2003oct11.

Arizona Deep-Fried State Fair (9).

Mardi Gras. Inside: exactly like Mardi Gras down to the buttheads videotaping "Girls Gone Wild Inside Arizona 2003 State Fair Mardi Gras Fun House Upper Level 12."

Cuckoo Haus, themed along the lines of authentic Bavarian kulture. Do they have American-themed dark rides in other countries? I want to see those. "THE USA BIG AMERICANS PHATT TURKEY LEGGEN EATFEST TERROR RIDEN"

Left: A dizzy youth emerges from der tunnelen. Right: rowrein-rowrein.

This carnival game had a tape loop for the come-on spiel. The annoying thing about it was that it was relentlessly constant, there was no pause in the middle. Now imagine you're working inside the booth eight hours at a stretch. Also: winner, most garish display of garishocity.

Excelsior!

Close-up of the upper level of "Arabian Daze Fun Haus." Spelled "Haus" because, well ... "Fun Hawze" was taken.

Rotating tunnel exit of "Arabian Daze Fun Haus." There is a person behind the mirror, you can see the red cola cup he's holding in his lap. No screwing around in the Fun Haus, it's double-surveillance action!

Spinning thing

Guy and Gary's Fun House. Inside it's German!

Clearly I'm losing steam. Let's cut to the ending sequence.

This was one of my favorite signs. Nice use of color. Graphically illustrating the stick or bun option didn't hurt, either.

"Honey, give me five bucks. There's no way they could rig this game... it's pool!"

Of course at night you get the best photos, but at this point I was already falling asleep.

Ferris wheel.

The Kamikaze. The best thing about this ride is when it stops at the top and the coins and keys come raining down from upside-down pockets. Then I scramble for the keychains with attached remotes, because then you can just press the button and listen for the car to beep.

My favorite photo from the fair. This is the Kamikaze slicing downward to wreak havoc on the townspeople situated below. Almost all of these photos had to be post-processed in some fashion, but this looked swell out of the gate.

Der Wilde Maus, The Starvac 2000, One In Wins. You know how the laws work in respect to carnival games, right? As long as someone can win at the game -- say, a bored carny with months of practice -- then the game is "legit." I'll talk more about this at a later time. I think I made that promise three years ago as well.

A final view of the state fair from the coliseum stands, where Alan Jackson was playing at the time.