FairWatch for Wednesday, Aug. 17

The last race of the Hendrick’s Pig Racing Show that I attended got particularly exciting when pig handler “Sister Sally” brought out a large piece of wood that was decorated with the colors of the pig’s respective racing silks. She planted the board just a couple of pig lengths after the starting gates and I think the pigs were supposed to jump over it. This time there was going to be another hurdle in the eternal quest for that chocolate sandwich cookie.
Unfortunately, one of the pigs jumped too early and slammed directly into the piece of wood. I hope it’s not seriously injured. — Travis McMullen
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Holy humidity, Batman! I guess we should have expected it with Tuesday's persistent rain, but fairgoers were headed for cover — meaning air-conditioned buildings and shade trees — all day Wednesday as the temperature and humidity made life muggy. — Bob Satnan

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It doesn’t take much to turn the audience against The Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show’s Lee LeCaptain. He just tries to take advantage of one little loophole in the verbal rules of a log sawing contest and all of a sudden the collected voice of the spectators has turned against him. And then for the rest of the show, he is the enemy and the people cheer exclusively for his opponents. He is the classic cheating heel but even then there are some who insist on supporting him because they’re really not supposed to. Besides, how can you not support a man with such impressive chainsaw carving skills? — Travis McMullen
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Here is something that I should note, for the record: the back of a Missouri State Fair media pass is much too slick to be airbrushed properly. I stopped at an airbrushing booth because I wanted to get the back of the tag decorated so that the people have something to look at when the wind turns it around. It seems like every time I look down it is facing the wrong way.
I was going to get the Batman logo, or maybe my first name, or maybe a spitting cobra with flaming dice eyes swallowing a billiard ball decorated with skull and crossbones. But it couldn’t be done. Maybe I’ll rough it up with some sandpaper and try again later. — Travis McMullen

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Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop came to Missouri for the first time on Wednesday. Rosemary Morrow, of Excelsior Springs, was so excited to see the icon she grew up with. After she posed for a picture with the duo, her knees were shaking. Her husband Phil shook his head in disbelief and said, “We’re NOT going to the sheep barn — that’s for sure.” — Latisha Koetting

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Wednesday was one of the warmer days out at the fair so far — although it was still nothing compared to pretty much all of July — so the firefighters at the Missouri State Fair Fire Department cooled off in the afternoon with a small robotic Dalmatian in a miniature fire truck that sprayed water. — Matt Steingraber

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Live bluegrass music playing in nearly every corner of the fairgrounds was an excellent backdrop for all the fair activities. It reminded me a bit of the continuous, blended soundtrack of ragtime that surrounds anyone walking through downtown during the Scott Joplin Festival. — Matt Steingraber