lucked out, only having to work monday at Taste.

the festival sure has grown though. i do remember seeing the likes of Three Dog Night, America, and Grand Funk in concert over the past 16 or 17 years i've been attending. i even worked a booth in 1990, when i worked for the Harvest. back then, only about 300,000 people attended over the holiday weekend (now it's like 500K). anyway, i will never forget all those Turkey Cashew Crunch sandwiches, Swiss Granolas, cookies, and Apple Crumb Cakes that we sold...and frying in that hot sun (our booth faced west and some of the trees were much shorter than today).

both the People's Fair and Taste of Colorado are definitely two of the most fun summer gatherings. you can find so many different and cool things all in one place! then again, going to Mile High Flea Market is just about the same ;) i was reading an article on the history of Taste and (apparently) the festival didn't turn a profit the first year. i think it was around $20,000 in the red... still, that's a lot better than the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which has lost money five years running. one sign of the tapering (no, plummeting) attendance for CCAF is that you didn't have to fight for a parking space in front of Lois' house (which is four blocks away).

ya know, i wonder if Denny and Lowa have considered showing at the People's Fair. a few years ago, one of my friends, Phillip Ginn, rented a booth with his wife and made some good money. he told me that the booth rental for the People's was WAY cheaper than Taste... something to ponder, D&L (is that like S&M?)!

and if there's time tomorrow, maybe we'll head on over to Lakeside to ride the train. yeah, i know that Six Flags is way better, but i'm a nostalgic type-o-guy. my parents used to take us to Lakeside when we were little...to ride the train...feed the catfish...skin our knees in the Fun House (which is gone)...cause brain damage by crashing the shit out of the bumper cars...etc. besides, now that i'm older (and wimpier), $6.95 unlimited ride passes (or $.10 ride tix) on Labor Day weekend are about my speed...once a year for some cheap entertainment and time to admire some of the original architecture. the archaeologist in me appreciates the 'old school' side of the park, which is now 95 years old. today, we only appreciate an amusement park if the rides are downright traumatizing and bladder bursting. you want scary? 60-70 mph roller coasters ain't nuthin'! try riding a ferris wheel in Mexico that runs on a tractor engine...spews sparks and fumes...groans with every pass...turns about 4x faster than the typical american f-wheel...and the freakin' ride lasts 10 minutes (not 3-4). i was scared shitless thinking that the sparks would set the wheel afire the exact same time it would break free and we'd roll down the plaza, stopped only by the massive church wall. puh-leeze! russian roulette is safer!