07/25/03’s illustrious band:

Mug on a Stick

Brought to you by Sister-san.

Once upon a time, Sister-san and her husband Brother-in-Law-san were invited to an anniversary party for BIL-san’s parents. BIL had to work and couldn’t go, so Sister-san traveled solo. However, she took him with her in spirit -- and in the form of a photograph of his face that she enlarged and glued to a stick. So BIL’s smiling mug appears in all the pictures, even though he wasn’t there.

Not what you were expecting, right? Not you Minnesotans, anyway. With Minnesota State Fair season coming up, you were expecting me to say something about fair fare, which is traditionally served on a stick, often deep-fried. In addition to the usual corn dogs (called Pronto Pups around here) and shishkabobs, you can also get alligator on a stick, pork chop on a stick, meatballs on a stick, s’mores on a stick, tater skins on a stick, egg rolls on a stick, pizza on a stick, pretzel on a stick, battered dill pickle on a stick, even macaroni and cheese on a stick.

And let’s not forget last year’s newcomer to the scene, deep-fried candy bars on a stick. I tried a bite of one last year, because of course I had to, and one bite was enough, even for me. A whole candy bar is generally too much anyway. But if they’d been dipping and frying the bite-size Snickers, etc., well . . . I hear Twinkies are next.

Or maybe you took the “mug on a stick” reference literally and were expecting a discussion of balancing feats such as those described in my latest literary acquisition, Virtuosos of Juggling, a book on the history of juggling and similar arts. There are people in this book who do indeed balance cups or mugs on sticks on their foreheads. As if that weren’t enough, some of them will then juggle smaller objects and catch them in the cup. Cool!

Anyway, that’s my schtick on a stick for today. I’m off for a wild weekend of doing not very much. Looking forward to it!

E-mail the Media Sensation: jugglernaut@hotmail.com

Visit the BND archives at http://jugglernaut.blogspot.com.