Beat it, MJ. Just beat it.
Submitted by Dick Wanner on Tue, 07/21/2009 - 1:55pm.
Beat it. That's the message Iowans sent to the Iowa State Fair organizers who were considering a Michael Jackson butter sculpture at this summer's upcoming fair. Butter sculptures have been a popular part of the fair since 1911, and fairgoers jostle for position in front of the glass-enclosed displays to watch the artists at work. Besides a life-size Butter Cow, which always makes an appearance, sculptors usually whip up another display, according to an AP story which is here http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=331906
Staffers at the fair began plans for a butter statue the day after Jackson's death, June 25. After word got out, the organization was deluged with complaints, not because of his art, but because of his seamy personal life.
So organizers put the issue to an online vote. Some 100,000 people logged on to let their thoughts be known, and the final tally, which was taken on Friday, was 35 percent in favor of an MJ likeness and 65 percent opposed.
The theme for the fair this year is the 40th anniversary of NASA's manned lunar landing. Part of the rationale for a Jackson sculpture was his famous moonwalk, a tie some folks found a bit tenuous, to say the least.
So with Jackson out of the picture, I've been thinking about contacting the fair with my own sculptural efforts. This is a talent I've kept carefully hidden, so far, but I think I could pull this one off, with a modest little piece I call "Moon Rock."
Rural folks and city folks have to understand each other or we're headed for trouble, according to Lancaster Farming editor Dave Lefever in his editorial this week. He cites the example of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection regulators with responsibilities related to on-farm manure storage facilities. Asked what they were seeing out on farms, they said they hadn't been to any farms.
How to make people think you're driving a BMW pickup truck. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26925604
