Monday, November 9, 2009

The carnival

I did something I have not done in decades Sunday night. I went to the carnival that set up on a vacant lot along North Frontage Road in Vicksburg. It brought back a lot of memories of growing up in Grenada, Mississippi, and attending the annual fair that always rolled into town. A lot of the rides and games were the old familiar ones, but it just seemed a lot darker than what I remember carnivals being. These are pretty raw pictures, too. I shot them all handheld with a few done trying to balance it on a nearby railing. I don't usually shoot things like this so it was a bit out of my comfort zone, but that made it even more fun to do!














The prize being offered in the game shown above shocked me. If you threw a ping pong ball and got it in one of those three thingies floating in the kiddie pool, you would become the owner of a real live rabbit. That's him lying against the fence in the top left. I wonder how many rabbits this game goes through each year? When I was little, the only living thing you could win was a goldfish. I feel sorry for the rabbit.


2 comments:

  1. Neat post, Marty ... and great pictures. That's sad about the rabbit. There should be a law against that.

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  2. My great addiction to neon is kicking into gear RIGHT THIS MINUTE. The lights and sounds and scents---all mingling into each other and making up a sensory overload to rival the sugar buzz.

    I used to just soak up the atmosphere, back in my carnival-going days---I didn't need to ride the rides or eat the burnt-sugar or sizzling-peppers stuff perfuming the air---the colors and the lights were ALL.

    I find these evocative of another time in life, and the ping of nostalgia is almost eclipsed by sorrow for that poor bunny, and by the fact that these rides, every one, look like Kiddie Rides.

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