tvlgfhf november undercurrent article

It’s October in Fresno. There’s a slight chill in the air along with all of the dust from crops being harvested, and Fresno’s biggest event has once again come and gone: the BFF. No, not your best friend forever you Paris Hilton clones, the Big Fresno Fair. Shoot, half the ads actually call it the BBBBBFF. Now that’s big!

Ed: Like every year, thousands have congregated at the fairgrounds to check out a lot of what Fresno County has to offer. I don’t know about you, but I only went to the Fair once as a child, and once when I was in high school. As an adult, the Fair has become a yearly occurrence, with some years even featuring multiple Fair trips. I’ve got to admit, I love the Fair. My biggest reason: the swings. I strongly dislike the midway but I love those basket seated, carnie operated chain link swings. I’m terrified every time I squeeze my big frame into that seat, and maybe a third of the time I’m thinking about the last time the apparatus was inspected, but I love the feeling of flying through the air. You gently soar above the crowds and take in the sights of the night.

Adam: Yeah, I definitely love the swings. The undulation between the feeling of weightlessness and centrifugal force giving the feeling of being heavier is a wonderful thing. Too nerdy? Wev. I too had never been to the BFF until I got older but I look forward to it every year. Now, beside the swings, I always look forward to the art exhibits, both the adult and junior class. I like to see the junior exhibits more to catch a glimpse of what young, up-and-coming savants are making their way into the art world. I check out the adult’s more to see what kind of crap people are willing to enter and hope to win a bit of money. I mean, that’s what I plan on doing next year; entering a few pieces to make some bucks.

Ed: I like the junior art exhibit more than the adult one. Frankly, maybe it’s because the young artists are doing work under someone’s tutelage and are focused. Most of the adult art is…well…not as good. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely good pieces in the adult art exhibit, but there is a lot of crap. Maybe more crap, even crap that wins best of show, than there are good pieces. I know a lot of people also go the BFF for the food. I enjoy eating the food, and in my last fair trip I ate a BBQ beef sandwich, fried zucchini, and a funnel cake. Even though I gorged myself a bit, I can’t say I go to the fair for the food or even really look forward to anything in particular. The corndogs are decent, but I actually prefer the ones at Der Wienershnitzel. And I’ve yet to eat some crazy fried thing from Chicken Charlie’s. How big is the food for you?

Adam: I do love me some fair food, but I'm pretty bland when it comes to that stuff. This year, I had a corndog, a cinnamon roll (cream cheese icing only), and a funnel cake (just cinnamon and sugar please). Of course, I had all those over the course of about two hours so I was feeling pretty full by the time I turned away those last two bites of funnel cake. I haven't had a deep fried Oreo or Twinkie or avocado or piece of chicken inside a doughnut and I probably never will. I like to keep it simple when it comes to these sorts of things. Really, if I'm going to die, it's going to be the slow clogging of my arteries over the period of many years. None of this choking on a piece of Twinkie because the filling was too hot and it burned my mouth causing me to inhale suddenly, lodging a piece of sweet dessert cleanly in my windpipe. Speaking of the impending slice and dice that will be my autopsy, I did not go see the cows or any other prize winning, soon-to-be-plastic-wrapped, farm animals this year. How was it?

Ed: I admit, I did go check out the animals, but only briefly. Let’s just say that pigs are cute from a distance, but smell terrible up close. That was enough to get me to move along. The baby goats were cute as well. I didn’t venture into the room with all the rabbits and birds because that’s a little sad, to see them caged up. That, and birds are creepy. Overall, I had a good time at the fair, and there’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll go back next year.