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Friday, Aug 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I recently watched the thoroughly enjoyable documentary “Lemmy” and was surprised when the man who basically invented heavy metal via his band Motorhead said he was really into the new crop of female country singers because of their sweet harmonies.

“Surprised” may not be the word. I spit out my drink when he said that.

But, hey, I agree with him. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve been so into country pop lately.

Country pop tends to live more in the real world. The songs are more about what average people experience day to day. And the new music isn’t just about getting drunk, or driving big rigs down the highway.

Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” for example, is one of the best-written songs about a breakup in years…

Leave it to me to be holding the matches

When the fire trucks show up and there’s nobody else to blame

Heh.

Lambert played at the Illinois State Fair last year and it was among the most enjoyable shows I’ve ever attended at the Grandstand.

* Tonight, Thompson Square is opening for Gary Allan. Maybe I’ll see you there. The group’s biggest hit is one of the better pop songs of the decade…

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Illinois State Fair leftovers

Friday, Aug 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I can’t believe I forgot to post this. My niece Rosalee’s county 4-H project won her a trip to the big show last Saturday. She did really well…

* I don’t want to complain too much because I enjoy riding in the annual “celebrity” harness horse race, but my horse this year was not quite up to par. The first thing my driver said to me after we got onto the track was, “Oh, my God, look at that horse!” Huh? “Do you see all the snot coming out of its nose? He’s sick!”

Steve Brown, who won the race, somehow managed to “draw” a horse that was as big as a Clydesdale. So, I get a horse on his last legs and Brown gets a monster.

Anyway, here’s a quick video I took of my horse before the race…

* Click the pick for a larger image to see all the red cups on the track after the Toby Keith concert…

* One of Oscar the Puppy’s favorite things to do is ride in my truck. Every day when it was time to go to the fair, Oscar headed straight for the garage, believing he was going with me. He was bummed out when he had to go to his room instead. Here’s Oscar in his favorite spot, on the front truck seat…

* I gave Oscar some extra treats this week because he missed out on all the State Fair fun…

* If you haven’t made it to the State Fair yet, there’s still plenty of time and lots and lots of stuff to do.

…Adding… My brain may have been fried by too much State Fair, if that’s possible. Initially, the whole reason for this post was this Kankakee Daily Journal story…

Fourteen-year-old Dylan Hummel, of Cabery, sold his grand champion meat goat for $11,050 at the Illinois State Fair Governor’s Sale of Champions Tuesday, shattering the previous record price of $6,900 in 2009.

Seven records were broken and one tied, pushing the sale total to $222,750 — nearly $67,000 higher than the previous record, said Jeff Squibb, state fair spokesman.

The young exhibitors get 80 percent with 20 percent split by the 4-H and FFA organizations of Illinois.

Gov. Pat Quinn and Agriculture Director Bob Flider encouraged bidders from the floor and many others had worked behind the scenes to bring support for exhibitors of grand champion livestock in the junior show and Illinois bred and raised “Land of Lincoln” show.

Another local connection was the record price set for the Land of Lincoln grand champion meat goat shown by Carlee Critchelow, of Chanderville. It brought $3,750 — 50 percent above the previous record of $2,500. That goat was from the herd of Rodney and Lori Meyer’s Hillside Stock Farm, west of Chebanse.

Wow.

Glad to see the ag sector doing so well.

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Republicans pile on Rauner over Rahm

Friday, Aug 16, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Yesterday’s Republican Day speeches were all about unity and positivity. Not so much during the media availabilities afterwards, however…

The two Republicans who dueled for the governorship in the photo-finish 2010 primary used Republican Day at the Illinois State Fair Thursday to deliver a one-two punch against 2014 rival Bruce Rauner, zeroing in on the billionaire venture capitalist’s close ties to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. […]

[Sen. Bill Brady] called that association a “non-starter” for Republican primary voters and, in a dig at the state Senate colleague he defeated by 193 votes in 2010, likened it to Dillard’s decision to film a 2008 campaign commercial for Barack Obama when the Democrat was running for president.

“People are tired of this one-city, one-party rule and the connections to Rahm,” Brady told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s a huge liability for a Republican, just as the Obama connection to Dillard is a huge liability.”

Dillard, who defended himself by noting he spoke out against Obama’s push for universal health care in Illinois when the president was a state senator, jumped on Rauner, as well.

“It’s incredibly troubling that a man who is constantly referred to as a member of Rahm Emanuel’s inner circle, who vacations with the mayor, according to the Chicago Sun Times columnist Mike Sneed, and [who] also is another city of Chicago resident is running for governor,” Dillard said.

* Rauner refused to apologize for his association with Emanuel in his response…

“For somebody to try to say, ‘Well, you touched Rahm or worked with them. … Y ou know what? If we’re going to get stuff done, if the Democrats control [things], we’ve got to do something to work with them. I won’t apologize, and I won’t back down,” he said.

Rauner, who has pledged to spend millions of dollars from his fortune on his campaign, also chalked up the criticism to “desperate” rivals.

“You know what? In politics, when you’re desperate to win, you say stuff,” he said.

* Jon Zahm, who is no Rauner fan, also piled on…

Rahner sponsored the hot dog lunches for all the attendees. But this became a real “fail” for the campaign. Just over a half hour into the event the hot dogs ran out leaving hungry folks to have a hot dog bun only with their beans and Oberweis ice cream. Poor planning and hiring the wrong people to estimate the food needed are two errors that need rectifying.

The other three serious candidates for Governor landed good zings on Rauner:

Brady: “People are tired of this one-city, one-party rule and the connections to Rahm,”

Dillard: “I have experience that money can’t buy.”

Rutherford: “I don’t have to go on a ‘listening tour.’ I have been to all 102 counties and received important feedback and support.”

* A brief video of a little Rauner rally around his motorcycle before the speeches…

* Related…

* Illinois GOP’s governor candidates make pitches at state fair: “I’d like to put them all in a blender, and we’d have a great recipe for success,” said Jack Dorgan, the Illinois Republican Party’s new chairman.

* Time for change, GOP speakers at Illinois State Fair say

* Four governor candidates test their messages at state fair

* Republicans Show Unity at State Fair

* Gubernatorial candidates talk politics on “Republican Day” at the state fair

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