More video

By Ben Lockridge

7:40



Nathan Martin and myself stumbled on this ceremony as we walked around the fairgrounds. I'll let Nathan tell you more about this later.



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Oh, and scroll down more and be sure you check out Paul Merritt's photos from today. They were just posted mere minutes ago, and I didn't want anyone to miss them.



PHOTOS

7:20



Paula Merritt sent some photos in. Here are some more random shots of the fair.









Finally!

By Ben Lockridge

6:15



Ok, so here's one video that I managed to post. As always, you have a full and low resolution clip to choose from. This is a video of the Neshoba County Sherrif's race political speeches. First up is Donnie Adkins followed by the current Sheriff Larry McMillan.



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Good grief

By Ben Lockridge

3:35



I have tons of video that I shot today. Can't get any of it online as of yet because of wonderful technology. I apologize for this, and hope to have it corrected very very soon.



Why I Edit in Microsoft Word

By Nathan Martin

2:50



I had a long blog post written up about my last few hours at the fair. It was witty, profound and beautiful. It is also now completely gone, compliments of a bipolar internet connection.



Rather than type the entire thing out again.



I'm just going to say that Eloise Dance is a beautiful woman for feeding Ben Lockeridge and myself. I've got to go meet Paula Merritt for a story later, but I'll try to update later tonight.





I've got some good things to say about the Neshoba County Fair, but it will have to wait until later













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After Regular Scheduled Business Hours

By Nathan Martin

Neshoba County Fair gets crazy when the lights go out. I hung around last night for the 2007 Neshoba County Beauty Pageant, and let me tell you, that's an experience like nothing else. I've covered the Miss Mississippi pageant, but the theatrics of Vicksburg pale in comparison to the grandstand packed crowd of Neshoba. Where else would you hear a beauty queen whose hobbies include hunting, text messaging and "muddin,"- I had to think for a second before I could figure out what "muddin" even was (it's mud riding, fyi).



Listening to the crowd scream, blow air horns, and generally behave like they were at a collegiate football game was priceless. One thing that kept running through my head, "Does the judge really like having an air horn blown right into her ear? Does that make her go, 'oh, now I have to vote for candidate____' Is that really how you win friends and influence people?"



I've obviously missed a few life lessons while living in D.C.



The only thing better than the pageant and its enthusiast were the pageant, how do you say this, non-enthusiasts. These were the people who come to the pageant solely to laugh and to poke good hearted fun at the beauties on parade. Apparently, all you have to do to enter the pageant is be a resident of Neshoba County, and sign up- definitely made the field quite interesting.





Remember this name, Austin Dye.



This thirteen year old kid will be famous one day, mark my words. Austin played while the judges were making their final decision. He may be thirteen but this kid could play bluegrass and country like a sixty year old. It was crazy to watch this kid's fingers fly across the guitar and hear him belt out George Strait and Hank Williams Jr. songs. Honestly, I'm not that into country music, but if this kid was on the radio, I wouldn't have a problem turning the dial.



I recorded a version of "Man of Constant Sorrows," that he performed, so I'll try to get that up later today.



Megan Martin ended up winning the title, largely on the basis of her answer in the interview finale.



it was the classic, "Would you rather be smart or beautiful?"



Her answer: "Smart, because if you're smart you can always find a way to be beautiful."



I heard later that, after receiving the list of questions that morning, like the other contestants, Megan decided to prepare for that question in case she got it.



Definitely did not hurt.





After the pageant party ended, the night really began moving in a blinding fury that I'll probably keep writing about later today. Tupelo cover band, Spunk Monkees http://www.spunkmonkees.com/ played an energetic blend of old and new music that kept everyone dancing and screaming out the words to their favorite songs.



It was an experience to watch parents and teenagers alike, head bopping and tail shaking their way around the stage and all around the stage.





More to come on these experiences later. I'm going to either grab a cup of coffee or a 30 minute nap and get ready for another day of the fair- I'm not sure how many more of these I can take.