September 2, 2025

It’s time for me to get a new laptop. My current one is way out of date, and I can’t even provide enough free space on it to complete a simple software update. I deleted old files, music and music videos from my library that wouldn’t play for one reason or another, and old photos, to no avail. I’ll be upgrading in the near future, and hopefully after doing so, I can really get a move on with this blog, uploading the photos I want, and writing what I want without worrying about my computer struggling to keep up. I anticipate needing a ton of data, so the more space, the better.

But anyway, pictured above are a few things that represent how I spent my Labor Day weekend. I ventured up through Iowa and into Minnesota to attend the Minnesota State Fair. First time for me both at the fair and visiting Minnesota. I only spent one full day, largely at the fair, but I would absolutely love to come back some day, hopefully to get a better chance to explore the downtown area, and maybe even catch a show or two. It was nice to get away from the intense Omaha heat, though the summer weather is showing slow but sure signs of cooling off. While the fair had the usual sights of families, deep fried everything, and carnival rides, prog also crept its way into the mix. A few people sporting Pink Floyd shirts caught my eye, thought I was wearing one, myself, specifically the See Emily Play pink tee I got at the Hollywood showing of the Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains exhibition a few years back. What stopped me even more than the shirts were the items pictured above, discovered in one of the multi-story auditoriums on the fairgrounds where local vendors sold goods. In the leftmost photo is a wall of clocks made from actual vinyl records. The ones that had my raising my eyebrows in excitement most were the ones of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and an early band portrait of Rush. Not pictured were also clocks that represented bands like Yes, Jethro Tull, and The Moody Blues. I would have loved to have picked one or two clocks out, but they were priced a bit higher than I was willing to pay. The next photo was in part due to a little manipulation on my end. That is a Primus wood poster, though it wasn’t originally in the front like that. It was a few posters behind, most of which were designed to represent specific concerts or festivals, like Pink Floyd’s shows in Pompeii. I smiled at the sight of this Primus poster and had to move it up front so that others could see it too. I can’t help but smile fondly when I stumble across prog in even the most unexpected of places. Whether it’s an art display in Minnesota, or a song playing in a store in West Virginia, it’s nice to be reminded of the widespread impact that prog has had on the world.